The Alphaville Herald

37 Responses to “How Profitable is the Second Life Fashion Game?”

1. 

   Adric Antfarm
   

   Apr 30th, 2009
   

   Cough Cough (bullshit) Cough.

   Wiki (which is right about half the time) has figures I actually buy.

   “about 64000 users made a profit in Second Life in February 2009, of whom 38524 made less than US$10, while 233 made more than US$5000″

   A few make bank, most make a joke. A funny joke. OMG. I am laughing without Paxil!! OMG! Wait…it passed.
2. 

   Adric Antfarm
   

   Apr 30th, 2009
   

   “I’ve been running a clothing store since the end of 2006. As you can see from the numbers below, business ramped up, peaked and for some unknown reason – took a dive.

   AND THE OSCAR FOR MOST CLUELESS PERSON NOT TO HEAR A BUBBLE GO POP!!! GOES TO…….

   I don’t think anyone could of kept your peak going, so don’t take it personally, but come on…

   You still use AOL. Don’t you?
3. 

   Obvious Schism
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   This is a serious blog, right?
4. 

   janeforyou Barbara
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   I run a ok business in SL,, from April 2006 untill November 2008 i had a lill proffit on 30 to 40 USD a week. The cashflow in 2007 and until November 2008 been so goo i had tier support for 5 islands pluss cost coverd for 20 events a week with Djs and Hostesses and a securetystaff.

   From November 2008 the cashflow been dropping like a stone so now am loosing 50 to 60 USD a week= i am “eating” on my reserves, but i belive in the marked and the system, i also belive i can aprove my effords and learn more business, i dont need to pull out cash from SL to RL as i am using SL just as a hobby and i am happy to have my costs coverd,i can still do 20 events a week, i can still have a staff, i run my business with budjets, i use exl and chekk in and out cashflow every day, dont worry i wil be in SL for a looong time with my islands and business

   But you can not do all alone, you need good managers, friends and folks you can trust, i got that.I only know 1 person in SL that i know make good mony ( bout 650 USD a week) after tiers are payed, the person sells Skins. and thats after skinsales dropped 40%, i also know a few fashon sellers that told me there sales dropped 30 to 40% sins November 2008 and this are big brands, but i also got a good friend of me that dubbled her sales cuz she worked harder So stay in, develop your skills, work hard and you get there!
5. 

   Stephie
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   Stop kidding yourselves by calling yourselves “designers”. 90% of the clothes I’ve seen on SL are snatched from google image search. It’s not that hard to line up seams on the template SL GIVES YOU, preview it, and then upload it.
6. 

   Satan
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   Firstly, I don’t buy these numbers at all. I can see why they would be peddled by a fellow ‘SL fashion designer’ with an inflated ego.

   The simple fact is that the SL ‘fashion industry’ IS a joke. It’s completely absurd. The problem isn’t that you guys are ‘designing’ e-clothes which in and of itself is only slightly weird. SL is a very open ended game that allows for people to play the participate in combat, play the part of a business owner, be a troll or griefer, socialize, engage in e-politics, and do plenty of other shit that is useful I guess for the sake of entertainment. No, what makes this so absurd is the fact that it is taken so seriously. The SL ‘fashionistas’ are worse than furries in my book. The ‘industry’ is made up of a bunch of stereotypical little girls and queens who wanted to design real clothes in real life but couldn’t cut it so they settled for fake clothes in Second Life. The industry is made of self important jack-offs who create more drama than virtually any other group in Second Life. I sometimes look at some of these sites for lols and I hear stupid shit like this all the time:

   ‘*GASP* so-and-so’s stole their textures from the interwebs and used them for these skins’
   ‘OMG so-and-so thinks they should be paid for reviewing e-clothes’
   ‘Holy shit, some-person’s dress resembles one made by other-person’

   WHO GIVES A SHIT??

   Then I see people creating e-clothing lines named after human waste (literally) because they think that if they pick a stupid name like that then they can say that they aren’t taking themselves as seriously as their e-pals. These ones are the worst because they actually KNOW how stupid what they’re doing is and they STILL do it.

