An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest... Nightclubbiz.com

A few roll playing operators believe that… The fundamental objectives and operational procedures of social entertainment are simply not applicable in the virtual world

Hummm…. These sorts of remarks borderline Saturday night live material, while diminishing any credibility a roll playing operator may have. It's a little like suggesting that the objectives of producing a box office movie hit do not apply, as they would to a live stage production, because the audience is not actually present in tangible form.

• It further suggests that… That the virtual world demographic originates from a different planet, and that the aliens of this planet are content with entertainment product, which in an increasing number of cases has little substance or meaning. Based on the growing disappointment of the entertainment consumer in the virtual world, this seems an unlikely possibility.

• That the reason why policies, structures, and a guided mission objective is not required in the virtual world… Is because it really doesn't matter. All you need to do here is think you're a pro entertainment operator and it shall be so. This one is actually true and false. True if all you're operating is a hobbyist nightclub. False if you're attempting to harness the interest of the broader level population.

• Finally, despite the virtual world of Second Life reaching a new milestone of 1-billion USD in total user-to-user transactions, some role-playing operators conclude that… The reason why social entertainment in second life does not see a dime of this money… Is because people will not pay for it? Uh huh… Now that's insightful and amazingly brilliant deductive reasoning.

One question this posses is… How can numerous other social networking mediums, combined with online dating services generate billions of dollars a year in revenue for what is in many cases a product, which does not near the sophistication or experience of an interactive, true 3D physics platform?

Chuckles… Indeed, the virtual world entertainment operations arena appears to have some mighty interesting ideas floating around in their heads. How they arrive at a number of these conclusions is anyone's guess, but one possibility is… A likely byproduct of frustration, resulting from the lack of sophistication necessary in being able to accommodate an increasingly diverse and demanding entertainment marketplace.

So is there any merit to the above beliefs?

Hardly… Indeed there are some differences in the approach of social entertainment in the virtual world, but to suggest the virtual world consumer is somehow 'isolated' from the mainstream leisure entertainment demographic is profoundly absurd. The truth is, the needs of the virtual world entertainment consumer are evolving at a rate significantly faster than roll playing operators are possibly able to understand, much less possessing the know-how to adequately address them. Again, this will cause frustration.

Just so we're all clear…

The annual U.S. leisure market is assessed at $2.4 trillion. Fueled predominantly by Baby Boomer spending and… Significant growth in the leisure marketplace is expected in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Second Life entertainment demographic is not an alien race from another planet as some assert… It is encompassed into the same Real Life demographic, which supports online gaming, video movie rentals, movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, online dating, and a host of other leisure entertainment related products.

The Second Life grid has reached 50 million USD in User-to-User transactions each month. Yes, that is the combined amount of money people are spending on goods and services in Second Life per month. The grid in 'total' User-to-User transactions as of the 3rd quarter earnings report of 2009, topped out at 1 billion dollars USD, up 54% from last year!

Micro Economics in its simplest form

So let's get this one straight…  Quality entertainment product is now one of the most sought after commodities in the virtual world at present.   Demand for it exceeds supply by a factor that is off the scale of measurement at this point.   Yet... Despite this shortage, no one will spend money on social entertainment, but they'll spend 1 billion on hair, jewelry, clothing, shoes, real estate, and items of a personal or sexual nature?

So what are the real reasons why virtual world entertainment is not profitable yet?

In short… You can't market something to the public, which in very essence… Is half-baked and held together by thumbtacks and Scotch Tape.

More clarity…

Second life entertainment operators have done an outstanding job of demonstrating the vast potential for virtual social entertainment concepts. This however, is only stage 1. Stage 2 is… Now can you streamline them, market them, and make them profitable? This requires knowledge, which goes a little beyond that of a roll-playing operator and we suspect this may be a significant factor in what appears be a state of "stalled progress" at this point.

Going into all the specifics in terms what needs improvement and refinement at the paradigm and operations level would take us well beyond the scope of this document, so we'll save this for another discussion, but suffice it to say, any suggestion that this demographic is an alien race of people, or that the fundamental objectives of social entertainment are not applicable in the virtual world should be replied to with… A nod… Smile… Then politely excuse yourself… And go somewhere private where you can howl your brains out with laughter :)

The virtual world is still in its infancy, both on a technological and social level. Similar to how the real world evolved, history documents how myths and fallacies often preceded elucidation, which was both meaningful and intelligent. This too is yet another facet of the virtual world, which makes it both interesting and stimulating from an observational perspective.

The future belongs to those who see it coming…

Dave H
http://nightclubbiz.com/