The Second Life Economy As A Product

In It’s Not An Economy, It’s A Product, Metaverse Network reports that Gene Yoon (Gene Linden), VP of Business Affairs for Linden Lab, made some interesting statements while under a disclaimer that his opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Linden Lab:

The very way we think about Second Life in the first place was at issue. We tend to see what happens in the virtual world in basic economic terms. Traditional macroeconomic principles, however, aren’t useful for Yoon when looking at Second Life: “It’s a little bit of taking the metaphor too far. What we’ve got here […] is a product.”

Most analysis of the virtual world at Linden Lab revolves around simply creating a good product that people would be willing to use. There isn’t an outright denial of a “virtual economy”, but from Yoon’s point of view that’s not a useful way to understand what’s going on when it comes to making decisions. Instead they focus on creating a product people like, and they sell that product.

This, of course, is interesting. If this is in fact how [w:Linden Lab] approaches the economy of Second Life - and how could it not with the VP of Business Affairs speaking - then the focus on a 'better product' that is spoken of does not seem readily apparent. Does anyone remember the last time there was an improvement in this product?

Of course, making the economy itself a commodity is a great way to avoid legal repercussions. When people lose money - real money - they can say that the economy is sort of like a gun, and that they only sell the gun. The downside, of course, is that the quality of the product that they have been peddling is devalued with every [w:ponzi scheme], with every bit of 16 m² plot of ad spam extortion, and with every landbot who takes advantage of interface issues, software glitches and human error. And what will come next?

Why don't they fix their product? And if they fix their product, won't they have to approach it as an economy? Of course they would have to. What we have here is the invocation of the '[w:magic circle]' to protect themselves while leaving the consumers of their product out in the elements.

To make matters worse, Linden Lab is very good at avoiding putting anything in writing. It is as though they won't stand behind their own 'product'. If Linden Lab corporate culture calls the economy a product, that is fine and dandy. I don't think I'm alone when I say...

I want a better product.

Worth reading: Click to Agree: Virtual Currency and RMT Provisions in Virtual Worlds and MMO Games.