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The Virtual Whirl: Questions from the virtual mailbag
This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're going to take a selection of reader questions that we've received in comments and in the virtual mailbag and do our best to offer up some useful answers. Join us as we whirl through the mail. Not surprisingly, the two most frequently asked questions involve the demise of virtual environment, There.com.
Linden Lab isn't daft
It's tempting to characterize Linden Lab as a goofball organization that consistently makes the wrong decisions, driving their premier product, Second Life, into virtual oblivion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Success is hard to argue with (not impossible, as many people do try to argue the fact of it anyway), and Second Life is a success for the Lab. While the Lab is as prone as any organization to making mistakes that can be described as avoidable or boneheaded, all the key decisions that have allowed it to become profitable and maintain profitability and growth pretty much went right. Second Life remains a success. So why does the Lab look like a goof?
Second Life November metrics: Nothing gained
November metrics for Linden Lab's virtual environment, Second Life are available for examination. September and October were relatively poor months, and November's results don't look great at all. In fact every one of Linden Lab's key metrics fell in November. Land size, user-hours, transactions, PMLF. The only gain is an infinitesimal increase in the Linden Dollar exchange rate of 0.3%.
Second Life October metrics: More falls
October metrics for Linden Lab's virtual environment, Second Life are not yet formally available, but Lab CFO John Zdanowski wound up giving out a link to the information in advance, so we have the figures to work with. September was not a good month by these metrics, and we were interested to see how October panned out. Your key takeaways for October are a continuing plunge in premium accounts, and a reduction in overall economic activity. User hours, however were up. A more detailed summary follows after the jump.
Second Life September metrics: Mostly falls
The published, key metrics for Second Life for the month of September are now available as both an Open Document Spreadsheet and in Excel format. Your key takeaways this month are an increasing fall in total premium accounts, a fall in total user hours, zero mainland (Linden owned estate) growth (but a 7% increase in privately owned estates), and a reduction in economic activity. A more detailed summary follows after the jump.
Second Life August metrics: No significant growth
First, apologies that we don't have more detailed breakdowns of the monthly Second Life statistics. Linden Lab just don't publish detailed monthly information anymore. It's mostly just numbers-for-the-numb by the look of the subset of statistics now produced. Out of the figures we do have available, we can sum up the changes for August compared to the July figures fairly quickly: User hours showing little or no real growth, only 120 million square metres of new private simulators (no growth in mainland), Accounts with positive monthly flow down, L$/US$ exchange rate stable, Lindex currency exchange activity down, premium accounts continuing to fall. So, those bullets aren't really the kind that look great on slide presentations. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Key Second Life metrics for April
The latest Second Life metrics and statistics are out from Linden Lab, covering to the end of April 2008. We're only a week into May, so this is definitely one of the more timely statistical sets we've seen so far -- a trend we hope continues! Short version: The third month of decline in premium accounts, reduction in Lindex activity, reduction in user hours, sharp rise in land ownership, and the user population continues to trend towards older users.
Counting the coppers
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,529,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.7 to US$1 Exchanged US$296,000 at an average of US$12,300.0 per hour. Market buys were US$202,000 Market sales were US$93,000 Limit-limit buys were US$500 The busiest time was at 11am when about US$24,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 6am when about US$7,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]
Counting the copppers
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,603,000 at an exchange rate of L$269.7 to US$1 Exchanged US$346,000 at an average of US$14,400.0 per hour. Market buys were US$236,000 Market sales were US$110,000 Limit-limit buys were US$900 The busiest time was at 3pm when about US$29,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 5am when about US$7,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]
Money laundering in Second Life: get real
According to several of my real life friends who have jobs in the financial sector, Second Life has a reputation in the UK-financial and computer professional industries as a haven for money laundering. About 10 seconds worth of research suggests this is total bunk.The official line is that amounts of about £25,000 (roughly US$50,000) constitute the bottom end for money laundering. This is easy to lose in the US$1.5 million that changes hands in Second Life daily (see Counting the coppers for daily information). This is true. It also ignores one rather critical element.
