is SL going to die ?

[Coffee Pancake]

35 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

I do actually think newcomers have the right to blame LL.

The thing is, newcomers don't. They just decide SL isn't for them for whatever reason and move on, they don't stay in SL long enough to get jaded.

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The OP mentioned making money from MP. That misconception is definitely LL's fault. It's right on the splash page of the web site:

The OP also mentioned making 20K L$ a month, presumably before leaving SL for 5 months.

The bulk of the OP's complaint seems to be that they left SL a while and didn't find it exactly how they left it.

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This is a blatant lie and LL should know it. There is no realistic way for a newcomer to make any profit worth mentioning from SL.

Not without skill, diligence and a fair amount of luck. Just like RL.

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You don't believe me? Very well, tell who made it then? Among the people who joined SL - say the last eight years? I'd be very surprised if there aren't any at all - no rule without exception - but there aren't many and this is actually the third time I ask the same question here and I've also asked it once at the other forum. So far nobody's managed to come up with a single example. It is possible to make a good secondary income and even a living from SL, yes, but only if you joined early enough to establish your business here during the hype days.

I don't think that's strictly true. A lot of the big names of yesteryear are long gone (or stagnant time capsules of long dead business models) , many of today's brands are under 5 years old (although I will accept that the most successful are probably OG's on their 3rd or 4th store). 

I know quite a few people who make and sell things in SL, some as their primary income. I used to make a decent second income way back when, it dried up because I got burnt out and my SL focus changed. It's certainly not any fault of Linden Lab.

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So I do actually believe it's fair to blame LL. Because it is Linden Lab that create those overblown expectations by making promises they can't keep. The "make money" bluff is just one example of this.

It's not up to LL though. SL is a place you can make money, the same as the real world, where the vast majority of new businesses fail in their first year.

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Another one is of course that free fantasy minimum hardware requirements list.

Yeah, that is pure fantasy, but so are all minimum requirements (and they always have been. I've not had an acceptable min requirements PC gaming experience since DOS ... and even then I just had much lower expectations).

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by CoffeeDujour

[Tari Landar]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

I do actually think newcomers have the right to blame LL.

The OP mentioned making money from MP. That misconception is definitely LL's fault. It's right on the splash page of the web site:

This is a blatant lie and LL should know it. There is no realistic way for a newcomer to make any profit worth mentioning from SL.

You don't believe me? Very well, tell who made it then? Among the people who joined SL - say the last eight years? I'd be very surprised if there aren't any at all - no rule without exception - but there aren't many and this is actually the third time I ask the same question here and I've also asked it once at the other forum. So far nobody's managed to come up with a single example. It is possible to make a good secondary income and even a living from SL, yes, but only if you joined early enough to establish your business here during the hype days.

So I do actually believe it's fair to blame LL. Because it is Linden Lab that create those overblown expectations by making promises they can't keep. The "make money" bluff is just one example of this. Another one is of course that free fantasy minimum hardware requirements list. Anybody who happene to read that and believe it reflects the actual performance you can expect in SL certainly has a right to complain and feel cheated. And then there is... oh never mind, the list goes on and on.

Umm, no

I was never a big creator, never had a very well established business in sl, never really made a whole lot of amazing stuff (and even now my mp wouldn't even over 0.0000009% of the things I've made in sl,  I'm just too lazy to fix what LL broke), yet for damn near five years, sl paid all my sl bills, all my rl bills, all my hospital bills (hey, that's an achievement all on its own), and plenty of cash to spare. When I stopped needing to rely on sl for income, I did (that's going to sound foolish to some, I don't much care what anyone thinks about it, there are plenty of reasons why I not only wanted to cut back, but also had to) Now anything I make in sl can fund my sl, and the sl of others, and I'm cool with that.  If I WANTED to put in the effort, I could go right back to where I was before (with some tweaks), again still a relatively no-name person, not a big creator, no bloggers, no websites, no social media presence, nothing fancy, no special skills, not the most likable person on the planet, not in touch with the reality that is mesh...just me. The problem is people don't want to put the EFFORT in.  Yes earlier on in sl time some folks managed making bank(for them, bank, for others, maybe not bank) simply because we had limited options as consumers in sl that we could go with for all of our pixelated desires-land, stuff, entertainment, whatever. But that hasn't been the case since long before even I got here permanently in '08 (I wa sin and out before, didn't much care for sl, lmao). Plenty of people do still earn real world profits. That graphic is not a lie, it's very much true. The problem is the driving force behind said profit earning does not exist in the vast majority of people.  That's perfectly okay though, not everyone has to make proverbial millions to make real world profits, or even just fund their pixelated desires. A whole hell of a lot of people just want the latter..and they do just peachy, many have been doing just peachy for over a decade. Some want more, and they have to work for that more...and so they do.

