This is purely a technical limitation. It is currently not possible to create an attachment point that moves with your chest, belly, or butt, so the rig can only move with your avatar's internal skeleton.

how to earn on the game Second Life - Marketing on vc.ru

There are more than 1 million active players in the virtual world with elements of a social network. Russian users spoke about the in-game market and the structure of their business. nine0003

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In 2006, Anche Chang, a 3D avatar from the online game Second Life, appeared on the cover of Business Week magazine. It belonged to a German teacher named Eileen Gref, and with it she became the first person to earn $1 million in Second Life.

Anche Chang

Second Life is a multiplayer role-playing game with elements of a social network. Users can customize the avatar's appearance by changing or purchasing different skin colors, hairstyles, clothes, and body shapes. They move around locations, communicate with other users and interact with game objects. nine0003

As in social networks, users can join groups (usually dedicated to brands), give gifts to each other, play mini-games. Players communicate in chats, which are especially lively in popular places in the game: in shops and clubs.

The game simulates real life: here you can furnish a house, get a pet, visit shops, clubs and entertainment events, travel, get a job and make purchases of various sizes, up to the purchase of real estate. nine0003

Social interaction in Second Life is as close to real life as possible. Players make friends, get married, have children and even baptize them.

The game is similar to The Sims series, but there are differences: in Second Life, the avatar is completely dependent on the player, he does not have a system of moods and needs that must be regularly satisfied, he cannot choose a certain character and desires.

In addition, in Second Life, players can create any objects themselves using 3D modeling. There is no censorship here - you can do, say and create anything. Player-created content can be bought and sold in Second Life for real money. nine0003

The author of the project is the American company Linden Lab. The game has existed since 2003 and is still popular: today the monthly active audience of Second Life reaches 600,000 accounts, and the game's official website has 12 million visits every month.

Second Life still hosts fairs, weddings and shows. In-game events, technical updates and novelties in the world of fashion and design are covered by bloggers with an audience of several hundred to several thousand people. One of the most popular Second Life blogs, StrawberrySingh, has 20,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter. nine0003

Eileen Gref joined Second Life in 2004. She started her way to a million with $9.95 — this is how much additional benefits for the account cost: the right to buy real estate, her own plot of land with a house, a monthly stipend in game currency, access to technical support chat, the ability to change the avatar voice and a pass to all locations - regardless from workload.

Goods and services in Second Life are sold for the in-game currency Linden Dollars. They can be earned for free inside the game or purchased for real currency (in October 2019$1 is worth 254 Linden Dollars) or earn in-game.

Earned Linden dollars can be converted back into US dollars and withdrawn to a bank card. Users cashed out more than $60 million in 2015

Gref became a realtor: the girl bought empty land plots in the game, created a landscape, architectural objects and buildings in certain styles on them, and then sold them to other players.

Since the world of Second Life is uncensored, she was able to go wild with her design options and set up buildings for fans of the gothic, Victorian, East Asian style, as well as specifically for gays, lesbians, anthropomorphic animals and other gaming subcultures. nine0003

Eileen Gref was one of the first to start doing business in the virtual universe. In two and a half years, she has earned more than $1 million and opened her own 3D real estate agency that models landscapes and residential buildings specifically for Second Life.

Now it has more than 80 employees, and Eileen Gref only owns online real estate. The cost of renting bare land, along with access to a library of 3D landscape models, ranges from 300 Linden dollars to 17 thousand Linden dollars per week, depending on the size of the plot (from $1.2 to $66.5). nine0003

Second Life currently has over 2,000 user-created locations. Among them you can find a medieval castle with jousting tournaments, and a space filled with huge cats of psychedelic colors.

Players can purchase plots on the mainland or island. They are put up for public auction by Linden Lab itself and users who already own the land. Linden Lab sometimes lists "bad lands" for sale, which are lots that other users have returned to the company. nine0003

The price per square meter of land varies from 0.5 to 5 linden dollars. The most expensive plot sold at one of the auctions in October 2019 cost 31 thousand Linden dollars, and one of the cheapest - 550 Linden dollars. The price per square meter for both was 0.5 linden dollars, but the cheap one was 62 times less.