   I’ve never in my life seen so much whining in one place. And it’s all over useless pixels that are stored on someone else’s hard drives!! The SL ‘fashion industry’ is made up of vindictive primadonas who fail at life. Every single one of them are losers that relentlessly claw at each other trying to beat their competition in the race to nowhere. The fact that they have the audacity to act as though they really are the divas they pretend to be is astonishing! I really believe that a lot of them have fallen for their own hype. It’s pathetic. If you told your average person that you designed clothes in Second Life and acted as pompous as these people act then you average person would lol at you. I couldn’t stand hanging out with someone so lame so it’s no wonder these people spend their lives trapped in a video game. They’re too weird to be accepted by mainstream society.
7. 

   Just Me
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   I came up with about 20 to 25 products (not clothing) about two years ago and set up a few shops. After six months of moving shops around to find the best locations, I ended up with three small shops (each about 10 meters square) which reliably bring me about 350 $US each month, without my having to do anything at all except pay the 200 L to 250 L per week rental cost on the spaces. In the past year, I also set up on XstreetSL (SLexchange) and that brings my months profit up to about $450 US per month .. and I haven’t changed or added a product in over a year ! It’s all in finding something people want, pricing it well, and selling it in a place with ‘real’ traffic, just like RL.

   In any case, this money is a nice supplement to my RL income for essentially no effort at all.
8. 

   Jimbo Quality
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   Tenshi,

   How come you didn’t tell me that Bea Arthur died?

   Love,
   Jimbo
9. 

   Sioxie Legend
   

   May 1st, 2009
   

   I have been doing SL Fashion for over 3 years now – even though I only do it part-time and lately only in spurts, my income from it has never reached what yours is (even comparative analysis based on time spent product amount etc) I have over 750 items available at my main store (all of which are HAND PAINTED) and for the most part I usually take in about $100 USD after paying tier, classifieds, upload charges and the like. I’m not sure what you’re doing right/wrong but I think that $400 USD is nothing to sneeze at even if it is a lot less than in your hey-day. On average I spend anywhere from 10 – 30 hours a week on my store/brand/designs/marketing so really the pay isn’t important to me (obviously). It’s more about having an outlet to some creativity that I don’t have at work. I think it’s great that some people can make a living at this – but I believe that consistency and tenacity win out over a rocket like ascent. You may be facing a bit of a slump – but keep at it and you’ll persevere.
10. 

    Ari Blackthorne
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    And this is actually interesting…how?

    Figures. Tenshi writes psychobabble crap to preach to the foaming-at-the-mouth fashionista choir who feed on rumor and gossip at her “let’s trash anyone we don’t like” blog and then throws a copy of it at this Tabloid to get paid for it.

    Nice.
11. 

    janeforyou Barbara
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    @ Stephie
    Maybe some do go and find fashion moddel stuff at Google, but i know a few creators/designers that realy also create RL.I been in SL a few yares and i seen moust of it. I know a Italian SL awarded designer that also design RL,, its easy to find ut RL/SL designers, thay usly got a homepage also.

    @ Just Me
    You do the right ting! You understand how to do it ;.)
12. 

    Darien Caldwell
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    I’m actually surprised it’s so low. Guess Fashion isn’t ‘all that’ after all.
13. 

    Neo Citizen
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    I’ll tip my hand here and mention that I’m in the clothing business too, and my sales are about $300-$400 USD a month, and like most of the other respondents, I took a big hit in November of 2008. It just happened to coincide with the Linden Lab announcement that they were pulling the rug out from under the people who’d bought Openspace sims and jacking the prices past the breaking point. My sales numbers and the numbers describing the week by week drop in total sim numbers were pretty much parallel lines.

    I’m probably going to stop at some point, because the energy I have to put into it is starting not to be worth it. It hasn’t reached that level yet, and it’s pretty much leveled off, so who knows?

