Putting money in SL bothering me

[mirbaz]

I want to do more in SL which obviously means putting in RL money, but I am just not feeling comfortable with the idea, have others felt this way too? what made you overcome this? did putting money in here benefit you eventually, did you earn it back? profit in whatever it is that you did or are doing? 

I also want to hear from those who are against this and their experiences.

 

[Monti Messmer]

I did put money into SL mainly to rent land to have a home or buy things.

Later i started to create things or been DJing and earned some money i could take out.

Both ways are ok because it was only small amounts of RL money. SL isn´t better or worse than any other online thing that works with RL money too but it is all up to you to live for free.

Monti

[Syo Emerald]

What exactly is it you can't do but want to do at the moment? Which you think will only work if you put RL into it?

I spend the first two years of my Second Life without any additional RL money. At first I only brought things with money that I had won, later I worked at a club as a hostess and dancer. I had luck, the job paid better than the average one. After the club changed its eventtimes, I had to stop working there, because it wasn't compatible with my timezone anymore.

After that, I started using some RL money in SL but I try to keep it in a reasonable range.

[Tiffy Vella]

I found SL to be very enjoyable for a long time (maybe 6 months to a year) before spending any money here. Money wasn't neccessary to me as I was busy making friends and learning to build. The decision to finally invest was gradual and easy. I wanted to buy a few things, upload a few textures, get a nicer looking avatar, own land in order to have a place to express myself. For a while, I'd spend maybe $5 every month or so on whatever I wanted. Almost no money compared to RL spending.

To me, that money was the same as any recreational money. And it was almost nothing compared to the fun it gave me, and especially compared to other what I could have spent on other hobbies. I never expected to get any thing back from it apart from the things I'd purchased. If I bought a $25 book from a RL bookstore, I'd enjoy the book, and wouldn't be expecting to make the money it cost back, and to me SL is the same. It's like paying to see a play (and help act in it), or paying for a magazine subscription (with the bonus option of contributing at will).

That being said, I make money in SL.  I don't see that purely as a return from the lindens I've spent, but rather more as a result of the skills I've learnt and the time invested creating content and looking after customers. Some of what I make is always reinvested  back into the world through rent, and shopping and tips. In the past I have spent money on tools to help improve my business, and still do, and it's never been a waste of money. If I had bought a tool and not put in the effort to learn and use it, it would have been a waste- I guess by that I mean that spending doesn't automatically generate revenue; effort is required.

To you I'd say that if you are uncomfortable spending money anywhere, then by all means don't do it. Nobody should expect you to. I'm very cautious about online shopping and passing out my credit card number, but I have no issue with Linden Lab in that regard. I send them money, they send me money- it's all above board and works just fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sassy Romano]

Cinema, eating out, bars etc. All forms of entertainment from which there's nothing to take away. If you're feeling that it's wasted money because you don't own anything physical, that's fine but applies to many other activities.

[mirbaz]

Actually i was thing on taking provate lessions in building from experts who charge by the hour,.

[Syo Emerald]

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mirbaz wrote:

Actually i was thing on taking provate lessions in building from experts who charge by the hour,.

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Don't do that. There are so many free tutorials and classes out there.

[Conifer Dada]

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mirbaz wrote:

Actually i was thing on taking provate lessions in building from experts who charge by the hour,.

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A agree with the post above - don't pay anyone to teach you to build, there's loads of free help available at officially approved locations including the Ivory Tower Library where you can go to find out all about building - and I think some of the official info hub hangouts like NCI have instructional displays as well.

Also if you type in Google 'how to build in Second Life' you'll see there are loads of tutorial videos that will teach you all you need to know about building the traditional SL way with primitives in-world.  If you want to learn to build with mesh, that has to be done outside SL and then imported, so the amount of help an in-world teacher could give you would be quite limited anyway!

[Phil Deakins]

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mirbaz wrote:

I want to do more in SL which obviously means putting in RL money, but I am just not feeling comfortable with the idea, have others felt this way too? what made you overcome this? did putting money in here benefit you eventually, did you earn it back? profit in whatever it is that you did or are doing? 

I also want to hear from those who are against this and their experiences.

 

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What exactly bothers you about putting money in? What are you not comfortable about?

SL is a hobby/passtime for most people and it's worth putting money into to enjoy the hobby/passtime. Unlike many hobbies and passtimes, putting money in isn't necessary, but nothing should bother you, or make you feel uncomfortable, about putting some money into your hobby/passtime.

However, putting money in just to learn building isn't necessary. I've made loads of take-out money in SL from creating and selling stuff and, apart from someone telling me how to create a cube, nobody taught me how to build.

[Marigold Devin]

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mirbaz wrote:

I want to do more in SL which obviously means putting in RL money, but I am just not feeling comfortable with the idea, have others felt this way too? what made you overcome this? did putting money in here benefit you eventually, did you earn it back? profit in whatever it is that you did or are doing? 

I also want to hear from those who are against this and their experiences.

 

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I've always equated my expenditure in Second Life with what I might be spending if I were to, say, go out drinking. For instance, the cost of one pint of beer might pay for my rent and some pretty clothes in SL. I bought land for a while and resold land, and made a tidy profit (when land selling could be profitable). Some people enjoy being a landlord and make a bit of money that way.

I'd say, if you WANT to do more in Second Life, and the activities you want to participate in are likely to cost you money, then do it, but perhaps just reallocate money from a real life activity that no longer gives you so much pleasure (ie buying newspapers and magazines, or that extra pair of shoes you don't really need).

