Sick of this....

what was the QUESTION in this thread again?

From Reuters: http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/09/europe-takes-lead-in-second-life-users/

Europe takes lead in Second Life users
Fri Feb 9, 2007 10:02am PST

By Adam Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Europeans make up the largest block of Second Life residents with more than 54 percent of active users in January ahead of North America’s 34.5 percent, according to new Linden Lab data.

....

In a related blog post, Linden Lab Chief Financial Officer John Zdanowski aka Zee Linden addressed the much-disputed Second Life usage numbers. He said that unique users — consolidating multiple accounts held by a single user, and eliminating people who have registered but never signed in — totalled 1,974,607 in January, equal to 63 percent of the “total residents” figure that is displayed on secondlife.com.

“Approximately 10 percent of unique users have logged in for 40 hours or more. Committed usage at this stage of Second Life’s growth requires a great deal of effort,” he said. “Clearly not everyone is going to find relevance, and be able to build on a technology at this early stage.”

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Okay, so we have about HALF of the registered number as unique individuals. of those, about 60k are premium. A lot of those are no longer playing the game, I imagine. Look how many have logged in in the last 60 days. With half of the pool being European, many of which had payment problems and are no payment on file... what's really going on? I do know this - I have European friends and tenants who are no payment on file but work and pay in lindens. They are contributing to the economy. MOST people are like this. Griefers are the exception, not the rule. I have no problem with free accounts.

If you want to know the truth, I have been hearing that statement for the last 3 years now. There must be a reason that nothing has come and taken over SL. TSO and There really can't cut it, and nothing new has come to be. If something bigger and better does come along, will it be able to pull enough away from SL to make it the "next big thing"?

So they are making something that allows them to make money. Doesn't that mean they must be providing a service or a product to make money?

Ylikone, I think you're totally right

Petite, That is NOT what the word paying means. Paying means you pay in more RL money to SL than you take out. C'mon guys, that's not such a difficult concept is it? You've all payed for things before. Just registering a CC doesn't mean you're actually paying for anything. I really wish it did, I'd love a Ferrari.

Dnate, that's right. Lot's of us are making a non-financial contribution to the quality of life in SL. Without us there would be no SL to enjoy, just a bunch of land with for sale notices on it. (Oh wait a minute, that sounds horribly familiar!)

Coco, sorry about this. I said I'd shut up and keep my head down didn't I? Oh, by the way, I'm really even cuter than you think!!

Love Suzi

Ah so you think habitual griefers commonly use verified accounts?

Of course the newer premium accounts lol

Even though i still think the category of unverified accounts, contain the most griefers and scammers, i did run into a payment info used griefer yesterday. but lets see how good his credit card will be for him now eh? I did my damage to him. With the many ARs my friends and i filed, plus adding him to slbanlink hall of shame. When he gets banned hes gona have a hell of a time getting that card to verify another account.

This shows a basic misunderstanding of how the SL economic system works.

NO ONE - I mean no one, ever anywhere takes out of the system more than they put in.

Even if you make $10,000 USD a month off of SL you are contributing - Your L$ to USD transfers include fees to LL to make such. Getting the money sent to you costs a fee as well.

The reason you cant take out more than you put in is simple -

The USD$ people are getting originates as USD$ from some other resident! Plus they pay fees to buy the L$


with dwell gone , and stipends lowered, dev incentives gone - this whole arguement that people are stealing from LL is baseless.

Wasn't the orginal argument about bandwidth and server resources getting used up supporting free accounts?

When you are a paid account and have land/business/homes and you can't move/tp/build or run your business because the area is over flowing with free account users looking to camp/get jobs/find sex then this is a major slap in the face to a paying customer. No where else in business would a customer get that kind of treatment. You don't sit down to service at a resturaunt order your meal and have 20 people come take bites pushing agaist you and demanding attention so I don't see why it has to be that way with Second Life? Linden Labs should take care of the people who make them money first and fill their needs as any business would.

As has been argued to death already, just because an account is non premium doesn't mean it isn't "making Linden Lab money". If you think that $9.95 a month is the meat and potatoes of their revenue stream, you're mistaken. Many long time residents who were once premium have switched back to basic, and are still operating businesses, buying and selling goods and services, and contributing substantially in some cases to the economy. Eliminating free accounts at this point is the old "throw the baby out with the bath water" solution, and it is not an acceptable one.

Right now, I think they are taking the correct approach, and conditioning the grid to support the entire load, and then some (alot actually)..

This thread will go on, rinse/lather/repeat, with the same old arguments.

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Fees for Selling L$

Sellers of Linden Dollars pay a fee of 3.5% per transaction. Proceeds will be credited to your US$ account balance.
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Thus - with no other economic impact of a buisness you are paying more than a standard premium member by selling $300 worth of Lindens in a month and having it sent to your pay pal. (additional 1$ fee)

Of course all businesses Own or rent land on top of that. Most business owners are also Premium.

Something I wonder - Its never the Lindens complaining about this lack of economic impact of unverified accounts,

Or the "leeching" businesses that earn USD$ and cash out supposedly do.

Its mainly players who dont have businesses proffitable enough to cover their Teir / etc.

Colette. you misunderstand me. I don't suggest for a minute that anyone is "stealing" from LL. My deliberate use of the words "freeloader" and "leech" was meant to be mildly ironic. I'm sorry if it offended you. But of course you can take out more than you put in. I break even, I put in nothing. If my business expands and grows I might reach a point where each month I can cash something out. Therefore I, as an individual, take out more than I put in (well, I take something out, and put nothing of my own in). You said it yourself, the money you cash out originates from other residents, as do the fees to exchange the l$. Anything that goes to LL from me ultimately comes from other residents pockets, not from my own. It's those other residents who actually pay. All I do is channel their money through to LL.

But in the process I, and you and countless other "freeloaders" and "leeches" (irony here) contribute hugely to making SL the enjoyable (?) experience it is for those who chose to pay / buy / rent with their own RL money.

Well, that's just my take on it.

You're an idiot.

I don't know which FREE ACCOUNTS you know, but the ones I come across beg for money, beg for freebies, and look like crap.

You're an idiot.

Those free accounts IMO are ok, IF they are using a credit card as identification, that way they can't just make 100 of them without credit information. My account is free, but I have payment info on file and I've been here since 05 and spent ALOT of Linden, and have been prem. a few times, but with the current state of this messed up game, I wouldnt pay shit.

You are obviously confusing "UNVERIFIED" with "VERIFIED"

Ed44 was talking about VERIFIED accounts that rent land, and you basically said "VERIFIED ACCOUNTS are OK".

Before you call someone an idiot (twice in one post), please make sure you understand what it is you're objecting to. (or that idiot tag is going to spin around around and stick to your backside)

Ohh i missed that you were being ironic - sorry hehe. =)


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I agree.

Everyone contributes in some way. Even the campers. Although some of us are willing to forgo their economic impact for a smoother operation of Second Life.

Eliminating traffic numbers would clean that all up nicely
- withhout having to point fingers at Verified/Unverfied Basic/Premium stuff.


I just want everyone logged into SL to be (basically) logged in one account at a time per player and that player mainly participating in it.

If we still have lag and problems - then we should really raise hell.

But I figure that it would drop us under 20k online during peak times - so wed be good for a while =).

*locks for being off-topic for this forum*