Luna Bliss

While this isn't ethically wrong, for me it causes your store to seem a bit tacky.

I would hate for those encountering stores charging group membership fees to be thought of as 'jerks' or as so corrupt that one should never buy at their store (as was suggested above). Reality is seldom so black and white and one most must undergo a more careful scrutiny of each store to determine what's right or wrong. When encountering groups that do ask group members to shoulder costs I try to determine if what they provide is above and beyond selling merchandise for profit, and if so I don't mind contributing with a group fee. It's good to determine, for example, if they provide a public space such as a park, live concerts, art galleries, or other public services alongside their store. We need to support these communities before SL degrades into a world of boring stores and sandpit rentals. Or worse, not an immersive contiguous land at all, but instead simply isolated rooms of bobbleheaded cartoon characters content to chat and have a space to change their purses.

@Vania Sure it's my choice to have my store show in Search and accept the costs, but that choice benefits others too, and it would be nice if so many stopped having such a freebie mentality - this is destroying in-world businesses. Communities aren't valued anymore - people come in and expect to attend concerts and roam land for free...land that sim owners pay a lot for, and pay musicians a lot to play at. And new people expect content to be free too, further eroding in-world businesses. In the old days of SL there was more a sense of community on group owned land. Participants in the group were willing to pay some to get the benefits of the land. With help from the community support, and sales from content sim owners could afford to provide great spaces for SL residents. Most sim owners can't afford to provide beautiful gardens and live music anymore....it's making SL turn into a boring mix of stores and rental land. It's sad.

I don't think we should pay to have our land show up in Search, for group creation, or even for texture uploads. In fact, with Search being as messed up as it is and so many businesses failing, and with LL making 75 million in profit, I think they should pay us to stay here. And now that the gas has been turned on in Zindra they should get a refund for their land. Groups are about more than 'advertising' George....they are about community - something I doubt you understand much given your hostile attitude. I've never been sure if the weekly fee we pay (closer to 12 dollars a month for our 4 sims and 1 Homestead rather than 20 as I thought before) is tied to the land or the amount of people in the group. $12 a month is a significant cost though, and if those in the group feel your offerings in SL are good enough it's not unfair to ask them to help. I created a 5-sim nature area under my store for the public (one of the most beautiful in SL so I'm told) and I think areas like this especially deserve some support. I really didn't mind paying it when my earnings were so much greater, but I'd rather have some support with the park than condense my store/gardens and X most of the park (using it for store prims instead). I do have a donation box set up, and am appreciative of those who do contribute.

I don't think there is an absolute yes or no answer regarding who should pay for group membership (well, except that LL should not be charging anyone for it). My partner and I pay LL for the group expense rather than charging group members, but I'm wondering if I want to set it so the group members share some of that cost. Our group is large so we're paying almost 20 real dollars a month to LL for our group, and if my sales continue to go down it's an expense I won't be able to afford. I think the question for each merchant with this decision is...what is your group for? What are the advantages or disadvantages regarding who pays these costs. For example, if you believe your groups visibility in others profiles is great advertising for you I would think your cost would be worth it. If your group is made up of people waitng for you to offer freebies or announce your latest release so they can try to copy it then it's best to let them shoulder some of the cost (probably most would drop out of the group though..lol). If your group is made up of people who really admire your work, want to support you, and want to know when you have updates they might want to purchase I would think they'd be willing to shoulder some of the cost. I'm thinking of moving to that last scenario. They all know I appreciate their business, and a few pennies isn't going to cause a crisis for them.

@ Foxy... If you make really good stuff here don't sell yourself too cheap Something I've discovered over the years...there's lots of people roaming these sims who make 6 figure incomes...I'm not going to work for 2 dollars an hour for them ! Unfortunately, many have expected this because it's 'just a game'. Of course many do not make in excess of 100,000 real dollars a year I know...pricing is not an easy thing to figure out. I don't just consider time spent on each item...I consider the time it took me to develop my skills and/or purchase my software too. Kind of like with a doctor...you don't pay them X amount for their labor for a 40 minute surgery....you pay them a lot for that 40 minutes because they know where to cut.

" Nice post, Luna. Phil, you were kind enough to share some advice with me about search last year. I have to echo Luna's advice in an attempt to return the favor. I also suggest you consider getting your items prepped for the Marketplace and get a presence there. Whether you agree with why we have to adapt or not, we have to or we face fading away. " Thanks Robert. Yes Phil helped me once with Search too, and was why I was more motivated to offer some support myself.