It's not JUST creators either, I know a "dj"(heh, if she sees this she's gonna laugh-we don't cal this djing, ftr, lol) who makes absolute bank, she works at multiple clubs, does events, and she's really good at entertaining people-but she'll be the first to tell you she knows jack all about music and puts little to no effort into much of anything, she doesn't have time for that. She doesn't actually "work" at all (her words, not mine), she just really likes music and it's something she can do with her schedule and rl family's needs. It doesn't just pay her sl bills and pixelated desires-of which she has far too many, imo, it actually pays for her family's rl bills-all of them, including dance lessons for her girls, and has for the last three years because working out of the home isn't in the cards for either of them right now.

Yes, to earn a lot more, it can definitely require work, sometimes a lot, (my friend is probably an exception to the rule, but I think there could be a lot more of them, if people didn't put every linden they earn back into sl...I digress on that for a moment though). It's NOT impossible though. People absolutely can make a rl living, you just have to figure out the best way for *you* to do it.  For me, if I ever wanted to return to making a rl living off sl, I would have to make some changes, because  blind people can't friggen build, (well, I mean, we can, but.. lindens help us all when we do, rofl)

I don't think most people who are making a rl living from sl would be all that willing to tell you how...you might just take their cash flow, or, you might sit there and judge them for it(not you personally, you general, of course). . I'll tell you how I would, and what I tell newcomers all the time though...find a niche. It doesn't have to be creation, it can literally be just about anything in sl. Sell it right...and the money is there to be had, people, a whole lot of them, clearly have the income t spend on their pixelated desires....you just have to find a way to meet those desires. (and I am NOT knocking what people spend their own money on, ftr....you do you boo, I promise, I'm not knocking you, I still waste money on breedables, I have no room to talk, lol)

[Theresa Tennyson]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

You don't believe me? Very well, tell who made it then? Among the people who joined SL - say the last eight years? I'd be very surprised if there aren't any at all - no rule without exception - but there aren't many and this is actually the third time I ask the same question here and I've also asked it once at the other forum. So far nobody's managed to come up with a single example. It is possible to make a good secondary income and even a living from SL, yes, but only if you joined early enough to establish your business here during the hype days.

 

The owner of Blueberry started on November 30, 2011 and her store's probably one of the most profitable in Second Life.

[Coffee Pancake]

The only ones who know would be LL, I doubt it's blueberry tbh.

[elixdude]

The one who made big profit is the land baron like Anshe Chung of course 😆

[ChinRey]

6 hours ago, Tari Landar said:

I was never a big creator, never had a very well established business in sl, never really made a whole lot of amazing stuff (and even now my mp wouldn't even over 0.0000009% of the things I've made in sl,  I'm just too lazy to fix what LL broke), yet for damn near five years, sl paid all my sl bills, all my rl bills, all my hospital bills (hey, that's an achievement all on its own), and plenty of cash to spare.

But you're an old-timer, Tari. Do you really believe that is possible today?

Somebody posted a very good explanation a few years ago (I thought it was CoffeeDujor but I must have been wrong): Imagine you're moving into a new town and want to set up a business there. You don't know anybody, you don't know where people go, you don't know the culture and nobody knows you. What chance do you think you have against your well established competitors? It can work if it's an expanding market but the SL one isn't.

