The End of the World As We Know It

Tue, 07/01/2008 - 19:57 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

ok, maybe not the end of the world--but a big change from our perspective...we are starting to introduce paid admission to our sims. We have been experimenting with how best to handle this over the last few months and now think we have a reasonable approach. The Black Swan sim is the first entire sim to be tied to paid admission via the purchase and wearing of an object--a nice watch, that even tells your rl time. We will be looking at this area and rolling-out more paid admissions schemes in the future--why? We are still exploring the right revenue model for virtual world content. We have merchandise that contributes some revenues. However,we have seen the interest in corporate sponsors (like L'Oreal Paris) evaporate. We think the best way to go forward is to charge for an object that can then be used many times for admissions. We realize that this may limit the number of visitors to the sim, but hope that high-quality areas are considered worth paying a little to see, explore and hang-out with friends. The Black Swan authorization device is $L199 (about $0.75) Initial reactions have been mixed, some people don't mind paying the small amount. Others used to freebies and free access to sims have claimed either price is too high or that they object to paying anything at all. From our perspective we need to have revenues tied to use and swamping this type of sim with advertising would ruin the whole point of it. We appreciate any comments here or inworld.

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Comments

May Rezzable staff and their

Tue, 07/01/2008 - 21:47 — Vint Falken

May Rezzable staff and their families visit at half price entrance fee? *ducks and runs*

If your higher end products

Tue, 07/01/2008 - 23:16 — Anonymous (not verified)

If your higher end products weren't so costly, like the various statues...you would probably see more purchased. I don't think I've seen any creation in SL, that costs near as much as some of these are. Granted, they are extremely beautiful, and nothing like them in all of SL. But, it would seem to me that if you lowered the prices significantly you would see a jump in the #'s there. I personally know of at least 5 people that want them..but cannot see paying that much, since its not a RL object. As far as paying to see your sim's...im on the fence about it...have to think on it. You do need a good and stable revenue model. I'm just not sure how that entrance fee is really going to pay off, in the end. I'm replying anonymously, because its not about who I am. its about you wanting feedback. :) Also, I've learnt in SL..that your reputation is everything. When it comes to content, bar none you are often in a league of your own, in a positive sense. I've considered having a long conversation with someone that has influence or decision making power in your company. But, its really not my place to tell anyone how to run their business. Your biggest challenge is your support, which really doesn't exist...and I've had several occasions to need it, as well as my partner. We send a request to the seller of the product and it falls into a black hole. I've never had this happen at all on any other purchases in SL, except yours. This is affecting your reputation...bar none. Anyway, that's my view, and not meant to be a shot in the foot...just feedback. :) Thanks for listening.

for my 75 cents, I would like

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 03:08 — Anonymous (not verified)

for my 75 cents, I would like something cooler than a digital watch. something I could wear and have people say "wow, that's a cool (dead bird on your head, prosthetic limb, invisiprim that shows your guts, lemur clinging to your face)- where did you get it?" and I'd say "not ONLY is it a cool (see above)- but it grants me access to one of my favorite sims..." also, being blown up by the drones is a little too much fun. but yeah, my first thought is- make the object that grants access something people will want to wear outside of the sim.

I know the creator in the

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 08:20 — Sulumor (not verified)

I know the creator in the Black Swan and he should command that much lindens or even more for his wonderful creations. It is a privildge to see them at the paltry price of .75 cents. He should charge more. Nobody...and I mean nobody in all of SL can even touch his standards of creation. Only thing is...I want to see more!!!!

Personally I think charging

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 13:23 — Trinity Dechou (not verified)

Personally I think charging for your sims is fine. I would most certainly pay to see them, I understand others might not, or feel they cannot afford too. One could argue as far as innovation in Second Life goes you can't afford to NOT visit Rezzable Locations.

