The Impact of Subscriptions on Second Life

[Darkwingz99]

The year is now 2016. People are either hardcore gamers playing games like CSgo, casual gamers, or roleplayers. Honestly, after seeing so many games including a few social games that have died out or will eventually have to shut down. I think Second Life needs a change in business model. A fanbase is attracted to the art and story of a game. When I first found Second Life, I knew nothing about it and saw it as just a shady website. Even today, I see that the free to play aspect of games is on the rise. After a look at Second Life as a social game, I saw that it might have some potential. However, much to my disappointment the free creativity of Second Life would have opened up a much larger community if it had a free trial, or free players could utilize the design software but only sell it with premium. The first thing people see in a game is how it runs and feels. If you don't have acsess to all of the features, then you don't have a clear idea of how things work. This and the fact that wallets don't agree with virtual worlds is why most gamers don't  spend money on subscriptions. Plus, most social gamers know that talented players don't give out good looking stuff for free. This causes the avatars and experience to look like a pile of dung. On a further note, this website still looks shady to me. The Youtube channel looks just as shady as the website itself. Why, you ask? There are so little tutorial videos and they are dated so far back that it looks like Second Life is just... I don't know. Should I even mention the Youtube videos that don't take this social game seriously and make fun of it? I mean come on, I rarely see things with potential. Second Life just is falling behind other social games in my opinion. Second Life is most certainly a simulator game in appearance, and that is not a compliment. 

[Cerise Sorbet]

Huh? Second Life has been on a "free to play" model since 2006.

 

[Darkwingz99]

The game clearly says that in order to build or own anything, that you must pay a subscrition or with real money to do so. Unless, of course this website is ten years outdated.

[Bree Giffen]

Darkwingz, the premium subscription is only to buy land. Building doesnt require a sub, nor does buying things. You can even get land without a sub by renting. Many things can be had for free but you can also buy really good stuff. Getting linden dollars doesnt require a subscription. You purchase linden dollars with a credit card, paypal or earn it in-world.

[Darkwingz99]

Now see, the earning Linden dollars never comes up in the tutorial or in any videos. Without any proof of such a method, a player will just simply browse through the information provided and see that there is nothing available for free. Just by jumping in game and attempting to build, you see no land at all you can build on for free.  So, just how are you supposed to design cool clothes for yourself or bestie? Not only that, but the whole thing just looks more pay to play. The first link on the mainpage is the marketplace. It doesn't really look at all like a free to play model.

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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Darkwingz99 wrote:

The first link on the mainpage is the marketplace. It doesn't really look at all like a free to play model.

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Eh wait... you mean THIS mainpage?



EDIT...

If you want to build for free, search (ctrl-F ingame) for "sandbox". That will limit you to the inworld building tools since uploading things costs a couple of cents. Free textures you can find in the library part of your inventory.

 

If you want a real free try of SL building, try the beta grid. You can upload and build anything you like over there and it won't cost you a penny. Of course the "experience" there is near zero.

Not to kick off the "SL is not a game" debate again, but SL is not a game, it's a virtual world. I never found any tutorials in RL on how to make money or on "what to do next". You need to educate yourself a bit to be able to get around.

[Syo Emerald]

Just to clear some things up:

Free to play means that you can get into a game without paying. And this is also true for Second Life. You can download the viewer for free and create an account for free. And compared to games, who claim to be free to play, Second Life holds no disadvantage for people who prefer to stay Basic. You can customize your avatar, explore the world, create content and interact with others. The only thing you can't do as a a basic member is getting land directly from LL.

Now you seem to have some misconceptions about SL, which make you think labeling it as free to play is wrong.

The things you refer to as "not being for free" are not created by Linden Lab, but by other users. You are paying another user for his/her work. And this is absolutly correct. LL can't and should not interfere here, because the economy is one thing that makes SL and other virtual worlds different from common games.

Also some of your statements are completely false:

- There is space to build on. They are called sandboxes. You can go there and start creating for free. Of course, your creation has to be picked up by you, once your done playing, because space is limited and everyone wants to enjoy the sandbox.

- There are free classes and many online tutorials, so you can improve your skills in creating and building. Nobody said its easy, but thats because creating 3D models and textures is something others go to college for and get a degree. But thats nothing that would disvalidate SL being free to play. (Hint: if you are decent enough, you could even start selling your stuff on the marketplace you complained about!)

- There are freebies, even decent ones. You just have to explore a bit to find them. Beggers can't be chosers, of course.

[Darkwingz99]

The sandbox I tried to visit said that I had to have premium membership to enter. If there is a free to play aspect, then it just is not promoted enough to be noticed.

[Theresa Tennyson]

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Darkwingz99 wrote:

The sandbox I tried to visit said that I had to have premium membership to enter. If there is a free to play aspect, then it just is not promoted enough to be noticed.

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Why would a for-profit company emphasize that you could use their products for free?

[Dana Dielli]

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Darkwingz99 wrote:

The sandbox I tried to visit said that I had to have premium membership to enter. If there is a free to play aspect, then it just is not promoted enough to be noticed.

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Promoted or not, a quick search for "sandbox" comes up with more than 1100 hits.   The vast majority of these are free.

It's not hard to find free places to build.    Have fun!

