Why People Leave Second Life?
In this article I will try to explain you why people leave Second Life. Many residents feel excited and accept the challenges of this platform when they learn how to do something new. However, at some point, that excitement turns into boredom and fatigue and eventually the resident feels like doing nothing at all. Why do they give up so fast?
Anything is a Complex Activity
Any creative activity in Second Life requieres at least 2 different skills and usually those abilities are not related to each other. For example, if you want to host your own concert and sing live, not only you need to set up something at home (guitar, microphone etc.) you require a software that can plug in the grid. Whether it is a third part streaming service or your own hosting service, you must learn how to set it up with the plot of land.
While this is fun at the beginning, it normally becomes a repetitive activity with little future. Why? Let’s analyze the example of a live concert. Communication between the audience and the singer is limited and not bidirectional. It’s difficult for the singer to read what other residents are saying or asking in the chat group while performing. The system kills spontaneity and there is not an easy way to fix this. The problem doesn’t stop here because there is also a limitation of residents in the region. The limit can be 30 or 40, it doesn’t matter. Less people means less tips. Eventually it never pays off.
Anything is an Expensive Activity
Life sucks, and Second life sucks too. Yeah, it’s a free world but nobody reads the small print. Another reason for people to leave Second Life.
For creating you need your own land. Yeah, sandboxes can be something useful and practical for experiments. Eventually you need some privacy, everybody does and you start thinking of renting land. For creating you also need to upload .. Oh! Yeah, that requires money. How do you do that without using your credit card? I can accept there is a way. For example, You can host, you can model etc. You can get a few pennies here and there. It’s not enough for creating something decent or becoming a successful merchant. That might have worked for 3, 4 or 5 residents, not for everybody.
Do you remember that live concert I was talking about a few lines above? Heck! the band or the singer will not cover that streaming service cost with Second Life tips. Not only Second Life is expensive, the gap between real economy and inworld economy is a killer and another reason why people leave Second Life frustrated.
I came here for the diversion. I stayed for the challenge and I left because I was feeling alone
Gabs Voom
So What? Why People Leave Second Life?
People leave Second Life because there is nothing else to do, once you’ve learnt how to do something. The grid is a great place to learn, but it is not a great place to take advantage of your skills.
And don’t get me wrong! It’s repetitive and many people made a lot of money with repetitive skills. I get it! I know it !! but even selling land is a repetitive skill !!! Reclaim land, change the title with size and prims, add the right description, put it for sale, change the picture, blah blah .. yeah, it’s always the same. It’s not rocket science either.
As I said before, once people learn the skills they find out that it’s not enough, It’s not profitable, it’s just fun. They will need to do the same again and again to make some money and that perspective is very very depressing for most people. There is always a moment in your Second Life when you wonder of there is a future in this grid.
Residents leave because the more you stay, the more you feel like the “Groundhog Day”. And yes, People also leave Second Life because they have nothing to do. 🤣 And when they have something to do, it’s so time consuming that doesn’t pay off.
If you are interested in similar content, please read these articles about the Future of Second Life.
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