After Hiatus: Why I’ll Miss the Casinos

I will never take another hiatus from blogging here again! (Did anyone besides Darius miss me?) Too much has happened and I’m probably too late to the party to comment effectively … but that has never stopped me from expressing my viewpoint before.

Eliminating Gambling:

People have been commenting about the effect this will have on the SL economy mainly from the casino owners’ viewpoint, such as the depressing effect on land prices if they all opt to sell. I’m more concerned with the micro effects … what will happen to individual business owners now that avies don’t have as many sources to get money? I was a dedicated camper for 11 of my 12 months here in SL, and I kept my lindens in constant circulation, believe me.

I have a paid account but the weekly stipend is not going to get me new land or pay my tier on my current vast holdings. Yes, I know smarter residents than I looked down on camping as a financial, resource and electrical drain, but I enjoyed the social aspect of it. Had it not been for camping I would not have gotten to know our own Darius Sartre … the day this old lady beat him out for a camp chair was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I gave a lot of money over the months to casino owners like Ziggy Hicks and Laervalp Gyllng, but I also got a lot … besides my winnings, mainly my core group of SL friends. Will I be willing to buy lindens like everyone else when I want to buy something? I’m not sure. It depends if I can get my money out of Ginko Financial, which leads me to my next post.

I understand the reasons LL gave for eliminating gambling (although the word “specious” comes to mind) and I disagree with those who say this means there’s nothing to do in SL anymore. The people I’m closest to now never go into the casinos, although they might miss Slingo and sploders.

I just fear that the elimination of casinos and other gambling will widen the chasm between the “have” avies and the “have nots.” About the only recourse my non-stipend friends have is entering contests with payouts of L$200 to L$400 or so … and the odds on those are worse than the slot payouts.