    Oh, and “Stephie”, before you trash talk people who actually make stuff, try picking up a paintbrush sometime and let’s see how you do with it.
14. 

    Adric Antfarm
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    Hey guys, given your success stories, how about posting some store locations so we can come by and give you even more business.

    Love to swing by.

    At your store.

    Which is making money.

    In Second Life.
15. 

    Karl Reisman
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    I am in the wrong business. I make about 200USD, but I will say my men’s vintage hats have kept the sales valleys filled in slightly.

    –Karl
16. 

    mootykips
    

    May 1st, 2009
    

    >Oh, and “Stephie”, before you trash talk people who actually make stuff, try picking up a paintbrush sometime and let’s see how you do with it.

    ahahaha this argument is so disingenuous i love it, YOU CAN’T CRITICISE ANYTHING UNLESS YOU YOURSELF ARE AN EXPERT IN THE FIELD, IF YOU WANT TO SAY TROLL 2 SUCKS YOU BETTER GO WORK ON YOUR OWN FEATURE FILM

    sl fashion designers aren’t even as talented as retards who skin Master Chief models for halo mods
17. 

    janeforyou Barbara
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    @ Adric Antfarm
    I dont think its allowed to ad your shop slurl here? But search my name in world and you find my locations at my classified
    -Oasis Of Lesbos
    -Isle Of Lesbos Mall
18. 

    does it matter
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    I want to say i think those figures can be very real. i cash out a tad more then that a month on the average. i don’t do classifieds or ads so i just have my tier to pay and me. i think it all depends on how you market and what you are selling. 2.5 yrs ago i was making 4800$ a month. yes USD. REAL MONEY…… today its about $1800-1900…. there is a lot more product out there flooding the market so i think that has a lot to do with the sales dropping. Who knows…. maybe I’m full of shit too.
19. 

    Stephie
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    >Oh, and “Stephie”, before you trash talk people who actually make stuff, try picking up a paintbrush sometime and let’s see how you do with it.

    I have done it, it’s not hard. :V
20. 

    janeforyou Barbara
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    @ does it matter
    Your not full of shit, let me guess, you been in SL 3-4 yares, you got one huge shop, you create and sell higth qalety items. and yes you made 4800$ before November 2008 and you make neeer 2000$ now.

    And yes there are to many sellers, there are not to many creators tho, but as we se a lot of “Full perm” items, a lot of resellers there are to many, there use to be to many malls also but a lot of them closed.

    And if you look at how many are online and how many shops there are we need more costumers or less shops, thats just how the marked works, if a city got 2 streets with 50 shops thay all sell, but if the same city gets 10 streets with 50 shops you need more folks there
21. 

    Adric Antfarm
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    Jane Jane Jane -

    Alphabits are cool with you pushing products (if you buy space here). Besides me and the guys go back years. We went to Devry together.

    I don’t doubt for a minute IOLM makes money but we were talking about fashion missy and your description begins “Lesbian-Lesbians-love-pussy-anal-tits-boobs-malls-mall-girls-woman-BDSM “. I bet the $199 anus is an easy sell as is the “Spanker/Spankee” set. No one said adult sales were hurting.

    As for your other area it does seem less wet, but it has what – 98% less traffic? I think the cause for the drop off is you flying out of nowhere and asking if you can help people. Had I been there to buy woman’s clothing I would of fled. You scared the shit out of me. Cross dressers (I assume) need their space woman and you should instead be over here enforcing this “NO MEN PAST THIS POINT” sign I just walked past.

    Oh I’m adding you as a pick so I can win 1200L. Oh…I love the Bimbo 69 Standing Poseball and bedroom set. Best buy this week.
22. 

    Sigmund Leominster
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    Gee, so much crap spouted by the “I-Hate-SL” brigade – who STILL won’t fuck off and do something else – that this whole thread is beginning to smell.

    First off, why anyone should want to piss on folks who are making REAL money out of a virtual world beggars belief. Unless. of course, it’s because other people are NOT making money. Apparently it’s the “in-thing” to try to be all snarky and cool because SL is all a joke and full of losers, but when you’re cashing in that check each month, I know which side of the fence is better.

