IIIs and Squeegee Squeezed Out

Newfangled has the oldfangled chicken-scratch core sim dirt and those ugly Cypress trees.

Do the Lindens hate us? "Intermittent Inworld Issues". Is this the name for a new American soap opera, or a candidate for Euphemism of the Year? I can't help wondering if the Lindens posting about III's (like...there are outworld issues they post about ever?) are laughing up their sleeves. Erm, bare arms with their tats. Or what *could* they be thinking with some of the names of these new sims they are putting out to fill up their bottom line and utterly crash the land market? Jokung, Gunfunk, Newfangled, Moodle, Fungbulf. Duzzclown, Socksamillion, Hubunny. Um, I think they're just not caring anymore...

Well, or maybe they're on to a great marketing device:

Rolypoly (128,128) Mature 65536m US$2751.00 Jul-22-07
Dingercat (128,128) Mature 62464m US$2551.00 Jul-22-07
Dooknock (128,128) PG 61440m US$2411.00 Jul-22-07
Salliohsis (128,128) Mature 65536m US$2811.00 Jul-22-07
Argybargy (128,128) Mature 62464m US$2551.00 Jul-22-07
Dex (128,128) Mature 65536m US$2751.00 Jul-22-07
Acknefar (128,128) PG 65536m US$2741.00 Jul-22-07
Glookbone (128,128) PG 59504m US$2345.00 Jul-22-07
Nerani (128,128) Mature 65536m US$2741.00 Jul-22-07
Wicktro (128,128) Mature 61440m US$2606.00 Jul-22-07
Thalipolli (128,128) Mature 65296m US$2751.00 Jul-22-07
Phenywheny (128,128) Mature 65536m US$2656.00 Jul-22-07
Hunbglump (128,128) PG 65328m US$2606.00 Jul-22-07
Tordangle (128,128) Mature 65296m US$2701.00 Jul-22-07
Divirian (128,128) Mature 62256m US$3056.00 Jul-22-07
Grumphmunch (128,128) PG 65536m US$2651.00 Jul-22-07

I've always wanted a sim named Hunbglump for $2606 US, haven't you? Or one named Grumphmunch for $2651? Damn, I was shy of the one dollar! That PG can fetch that kind of moolah for one lucky resident, Roderick Gustafson -- my God, what a world! Prices aren't falling...or are they?

Corsica, the new continent up north, has the same chick-scratch core sim, machine-scallopped sim edges, boggy waterfronts and mountains.

Martin Squeegee, an eloquent and gentlemanly land baron with refined tastes, has sent around a press release explaining that he is getting out of the land biz.

I always liked Martin's posts on the forums, and I was especially fond of his little tagline, "Martin Squeegee can be found in his office in Julia" -- or whever new sim he'd put it. The idea of being *found* in an *office* was of course a novel one for the hack-and-slash baby barons grubbing a few bucks off their trading tier by making chop-suey of a sim.

I've bought a few tastefully-appointed 512s from Martin at moderate prices -- it's a loss when a smart land baron like this gets out of the scene.

People in SL are getting so *good* at writing press releases! If it's one thing all these corporate gewgaws are teaching everybody is how to write a press release! I suspect Martin had this skill even before SL!

"Squeegeeland Suspends Mainland Operations

"It's time to take a break" Said Martin Squeegee, CEO of Squeegeeland as he announced a temporary shut down in mainland sales operations."

He went on to add "I've been out here every day buying and selling for what seems like a very long time and I need to take a break from it and explore other ventures. I took the decision last week to clear out our remaining stock and sold it quickly at bargain prices, which was no doubt very pleasing to the other traders. Squeegeeland has built up an excellent reputation in selling value for money land, mostly in 512m plots. However the margins are getting lower and now seems a good time to pause whilst squeegeeland is still at the top of it's game."

He adds, "Squeegeeland was founded in December 2005 and quickly became one of the most successful landagents in Secondlife. Moving into mainland auctions squeegeeland has bought and sold 13 sims bought at auction with the fastest selling in 1 hour 2 minutes. Squeegeeland remains an independent organisation having taken the decision not list on WSE in May 2007."

I could have added WISE DECISON especially reading lately about how the WSE has been hacked at an enjoyable site called Your Second Place with Sarah Nerd and others offsetting the fussy Nobody Nobody Fugazi.

Of all places, the odious, scatalogical cesspool of SC has an interesting thread started by another former mainland baron who got out of the biz, Raymond Figtree, "I give up on the Mainland." And yet, many poignant tales are told of people getting along with neighbours and beating the odds on their beloved Mainland. Maxx Monde, who never posts anything of substance but only posts sneers and jeers, actually has a post with real impressions and useful information about his experiences flying around -- or attempting to fly around the mainland. It brings into start relief the realization that the Lindens don't provide Linden roads and internal Linden waterways anymore, to save on unpaid server space, and that has made the sims go to rack and ruin. They also don't appear to supply prim space anymore for temporary vehicle movement and rezzing. I noticed that awhile back, when various temp rez things wouldn't rez anymore and it said they don't have space. Something's up.

Elsewhere in the news, I heard from several sources that various land barons are trying to dump land deliberaetly to drag prices down before the Lindens do...or something.

I don't get this psychology: if you just payed $2500 for Mughwump or $2600 for Halitosis prime white sandy class 5, why would you be chopping to 512s and selling for $8/meter? Well, just because you can...to obtain market share and visibility...volume...and just spite the others?

Spite the others sounds like the most typical SL reason, given that SL runs not so much on business principles of profit and loss, but on psychological principles of chicken, spite, and malice.

I have no independent evaluation of the names involved -- I see so many new names on the auctions, and I can't tell if some are just end-users or alts or what they are.

One thing is certain: we are on the way down. I was damn lucky to get $9600 for a 512. I won't be doing that again. Sell, sell, sell.

Comments

[Nobody Fugazi]

In 100 years, Prokofy, your only contribution to the internet will be persistent pettiness. That is why you are amusing.

[Prokofy Neva]

Hi, Nobody, I'm Somebody, Who Are You? No, 100 years from now, my pieces will shine like burnished gems, where you will be burnt off in the firey furnace of the Great Shaking Out of the Web. In fact, YOU are being petty *right now*.

[Khamon Fate]

Reasonable names would be nice. Mixing up the ground textures continent to continent would be too.

[Cocoanut Koala]

This business with the sim names and the avatar names (and the lack of new ones) is starting to tick me off.

I'm starting to think they have contempt for us. Giving us things no one would want.

Or they're laughing at us, for buying the sims anyway, or making avatars anyhow, despite the crummy names.

It's not funny to me.

coco

[Crissa]

As long as people buy the sims and LL doesn't have inventory sitting around... The market isn't glutted.

Besides, it's not like the couple guys putting together machines and pasting them into the racks have anything to do with asset server access or rolling updates to the sim kernal. They just don't.

The only way for things to scale if for there to literally be more computers to answer connections. The mere fact that we give those servers presence in our world as 256m squares is the only difference between SL and Google.