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BeachMystress -> Second Life.. game to some, economic opportunity to others (7/28/2007 11:27:18 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster
What kinds of things can you buy in the game for Lindens?
Lindens are the official currency of SL and there is an official exchange rate between Lindens and the rest of the world's currency. You can read about SL's Economy at http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy.php There is an article about the viability of this on Law.com that may interest those who are shaking their heads over the thought of paying real money to own virtual items and property. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170237755271 IF you have an account on the SL website, you can see the currency converter at https://secure-web14.secondlife.com/currency/buy.php Since you probably do not have an account, I will tell you that I just checked and at this very moment, the cost of one linden is $0.31 US. This does include a fixed transaction fee of $0.30 US. Right now, $1 US purchases 186$L and $10 US purchases 2580$L. There is a fee of 3.5% to cash in your Lindens and turn them back into US or other currency.
A good number of people came to SL to gamble, after the regulations cracked down on online gaming. Because it was a game within a game, it went unchecked for a while. Then Linden Labs got some complaints and they stopped allowing ads for gambling games. They were still around, just hard to find. Now, as of this past Weds, they are being forced to follow the online gambling laws and can no longer allow any type of gambling or wagering in SL. http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/07/25/wagering-in-second-life-new-policy/
Land sales and development are also a big use of Lindens. Lots of people want a place to call their own that they can decorate and enjoy. Serious real estate companies, like Coldwell Banker, are getting in on it. http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/22/technology/fastforward_secondlife.fortune/index.htm Land in second life isn't cheap, and to own it you MUST have a pay membership.., aka you have to pay for the privilege of buying land from them. I've also heard that they tax the land each year. I do not know how that works. I don't plan on owning land so I've not looked into it deeply. The tax may just be rumor. Now, do NOT ask me why people would pay serious money to own property that can be taken away from them by the company going bankrupt and pulling a couple of plugs. I don't understand it and do not plan to own land. That doesn't mean I've not purchased Lindens however. I spent $15 to purchase Lindens from my monthly disposable entertainment budget. It was worth it to me to miss one movie to have Lindens to purchase hair and clothes to dress up my avatar. Two months later I still have 3/4ths of the Lindens left. At this rate, my $15 purchase will last me 8 months. That equals roughly $1.87 US spent per month. It's one of the cheapest forms of entertainment out there for me.
Besides land, one of the big things people buy are genitalia. These genitalia are interactive. I remember the first time I heard some one's "clit" announce that the kiss by X was getting it tingly. (It announces it via text in chat) Personally, I find any "talking" clit, nipples, penis, rectum, collar, cuffs, whips, floggers and other random items to be annoying. Luckily, you can mute them.
Hair is often one of the first purchases someone makes in SL. The default hair is not attractive. (Most would say that the prim hair is not attractive either when they first see it. It is an acquired taste.) And while there is some free hair around, it isn't as nice as the stuff you pay money to own. My first Linden purchase was driven by the desire to own hair I fell in love with. Hair usually sells for between 200$L and 400$L.
Skins are one of the more expensive single purchases made by many. A good skin pack can go for 3500$L.
Clothes range from 1$L to thousands of Lindens. My most expensive outfit was a gift and cost 2800$L. There are enough free clothes floating around that if you spend time finding them, you can build an ok wardrobe without spending a lot of money. Of course, the free stuff has more dreck than good stuff.
The list of things to buy is almost endless. You can pay to take classes or attend "events," such as your favorite author discussing his recent novel or a rock star answering fan questions. You can pay for a virtual hooker.. er, escort. You can hire people to customize something for you with scripts, dance in your strip club or work in your virtual store selling your virtual clothing. You can buy furniture for your house, animation overrides to make your AV move differently, sex toys, BDSM toys, guns, horses, cars, cats, dogs, hot tubs, plants, non human avatars and the list goes on. Some companies now do interviewing and even training via Second Life. http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2006/02/70153 This is a game to some of us. For others it is a serious economic opportunity.
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