YW Jura Rene...thanks for the kind words the other month when my business was doing so poorly. I like those signs, but would be good to check for script time...a simple URL Giver script might use less time and cut down on script usage if you place a lot of them. Phil...yeah it can be a hard decision...when is any thing/person so corrupt or so troubling that you totally write them off. I would just hate to see you not do something you enjoy because of your bad experiences here.

Phil, I totally understand your frustration regarding all the changes that cause in-world stores to have less visibility. I love the store I worked so hard creating, with the gardens below, and to have the Marketplace shoved down my throat (if I wanted my store to survive) wasn't what I wanted....another huge task...it takes mega amounts of time to make those listings and get them up on the web. But the fact is, I don't think many stores will survive in the future that don't have a MP presence. The good news is that since I started getting more listing onto the MP my sales are finally improving, so ironically my best in-world marketing at this time is to have a good MP presence. And I"m looking at how it's beneficial in other ways too - for example, all these photos I take of my content and all the descriptions I write - all of this packaging can be taken to other grids. Who knows, maybe SL will even be connected to other grids one day and deliveries will go to multiple grids. So get that stuff packaged up Phil ! One best business practice I'd like to share regards how I make the connection between the MP @ my in-world store. I've started putting out an info cube with an URL giver in it next to my in-world store items so that shoppers can click this and go directly to the item at my MP store. I know, at first I thought this might be stupid since I'd be getting less money if they purchased it on the MP, but I believe it actually increases sales overall - you can see all the details of the item so much better on the MP - so much more detail than a note card can provide (and note cards often don't open). Plus, there is a certain percentage of people that seem to trust purchasing @ the MP store more than in-world. But back to the changes SL forces on us, it is very hard to keep going sometimes with so many changes. Many of them seem like errors in judgement, and probably some are and some aren't, but what can we do but keep adapting as best we can. This recent plan...the march to Sesame Street/Disneyland...seems like a big error to me at this time (I hope I'm wrong though). We are pretty much dragged along as SL tries to find fame and fortune, and most of the time they don't seem to see that the people already in the world are the ones they should be focusing on (well, the ones that are still left anyway). In other words, it's a niche market...but it's a big world and could create a big niche - can't this be enough?

Can you tell me how to get... how to get to Sesame Street?

Thanks Brooke...nice tip. And I really like the look/format of the new forums.

@ Renee Unfortunately many of those hogging the worlds resources don't include the needs of others outside their circle in their construct of reality or concept of 'winning'. As to what game those victimized might be playing, as you asked, - all oppressed people still have a choice in how they respond emotionally, but only that particular oppressed person can judge if they structured their reality/response in the best way possible. I may not understand what exactly you were implying, but it seems to be that you think I believe because people can structure their reality that they have control over everything? I don't believe that.

Hmmm an interesting topic...makes me consider just what reality is, and how this affects the future economy of SL. My belief is that a game is simply a structured reality with a set of rules, and in so-called 'real life' we are all playing games too, although the rules might not be so noticeable, and many are even unaware of the game they are playing. Commonly however, it seems most only consider something a game if the structure is very noticeable or defined, or perhaps contains an agreed upon fantasy element. All of life is a game because we all structure our reality in some way, with our own rules and concepts of winning/losing/competing/how to experience - even if we are only competing against ourselves or our own standards. The notion of 'games' in modern times seems to have a negative connotation - as if they are 'less than' - so I can see why there is such a resistance to the idea of SL being defined as a game. That seems strange to me however, as my definition of 'game' includes all of reality - a game is simply a more structured reality,and every person on the planet structures their reality in some way. Furthermore people can learn a lot about themselves and derive benefit from roleplaying and participating in games, sometimes even in the so-called 'mindless' games. Have you ever been approached by someone in SL talking like they're in 17th century England? I have at my store, and I'm usually bemused... on the one hand it's a little bit fun, but on another level I can feel offended - I resent being shoved into someone elses 'game' when I haven't agreed to play yet. Depending on my mood I might play along or not. This seems an important aspect of any game (in any world ) - that you maintain the ability to participate or not. And I think this could be another source of resistance to the concept of 'game' - for some this denotes a sense of manipulation, especially if the game playing is more conscious (once again...in any world). But all that aside, how should LL present itself to the public? It does seem that most people want a more structured reality during much of their time. Maybe LL's emphasis on games and roleplaying of late is a good thing. However I feel they are losing sight of those who don't want ONLY that reality - I think there's a big group of people that think LL's definition of this game disregards their reality. Some people want a 'game' of community that doesn't involve breeding animals or fantasy roleplay. Some people want to play the 'economy game' where artists can actually earn a living. LL always seems to chase the next big thing while ignoring the people already here, and I can only hope they will rethink their game plan.