    Second, slagging folks off because they are doing something different from what YOU like is equally misguided. Comments like “the SL fashion world is a joke” totally misses the point – it’s as legitimate as the people who see value in it. The real world fashion world can also be described as a joke, but that doesn’t stop folks spending insane amounts of money. Once again, it’s another example of the “Get A Life” brigade trying to tell everyone what constitutes “a life” – such as trolling the web day after day making inane comments about how everyone – except you – is a loser.

    Third, the concept of virtual goods selling for real money is a fact of life and thinking it is “stupid” or “pointless” is ostrich-like behavior. The economics of “long tails” and “micropayments” work quite nicely for some folks, and those “Get A Lifers” who use blog ads are buying into this type of economic model.

    And finally – just because I don’t want to write a long essay unless I get paid for it – the concept of “value” is so subjective. Whether a person makes $50 US per month or $5000 US with their Second Life business is a value judgment for the person cashing the check. If Whining Slackman or Arabella Miseryguts thinks $50 a month “ain’t worth it” then feel free to sit your fat avatarial ass on a camping chair and shut up. Dudley Dosomething can then feel free to spend his $50 on whatever he wants while Slackman and Miseryguts can kiss his butt.

    It’s called Capitalism, boys and girls, and it’s what makes the world go round. And don’t give me no shit about “yeah, and look at what a mess it’s gotten us into” because frankly, some folks are doing quite well out of the recession. The weak will go to the financial wall, the strong will winnow the wheat from the chaff, and the invisible hand will deal new hands to the players.

    And I will stop mixing metaphors. Go make some money.
23. 

    Satan
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    >First off, why anyone should want to piss on folks who are making REAL >money >out of a virtual world beggars belief. Unless. of course, it’s >because other >people are NOT making money. Apparently it’s the “in-thing” >to try to be all >snarky and cool because SL is all a joke and full of >losers, but when you’re >cashing in that check each month, I know which >side of the fence is better.

    Oh yes, I’m just so jealous of all the nickels and dimes you must be raking in from Second Life. And calling attention to how stupid the whole thing is is the new way to be super cool. No really.

    When you can beat my six digits then I guess you’ll have room to talk, won’t you?

    >Second, slagging folks off because they are doing something different from >what YOU like is equally misguided. Comments like “the SL fashion world is >a joke” totally misses the point – it’s as legitimate as the people who >see value in it. The real world fashion world can also be described as a >joke, but that doesn’t stop folks spending insane amounts of money. Once >again, it’s another example of the “Get A Life” brigade trying to tell >everyone what constitutes “a life” – such as trolling the web day after >day making inane comments about how everyone – except you – is a loser.

    Oh yes, the time it takes to whip up a snappy comment ridiculing you idiots for wasting your lives in a video game must be equal to all of the time it takes you to make your e-products, market them, have e-sex, e-socialize, fight over said e-products, lie about how many spacebux you’re raking in, engage in e-gossip, and BAAAAAWWWW in the comments section of your favorite blog in no less than 9000 words.

    Guess what? Before I began writing for the Metro Spirit I had a job interview at the Augusta Chronicle with Jonathon Dozier, head of the new media department in May 2008. The interview was for a position in the new media department as an Online News Assistant. I joked with Jonathon and told him that I dropped self replicating dicks on Second Life during the interview. He lol’d and ended up offering me a position as a computer programmer based on that and a brief conversation about my knowledge of HTML and C++.
    “Normally we require a degree for this position, but I think we can make an exception in this case. Do you know Perl or PHP,” he asked. I had no prior knowledge of perl or php, however, I could have told him to give me a call in 2 weeks and picked up books on both on my way home from the interview and gotten the job. I didn’t though and I am glad. In July of 2008 the Chronicle laid of 40 new hires because Morris Communications, the company that owns the Chronicle and newspapers in Chicago, IL and numerous other cities across the US had accumulated significant debt. They are still on the verge of declaring bankruptcy. BTW, Pixeleen knew about the job interview when it happened so she’ll tell you that what I am telling you now is consistent with what I said then.

