Turtle Time?

{ August 24, 2009 @ 12:15 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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So I am fortunate enough to have a plurk timeline of some of the most wonderfully creative and imaginative residents in the world of Second life who share with me, on occasion, what they’re up to. Matthew Anthony (I don’t know why but I love the fact that he has two first names!) is just one of those folks who is dipping his toe into the AI pet industry. This time it’s not Chickens, dear readers. This time, it’s Turtles.

Are you scrunching your nose? Well, if you’re one of those who thought chickens were preposterous and then fell in love with them – as I did – then a valuable lesson has been learned! These Turtles seem poised to inject a little life back into Second Life Pet raising. In previous articles I stated that it was certain that other products would follow SionChickens, and it didn’t take long for that to come to pass. That is traditional industry form now, ladies and gents, and a clear sign that this burgeoning industry of rearing prim pets isn’t going anywhere soon! This is an exciting time for us who have literally watched the birth of a new type of force in virtual worlds where user content creation is clearly at it’s best. While Sion pioneered the field, it was inevitable that others would follow… others who do it bigger and better setting a brand new precedence for what we as consumers will come to expect. It happens in every field in real life, and Virtual Life is following in true form!

Along with Grim Hathor, Mr. Anthony’s turtles have been brought to vivid life with some remarkable scripting magic. While some will draw parallels to SionChickens, they are distinct enough to really give you just what you need: Another addiction.

These little tortoises have been designed to be lag free. They’re also cheaper to maintain which keeps the focus on fun. And I asked Mr. Anthony myself if colors only indicate the flippers and head (Ala SionChicken colors only being wings and tail.) and he responded with a resounding NO. In fact, we’re talking FULL color bodies, upper shells and lower shells. The possibilities are truly, truly unique and endless. There will be rarer breeds as well, and one of the rarest is *actually* rare, not just in theory but in practice. We’re talking lottery chances which promises to preserve the novelty – and the longevity of these turtle pets. Each owner will have something genuinely special.

These pets differ from Chickens in that the owner/breeder wears a HUD that gives them a virtual diary of the Turtles life: Including it’s lineage and birth date, it’s name and Hex color combination, special features such as Glow or Shine and the percentage of them, and whether or not it’s inbred. According to the Petables website, you don’t want to inbreed your turtles as it fetches negative results. Incest is not best in the turtle world, folks.

But it gets better. You also level as you rear your new green sidekicks! Now I don’t know what features unlock as you level or what the process is exactly, but I look forward to finding it. I’m excited about this feature because it breaks the mold and actually makes it goal oriented. Unlike Chickens, your turtles don’t just hatch, grow, mate and lay an egg, they actually benefit you in the process by contributing to your Breeder level! There is also a Loyalty Points program which allows you to purchase special items for your turtles. In the HUD is a little “Referred by” window, so telling your friends has it’s benefits as well.

But, back to mating; Indeed your turtles screw. Have mercy do they ever. I laughed so hard that I was in tears as I watched the males mount the females and give a little five second humping action before going about their business. I’m so sorry, the immature adolescent in me took far more delight from the Turtle Sex than I’d ever admit elsewhere. In fact, I dragged my friend Katlyn over to watch as I couldn’t believe my own eyes and she said “Did you ever think the day would come when you’re standing around waiting to watch Turtles have sex?”

Well, we waited several minutes and I swear they all went Catholic when she arrived because there was not a thing going on!

Another thing I found absolutely thrilling (And money saving) was the fact that you won’t have to buy proteggtors or radi-o-statics or anything of the sort. I asked Mr. Anthony directly – “Are you going to gouge the hell out of me by making me pay for special air for the turtles to breathe?” Not at all, and my wallet sighed with relief. The HUD has a button that GIVES you an egg box (Or a proteggtor) that you rezz to store or sell your eggs. And just how do you keep those eggs from hatching? Quite simple, instead of feeding them regular turtle food, you purchase “Hatch Control food” which not only fills their tummies but keeps the eggs in a comfortable slumber.

But really, it boils down to cost doesn’t it? We all want the best bang for our virtual buck. I am so happy to report that the prices of the Turtle Starting kit and the food is significantly lower than SionChickens. For you people intending to breed to a Secondary Market that means you have less overhead costs and the opportunity for a better return on your investment.

I’m even happier to predict that this has enormous potential through the program to create a strong in-world community of turtle farmers with Loyalty Rewards, Referrals and leveling. If you are interested I suggest you join the Petables Update Group in Second Life to keep informed about release dates!

You’ll also want to head over to the Petables blog to read up on what is sure to be a huge asset to the world of virtual farmers. (Sidenote: I love their page design!)

I’ve got my fingers crossed with this one. Speaking to Mr. Anthony, who has been in SL for some time, he seemed really intent on making the process of turtle farming fun and hassle free: i.e. no ridiculous EULA or threats to cut off food supplies. Because he is first and foremost an *ACTIVE* participant in SL and not a silent figure lurking behind a team of people, you can pretty much bet that his focus will not be solely on flashing Linden Dollar signs but on creating a long term enjoyable game for you and your friends – minus the “I-take-myself-So-Super-Seriously-that-your-fun-offends-me” mentality that so many unexpectedly successful entrepreneurs fall victim too.

So keep your eyes and ears open and lets see how these Turtles develop. In a world like Second Life, I’ve come to forever expect the unexpected, and with an industry this young, it’s very difficult to predict it’s direction, or the community response. Let’s not forget that Sion, the pioneer of all of this, likely never anticipated that he would be the harbinger of all that will follow, and for that, I tip my hat to his brilliance. It is a rare that any resident will single-handedly create an industry where all those who follow will be inspired by him as the first. While Sion certainly brought forth a powerful device, it remains that that those who come after will continue to mold and improve upon the model, and this formative era of in-world farming is an exciting place to be.

The Rise of the V. 11 Chickens

{ August 15, 2009 @ 12:15 am } · { Business }
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The version 12 backlash has been quite overwhelming and has resulted in a tremendous amount of farmers who updated in a frenzy over the prospect of getting an Astral, selling off all their version 12 chickens and eggs at near give-away prices. Unhappy with the decline in egg laying, and the newly implemented expiration date on all version 12 eggs, the value of version 11 Live chickens has risen considerably! People are searching far and wide for version 11 Live chickens for sale to replace their doomed Version 12’s. They could care less about the eggs, instead, to make up for their regretful updates, they want version 11 Live Chickens to start pushing out Eggs right away!

The amount of people who upgraded to V.12 is astounding, so the majority of content out there now is, you guessed it, Version 12… and not many people want those. This means that the population of non-dying, Version 11 egg-layers went into fast decline! In perhaps the most interesting side effect that has yet occurred in the Sion Industry, Version 11 Live Chickens are now more rare in the marketplace than Sion’s own “supposedly” rare Ancients, Scarces and whatever else. As time goes on, and more version 11’s are hatched by those remaining in vendors,they will become near extinct. The only place to get version 11’s will be from a provider who did not update.

It is nearly impossible, at this point, to find a version 11 Live Chicken for sale at any of the functioning marketplaces. Sure you can find throngs of Version 12 eggs, Live version 12’s in boxes, but it’s as if the Version 11 Chickens with the immortal egg-laying capabilities have nearly all died out or fallen victim to the ineffectual version 12 update.

Of course now you will see more Live chickens on the market than ever before; These are people downsizing their farms, or offing their version 12’s at shocking prices (200 Linden for a box of 11 New waves!) that truly indicate the market is on it’s last leg. Eggs can easily be found in bulk and at 70% below retail.

How Low Can You Go?

How Low Can You Go?

Version 12’s have no value at all, whatsoever, no matter what way you look at it. The eggs die well before they’re likely to sell, they are no more original or unique than any of the previous versions, so farmers are paying to feed chickens whose once lucrative by-product (The Egg) is now going to rot as it waits for a buyer.

