I wouldn’t be too sure about the advertising, though. RL corporations are on their way out because their advertising projects were utter failures. SL companies already have their ways to advertise and there is a steadily-growing anti-ad farm movement that has been gaining momentum…not to say LL will listen to anyone’s complaints but you never know!

For most people, owning land is a good way for self-promotion but it does mean you need something to offer. A simple mall could be okay but reality is that they’re unlikely to generate huge profits. Especially newbies are not likely to pay huge amounts just for the ownership of a couple of bits and bytes.

I think getting rid of casino’s will mean that more companies will start using SL for advertisements. I myself have already considered making big signs to put on my land which others could rent to have their banners displayed. Preferably with a landmark linked to the image. And if gambling is banned, I think many will use advertisements as the next big commercial enterprise within SL.

I do wonder how many people are working on large non-profit projects, though. Land equals prims and large projects need quite a few prims. You could work together as a group, though. Buy some group land and let every member pay her share. But can you trust all the group member? There’s always a chance that the group owner would just kick out everyone who donated land and then keep it all for himself.

I’m still not convinced that the loss of casino and gambling will have a big impact on the SL economy. Something will replace it, probably advertising…

I was never concerned about the tier because that actually goes toward the game to me. I was annoyed that I’d have to pay 2 month’s tier just to BUY a 1024m2 plot (for example) and pay tier ON TOP OF THAT!!

And people who like to build and do creative, non-profit type things with their land aren’t likely to be too upset if the value goes down for a while. It’s bound to go back up once things level out.

I’m just patiently waiting for the exodus of angry ex-gamblers and ageplayers to free up the servers!

New & Existing Residents:

CAMPING – 98% of all camping was funded & brought to us by casino’s running
slot machines.. New residents as well as existing residents camp to pay
tiers on their homes, buy clothes, furniture & other objects.. Slot machines
were first introduced to Second Life by Philip Linden.. NOW BANNED

SPLODERS, RAFFLE BALLS & GAMES OF CHANCE AT CLUBS – every club in Second
Life has or had sploders, raffle balls & games of chance allowing anyone to
enter for a small fee & trying their luck at winning a piece of the pot…
though not specifically listed they all fall under the broad description of
the new policy.. NOW BANNED

KENO, SLINGO, TRINGO, ZYNGO etc. – all lotteries relying on a random number
generation to pick a winner.. all a major source of many residents income in
SL. These games were something everyone could do & many paid their tiers off
the prizes & profits… though not all specifically listed they all fall
under the broad description of the new policy.. NOW BANNED

EMPLOYMENT – Casino’s & Poker Houses employed thousands of residents in
Second Life.. Dealers, Hosts, Security, Scriptors, Builders, etc..
Legitimate employment, a job you could be proud of & didnt have to hide from
your Real Life family.. a job that didnt force you to sell your avatar for
anothers pleasure or be nude/nearly nude to work at.. a job where people
respected you & didnt treat you like a piece of meat only there for their
pleasure. These employees purchased millions of items, houses, clothes etc
in second life.. NO INCOME .. NO PURCHASING..

LIVE MUSIC – think the new policy & lack of lindens flowing in SL from
gambling, casino’s, poker houses, wont effect it.. think again.. each live
artist charges an average of 3,000L or more per hour they play at a venue,
most listeners dont tip the venues or tip very little.. they give it to the
artist.. the average venue doesnt even recoup 1/3 the cost of the artist
back in tips/donations…. most places live artists play are in some way
supported by some form of gambling, sploders, raffle balls, games of chance
& those gamblers, owners & employees of casino’s & poker houses.. the
lindens are no longer flowing, the casino’s & clubs are closing or reducing
thier overhead.. fewer places for live artists to play & even fewer that can
afford to bring them to thier venues. .

All this because of the law in some states of the US not all i might add.
The reason for this law has nothing to so with tight assed christian
faux-moralists. It is simply that the gambling industry in Las Vegas and
Atlantic City went to the US Congress, to whom they are a major comapign
contributor, and asked for the law because they felt online gambling might
cut into their revenue. Simple as that.

Please sign this petition http://www.thekonstrukt.com click on the picture
for gambling and any others you may come across, if we stick at it and dont
spend any lindens it will hit LL hard they may have to weight up this
against cost of moving servers offshore from the police state supposed to be
land of the free USA.

Oh and a word of warning. New laws were recently passed regarding internet radio stations. LL do not offer what is played on these streams in exactly the way they dont offer online gambling, whether it is pirated or not, whether the stream is licensed or not. You can soon expect those to go away next. That would effect all radio streams within Second Life, independant dj’s, live musicians, clubs, etc. Don’t think it will happen? If you thought you were safe, think again.

And while there might have been no event or investigation that precipated this decision, even though the FBI did not render an opinion on gambling in SL when they investigated back in April, that can still mean that the Lindens made the policy change in response to a change of law.

But it can also be a business decision to not involve themselves in fraud investigations, and potential future lawsuits, of casino transactions that go bad.