Why is SL so empty?

[MissOlaOfficial]

Me and my boyfriend are away from each other right now and we found this to stay connected to eachother, but also to talk to other people, but it seems like no one is ever online. How do we find others in this game?

[Ariel Vuissent]

SL isn't really a game; it's a virtual world. You're likely to find others enjoying it - dancing, shopping, or chatting in various public venues. There are many. Check out some events, or use inworld search to find popular venues. Traffic numbers shown by locations in search aren't really that accurate, but particularly popular locations will often have an image of the stylized head and shoulders of three people. The more of the three that are in color, the more popular the place tends to be, so if all three are "lit up"/in color (in my viewer, it's orange, but I'm not sure if that's consistant across all viewers), you'll probably find lots of people there. 

You can also try groups for things you're interested in, and meet people there. 

[Sassy Romano]

The simple answer is "too much land for insufficient people".  There's about a ratio of 1.5 avatars online per sim these days so cluster some together in the popular places and the rest is deserted.

It won't change, the funding model is based around how much land is owned so the more land there is, the more money for LL and the more deserted SL becomes.  (Except that it's contracting slowly now but along with the user base to match).

Look on the map for groups of green dots and go searching.

[Syo Emerald]

How can you say nobodies ever online? Have you got a magical tool for that?

There are always several thousand people online at the same time, but because the world is so big not every place is populated equally or all the time. But with the search function its no problem to find places with people in it.

[OliverCrossSL]

Joining inworld Groups that match your interests is a great way to meet people.  

[Hoshi Kenin]

As she has one post to your 3,507, translating into time inworld and experience therein, it is unlikely she has a magical tool for SL attendance.

However, as - unless you are online 24 hours per day - chances are she may already be spending more time inworld than you.

Also, she is correct........sims these days are often bare..... putting it mildly.   The sims I regularly frequent, I am often there with a handful of others, vis a vis 2-4 years ago where these same sims were bustling.

There are, as someone else noted, too many sims for a shrinking number of residents.  Greed has come around in a timely manner and bit LL on its ass.

 

[OliverCrossSL]

Hoshi has a good point. When I was in SL originally, I was heavily involved in the role play community. Coming back after a break, it seems drastically smaller than it was and the sims are struggling to stay afloat. It seems "emptier" to me as well.

[Supersatan3]

Generally speaking, Most avatars I've met are American, and are therefore present when most Americans aren't working or sleeping(SLT 5pm to 9pm).  Sadly, SL has become very much like the more conventional HTML internet, Mostly porn and cyber sex. There are tons of artistic sims, but are hardly a drop in the bucket among the filth.

 The hardest thing for me is having to explain SL for those who haven't been here more than 5 years. It is an antiquated platform. Case in point, the difference between mesh and conventional prims. Does anyone use sculpties any more?

[irihapeti]

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Supersatan3 wrote:

Sadly, SL has become very much like the more conventional HTML internet, Mostly porn and cyber sex. There are tons of artistic sims, but are hardly a drop in the bucket among the filth.

 

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like everything in the whole universe, if you go looking for pr0n then you going to find it. If you wallow in filthy then you will come up covered in filthy wallows

if your SL is all pr0n and filthy and this saddens you then suggest you get happy and not filthy by turn on your search and map filters

there are 1000s and 1000s people in SL every day who are not wallow in filthy or doing the pr0n

same on the html internets as well

[Syo Emerald]

I've been in SL since 2010 and didn't even make my first post in the forums until 2011. So...its a bit unrealistic to say she has been more time inworld than me...unless she got a timemachine. Sure, there have been times, where I was more regularly inworld, for example when I worked two nights a week at a friends club, but I still jump inworld regularly.

The reason why I have over 3.000 forum posts aquired in thos past 4 years is mainly routed in the fact, that I enjoy being active in forum communities. Like most other regulars, I also visit the answer section an leave replies there on a daily basis. I have roughly the same post count in another (non SL) forum...so...thats not really an indicator that I'm less familiar with the subject, than a newbie. And my remark with the magical tool might stroke you the wrong way, but its just a hint that just because she can't see anyone around herself doesn't mean nobody is online. And for me it sounded like she really believed things are that way, which isn't really her fault. Because if she sees SL as a game, she compares it with other online MMORPGs and those usually have a smaller world, where you can easier guess if its a high populated server or not.

 

And speaking of greed: Not counting abonded Mainland, each private sim is currently paid by someone. LL would be dumb to deny those people land with the excuse, that not every piece of world is constantly populated. SL will shrink on its own. And I'm not worried until the moment I can get into my favorite monthly shopping event without waiting a whole week until I can teleport in because the sim was constantly full before :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:

[Velk Kerang]

The reality is SL is slowly dying and alot of people don't want to admit it. I took a 2 year break and came back and just in those 2 years the game is deader now. Half my landmarks of places that have been in SL for years are gone and no longer there. I run searches that used to pull 10 or more pages end up with 1 to 2 pages now. Best bet on finding people is clubs, rp sims and stuff. Ya really have to sim hop based on your own interest really and hope you get lucky. Sims never used to be this bare, but seems alot of people have left.