This also means that as Eggs near expiration dates, farmers will be so desperate to get something back for the thousands of Lindens they are spending on food, we will see Eggs for a Linden, Ancients for what originals used to cost, a mere 50 Lindens. Scarces are in everybody’s hands, but the only ones being laid for the most part are now version 12. The ones you see in those little wooden shelves at the Chicken Flea Markets are all version 12… they are dying a little each day, and so will those eggs of it’s future generations… and perhaps more tellingly, they aren’t selling either.

The once burgeoning Marketplaces are becoming barren wastelands of booths with items nobody wants. It has become common to see notices that “Booths are available” and “Parcels for Rent” where once there was a waiting list – this just weeks ago. We are seeing residents now going into the advertising groups pleading with others to buy their eggs and chickens, offering prices so far below what others are that it causes an instant argument. And still… they’re not selling. The number of “Going out of Business” messages from members of the flea market groups has increased exponentially in the last few days.

But in complete contrast to all of this, now we are actually seeing solicitations for Version 11 Chickens. I had to do a double take at the increasing number of requests people are making for Version 11 Lives. When someone advertises chickens without stating the version, it is not unusual for two responses asking whether or not they are version 11. People now recognize that everyone who bought into Sion’s V.12 update has placed an expiration date, not only on their eggs, but what little business was left to be had.

In a previous post I had said that Sion would inevitably, and deliberately kill the market with his changes. He may be the nicest fellow in the world (And it occurred to me that we had met years before this and he is indeed a sweetie!) but his goal is to make money, not to have others make money off his products. Not a damn thing wrong with that! But it should have been considered well in advance because he has created a Monster with this, and attempting to undo it now… well, it may be the key to his own undoing.

And this is his flaw, perhaps his greatest of all, beyond the costs, the all to common Ancients and Scarces, beyond the products, he neglected to see that the industry he unwittingly created was his greatest ally in business. The Secondary Market fueled his entire empire, because without it, there would have been a lot less places to buy SionAnything – A lot less awareness,  a lot less people giving a damn about them, and a lot less people lining his pockets as they sell eggs to NEW people in a viral manner.

The Secondary Market made Sion a success. The breeders, businesspeople and buyers made the concept go viral and spread like wildfire like few have before. Every one of these people sent even more people to Sion’s vendors to buy even more food, proteggtors, health kits, and whatever dependency he can think of that only he can supply. But, he doesn’t seem happy about this if it is that very market he wants to sabotage – and he’s doing the same thing with corn. You buy the fertilizer, you buy the sprinklers, you buy the cobservers from Sion, and when you harvest after a long 30 day process, he is still going to sell that same seed cheaper than you, so you make nothing off your time or investment. No return. Would cost less to just buy the seed from Sion himself than to produce it. No point.

Sion says you are to have no monetary interest in his products or their features; Let me ask you this, would you have spent money on a RECURRING basis to breed and raise chickens, rent a booth (for those of you who have) in a marketplace to simply sit and watch them waddle around? Would you subscribe to a game that is like that? Where you pay but there’s no real play? You pay to feed. Pay to Proteggtor them up, and in your inventory they go forever? Would you triple your spending to watch corn grow? No, I doubt most people would. The Secondary Market is to thank for the vast numbers of people participating.

And they get no thanks. Instead the get rotting eggs to sell on an already failing Market dying from developer neglect. Yes, I said it. At this point, every “Update” has tied your hands further, binding farmers to spoiling inventory and a ridiculous EULA. The promise of a “Possible but unlikely” Astral is to little too late. The suggestion of a rare undiscovered breed fed certain SionCorn is a bait for more spending at this point because – I said it before and I’ll say it again: THERE IS NO BENEFIT. Only further expense.

Sion can save this industry if he stops for a moment and looks past he dollar signs gleaming in his eyes. If he wants to survive the upcoming release of Ozimals and other new AI pets coming in the near future, he needs to implement something to recapture his once mystified audience because interest in chickens is singing it’s swansong. Longevity in any industry is key, and that doesn’t include grabbing as much money as you can before it crumbles. These chickens DO have staying power, they can be the best! Sion’s magnificent little feathered creations have so much unrecognized potential that it’s disheartening… and furthermore, his future competitors are seeing that unrealized potential more and more every day, but they are planning past the influx of money, they are incorporating a Secondary Market understanding it’s critical role. They understand that people WANT to benefit, and they will pay, continuously, to do so. They also understand that Second Life is ephemeral, and to stay in the game, you have to keep the game rolling. Adding a new race once every few months isn’t keeping it rolling. Neither is killing off all updated eggs.

Sion needs to give you a reason to keep feeding your chickens to keep them laying those eggs and keep buying proteggtors. And when an  egg is selling for 9 Lindens, that doesn’t justify your imposed overhead.

He need to release a Phoenix Chicken that glows red or something of that ilk, as well rare ORIGINAL eggs that no one else has. Eggs have to regain their value on the market and their nostalgia to the player base. When people aren’t excited, they’re not interested; When people lose interest, Sion loses income.

He can’t be passive and content with collecting indefinite sums of money from people if he wants to compete in the very market he created. There should be new releases of a super rare egg once every two or three weeks that should really live up to the term “Rare,” and not just in theory, but in practice.

Until then, the death of the marketplace means the majority of his buyers disappearing into the nether waiting for the next big thing, and it could be very well on the horizon!

Ozimals

Hen HystorEGGtomy? Rooster VasEGGtomy?

{ August 12, 2009 @ 5:31 am } · { Business }
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Since the upgrade to version 12 (Which I did not opt in on, given it was not mandatory and I am not keen on rotting eggs.) a lot of residents have taken to Sion Chicken related groups wondering if the creator, Sion Zaius, snuck in a bit of a secret “Chicken Nerf” without announcing it… since he’s been know to make significant changes to the programing of the chickens and how they function in the past, the speculation has a few farmers hot under the collar.

Many folks raising chickens have noted a notable decrease in the rate their chickens are laying eggs. Whereas once, prior to the Version 12 upgrade, chickens would pretty consistently lay an egg every 12 hours, now people are taking to the community to ask if their hens have all had a mass hysterectomy. Now, I’ve not just one or two of these inquiries, but enough to make me raise a quizzical eyebrow of concern. Visiting the farm of a friend with almost 30 chickens, I decided to ask how the egg production had been.

As it turns out, she lucky to get one egg every two days out of most of her breeding pairs, and a few of them haven’t produced but two or three times since the update. In fact, one pair is going on day 6 without any offspring whatsoever.

I see someone else ask the group if they have noticed a decline in, what we’ll call, Eggulation, and the responses come chiming in from other breeders: Yes, yes and yes. It appears others have gone days without eggs, while a lucky few have collected a couple here and there but nothing compared to what it had been prior to updating.

Now, this blog isn’t intended to perpetuate rumor, and aside from mere community speculation, there is no other evidence whatsoever to indicate that Sion has, in fact, implemented some kind of rogue code on the back without telling anyone. However, because neither Sion (Who for some reason never discusses anything with the community and remains not altogether unlike the Man behind the Curtain in the Wizard of Oz) nor his associates have addressed the increasing volume of questions regarding their sudden lethargic poultry production, all we can really do is wonder – Especially since this has come on the heels of a EULA that stated he “could change anything and anytime for any reason or no reason at all without notice or compensation.”

If indeed this is the case, there are several implications to consider. There are countless eggs in rotation at the moment, so many in fact that there are literally hundreds of the same colored eggs at every marketplace, in every shop and booth. If I see another Silver Chalice or Trendy Pink, I’ll puke, I swear. They have lost all novelty and originality because of their abundance. Demand for them has dropped off the charts because of their availability on every corner in a seemingly endless supply.