One well established merchant once argued that the old-timers deserved their privileges because they were the ones who built SL in the first place. That is actually a very valid argument (even though it's a recipe for stagnation) but it means new entrepeneurs are not welcome and when they are told they a re, they have very good reasons to feel cheated like the OP here does.

 

6 hours ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

The owner of Blueberry started on November 30, 2011 and her store's probably one of the most profitable in Second Life.

The Blueberry store manager joined in 2006. Storeowner alts don't really count here.

that being said, I do actually believe that it was still possible to rbeak through as late as 2011, although it was right on the edge.

[Tari Landar]

26 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

But you're an old-timer, Tari. Do you really believe that is possible today?

Somebody posted a very good explanation a few years ago (I thought it was CoffeeDujor but I must have been wrong): Imagine you're moving into a new town and want to set up a business there. You don't know anybody, you don't know where people go, you don't know the culture and nobody knows you. What chance do you think you have against your well established competitors? It can work if it's an expanding market but the SL one isn't.

One well established merchant once argued that the old-timers deserved their privileges because they were the ones who built SL in the first place. That is actually a very valid argument (even though it's a recipe for stagnation) but it means new entrepeneurs are not welcome and when they are told they a re, they have very good reasons to feel cheated like the OP here does.

 

The Blueberry store manager joined in 2006. Storeowner alts don't really count here.

that being said, I do actually believe that it was still possible to rbeak through as late as 2011, although it was right on the edge.

Yes I absolutely believe it, my friend isn't an old timer (dragged her here like 5 years ago), most of the people I know that make rl profits aren't old timers either. A lot of the old timers don't make as much in rl profits as they could because they simply don't want to (maybe too much work, too high overhead, too much time invested, other things to do, whatever have you). I see a lot more newer residents that make rl profits than older ones- (that sounds like I'm being so judgy to me for some reason, but I'm not sure why, it's my own words, lol). But, yes, I do not only believe it to be still true today as it was 10+ years ago, but I know it is. 

A huge portion of "well established businesses owned by old timers" in sl aren't even around anymore, or even have changed to something different, so the comparison to old versus new isn't quite the same as it was maybe five, six years ago. I have never once cared for the rl to sl business analogy, because there is literally no comparison, except in word alone. The actual experience..yeah, no, it really isn't comparable-a whole different world, it's a bad analogy. I've experienced both a business in sl and rl, been the same person throughout both experiences. 

For rl perspective, you can skip over this part, lol, from 1998 until 2006 I ran an actual rl business, well more, but I'm focusing on this one... It started of as an online only thing, literally between a large group of other parents(small then large, as the internet grew to be more accommodating to more people). It was a home based business that got so big (and please don't think I am tooting my own horn, I am not, I made many a mistake, many, many, many a mistake, lol) that I had to take it from being just a small "in my house" business to expand and have other people work for me. Then it expanded to a brick and mortar store, an actual store (you have no idea how much this both pleased and scared the ever loving crap out of me). That store was opened in a town I just moved to, literally the month before. I knew no one, my oldest child wasn't even yet enrolled in kindergarten (she got enrolled a month late, lmao), my house was still 99% boxes. I knew nothing of the economy here, nothing of the businesses, had no idea just how rural more than half of this town really was...really, I was as ignorant to business here as anyone could possibly be. It was hard, there was nothing easy about it-even before I expanded to a b&m store. But, I persevered, I kept trucking, I made lots of mistakes, made some bad business decisions, made some really good ones too, and it flourished. It got big enough to require another location in another state-for one specific branch, if you will, of the business. I did well in a market I never should have done well in, both by sheer dumb luck, and hard work(ok probably more of the latter).  The only reason I ever got rid of that business (sold it) was because my time needed to belong to my children, most particularly one who was living more in a children's hospital than out of it (it later went on to become a very large business now owned by a much larger company, lol). The last two years before I sold it, I had backed off tremendously, and left it in very capable hands, who kept it going.  The economy where I live, sucks donkey nuts, and has for much longer than I've lived here. I was told my business wouldn't last, I was told "it's not possible", hell I told myself that, lol. Because it's what everyone says, it's what everyone expects, but I find it to be quite the wrong approach. 

