Over [here][sl-t1], I mentioned that LindeX has generated quite a bit of income for Linden Lab. The current update as of last night is 3.6 Mil L$ at an average of about 265L$/1US$ (this rate has held now for the past week). Over the weekend the volume was over 4.2 Mil L$.
That’s coming out to about US$475-550 take to LL a day now (before ‘# transaction fees,’ still no word on that), about a 20-40% jump in one month. That’s coming out to about US$180K/year if the spike occurs every weekend. Not bad.
Now, yesterday, its been announced that the Developer’s Incentive is to be phased out. As [some in the forums][forum] have mentioned, this is another US$120K/year that will be available for LL’s internal use as well.
That will be US$300K (minimum) each year that will now be available for other things – like, say, another five well-paid developers (or another 8-10 beginning ones). Or an expansion to the data/asset system and/or how the whole mess is backed up.
The forum thread has arguments going several ways, all of them possibly valid to some degree. It is to some extent a belt-tightening move; They really could use the money for more people in such an enormously growing userbase. I’ve stated multiple times that LL needs to re-focus outwardly from a development standpoint to a stability, customer service, and automation standpoint. They’re on that road, I can see the signs (from personal experience), but they *do* need the money. The idea of them milking SL for all its worth before its cancellation is a bit premature right now, since I think we all need to wait on what LL has in mind – and also to discuss even if the DI can be salvaged as something else that’s not gamable.
One of the biggest things they’re going to need to do short- to mid-term is get more subscription payments, such as the Premium account or some similar method to ensure a more stable income base. I’ve heard a few suggestions by *residents* now that sound, at its core, a lot like There’s ‘pay US$ for our currency’ model; Talk about full circle (see my first link, aka the earlier post). Admittedly its in smaller doses, but that will be more dangerous to the impulse buyer – and better off to LL in the long run by as much L$ running through LindeX as possible. That could work, but it begins to make me wonder just what the hell I’m doing in SL in the first place, as – originally – an Uru-fugee who was looking for a new home.
I don’t have an answer as of yet (none that I have enough details to put forward anyway). I need to think about it, see what the Lindens say and do in the next couple days, and send another followup as we all learn more.
And, I wonder, where the influx of Therians to SL are these days (most of them joined around the time I did) – and if they’re laughing their asses off right now.
[sl-t1]: https://sungak.net/weblog/archives/23
[forum]: http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=78329