Now, considering this along with the recent implementation of an “Expiration date” on all future eggs from Version 12 chickens indicates that Sion is making an attempt to reinvigorate his product before it expires itself. Alongside the Dying-From-The-Day-They-Are-Laid Eggs, it would not surprise me if he has discreetly changed the programming so that LESS eggs are produced for the market. While I wouldn’t support something like this done without any notice to speak of, I do that this, should it be “this” be the case at all, is a smart move for a businessman who wants to keep your business. Let’s face it, the people hatching an egg or two as a hobby or for fun is the true minority. Sion has created a league of derivative businesspeople in the Egg Market whether he likes it or not. These people are nterested in turning a Linden dollar, whether he likes it or not – although his EULA does state that “You have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in Sion Products.” Most Farmers breeding are doing it for some kind of return on their investment – while having fun in the process. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and if it wasn’t intended to happen, the eggs should never have been made transferable. It is the viral effect of people selling and trading eggs that has brought more people to the money trough that is Sion’s vendors to buy their food and accessories. Is he bitching about the Ka-ching? That other people are, or were, benefiting financially by selling eggs that created a hungry byproduct sent him more business than most in SL have, and should be considered his greatest asset and achievement, but he makes it sound like a mistake and attempts to take a ruler to the knuckles of those who have sent him loads of customers.

Anyway, if he’s reducing the amount of eggs laid, coupled with the dying eggs, in a short period we will see a reduction in the market saturation, which is a BRILLIANT move. Especially considering that hundreds of farmers with, in some cases, dozens of chickens will still have to shell out money left and right to keep them alive to lay an egg a day… if they are lucky.

And I would be negligent in this matter if I didn’t mention that Sion has also stopped the selling, updating and supporting of old version 10 eggs and chickens because they induced incredible lag, but also because they were in constant rotation given they were also copyable? Again, we have a move on Sion’s side that reduces the amount of eggs in rotation by eliminating all older versions. How long will it be before he forces a the Version 12 update (Which is currently not mandatory) by ceasing the sales of version 12 products? Version 11 chickens and eggs cannot use Version 12 products, but he has kept up a vendor specifically for those who chose not to upgrade. If that vanishes one day, Farmers will have no choice but to update as their proteggtors and transport boxes are incompatible. Then EVERYONE will have eggs with a death date, furthering reducing their numbers in rotation.

Although we’re discussing the reduction of the quantity of eggs their hens are laying, oddly enough, the incidents of Scarces and Ancients seem to climb. Everyone is getting them now, and their value is diminishing more with each passing day because if it. If Sion thinks that he has coded these eggs to actually occur rarely, he is severely underestimating the number of people with large farms who are breeding in mass to get them. If they are indeed intended to be rare, say 1/100, but you have 1,500 residents with 8 chickens laying eggs all the time, obviously they will appear far more often than is good for their value. The frequency of their appearance is entirely because of the quantity of people breeding Chickens. Sion hasn’t learned this, and this is why the Scarce Eggs are going the way of the once valuable, once rare Ancients that people now have no interest in obtaining because they are so common. How long before everyone and their mother has access to an Astral?

So, since Sion appears – Keyword being APPEARS, to be reducing the amount of eggs available in the long term, he needs to reconfigure the amount of Scarces and Ancients being laid to match more accurately with consideration to the number of people with chickens laying them. The number of breeders is overwhelming, keep that in mind, and without Sion recognizing that factor, the frequency of even the most “Rare” eggs will become common due to  amount of people with Chickens having eggs.

But maybe this is a first step, the deterioration of version 12 eggs, the decline in egg laying instances, the complete abandonment of version 10 eggs and chickens. It all suggests we are headed somewhere that is far more positive than where we are at the moment. Maybe rare eggs will eventually be rare again and colors will finally have some unique qualities that are hard to find.

Fingers are crossed!

SionCorn? Sion-Ara!

{ August 9, 2009 @ 8:23 pm } · { Business }
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The thing about the SionCorn, which was initially lauded as this savior of Chicken breeders everywhere in that it was allegedly going to save them a few of their hard earned dollar seems to have turned much of the community on it’s ear! The SionCorn itself is quite expensive in the long run – don’t be fooled! After the purchase of the starter kit ($L 495) and then the ongoing maintenance costs such as the Sprinkler (Which is said to be optional, but unless you want to run to the ocean once every hour around the clock to fill your bucket with water to nourish your corn, the Sprinkler is actually mandatory. And that’s another $L  495 – per refill.) On top of that, you have to make sure you buy your CobServers, which work like the proteggtors, otherwise you can’t store or sell your corn when it matures.

And when it matures, what do you do? Well, it is a bit shrouded in Mystery since it will be a few weeks before anyone needs to find out. Apparently you have to take it to a centralized location with a machine that processes the corn cobs you harvest in preparation for use or sale. I don’t have a lot of information on it, and couldn’t come by it easily, and upon asking a lot of people seemed dumbfounded as to what to do in the end-game of corn farming. Will it cost more money? Who knows, but if it follow’s Sion Zaius’s business model, you betcha!

And lets talk about how long it takes for the corn to mature – that is until it actually does you any good.

30 Days from planting. 4 weeks between harvests. And it is rumored that each cob only gives you 60 feeds – that’s LESS than one normal feeder bowl! Not to mention one stalk of Corn is 15 or 16 Prims, which is double that of an adult chicken.  The prim requirements alone make growing corn, for most folks anyhow, out of the question. Especially if one stalk of Corn barely produces as much as a simple feed bowl you can purchase directly from Sion’s Vendors. No fertilizing required!

I was just as excited as the next Chicken Fanatic (And I admit it! I am! I think they’re wonderful!) but when the details – much of were not provided in the notecard with delivery – began pouring out from the community, I was really disappointed. Now, the concept of growing your own food is as ingenious as the initial chicken farming itself, and Sion has yet again pioneered a brand new industry for a product, which is as admirable as it is fascinating to watch develop! But unfortunately, as it stand currently, there seem to be no benefits to the farmer at all.

You don’t save money, you still have to buy food between 30 day harvests, the prims usage can be overwhelming, and the corn itself requires ongoing monetary maintenance, as much as the chickens themselves, if not more – especially for those both breeding AND growing a crop! And lets face it, growing one stalk of corn would be a waste of your time, effort and money with little return.

There are a shocking amount of people who have sold off their entire farm, chickens and all, to invest in corn since the breeding/buyer market for chickens and eggs is so overly saturated. Eggs aren’t moving off shelves even at the lowest prices, Scarces are becoming less scarce by the day, Ancients are commonplace now, and the competition is fierce. The Breeders who were once at the top of the chain, selling their wares to the public have found that the public has left the equation, and now they are the ones being sold too. It’s the Breeders of Chickens who are now the target demographic for sellers, and they’re being sold booth spaces, Chicken paraphernalia, plots on “chicken friendly” sims, tools for packaging eggs, you name it, there is somebody marketing to the throngs of breeders, and making a pretty penny doing so!

This realization has caused a lot of breeders to Chuck their Chickens thinking they’ll save money and jump on board this bandwagon hoping to sell current and future Breeders SionCorn to turn a profit. And that may work, but it will have to have a considerable return to turn that profit, and crops will always have to be in rotation unless you want a couple of cobs on the market just once a month. And you’ll be having to compete with Sion himself who has no overhead cost and continues to sell bowls and breeder feeders. To make anything off your corn, you’ll have to sell more or as much as Sion, but for less. Otherwise, people will do just that, continue buying their feed from a Sion Vendor.

One incentive provided to feeding chickens SionCorn is the chance to have your Chickens lay a Not-Yet-Discovered “Secret Breed” of rare chicken eggs. These Eggs can only be laid by a Chicken fed a certain variation of SionCorn. That’s a great marketing tool to get people to give the SionCorn a swing, but is it enough, especially since many won’t ever possess this rare undiscovered?

The upside to the legions of people leaving the Chicken industry for the Corn Farming industry is that it reduces the amount of people churning out more unwanted, unoriginal eggs that are plaguing marketplaces across the grid in limitless supply. Now, obviously when they realize how much money they are spending to compete with the maker, a lot of folks may just throw in the towel altogether. Especially as more and more unaware hopefuls begin trying their hand in corn and become as plentiful in numbers as Chicken Breeders themselves.