Personally? I think it's

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 22:05 — Anonymous (not verified)

Personally? I think it's presumptive and in bad faith to require paid admission to your sims across the board. It presumes that you have a standard high enough that I have to give you money even to see it. It begins our relationship, as creator and viewer, on a basis of economy and demand—and with so many free access sims across the grid, some of which offer builds and art as beautiful as Rezzable's, I would prefer to engage in a relationship where I wasn't immediately and always seen as a buyer. Charging for events, however, or in certain sims or showings, makes sense. It makes those events seem important, and provided the quality is high enough—they are. But even better for your business model, you could improve how the Rezzable sims operate. Stores are poorly labeled or not labeled, and there's rarely any clear distinction between who made the work, who is hosting it, and who I support by buying it. Items are repeated, in whole and in part, across various Rezzable sims with no clear rhyme or reason as to why, nor is there any information explaining where the complete collection is housed. Designated landing points make it impossible to LM shops in order to return or to pass the LM on to someone else. Some sale signs are malfunctional, some sale items are malfunctional. Rezzable staff rarely has information in their profiles explaining who they are, what they are in charge of, and who to contact for customer service. Customer service IMs receive no reply. The statues in Black Swan are overpriced considered that they are only virtual goods. There is little advertising or clear communication about stores and purchasable items in Rezzable sims, and where there is some (say, for Crimson Shadow) there is none for others (say, Cascade). There is little communication about Rezzable sims at all to anyone not already within the Rezzable community. The Rezzable-provided list of sims doesn't discuss what each sim is, nor whether any of them have stores, and it's also out of date. Many of the Rezzable sims are beautiful, and one-of-a-kind in Second Life. I love them, and enjoy visiting them. That said, I am continually frustrated by how Rezzable operates—there is so much potential, but you haven't quite smoothed out the bumps yet. I think that paid entrance would be a major turn for the worse, and I myself would stop attending. Others, of course, may vary.

It's a bold new step, that's

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 01:51 — Faerie (not verified)

It's a bold new step, that's for certain and it may or may not work - who can tell? However, you need to provide a choice of "admission tags" as a wrist-watch would not look right on a semi-nekkid green faerie wearing flowers and butterflies. Or a furry, or an elf, or a steam punker, or . Make the entry tag(s) something we would want to wear outside of your sims and then the fact that it operates as an entry tag/key becomes a bonus instead of the only reason to buy it. As for the prices that some of your articles sell for, I would please ask, alright I PLEAD to you on my knees, please adopt the "low price = high volume of sales" business model instead of higher (even "elite") prices and lower volumes. It's brave to charge less for things that have taken time and skill to make, BUT places like Bare Rose have shown how successful it can be. I have spent more money in BR than in any other store simply because the low prices mean that there is no reason not to buy that fab outfit....and this one....and that one.... and that one too!

I understand and support the

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 02:00 — Anonymous (not verified)

I understand and support the exploration of revenue models for sims and content, and of all sims Rezzable's and Black Swan in particular are worthy of an entrance charge. My only concern is for new residents using the Showcase to find high quality places to visit. How disheartening for them to find they need to pay to enter a Rezzable sim in the Showcase (where it would deserve to be listed) only to find that they need currency which they still have no idea how to get. Perhaps you could consider a limited-entrance token that residents under a certain age (say, 30 days) would be able to use for a limited number of entrances for no charge?

@Faerie: I think the heart at

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 03:11 — Vint Falken

@Faerie: I think the heart at the Melodious show is rather kewl. I don't know if you have that one, but it is to enable full functionality at one of the Cannery exhibitions. I understand the idea of a watch, and the item being universal and such. It's kind of hard to find something that suits all races & genders in SL, especially as you can't script clothing layers. A nice gentleman's watch would do it for me. Of course that one would not figure out my RL time probably. @Anony Don't get me wrong, I think there's a lot of quality free content out there on our precious grid, but at one point, people will have to realise that quality content might cost them a few LS. Because if 'newbs' aren't willing to spend 275LS (not even 1 Euro) on access to quality content, what's the worth of SL then? Myspace I haven't visited in ages. Faceobook is free to use, but there are ads. As goes with most popular 'web 2.0' networking spaces. Most time it's either: enjoy the ads or pay for quality. I guess not even one Euro is not asked much? And it's not listed. An overweight Greenie on an oversized b-day cake made it to the secondlife.com frontpage. Black Swan or the Garden of NPIRL Delights did not. Yeey.

hm. a lot of interesting

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 05:00 — LTB

hm. a lot of interesting points in this thread that I think we would do well to pay attention to. if these forums are truly a space to seek the input of the of individuals interested in our sims, I believe defense of Rezzable's practices has to be balanced with an admission that there is room for improvement. I think some of the issues brought up can be addressed quite quickly, others, due to circumstances sometimes beyond our immediate control, not so much... your thoughts and comments are much appreciated, and insightful critique will lead to improvement. so, thanks. -ltb

So, let's look at some

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 09:14 — Anonymous (not verified)

