There’s an interesting development over on Second Life today. Reuben Linden has posted an announcement that includes the following excerpt:
These tests are the starting point in creating a system to give Resident entrepreneurs the ability to:
• Set up and operate Neighborhoods and Communities
• Parcel and sell the land in those Neighborhoods/Communities
• Have a direct relationship with the end-user and provide support and zoning for themWe believe this model has enormous promise because of the degree to which it democratizes Second Life as an entrepreneurial platform. Today, one must possess fairly technical skills in order to make money creating objects and selling them in Second Life. This type of system would allow anybody who has an established community – or anybody who wants to create a new community – the ability to construct spaces and profit from them in a way similar to how Linden Lab currently profits from landowners.
I’ve not been paying too much attention to virtual land issues in Second Life of late. Looks like I’ll need to get up to speed.
I am looking forward to learning more about what LL means by providing “support and zoning.” I can’t see the company getting productively knee-deep in local zoning issues when it doesn’t seem to be able to police the rest of its virtual world consistently.
Agree. My first thought is that they’re going to extend the system they have for private sims over to the mainland. They still get tier fees (although slightly less due to discounting on volume), but they offload a lot of headaches. And as the grid continues to grow, it seems to be a smart choice; cheaper to discount tier than hire someone to deal with problems.
Plus, at first glance it would seem there’s new incentive for smaller land barons. They’re no longer required to invest significant sums into an island to reap some of the benefits.
I’m going to have to keep an eye on the discussions.