ralph Alderton

0L$ and 10L$ dross dominate any relevant search. This is a clearly a grave error. What other online retail store would allow the lowest quality and the worst products to take up the most important shelf space, in this case, the first 10 pages of any Relevant search results. I've been lobbying the community and Linden Lab for 3 years or more regarding the SUPERABUNDANCE of dross and rubbishy products cluttering up the marketplace I'm worn out with it. 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear' To attract and retain new and existing users SECONDLIFE MUST LOOK ATTRACTIVE and 10L$ and 0L$ dross ain't helping. We need paid keywords and listing fees to rid the marketplace of the appalling SUPERABUNDANCE of dross that currrently dominates

Linden Lab really do need to FREE THE LAND MARKET and release the grid from the absurd historical situation whereby you have to have a full sim before you can buy a Homestead It's a real blocker on the Lab's most desirable product - The Homestead The Lab are not protecting the big estate owners by keeping this blocker in place - they are just stagnating the grid and preventing the growth of Secondlife You know it, I know it, all of the wise Lindens know it - The current Land pricing structure and model needs a complete overhaul, it's 10 yrs out of date and too expensive for the core customer base Nobody wants to be squeezed on to a 4k plot or rent a quarter sim even, everyone wants CONTROL of their own Homestead When Linden Lab corrects the broken pricing structure (read .. make it much cheaper) and let's anyone buy a Homestead, then and only then wil we see real growth in concurrency and the grid

If Linden Lab want to seriously increase their revenue lowering tier is essential. It's only people who don't believe in SL's potential and future who say that tier is the right price. Tier is currently set at the wrong price, that's why SL is stagnating. LL should let anyone buy a HS without a full sim, lower tier and watch SL boom again. If LL halved tier costs they'd sell tons of sims and more than double their money. High tier costs are strangling and suffocating the whole ecosystem. It's all about the land.

@MarmelaGramela, The world is half empty because tier costs are too expensive. High tier costs are driving customers away from the product and depressing users who have projects they want to do but can't afford or can't justify the cost High tier costs = low concurrency

@Gooden, The only thing causing sime to be abandoned is - drum roll - the oppressively high tier costs Estate owners won't have any estates left if high tier costs continue. Wise estate owners, who have foresight, would lobby LL for a large reduction in tier for everybody not just Atlas program members Wise estate owners who actually want to grow their business and not just sit on and turn around the same land over and over again would welcome lower tier costs and no set up fees, it would ultimately, long term benefit estate owners more than any other class of resident. Because lower tier cost would create a greater demand for their product, which is land. Gooden, don't you know ? Secondlife is declining and in danger because of high tier costs. NOBODY can afford these prices ! fact !

@Deltango, I totally get what you are saying apart from this bit : 'If Linden Lab had improved SL dramatically over the past five years, the current tier prices would be justified' Even if there were no lag, SL never crashed at all, the GUI won a prize as a work of art, serach worked perfectly, mesh was seen by all viewers, and a Homestead had 100k prim allowance - the current prices would still be too much for the customer base The core enthusiastic users of this platform can not afford or justify paying these incredibly high tier costs and they never will.

After reflection, it's marvelous to see some movement in LL's land pricing offers but clearly it's not going to make any difference. It might boost this months sim numbers which would have been totally appalling, I'm guessing Right now nearly all the big shops inworld and little shops are suffering the most terrible traffic When I say terrible traffic - that often means no traffic and the marketplace sales are not making up the difference. All my records for 6 years being an SL creator and merchant in SL show that things should have picked up by now after the summer slump, but not this year, inworld and marketplace sales are slow. All the creators I know say they are down approx. 50% and slipping. At the root of this deep decline in interest and use of Secondlife are the outdated, unaffordable, high tier costs. LL know it, we know it, everybody knows it - The current tier pricing model is driving interested, enthusiastic customers away. High tier costs = Low concurrency = low sales = declining economy We're not stagnant anymore, we're not flatlining, we're actually in decline and this should NOT be happening to SL. It's an incredible medium oppressed by high tier costs . LL have the power to turn this around and re-energise Secondlife and make millions in the process. Be brave Linden Labs, REDUCE TIER NOW ! For goodness sake believe in your product - IT'S SPECTACULAR !!

@ Lynda, The mainland is just not an option for so many people and for so many reasons People want control, that means their own sim - that's the only real way forward for Seocndlife. Homestead should actually be affordable and available directly from LL for anyone who wants one.