So, let's look at some arbitrary numbers. One sim, say 100 visitors a day=27,500 Lindens a day. Would that be a fair presumtion? Are these the #'s your needing/wanting? One statue=50,000 lindens, how many are you selling in a day? week? month? As two annonymous posters pointed out, where is your customer service model? Are not customers # 1 in most successful enterprises? Aren't they the one's who really make or break you? Case in point, or example: One SL retailer, makes good quality furniture, reasonably priced. Customer service on the other hand comes at a sacrifice. The creator/seller treats you like its a huge bother to help when you need it. Result=not return to buy anything and reputation starts to slide. Your company just flat out does not respond at all. How do you think that lands on a buyer? That you don't care, you don't have to? How pompous is that? I happen to know that alot of your products are purchased with full perms from other SL creators. They wish, secretly, that you had not done so. Because, they are the ones being asked to support a product they created, but do not sell. It hurts them as well when it shouldn't. If you need a reference for providing great content, I don't think you need it. If you need better staff, I don't think you need that either, they do a stellar job at what they do already. Your great at pulling people together and making things happen, this is certain, but after a short time the continuity is lost. The community that's started is gone. Isn't a great city made up of its members? SL, is really a 'small' town of about 65,000. So, a sense of commuinity is imperative, to belong. You create belonging, but it's temporary for one various bussiness reason after another. I seem to recall why and how your Greenies home is so successful. That's becuase it interjects very subtle advertising that is nice to look at and doesn't get in your face combinded with something beautiful and fun. Finally, if you start a community and its not going as desired, then you either approached it wrong from the start, or failed on implementation/marketing, etc. Don't destroy/erase a community that you failed at. Give them a chance to help you with feedback like this. Then take it to heart like LT has, and see whats feasable. Meanwhile communicating to your citizens, just like one would see in the bussiness section of a newspaper. Its all about communication isn't it? I do wish you much success, you have something here that requires focus as your content is king. Sorry for being so long winded. :)

thanks for comments, we will

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 10:48 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

thanks for comments, we will consider what can be done around all these ideas and the many others scattered across the blogsphere on these points. Pay-to-visit is here to stay. Not all our areas have paid admission and not all will. We are seeking the right balance atm. We know there have been some issues with customer service and really try to keep up with support. We have also an email customer@rezzable.com which is a lot more reliable than IMs. I thnk we also have made a lot of efforts to replace/fix tons of items that people have bought, but can of course appreciate that it is frustrating not to get a response. So pls send an email if there is anything still outstanding. I don't accept however, any excuse for ripp-off our stuff or any other stuff on the grid for that matter. LL's response to ripping items is pathetically weak and ambivalent, but that does not mean theft is not serious--or that we will not seek more significant actions. In fact we have already cancelled many new projects as we feel the risk of introducing significant new content into SL is too risky. I think it is also hugely demoralizing for the creators. So really any customer service gripe pales in comparison to the negative impact on making this virtual world more interesting. Regarding lowering prices and trying to make up for it in the volume--that is not our approach. We try to provide high-quality items and higher than average prices. We know we lose a lot of low price items sales, but actually selling stuff for cheap hasn't shown to be worth the effort. Maybe it works for others, but that's their way of doing it. We actually have a policy to not lower prices on our items--although we do have many incentives for customers. Once the price goes down, we think it damages the confidence of buyers who bought at the original price. In fact if anything we tend to raise prices over time.

I think there are a few

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 15:28 — Trinity Dechou (not verified)

I think there are a few important issues people are missing. Real Life rules and models cannot *always* be applied to a business in Second Life, I certainly wouldn't pay for someones portfolio in real life, however Second Life is different. Everyone seems to like working out fictional numbers, I think I shall have a go. 199$L is approximately 1 USD$. Entrance to a theme park for example 56 USD$. Art Gallery 18 USD$.... I have heard people suggest lowering the pricing of statues as means to recoup money. Of course said statues are the backbone of many of the Rezzable Sims, reducing the price to buy one reduces the exclusiveness of owning one. It is a test, it might work, it might not, instead of rolling it out over 25+ sims Rezzable are trying it on one of the premier sims, personally I say good for you. Can Second Life be profitable, or at least have the ability to break even? No-one actually seems to know, interesting to see how this test pans out.