    I wonder how Dozier would have reacted if I told him I made e-clothes in Second Life or something else equally retarded. I bet he’d think I was weird. So wait, does that mean that most normal people regard a person who drops self replicating boxes (or dicks) on SL as being normal, and a person who spends countless hours having e-sex and making e-clothes as abnormal? It sure does, but you shouldn’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself on non SLers and see what they think.

    TL;DR your whole comment read as one giant BAAAWWW because you got all e-pissed by someone bursting your bubble and calling attention to the fact that this is all so stupid. I guess if I had my whole life invested in a pathetic video game then I’d be pissed too. Loser.
24. 

    Tatianna Faulkes
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    At the end of the day, if you can do something that you and others enjoy, while creating some type of revenue for yourself, then all the best to you.
25. 

    Tatianna Faulkes
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    The ‘outworld’ fashion/textile industry is a plethora of knock-offs, greed and unethical practices, i.e. unfair trade, child labor and the biggest pollutant of the planet. I’m proud to say I work for a ‘green’ fashion company in RL and enjoy the supplemental income SL offers all while having a conscience.

    ..it is ignorant to assume who is at the creating end of this demographic as some of us aren’t “losers” or “too weird to be accepted by mainstream society” as Satan, who I’m sure is not self-righteous AT ALL, put it.
26. 

    Johnny S
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    What’s missing from these figures is the time that people are spending on their SL business. $1200 a month would be good for a couple of hours a week, but for full-time employment it’s not much more than minimum wage, and that’s before tax. Do SL jobs come with pensions? Health plans? Looked at in strictly financial terms, most people would be better off just getting a regular job.

    I’m sure that SL commerce can be a self-financing hobby, but an alternative to real-world employment? Only for a very few.
27. 

    Sigmund Leominster
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    >>TL;DR your whole comment read as one giant BAAAWWW because you got all e-pissed by someone bursting your bubble and calling attention to the fact that this is all so stupid. I guess if I had my whole life invested in a pathetic video game then I’d be pissed too. Loser.< <

    Crikey, Satan, talk about proving a point! Here yah go again with the “loser” comment, talking about a “pathetic video game” and yet here you are, still immersed in it and wanting to sound relevant. Still, good to see you can’t let it go

    I’m not sure anyone cares about your real life antics. What you do for a living is your business and I hope you enjoy it. Similarly, what other people do for a living is THEIR business and I’m surprised a “News Assistant” would feel that attacking people for their lifestyle was either ethical or apposite. Are you typical of the writers at Metro Spirit? Is vitriol and spleen part of the job description? Is “We report; we decide” the tag line for the paper? Dear oh dear, Satan, we seem to have a lot of anger issues don’t we?

    And Johnny S is probably on the ball here in that I suspect a lot of folks make EXTRA cash in SL and only a relatively few folks have it as their sole income. And those who DO have it as sole income are unlikely to be (a) bothered by what folks say here and (b) be inclined to tell folks how to do it!

    And SL, suprisingly, is NOT my primary source of income. For what it’s worth, I do other things in RL, and virtual worlds are simply a hobby.

    Like most folks who “play” Second Life.
28. 

    Satan
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    >..as Satan, who I’m sure is not self-righteous AT ALL, put it.

    Actually I am incredibly self-righteous. As far as being ‘righteous’ goes, the term is really pretty relative. These days it is used more often than not in a religious context and I am not religious at all (ITT atheist) so I’m perfectly okay with not being ‘righteous’ in the sense that the term is most oft used.
29. 