[BobbyGeorge]

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Velk Kerang wrote:

The reality is SL is slowly dying and alot of people don't want to admit it

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This.

It's indisputable that, compared even to 2013, SL has become a ghost town. Anyone denying this is simply kidding themselves, or not checking in inworld.

I joined in 2010, as part of a university group, and stayed on (as did others on my course) for a full three years, to the point I was quite heavily immersed. I rejoined this year (for nostalgic reasons) and the difference is as stark as SL vs Inworldz was when I left.

Whole regions - not just sims - are depopulated. Businesses have disappeared. I don't mean one or two stores closing, I mean dozens of once-thriving businesses. Even when re-establishing contact with a few groups I was in, I've learned that activities have tailed off and membership has bombed. Sorry to say it, but SL really is on its death bed.

[Alwin Alcott]

as always sl is dying... it's going down a bit and we all die....

https://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/update-on-the-latest-second-life-statistics-september-2015/

 

of course it's not a happy face but with this stats

• Main Grid Regions: 25, 223
• Private Estates: 18, 098
• Linden Owned: 7, 125 
  

.... it's not dead!

18098 x  295  = 5338910  a month is pretty alive... add the tiers from mainland ( ok not lots..but still ) ....add also Lindex exploitation and as long WE KEEP COMMING, SL will be alive. It's the negative attitude that kills it...

users still between 30 and 50k or a little more/less depending on time.

Don't see it too black/white. It's been always up and down with places. I am around for 10 years and also in the busiest times stores come and go...clubs come and go....people loosing interest in one will get other places they visit. Nothing changed.

[irihapeti]

i logged into this RL game once

 

couldnt find anyone anywhere. just lots and lots of empty spaces. with just bare rocks and some trees and grass. and heaps of water sims. Dunno why it had all them water sims. I never seen anyone on them

 

i find out later on from this other person who went on there as well. Apparently what avatars are on that RL game are all on this sim called Delaware. Is like about nearly 7 billion of them just stand there in their 1 meter squares and dont do nothing

 

the person said they tried to get into that Delaware sim. but nah! was full they said. They said was probably a waste of time anyways. They all bots apparently

 

(:

[Sian Kyomoon]

I first came to SL in 2006 and back then everywhere was full, I drifted away from SL for a number of years coming back to it again this year, and the difference is huge , back when I used to come on ,SL was full, in fact it was too full to be honest as lag was a huge problem at popular places and back then internet speeds were much slower, so if you went to a popular place it was probably so laggy to be no go anyway, but most Sims I went into would have a decent number of people, it was rare to teleport to one to find it empty, and the shopping area`s were almost always busy.

 

Since coming back i`ve noticed SL is in many places empty, there are loads of Sims which seem devoid of anyone, and even shops which I used to visit which were packed are now in the main pretty empty.

 

I think the main problem is that the number of people online in SL is much lower these days, when i`m normally online around 50,000, where as back in day it was around 400,000. SL has kept growing land, but with a reducing population it just means you are trying to spread to little butter over to much bread, and that leads to many areas which just don`t have any butter and those places that do get some just get a very thin coat.

 

I`m not sure there is a solution to the problem, the whole SL model was based upon selling land and growing the population and in the early days it worked fine because people were coming to SL faster than it could grow, but now the reverse is true, more people probably leave than come in or come back, so you have a shrinking population but the SL model still has to grow land, and that in effect counters attracting new blood back into SL as when a newbie arrives and finds so many places deserted they probably turn from a newbie to a never againer.

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

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Velk Kerang wrote:

The reality is SL is slowly dying and alot of people don't want to admit it. I took a 2 year break and came back and just in those 2 years the game is deader now. Half my landmarks of places that have been in SL for years are gone and no longer there. I run searches that used to pull 10 or more pages end up with 1 to 2 pages now. Best bet on finding people is clubs, rp sims and stuff. Ya really have to sim hop based on your own interest really and hope you get lucky. Sims never used to be this bare, but seems alot of people have left.

---

RIP VAN WINKLE:

"What's going on - why isn't anyone buying anything? I woke up from my 20-year nap and went down to where the Montgomery Ward and Circuit City were and they're gone!"

 

BYSTANDER:

"Everyone's buying things on Amazon now."

 

RIP VAN WINKLE:

"Seriously? Who goes to a muddy river full of piranhas to buy things?"

 

Things in Second LIfe change very quickly. Two years ago the big fashion in avatars was wearing Lola Tango fake boobs and Phat Azz butts. Now they're all but obsolete and many of the people who bought them back then are using fitted mesh bodies that didn't exist two years ago. This is not to say that Second Life isn't less busy than it was, but comparing the same places two years apart isn't necessarily a good benchmark.

