Is SL's Player Base Declining?

[WinTrain]

Is SL's user population decreasing? It seems SL isn't active as it used to be, or at least for me rather. I remember year 2009 being pretty active and big when I first joined. The whole bloodlines thing was going strong and full blown, I remember 2014 being really active (especially in the summer).

The last two years have seemed a bit more quiet in my experience. I remember Ambrosia always being full all day, all night, 60+ people. Now hardly anyone goes there and there's only about 12 people.

Are people quitting, or lowering their play time, or is this just my experience of just aging and becoming less engaged with SL like the whole (been there, done that?)

[kali Wylder]

I don't know about the total population of SL, I think it's gone down some, but I don't know the statistics. But clubs come and go.  The decline in popularity of any one club doesn't mean that the user population has declined.  It just means that they've moved on.  I can only speak to the blues clubs population which used to be centered in 2-3 clubs and is now spread out among about 2 dozen. I don't think I've ever been to Ambrosia so I don't know what kind of musical genre they catered to, but I imagine it's similar for them.

[Callum Meriman]

15 minutes ago, WinTrain said:

at least for me

^

[Theresa Tennyson]

6 hours ago, WinTrain said:

Is SL's user population decreasing? It seems SL isn't active as it used to be, or at least for me rather. I remember year 2009 being pretty active and big when I first joined. The whole bloodlines thing was going strong and full blown, I remember 2014 being really active (especially in the summer).

The last two years have seemed a bit more quiet in my experience. I remember Ambrosia always being full all day, all night, 60+ people. Now hardly anyone goes there and there's only about 12 people.

Are people quitting, or lowering their play time, or is this just my experience of just aging and becoming less engaged with SL like the whole (been there, done that?)

I started in 2010. In 2014 I remember how people were saying that Second Life was dead.

After a certain point in time in Second Life people tend to stick with things they're familiar with and don't seek out new things as often.

[ThorinII]

On 1/16/2019 at 12:46 PM, Theresa Tennyson said:

In 2014 I remember how people were saying that Second Life was dead.

They were saying that in '08 already when I created my former account. However, it still does look pretty alive to *me*, although the numbers of users online at the same time have indeed decreased since back then. 😏

[Ethan Paslong]

can't there be a at least 5 yr ban on this subject? ..

[Christhiana]

A declining userbase doesn't say much on it's own and is something to be expected after 15 years. I'm personally more interested in how active and involved the userbase is. That is something that can still grow while the userbase declines in numbers.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Christhiana

[Syo Emerald]

On 1/16/2019 at 5:45 AM, WinTrain said:

Is SL's user population decreasing? It seems SL isn't active as it used to be, or at least for me rather. I remember year 2009 being pretty active and big when I first joined. The whole bloodlines thing was going strong and full blown, I remember 2014 being really active (especially in the summer).

The last two years have seemed a bit more quiet in my experience. I remember Ambrosia always being full all day, all night, 60+ people. Now hardly anyone goes there and there's only about 12 people.

Are people quitting, or lowering their play time, or is this just my experience of just aging and becoming less engaged with SL like the whole (been there, done that?)

In 2014 the heydays of SL were already roughly 7-9 years in the past, back when RL companies had their own sims, hundreds of newbies pilled up everywhere (usually asking how to get rich, since they read about the first SL milionaire) and news articles couldn't decide if SL was pathbreaking for a future 3D internet...or digital Sodom and Gomorra.

People were already complaining that SL is dead in 2014. As they did in 2010...and probably before that aswell, because anything that came after the big boom had to be a decrease. Statistically speaking the drop you think to notice is probably happening on a much more personal level. Places you frequented and thought of "always being there" are slowing down and vanish, but in the grant scheme of things there hasn't been an increased fall of activity since 2014. That Ambrosia has been around that long is a small wonder in itself, usually clubs die much quicker and much more frequently.

[MirandaBowers]

From my own personal experience, (and don't weigh it for more than a grain of salt), I feel like maybe the declining feeling comes from people choosing to hang out in private areas rather than public/group spaces? 