    Adric Antfarm
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    Tatianna – You are not kind to mother earth and child workers out of some higher devotion princess, it’s misplaced pious smug since you’ve forgotten it’s because you make nothing and thus have no footprint. I didn’t make bad loans but that doesn’t mean I am a good banker, just that I am not a banker. D-

    Siggy – Very well said. I have a ton of crap that people wonder why I buy, but it makes me happy. By the same respect an outfit in SL could have more significance to some (and we don’t have to get it). You are placing way too much credit in the hands of snark blogs however. Our comments on fashion are about as well considered as Perez Hilton’s penis doodles on Lindsey Lohan. B+

    Satan – I’m guessing this Metro deal is an alt weekly that is free due to massive advertising? Cutting edge stuff the daily ignores like a three page interview with visiting Author David Sedaris? Cool, not sure what the job you didn’t take has to do with it, but yes – I can tell anyone here that going to work and striking up the Second Life conversation is like pulling your member out. They picture WOW and your mom’s basement. Good e-comments. I used that on someone who had a resume for their avatar (why? is there no pretend monster.com). C+

    Tatianna…again – wait. You only get one grade.

    Johnny S – We have a winner. A+
30. 

    Satan
    

    May 2nd, 2009
    

    >Crikey, Satan, talk about proving a point! Here yah go again with the “loser” comment, talking about a “pathetic video game” and yet here you are, still immersed in it and wanting to sound relevant. Still, good to see you can’t let it go

    Umm, I’m pretty sure you have to play the game to be immersed in it. I have no presence in Second Life. My only involvement with Second Life and nitwits such as yourself who obsess with it is limited to this blog. As for wanting to sound relevant, I’d guess anyone does when they say anything or else they wouldn’t say anything at all. Duh! And part of writing for a real newspaper is being willing to have some backbone and tell it like it is. I guess that’s difference between you and I. I don’t mince words and my views are my views whether I work for the Metro Spirit or not. Needless to say, I am not the least bit threatened by your lame attempt at asserting that you know where I work (when I just told you) as though you’re going to fire off some baaawww for someone at the office to lol at.
31. 

    janeforyou Barbara
    

    May 3rd, 2009
    

    @ Adric Antfarm
    hehehe, thanks for the marketing of my adult shopsrentors in my mall!
    You se,, there are 6 islands at The IOL Empire,Isle Of Lesbos1 are the ONLY ONE women only isle, there are NO shops or sales there, just a lot of fun! Then there are The Isle Of Lesbos2 The Mall and there you find the adult stuff( open also for men), then there are Oasis Of Lesbos with NO sex items,, just nice cloths and jewlery and skins and waterfontains. Then there are Bay Of Lesbos the open water sim where you can sail and swim and scubadive and fish and have a lot of fun!

    Then there are ” Emprie Of Lesbos” or The Empress Isle, my lill playground with castles and ships, and one more island added to it “whispering Big Pines” Home and land rentals for women only.

    So you se,, there are 4 islands open for men, and for your info i got plenty of male rentors in The mall and in Oasis island, and we do events for men and women in the mall and in Oasis, i do NOT got any sex clubs i do NOT use traffick bots or campers, but the reason the traffick at Isle Of Lesbos1 are higther are cuz the girls like to sit there and chit chat a lot using voice and meet and there are 20 event a week there.

    And yes i do ask everyone i meet if i can help or asist them.. over the last 3 yares i mentord many creators in SL, i am NOT in SL to “make a lot of mony” SL are a hobby i use to get away from a stressy and demanding RL job, and many of them i helped get started off with Clubs or Islands or Malls or shops are my good friends.. i am not a “sugarmom” lol but i love to se tings grow,,i love to se new talents develop and i love to inspire others to create, its ok that i dont get rich in mony from it but i get rich in my heart and it makes me prowd!
    I know many in SL think and do like me,, i did meet some, and i think its the way this game are to be played
32. 

    The Grown Ups
    

    May 4th, 2009
    

    Satan said
    >>Umm, I’m pretty sure you have to play the game to be immersed in it. I have no presence in Second Life. My only involvement with Second Life and nitwits such as yourself who obsess with it is limited to this blog.

    Ok, dude, you troll a blog dedicated to a video game you don’t play? Get help, and some sunshine. No one cares about your awesome job interview. No one cares what you think. STFU and go play outside with other kids, you need some perspective and some human contact before you get worse and can’t function with real people.

