our September account

our Gor became livelier again after the holiday season and more mature with the new adult verification system enforced now.

It would be interesting to observe what happened, but the effects are not noticeable at all: the number of active avatars according to gorean meter stats did not decrease in comparison to last year.

However it IS noticeable that some avatars do have trouble to come to gorean sims. It is cases like people telling me, they were adult verified but cannot come for a reason…((haha! seems you are NOT??!!)…but then DO make it a few days later! ((ok, it was NOT their fault, its just settings that act funny!))…that are proof that the verification system does not work properly.

Did our Gor become more mature?..no, I do not have the impression that drama reduced, and I don t have the impression that scouting or battling reduced, and I don t have the impression that the quality of roleplay improved: Either the teenager that Linden Lab removed from our Gor was just an inconspicuous plump and pimply couch potatoe and entirely intimidated, or – despite all suspicions – never existed.

I now tend to believe in the second option, adult verification just being another bureaucratic hurdle….politicians’ dreams…

According to Linden Labs economic data being published, second life users can be split into three groups: People who spend up to 500L a month, people who spend up to 50k a month and people who spend…erm…a LOT!...giggles! (despite extensive research I could not find the list of good looking millionaires, so I have to use a general statistic)

Comparing August (when the adult verification system was not implemented yet) and September, the number of avatars spending 500-50.000 L a month has roughly remained the same, the number of avatars spending less than 500L a month has risen 3%.
From an economic point of view the introduction of the adult verification system had no noticeable economic impact on merchants and our sims of gor are not endangered.

Despite these statistics, the impact of the adult verification system IS severe!!! Why so? Because rising unemployment or even the fear of less future income lets people stay at home more and Second Life should have profited, like other mass computer games have: The positive effects of the crisis for Second Life and the negative effects have been counterbalanced and Second Life did not grow with the market.

On our small Taluna scale we recently experienced some changes: Sisters of Hura and Sa Jerag battle less than we used to. Some of it is due to competing roleplay of our Chieftess that impeded some of her leading us into battle, some of it is due to our general inability in identifying new groups to roleplay with: We STILL have the tendency to roleplay with the same people every day until drama and less and less roleplay prevail.

Maybe its just due to the small number of opposing groups of appropriate size that prevents us finding a greater variety of roleplay partners: Let us look out for more roleplay with other groups on a small tribal scale! Our scout is already busy doing so, but it can be all of us! Talunas are huntresses, we are ALWAYS hungry for opportunities!

Back to our Microeconomics:To cover some of our maintenance fees for the sim, we also promote a growing series of bows that DO have superior properties. However, it needs patience and perseverance to set up a brand. We will succeed in time, and I thank you for your help.

back to our sim, the tier was due the 28th, special thanks to

isalia
bee
nessa
ladda

for your generous donation of 8380 L$...you help me so much, Sisters!

Thank you also to everyone who purchased items from my shops and to the shopowners who help us in maintaining our sim: Your contribution is 4810 L$ this month.

We are in your debt, and we thank you that you let us share our home and dreams with you on Lovers of Gor.

Cathli&Larah