January 1, 2012
Poll about the Second Life economy for 2012
I just put up a short, simple poll asking people what they think the state of the economy in Second Life will be like for 2012 vs 2011. Whether you're an SL merchant or simply a shopper, feel free to express your thoughts with the click of a mouse. You can also comment on this post if you want to give more details!
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It will mirror RL economies, meaning, while people will spend money, it will be no where as much as it was before the GFC. And it's going to take time to get better. I wouldnt bother opening any businesses for some time
ReplyDeleteWith Linden Labs having a 10 PIP spread, I wonder how people even make money.
ReplyDeletei voted for the better :) and i do make some money from my sells.. is just the nature of things to get a bit better "if all goes well"... the 2011 vs 2012 is what it is ( was ) but the best years were 2007-9 for me and for most merchants i know... total crash from then until now, and still trying to get back to Xstreet days when profits were X4 what they are now... linden bought and broke the marketplace... if it gets fixed ... well.. if... then we can get back to what once was.
ReplyDeleteHave to go with 'about the same' although would be more interesting to track which niches gain and lose rather than an overall snapshot. I know my gut feelings on it but its always a risk to base decisions on something that tenuous =^^=
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to see how anyone can make a decent amount from predominantly Marketplace sales outside a few MP stores. There's just too much noise on MP with millions of products.
ReplyDeleteMarketplace has severely damaged in-world shopping. No need to have a main-store occupying a whole Sim anymore. A lot in-world Merchants are down-sizing and relying more on MP sales. The SL golden era of 2006-9 has long gone!
There is a very fine line between greed and healthy profit that will benefit a business AND it's customers. It is not Rodvik Linden that calls the shots, it is the bean counters, the accountants. And they are pure Greed. They are interested in money coming their way, as much as possible, and only if that slows and drops will they look to the CEO and board to take action.
ReplyDeleteWhile I sort of agree with @anonymous #3 about the noise in SL Marketplace, it has made the shopping process a whole lot easier and almost more familiar to newbies. It is like having Amazon for Second Life. That's the good part. And only when it works.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, the Marketplace absolutely has ruined the in-world experience with the exception of things you would want to see in person -- like landscape items, furniture, etc. Combine that with the lag in most stores and it can be genuinely unpleasant to go exploring for new inventory goodies.
Clothing (since it's simply boxed up) basically sells off package photos anyway. 3D things really need to be seen up close.
Don't get me started on the wreckage Linden Lab has made of search.
From Anonymous #3 again :)
ReplyDeleteSecond Life was supposed to be a 3D Virtual World. The shopping experience around the grid, landing on new sims, finding new shops, participating in grid wide Hunts was very much part of the social experience that made SL unique. Why on earth do we need a 2D shopping website?....we can do that already in our 1st Lives.
Why not have a 2D shopping website? Second Life allows people with 1000 Alts to log in and out 24 hours day using a 1D text viewer to advance in Tiny Empires. Linden stopped camping which was a way of life for many and how they paid for what they use to buy before they all left Second Life. Camping, lucky chairs, etc giving shops high traffic numbers is the ONE thing Linden put their foot down. However they provide Linden Park Land for the folks logging the 1000's of alt in and out and brag that they have gained more "unique" user accounts last year. But I suppose that is true, it is not unique users. Why shop in world, why club and listen to music in world, why play a text based game in a 3D world? Why not tell Linden to shove it, Second Life is no more.
ReplyDelete