I’d like to have some Corn Farmer’s share their experiences in management so far. Obviously it’s too early to hear testimonies on harvests given that 30 days have not passed since it’s release, but if I have learned one thing on this great adventure it is that the community is full of great minds and they make it work with minimal information provided as far as what to expect.

There is a group Sion has founded for SionCorn growers called “SionCorn Official” for questions and information. And, again, in my experience, there is no shortage of kind, thoughtful, and considerate people willing to help.

First Astral Egg Laid – $L 50,000 Pricetag

{ August 7, 2009 @ 9:49 pm } · { Business }
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The first Egg of Sion’s new breed of Astral Chickens has been laid to Farmer Razzap Snookums. (Who has an absolutely adorable Avatar, by the way!) As stated in Sion’s recent version 12 notes, these are a Rare breed of new Chickens and only Farmers who updated to version 12 have a chance of having one laid.

The Astral Eggs are Semi-Transparent, and can be laid by chickens of any Breed at random, but don’t expect to see them popping up in droves unless Sion hasn’t learned anything from the Ancients which were also supposed to be rare and can now be found quite easily.

This First Egg carries a Price Tag of 50,000 Lindens… a price that will most certainly decline as people begin to more firmly assess their availability and recurrence of lays. Hopefully it won’t decline as much as Ancients have in previous months.

Astral Egg

Astral Egg

The Version vs Version Rundown

{ August 6, 2009 @ 10:38 pm } · { Business }
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The release of the version 12, non-mandatory update has got people talking, buzzing and debating the pros and cons. While some went out and updated their entire farm of chickens and eggs, others decided to stick with version 11’s.

We’re going to take a look at the different versions and how the the integration of version 12 will effect the marketplace from it’s current state. It’s important to remember that there are survival products (food, proteggtors, transport boxes_ all still available for version 11 chickens in vendors explicitly marked, you guess it “Version 11.”

Here’s the lowdown:

VERSION 11:

  • Version 11 chickens still do all the same things version 12 chickens do.
  • Version 11 chickens have all the same cosmetic qualities. (Unfortunately!) For many people, a New Wave chicken that is supposed to have pink wings and a blue tail is maturing to not embody those colors at all, but instead be the traditional green body (As expected) but with brown tails and brown wings. For some reason, these chickens are not taking on the qualities the eggs suggested.
  • Version 11 Chickens can still be sustained without any issues whatsoever. Again, you can still buy products for them, and they will even eat version 12 food. However, version 12 Proteggtors and Teleport boxes will NOT work with version 11 chickens or Eggs, so when purchasing products for your version 11’s, MAKE SURE you are purchasing from one of the clearly marked version 11 vendors at Boardman.
  • Version 11 Eggs will not expire. They can be stored or placed in your vendors until they sell without concern for their longevity.

VERSION 12

  • Version 12 Eggs now come with a 60 day Death Note. After an egg is laid (Or from the moment of update) the eggs will disappear, whether or not in a proteggtor or vendor in exactly 60 days.
  • Version 12 Chickens have the ability to lay a super rare of a new breed called Astral Chickens. There have been reports that only one of these eggs has been laid so far, so the likelihood of obtaining one is minimal (Which is excellent in preserving their value! I wish Ancients had been done in this way!)
  • Version 12 Chickens are no less Lagless than version 11’s!
  • Version 12 chickens, according to the patch notes, have the ability to lay an egg of a new Secret Breed of Chicken. BUT they must be fed a certain mixture of SionCorn to do so.

Now the Egg expiration integration has come with a lot of controversy. People with a great deal of inventory who mass produce or who have been stocking variations of the rarer eggs are afraid that updating to version 12 and assigning their eggs an expiration date will turn up the heat, and force them to bring down their prices to move them faster from their shelves. Given the Market is already hurting and prices have plummeted over 50% in the last month alone, sluggish sales for them means a lot of expiring inventory in the long run.

Integrating an expiration date in a saturated marketplace does not indicate that these expiring eggs will sell any faster than they are now, nor will they be in any more demand. It is a possibility that people will prefer to purchase version 11 eggs to avoid the expiration date; Those are the folks that wish to use consideration with their pairings, carefully hunt for eggs of their color preference, or simply those who collect pretty or unique eggs. (And some do!) Some people meticulously manage their flocks, and don’t hatch an egg the moment they buy one or when one is laid. They wait for an appropriate, complimentary mate for it. Some wait until one of their chickens die off before they hatch another.

Other people are hanging onto their rare eggs are waiting for the market to pick up from it’s current nosedive before they set their inventory out for sale. For those people, expiring eggs leaves them no choice but to try to sell their very best Eggs at rock bottom prices or, alternatively, be forced to hatch them if they don’t want to lose it altogether.

Now, on the flip side of the coin, some people are saying that the integration of a Death date will be the salvation of the market as it means less eggs in rotation. This manner of thinking baffles me, as the fact remains that there are thousands of non-expiring eggs ALREADY in rotation. The only product that will be reduced in rotation is Version 12 eggs that die; But, there will always be an infinite amount of version 11 eggs (Including Scarces and Ancients) available to anyone at anytime from farmers who have not updated.

Will this make expiring eggs more valuable in the Marketplace? No. Because the only added benefit to Version 12 is the rare chance of a Chicken laying a new breed, and that chance is (Thankfully!) so obscure that it’s not likely to happen! This will however mean that these rare eggs laid by a version 12 will be the most valuable of all unless they begin popping up (Or, rather, out in this circumstance) like roses on a float!

So, this begs the final question, should a dealer who has made this their business update to version 12? It really depends on your long term goals. It you a whole lot of chickens laying a whole lot more eggs, are you likely to sell them to a buyer before they die? Is the Market, in your impression, moving strong enough for it to justify large quantities of dying-from-the-day-they-are-born eggs? The fierce competition and blinding market saturation of Version 11, non-dying eggs indicates that most “average” version 12’s will NOT sell before the 60 day expiration date. And lets face it friends, most of your Hens will only ever lay an average Original or New Wave egg. You may get the occasional Scare or Ancient, but even they are becoming so widely available the prices are in fast decline. The addition of an expiration date will only hurt.

For those enthusiasts who want to try their luck on the new Astral or Secret Breed possibilities, the the Version 12 update is for you. While you will likely find your normal eggs on the market move no faster than a drunken slug, if you do get one of these precious breeds, it can make the rewards exceed your investment! But it is not likely that will happen. If you don’t care about the Astrals or Secret Breed of chickens, and you’re not gambler, it’s best to stay with version 11 as your eggs produced by your version 12 chickens have no difference in the marketplace than the rest except that your clock is ticking.

If you WOULD like to take a step and try for the rarest of rare Breeds, some farmers have updated only a couple of their breeding pairs in hopes that sales of their version 11, non-dying eggs will make up for the inevitable expiration of their Version 12 common eggs laid by their updated chickens which have no market demand. (Neither do version 11 common eggs, but at least they stay farm fresh forever! **Currently**)

There may come a day when Sion says, “Hmmm, a lot of people haven’t updated their Chickens! The Market continues to be flooded with an over abundance of repeat eggs of repeat colors and they have no unique value anymore! I think every egg should expire to reduce their presence in-world!” If, or when that occurs, it would not be a bad thing. Something NEEDS to happen other than the addition of a voluntary expiration date and some new rare Chickens for those who update.

Now, one big caveat of updating to version 12 is agreeing to Sion’s new (and non-enforceable) EULA. They have announced that it only applies to Version 12 and future versions, but hobbyists and breeders who “Play the game” with only the most noble intentions or to try to make a linden or two found that the threats contained within it exceeded rationality or reason. Especially since it released Sion of ALL liability and responsibility to his paying customers who only stood to lose by agreeing. Anyone with business experience in most countries (And here we have to talk in the context of the USA because it is where the product platform is originating from) knows that while this is lucrative for Sion, it is not a registered business, there is no license involved, and to obtain a license he, himself would have to acknowledge all the consumer protection rights in effect AND enforced by the Federal Trade Commission! I do, however, support his rights to his products, his control over them, and his protection from theft or tampering! Every virtual content creator should know their rights and protect them!