Never spend more than you are willing to lose, but don't think of it as investing money in Second Life, or you will be bitterly disappointed.  Think of it more as a means of recreation. I mean, nights out, games of tennis, ice skating, cinema, they all cost money, and once that session is over, the money is gone for good.  I know that a lot of people spend money in Second Life and seem to count the cost "I've spent £$??? in this game and its all been for nothing". 

You spend money. You enjoy the activity on which you spend the money on. If you make a profit, then what a bonus. If you do not, then you had a good time.

[Nova Convair]

You can be in SL without money.

If you think you can't:

You spend money and go to a cinema
you buy a computer game
you pay for tv
you buy a DVD with a movie
you spend money in SL

All that things will entertain you. Just do it or leave it.

[Ren Toxx]

I, too, was wary before first using real cash to get L$: how's it done, is it secure, will I mistakenly loose money or overexpose private data? So I sticked to free for longer than really desired since, of course, as a noob I lacked the skills to earn it in-world; I even resorted for a while to the usual “this is just a game, it ain't worth spending anyway” mantra to quell the temptation. Finally I caved in because, though I now have professional skills, they wouldn't cover my expenses unless I devoted all my SL time to work and/or overcharged my clients.

I understand all stances about it, though, as long as they're consistent. Some people publicly claim a near-anticapitalist ideology in SL, refusing to spend any RL money on it on the basis that “I'm not putting real money into a friggin' game!”... and then have no qualms whatsoever accepting, seeking or even expecting gifts or services thay may cost money and / or time to others. The underlying mentality is of course one having far less to do with ideology and principles, and much more with plain, simple selfishness.

[mirbaz]

Very sound advise everyone, thanks a million.I will eventually put in money here but also try and lean from all the free resources mentioned in some of the replies.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Having just celebrated my 7th year in SecondLife, I found your question very apropos. I too hesitated when first deciding to allow myself the luxury of spending some of my "mad" money in our shared virtual world. In my case I hesitated learning to build and focused more on the entertainment aspect of the SL experience. I had a great number of wonderful friends, many of which were builders. So I had no qualms in committing real world money to pay one of them for a custom club build that served me well for over 3 years.

In my case, I'm self employed and I allow myself a generous allowance that I may use for whatever appeals to me. This pays for my outings with friends and luxury purchases [yeah I love high heels] in real life as well as my expenditures in SL. In the end I didn't spend too much in SL as I soon learned to DJ, model and build which generated a nice income for me.

Mind you I did pay for a full license for my SAM Broadcaster Professional but that expenditure has been paid for many times over by my DJing activities in SL and in my own joy of running a small Internet Radio Station.

In the final analysis I see that I've sent about $500.00 USD into SL over the last 7 years and now own 2 lovely full regions that I lease parcels to friends and tenants, DJ on a regular basis and visit with my friends here as often as time allows. Looking at my income production in SL, I average anywhere from $20.00 USDs to $100.00 USDs profit per month from all my endeavors. [Profit being my uncommitted Lindens leftover after paying all my in-world expenses]. That's not too bad after an initial investment of $500.00 USDs so long ago. I rarely take my profit out of game rather I like to spend it on clothing and heels and tipping live music talent that all give me so much joy.

In my case, all of this is more than worth that initial investment of USDs.

SecondLife is an fun but optional recreation for most of us. For many of us it is a rewarding zero sum activity with lots of benefits. For an even smaller few it is a significant income generator that augments our real life income sources.

Mind you, if you ever have to ask yourself the question "Do I pay my Linden bills before a Real Life bills" then you need to adjust your mental processes immediately and get out of SecondLife, period. This also applies if you seek a relationship in our shared Virtual World that turns sour and it ends up affecting your real life ability to work or interact with your flesh & blood circle of friends.

So the bottom line is, if your investment money source is 1)  taking away from a real world need [like groceries, or your retirement account or your rent money] or you are 2) charging it via a credit card - think twice about it, please! IMHO - SL should be funded only with "mad" money that you can afford to never see again and only if you get some enjoyment from that investment.

If you are stressing over it, then you already have the answer to your question. Don't do it.

 

[Dillon Levenque]

I just want to join the chorus on this. Do NOT pay anyone anything to teach you to build in SL.  There are so many free classes for that and for all sorts of other things that I'd have to think anyone charging by the hour is just someone hoping to lure new users who don't know any better yet. A creep, in other words.

Look on your dashboard page for 'Upcoming Events' at the bottom of the page and select 'Education' to see what classes are coming up. Or search inworld for 'Builder's Brewery' or 'NCI', to name two of the best known.

[Bobbie Faulds]

There is absolutely no need to pay for building classes. Builder's Brewery, Happy Hippo, NCI, Helping Haven, just to mention a few, offer free classes. Take all that you can on building, even the ones on jewelry. I use some of the techniques I learned in jewelry to make othe things. Anyone charging you for building classes is ripping you off. Happy Hipster even has free tutorials where you can follow and build right there. They do have some classes that are for sale, but basically to cover help cover the expense of the sim and the materials that are included.

[mirbaz]

I dont see anything wrong with people offering their serrvices, I would do too had I the skill and experience, would you not want to earn an extra income and share your talents tp help others, or would you do it for free?

 

Creep I would call people who charge 5000 L per hour just to change a few doors on something I bought from their sim where they work not even own, and that too with a snooty attitude.