If you look at something from a "it'll never happen" point of view all the time...of course it won't happen, you have no faith in yourself, your platform, your business..nothing really. That's a stupid way to go into any business (I know, again...I did it too, it was a stupid mindset then too, lol)

In sl, the work to create rl profits from sl...whatever (creation, services, land, whatever it is you offer) isn't the same as in rl..because literally everyone is new the very first day they start .No one can really come in with any amount of experience from anywhere else in their lives, be it rl or online somewhere else, and expect that experience to help a whole hell of a lot. It's a horse of a different color, to put it mildly. BUT, it's much, much, much easier to get "established" in sl, if you're determined to do so. That's what I tell people, all the time. I don't tell them "you'll never make it" because...wtf is that? lol Saying "you can only make money if you've been here for years" is basically telling any and all newcomers "don't bother trying". That's just dumb and definitely doesn't help the grid an iota. I'll be real and say it might be hard as hell at times, but, it's not impossible. (I apologize if that sounds like an attack, I don't mean it to be a direct attack or anything, it's just such a negative approach, it hurts my heart and my mind). Some of the most loved creators of today made pretty *****ty stuff when they first started too, or had no experience, or had a hard time getting established, or were told "won't make it"...but they did it. They wouldn't have been able to do it if it really wasn't possible. I know people that resell friggen gachas so much that it pays for all of their sl, and offers them some spare cash for rl too, lol. They don't even actually DO anything but sell gachas...and you darn well know those things haven't been nearly as popular for all that long, so they wouldn't be "well established" or "old timers" either. I also know folks who used to-and a couple still do-sell breedables and make some rl profits off that too(that's a gamble and a half, talk about a poor market). Not everyone who makes rl profits is going to make a rl living wage, but I wouldn't expect anyone to believe they should, they are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive. That takes a LOT more effort, overhead, time, other resources. But making enough money in sl to make rl profits is not this impossible dream that no one can attain. If I can do it, smarter, far more talented, nicer, less long winded and much better all around folks than me most certainly can. There's a LOT of those in sl...like a real lot, lol. 

There are only two real reasons why new folks struggle to make rl profits in sl..

1-Putting the effort in is too much-be it costly, time consuming, stressful, takes away enjoyment form sl, whatever have you

2-People keep saying they can't

Both are fixable

[AlexandriaBrangwin]

Hugo's Design!

I run promo events for them and the brand is the strongest in the fetish/latex scene!

[Theresa Tennyson]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

The Blueberry store manager joined in 2006. Storeowner alts don't really count here.

You know, there are stores in Second Life that are successful enough to need at least two humans to maintain them...

catty comment meow meow

Bear in mind that Blueberry makes mesh clothing and that skill set wouldn't have necessarily been in Second Life before 2011.

[steeljane42]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

Do you really believe that is possible today?

It certainly is. One of my favorite creators in SL only for about 5 years (or at the very least started to create here since that) and based on very low amount of "likes" on their flickr for the first couple of years and way lower quality first items (compared to now and even a couple years ago), it wasn't just some rebranding of an old store, those are very obvious. And now you can see his stuff at many big events, each flickr post has thousands of views and favorites and I see people wearing his creations everywhere. I believe he also runs some region business where he mostly rents parcels for stores to other creators.

It's all about making good and also popular things as well as branding, promos and some other ways to make yourself known, then if you keep up with quality stuff then most big events will ask you to be there by themselves, since it will benefit them greatly when a "fanbase" will rush there to buy your newest release and could as well buy something else.