The exchange rate is 1:370

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 17:30 — Peter Stindberg

The exchange rate is 1:370 for a long time by now. So 199L$ are not 1 US$ as you say, but rather something like 0.60 US$. However you - and to some extent Rezzable as well - fall in the oh-so-frequent trap where you mix SL and RL economy. Of course 60 US Cents are not much, but 199 L$ are a lot. With 199 L$ I pay my office's rent for 2 weeks, or buy some nice pants or shirts. So from the buying power those 199 L$ are much closer to the 56 US$ you quote. Actually the buying power of 199 L$ within the SL economy pretty much equals the buying power of 199 US$ in the RL economy.

Peter...is trippy post there

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 17:47 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

Peter...is trippy post there dude... actually not sure where you got that figure of 370/$1 but I guess I might be buying at that price! See me inworld and we cash you out! If you sell Lindens 199 = .70 on their site today (https://secure-web20.secondlife.com/currency/sell.php0 --is about 265L/1$USD...however, if you buy 199 Lindens is gonna cost $1.06 --so what is the difference--more LL profits! I take the point that inworld money has a different sorta value than it's rl value, but at the end of the day people are paying for virtual world activities with rl equivalent money--money that could be used to see a movies, buy a magazine, pay for some other things. So it is more about making that entertainment purchase of some value to the person, including some other inworld alternatives. But surely you must be making enough money in your inworld office to afford a nice visit to Black Swan--or why have that office?

/me smiles - check your sales

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 17:54 — Peter Stindberg

/me smiles - check your sales records And obviosuly I was mistaking US$ with EUR again. My initial statement that SL-economy and RL-economy can not be compared stands true however. Folks who would not flinch paying 12 EUR for a movie ticket sit in camping chairs to get 5L$/hour and consider this a deal. In my in-world business, I often have this confusion of economies, being accused of being grossly too expensive by folks living on a budget in SL while at the same time facing suspicion for being so cheap by folks who generate a RL revenue from their SL businesses. For a more in-depth view of my standpoint to your recent changes maybe take a look at my blog?

I have visited Black Swan and

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 18:35 — Sylvie Grizot (not verified)

I have visited Black Swan and Greenies, and they are beautiful and inspiring builds. Having seen them, I think I would be prepared to pay an admission fee for other similar builds. BUT, when I was a newbie and exploring the grid, I wouldn't have spent L$199 on admission - without at least knowing what I might get for the money. 199 is a lot of money trees to pick! It took me about 2 months to put RL money into SL, and longer to make money in SL (which makes the 199 more affordable). So I would suggest you need a mini "showcase" sim (maybe an Openspace or part of another Rezzable sim) to tempt people who haven't seen your builds before. You also need good marketing and word of mouth - one lesson I have learned here is that if people don't know your stuff exists, they won't come. It might be the best stuff on the grid, but unless it's marketed, people won't find it. Also, if RL sponsorship isn't forthcoming, would SL sponsorship/advertising (billboards? sponsored events?) work?

Out of curiosity I went to go

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 18:37 — Juushika Redgrave

Out of curiosity I went to go check out the changes at Black Swan... and "Warning Warning Warning!" is probably the least-welcoming welcome I've ever received when arriving at a sim, especially since it was accompanied by about five items delivered by a greater. The notecard is absolutely necessary, but ... do you really need to hand out the texture, too? If you do decided to continue with the model, then perhaps you should adjust it so that visitors feel welcome and intrigued, rather than intimidated and turned away. The art of the sim isn't visible from the landing area, so new visitors don't know what they're paying to see and why they should bother. The onslaught of popups and inventory offers is excessive. The warning signs are intimidating rather than welcoming. A few changes there, and it could be like entering the lobby of a classy art gallery--instead of being pushed out of the back door by the security guards.

ty Juush, good point...can

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 18:49 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

ty Juush, good point...can sort that!

If you're looking for help

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 20:15 — Anonymous (not verified)

If you're looking for help with finances, I'd much rather see a donation jar than what you've done to Black Swan. The note & texture I got seemed to say that there was some technical reason that you had to wear the object while exploring. Then I found that the object wasn't free, which made me wonder what exactly the technical reasons were. Then I read this blog post, which has nothing to do with technical problems and everything to do with recovering some L$. They're your sims - I'm absolutely not saying you have no right to charge, if that's what you want to do - but I think a volunteer-payment model would go over a lot better than a demand-payment one. Also, having dropped around L$150k on my collection of Light Waves objects, it would have been nice to have had a complimentary watch show up in my inventory instead of having to buy one to see what's new..

