I'm actually a little puzzled as to why people are puzzled at the fact that SL is having difficulty retaining new users, and why people who do stay aren't online, as much. In real life, times are really tough. I have quite a few friends who are out of work, literally trying to figure out how they're going to pay this month's rent. I and my husband, while financially stable enough to know that we have rent and bills covered, are trying to do what we can to improve our situation by pursuing higher education. Studying for school, going to work, making sure that children, if any, get fed, are top priorities for people, right now. Unless and until the REAL economy is stable enough that people can actually afford to spend time and money on a game like SL, we should expect to have difficulty retaining users, new and old, alike.
Frankly, the question isn't about what can be done within SL to improve the situation; rather, the question is what people can do in the real world that will help improve the economic situation, as a whole, because a healthy SL economy is dependent on a healthy real-world economy. In other words, I think LL and SL's residents have done as much as can be done. All we can do is wait and hope that the real-world economy improves.
Anyhow, that's just my opinion,
Keeper S. Karu
--EDIT--
After reading past the posts genuinely wondering why SL is having difficulty retaining users, I've come across the posts that provide their take on what's wrong with SL. I don't think that LL doesn't care. I do suspect that they've backed themselves into a corner with the way they do things so that making the changes that seem obvious, such as lowering tier or doing what can be done to bring people back from shopping via the Marketplace to shopping in-world, may not be quite as simple as we would like to think. But, frankly, I have to say that I really don't know, as I don't have the priveledge (?) of working for LL and seeing what's going on behind the scenes.
This being said, if people still believe that more can be done, and they are determined to make these things happen, there are tools, such as the User Groups. In-world, perhaps active residents can try to rally others to participate in these User Group discussions and make their voices heard. Spread the word about the JIRA issues you want residents to hear about and show their support by voting on it (or is it just watching, now? I can't recall). As has often been mentioned, there are quite a few residents who feel strongly about certain issues, but they tend to be fairly silent about these feelings, for a variety of reasons. Among those reasons could simply be that they are not aware of the tools they possess to make their voices heard. Worse, I think LL is genuinely basing their decisions on the number of votes a feature suggestion receives through their JIRA system. All around, not a very good situation. I found a really nifty article in the wiki:
For those who may still have shops, perhaps a link to this article can be placed, somewhere. For those without shops, but socialize quite a bit, pass this link around, along with your own concerns. Spread the word around, enough, and perhaps LL will finally take notice of the fact that people really do want many of the features suggested. But they won't know unless they see tangible numbers. And, much as people don't like this, the blog and forum posts don't count, especially because of the sheer volume of posts that the small number of LL staff would have to wade their way through. The JIRA system is meant to streamline this, allowing staff to look in on the issues and say, "Hey! Look, here, there are a ton of people who seem to like this posted suggestion. There might be something, here." Listening works both ways. In order for LL to hear what we have to say, we have to actually listen to what they have to say regarding the proper procedures for making our voices heard.
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The Second Life Economy in Q2 2011
in Featured News
A group blog by Secondlife in General
Posted
Heyla and well met!
I'm actually a little puzzled as to why people are puzzled at the fact that SL is having difficulty retaining new users, and why people who do stay aren't online, as much. In real life, times are really tough. I have quite a few friends who are out of work, literally trying to figure out how they're going to pay this month's rent. I and my husband, while financially stable enough to know that we have rent and bills covered, are trying to do what we can to improve our situation by pursuing higher education. Studying for school, going to work, making sure that children, if any, get fed, are top priorities for people, right now. Unless and until the REAL economy is stable enough that people can actually afford to spend time and money on a game like SL, we should expect to have difficulty retaining users, new and old, alike.
Frankly, the question isn't about what can be done within SL to improve the situation; rather, the question is what people can do in the real world that will help improve the economic situation, as a whole, because a healthy SL economy is dependent on a healthy real-world economy. In other words, I think LL and SL's residents have done as much as can be done. All we can do is wait and hope that the real-world economy improves.
Anyhow, that's just my opinion,
Keeper S. Karu
--EDIT--
After reading past the posts genuinely wondering why SL is having difficulty retaining users, I've come across the posts that provide their take on what's wrong with SL. I don't think that LL doesn't care. I do suspect that they've backed themselves into a corner with the way they do things so that making the changes that seem obvious, such as lowering tier or doing what can be done to bring people back from shopping via the Marketplace to shopping in-world, may not be quite as simple as we would like to think. But, frankly, I have to say that I really don't know, as I don't have the priveledge (?) of working for LL and seeing what's going on behind the scenes.
This being said, if people still believe that more can be done, and they are determined to make these things happen, there are tools, such as the User Groups. In-world, perhaps active residents can try to rally others to participate in these User Group discussions and make their voices heard. Spread the word about the JIRA issues you want residents to hear about and show their support by voting on it (or is it just watching, now? I can't recall). As has often been mentioned, there are quite a few residents who feel strongly about certain issues, but they tend to be fairly silent about these feelings, for a variety of reasons. Among those reasons could simply be that they are not aware of the tools they possess to make their voices heard. Worse, I think LL is genuinely basing their decisions on the number of votes a feature suggestion receives through their JIRA system. All around, not a very good situation. I found a really nifty article in the wiki:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Proposing_Features_to_LL_FAQ
For those who may still have shops, perhaps a link to this article can be placed, somewhere. For those without shops, but socialize quite a bit, pass this link around, along with your own concerns. Spread the word around, enough, and perhaps LL will finally take notice of the fact that people really do want many of the features suggested. But they won't know unless they see tangible numbers. And, much as people don't like this, the blog and forum posts don't count, especially because of the sheer volume of posts that the small number of LL staff would have to wade their way through. The JIRA system is meant to streamline this, allowing staff to look in on the issues and say, "Hey! Look, here, there are a ton of people who seem to like this posted suggestion. There might be something, here." Listening works both ways. In order for LL to hear what we have to say, we have to actually listen to what they have to say regarding the proper procedures for making our voices heard.