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| - 7/9 8pm Town Hall Chat Log SL Marketing Fireside Talk Hunter Linden: Okay - welcome all to a Second Life Town Hall Hunter Linden: Cool - well welcome - let me say a few things and then we'll get going Hunter Linden: If this is your first townhall, here's how it works Hunter Linden: We say a few things and then.... Hunter Linden: open up the floor to questions Hunter Linden: When we start Q&A, you say "Question" if you have one and then..... Hunter Linden: I'll call on you Hunter Linden: Also, please "shout" everything so everyone can hear Hunter Linden: Cool - well today we have a new subject for SL Town Hall Hunter Linden: Marketing Second Life! Hunter Linden: Tanya and Robin Linden, the marketing gurus, will talk a bit about launch Hunter Linden: and what's coming up in the future Hunter Linden: So without further delay..... Hunter Linden: Here's Tanya and Robin! Tanya Linden: Hey there everybody! Robin Linden: Hi everyone Robin Linden: Tanya and I are responsible for marketing SL Robin Linden: I thought we'd give you some info on the launch and what we're planning. Robin Linden: Then we'll answer questions. Robin Linden: As you know, we launched SL on June 23, after being in beta for about 8 months. Robin Linden: We had about 50% of the beta testers who converted buy lifetime memberships. Robin Linden: Another 30% bought quarterly and annual memberships. Robin Linden: There are people from all over the US and Canada, and even from around the world. Robin Linden: We have lots more women than many games, and a broad array of age groups. Robin Linden: This is really exciting, because it means we have a strong group of interesting and Robin Linden: committed residents who are building the world Robin Linden: and making it a cool place for themselves and newbies. Robin Linden: That's why the referral program is so important. Tanya's got lots of ideas for that. Robin Linden: We also need to try to reach lots of early adopters and convince them they should give Robin Linden: SL a try. Robin Linden: I'm looking at online advertising on sites that recreational programmers, digital artists, and gamers use. Robin Linden: We also continue to do lots of press out reach. Robin Linden: the New York Times, and numerous game sites. If you want to see what the press is saying, check out the Robin Linden: Reviews page on the Second Life site, or news on the Linden Lab site. Robin Linden: So who's got questions? James Miller: T-Shirts are being mailed next week right? I haven't worn a shirt in many months, I could REALLY REALLY use one. PLEASE send ASAP. Back of chair's Hunter Linden: too much info james Tanya Linden: the shirts are set to arrive at our offices tomorrow Tanya Linden: so we'll start mailing them out later this week James Miller: Ezhar Fairlight: Are European players legal now? Robin Linden: Our terms of service say that we can't accept members from outside the US and Canada Hunter Linden: Official line is international support will be coming soon Mo Money: I missed something you said, you were saying you need to get more early adopters? Robin Linden: we want more people like you -- people who are willing to do neat things and put up with a lot of changes Mo Money: I'm asking because some article from the website said you were looking for casual gamers Mo Money: I guess they're two different kinds of things Robin Linden: some day we'd like to have casual gamers in but probably not at the moment Maggie Miller: I think you answered my question in part cuz you said you're not after casual gamers... Maggie Miller: I would have been in that category...actually a NON gamer... Maggie Miller: why go after only gamers? Hunter Linden: Okay - so here's my thoughts on "casual" vs. "non-casual" folks Hunter Linden: It's not really about being a gamer or non-gamer at this stage - we have tons of both Hunter Linden: It's more about wanting to help build something, as opposed to just attend something already built Robin Linden: actually we're looking for ways to reach people who are creative -- maybe gamers, but also programmers, artists, architects, designers Hunter Linden: Right now - folks who really like SL are creative, social, fearless, etc.... regardless of whether they game or don't game Robin Linden: we love all of you Maggie Miller: i understand now, Hunter. Thanks. Ironchef Cook: related question. what do you fear casual gamers will do to the community? Hunter Linden: Ironchef - good question Robin Linden: casual gamers are important as the audience, the explorers, the shoppers --- but we need you to Robin Linden: make it all worth while first Robin Linden: you guys are the ones who make the world special and interesting Ironchef Cook: So you're saying you need more themed sims or other attractions first before bringing in the casual gamers? Robin Linden: we need things that will make the environment and the world more interesting for people who have a different idea Robin Linden: about what they want from the experience Robin Linden: yeah - themed communities, things to do, cool parties, events like the hot air ballroom race Mo Money: Well, in terms of making things easier for casual gamers, I like how you can jump into races and stuff with one of the competitors James Miller: This may be slightly off track, but, I think it is related. What is with Minors in SL? I remember hearing a lot about this issue during the days of Jack Miller. I even remember a user that claimed he had been placed in a 'minor mode', (Continued..) James