I know the "good and quality" are entirely subjective, but you gotta know what sells now in SL, what's always on demand and what is very niche. And don't take it personally, but I remember your posts in mesh part of the forums and more, about some very light meshes, optimisation, the eternal fight for "light SL". I think I won't be too far if I'll say that "it's not what sells like hot cakes in SL these days". People already deal with countless limitations in RL, in SL they want pretty things on themselves and around them, the rest is way less relevant. And those who are stuck with ancient computers and could actually benefit from lighter meshes and less textures are most likely not having much (if any) money to spend on pixels either, so shouldn't be the target userbase when it comes to creating anything at all.

[Alyona Su]

13 hours ago, ChinRey said:

This is a blatant lie and LL should know it. There is no realistic way for a newcomer to make any profit worth mentioning from SL.

This is a blatant lie and RL should know it. There is no realistic way for a newcomer to make any profit worth mentioning from RL. Same statement, same context, same subject. No new-comer to anything should expect to be at or anywhere near adept skill level the moment they walk through the door. 

Linden Lab does not say you will earn real money; they say you can earn real money. Anyone that reads an advertisement and takes away a meaning other than what is specifically written or said is at their own peril. When an advert for a product says "no one else is better..." - people read that as "We are the best..." when, in reality, they never said they were better than anyone else, either. People always tend to substitute the word will for may, can, could, etc. Go figure.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Beth Macbain]

I shop. 

A lot. Too much, really. Inworld and MP on a regular basis. I know I'm far from alone in my shopping habits. 

I see new shops popping up in events all the time. I get new creators following me on Flickr, which in turn makes me take a look at their page. I shop the MP and sort by "new" and go through until I start seeing the things I've already seen. 

Yes, there are some big creators who've been around forever and have kept up with the latest and greatest trends. There are also a ton of new creators that are carving out their own spots in the world of SL commerce. 

I will never understand why people who seem to despise SL and LL continue to use the platform. 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

On ‎10‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 4:33 AM, Qie Niangao said:

I do worry about the steady aging of the SL population, both in terms of account age (there sure are a lot of us old timey two-namers still haunting the grid) and RL maturity. SL needs more new blood.

This is absolutely something I've noticed too. Even my young friends in SL are now in their 30's and I'm not seeing a ton of 20 somethings around.

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

On 10/14/2019 at 3:33 AM, Qie Niangao said:

I do worry about the steady aging of the SL population, both in terms of account age (there sure are a lot of us old timey two-namers still haunting the grid) and RL maturity. SL needs more new blood.

This is absolutely something I've noticed too. Even my young friends in SL are now in their 30's and I'm not seeing a ton of 20 somethings around.

Do you guys have any idea what might make SL more appealing to younger people?  Or do you think this is impossible?  This is definitely important for the survival of SL.

[Luna Bliss]

9 hours ago, ChinRey said:

Imagine you're moving into a new town and want to set up a business there. You don't know anybody, you don't know where people go, you don't know the culture and nobody knows you. What chance do you think you have against your well established competitors? It can work if it's an expanding market but the SL one isn't.

I think this is an extremely important point -- SL is not an expanding market at this point in time (it's pretty stagnant) -- and so comparisons with RL are often inaccurate.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Luna Bliss

[Luna Bliss]

39 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I will never understand why people who seem to despise SL and LL continue to use the platform.

Just because you see the faults in a company or a person does not necessarily mean you despise them.

[Luna Bliss]

I wish I felt energetic enough to get my research hat on and find the blog post over at NWN where a survey was posted 2 or 3 years ago, demonstrating that not that many people earn a lot of money in SL (I believe it was only 20 people who earned over 500 usd per month, but don't quote me on that).  I was shocked at how few there were who earned much and was why I remember the survey -- I felt very fortunate indeed to make a decent amount here.  I can't vouch for the survey though, as I don't remember how it was taken (could have been a very small sample so not too accurate).

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

8 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Do you guys have any idea what might make SL more appealing to younger people? 

I don't know. I try to keep my interactions with people in their 20's to a minimum as they terrify me.