The island costs $349, in addition, the player must pay $229 per month for site maintenance. If the player does not have such an amount, he can purchase skyboxes - locations in boxes that float high in the sky. They are cheaper than islands and houses on the mainland. The cost of renting or buying a skybox starts from 10 Linden dollars per week, and you can buy one small skybox for 1000-1500 Linden dollars

Land owners can develop plots and resell them for a higher price, following the example of Eileen Gref, or earn a monthly income by renting them out to other players.

However, this is not the only way to make money in the game.

Service sector

To receive rewards from other users, you can provide services to them. The profession of club dancers and DJs is popular in the game. DJs connect to the desired game server and use one of the services like ShoutCast to play music from their computer. nine0003

You can find vacancies in a special section on the Second Life forum or just come to the club you like and try to get a place by talking to its owner.

Dancers and DJs are either paid by the hour or allowed to keep all the tips from the patrons. They earn between one and ten Linden dollars ($0.01-$0.04) per hour. This money is enough for in-game purchases of a small scale.

Players can create their own agency to organize events for other users. Events range in size from public interest discussions to fashion shows, sports or weddings. nine0003

The task of the event manager is to attract guests, as well as to coordinate the architects and designers who will design the venue.

According to Tasha Ariadna, head of the in-game event agency Your Best Day, an average of six to eight orders are received per month. For organizing one event like a wedding, you can earn up to 20,000 Linden dollars (about $80).

​Wedding organized by the in-game agency "Your Best Day"

Another category of professionals is photographers and videographers who film events. Or rather, they take screenshots or record the screen, and then process the files in photo and video editors.

According to the operator under the nickname Desseada, in order to be a good photographer or videographer, you need to have a powerful computer and high Internet speed in order to receive a high-quality picture and process it.

There are from one to six orders per month. Sometimes I have to shoot events of clients from other countries and get up at four in the morning due to the difference in time zones. nine0003

Desseada prefers to receive her work rewards immediately in real currency because she doesn't buy anything from Second Life. For a photo or video filming of one event - about $ 30. At the same time, foreign customers value the work of operators more than Russian speakers, and often pay extra on their own in addition to the main amount.

How business works in the game

Higher income for users who create game content and sell it in their own stores. To do this, it is enough to have a basic account older than five days and indicate the details of a bank card or wallet in the payment system. nine0003

All stores are hosted in the Second Life marketplace, a one-stop online hypermarket that connects content creators. They sell 3D models of items, clothes and character animations, and more.

At the beginning of the game, the character does not have a home, job, money, wardrobe, and many other things. As the player earns (or buys with real money) Linden Dollars, they can make their character's life more fulfilling.

A beginner character can only walk, sit and stand in various positions. To perform complex movements: dance or wield weapons, you need to purchase animation. nine0003

The animator creates a motion pattern that is "put on" by the character. It is developed using the out-of-game tools Poser and QAnimator. Well-designed animations (pair dance or Japanese swordsmanship) can cost from 30,000 Linden Dollars ($90).

The same applies to game items. Simple forms (or "prims") are created using the built-in Build editor. More complex models (they are also called "mesh") are created in 3D modeling programs - 3D Max, Maya, Blender, Zbrush. nine0003

People who create 3D models for the game are divided into architects, designers of vehicles, weapons, interior decorations, and so on. Developers of cars and water transport earn the most: the average price of a car is 20 thousand Linden dollars, and yachts - 15 thousand Linden dollars ($60 and $45 respectively).

A separate category of items - goods for the demonstration of wealth. The most expensive item on the marketplace is a gold sandwich worth 1 billion linden dollars (about $4 million). nine0003

As its creator writes, between layers of virtual 24 carat gold lies "the answer to the greatest mysteries of the universe." Which ones, he does not specify.