[iamyourneighbour]

On 1/16/2019 at 2:45 PM, WinTrain said:

Is SL's user population decreasing? It seems SL isn't active as it used to be, or at least for me rather. I remember year 2009 being pretty active and big when I first joined. The whole bloodlines thing was going strong and full blown, I remember 2014 being really active (especially in the summer).

The last two years have seemed a bit more quiet in my experience. I remember Ambrosia always being full all day, all night, 60+ people. Now hardly anyone goes there and there's only about 12 people.

Are people quitting, or lowering their play time, or is this just my experience of just aging and becoming less engaged with SL like the whole (been there, done that?)

Are you sure it is not bloodline going out of fashion? 

I mean vampire all that was more popular in 2004-2008 era, after that it was zombies and survival, then followed by crafting/battle royale. Trends come and go.

[Rob Huntsman]

Well, I wont talk about "Economic Success" like a lindon does.

However, Second Life has a declining player base because of better titles out there such as Conan Exiles (Your able to get a working server over there for 40$!) or Minecraft where you can host your own server/creation for free by using your own Internet connection.

I think if SL would tweak their marketing strategy where if you could get something like a full sim for at least 50$ a month or free. You could perhaps have more things to do, because people would be able to afford that.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F02sz9d

Edited January 18, 2019 by Haselden

[Gabriele Graves]

2 hours ago, iamyourneighbour said:

Are you sure it is not bloodline going out of fashion?

We can only hope

On other note, for some reason I read this topic's title as "Is SL's Player Base Reclining?" which sounded much more interesting

[Selene Gregoire]

3 hours ago, Gabriele Graves said:

"Is SL's Player Base Reclining?"

[Punky Starchild]

In the people I know they are all hanging around on their private sims, tweaking their avatars, especially with Catwa etc. It is all more based on vanity now and how you look rather than looking for fun, exploration and play time etc.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

one only has to look at all the yellow on mainland to know it is. 

[Ethan Paslong]

1 hour ago, Ziggy Starsmith said:

It is all more based on vanity now and how you look rather than looking for fun, exploration and play time etc.

only agree with that partially, in the past we also were hunting after the most new jacket, skin and hair, but the first part is often true, its more intensive now when you want to change, and so need more time, and the events, sales and what more.. are now too many to keep up, no time to hang out, we nééd to shop now, not later, imagine to miss the latest track suit or dress that would be horrible.(not realising there are 50 stores offering the same template stuff for half the price or less)

Most important is in my opinion the more individual mainstream we also see in RL, a few days ago i read a column about the current generation : it's not longer enough to stand out of the crowd, but you have to be super unique, nobody has to tell you what you do or limit you.
That kind of attitude, not saying it's good or bad, (i have my opnion of course) for sure won't bring the old SL back.

 

[Ethan Paslong]

6 minutes ago, Tarina Sewell said:

one only has to look at all the yellow on mainland to know it is. 

thats for sure a symptom of something but not as easy as you state it here.

- less premium accounts, but also 3rd point in this list
-the comming of LOADS of private estates
-the comming of Linden Homes
-the massive over creating drift of LL to add more and more mainland while the hype was already declining
-the hype itself, decline is always a result of blwoing air in a bubble
-the forced move to adult land
-the wrong assumption of new players that SL is a Game, and they will make it in their first day

and many more to add

 

also something to think about in this post:

19 hours ago, Christhiana said:

A declining userbase doesn't say much on it's own and is something to be expected after 15 years. I'm personally more interested in how active and involved the userbase is. That is something that can still grow while the userbase declines in numbers.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Ethan Paslong

[Solar Legion]

1. Second Life does not have a "Player Base" - it has a User Base. Get it right.
2. Any and all comparisons to things such as Minecraft - or any other "game" - are failed/false from the start. Stop making such comparisons.
3. Depending on who you ask, Second Life has been "declining" since even before I joined - near the end of 2006.
4. There is no shortage of users that honestly believe they have The Magic Solution to Solve Second Life's User Woes - some even going so far as to pretend their "contributions" mean anything/give their opinions more weight (newsflash, they don't).

