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Linden Lab has displayed attitudes toward their own user base ranging from indifference to open hostility, as evidenced by the latest ill-considered attempt to gouge their users in a glaringly obvious bait and switch price hike for sims in their lower price tier. The United States' Better Business Bureau is in communications with great numbers of residents of Second Life regarding the possibility of this price hike having violated consumer protection laws in that country.
It seems that a certain core of older accounts have expanded user hours. It's my experience too, although my intrest in sl suddenly has fallen. The reason is that it is very addictive like alcohol indeed.
Where alcohol is bad for health so is SL, is my experience.
US studies show that virtuality can cause damage in the balance of the connection between the 2 brain halfs through time. This is my experience too. My sensitivity has grown is what i have clearly noticed. And my creativity has fallen. Could it be that i was not a balanced persona in the first place?
Research has always confirmed me otherwise, so what has SL done to me? It has made me out of balance; and it's exactly how i feel.
It could very well be that the SL's impact on our emotional life is too much. Experiences in SL can be extreemly negative where the positive experiences are average.
More than ones the media talks bad about virtual worlds, and not with a reason.
All of that said, today we have more virtual worlds.
I think that the market is spread over them now and SL simply has lost market share. Meanwhile a core of players have expanded user time. This looks like a dead track to me.
What i still don't understand is that we see no advertising about SL where WOW had a word wide campaign (for example). I stayed loyal to SL, but no marketing campaigns has always wondered me.
Will the RL economy have an impact in SL's economy?
Difficult to say, it could very well be that SL is experienced as a more safe haven ( of heaven for some ) where people can still consume and can do big things.
Studies show that many users of SL are well educated professionals in RL. These types often are sensitive to status and big things. Doing big things is 'sexy'.
If they have less possibilities in RL, maybe a certain part of people will find an escape in SL.
"Hi Linda,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful response - you make some great points!"
Lowel"
It is my unique experience and i could go on, however;
Basic line ( i think ): SL is beyond its hype, and it is also on retour of its product life cicle.
The inworld economy could show an analog trend, however pauzed due to my studies above.
In that respect 2010 i would see a serious critical year for SL.
Communication in and the likebility of SL needs to be severly addressed at this point.
At that position in the cicle and having that knowledge, 2 scenario's i would tend to see:
1 A serious significant innovation in depth that needs to be financially activated as well as managed.
Within that innovation, create acceptable communication possibilities and reduce negative individual social risks.
2. Phase out SL and redesign a virtual world aligned to new insights of modern studies/developmenets on both fields of technical and social psychology.