In an ideal world of course I'd rather pay no setup fee or a nominal one if any and then have a much reduced tier. FREEING THE LAND MARKET, reducing tier and letting anybody buy a Homestead is key to the future success of Secondlife. Like you say Sy, it's the ongoing high monthly tier costs that are blocking the spectacular growth of the grid

I think it's marvelous to see a glimmer of light shining in the frozen darkness of LL's land pricing model

Time Limited offer, this weekend, No Set Up Fees on new sims This is a great idea, marvelous to see some changes from LL regarding the land pricing model. I really hope this encourages some new users to get a sim. The time is right this REALLY should be a permenant deal - no set up fees ever - and also LL should introduce no need to own a full sim before you can buy a Homestead. Then we'd see some massive growth in the grid The set up fees have always been a blocker to sim purchases. But unfortunately, we still have a big blocker to sim ownership - and that blocker is the requirement that we own a full sim before we can purchase a Homestead. With no set up fees and no requirement to own a full sim, Homesteads would become LL's killer product. But with the massive 300USD per month tier for a full sim, LL are blocking the core user base from getting the product they want - which is their own Homestead directly from LL with no set up fee. That would be awesome. I genuinely hope the current DEAL generates new interest in land ownership. But the only real solution is to reduce tier, it would put literally thousands of new sims on the grid. Secondlife needs : No set up fees Anyone can buy a Homestead (no full sim needed) Homesteads 49.99 USD per month tier Full sims 195.99 USD per month tier The above pricing model would make sims fly off the shelves, it would halt the abandonment of sims overnight. Secondlife is an amazing, outstanding technology, people love it, want to use it. If tier was priced right we would see dramatic and incredible growth.

Thank you for your take on things Tateru It's pretty much what I was thinking. Signups are not being converted :matte-motes-crying: Unfortunately what seems to be happening is , even the 0.1% of people who are converted are unable to make use of SL because of the high tier cost There are literally thousands of grand projects waiting to be born, by the core user base, but tier costs are such a blocker nothing is done and SL continues to stagnate I'm pretty sure we're getting near tipping point, with a saturated marketplace, declining economy, shrinking grid, slipping concurrency. It really is time for The Lab to reduce tier costs and re-energise the ecosystem otherwise it doesn't bode well. I can't keep investing my time in a platform that is shrinking and I know several other creators who are feeling the same way I'm even starting to think about an exit strategy from SL content development and I never thought I would say that:matte-motes-crying:

@Poenald, Do not worry about RL mesh artists flooding the SL Marketplace. Content is so undervalued here. Creating top quality mesh content is a non trivial task which takes time and in the current price dumped, declining SL economy and ecosystem, the mesh artist's time is best spent increasing their product ranges at RL model banks where they will get a proper return on invested time and skills. With the current decline of SL ( low concurrency, shrinking grid, less user hours etc ) and the devaluing of content at the marketplace via price dumping - I will NOT be bringing any of my mesh content to SL. What is the point in supporting a stagnant, possibly dying platform ? I love SL, it's an incredible medium, it's outstanding in a thousand ways but it's true potential is being smothered by inappropriate, outdated land pricing model.

@ Tateru, "There is a distinct, statistically significant increase in completed new user registrations," Since there is an increase, where are they all ? No increase in concurrency - been slipping all year No increase in grid size - also shrinking all year With my main AV and with several alts I am in contact with a large number of creators and everybody is saying the same - we're all down approx. 40% - 50% compared to this time last year. These are great creators with excellent and growing product ranges and who are keeping up to date and adapting to the changes happening in SL. The truth is the whole SL economy is probably down 40%-50% and compared to the 2006/2007 boom it's down 70% The decline in Secondlife can be attributed to one overriding factor - high tier costs blocking proper use and adoption of the platform. And still after how many years ? pffft !! you still can not buy a Homestead sim without a full sim - another superb way to block your customers from getting your premiere product ! Also of note, my RL mesh content sales from TurboSquid, Renderosity and Daz3D are increasing as I increase my product range. But even though I am increasing my SL product range, my sales here are decreasing Something is seriously wrong with LL's biz recipe and it's the High Tier Costs that are driving active interested users away Secondlife is an incredible medium and it would grow dramatically from within if the tier costs were more sensible

@Orca, You may well be happy being a hobo - it's an interesting life choice. But I assure you that 99% of human beings are territorial creatures and they want a place to call their own. Their own Sim, that's where the real fun is. Until land is affordable so that everybody and anybody can have their own Homestead Linden Lab are not doing their proper job - facilitating and empowering people to LIVE / PLAY / WORK in a virtual world The fact is that literally thousands of projects and grand ideas that could be materialized in Secondlife, are NOT BEING DONE because of crippling tier cost Its a terrible shame that a medium as powerful as Secondlife is being neutered - basically Secondlife is like a eunuch, it's balls have been cut off. Linden Labs castrated themselves with the knife of high tier costs in Oct 2008. All growth halted at that point.

"until LL improves the technology and solves the pricing problem, the amazing potential of Second Life will remain crippled.2 QFT

Interesting to hear your comments and experiences Nikkei. You are quite right, LL do have their head in the sand, worse than that they seem to have become rigid and frozen in regards to tier costs. They are stuck in a rut and the SL economy, land ownership, user hours, concurrency are all declining and reflect the deep rut caused by high tier And as the OP said - LL are just rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic and they haven't noticed that the iceberg of high tier costs is sinking the good ship SL.