I've watched users come and go over the years, watched whole communities rise and fall ...

There's always someone to tout The Next Big Idea to Save The Grid. Always. More than ninety percent of the time, this Next Big Idea is primarily self-serving, only benefiting other users by proxy.

There's also always at least one user that is quick to blame everyone else, at least one user who tries to stratify/label various classes of users while pretending their own attitude isn't a problem ...

The list goes on and on and isn't even touching the grand sim ideas of the past that died out - some that return in one form or another and some that will sadly never come back. Nor does it touch properly upon the creators that left - some for good reasons, some because of overly fragile egos - or the creators that are no longer with us in general.

Second Life will not be around forever, let the Lindens/Linden Lab worry about the User Base. Like to explore? Go - Explore. Dance? Same. Heck, almost any activity ... Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Orwar]

   It's not like you can 'do' anything with more than 40 people in one spot anyway, so why does it matter socially if SL has 2,000 users or 20,000,000 users? I'm whining about how I can't get into events for hours on end. Unless of course you're a creator and want to sell as many Product X as possible. But then, if SL had a larger player base, surely the market competition would be stiffer. Which I suppose might drive up quality and product selection. 

   Is SL dying? Nah. Is it competing with those big MMORPGs, Battle Royales and MOBAs for customers? No, not really. Sure, Fortnite apparently pulled in USD$1.8B last year - but do you think those 14 year-olds are sitting there thinking 'adrenaline-inducing, cartoon-y action game ... or complex virtual creative platform, what to choooose'? 

[Fionalein]

32 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

1. Second Life does not have a "Player Base" - it has a User Base. Get it right.

applications have userbases, games have playerbases,... computer games have both - get us all to agree on wether SL is a game and you can dictate what we have and we have not  until then for heaven's sake stop arguing over silly tidbits - that style over substance argumentation style just devalues everything else you have to say,...

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Fionalein

[Solar Legion]

17 minutes ago, Fionalein said:

applications have userbases, games have playerbases,... computer games have both - get us all to agree on wether SL is a game and you can dictate what we have and we have not  until then for heaven's sake stop arguing over silly tidbits - that style over substance argumentation style just devalues everything else you have to say,...

 

 

No agreement is needed.

If that first point causes you to dismiss anything else, you've got a problem - that's all there is to it. Get over it.

Same if you have an issue with how I presented my initial response. See, like some users ... I'm sick and tired of this particular topic cropping up in various forms and frankly just as sick of people treating it as something to seriously discuss.

It belongs in the same place as threads complaining about the Graphics - File Thirteen.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Solar Legion

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

And again, it is the prophecy!

https://gawker.com/5158190/the-end-of-second-life

Edited January 18, 2019 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

On 1/16/2019 at 5:45 AM, WinTrain said:

 I remember year 2009 [...] I remember 2014 [...] The last two years have seemed

Yet, you start this thread with a 6 month-old alt. Why not with your original? Why do you wish to remain anonymous with regard to the subject?

[Garnet Psaltery]

9 hours ago, Gabriele Graves said:

On other note, for some reason I read this topic's title as "Is SL's Player Base Reclining?" which sounded much more interesting

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

1 hour ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

And again, it is the prophecy!

 

https://gawker.com/5158190/the-end-of-second-life

The most interesting line in that article was when Mitch Kapor was said to have said in 2008 (Second Life's "Golden Age") that Second Life was "in the ballpark of profitability." When a businessman says that, it means that the business isn't profitable, at least consistently. Meanwhile, in the years of "decline" it's been acknowledged by the Lab that it's consistently profitable now. Logic would agree with that, because smallish, slowly declining, unprofitable businesses simply don't live as long as Second Life has.

This article from the end of 2008 linked in that article was also interesting (and pretty accurate, although Second Life was able to hang on considerably longer than "a year or two.") Personally, I like the line where he says that the Viewer 1 interface (the "intuitive" one many people on the forums say should never have been changed) was "a mess." 

https://www.businessinsider.com/2008/11/why-reuters-left-second-life-and-how-linden-lab-can-fix-it

Edited January 18, 2019 by Theresa Tennyson