Miller: in which he couldn#t get to mature sims. but, as of now, I haven't seen any minors in SL yet. What is happening with this? was this feature taken out? is it there w/o our knowledge? Robin Linden: Because we have mature sims in SL we don't allow people in who are under 18. Robin Linden: we told Jack that when we have the ability to make sure we can keep minors safe in SL we would let them in Robin Linden: until then we limit to adults Candie Apple: i'm confused by the concept you're putting forth that casual gamers which would necessarily includes non-gamers Candie Apple: would not be active participants but only want to shop? to be an audience? Robin Linden: we think that there are lots of different ways to experience second life Robin Linden: some people will want to build, others to explore or find inspiration in what the builders have made Robin Linden: so-called casual gamers are people who are less likely to want to spend a huge amount of time Robin Linden: creating. we think they'll be more likely to want to explore and socialize. Robin Linden: as with all generalizations this one is risky Robin Linden: but most people who are "casual gamers" tend to look at the way they play as taking up less time and being more social Tanya Linden: In terms of getting others in here -- what we'd like to do is to reach out into the communities Tanya Linden: Robin mentioned earlier -- creative people like yourselves who will continue building and pushing Tanya Linden: the limits of SL Tanya Linden: To that end -- you can help us by referring more people Candie Apple: may i give a tip on that? Candie Apple: on referring people? Tanya Linden: I'm sure you all know about our referral program -- anyone have any feedback? Tanya Linden: Candie - would love to hear your tip Candie Apple: what i did is a few searches on google like for '3d forums' Candie Apple: and i went to those forums and posted -- on just a few -- and my 5th referral just came in about an hour ago Candie Apple: it doesn't take long, and you can get come of that referral money Candie Apple: *some Tanya Linden: That's great Candie! Robin Linden: thanks Candie -- I've been experimenting with different key words so if you have ideas just send them to me on a notecard Tanya Linden: We've tried to make it really easy to spread the word by SL - by providing in-world leader board points Candie Apple: i will do that Tanya Linden: and Linden dollars as incentives for trials and converted users Rathe Underthorn: is there a button, banner, or similar graphic that we can use to link on our websites with? Tanya Linden: Right now we give you a personal "referral link" -- that when you post it, will automatically Tanya Linden: credit you for referrals when referrees click on it Tanya Linden: We'd like to add more graphics -- buttons and banners -- for fan sites, affiliates, etc. Ironchef Cook: will you ever go retail? if so, what is the timeline for that Robin Linden: i'm looking at putting game time cards at retail. but we don't have any plans to try to package SL for retail Ironchef Cook: gametime cards. wow Robin Linden: no box Weiss Roentgen: Time cards is a good idea - good stocking stuffer at Christmas Hunter Linden: Retail package - we could include a cd-rom of textures, a t-shirt, some other cool swag Robin Linden: yeah - what do you think about gift certificates? Petey Metalhead: were you guys at E3 Robin Linden: yup we were in the nVidia booth and we had a meeting room for press Petey Metalhead: neat Robin Linden: in fact several SL folks dropped by which was fun Tanya Linden: IN terms of shows - and the 3D folks Candie brought up... Tanya Linden: We're also going to be at Siggraph, in San Diego later this month... Tanya Linden: We'll be in the Vortechs hands-on play area -- if you're going to be there, come by and say hi Mo Money: Yeah... I noticed that you go to best buy and you see lots of online sim games... do you think a 3 month membership card on the game rack would help get people in? Mo Money: That's what the sims does Robin Linden: Mo - I hope it will -- it's a good way to reach a lot more people Archanox Underthorn: the lack of time cards is why a few of my friends aren't playing right now, for the most part Robin Linden: is it a lack of time cards or a lack of cash payment options Mo Money: cool. If the Sims can put memberships in a game-sized box, you guys can too Archanox Underthorn: well payment options i guess, they don#t wanna pay with a credit card is a big thing i think Mo Money: plus, they don't need to pay with a credit card online Robin Linden: we're working on adding a cash payment option. I hope it will be functional by next week James Miller: I know 100 people that would signup for SL in a heartbeat if you had a Mac version Robin Linden: we'll have a mac version this fall Robin Linden: Linux too James Miller: I just bought my iMac yesterday, so, I am kinda interested Ironchef Cook: are you confident the servers will handle a huge number of new players? Robin Linden: as new players come in we'll add more servers to keep up Jonathan VonLenard: iron.... they just add servers whenever a certain number of players join... so number of players is not an issue on the servers as i understand it Jonathan VonLenard: each sim is a server Ironchef Cook: i see Hunter Linden: Great - thanks for coming - chat logs will be posted tomorrow Hunter Linden: Thanks Robin and Tanya Tanya Linden: Thanks everybody for coming -- see you in-world soon
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