Does the Metaverse Require Real World Money?

Last week reader " irihapeti " argued that an essential facet of the metaverse is "[the] ability to deposit and withdraw my money safely and securely, so that I can buy stuff/experiences for any particular world/game/viewport of the metaverse and/or get paid for stuff/experiences that I provide in any of the different offerings/views."

Some other readers pushed back on this notion, and  so irihapeti expanded further:

Money is quite important to stimulate User Generated Content. That people can make stuff/experiences for use by other people like themselves within the various views and get paid to do so.

I think that most people would quite like a single wallet (as Joey mentions) to connect their RL payment method too. And from the wallet buy the different tokens (in whatever form they are for each of the views) to buy the stuff within the different views

Buying different tokens is no different to buying USD, Euro, Pound, AUD, etc to buy stuff in each countries local shops

And as I mentioned, the way I think to do is this is with a Tilia-like facility. [The Linden Lab spinoff company] It manages the trading of tokens between the users, and their conversion to to/from RL fiat currencies. We need only connect our RL payment method to this one point.

When we don't have a wallet then we are stuck with connecting our RL payment method to each and every world/view.

I seriously suspect irihapeti is right that Linden Lab very much hopes Tilia becomes the payment manager for the metaverse (or metaverses). But lately I've been thinking about the first point quite a bit.

Is it really important to have a real world money exchange feature in a metaverse to encourage user-generated content?

It certainly does in some metaverse-like virtual worlds -- Roblox, IMVU, and Second Life are proof of that. Then again, in the very largest virtual worlds in terms of users -- Fortnite and Minecraft -- user-generated content isn't directly monetizable within the system, yet UGC thrives.

More on this topic later, but the top question remains for still more readers to pick up and expand on: Must a metaverse worth the name be a monetizable platform too?

Comments

[sirhc desantis]

Err regarding 'Must a metaverse worth the name...'
So is the definition of Metaverse now self defeating, as in no single over arching 'one'?
That aside, yes, for myself. Never cashed out per se of SL (although have pooled it to cover group member premiums, very fine difference I know) and does rather tend to keep the interest level up even if just a fun challenge to attempt. Any 'extra' L$ pocket money I have gets wasted on - well, rents, tips, toys, uploads for my silly projects, various 3d tools that are used outside, others UGC etc etc which I guess they also cash out with. Via OS I usually make maybe 30 bucks a year which gets funneled in to household account. No biggie but nice bonus.
I had forgottten that there was fortnite creative and now I remember why. a) epic account. Err, no. b) v-bucks not redeemable anyway and c) don't see much beyond 'arrange company assets' but may have missed a step.
Oddly we do a few bits and pieces which are released basically gratis in to the greater 3d-modeller-averse (sorry!). here they end up have no real clue.
Could also be that this old fart is more in to messing about making stuff after all these years as the need for all that social nonsense fades. So again, the possibility of making a few extra bucks, even if not really chased, seems needed to me personally. And yep Tilia was a smart move. YKMV

[Joey1058]

IF Tilia can do it correctly, they will fall into a bed of roses. I feel that secondary finances (a.k.a. non-fiat) are primed for some major use cases. Crypto, gaming tokens, etc, are going to knock fiat on it's butt. Especially with hyperinflation looming in the shadows of the US$. The debate is still 50/50, but Tilia needs to press forward and start considering incorporating crypto in the exchange mechanism.

[irihapeti]

adding on to this

The metaverse is a pretty big topic. We could easily write a complete essay on each aspect of it.

With the role of money in User Generated Content, expanding more on this aspect

Like much of everything else to do with the metaverse I go with my observations of what other people do, not what I do. Because as I mentioned about identity when it comes to the importance of creatives being able to be paid for their work, I am a contrarian. I don't sell anything I make. I give it away. I am able to give it away because I have an alternate form of income. Making virtual stuff for me is a pastime

I think that we have to look at what is happening in the real world. As technology, automation, etc advances then there are less and less traditional realworld jobs for people, other than service jobs. Artist/creative was once seen as not a real job other than in the fields of design of realworld products. But as time has gone by with the tech advances, virtualised creativity has become a real job for many people. And I think we stifle this creativity with the continued thought that this activity is a pastime, indirectly furthering the concept that all your stuff wants to be free. In my case all my stuff is free, but is not true of other people's stuff

When we observe a world like Second Life then is quite clear about other people not myself. People like me are in the tiny minority of all creatives on that platform. There are currently thousands and thousands of people selling millions of products that they have made. And millions of people buying the stuff

If we look at platforms like OpenSim by comparison. It does in the main, some efforts excepted, adhere to the thought that all your stuffs wants to be free. A thought that is shown in the content available on OpenSim. The vast majority of stuff that is free on the OpenSim platform is dated and aged

Virtual user generated content like comparable realworld products - fashion, furnishings, games/experiences, etc need constant refreshing to hold people/consumers attention. And with the best will toward the people like myself, the pastimers with alternate forms of income, we do not have the capacity, or even the inclination, to meet this demand

And I think that if we don't facilitate meeting this demand from the outset - anybody can create and get paid regardless of who operates/owns the myriad of individual viewports - then is not going to grow other than in walled gardens. Not growing beyond walled gardens is fine when is just a pastime

[asd]

If your real life is not worth anything and you can afford sitting in metaverse just for fun for days. Good for you. For me - that's a pure profit machine. Either you create a business and earn real money you can exchange for real-life experiences or you don't bother at all.

[Adeon Writer]

> Does the Metaverse Require Real World Money?

Yes and no. A Metaverse can chose to not monitize, like VRChat is currently doing, but that just means all of the transactions will happen outside of the game, as it does on Gumroad, Booth, and Patreon.

It's going to happen one way or the other - it's the platform's choice if they want to tap into a cut of it or not.