    As for the whole fashionista/making clothes/making money thing.
    Second Life and all the people in it, has a bullshit factor of 9.5

    For example- most of the Lesbians at Janeforyoubarbara’s Lesbian place are really guys wearing women’s avatars.
    For example- many “fashion blogs” rave about clothes because they are a) friends with the designers b) are alts of the designers c) enjoy the attention, links and free clothes that come with good reviews d) all of the above

    So, that said, let’s assume that ALL of the numbers posted here are high.

    But, in the end, who cares?

    You have the opportunity to “make” something, put it in a store, market it, possibly sell it, and walk away with a couple of real US dollars. Assuming you’re enjoying the steps along the way, that’s about the coolest video game I can imagine.

    I don’t play many online games because I am a grown-up with a job and kids and all that, but I do like Second Life because it pays me real dollars. I’m not sure how much enjoyment I would get out of being a “level 72 mage with shiny white teeth” or whatever you get out of playing WoW, but I do know that I’ve recently purchased stock, a new removable luggage rack for my Harley, and two boxes of Titleist pro v1 golf balls with money that came from Second Life. It’s not going to replace my RL job income anytime soon, but it’s free money so I’ll take it.

    Before the nit-picking crew arrives, I’ll explain that it’s free money because my store sits on a small plot of first land (remember that?) so I pay nothing to own it, and the bulk of my sales come from skins and clothes I drew three years ago that still sell quite well in-world and on Xstreet. I honestly have no idea what I make in SL per week or per month, I just let the lindens pile up and when I feel like I cash them out and buy or invest. I’ve put no time into the store that I can remember in 2009, and probably very little in 2008, and yet, it’s still paying. The 400 a week we get as allowance covers my annual fee, so I literally pay nothing to the game anymore and cash out several hundred real dollars every once in a while. How can anyone fault this?

    Now, as I was saying, who cares how much people make in-world? Who cares how much time they put in? It’s their life, their avatar, their store, and none of your business. Get outside and out of the hate business, or find another game. I’m sure that being a level 72 Mage has some serious cachet somewhere you can use.

    Finally, in a lot of professions, having a knowledge, and plan, and ability for making money out of nothing is a good thing, so I would certainly mention that I have the photoshop skills and the requisite knowledge of immersive virtual worlds to have created, maintained and successfully monetized a line of virtual clothes in a job interview before I mentioned that I’m an anti-social troll who “drops dicks” to ruin other people’s resources and waste their time. Of course, I’ve only been in the work place for almost twenty years, and have only won a handful of awards at it, so I’m sure I’m not nearly as interview savvy as many who read this blog.
33. 

    Sigmund Leominster
    

    May 4th, 2009
    

    OK, last comments – I promise.

    >>>I have no presence in Second Life. My only involvement with Second Life and nitwits such as yourself who obsess with it is limited to this blog.

    If the Alphaville Herald is your sole source for information on Second Life, then I now understand your hostility towards it. I remain curious as to WHY you even feel the need to contribute to something in which you admit to not taking any part. There must be many other things you don’t take part.

    >>>And part of writing for a real newspaper is being willing to have some backbone and tell it like it is. I guess that’s difference between you and I. I don’t mince words and my views are my views whether I work for the Metro Spirit or not.

    Again, what you do in real life is of no interest although you seem to want to use “claim to authority” to validate your behavior. And you are, of course, free to exercise your views, along with everyone else who comments here. However, if, by your own admission, the Herald is your sole source of facts, I suggest that you find other sources because having just one is hardly worthy of a professional journalist.

    >>>Needless to say, I am not the least bit threatened by your lame attempt at asserting that you know where I work (when I just told you)

    And I don’t believe there was any thought of threat at all as you clearly DID mention your real life job. But again, I doubt anyone cares about it, only insofar as you mention it to claim some “credibility” as a journalist while behaving in a self-centered, boorish fashion that frankly does your profession no favors. My only beef is not with you personally but your behavior as it relates to apparently wanting to attack decent folks who happen to have a passtime that you consider “misguided” or “wrong,” throwing out ad hominem attacks against people you do not know, whilst simultaneously hiding behind the excuse of “freedom of speech” and “telling it like it is.”