That Golden Sandwich

There is also a separate category of authors - script creators. They "animate" game objects - with their help, you can make the door open automatically when someone approaches it or when it is clicked on with the mouse.

LSL, the in-game programming language, is used for this. The system also provides several tools to help generate, edit and test written programs. To understand the basics, you can study the manual or video tutorials. nine0003

​Creating a script from YouTube blogger Torley

Script in the game from blogger Manoul

The main rule of the Second Life marketplace is that for each file uploaded to the system, you must pay developers 10 linden dollars (about $0.04). A file means one texture, one animation frame, one 3D model of an object, or one sound no longer than ten seconds.

Such a fee is needed in order to limit the number of objects that users upload, otherwise the system would not be able to withstand the flow of incoming content and would not be able to quickly display it. nine0003

Sellers can charge any price in Linden dollars for an item. The marketplace has the ability to accept payments in US dollars, but using it is not so profitable due to a commission of 10-15%. From users who prefer to pay for goods with real currency, the system charges an additional tax of $30.

Thus, in order to purchase the item at the best price, users must first buy in-game currency on the stock exchange or earn it in Second Life.

Regardless of how the buyer pays, the seller receives the profit in Linden dollars. For each purchase, shop owners are charged a five percent commission in in-game currency. nine0003

Second Life designer Mikhail Ozhereliev owns his own brand and clothing and accessories store Parker. Mikhail specializes in men's shoes, trousers, t-shirts and sweatshirts in a sporty style. He talked about how he decided to open his own shop.

Mikhail played GTA Vice City a lot, downloaded new models of cars made by players and wanted to make his own. After GTA, Michael started playing Second Life, which he said was more creative. For a long time there was no store, and he "wrote on the table." nine0003

Gradually, other players began to ask Mikhail for his models, and he decided to turn his hobby into a permanent income. At first, there were a lot of unsuccessful products, since for success in the game it is not enough to create a model, you need to be able to present it, give it a marketable appearance.

After the introduction of meshes, Mikhail made his first character. It took a lot of effort to create, he explains, since there was little information, you had to look at foreign magazines on CG.

His first character on the marketplace became popular because there was nothing like it. Sales began, Mikhail began to be invited to game fairs. nine0003

Now he combines Second Life with work as a game designer. He develops new models, it takes about two weeks to create one product. In a month, the store brings as much net profit as a real small clothing boutique.

Michael communicates with users and customers. He makes changes in the work of the store at his own discretion, focusing on the ratio of optimization for the game and the quality of goods. For each update, he spends about two weeks, as well as for product development. nine0003

​First successful sales character created by Mikhail

​One of the best-selling items in Mikhail's store is now

According to Anna Sychenko, the founder of the Genesis Lab brand of avatars and body parts, managing a store is a full-time job along with production. Every day you need to create new models and update old ones, fix system errors, change product characteristics along with changes in the game. nine0003

Sychenko has been developing his store for about five years. According to her, at first there were few sales - no more than one or two per month, and she had to invest her own funds in promotion: several thousand dollars were spent on buying licensed software, downloading textures and 3D models, paying for scripts, advertising.

Three other people are currently working on the project with her: two create 3D models, one writes scripts, one creates animations. In total, her store sells 19 products: various avatar heads and skin colors. The cost of one head is 2000 Linden dollars. nine0003

The most difficult thing was and is to observe self-discipline. We don't have to go to work, so we have to force ourselves to work from home as if we were in the office.

My colleagues and I have time management, there is round-the-clock user support with the help of managers.

I also communicate with customers, find out what people want to change or add, create an update list and work on it.

Anna Sychenko, creator of a brand of avatars and body parts Genesis Lab

Model from Genesis Lab

However, it is not always necessary to invest your own funds in creating a store and loading textures and objects. The creator of the clothing and accessories store Dreamcatcher raised some seed money through mini-games available in Second Life, which can also earn Linden Dollars. She also worked as a photographer.