Certainly got a point there

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 20:19 — Vint Falken

Certainly got a point there Miss Juu. What about:

Come in! Come in! Come in!
(We'll automatically deduct 199L$ from your balance. Each time you visit.)

Yeah, yeah. I know that is not possible (in any legit way) in SL. But the business model seems to work fine for on-demand television in Belgium! ;) Something along the lines of 'we have good stuff for you here, but must request a friendly donation for you to allow to see it and for us to allow to build it'? Better. It has less storyline to it than 'warning, warning, warning!' though.

Peter, a wrote a whole piece about 'has the LS another value, which is not linked to it's 'real' value/Dollar but which is higher', but deleted it, as I'm still not sure. Will get back to you on that later, when I made up my mind. ;) For now, I think that is true for a part of the grid, another part just thinks, ah, well, if I purchase x amount of LS, x amount of USD will be deducted from my balance/credit card/whatever. At a rate of 8 euro's to go see a movie or for a good bottle of wine - both 'entertainment' products, non-necessary, that's still cheap. It is also what you consider a necessity. Nothing is a necessity in virtual life, actually, as virtual life isn't one an se. Still we think of culture to be more important than the average person finds culture to be IRL. Would I pay 45000LS on lingerie in SL? Nope. IRL? Yes. Would I spend 5k LS on a gun in SL? Yes! IRL? Nah, not even when giving to me for free... Hmmm, and now I'm thinking & typing at the same time again... *shuts up until she made up her mind*

Also, having dropped around

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 20:23 — Vint Falken

Also, having dropped around L$150k on my collection of Light Waves objects, it would have been nice to have had a complimentary watch show up in my inventory instead of having to buy one to see what's new. Interesting, Mr Anonymous. Maybe also something like those post order catalogues would work too: buy your first Light Waves object and you get the 199LS for the authorisation device refunded. But then, 199LS is only 0,13% of that 150k, so does it really matter?

What about: Welcome to Black

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 18:40 — Juushika Redgrave

What about: Welcome to Black Swan! Black Swan is a high end virtual art gallery with an admission charge. Purchase your ticket, in the form of the watch, at the pedestal ahead. A L$199 payment allows you access to the gallery for # weeks. You will not be able to enter the gallery without the watch. Or some such. Big, bold, simple words and exclamation points get the, well, point across, and we all run through greeter spam very quickly. With less "HALT!" in the greeting, you'll have a lot of people fail to read it. But a useful, big, clear sign above the humongous watch will help catch those that miss the greeting. It's possible to communicate clearly without yelling, or pushing visitors away.

It's like going to Vegas,

Thu, 07/03/2008 - 20:47 — Anonymous (not verified)

It's like going to Vegas, Vint. If you spend a whole big bag of cash in a place, you can be sure that they're not going to then charge you for dinner and a room. It's more about feeding something back to the people who have done the big-ticket things than it is about squeezing a few more $ out of them. I guess it's the way that the notecard/texture was worded to say that there was some technical reason for them wanting people to wear the watch, then finding it cost to get the watch then finding it really had absolutely nothing to do with technical problems. This, to me, sounded a little underhanded. None of this is meant to be a slam against RightAsRain or Rezzable. Really. It's just one person's perspective. I've had some great times on a number of Rezzable sims and really do appreciate the work of the artists. This last round really left a bad taste in my mouth, though. :(

@Rar, I'm the long winded one

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 00:55 — Anonymous (not verified)

@Rar, I'm the long winded one from earlier this morning. :) Thanks for your response. I wasn't sure why you mentioned the thing about "ripp-off"? Was that intended for me? I also understand your position on prices. I was just looking at a scenario wherein your company is in need. Seems a starving artist would do what's needed, where possible, to survive. I guess the despartion hasn't reached that point. Although, I would add, you seem willing to remove sims without batting an eye. When they are just as much artistic as your statues. I believe everything in SL is art, really. My key point was to support communities lasting and not be 'wiped' off the map due some failed bussiness model. And encouraging you to seek members to assist in making it work. I'm sure you haven't been surprised by other requests made to SL'ers for assistance with this or that. I do appreciate your support email, I had no idea, is that published elsewhere? Do your products now include this in its contents or folder? It is a unique method to use for support in SL. Hence, may be why there is so much confusion. btw, I dont really object to your concept of charging an entry fee for a sim. I do question whether there aren't other ways to generate more income. This is why I mentioned/suggested all that I did. Even if one is indirect, e.g.; customer service issue.

