Linden Lab Won't Likely Lower SL Land Tier Rates Due to "Economic Realities"

UPDATE, 11/21: Bumped up for Comment activity.

I didn't attend the first live broadcast of Lab Chat, a co-production of Linden Lab and various Linden Lab promoters/paid consultants, but Ciaran Laval did and has a report, including this notable point that was discussed by CEO Ebbe Altberg:

In terms of Second Life and land, Ebbe said that Linden Lab were continuing to look at options for land, but there were some economic realities for Linden Lab that had to be taken into account when it comes to Linden Lab making changes. Therefore, slashing tier remains an option that is not really viable, Ebbe didn’t say that, but reading between the lines, that’s the reality at the moment.

The "economic realities" being this:

Any kind of system-wide decrease of SL land tiers would almost certainly make it impossible for the company to sustain itself to run Second Life, let alone launch and sustain Project Sansar before it gains enough paying users to be profitable on its own. (Probably 2-3 years at least.)

Maybe Lab Chat can ask that in the form of a question on a future show!

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Comments

[RockridgeC]

Who are the "paid consultants" you mention in this blog post?

[A.J.]

"let alone launch and sustain Project Sansar before it gains enough paying users to be profitable on its own. (Probably 2-3 years at least"

2-3 years of rocky profit & loss seems really problematic in the wake of the new $600.00 transfer policy for grandfathered sims. These sims seemed to be the biggest commodity for mom & pop land deals right now. As much as there is a bottom line for LL, there is a bottom line for it's customers. By the time you've found that bottom line, it's too late. (let's give a shout out to the non-profits wherever they are)

If SL is supposed to carry this elephant on it's back, something's gotta give in SL and it needs to be more than just "Coffee Talk" with Ebbe. There needs to be some serious rethinking.

[Dirran Skytower]

You report Ciaran Laval saying something that he admits: '...Ebbe didn’t say...' and then add in your own speculation at what the economic realities might be that caused Ebbe not to say something. Astonishingly enough the economic realities that drive the thing Ciaran admits Ebbe didn't say turn out to be exactly the same old Panglossian song that NWN has been singing for years.

Wow, journalism at its highest.

[Ciaran Laval]

@Dirran I wasn't directly quoting Ebbe, which is why I said he didn't say this, but if you read the transcript when it gets published, I doubt you will come to a different conclusion.

[Phonesex Ebbe]

The economic realities are that Linden Lab is in trouble. They are heading fast to running on break-even. The staff wages of paying 140K US$ for a programmer per year are huge. Next step for Linden is to remove one of the mainland continents which are as good as empty.

Fact is that there is about 50% too much land on the grid at the moment. There should be around 12000 sims total including mainland. I see a lot of people shutting down their sims they had for years, those juicy 295 US$ full prim sims just aren't worth it.

Ebbe is a pure bluffer who has made a capital mistake. Phonesex Ebbe tries to stall, he tries to keep the fish on his hook by adding a little worm. The fish will need a lot more than that.

I am afraid Linden Lab will have to make the tough decision of either cancelling Project Sansar and saving Second Life or watching Second Life burn to the ground.

Reason for this, there are just not enough people interested. Trying to blow up a niche into something bigger doesn't work.

Linden should never have chased the Oculus hype, it was stupid to do and now they are going to be confronted with their own stupidity.

Linden always tries to chase the big thing in tech, when social networks were a hype they bought a social network and tried to create their own, both failed.

Now they also want to make a VR world, with their reputation they will fail.

[Nope]

And by "Economic Realities" you mean their SHIT business management? Downsize abandoned land to lower NOC costs which in turn can be passed on to the user as lower tier. Weird how simple things...

[Like Ebbe, Butt Butter]

In the meantime as a creator my skills will allow me to pump more crap into the marketplace to all you game addicted saps so you can pay my kids college fund instead of your own.

You phat baztards won't do anything but ask for more as Ebbe crams his stinzel stick & Swedish meatballs up your sore caboose over & over.