To some, the EULA is fluff. They know they are never going to be in violation of it even at it’s most extreme, and the idea of Sion giving himself the ability to delete and/or stop their service or change it dramatically at any time for “no reason at all” without compensation does not frighten them just makes them roll their eyes. If you’re one of those and you want to update to Version 12, I say go for it!

Sion Rep Makes Statement – Clarifies

{ August 4, 2009 @ 9:26 pm } · { Business }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Comments (3) }

GreenShamrocks McMahon has released an official notice attempting to clarify all the half-bits of minimal information they’ve tossed out and expected you to “Get.” Unfortunately, the changes integrated left many more questions than they answered, and in turn, left some people teetering on the verge of outrage, and even more people have quit altogether.

In an effort to expand their ability to provide customer service, today they have hired Hannah Leominster on as the second customer service rep. Now, Hanna is a “Good Egg” so this is a step in a promising direction. I haven’t seen her once lose her skin over a question that has been asked a dozen times, or get heavy handed with the authority bat when someone speaks their mind over the changes which are increasingly escalating in cost while the market is dying a screaming death.

This is what GreenShamrock had to say this afternoon in the afterglow of the update announcements:

“GreenShamrock McMahon: please be patient and don’t IM me as I type this out, I will not respond to ims now about this ok nice and calm, it’s a beautiful day and the birds are singling and children are laughing, chickens are bawk bawking and corn is growing new teeny weeny baby cobs
there are over 550 memebrs in this group, that’s more than 550 wonderful, creative, talented mature adults that all have a single common goal, and that is to help others as they help themselves to learn about the chickens and/or corn
unfortunately people have choosen to read or not read what is written rather than read the release notes sent earier by Fizz and the questions and answer again sent by him shortly afterwards
all this confusing and note reading the right answers to the questions not only increases the confusion, it also makes any new person coming into the group for help rethink even getting started in this wonderful world of amazing chickens that we choose to belong in
so to clarify everything so we can get back to gun and peace and I can get back to the gazillions IMs I am not getting, I will explain once more what v12 is
first v12 is optional, the release notes clearly state what changes have been made, if you are not interested in updating to v12, you are not being forced to, v11 products are still being sold at Boardman and will continue to be sold at the main location there, you are fully welcome to continue exactly the way you have been with v11 up until today, v11 chickens and eggs will not be affected by any changes unless they are updated
v12 updates are free, you can update your v11 chickens without any additional cost to use, it is advised you use any v11 tp boxes and proteggtors before updating since they will not work on v12, v12 can eat v11 food so you don’t have to wait, radios will work for v12 and don’t need to be replaced
for the first time you can also update eggs to v12 also using the same updater as you use for the chickens, they will decay and poof upon rezz 60 days after they are updated or 60 days after being laid by a v12 hen, sellers will be responsible for their stock and to their customers with respect to this, it is not advised to unpack v11 eggs already in proteggtors, there is an added cost to doing this and then also places a time limit on hatching them, since v11 can be easily updated free, there is not need to update eggs first, they can be sold as is and updated after hatch
the EULA is in effect for corn products and accessories and any v12 chicken products, again the choice to update is yours alone, if you have not read the EULA, please do so, if you don’t agree with it, don’t update to v12, if you are not sure about it, there is no time limit to update so wait until you are sure one way or the other, if you have questions or concerns not covered in the notices or this, please iM Hannah Leominster or myself and we will explain it to you again, maybe in a different way so you fully understand, but the group is not the place to go on and on and not listen when people attempt to answer you
we have had many people quit the group over that past week and a half because of the constant complaints and bickering that has been going on within it, this group was created and designed to help people and we can’t do that if they are not able to see the support given to them because of the spam of complaints day after day after day, please let’s use some consideration and respect when talking in group so we don’t prevent people from getting help, I will note card this and send it by notice.”

How bizarre, and almost sad. A whole wall of text completely devoid of much coherence. I can just imagine this poor woman with hundreds of IM’s scrambling as fast as she can to restrain the masses of incoming messages from confused residents – but it’s their own fault. You cannot make a substantial update to a product, limit it’s abilities, have an impact on hundreds and hundreds of people and draft a 3 paragraph notecard patting yourself on the back but telling them nothing!

What we did get from the notecard is that the following and it conflicts with everything else we’ve been told, but anyway, here goes:

GreenShamrock says, Chicken owners DO NOT have to upgrade to version 12 Chickens. It is not mandatory. Apparently they are giving you a reprieve from their previous threats of penalizing anyone like a common criminal who does not upgrade with 7 days, as stated in their EULA.

There is still a vendor in Boardman which sells Version 11 products (Which I bet vanishes after a week) for those who refuse to update their chickens, or who do not want to agree to Sion’s currently illegal EULA .

All eggs upgraded to version 12 will disappear (or Rot) after 60 days and die whether in a proteggtor or not. Therefore, you have 60 days to hatch or sell your eggs before they die. Version 11 Eggs already in version 11 proteggtors are fine, they are not a ticking time bomb, they will not expire.

What is the incentive here to upgrade to version 12 Chickens besides the remote *chance* of having this new breed of rare Astral Chicken Eggs laid. Also, you can only get a new, super-secret-super-rare chicken breed from a certain SionCorn feed that you have to grow.

Is that enough of an incentive to make people bow to Sion’s unreasonable and ultra-aggressive EULA? An update that has NO benefits to the customer whatsoever, but instead would require them to toss all their version 11 proteggtors and teleport boxes and repurchase them yet AGAIN? Forced sales in any market never lasts long as people hate wasting their money.

Of course people are leaving in droves. The impracticality of the escalating costs, the poorly executed customer service and delivery of information, the backhanded updates prone to breaking peoples investments without anything beyond an apology, the introduction of new devices and products that continue to rely on indefinite spending for their use, the heavy handed members of Sions official team who close down group communication if someone calls them out on their misinformation or misleading comments. Updates that provide no benefits but instead further restrict the usability of the products. Of course, people are leaving. More people will, undoubtedly.

But fortunately for Sion, more people are just discovering this everyday! They need to revamp their internals immediately or risk alienating new Chicken owners right out of the gate.

Sion: Another Self-Destructive Step! V.12 Released!

{ August 4, 2009 @ 2:23 pm } · { Business }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Comments (5) }

(((Make sure you update to v.12 within the next 7 days or risk criminal penalty!)))

Today the version 12 chickens were announced by Sion Labs! But before you turn yourself inside out with excitement (whatever.) you should sit down and be warned of a few things that will definitely hurt ya in the long run.

Those eggs? You know the ones you’re buying pack of protectors for to keep safe every so often so you can store them or sell them? Well… now they decay and die after 60 days. That’s right, it is not safe for anyone to purchase items in proteggtors anymore because they have no way of telling how old the darned thing is.

It also forced breeders, as well as those involved in the Secondary Market to sell in MASS by marking down prices as low as they will go to move inventory before their stored eggs die.

Now that eggs have a ticker on them, they are even less valuable. As stated before here, the product lies with the eggs, not the chickens themselves, the chickens are only the workers – it’s the unique eggs people want.

Now, those come with an expiration date. Nobody wants anything with an expiration date on it. Nobody wants to continue paying out the nose for food, proteggtors, corn, transport boxes – and whatever else Sion can think of – for something that is going to expire in 60 days. Who wants to rent a booth for chicken eggs that will die before they sell? Since we’ve already advised of the fact that Chicken products are not moving off the shelves of all those chicken sims, this latest change all but puts a complete stop to it.

I want to be the first to point out my prophetic words here from just the previous post my friends.

“What he will likely do is destroy the Secondary Market so no one is making money off his chickens but himself.”