Long winded one again :) RaR?

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 08:24 — Anonymous (not verified)

Long winded one again :) RaR? What is going on? I just read a post on the NPIRL blog about multiple Rezzable sims closing; including the Gallery? This isn’t making any sense, and as a lover of your sims and content, I am shocked! Please reconsider your 'stuck' position, ones pride isn't the way. The way is to focus on your mission, and to step into a future that you often do. But, you seem to slowly lose the reflection back on how you got there. Granted, I might be speaking abstractly, but that’s really all one can do when in this place. There is no way you or anyone can convince others that our decision(s) are the absolute correct ones. In trying, it would come off as fanatical or egotistical. Point being is that it appears you are abandoning your own vision. Yet, you are unwilling to waver, as an example, to adjust your prices to fit the economy. You have now completely wiped out the Gallery!!? Some of your staff is obviously cow towing to your stance. Others are silent and probably hoping the best come from your decisions. You have an extremely talented group of individuals working for you. Don't lose them out of there own fears of retribution, there isn't time for that. You may want to seriously consider your past way of directing them. I've seen you step into an idea, I've seen you gracefully step out of the way for the idea to bare fruit and it has many times. This world, Second Life, is not so virtual that what's created isn’t 'real'. It's an experience, and probably more real than many things we see in RL. You seem to have an artistic mind, or desire to be one. I don't know you well enough. But, you most certainly are visionary. This is how I was in the past. SL has enabled me to express some of these visions, and over time I hope to improve on my techniques. Bottom line is artists are very egotistical and very often live inside a 'dark night'. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, much eccentricity resides there, it’s the way. Some work it out, some don’t. I truly don’t have any clue what your real financial situation is. But, with what I’m perceiving it does seem pretty dire. I’m not going to ask you specifics, that’s not appropriate. But, it’s a very sad day, if what I read on NPIRL is true. Please tell me (us) that its not.

I have been following this

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 09:48 — Raina Robertson (not verified)

I have been following this post for awhile now. And feel the need to contribute to these posts. So, you may see things through a residents eyes. I have been a resident almost four years now. I have seen alot come and go, fads live and die, being able to walk the entire grid in one hour, and so much more. For whatever this is worth, here it goes. Reputation in SL is all you have. This has been tried and true for as long as SL has been alive. My first encounter after touring the Rezzable sims was buying an expensive product from one of The Rezzable sims that has been now removed. I had a technical problem with the product. With no one to contact but the creator himself, I did. After, a long discussion, and much frustration on both our parts, we said goodbye without a solution to Rezzable's support. Left with a faulty product and no solution really left a bad taste in my mouth. And, wary,about purchasing a high price creation, again. But, I still continued to explore and was impressed with what The Rezzable Team had to offer residents to visit. And have enjoyed it all. But, now ... charging to visit a sim? Black Swan is no doubt a beautiful and wonderful creation and I have all the respect in the world for Lightwave. And, grant you this is unexplored territory for SL. I have never paid an admission for any activity in SL. Yes, I have given generous donations, but, if asked to pay an admission price to explore a sim.... It isn't the price I am being ask to pay, it is the principle. With the RL economy crunch, I feel it is not going to be well received at all. Hence, more Residents wondering where will The Rezzables marketing take them next.... For whatever it is worth... Raina Robertson

this is your worst idea

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 09:52 — Anonymous (not verified)

this is your worst idea ever... black swan was my favourite of all the rezzable sims. i will no longer frequent any of the rezzable sims. thank you for ruining a great thing by turning art into mindless commercialization. i am disgusted.

art and commerce are not

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:13 — LTB

art and commerce are not mutually exclusive. I might remind some of you that it was RightAsRain Rimbaud who opened his wallet and his mind to handful of artists in SL to make all the things you've enjoyed at the Rezzable sims possible. do you suppose that RAR and all the creators who work for him are altruists with no bills of their own to pay? I would hope it's obvious that we care about SL and making it a richer experience- and this experiment at Black Swan isn't about "mindless commercialization". It's about trying to stay here and continue to bring you the best of what SL can be. don't make me get all Jimmy Stewart on you, here... :P

Rainia--let's try again to

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:22 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

