Avatars protest against higher prices for OpenSpace sims

Wednesday 29 October 2008 - Linden Estate Services
Right now standing at the building of Linden Estate Services, where avatars from all countries, nations and languages are protesting against the new prices for OpenSpace Sims. The people are shouting at Linden Lab authorities to come out and talk with them, although the building is empty and all Linden workers seem to be off-world, or just not answering, according to the remarks in the crowd.
People are angry, because the rent for OpenSpace sims is going to increase with 67% by January 2009, as the sims attract much more traffic than was allowed. Read here the argumentation as stated by Linden Labs.
Or read here if you prefer the text in French.
According to Linden Labs, the Openspaces are being used about twice as much as expected, in other words being loaded with double the content/avatar load than they had expected for a region that is supposed to be light use.

One might question whether it was a smart idea at all, to offer low price/low-traffic sims at all, and by doing so, making different prices for sims at all, for the most users will not be interested in the sort or quality of the machine. What the outcome might be: Linden Labs sure has to take a few lessons here.

But there is also lessons for residents to learn. When will people stop thinking that Second Life is a game and treat it like a game? It is not a game at all, but a 3D-webbrowser and as such mainly a great communication tool. Of course, a special webbrowser with lots of great and useful features and of course, it is possible to play games, just as much as on the 2D-web called internet. Then, when will people wake up and learn that they are NOT renting land, NOT renting property or an Estate. All who rent from Linden Labs, are renting a (part of a) server. No more, no less. When you want to make a website, you rent webspace on a server from a provider or host. When you want to make a 3D-website, you rent webspace (hosting) from Linden Labs.
That is all there is.

So, what ever the outcome might be, I think it is time to reconsider your activities in Second Life, when you keep in mind that it is all about communication and not about gaming. Grow up and decide what is really important and what is not? How much 'land' do you really need, to communicate yourself, to show your work, to enjoy the virtual world?

Maybe, after all, we can stop playing around and start to use the virtual worlds for the essentials: education, arts, communication and innovation.