Seemed like a bold statement at the time; However, with todays release, everyone was delivered this notecard:

“Hi Everyone!

Sion  has released the new V12 version of the chickens.
Important note! This update is Free. Just select the Updater Orb from the vendor.

To get the the updater orb, when it is displayed, Left-click to receive the free orb instead of right-click to buy.

Updates are no longer being handled by food or boxes.

Read below for more Sion Chicken Goodness!

Also, you can get your own sionChicken vendor  from a kiosk in Boardman as well for your own farm or shop.  There is no charge for this vendor, and is offered for your conveniance.  No commission is offered.

— Fizzwiggle Raymaker

———————————————————————————————————————–
Dear People,

sionChicken V12 has landed!

V12 changes and Improvements
———————————–

x NEW RARE RACE of Astral chickens that can only be laid by v12 hens

x NEW RARE RACE of chickens if fed with a special food variant of the sionCorn project

x Free Update Device for v11 to v12 added
It will update the closest V11 unboxed chicken and unproteggted egg to v12 one at a time within a 5 meter radius.
It will expire after 4 days so if your chickens and eggs are not all updated within 4 days, you will need to get a new one for free.
NOTE some proteggtors will revert eggs back to v11 so use what you have before updating.

x Catalogue vendors available at Boardman for FREE!

x Proteggtors will come in 10 packs instead of 20 packs.

x NEW End License User Agreement

x Eggs decay within 60 days of the date they were laid (or initially from the date they are updated).

x sionChicken V11 products will still be sold at Boardman, Catalogue Vendors will be changed to sionChicken V12 automatically.”

I hope you will enjoy the new version!

Sion Zaius, Sion Labs

Can I just ask, where are the improvements this notecard promises?

Here we see that Sion is letting you have a vendor of his catalog of products at your own location, or your stores location, but no commission is offered. You know, there are people who will do it out of sheer convenience, so just imagine having a vendor or yours at dozens of places throughout the grid – for free! A brilliant marketing strategy.

Reiterating: All chicken eggs are dead after 60 days, regardless if you paid for proteggtors or not.

Proteggtors have been halved in quantity or doubled in price for what you get in return, no matter which way you look at it.

HOWEVER! There is a promise of new RARE chickens, “Astral Chicken” or some rarer race that may occur if you are buying and paying for corn that you are feeding your chickens… Again, some prophetic words from the previous post right here:

“Sion will try to reinvigorate his dying industry with more products for his chickens, but the ongoing costs of yet a third item that requires you to pay and pay and pay to play will cross the line of acceptability”

His efforts to keep people invested AND investing are clear, but it comes with an increasingly hefty price tag. The promise of new races of chickens isn’t exactly enough to justify the smack-downs of recent weeks. For those with addictive personalities, those are his target market, the folks who will pay and pay and pay for their chickens, and then pay and pay and pay for their corn in some blind hope their chickens to lay some Astral Egg. Others will not be so enchanted by the notion, given they fact they could be inundated with a thousand rotting eggs between now and that event, should it ever occur. And those are eggs nobody wants.

Another day, another sad spear through the side of Sion customers everywhere. And no end in sight.

The Day After – SionChickens Value Plummets

{ August 4, 2009 @ 3:32 am } · { Business }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Comments (1) }

The secondary market has already been suffering a massive decline over the last couple months, as much as a 50% decrease in the initial value of the eggs laid by SionChickens has been seen since I’ve been doing market analysis. As predicted by many, the day after the release of SionCorn, which will inevitably cost resident breeders slightly more to grow and maintain than to buy the “breeder feed,” ($L 1,495)  people are leaving the industry and selling off their chicken stock, eggs and all.

10 Linden Live SionChickens

10 Linden Live SionChickens

Seen today were $L 10 Live baby chicks, Original Ancients were found for less than a $L 1000 and the 2nd Generation Ancients, the ones people have a seemingly countless abundance of were seen all over the place costing only as much as New Waves used to cost, $L 100. Sadly, the New wave trend seems to be dying, they were found in three places today with a price tag of $L 50, while the Original eggs were L$25.

50 dollar new wave egg - 50% price reduced

50 dollar new wave egg - 50% price reduced

25 Linden Original Egg

25 Linden Original Egg

Inventory priced even at the most modest prices aren’t moving from the shelves at regions dedicated to chicken sales like The Farm and Chicken Annex. In fact, it is in these regions that competition for sales is most fierce, and today alone there were multiple announcements about “Empty Booths available” or “Parcels for Rent” whereas just a couple of weeks ago, there was literally a waiting list for space.

While to most of the Second Life residents this whole thing is Much Ado About Nothing, the fact stands mighty strong that this is quite a significant turn of events in a once booming economy developed solely by a content creator. Had the individual in question, SionChicken creator Sion Zaius,  played his cards right, the potential was here to create a viral online game – within a game – that could have had phenomenal financial implications for, not just himself, but those who chose to participate, and inject the general Second Life economy with some much needed stimulation. Now, the hobby only serves to benefit the creator himself as all of those who invested and continually pay him for food, egg proteggtors, teleport boxes, whatever are finding that their returns on their investments, if any at all, are minimal as the asking prices are dropping every single day.

The introduction of the SionCorn yesterday was yet another blow to the wallet of Sion’s consumer, requiring residents to buy a L$ 495  for a starter kit, and another L$ 490 for the fertilizer sprinkler, L$ 490 for a fertilizer replacement (for the sprinkler when it runs out). If you don’t have a sprinkler, which isn’t mandatory since a bucket that comes with the starter kit, Sion will sell you three bottles of fertilizer for L$ 30. Then there’s L$ 290 for the Radi-O-Static for corn that prevents it from germinating (Like the Radi-O-Statics for Eggs that prevent them from hatching which will also run you $L 290), and extra corncobs, in set of three will set you back $L190… but to be put into your inventory you must pack all cobs into a CobServer to store or sell (Like the Proteggtors at $L 40, but for corn) which is $L 20.

The SionCorn system represents itself as an alternative to breeders who are shelling out oodles of dough daily to feed their flocks of feathered friends. Problem is, the SionCorn has just as many dependencies on other Sion Products as the Chickens themselves which require residents to keep spending more money… even for dirt ($L 90) if you live in a skybox or have no land.

All of this is entirely separate of what people are already paying for their chicken upkeep, because now they have to pay for the thriving of a crop of corn. And the survival of such relies on -that’s right – paying Sion for more maintenance products, indefinitely, forever, as long as you have corn.

That may seem like a lot for a man to ask who, just days ago, essentially held chicken breeders hostage for an evening threatening to shut down food vendors if one of his clients didn’t apologize for calling him out on his gross negligence in deleting peoples eggs deliberately through his back end scripting.

May even seem preposterous to most that people are shoveling their Lindens his way even in light of the release of an illegal “License Agreement” that releases him on any responsibility to his customers and allows him to do whatever he likes without being held accountable, including the stopping of sales of products that his other products are dependent on for survival. To most, everything may seem A-OK anyway. That is until they actually encounter an issue or require any support or end up with their entire flock poofing and want some answers or compensation. Then there’s definitely a problem.

The reality here in this situation is that a really brilliant man created something new, something refreshing, something that tapped into the mainstream and went viral. It is the dream scenario of every business person in Second Life. It just rarely happens. Despite all the fervor over the chicken industry and the insistence some super-dedicated farmers have on funneling him their cash, it appears no one is more intent on sabotaging the entire system than the creator himself.

Interest is dying, that is measurable. His recently hired PR man, Fizzwiggle Raymaker (?) has his work cut out for him if he is going to help recover what faith has been lost, and it is true that it can be recovered. However, without Sion actually stopping for a moment to consider all those customers paying his bills and beyond, he will likely continue barreling ahead toward complete destruction of the industry he brought so brilliantly to life.

There is a common misconception in business that has been the undoing of many people in many industries both in Second Life and in real life.