Rainia--let's try again to sort that issue with sculpture. Drop me an IM inworld. Yes, we are closing down a few sims this week. The Gallery area actually will be repositioned on a void sim once all the moves are made. The main impact of this set of moves (and this in our 2nd change in about a month total about 15 islands btw together) is to close the Surfline areas, which is really unfortunate, but the traffic was too costly to maintian. We will still run 21 sims--all open to the public, all free to access now except Black Swan. We further host events for people with a good plan on 4 sims--like Garden of NPIRL Delights, like SLRFL Clothing Fair, now we are having a Footwear show. We are committed to other hosted events--where we do not charge promoters or attendees. Info here http://rezzable.com/special-events. I think there are a lot of valid points of view in this chain of comments--but you are all missing the key point--SL new user growth is waning, the core of SL users is weakening. There is no info from LL about their plans to improve marketing and deal with main new user issues. So, we are now taking actions to protect our investments in SL and position ourselves for what may be a cruel and long winter on the SL grid.

(btw anony...this is most

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:29 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

(btw anony...this is most definately NOT our worst idea ever in SL--one day maybe I write a book about our experiences here)

Surfline has died a slow and

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:41 — Peter Stindberg

Surfline has died a slow and agonizing death over the past months. It was such a wonderful place, at times my favourite place in SL, but each redesign and shrinking took away some of its magic. I am very sad about that.

I've heard much more often

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 14:28 — Solange (not verified)

I've heard much more often about Rezzable sims than having been there, and the general opinion of the sims and my own impression differ. I remember walking around an exhibition ground confusedly, looking for a particular exhibition, armed only with a texture map and it was not even accurate. I was in Carnival of Doom with a case of photographer's block and I didn't know what to do there. I enjoyed going to Crimson Shadow, though, and the Greenies were cute. Ideas, ideas. L$199 is a paltry sum, but I am afraid I still want to be convinced to part with it. Maybe if I can see the build BUT can't take pictures without paying admission, maybe if I know I will DEFINITELY be entertained, my creative mood notwithstanding. Maybe you can maintain less sims? By the way, don't be so quick to dismiss the idea of lowering the price. The first greenie I saw was the one struggling with cola bottle on a shopping sim. Seeing how evocative your sculptures are, isn't it better when a healthy number of them are scattered inworld as a form of advertising? If Rezzable were to succeed in charging for admission, I am afraid the other sims would follow suit. But it was seeing the Amsterdam sim as a day-old-newbie that made me stick with SL in the first place. (Admittedly none of the money I've spent goes directly to Amsterdam). The idea of the better designed sims charging for admission is therefore bad for Second Life's recruitment number. Which leaves me wishing that you guys would not succeed.

Solange...you sound a bit

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 16:45 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

Solange...you sound a bit conflicted really...workin with lot of second hand info. I guess part of the question is what would you be willing to pay for? 'cause ultimately that is what you might get. More skins? bigger house? I saw that top skin classified is going for L430,000 per week--so that must mean people see a market in skins! And those aren't free as we all know. So on one side where is the balance? Be all dressed up with no where to go? Or just hang-out in endless expanse of mall-u-tainment? Lot of stuff to do at Doom btw--is a great place for photos, esp with windlight. Get a freak avatar and that clear your block! http://www.flickr.com/photos/xlent1/2513513617/ Amsterdam...was great more than a year ago, but then was a lag pit, filled with lost noobs and escorts.

If Rezzable is not making

Tue, 07/08/2008 - 07:57 — Ann Otoole (not verified)

If Rezzable is not making enough money then they may have run their course in Secondlife. It may not get any more simple than that. The number of businesses vanishing is on the increase as the sims fill with bots to falsify traffic in desperation and the mainland continues to be overrun with ad farms. Now who is to blame for the policies that support the sort of image that drives responsible people away? As for L$199 to enter a sim? Probably keeps out bots. But they are not looking there anyway. There is no way a one time fee of 75 cents per person will represent any form of revenue. Poor people can't afford your stuff anyway so they are not going to look. And thus you eliminate the majority of Secondlife from your sims and those people will never consider becoming a customer in the future because you turned them away and turned them off. Sounds like you don't want any scruffy dirty third world people hanging around your pearly white simulators. Your sims. You can do as you please. There are no resident rights in Secondlife anyway. Other than the way people choose to treat other people that is. You are walking away from Secondlife by violating long standing traditions. May as well finish the trek it seems most long standing businesses are taking. Oh and make sure you google for articles about this L$199 deal and correct anyone that forgot the L in L$ rofl. LL needs to be run by entertainment people. And working there will not be uber fun and happy if SL is to be a stunning success. It isn't fun to work at Disney. Not at all. Everyone else gets to have the fun. Not the staff. And forget holidays too. Life is just that way in the entertainment business. And SL is entertainment or it is nothing. Someone appears to be incapable of comprehending this fact of life and some changes are required to correct the situation. But it won't happen. The people involved seem to be the type that would rather burn it down than admit they are wrong. Make your preparations and have a controlled exit strategy is all I can say. Any serious business has exit strategies for investments. Got to know when to fold and cut losses in the game of business. Just simple common sense. Not a doom and gloom position.

