Sid Nagy

Thanks a lot pal. You are painting with an even broader brush here than Bob Ross ever used for his paintings. There are thousands of hard working and well willing merchants on the marketplace you are trying to sweep on the same pile right here. The con artists on the MP are a very small group. All the others deserve to be treated better. Merchants in general aren't the scumbags of SL. Just saying.

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IMHO the problem with the Chalet theme is that the houses are to big and so the LI allowance isn't really sufficient to decorate it detailed enough according to the standards of today. So offering 2048 plots in the Chalet theme could work wonders. If I were on the job, I simply would test it with a few regions and see what happens. And if it attracts enough people, I would start swapping empty chalet sims with new mixed sims (2048m and 1024m parcel sizes)

Gelukkig is niet iedereen een Nederlander. We hebben er al zoveel in ons kleine kikkerlandje.

I have been invited to produce a gift for the upcoming 5th anniversary of Bellisseria in April of this year. So today I was running through the provided notecards and when I looked up from all that, there I was: Box on my hand, shoe lost. How did that happen? Man o man, after 17 years of SL there is still a noob in me. Do I have to visit Orientation Island now?

All true, but before they start thinking about one of the memberships, the potential new residents first have to know that these memberships even exist, don't they? The dealer shows you their cars in the hope you will buy one of them later. That kind of idea is behind it, I guess. And without consuming, no SL. The bills have to be payed somehow.

Of course LL wants new residents to become premium ASAP. That is how their bills get payed. The memberships, the Tillia fees and the land business are their main source of income. No need to be cynical to come to that conclusion. That is one of the facts of Second Life.

Then one of our favorite Moles steps in, grumbles something about staying on topic and the thread is silently locked.

People easily forget how hard work it is to create something in SL. Man at work:

Only the extroverts will run to people. Introverts want a machine giving short to the point answers. Controlled AI can help a lot to give the right information IMHO, but it will not be simple to feed them with the right information and the right information only IMHO.

The key line for all education, whether it is about grammar, making macrame art or teaching people to use SL.

The really interesting question is: "Will this thread make it to page two?"

I think OP's next post in this thread can be expected in 2034.

Did you find a nickel?

My two cents: There are at least a gazillion or two different streams out there. No need to interest any of them for SL. Peanuts numbers at best. Everybody can pick what they are most comfy with and let it play on their plots.

Is there a donation box somewhere?

I finally gave my alt Sid.Resident an appropriate avatar today:

@eggplantgristle First you activate the demo again. Then you go to edit the full version. There is an option to enter the Demo. It is the option right between "related items" and "listing enhancements". The Demo will automatically link back to the full version.

They will not listen anyhow.

Winning a real big price in a lottery means that inevitable a lot would change in my RL. Dying rich isn't really a solution, I don't have a partner or kids. So I would redo my bucket list for sure, with trips all over the world. And a nice house at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in northern Spain or the south of France. I would stay in SL as well. One or two regions would be nice, just because I could.

Consider burger flipping, babysitting or a paperboy job. The money you make in one hour in RL almost always brings in more L$ when you exchange the earned money, than working in SL for it. Working in SL is mainly role playing and you really should only do what you really like because of that IMHO, instead of doing it because it is available.

But there are people who love the taxman. Some are even married with one.

In world experience has it's value, that is a fact. But selling a product (in this case SL to new residents) has mainly to do with quality of the product, analyzing the market, careful product placement. What do you offer first, what next and then etc. That can all be carefully planned by using almost universal rules and 'tricks'. That knowledge has to be learned either through normal education lines (meaning hiring pro's) or the hard way by trail and error (the mom and pop shop approach). The first method is most of the time more efficient and more successful. SL might be a rather unique product, but selling stuff to (new) customers isn't. Most of the psychological tricks and rules for setting up a shop apply for setting up orientation islands as well IMHO. No building skills needed, but knowledge. Others can build and later on fill the isles. Ans then the help from volunteers would become more usefull and practical too. But of course it is just my 2 cents.

I was simply too direct in my now withdrawn responses for the American culture of discussing, I guess. A bit of clashing of different cultures. Maybe even a dash of lack of knowledge of the finesses of the English language on my side. The Dutch are used to discuss matters straight to the point. I wasn't aiming directly on our mentor group but on mentor groups in general. Somehow that was not clear enough for most. It was never my intention to attack our volunteers or Moles. Of course almost all of them work with high enthusiasm and a lot of dedication. My sincere apologies if some felt personally attacked. I try to make my point with an example outside of Second Life: Imagine there is a hospital somewhere. Staff: One doctor, two nurses and 200 volunteers. The volunteers do what they can, are committed lovely people with the hearts on the right spot. But the survival rates of said hospital are poor for the patients. If the hospital is satisfied with their low survival rates, nothing has to be changed. But what could they do best if they want to try to improve those survival rates? - more volunteers? - more qualified staff? I think I know the outcome of the discussion and I hope that everyone sees, that this is no attack on the volunteers in that hospital. They are not the problem, but also not the main part of the solution for the hospitals problem. Back to our wonderful world with wonderful volunteers, Moles and other residents: The solution of getting better retention rates lies in hiring professionals, like people who studied communication, marketing, psychology and so on. In the end, one gets what one pays for. Volunteers can play a part, sure, they are not the problem, but also not the main part of the solution.

But, but, but..... one of the main features of mainland is the right to bully others away, isn't it? Having no covenant is sooooooo precious, priceless, the reason that SL appeals. See the banline discussions. What is the use of mainland if one can't annoy neighbors away, to get that extra snippet of land that one needs to finally expand? It is a feature, not a pain. Yes, sarcastic mode is still on.