“If they have, they will.”

Sounds like a riddle, doesn’t it? Now, let me clarify the thought process following that simple sentence. A presumption is made by someone, in this case a business man, that if people have been buying his products without any worry over cost or service, they always will, so he can mark up whatever he likes, charge your per feather per chicken if he chooses, and you’ll still pay him for the pleasure of giving him your cash.

Now, this is not a Chicken Bashing blog; This is not a Sion bashing blog. This is a realistic observation. This is the reality. A lot of good, honest people have gotten into this industry to reap the benefits the Secondary Market had to offer them, one that Sion now states in his EULA that they are, according to him, allowed to “…have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in the Sion Products.” These people should not be hammered over the head by others who are telling them “Quit if you don’t like it” in public groups if they question things. They should not be belittled for attempting to harness an industry that has indeed in the past turned a lucrative dollar for an Avatar or two. They should not be attacked by fangirls and fanboys for looking at it from a business perspective. The secondary market is established, and was readily available and most of the people slapping them across the knuckles are involved in it to some extent themselves.

Each day more people are vocalizing their concerns over Sion’s business practices and Market Direction, and there is always someone who bellows like some appalled flagellant that “This is not a business! If you got into it for money shame on you!” Mind you, the people fiercely defending the Honor of Chickens are the same people with a booth in every chicken market hocking their own Sion goods.

Whether or not Sion ever intended the Secondary market to become a business in and of itself is inconsequential. It did, and while he cannot be responsible for the trends in that Secondary Market, he can indeed dictate exactly how it is used. The cards are in his hands, he can flood the market with eggs (Already has?) that render all those belonging to breeders, and all those populating hundreds of rented booths, stalls and stores, absolutely worthless.  He has already thrown down the gauntlet and made it clear that – one again for emphasis – “You have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in the Sion Products.”

But despite all of this, as the number of Breeders has substantially grown over the last few months, the demand for Sion’s products has dropped tremendously. Even some of his most loyal customers have made a peaceful exit when they realized they were spending much more than was reasonable in the long term for a product that did nothing but procreate and make them spend more money to feed more mouths.And the Eggs? They were not even paying for the cost of the food they had to buy to keep even a small amount of chickens alive.

And it just keeps getting worse. Sion has now stated people aren’t ALLOWED to have *ANY* interest in any feature or content contained in his products. How funny is that? That a businessman would insist you take no interest in their goods whatsoever. Obviously, that’s not an enforceable declaration or no one would buy the damn product to begin with; But he certainly wants your cash.

What he will likely do is destroy the Secondary Market so no one is making money off his chickens but himself. That is why Linden Lab purchased the SLexchange and OnRez… too much cashflow being funneled into third party hands and it made them itchy. No, it’s not greedy (Although many would say it is) because it’s his creation and his prerogative. He’s made it clear to everyone he can and will do exactly as he likes, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. As awful as some of us morally aware people see it, he’s technically not doing anything wrong either. Should everyone turn their backs on him and punt their chickens off their skyboxes? Well, it will be because of a divide between business man and consumer that he created alone. When the value of the secondary market is gone, what reason will people, aside from a few hobbyists, have to keep feeding the chickens they’re raising? Why will they keep paying Him for the privilege of doing so?

And now, the Market is crashing in some epic fashion, more quickly than any industry that I’ve seen tank in my years of studying various markets. What this has shown us though, is that the potential is there for content creators to actually create an industry from their own creations. If done right and with integrity, the implications can be quite startling.  Virtual worlds are the perfect seeding ground for such ideas to germinate and flourish because it all boils down to how we use our online time. It takes one savvy mind to see that and harness the power of it. Sion began that way, and in fact, his process was, up until now, quite inspiring. It set a new precedence. It captured a great many people across cultures and affiliations and became an overwhelming success… for awhile.

There is rumblings of new pets coming. As with any industry, someone will come along and do it bigger and better. Happened with the car, happened with the computer, happened with the video game, surgical procedures, it’s just the nature of the world, but it all began somewhere. Sion was the first to do something groundbreaking and for that  applaud him! His creativity and manner if integration was truly unique and hugely rewarding both for himself and for those who participated, but the bells are ringing, and the chickens are very soon coming home to roost.

My prediction is exactly that – the Secondary market will disappear entirely, and so will large scale breeders. The chickens will no longer be cost effective for average SL’ers since there is no demand on the market for their byproduct. A lot of people will move away from the Chicken industry and from Sion, angry that he negatively impacted something they enjoyed so thoroughly for such a short period of time. It’s already happening, I didn’t need a Magic 8 Ball.

With the degradation of value, the lack of people buying and shelf inventory growing stagnate, the Sims devoted to Chicken trade, buying and selling will fade considerably, although someone may keep a small alcove somewhere for themselves and a few friends to privately continue their efforts. Sion will try to reinvigorate his dying industry with more products for his chickens, but the ongoing costs of yet a third item that requires you to pay and pay and pay to play will cross the line of acceptability – even for the liberal spender – and it will not sell half as well as the previous releases.

BUT!!!! Maybe Sion will have an epiphany. Maybe he will recognize the gift that he has bestowed upon the community, and the financial gift they have so lavishly given back and eventually release something that is not designed to milk it for all it’s worth. Maybe he will seriously reduce the amount of eggs in rotation thereby increasing the value of them. Maybe he will make the time and money people are throwing at him worthwhile again by expanding them beyond simply the ugliest green roosters and white hens with colored feathers we’ve ever seen but for some reason adore.

Then again… maybe that’s just wishful thinking. And maybe I’ll have to wait for the next big industry to pop out of the ether to blog about.

Sion releases Corn – Goes Legal-Maniac on users

{ August 2, 2009 @ 8:05 pm } · { Business }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Comments (7) }

For the hundreds of people that went out today to get SionCorn, the new product from Sion Zaius that is an add-on to his chicken industry, you were met with a lengthy, detailed EULA (End User License Agreement.) Now, you see, this is expected with any product that takes off as quickly as Sion’s has, and it is good to see that he has obviously sought legal counsel in the pursuit of preservation of his line of products. Any wise businessman protects their business with an agreement that says you won’t steal, hack, make any derivative of his products. It’s a safety net…

But it goes too far.

I mean, so far as to state that this is no longer a game you’re playing in your free time or as a hobbyist, but a contract existing between you and Sion Labs stating that he can terminate on any grounds he see’s fit at any time without recourse. Lets look at some of the legal jargon in his EULA:

“…you agree to update any and all products and accessories within 1 week (7 calendar days) of an update release and ensure you only use the current release. Failure to comply with the restrictions and limitations contained in this Section 2 shall result in immediate, automatic termination of the license granted hereunder and may subject you to civil and/or criminal liability.”

So from now on, you have 7 days to update his products that you own or risk termination and.. well, he can sue you. You heard that right. Sue you.  Which means now, if he decides to once again, or once a week, deem older teleporter boxes or Proteggtors out of date, forcing you to re-purchase a new supply, you have 7days from the date of update to do it (That’s NOT the date you become aware of the update – lets not forget he never even informed anyone about the previous update!)

But it gets better, the EULA continues on to say;

“This License Agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate the License Agreement at any time by (i) removing all Sion Products from your inventory and in world resources, land, etc…; and (ii) notifying Licensor of your intention to terminate this License Agreement. Licensor may, at its discretion, terminate this License agreement in the event that you fail to comply with the terms and conditions contained herein or for any reason or no reason at all.“

Sion is stating that he doesn’t need a reason to terminate your ability to own or operate SionChickens, which means people who question his ethics publicly, like the customer who demanded an explanation as to why ALL his eggs were being deleted just moment before he was called a Griefer by Sions Customer Support woman and the Group communication was shut off, better watch out! This portion of the EULA also says that if you choose not to play with Sion’s chickens anymore, you have to let him know.