Dreamcatcher's creator says he's still on the hunt for a twist that would attract loyal customers. Therefore, the profit of her store is still unstable. Sometimes the creator goes into the red, and sometimes the revenue reaches from 25,000 to 205,000 Linden dollars per month ($100-800) in the presence of advertising. nine0003

An example of a product from the Dreamcatcher

Creators are reluctant to talk about their profits and are suspicious of questions about them, because in Second Life there are cases of hacking of accounts and theft of money. Dreamcatcher divides the monthly profit of stores into several categories depending on the promotion and quality of products.

• Up to 13,000 Linden dollars ($50) - small shops, start-ups or little-known, as well as old, almost abandoned. nine0010
• 13-26 thousand linden dollars ($50-100) - still small, but growing stores.
• 26-51 thousand linden dollars ($100-200) - medium-sized stores that appear at events or have their own stable audience.
• 51-102 thousand linden dollars ($200-400) - stores with a regular audience and style that produce quality goods and regularly participate in events.
nine0009 Linden dollars 102-204 thousand and more ($400-800) are popular brands that constantly appear at popular events.

According to the creator of Dreamcatcher, in order to make a lot of money on creating your own models, you need to study the market of the selected type of product well and understand what products and what quality they buy most often. To quickly start earning more than $100 a month, you need to loudly declare yourself with the product itself and its advertising, as well as learn 3D modeling. nine0003

How to promote 3D products

The more popular the store, the higher its position in the marketplace search engine. The rank of the outlet is calculated depending on the number of sales for a certain period, the type of goods and the correspondence to search terms.

Developers give basic recommendations for self-promotion: make competent and attractive product descriptions and headlines, create your own brand, take high-quality screenshots of your products from different angles, indicate as much reliable information about the product as possible. nine0003

Products can also be advertised by placing them prominently in the game world. The service costs from 300 Linden dollars to 2900 Linden dollars (from $0.9 to $8.7) depending on the location and the period for which the goods will be displayed.

Another way to win the trust of customers is to give gifts. In the marketplace, you cannot set a price of 0 linden dollars, but you can set a price of 1 linden dollar. Then, upon purchase, the player will get the goods for free.

Some merchants only give gifts to members of the store group in the game. Stores also send newsletters to subscribers and, along with announcements of new products, they can send free items. nine0003

Shops arrange distribution of gifts in promotions. There is, for example, the "armchair of luck." It looks like a chair with a fixed poster of the thing. The letter on the chair changes, and as soon as it coincides with the first letter of the avatar's name, you need to sit on the chair.

Then the thing from the poster will become a gift. Sometimes several stores come together to organize a "hunt". They hide gifts in specific objects depicted on a display in front of the store. Objects can be anything: a crown, a heart, a bow, a slipper. Usually hunting lasts about a month. nine0003

If the store has appeared in the marketplace recently, the main goal of its owner is to make users know about it as soon as possible.

The most effective way to do this is not to distribute gifts, but to cooperate with bloggers who publish content about Second Life on their websites, YouTube channels, pages on Instagram, VKontakte, Facebook and Flickr, as well as participate in various fairs that are monthly are held in the game and attract many shops.

In September, the annual hair fair - HairFair. More than 60 shops participated this year, each exhibiting up to six unique hairstyles only available at the fair. nine0003

Headwear department at Hair Fair 2019

Bloggers, on the other hand, collaborate with brands in Second Life in much the same way as they do in real life. Stores send them copies of their merchandise or cash rewards for promoting the product on their personal websites, Facebook, Flickr, and Instagram pages.

They publish there beautiful and high-quality screenshots of the game with images of goods and describe their advantages. On average, one store cooperates with 15–60 bloggers; owners consider this method of promotion to be the most effective. nine0003

​Advertising clothes and hairstyles on the website of the blogger Tatiani Viper

Second Life vs VR

Since 2017, Linden Lab has been developing the Sansar VR platform similar to Second Life.

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