Money minute
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,286,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.4 to US$1 Exchanged US$250,000 at an average of US$10,400.0 per hour. Market buys were US$169,000 Market sales were US$80,000 Limit-limit buys were US$900 The busiest time was at 0pm when about US$23,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 7am when about US$0 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 87 g 95 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 0 s
Yesterday's Money: 16th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,335,000 at an exchange rate of L$267.5 to US$1 Exchanged US$271,000 at an average of US$11,300.0 per hour. Market buys were US$173,000 Market sales were US$98,000 Limit-limit buys were US$1,100 The busiest time was at 4pm when about US$20,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 4am when about US$5,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 87 g 95 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 0 s
Yesterday's Money: 15th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,284,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.9 to US$1 Exchanged US$267,000 at an average of US$11,100.0 per hour. Market buys were US$186,000 Market sales were US$81,000 Limit-limit buys were US$400 The busiest time was at 10am when about US$21,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 6am when about US$6,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 87 g 95 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 0 s
Yesterday's Money: 14th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,308,000 at an exchange rate of L$269.5 to US$1 Exchanged US$258,000 at an average of US$10,700.0 per hour. Market buys were US$177,000 Market sales were US$81,000 Limit-limit buys were US$600 The busiest time was at 0pm when about US$16,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 2am when about US$6,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 87 g 95 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 0 s
Yesterday's Money: 13th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,299,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.9 to US$1 Exchanged US$223,000 at an average of US$9,300.0 per hour. Market buys were US$169,000 Market sales were US$54,000 Limit-limit buys were US$700 The busiest time was at 11am when about US$14,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 7am when about US$0 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 87 g 95 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
Yesterday's Money: 12th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,391,000 at an exchange rate of L$265.5 to US$1 Exchanged US$269,000 at an average of US$11,200.0 per hour. Market buys were US$193,000 Market sales were US$75,000 Limit-limit buys were US$1,100 The busiest time was at 6pm when about US$22,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 6pm when about US$6,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 88 g 50 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
Yesterday's Money: 11th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,332,000 at an exchange rate of L$266.3 to US$1 Exchanged US$269,000 at an average of US$11,200.0 per hour. Market buys were US$197,000 Market sales were US$70,000 Limit-limit buys were US$2,300 The busiest time was at 10pm when about US$24,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 2am when about US$6,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 00 s Primal Might 88 g 50 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
Yesterday's Money: 10th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,244,000 at an exchange rate of L$271.3 to US$1 Exchanged US$237,000 at an average of US$9,900.0 per hour. Market buys were US$172,000 Market sales were US$64,000 Limit-limit buys were US$900 The busiest time was at 5pm when about US$14,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 7am when about US$0 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 88 g 50 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
Yesterday's Money: 9th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,082,000 at an exchange rate of L$267.2 to US$1 Exchanged US$207,000 at an average of US$8,600.0 per hour. Market buys were US$138,000 Market sales were US$67,000 Limit-limit buys were US$1,400 The busiest time was at 12pm when about US$17,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 10am when about US$2,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 88 g 50 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
Yesterday's Money: 8th January
Yesterday in Second Life we: Spent US$1,453,000 at an exchange rate of L$266.7 to US$1 Exchanged US$269,000 at an average of US$11,200.0 per hour. Market buys were US$176,000 Market sales were US$92,000 Limit-limit buys were US$700 The busiest time was at 7am when about US$23,000 was exchanged. The quietest time was 11pm when about US$7,000 was exchanged. [via Second Life datafeeds]In World of Warcraft average prices [via wowecon.com] for key materials are: Commodity Price Stack of Netherweave 3 g 0 s Primal Air 22 g 75 s Primal Earth 3 g 50 s Primal Fire 21 g 80 s Primal Life 9 g 88 s Primal Mana 16 g 0 s Primal Might 88 g 50 s Primal Shadow 16 g 0 s Primal Water 18 g 0 s Stack of Thick Clefthoof Leather 60 g 46 s