In the meantime they have all sorts of income coming in including Blocksworld you saps!.

Did anyone ask him the hard question "why they did not build a SL 2.0 first then sansar?" thats the darkest secret he is keeping from everyone.the one secret to rule them all.
your too scared it might trip ebbe up asking that question & you get cut out of the sugarbaby circle!

[Like Ebbe, Butt Butter]

Sansar will be an Avatar prison until someone builds a Second Life but Better.

High Fidelity in 2 years after beta might!

[Like Ebbe, Butt Butter]

Everyone still has time to crowdfund a buyout of Second Life!

Just phone call, Dana L. Evan,Bill Gurley,Jed Smith
tell them you seen the company for sell on craigslist

[Like Ebbe, Butt Butter]

From Linden Lab Site

"We’re now developing a new platform for user-created virtual experiences, codenamed Project Sansar, This new platform will democratize VR as a creative medium and make it easy for people to create, share, and profit from their own social virtual experiences."

Ebbe posted here ( http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/15/technology/project-sansar-virtual-reality/ )

"Creating worlds will be more difficult in Project Sansar than Second Life, but Altberg said they've made a tool non-engineers can use."

non-engineers? you mean bakers & pastry makers?
amish barn builders? who, ebbe, who?

Tell the truth Ebbe!! Sansar will be ruled by a small group of creators as Elites! hand chosen like the first round of feted-inner-core & likely the same people!

[Iggy]

Milk that slowly deflating cow, Linden Lab.

I even posted to my moribund blog about how futile their strategy is. This is not 2003. Any new virtual world must not only compete with other experiences online but also cut through the mobile haze to reach phone-addicted customers.

Good luck with that. Better to treat your current customers well and get some of the departed back.

[Kyouko]

Hahaha ... - every day the same comedy in the comment section. And a lunatic who commented under different identities. Priceless!

Question to all the brainiacs: Why do you put so much effort into a topic that you do not like?

[Megan]

@ Kyouko

Well like every day the same troll in the comment section using the name '?????'. proof please before you challenge people.

Kyouko in Chinese means Rotten Eggroll.

[Kyouko]

Megan:
"...using the name '?????'. proof please before you challenge people."

You mean like the reputable highbrows above with names like
- Phonesex Ebbe
- Inside Tip
- Nope
- Like Ebbe, Butt Butter
?

Sorry, but anyone who takes these comments seriously, is probably beyond help.

[irihapeti]

"rather go to There"

I think you mean "rather come to Here"

for your roleplays

(:

[Wasted Engineer]

:Has anyone stopped to think what would happen in the real world, if LL closed Second Life...

- Maybe up to a 500% increase in Suicides & suicide/murders the first few weeks...

- I suspect 1000 residents will kill themselves the first 4 weeks after closing

- While maybe 5 to 10 mass murders committed by former residents days after the grid closes

- Real life rape & abduction up 200%

- while a %50 increase of males reported raped by female suspects across the northern states

- 200% increase of hugely obese men offering children free candy, at the local parks

:Just coming up with theory's like the rest of you of what the impact of a post SL might mean, a wake up call it smells to coffee for certain

[D.G.]

At Kyouko
I would suggest you apply some of that power to adjusting your own perceptions; you might find the world a wee bit less intolerable.

[D.G.]

At irihapeti

Are you saying that in some situations the viewer is forcing you .. or worse .. automatically installing and running Second Life?
I am left with one conclusion .. and this is based on statistical theory. When one person has nothing but bad experiences with every one, every thing and every situation .. without any exceptions .. then that one person is the source of the bad experiences. If you are the only constant in the equation, and the equation constantly turns out bad answers .. then the constant is the problem.

you have proven to me (and many others I suspect) that you have no desire nor intention of looking at reality,only firing your invectives at innocent people based solely on your own prejudiced and paranoid view of the world.

[Gordon]

What a propaganda and parody thread.