So if you buy a ton of Chickens and you piss off someone who works for Sion or Sion himself, the hatchet will be brought down on you. He states that if you do not remove his object from in-world OR YOUR INVENTORY, he or his Agent will remove them and no compensation will be offered; This basically says that he wants access to your inventory in the event of termination to ensure your things belonging to him are gone…

“In such event, you must immediately remove all Sion Products from your possession both in world or in inventory and/or  you agree that Sion Zaius or his representative and/or agent will remove them without compensation of any kind for any object or product removed, destroyed, killed or in any way removed from your possession.”

Now, in  BIG CAPITAL LETTERS at the very end of your agreement, you will see that Sion has released himself of all liability to you in whole. Even if everything is destroyed by his scripting mistake that results in destruction or malfunction of things you pay him for. This is actually not legal, as these Terms of Service means are deliberately one-sided, effectively attempting to tie the hands of anyone with a dispute regardless of loss. Take a look:

“NEITHER LICENSOR NOR ITS REPRESENTATIVE AND/OR AGENT, SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE SION PRODUCTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF EGGS, CHICKENS, CORNCOBS, PLANTS, ACCESSORIES, PARTS, PIECES, OR OBJECTS OF ANY KIND, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOST INCOME, SIM PERFORMANCE INCLUDING LAG, PRODUCT GLITCHES OR MALFUNCTION, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES. FURTHER, LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR THE LOSS OR DAMAGE TO PRODUCTS, DESIGNS, TEMPLATES, ARTWORK, SCRIPTS, PRICING AND OTHER INFORMATION STORED BY THE SION PRODUCTS. LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INTERRUPTIONS OF SERVICE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ROLLBACKS, RESTARTS, GRID CRASHES, OR ANY OTHER EVENT WHICH MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF SION PRODUCTS OR ACCESSORIES LOST FROM IN WORLD, INVENTORY, OR OTHERWISE THE POSSESSION OF THE USER. IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.”

As evidence of an unfair and not truly binding attempt to off any responsibility to it’s consumer base, let’s look at a case we should all be familiar with, that of Bragg vs. Linden Lab, an infamous case that left the Judge branding Linden Labs own Terms of Service unfair and unbinding, which resulted in a total legal overhaul of them as there was nothing contained in those that protected you, the actual user of the product. Any contract has to present itself as a mutually beneficial agreement between two parties to protect their respective interests both fiscal and non-fiscal. Sions agreement only protects himself by simply removing you, or any expectations of service or responsibility from the equation. A big legal No-No. And as petty as it would play out, if anyone was unreasonably terminated, they now have substantial legal recourse on the basis of the aggressive, take-it-or-leave-it License that Sion is imposing on his consumers.

Perhaps even worse, and as the final nail in your coffin, he even states that he can even change the terms of his own agreement, including making drastic changes to the products as he did last week. Sadly, his EULA goes on to illustrate that if any changes he makes leaves you upset, or you disagree with his changes, he can blacklist you, your suspected alts, or even your partners. Nothing like incrimination by association here, folks. Take a look:

“Your acceptance and use of any updated or modified versions of Sion Products  or your continued use of the Sion Products following notice of changes to this Agreement as described above will mean you accept any and all such changes. Sion Labs may change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Sion Products at any time and for any reason or no reason at all. Sion Labs may also impose limits on certain features or restrict your access to parts or all of the Sion Products by blacklisting you and any known alts and/or partners without notice or liability. You have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in the Sion Products.”

Is this getting scary enough for you, not simply because of all the legal mumbo-jumbo but because you are actually getting quite the significant beat down. This type of business practice would be considered unethical in the real world. If Sion makes a major mistake and deletes all your chickens so you have to buy more eggs, or all your proteggtors are rendered useless because of an update, or your entire farm just vanishes into thin air because of negligence on his part? Tough chicken shit.

Perhaps the most disturbing pat of Sion’s EULA was his conclusion thats seek compensation from you, a user of his license, even if he has no proof or has suffered no damages. That means if your BFF Sally thinks you hit on her boyfriend and decides to tell Sion you are breaching his license, well, Sion can cut you off permanently, without proof that a breach of contract ever occurred. Based on even the most unsubstantiated claims and without any proof of incurred damages, he goes on to say he can sue you based on those as well. Oh yes, and the common caveat, the winner pays the others tab.  But, pay attention to the words “equitable remedies” .. it means he can demand money from you outside court if he suspects you are in breach of your contract. Take a breath and read this:

You hereby agree that Licensor would be irreparably damaged if the terms of this License Agreement were not specifically enforced, and therefore you agree that Licensor shall be entitled, without bond, other security, or proof of damages, to appropriate equitable remedies with respect to breaches of this License Agreement, in addition to such other remedies as Licensor may otherwise have available to it under applicable laws. In the event any litigation is brought by either party in connection with this License Agreement, the prevailing party in such litigation shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the costs, attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party in the litigation.

Sorry folks, this may be going a few steps to far in Sion’s case. Protecting your creations and your investment is one thing, but establishing a big profitable business as Sion has become and writing a EULA like this is simply predatory and exploitative. In my opinion, every content creator should take steps to protect their creations and hard work in virtual worlds, let there be NO question. But when a content creator is raking in money by the pound and decides to release a “Legal” license agreement that leaves him without any responsibility to you as a provider, then there is a gravely serious problem.

To reduce all the technical talk to baseline points:

  • Sion can terminate your ability to own or sell any of his products if he believe you are in breach of his contract and requires no proof of such a breach or any proof of demonstrative damages whether or not an incident occurred.
  • Sion can alter his products at any time he sees fit, including discontinuing them with no reason at all. If, as a result of a change, you suffer any losses, you have no recourse and he has released himself from any liability to you.
  • Sion can terminate your ability to own and sell his products if you fail to update any of his products within 7 days of an update. He has also made a provision that will allow him to sue you if you fail to update in the allotted time.
  • Sion can Blacklist you any of your alts or partners if he believes you are not complying with his License without notice or being held accountable for doing so.
  • Sion can seek payment from you on his terms (Remember “Equitible remedies”) if he believes for any reason, without proof needed of the act or without needing to demonstrate any loss himself.
  • Sion maintains no responsibility for the product in your hands despite owning it completely. It is essentially leased to you. He can do anything on the backend he likes including removing them from your inventory (By what means?) and from in-world without any reason whatsoever.
  • Sion will never be held responsible for any losses (Monetary or product), even if it is his fault.
  • Sion has attempted to make provisions so you, the consumer in good faith of his product, has no legal recourse against him. (That is the ilegal part.)
  • Now, Sion can, in a fit of temperament as we saw last week, actually stop selling food, penalizing every user of his product, if he sees fit – without owing you anything or even as much as an explanation. His EULA means he can do as he wishes, commit any act of deliberate service interruption at anytime without having to answer for it or being held responsible!
  • While Sion can’t stop you from suing him (for anybody who cares enough to do so,) his License Agreement is designed to cover him so that you can’t win, regardless of your demonstrative losses or claims, even if they are valid. This is the one-sided EULA issue that got Linden Lab into trouble and no court would honor such a EULA.
  • Sion has attempted to eliminate ALL your rights as a consumer while eliminating his responsibilities to you as a Service provider. In essence, he wants your money, he wants continued ownership of his product that he is LEASING to you: He doesn’t want to be responsible for his own product or or any issues you have with it, nor does he want any obligation to you whatsoever.

This is a virtual world we’re talking about, folks, and while there are people this instant setting a benchmark for the protection of their digital creations and laws being instituted to support that in every country around the globe, this type of contract would never be upheld in real jurisdiction. It is all beneficial to Sion in the “Gain, Win, Gain” aspect, but you, the consumers, the spenders of your money, are being left vulnerable and riddled with unnecessary risk merely by participating.

Share your thoughts on this new EULA and how you feel about it. Is it fair in your eyes? Do you feel Sion took aggressive action because someone in a group chat threatened to sue him last week? Do you think that this will have an impact on teh chicken industry which was once so celebrated and innocent fun?

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