Project Sansar: Market Prices

A thread in the Second Life™ forum starts with the OP asking what prices will be for goods in the new Project Sansar world. That is something we would all like to know. I’ll collect and expand on some of the thoughts from that thread.

Breaking bad💵💵💵💵

Breaking bad💵💵💵💵

I think many have decided we can’t know what prices will be charged until we know the cost of land and the transaction tax rate. We know the transaction tax rate in RL (sales tax) tends to be 10% and less. People often shop online or outside their state of residence to avoid sales tax. So, we have good experience to tell us the Sansar tax rate can be expected to influence sales volume, prices, and user retention.
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Second Life & Sansar in the NEWS – Week 52-2

Second Life™ made it in the news this week.  PSFK ran an article titled: A Look Into a More Social Virtual Reality With the Makers of Second Life. This is an interview with Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab CEO, and Senior Director of Global Communications Peter Gray. While referencing Second Life most of the information is about Project Sansar.

Collage of all the wireframe images on the new Project Sansar login page, made by Ernst Dommershuijzen.https://joyardley.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/project-sansar-login-page-online/

Collage of all the wireframe images on the new Project Sansar login page, made by Ernst Dommershuijzen

Both Ebbe and Peter think the social interaction in VR will be huge. While that is debatable, they have a lot of company.  Continue reading

What Sansar won’t be?

Lots of us are blogging about Project Sansar®. Well… there isn’t much happening in Second Life™, so…

Loki Eloit has posted his thoughts on what Sansar won’t be. His ideas are different from those of the blogs he is reading. Loki says he hasn’t seen any evidence that technically Project Sansar will be anything like Second Life. I don’t understand what he is saying. We know it is going to be a 3D persistent world capable of supporting avatars, clothes, buildings… seems similar.

Castle Hideaway

Castle Hideaway

But, check out Loki’s thinking in: The fun in predicting what Sansar won’t be. He makes several good points.

Sansar NOT going to eat Second Life?

Ciaran has an article up expressing his belief that Project Sansar® won’t eat or cannibalize Second Life™. In the first paragraph he says he isn’t sure where the idea of Sansar cannibalizing SL comes from. Really!?! Well, maybe there are too many possible sources to be sure which one it is… naw.

Val stew

Val stew

His points are rational and plausible. He may be right. There may be a majority of SL users that prefer to remain in SL after they see Sansar. I’ve been writing about the various possible scenarios. Ciaran presents his line of thinking in more detail than when I just touched on the possibility he thinks most likely.

See: Project Sansar Won’t Eat Second Life

Sansar and the IRS!

In working my way through the Anxieties Canary lists in her article I get to the tenth, taxes…

Like A Storm

Like A Storm

In America the IRS is the Internal Revenue Service. It is the taxing agency of the American government that has its own courts and law enforcement officers.  It also has over 1,977 forms, 90,000+ (2015) employees, and 74,000 pages or 3.7 million words of tax law that it enforces (Reference) without regard to the Constitutional principal of Due ProcessContinue reading

Project Sansar: Smarten Up or Dumb Down?

The eighth of Canary’s anxieties is about dumbing down Sansar. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the ninth anxiety: too complex. Opposite sides of the same coin, sort of. It is true the Lab is trying to make Sansar appeal to the masses and that an easy to use factor. But, is Project Sansar really going to give us a dumber virtual world?

'Control desk'

‘Control desk’

The term ‘dumb down’ will have different meanings as it is somewhat ambiguous. Another term in the gaming world that could apply would be NERF. Will they nerf SL into Sansar?  Continue reading

Project Sansar: World or Platform?

The seventh in Canary’s list of Second Life™ anxieties is about whether or not Sansar be a world or a number of small independent island like worlds? For the list jump here. This is a good question and I haven’t completely decided where I am on the answer. So, while I see this as mostly a fear of the unknown, it isn’t necessarily a false expectation.

Neva River VII

Neva River VII

One of Ebbe’s recent interviews revealed that the World Map is not a paradigm we are likely to see in Project Sansar®. That indicates the Lab is thinking more platform than world. But, this is sort of what the Lab originally thought for Second Life™. So, we have to consider how much weight we want to give this point. After all, there are those arguing whether SL is a game or development platform.  Continue reading

Sansar Privacy Anxiety?

The 6th item of Canary’s list of anxieties is about privacy in Project Sansar®. Will we have privacy in Sansar? A separation between our in-world persona and our RL identity?

For the list see: Are Second Life residents anxious about Project Sansar? For an answer on privacy read on.

Trompe Loeil - Autumn Cottage

Trompe Loeil – Autumn Cottage

The answer to whether we will have privacy in Project Sansar® is yes and no, at least from what has been revealed so far. It will be a bit like it is in Second Life™ but, different.

Sansar is going to have a slightly different account style. We have been told there will be a base account. We will need RL ID and financial information for the account, if we plan to move money and upload content. Government protections on money laundering and terrorist funds require the Lab have RL information for anyone receiving money. But, to jump into sansar and visit with a minimum of abilities it appears we will need to provide very little personal information. Continue reading