[Tom]

@@ Gordon. you fit right on in That's parody. instead of commenting on the topic. Your just another Numbskull who strings 6 words together while thinking that's clever.

[Tom]

@@ Phonesex Ebbe. Provide proof he was involved in that type of business! otherwise your just gordon's little brother here low browing the thread.

[Phonesex Ebbe]

@Tom

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/NITEFLIRT-INGENIO-SALESFORCECOM-EBBE-ATLEBER/San-Francisco-California/MARK-BRITTO-CEO-EBBE-ALTBERG-CPO-MARC-BARACH-CMO-INGENIO-NITEFLIRT-System-is-complet-246577

Search for Keen Ingenio Niteflirt

http://reportascam.net/niteflirt-ingenio-keen-ingenio-niteflirt-nite-flirt-keen-betaniteflirt-com-niteflirt-com-niteflirt-has-always-scammed-you-you-just-didnt-know-it-internet

Here Tom, leadership roles at Ingenio:

http://www.lindenlab.com/releases/ebbe-altberg-joins-linden-lab-as-ceo

Ebbe was the Chief Product Officer of Niteflirt and Keen. Niteflirt being the main product, as you can see from their catalog they are well stocked with "product".

Ebbe never hid it, he said he worked on adult products. He covered it a little and did not go into any detail of course. But Ebbe used to run a phonesex line.

Looking at all the reports about this little phonesex line it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence about his intentions with Second Life does it.

[irihapeti]

@DG

whatever are you on about ??

[Carlos Loff]

Are the hundreds of opensim grid owners bired millionaires that do not care to loose tons and tons money or opensim prices being 100 or 200 times cheaper just come as a fact demonstrating LL is rpping our pockets and is not in trouble at all ???

[Iggy]

@Wasted Engineer

"- 200% increase of hugely obese men offering children free candy, at the local parks"

Timeless reply here. You just won One Internet.

You only forgot one casualty of SL's demise: One Crazy Cat Lady departs, in a dark cloud like Sauron leaving Mordor, and skulks toward another Grid to terrorize.

[Malaika]

Ciaran Laval you don’t get it do you.

Linden Lab is not the virtual world company that makes a great world. Linden Lab is about

“how can we exploit these people who come here and like virtual worlds. How can we get as much money as possible out of their pockets without making ourselves tired.”

They are not allowing the transfer of grandfathered regions out of sympathy for their userbase. Linden Lab does this because their friends who they protected for years cannot hold up their large amounts of lands they have in stock. So now the little people get the privilege to buy a grandfathered region at a big fat hefty extra fee of 500 US$.

Residents used to be able to buy grandfathered regions from others but Linden Lab suddenly blocked that many years back so they could make Anshe Chung the monster estate she is and some of their other friends. Otherwise Anshe Chung would be nothing now as she could not compete with other people when Linden Lab didn’t protect her.

Anshe Chung is not a monster estate because she is so good at doing business. She is only so big because Linden Lab did protect her by cheating everybody else and make them pay for it.

Homestead debacle, 10000 sims lost. No problem they sold a portion of these sims back to Anshe Chung at the grandfathered rate the other customers didn’t get.

Linden Lab does participate in FRAUDULENT ACTIONS and people know this and do not accept this.

Second Life residents aren’t stupid, not everybody wants a free penis to wear in world.

Do you really think Ebbe gives a damn about Second Life. Nooooo Ebbe is building his own little project and only tries to make Second Life residents pay as much as possible as long as possible to finance his own little adventure.

There are people with a Second Life inventory of 30.000 real US$. Ow but that is just a license.

Sansar or Scamsar as many call it is just a sheme by Linden Lab so they can close Second Life and get rid of their problems they caused.

[Malaika]

Iggy

"You only forgot one casualty of SL's demise: One Crazy Cat Lady departs, in a dark cloud like Sauron leaving Mordor, and skulks toward another Grid to terrorize."

LMFAO

Would be like that engineer after ripping that old mans head off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmtc0n7iSNU