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I know this question pops up every day of every week of every month, etc etc, but returning to Second Life has made me wonder how valid such raised questions are.

 

Am I right in thinking Second Life is less active nowadays? I can go to 30 different sandboxes where I see 1 person per island, yet 30+ adboards and 15 taken shops. I rent a spot by a DJ club island and only 2 other shops are taken and I've never seen the owners on. I see 3-4 people on and events seem to rarely be organized.

Am I just going to the wrong places, or is it genuinely becoming tougher to find activity on SL? I find the Marketplace an odd sign of activity, because the marketplace is so bustling with content that it looks like there is still a major active community, yet I find very few outside of areas focused strictly on mass-homespawn socialization.

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Traslogan wrote:

I know this question pops up every day of every week of every month, etc etc, but returning to Second Life has made me wonder how valid such raised questions are.

 

Am I right in thinking Second Life is less active nowadays? I can go to 30 different sandboxes where I see 1 person per island, yet 30+ adboards and 15 taken shops. I rent a spot by a DJ club island and only 2 other shops are taken and I've never seen the owners on. I see 3-4 people on and events seem to rarely be organized.

Am I just going to the wrong places, or is it genuinely becoming tougher to find activity on SL? I find the Marketplace an odd sign of activity, because the marketplace is so bustling with content that it looks like there is still a major active community, yet I find very few outside of areas focused strictly on mass-homespawn socialization.

A lot of shopping has moved to the MP and with that Malls have become a thing of the past, especially those that anchored Clubs.

Also, with the advent of MESH, a lot of creating is done outside of SL and to avoid upload fees many do their tweaking and testing on the Beta Grid.

As far as Club activity...it can vary by time of day, etc.  There are some clubs that are busy 24/7, but really most sit empty a lot of the time.

Regardless, I have no problem finding activity in SL.  When I use search I watch the traffic numbers and the Map helps me to find busy places.

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When you say malls are  a thing of the past, is that a very recent thing? I feel like I still see tons of shops and malls, but they're just all devoid of shoppers, but there are still so many shops setup and looking professional. I still see a ton of ads too, regardless of local activity.

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Traslogan wrote:

When you say malls are  a thing of the past, is that a very recent thing? I feel like I still see tons of shops and malls, but they're just all devoid of shoppers, but there are still so many shops setup and looking professional. I still see a ton of ads too, regardless of local activity.

I wouldn't say its a recent thing. I'm in SL for 4 years now and I remember shopping malls where already noticeable dying 3 years ago. You won't find shops with products that are up to todays newest possibilities (mesh and high quality texture) in such malls, because if a shop can afford to have an inworld location the owners most likely want to present their products in a creative, tasteful way....and they don't want to be burried under tons of other shops all pushed into tiny little boxes. Sometimes the inworld stores you can find now, are very pretty or follow a unique theme.

From a shopper experiance I can say I actually prefer how its now, compared to some of the old malls, which are still around, because some people still stick to it for whatever reason.

 

A "new" trend that gains popularity in the shopping world are events. Usually one or even a couple sims which hold shopping events (usually with a theme) for a few weeks at a specific time. The participating stores all have their small places and present new and sometimes exclusive products, matching the theme of the event.

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Traslogan wrote:

When you say malls are  a thing of the past, is that a very recent thing?

Many people haven't gotten the memo.

Some others rent malls because if they don't - the places they want to go to will have no source of income and die.

Marketplace has done a very serious amount of damage to land use in SL.

But also, what is popular shifts - and if you open a map and look, there are green dots everywhere.

The top places though have remained pretty constant. Maybe 40 of the same top 50 xxx places from years ago are still in the top 50... And if its not a XXX venue, its probably not on that list...

Sandboxes... I've never been a part of that community so I can't say... I never saw the point of them. They haven't been popular for my entire length of active use in SL - from 2009 on. I guess more people have moved on from them over time?

 

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I'm on a lot late at night at about 1-4 LL time.  I see a lot more people on at that hour than I used to, which is around 30,000.  I do see more actual avatars and not just bots. The afternoons seem to have less than they did when I signed up in 2008 ~ about 1/4 less ~ but I think the international players have increased, especially Russians. I live in an area of Alaska with a large Russian community and like chatting with Russians when I have a chance. 

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Traslogan wrote:

When you say malls are  a thing of the past, is that a very recent thing? I feel like I still see tons of shops and malls, but they're just all devoid of shoppers, but there are still so many shops setup and looking professional. I still see a ton of ads too, regardless of local activity.

Let me clarify that by saying they don't hold the prominence they did when I started seven years ago and the MP has accelerated their decline.

And even the well designed ones, and there are still quite a few, don't see the traffic they used to. 

It is more common now for me to hear a friend say, "I'm looking for something on the MP," then to hear them say, "I am at a store looking at clothes, etc."

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I'd agree with the assessments. Malls are there for the time you want to see an object in-world before buying. The problem with that is that most creators, with very few exceptions, don't bother to provide any way to look at a demo, or to temp-wear a demo (a relatively new ability in SL, but not one I've EVER seen used). This is especially true for clothing and accessories. Landscaping/home deco is more often rezzed at a shop.

Therefore, shopping on MP is easier, faster and simply more enjoyable for many people.

I do the same. I use MP to find things and only go to an inworld store if I would like a look first.

On the other hand, the place I regularly hang out at is frequently very, very busy. Yet even there are the occasional hours where there's literally no one on the entire sim. I attribute that somewhat to the natural tendency of people to leave immediately if no one else is there. Because as often as not if I stay, people will eventually gather.

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So would you say there is no longer a point in having stores? I mean, I see a lot of products I buy (freebies and paid alike) that still give notes about shop locations to check out, on top of groups to join. 

I was told shops might be good for things like exclusives or in-store only, but surely they've become obsolete if the shop itself is no longer really functional.

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I don't know where you read that she said that there is no point in having a store.

There are businesses where it makes sense to have an inworld location, if you sell furniture, house and landscaping products your sales will benefit from having an inworld location where customers can see and test your products. This is often the only useable option to test before buying and many people won't buy, when they can't check the things out before.

For clothes and similar products its not that necessary to have an inworld store, because its easier to provide demo versions that can be brought individually by the potential customer.

When the marketplace works well, I prefer to buy there, because its less stressful. I don't have to wait till everything is rezzed and I don't have to run around in search for that one item out of 50. However there are a few stores I actually like to visit, because they are really beautiful and I like being there and wandering around.

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There's a lot of abandoned land now. I do a lot of traveling on Linden roads and I've noticed how empty some places have become. I'm not sure how the abandoned land selling thing works, but the parcel next to me has been abandoned for a few years now.

I've been wandering around the Heterocera Atoll the last few days. I haven't been there in a few months and it's a lot emptier than it was a few months ago. The amount of mainland sim abandoned land makes me wonder if the Lindens are going to do away with privately owned mainland and everyone will be renting directly from them instead.

 

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