In better late than never news, Linden Lab have announced that the new skill gaming policy will not now go into effect until September 1st. Linden Lab had originally announced on the 9th July that the policy would come into effect on August 1st, which didn’t give sim owners a lot of wiggle room on a monthly billing cycle.
The new blog post states :
Since our original announcement, we’ve received many applications from Second Life users who want to become approved skill game creators and operators. By moving the date back, we’ll be able to process a larger number of applications and also offer creators more time to make necessary changes to their games.
However at this point, just a few days away from the original August 1st deadline, there are no approved operators or games on the public wiki. This deadline provides all parties, operators, game makers and Linden Lab, some breathing space to ensure the skill gaming policy is smoothly launched.
The policy itself aims to bring some responsibility and legislation to skill gaming in Second Life, with the following broad aims :
- Skill games that offer Linden Dollar payouts will be allowed in Skill Gaming Regions only.
- Only operators approved by Linden Lab will be allowed to run skill games that offer Linden Dollar payouts on Skill Gaming Regions.
- Creators of skill games that wish to make them available in Second Life may do so only through Skill Gaming Regions and only after the games have been approved by Linden Lab.
- Access to Skill Gaming Regions will be restricted to Second Life users who are of sufficient age and are located in a jurisdiction that Linden Lab permits for this kind of online gaming activity.
- In summary, skill games that offer Linden Dollar payouts will be allowed in Second Life, but each game, its creator, its operator, and the region on which it is operated must be approved by Linden Lab.
Skill gaming regions are more expensive to run than regular regions, with a monthly tier bill before VAT or any other applicable taxes of US$345.00 a month as well as a US$100.00 conversion fee. I must admit I did not notice the conversion fee cost before and I don’t quite understand why that is required as there’s already a fee for applying for this as well as a license fee so this conversion fee seems to be a tad over the top.
There are also restrictions on who will be able to enter a skill gaming region, with residents of the following states being excluded from participating :
Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Whether this policy will be a success remains to be seen. The costs and hoops people have to jump through are going to be prohibitive to many who run skill gaming places at this moment in time. Skill gaming will be wiped off the face of the Second Life mainland when this policy kicks in, which will cheer some people up no end.
Whether this will provide an economic boost beyond the skill gaming regions is the bigger question, this is a policy that could attract new users. However if they spend all their money in skill gaming regions, which I suspect a lot of gamblers did prior to the gambling ban many years ago, then the impact on the wider economy will be negligible.
However if it attracts new users who decide to explore Second Life further, it could very well provide an economic boost to the Second Life economy. The policy will also make Second Life a more attractive proposition for companies who run skill gaming ventures outside of Second Life. I’m sure some of those companies will have turned their noses up at what they saw as an unregulated skill gaming market in Second Life, this new policy goes some way to addressing that reputation.
I do believe Linden Lab are doing the right thing here, I’m not convinced about all the fees involved and some of them remain vague. For example there’s still no cost listed for the quarterly fee that will have to be paid, although this is initially waived through to the end of this year, it would be wise for Linden Lab to provide an indication of just how much that fee will be.
On the other hand, they do seem to have cleared up one or two other issues in the FAQ :
When I become an approved creator, will I need to pay an application fee every time I add to the list of games I have created?
No. The application fee will be a one-time assessment.
When I become an approved operator, will I need to pay an application fee every time I add to the list of games I have created?
No. The application fee will be a one-time assessment.
I don’t remember reading those last time I looked at the FAQ either. Anyway, interesting times may lie ahead. Time will tell.
I am pessimistic about that move. I am pretty sure 90% of the small casinos will close down. I mean many clubs have just a few machines. They will not move to a gaming region. The loss of those small customers will also have a huge impact on the sales of game creators. I mean a full sim casino pays the same for a game than a small club if they get a copy version. So those small customers are actually the best customers. As of the full sim casinos, a friend of mine has 2 sims and they are considering closing. They expect less visitors comming since people from many states are not allowed to visit their casino anymore.
Small operators are certainly on their way out and even large operators will be put off by the hoops that have to be jumped through but I have a feeling Linden Lab know this and expect something interesting to happen in this area.
One of the few remaining Zyngo places in Second Life, Parrothead Cove (disclosure: I’ve worked for them for many years as a host), is shutting down over this. I don’t know all the details other than that the main owner/manager has said that they can’t afford/justify the new fees. Honestly I can’t blame him considering all the shit LL has already put sim owners through.
It really annoys me, but in no way surprises me, that LL is yet again pushing long time businesses under the bus in some wild attempt to bring in outside businesses / more users. The gambling ban, and to a certain extent the banking ban, was due to outside forces pushing them, as was the introduction of VAT, but this is all them.
Of course, everyone who’s been around since then knows that none of the RL businesses, and by most estimates few of the users that were driven in, are still around and IMO SL is a lesser place because of the places that have been destroyed due to LL’s bumbling policy changes.
Oh no, that is sad. I just see the event announcement for the closing night tonight. According to that they have been around for 8 years and it is a full sim.
Why do the Lindens keep shooting their own feet? I mean if the government forces them to change the regulation, that is one thing, but why do they then also have to significantly increase prices on an already overpriced product and piss people off even more? I mean I already had to pay about 350 USD for a sim per month, since I am in Europe and have to pay VAT. A gaming sim would cost me 415 USD per month. That is crazy.
I am really looking forward to HiFi.
I’m not sure LL really had that much choice here, the same with both gambling and VAT. However I would say that some things could have been handled better, such as the very short time period for people to get their applications in, even though that has now been extended by a month, it’s still a very short period of time.
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of Parrothead Cove in the distant past, it certainly rings a bell.
Why wait? There are already alternatives today, via Inworldz or open sim!
Btw to make sure, i’m completely against any games that delivers real money as a reward.
So for me, Sl gambling could be solved with the rewards being not in Liden, that any can cash out, but on a new inworld currency, that should only be used to:
Buy SL products.
pay tiers.
Say a Lindeniw (linden in world currency).
You could not change it by Linden but you could pay tiers with it or acquire products for use in Second Life with it.
Whereas I can see where you’ve coming from regarding an inworld currency only, I fear it would prove problematic and create a black market for trading said currency.