    It’s heartening to know you find the Herald such a fascinating location in the vast blogosphere. But don’t neglect the hundreds of other sites that offer, in total, a spectacular kaleidoscope of Second Life, from the sacred to the profane, from the sublime to the ridiculous, and from the banal to the original. Maybe you’ll get a better appreciation of what folks do with their leisure time – even if your opinion is that they should go do something else; whatever that may be.
34. 

    Satan
    

    May 4th, 2009
    

    @Sigmund Leominster

    I read the Second Life Herald because I like the people who run it and because Second Life is interesting. Being able to read about whats going on in SL is far more convenient than having to create a new alt to get in each time in order to find out what’s going on. As you likely know, my facts about Second Life and hardcore SLers are based on much more than what I read here since, as you well know, I was an SLer at one point as well. The problem isn’t Second Life or even Second Lifers in general per se. The problem is that the most hardcore Second Lifers take the thing so damn seriously. They often seem like a bunch of children arguing over who should get the most candy. They threaten to sue each other all the time over copies of pixels valued at under 1 USD per copy on average. Most of these ‘items’ are not even going to outlive Linden Lab. I see these same idiots comparing griefing to real life murder and terrorism. People with odd and arguably destructive sexual fetishes such as simulating rape or child pornography get all dramatic when people are opposed to their views. They compare themselves to the jews who were killed en masse during World War II and they compare their opposition to Hitler and the Nazis.

    Second Life can be loads of fun. I played it too. Playing the part of the SL business owner was extremely fun. Between writing for this blog and my former SL business I was making between 100-200 USD worth of lindens a month and this was only 30-60 days after starting up (I was permabanned before I hit the 3 month mark). Playing Second Life doesn’t make a person any more of a loser than playing WoW, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Metaplace, or anything else. The real problem is that somewhere along the way, A LOT of SLers are losing their fucking minds apparently. They have discarded any semblance of logic and reasoning in favor of drama and complete insanity. I have an issue with that because I have an aversion for this sort of stupidity and I rather enjoy calling people out on it and listening to their transparent excuses for acting like a bunch of toddlers. Or excuses comparing the act of simulating rape (NOTE: I’m not talking about BDSM, the two are different) to some of the greatest literary works of the modern world. How absurd is that? These people are so used to having people with opposing views cave in and tolerate them that I believe it does them some good to have someone lol at them. Tolerance and political correctness are for the weak. They actually hinder progress because they prevent problems from being addressed. Until these asshats are ridiculed enough they’re going to continue to rationalize their retarded-ness, breeding stupidity and indifference everywhere they go.

    I’m not denying that I love the Herald, or else I wouldn’t even be here. The Herald made me in some ways. My work in real life all started here, on this blog, so of course I am reluctant to leave it behind. The Herald will always have a special place with me and so will the people that run it.
35. 

    janeforyou Barbara
    

    May 4th, 2009
    

    @ The Grown Ups
    Stop beeing so “grumpy” Why cant you be more positiv? it wil give you a better life
    And your not insulting me with your comment in my lovly Islands, i know better and so do all the women there, your comment are as silly as saying “all the men in the gay clubs are realy women” Play the game and be happy.

    Grow up?
36. 

    The Grown Ups
    

    May 5th, 2009
    

    @janeforyoubarbara
    Actually that was my point- just play the game and be happy.

    Satan said:
    >Between writing for this blog and my former SL business….

    Please tell us which articles you wrote here….
37. 

    Satan
    

    May 7th, 2009
    

    @The Grown Ups

    For whatever reason, the person who moderates the comments here does not want me to link directly to them so I’ll just say that I wrote the articles that were written under the names ‘d3adlyc0d3c’ and ‘Proper Prim’. You can find them through google.

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