@Orca, SL is not a minority niche product. LL are making it in to a niche product with their excessively high tier costs, putting it out of the reach of most people's pockets. Even enthusiastic dedicated users can not justify the cost of sim ownership Secondlife is actually the prototype of the 3D web itself, the generic virtual world that millions of people could utilise. Secondlife genuinely has the potential to empower tens of millions of people, to improve their lives in countless ways. Secondlife is the ultimate social network, it's just too expensive and tier costs are killing it's massive potential

@Freecilla, UI is not a major problem, it's a minor temporary difficulty. You can even choose different UIs with all the TPV available. LL can improve the UI until it's slicker than goose sh*t through a tin horn ! It ain't going to make any difference to concurrency and land ownership Doesn't matter what good things LL do. Unless they reduce tier costs SL will contiue to stagnate and fossilise. It's too expensive, they are pricing themselves out of their own market

@Alazarin, People are already flooding in, 16k registrations a day, August was the best month for new registrations ever , blah, blah, blah The problem is they're not staying and even enthusiastic users are walking away. The real deterrent and blocker to the adoption of SL, even to people who love it - is tier costs, they are just TOO HIGH Imagine if it costs 125USD (Homestead sim tier) per month to play Farmville - nobody would play Imagine if it costs 300USD (full sim tier) per month for a web site in the late 90's - the internet would still be a niche product just like SL Yes people can play SL for free but that's not what it's all about. Having such high tier costs takes away options and makes people feel poor. Computer games and virtual worlds are about empowering people. These high tier costs are dis-empowering people There are countless projects - educational, business, role-play projects, game projects, charity projects, fun projects, residential projects etc, etc - that are not done, abandoned, not even attempted, because of the high tier costs High tier costs = low concurrency Low concurrency = low sales = weak economy Weak economy = No SL growth = Stagnant ecosystem p.s. It's nothing to do with computer spec - I can run Secondlife on a 6 yr old windows XP computer with a NVidia Geforce 9800GT video card and SL runs fine !

The real reason why sales are weak and stagnant is not because of the marketplace or because search is borked. The real reason why the SL ecconomy and ecosystem is weak and declining is because tier costs are too high. It's not because the real world is in recession ( my Turbo Squid, Renderosity, Daz3D sales are increasing as I increase my product range ). The RL world recession is not effecting my RL mesh content sales But in Secondlife my content range is growing but my sales are shrinking Secondlife ecconomy is in decline because of tier costs Tier costs effect concurrency Concurrency effects sales The equation is very easy to understand, if you stand back and look at the ROOT OF THE PROBLEM HIGH TIER COSTS are the real problem yet we squabble about search and the marketplace etc, etc

It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

THIS I don't want to make money, I just want to be wonderful. Marilyn Monroe I can make more generals, but horses cost money. Abraham Lincoln For I can raise no money by vile means. William Shakespeare Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. Andy Warhol A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man. Lana Turner Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. Jim Rohn Pretty much, Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation. Steve Jobs There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. Sam Walton Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best. Theodore Isaac Rubin I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money. Lord Acton It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. Tom Brokaw Only a monopolist could study a business and ruin it by giving away products. Scott McNealy Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. Steve Jobs Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops. Thomas J. Watson Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. Mark Twain　 The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world. Orison Swett Marden The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see. Ayn Rand Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. Og Mandino It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity. Mohandas Gandhi I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have. Leonardo da Vinci It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Nice stats Nefertiti. So out of a total 1695427 marketplace items, approx 45% of them are listed at 0 to 100L$. Nearly half of the marketplace items are valued at less than 100 L$ That's not good for Linden Labs and not good for creators Digital goods and the skills needed to create digital goods are being devalued. But the main issue with 0 - 10L$ content is PRODUCT PLACEMENT. This low quality, low cost content should not take up the first pages when searching Relevance. Free and cheaper content should not be given priority placement. Linden Lab don't make any decent commission from it and the merchant themselves don't make any real money. It's all bad. It devalues the marketplace and obscures good quality content. What other web marketplace would put the worst content on the best shelves

AI agents, bots, pets, NPCs - great stuff But just like all the other good things that the Lab are doing, mesh etc, these features will fall on stoney ground. Tier costs are so high hardly anyone can afford the sims to put their bots, pets, NPCs on. And there is some irony in the fact that LL are making artificially intelligent characters possible when the concurrency numbers for REAL human players is slowly decreasing It's strange that Rodvik reports August being the best ever month for new users, yet concurrency is not changing, in fact concurrency is very weak - not a good sign. But not to worry we can replace real users with AI replacements. Soon LL won't need us at all and all the AI characters can pay tier !