[Sassy Romano]

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Sian Kyomoon wrote:

I think the main problem is that the number of people online in SL is much lower these days, when i`m normally online around 50,000, where as back in day it was around 400,000. 

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Online has NEVER been above 100,000 let alone 400,000!  Peak is around the 80-90k including bots if I remember.

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Sian Kyomoon wrote:

I think the main problem is that the number of people online in SL is much lower these days, when i`m normally online around 50,000, where as back in day it was around 400,000. 

---

Online has NEVER been above 100,000 let alone 400,000!  Peak is around the 80-90k including bots if I remember.

---

You remember correctly...



[MissOlaOfficial]

Okay lady, my question was "How do I find others in this game?" so what if I refer to it as a game. That's what it is in my opinion and you don't have to like it and nobody else does either. I already know it;s a virtual world, and I never compared it to mmorpg's, so you have no idea what I think. I asked a simple question and just want it to be answered, nothing more. Yeah I'm a newbie and I deserve the same respect as everyone else. You can take your sarcasm somewhere else. Thanks.

[MissOlaOfficial]

Thanks lol some people on here can be so rude. 

[MissOlaOfficial]

Yeah it really is empty and a lot of people are just here for the sex. Just an observation.

[Rhonda Huntress]

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MissOlaOfficial wrote:

Yeah it really is empty and a lot of people are just here for the sex. Just an observation.

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Hey!  It's not just for sex.  I play dress up a lot too

 

Joking aside, groups will get you closer to your goal no matter what that goal is.  There are some very active social chat groups out there. 

 

 

[Syo Emerald]

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MissOlaOfficial wrote:

Okay lady, my question was "How do I find others in this game?" so what if I refer to it as a game. That's what it is in my opinion and you don't have to like it and nobody else does either. I already know it;s a virtual world, and I never compared it to mmorpg's, so you have no idea what I think. I asked a simple question and just want it to be answered, nothing more. Yeah I'm a newbie and I deserve the same respect as everyone else. You can take your sarcasm somewhere else. Thanks.

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But...but I love sarcasm

Oh, a special font just for answering me? Thats awsome!

Anyways...I thought some ways to find crowded places got already mentioned, but two of the main ways are a) the map (people will show up as green dots) and b) the search. It helps if you already know what you want and then search for something of that but with people in it. For example: If you like formal clothes and dancing with your boyfriend, looking for a ballroom might be a good idea. You can either just search for places or look for specific events (some ballrooms have livesingers, who they announce).

After a while you probably end up having some favorite places and pick up some new ones every once in a while. Its not an endless search.

[Ardy Lay]

See https://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Whats-Not-Hot-Now/td-p/2966729

[Velk Kerang]

---

Theresa Tennyson wrote:

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Velk Kerang wrote:

The reality is SL is slowly dying and alot of people don't want to admit it. I took a 2 year break and came back and just in those 2 years the game is deader now. Half my landmarks of places that have been in SL for years are gone and no longer there. I run searches that used to pull 10 or more pages end up with 1 to 2 pages now. Best bet on finding people is clubs, rp sims and stuff. Ya really have to sim hop based on your own interest really and hope you get lucky. Sims never used to be this bare, but seems alot of people have left.

---

RIP VAN WINKLE:

"What's going on - why isn't anyone buying anything? I woke up from my 20-year nap and went down to where the Montgomery Ward and Circuit City were and they're

gone

!"

 

BYSTANDER:

"Everyone's buying things on Amazon now."

 

RIP VAN WINKLE:

"Seriously? Who goes to a muddy river full of piranhas to buy things?"

 

Things in Second LIfe change very quickly. Two years ago the big fashion in avatars was wearing Lola Tango fake boobs and Phat Azz butts. Now they're all but obsolete and many of the people who bought them back then are using fitted mesh bodies that didn't exist two years ago. This is not to say that Second Life isn't less busy than it was, but comparing the same places two years apart isn't necessarily a good benchmark.

---

Actually it is. When I see places that have done lots of buisness and lasted say 7 years or so and was going strong when I left and come back to find most if not all gone. Ya that's a pretty freaking good benchmark. When I run searches that used to generate between 20 to 40 pages of results and they now generate 1 maybe 2 then ya that's a pretty good freaking benchmark. You wanna be rude and insulting that's your buisness doesn't phase me none. Facts are facts. And to go a step further if I had to take a guess having managed sims for land rentals that friends of mine owned before and seeing exactly what people make out of it I'd dare say it has alot to do with the fact they got tired of spending so much money on land prices and not making enough back from it. And for the record SL has not changed that much in terms of game content in the last 2 years. It's still looks EXACTLY the same as it did when I left it only alot less people now days. So your this new and that is new speech is a load of BS. lmao Ain't jack new in SL that I didn't see in it 2 years back. So I am not impressed. lmao