[Perrie Juran]

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Darkwingz99 wrote:

The year is now 2016. People are either hardcore gamers playing games like CSgo, casual gamers, or roleplayers. Honestly, after seeing so many games including a few social games that have died out or will eventually have to shut down. I think Second Life needs a change in business model. A fanbase is attracted to the art and story of a game. When I first found Second Life, I knew nothing about it and saw it as just a shady website. Even today, I see that the free to play aspect of games is on the rise. After a look at Second Life as a social game, I saw that it might have some potential. However, much to my disappointment the free creativity of Second Life would have opened up a much larger community if it had a free trial, or free players could utilize the design software but only sell it with premium. The first thing people see in a game is how it runs and feels. If you don't have acsess to all of the features, then you don't have a clear idea of how things work. This and the fact that wallets don't agree with virtual worlds is why most gamers don't  spend money on subscriptions. Plus, most social gamers know that talented players don't give out good looking stuff for free. This causes the avatars and experience to look like a pile of dung. On a further note, this website still looks shady to me. The Youtube channel looks just as shady as the website itself. Why, you ask? There are so little tutorial videos and they are dated so far back that it looks like Second Life is just... I don't know. Should I even mention the Youtube videos that don't take this social game seriously and make fun of it? I mean come on, I rarely see things with potential. Second Life just is falling behind other social games in my opinion. Second Life is most certainly a simulator game in appearance, and that is not a compliment. 

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Having read this and your Other Thread it sounds to me that you have come to SL with many preconceptions.  And that you came expecting to fail.  

I will let you in on one little secret about SL.

It's not about instant self gratification.  It has a learning curve.  If it's too steep for you come back in a few years and try again. 

[Kelli May]

Free stuff in SL:

All of the starter avatars (maligned as some of them are, they are there and totally free to use). Everything else in the Library, for what it's worth.

The shape editor. I could include the rest of the avatar editor, but apart from the brow shape editor none of that is really used currently.

Hundreds of free sandboxes where one can build for free (but not keep items rezzed for any length of time).

The prim build tools. Mesh build is done outside the viewer, so the cost of tools are not part of SL and not down to LL. Same goes for texture, sound and animations - all built externally. If you want to test them, you can use the test grid for free. They only cost when you want to make them part of SL.

All the free items on the Marketplace. Search by price of L$0, filter out Demos, shop. Some of it is junk, but I've had some great stuff over the years.

Promotional items in the form of store gifts, group gifts, gifts for newbies, hunt gifts, and give-away events. You claim that "talented players don't give out good looking stuff for free". Incorrect. Promotional items are often of very high quality, designed to attract and keep new customers in a highly competitive market. Merchants who give away junk don't get return customers.

Free L$ in some of the Linden Experiences.

Subscriptions. OK, this isn't free, but it's much, much cheaper than it looks. A year's subscription paid in advance costs $72. For that, you get L$17,100 in gifts and stipend. Saved up and cashed out, that's about 90% of your subs handed back to you over the year.

Subscriptions not your thing? If you want to spend real money (and if you don't want to, you don't have to) you can buy L$ on the exchange and rent land as others have mentioned. Obviously not free, but it's an option between 'totally free' and 'subscription only'.

Finally, and most importantly...
Almost everywhere you can visit is free. I've never found a single location with a cover charge. For all I know people might use the option, but in over nine years I've never seen it. Every club, hangout, gallery, RP location, theme park, race track and educational spot I've visited has been entirely free (but all appreciate tips and support).

[Yingzi Xue]

Second Life isn't GTA V or Just Cause 3.  There is no story except the one you create.  Second Life is an empty shell, a set of social and creative tools that allow ultimate freedom; a true virtual world made by the users themselves.  Thus, it's constantly changing and the content possibilities are literally limitless.  You never know what you're going to find around the next corner.

Your mistake is thinking of Second Life as a game with a story or some sort of direction.  It is not. 

Second Life is free to experience, without paying.  You can't own land, but you can rent it as long as you have the ability to earn in-world money (called Lindens) to pay for it, or have pay info on file to buy virtual currency.

In Second Life, you live a virtual life of your choosing.  It's that simple.  As in real life, nothing is handed to you.  This isn't Sims 3, it's a completely emersive virtual world with endless possibilties you create for yourself.

Maybe the reason you feel SL sucks so bad and is of poor quality is because you haven't done anything to further your own experience, instead thinking it should be handed to you.

Second Life is a virtual world, not a game.  Its experiences are dynamic and reflect the population.  Today something exists, tomorrow it doesn't.  Such is life in Second Life and such is the beauty of a true virtual world.

It helps to understand what something is before criticizing it.  I suggest starting at Second Life Wiki, which is chock full of specifics.

[SirLeighBastard]

It is extremely comforting to see that new joiners to SL are increasingly demonstrating a reduced cognitive capability, thereby confirming that those individuals who have hitherto been confining their use of electronic amusements to games consoles and social media smartphones are of an intellectual level even lower than the pre-existing clientele of Linden Lab.

***Call me when you have abused yourself publicly enough, or maybe when you have learned to spell the word.

[Jake Mysterious]

Going to have to agree with you on this.

[Gingir Ghoststar]

I don't buy linden. I earn linden. There are plenty of ways of making linden in SL. It takes work, just like RL, but if you're that adament about living a full on SecondLife dressed to the nines with giant gigalloo bungalo without paying RL currency then you better get to working. 

[SabaothMastema]

I will use the term game just as a very simplified description of SL. SL is a one hundred percent free to play game. No where do you NEED to pay any amount of real money to "advance". I have met some people who spent zero money and have some of the best stuff you can find. Or most importantly they are influential. Just as real life there are many routes to success and happiness. Money and influence are two such routes. Once you include the social aspect you get to other routes of happiness. Friends, family and popularity.

Second Lufe is exactly what the name implies. A SECOND life. How you lead that lufe and your success in it are entirely in your hands.