The Greenies Problem
I know this is old news but I feel like I had to write about this. A while ago on Podmafia we explored the Greenies sim which is an amazing build that all newbies and oldies should see. However they are now charging for entry into the sim, which in my opinion sucks.
OK L$99 doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but to a newbie that’s like L$1,000,000. When a newbie joins Second Life it can be a daunting experience and I think it is important to let them know about the good stuff quick so they can understand what is cool and possible about the virtual world.
What I’m trying to say is that Second Life builds when its a public place that you want people to visit should not be blocked off at all. The only times something should really be blocked off is a residential area or if someone has been banned.
When you think about the Internet you get websites that need to be paid to gain entries to certain areas, most of which never really work out well. Second Life is entirely the same, people expect to visit somewhere and be able to explore it for free. Sure there’s a cost attached to it for the service provider but they can make money other ways like Donation kiosks that can help facilitate the venue or merchandise.
I’m sure that Rezzable is making some money from the Greenies but to be honest I think they are already successful enough to not need to offer a charge for admission. I’m sure events like the Hair Fair make them money and the Greenies has always seemed to me like a good promotion of what Rezzable does.
Basically, charging for admission in my mind is a stupid idea and if people start copying the idea then it will negatively impact Second Life.
I am sure most of what I said has been said before but I don’t care because this is my opinion that has been badly written. Also thanks to Dakota Blackmountain for pointing out a typo 
10 Comments
Harper Beresford on August 28th, 2008
Well, this is a step towards the bigger direction of the grid. Someone’s gotta pay for content and serving up that content eventually. Either we do it through shoving ads in front of newbies’ faces or we all get charged 99L (which is what? 40 US cents). Rezzable (and Linden Labs, for that matter) is a for-profit company. They have to insure the survival of their business so they can provide MORE content and pay the electric bill to keep the server running.
Do I like paying? Well who does? I want all my fun for free too! Are the Greenies compelling enough for me to pay 40 cents? Well, I have to decide as a consumer–and it’s not like I *have* to pay–there are enough photos on Flickr to show me what there is to see. But should I expect them to continue to provide free content to me when they have to eat too? Nope.
Get used to it, folks. This is what companies have to do to continue to keep serving it up to us.
Stuart Warf on August 28th, 2008
Harper, I totally understand where you are coming from. My argument however is simple. If the venue is compelling enough and offers a tip jar or a simple little thing called a shop then it will make money.
I am a huge fan of donation based software. If something is good enough, I am going to donate. That rule also applies to Second Life. I am in the midst of doing a follow up blog post about Donations in SL later.
radar on August 28th, 2008
I have to disagree with Harper. Of course rezzable is for profit. They either need to get paying clients, or find another line of work. That simple.
Providing hosting for someone’s products/location is what you are talking about with flickr. Rezzable is providing hosting for their OWN, then charging US for it. NOT the same.
Your local grocer is a for-profit business too, but they charge you for what you buy, not for walking in the door. Either rezzable learns to find some paying clients and/or sell better crap then they do on their sims so people will buy, or they should grok there’s no business model for them.
Dedric Mauriac on August 28th, 2008
If you are going to charge, I prefer the model where you can get in free if you wait 10-30 minutes outside, or choose to pay to get in instantly. Kinda like VIP access to the cool clubs … This way you build traffic, but don’t lock out the noos.
Dedric Mauriac on August 28th, 2008
(noobs)
Arminasx Saiman on August 28th, 2008
I think it is a very interesting experiment. Will it succeed? Who knows? Will people like it? Time will tell. Let’s face it, this is a brand new world and somebody has to figure out how things can work, and this is but one step to do so. Let’s go and look six months from now and see what happened - if it works, it will still be there.
radar on August 28th, 2008
that’s actually not a bad idea, Dedric.
my only problem with the “pay4sim” idea is if everyone does it. then SL goes from open, accessible exploration platform to amusement park. and the noobs get shafted, or even people who say “screw it, i’m not spending thousands of lindens a month to explore anymore.”
there’s a lot of nice sims and builds out there, and people find a way to pay the bills somehow. i honestly think what happened with rezzable is they came, made some fancy demos, but then no one paid them to build sims for them. so now they’re resorting to this. sorry it didn’t work out, but.. have a nice life.
Keeme on August 28th, 2008
Well here is my response to it
“HELL NO I WON’T GO”
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Greenies
NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY « Through my eyes.. on August 29th, 2008
[...] of days, but the discussion seems to have sparked up, again. Stuart Warf talked about it on his blog today, and Chugabug Goodnight added her own thoughts on episode 36 of SL Under The [...]
Nika Dreamscape on August 28th, 2008
I agree with you, Stuart. The Rezzables charging admission doesn’t affect me directly too much. But my bigger concern is that more and more sim owners will try to follow in their footsteps.