An interesting thing I’ve noticed over time, in particular on the [#secondlife][IRC] IRC channel, is the vehement tone I sometimes get from those who have used There.com and are now firm SL converts. Reasons are as varied as the individual, but one very intriguing argument is that There is specifically oriented to making US$ money off their subscriber base.
Quick primer: There has its own currency called the Therebuck (T-buck or T) that are only purchasable from There at a fixed rate (normally 1800T == US$1). This currency is used to buy and sell items from both There themselves (web store) or from others (web auction), as well as for submission of new items and textures (for sale or not). Initial sales are charged a base commission to There in T, which tends to create a set starting cost for items (for those keeping score, a rather complex pricing chart is available at their Developer’s site). This is also on top of the fact that all submissions are 1) screened for approval due to it being a ‘Rated PG’ meta world, and 2) explicitly taking all [IP][I_P] rights from you – There owns it now.
Now, ignoring the last note (since IP rights is a big difference between the two), how close is Second Life getting to this type of money-making model? Current observations:
– LindeX (SL’s ‘in-world’ currency exchange) charges $0.30 each buy transaction, as well as a 3.5% commission for each sale. Given the current volume of 3Mil L$ daily at about 260L/US$1, that’s approximately US$400 a day or US$146K a year – *before* the transaction fees are ground in (we don’t have # transactions a day available yet). Quite a bit of money, and can eventually go higher as more residents (in particular Basic accounts) get money for their micropayments.
– Other than Dwell/Traffic, external sources of ‘free’ L$ beyond the weekly stipend no longer exist. Even the stipend itself is not free per se, unless you only have Basic accounts – and the stipend value for the Yearly Premium is still _way_ better then LindeX will get you today. This forces the newcomer (including the Basic account) to spend US$ on L$ transactions inworld, or start to learn the building tools rather quick.
– The current ‘money sinks’ that are paid to SL services in L$ – not US$ – as of today are 1) Classifieds (L$250 for two weeks), 2) uploads (L$10 each for any allowed type), 3) ratings (L$25 each point given). The average new product will likely involve about L$100-L$1000+ in uploads depending on the complexity, even for a simple outfit; Actual items like vehicles are a whole other matter…
Though differing in style, the need for Linden Lab to make more money from their ever growing userbase is taking them towards the same US$-centric format that There uses. The upside for SL has been a more stable and thriving economy however, so the changes have been well worth it.
–Alan
[IRC]: irc://efnet/secondlife
[I_P]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property