[Luna Bliss]

2 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

I don't know. I try to keep my interactions with people in their 20's to a minimum as they terrify me.

lol they can be a lot like the welcome areas were (or maybe still are), a whirlwind of activity where I wonder if everyone drank too much coffee         Maybe I'm just getting old    

[Eva Knoller]

25 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Do you guys have any idea what might make SL more appealing to younger people?  Or do you think this is impossible?  This is definitely important for the survival of SL.

This is a good question. I think of myself in my 20’s... I would not have been interested in SL. I was out with friends most nights, did not have a whole lot of disposable income (after going out most nights 😀), etc.

I feel like part of the appeal of SL is the fact that it allows for socialization without leaving the house or extending much energy. It’s great for folks who work demanding jobs all day, or have a kids at home and can’t go out most nights, or are retired and have time to kill.  Older people also tend to have the disposable income to buy all of the goodies in SL.

So what would draw younger people to SL? No clue! Growing old?  

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Eva Knoller said:

So what would draw younger people to SL? No clue! Growing old?

Hmmm...but could be they'll choose a 'game' with attributes they're more accustomed to, just as us 'oldies' seem to prefer what is familiar to us for the most part.  

[Scylla Rhiadra]

25 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Hmmm...but could be they'll choose a 'game' with attributes they're more accustomed to, just as us 'oldies' seem to prefer what is familiar to us for the most part.  

The assumption seems to almost always be that younger people are looking for "games," and so don't find SL very attractive because that's not really what it is.

I interact with a lot of people in the 17-25 age bracket on a daily basis: a few would call themselves "gamers," more play games on a very casual basis, and a lot just aren't interested in them at all.

What does distinguish them from my generation is the kind of online social platforms they prefer. Facebook seems ancient to them. They are using Whatsapp and Instagram and Snapchat, to name a few of the most popular. And SL really doesn't mimic the mechanics of those newer forms of social media very well. (And indeed, maybe it shouldn't.) It's far more like the older social media platforms than the newer ones.

[Tari Landar]

3 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

 Do you guys have any idea what might make SL more appealing to younger people?  Or do you think this is impossible?  This is definitely important for the survival of SL.

The first thing we need to do is get rid of all the impossibles

I could point out every single thing LL have done wrong-because there is most definitely a LOT of it, but by the same token, I'd also have to point out all that they've done right. I think some people forget that last part, unless it applies to them directly. Anyone can read my posts to see I am far from an LL apologist, but that I also give them props when props are due. That's called balance...and loads of people don't understand that, or, can't demonstrate it, or, don't want to, or...I don't know, I have never made the claim that I understand people, lol..

I think that sl hasn't appealed to a younger crowd for quite as long as it has appealed to the 30+ crowd, mostly because the 20s crowd tends to have less extra time on their hands which might be required to enjoy sl a little bit more than say, the 30+ crowd. There are a LOT of us who don't work outside of the home in sl-and we are far greater in number beyond age 30 than we are those under it (if it helps, I started sl when I was a 20 something, and I'm still under 40, lol). Even back when the teen grid did exist, it was a shot in the dark that failed, rather miserably. It failed partly because..hello, mcfly..moderation, and who in their right mind thought kids would really need an entire grid... and also because the interest just isn't there, it wasn't in 2003, still isn't 16 years later, that's an indicator that maybe LL isn't necessarilly doing something wrong, but that it's just not meant to be. That's not necessarily a slight against LL entirely, it's just that younger people (mostly earlier 20s and under, of course) have a plethora of things geared towards them, sl being what it is, can't be compared all that well with it. Most (anecdotal exceptions being what they are..most is the best applicable word to use) 20 something folks don't have an interest in trying to make some side cash in a virtual world, they don't always have the same kinds of bills, likely don't have too many extra curriculars for their kids they have to pay for, or holiday money, or "need a new roof" money-so that part would be of little use. Most of them don't have spare time for a lot of things that require a more sedentary activity and if they're going to spend their time in a "game" or any kind of entertainment venue in a virtual/online form, it's going to be one that already has a crowd of and is marketed to, people their age. 

