Comments on: Is Second Life really just a pyramid ponzi scheme?

By: John

John — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:48:43 +0000

You better run and be paranoid. Some people wisen up and won’t swallow your fakeness.

By: John

John — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:46:46 +0000

Further, with people making tens of millions per year while many americans are working their butts off for just 30,000 a year then I have to argue that the fat horse isn’t really worth tens of millions but likes to give the impression that they’re. Maybe when we die justice will be done and we can say they were a ponzi-scheme to rape people of money and fill their bank accounts.

By: John

John — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:37:54 +0000

SL is far from a ponzi-scheme. You want a ponzi-scheme? Look at Wall Street.

SL might be ugly sometimes, but so are people. The thing about SL that’s enduring is that if you know how to script and know how to create 3d things and know how to market your business in SL then you just might make some money. You actually have to create things. Reselling can be useful, but in RL it’s used excessively and if I was sober I’d say it was a ponzi-scheme or something similar.

By: Maxi

Maxi — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:44:36 +0000

I agree with vernes. I have made a very profitable little business doing what I love most – building beautiful things and making them move. I calculated my earnings ove rthe past 8 months, and although I earn only 350 USD or so per month (after taxes and land rental, advertising costs etc) thats exactly half what I was earning at a real life job in the states. I think thats not bad at all. In fact, once I have made the items, I only need to check in on them once a week as they sell themselves automatically to customers. Thats the joy of SL business.

I dont understand this idea that SL is nothing but a pyramid scheme since I myself have put no money at all into the game and made a nice pocketful just having fun!
As in real life, if you have a smidge of talent and put in a lot of work to create something that people want, you will get rewarded. Although in SL, it takes time for word of mouth to spread. There was a large delay between when I first started making things and when my profits became anything substantial… although, the land I rented was so cheap that one sale of 1 item garaunteed rent money for the week.

There is no such thing as “free money” in any universe. Those who fall prey to these ideas are bound to get burned – caught up in pyramid schemes etc.

Forgive me since I feel like I just paraphrased everything Vernes said :) But it has been my experience too.

ET
Second life business owner since july 2006

By: Vernes

Vernes — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:02:16 +0000

I’ve been writing SL scripts now for a couple of month which managed to create a small income from what I call ‘a hobby’.
Money put into the game? zero.
I’m curious when this ‘piramid’ sceme kicks in and steals my money.

As I see it, the people who say it’s a piramid game are under the impression that no effort is needed to create a profit.
You buy land… and try to sell it for more? I’m sorry, but land needs to raise in value. This requiers work.

Banks? SL banks? That’s asking for trouble. If you see a shady guy standing in an alley holding a sign “Leave your wallet here for savety”, you don’t even walk into the alley. People who leave money in SL banks are the ones who ignore common sense.

By: Randolph

Randolph — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:08:24 +0000

Thanks for this editorial. I think it adds to the debate.

One minor correction: my clients who attempted Second Life investing strategies were a group of self styled hedge fund guys (the manager is a friend of mine), not venture capitalists. The VCs were initially interested in a broader cross-game RMT venture, which turned out to be a non-starter for the reasons you cite. The VCs were looking at what Gaming Open Market was trying to do, and what IGE is already involved in.

Randolph