Ann: thanks for comments,

Wed, 07/09/2008 - 14:19 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

Ann: thanks for comments, some interesting points. I think though your comments about white simulators is unkind. We do not discriminate about people or avatars on our sims. We of course are not perfect, so help us if we are blind on something. But it is absolutley not our intention to make people feel unwelcome. Rezzable runs the largest public space in SL. We further host many free events and offer our sims which we pay LL for to people such as RFL, Footwear (now on), Garden of NPIRL Delights and will do many more. We have allocated 4 sims for this stuff, so that is more than $USD14k (40% more than the Linden prize btw!). more info here http://rezzable.com/special-events . Actually the L199 is an important enough revenue stream as it adds to our mix and helps us see the interest in place like Black Swan. So far the response has been within our expectations. We have some new stuff coming into Black Swan that should also pull more people in. We have no intention of leaving SL or executing some controlled exit strategy. We have, as you may have noticed, downsized our "land mass"(sorry I love linden-speak) quite considerably in the last few months. If the SL engaged user base starts to grow we can of course increase (by using the land store apparently). For now though, it looks like 20+sims is plenty and maintains our scale of operations. For what it's worth, I don't think Rezzable has at all "run their course" in SL. Quite the opposite, we are a bit too far ahead of the market and also the real capaibility of SL. So we will be a lot less aggressive and see how things go for a bit now. Still a lot of work to do and prims to torture...

Well the "pearly white"

Wed, 07/09/2008 - 14:40 — Ann Otoole (not verified)

Well the "pearly white" phrase is a metaphor. There is no politically correct way to describe class discrimination anymore. My apologies if it came across wrong. Most creators I know have either already quit Secondlife in disgust or are considering quitting. Rezzable is reigning in and going into a holding pattern judging from what you said. The furture for Secondlife is not all that bright and shiny anymore. I think it would be in the public interest for LL to IPO so shareholders could have a say in who controls the steering wheel. Seems like the direction choice system has developed problems somewhere. People paying for the right to support and to own a chunk of ad farm infested mainland are giving up that option. Never a good sign when people decide your support staff isn't worth keeping. Maybe the concept of "premium" needs to change and people who own parcels get support and just discard the notion of "premium" and "stipend". Want support? pay tier. Tier is the revenue stream for Linden Lab now yet they are working to give that up by way of working priority one on pushing Open sim and the resulting effect of pushing land ownership (and the tier payments with it) out of Linden Lab. What is wrong with this picture? Well you have a store sim with cool stuff (that crimson sim). That will last a good long while. People like having cool stuff to wear while they engage in entertainment. And entertainment is the only thing Secondlife is all about. Take out entertainment value and nobody will stay. It is as simple as that. Anyone that cannot comprehend this fact should not be in a decision making role for Secondlife.

IPO..isn't gonna happen (and

Wed, 07/09/2008 - 15:16 — RightAsRain Rimbaud

IPO..isn't gonna happen (and btw go buy a few google shares and try to get a meeting with them!). Point on premiums is key--it is also related to the question of who does LL view as their customers? Is it land owners? Is it the free acounts? Is it the currency buyers? Seems like they are confused and just react to squeeky wheels now. I would hope that they split the platform business from the mainland operations business soon. Maybe that would help them focus as those two markets are different and there is a conflict of interest there as well. That is part of the problem for LL (not anywhere near all of it though)...cu

I've been trying to find out

Sun, 08/31/2008 - 02:50 — maleficent

I've been trying to find out what happened to the sims that were immediately adjacent to Black Swan... I loved Surfline Beach and the cool underwater maze sim (the name of which escapes me at the moment). I, for one, and more than happy to pay a small fee to visit your sims since I return to them over and over again.

I've been trying to find out

Sun, 08/31/2008 - 02:50 — maleficent

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