That is not to say that 30 somethings and up don't play video games, we do, a lot, BUT...the 20 somethings crowd in video games is MUCH larger than the 20 somethings crowd in most virtual platforms(and things like it, hell even IMVU lost a whole ton of them  over the last 5 years, aside from those that aged up and that was definitely marketed to that age range). People 30+ and up tend to play those games, or go in virtual platforms, or participate in online..whatevers..with people their age and older too, while 20 somethings tend not to. 20 somethings are still very much (most, not all, again) still at that "I'm an adult...but not as adult as you" stage in life.  It's kind of like a kid going from about age 10 to usually around age 13...it's awkward as hell. You're not a "baby", but you're not really a teen either. You don't want to be a little kid...but you still like toys. It's a rough age range for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which being biological.  That's what I attribute most of the 20 something age range in places like sl, and similar. Sure there are plenty of them, but odds are good, they know others in their age range and they may likely congregate with them, in some fashion.  You will always see people with more time on their hands being the 30+ range (possibly the late 20s, but that's still a crap shoot, they're still getting out of that awkward adult but not an adult phase) Anecdotal evidence being what it is...YMMV.

What could LL do to appeal to a younger crowd....nothing, because no matter what LL does, sl will always have the appeal it does, and it will always draw those who have more time to spend with it, regardless of age. That will, of course also include some younger folks, but it's always going to appeal more to a 30 and up crowd-one of the main draws is the whole fantasy thing-you can be anything, you can do anything, you can have that family you don't yet(or can't) have in rl, you can be a gorgeous model, you can relive your glory days, you can fly, you can drive like a nascar driver, you can be a cheerleader, a model, a dj, you can find something to do with your time while you wait for your kids to get hom from school or your spouse/partner to get home from work, while you're doing laundry and other housely duties...whatever, lol. You can  do all the things you maybe might like to do in rl but can't because...life, a lot of which isn't AS limited for a younger crowd (barring anecdotal evidence otherwise, this is pretty standard if you look just about anywhere, video games, social media, message boards in their heyday, BBs, forums....MANY who participate with a lot of regularity during much of the daylight hours, are not in their 20s nd never have been, FB would be the only exception and even that..eh..not much of an exception in most places).

One could look at all kinds of places to see that many in the 20 something range are busy doing other things, and I'm not necessarily sure LL should be making any concerted effort at drawing any specific age range. I think they need to do things that have a more general, or generic appeal and people will come and go as they always have. I have never thought sl should be this big huge place that should try and attract thousands and thousands more every day/week/month/year, I think it would get too big for its britches if that were the case and we'd have a lot more problems than we'd solve. That's not to say they shouldn't improve sl, they should, but targeting marketing is tricky and targeting towards an audience that is more likely to move on to the next latest and greatest is rarely ever a good business model for something like sl, where longevity rules supreme and short lived stays are kinda the bane of its existence...although we love them all the same.

And that probably makes not a lick of sense to anyone, lmao

Edited October 16, 2019 by Tari Landar
spaaaaaaaaces

[Beth Macbain]

I wonder if it isn't less about being appealing to certain age demographics and more about it being appealing to certain personality trait based demographics. 

20-24 year-olds are a lot different to 25-29 year-olds as well, and that entire group is still trying to figure out who they are. Would I have been interested in SL in my 20s? Not in the early part, certainly, maybe in the later part. 

As we old fogies are aging and getting even older, you also have to remember that everyone else is aging, too. Right now SL is full of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers. What's wrong with that? As we get older, the Millenials and Gen Z kids are going to be hitting the same ages we were when we got interested in SL. They'll replace us, but... for realsies, few people that are residents of SL today are dying from old age.

Unless something awful happens to us, we've got a good 10 or 20 more years left in us to use the platform. 

Why does SL need to appeal to younger demographics?

[Scylla Rhiadra]

4 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I wonder if it isn't less about being appealing to certain age demographics and more about it being appealing to certain personality trait based demographics.

I think that this is a really excellent point.