Second Life Virtual World Expands 44% in Q2 and this is a good thing?

'Linden Lab is pleased to announce results for Second Life the second Quarter.
Land mass grew over 44%. The total number of regions owned by residents increased 44.2% over Q1 to just over 1.5 billion square meters. Our growth was due to the popularity of our newly launched “Openspace” land product along with a change in pricing to make the purchase of land more accessible to first time buyers. “Openspace” regions are full 65,000 square meter regions with an upfront fee of $250 and a recurring monthly fee of $75. We decreased the price for full regions by 40% to $1000 upfront (the recurring monthly fee remains $295). '

Ok, so Linden Lab have the right to be happy over this increase their Land plan worked and everything on paper looks rosy.
At least from a business point of view, Land sales are up, premium accounts flatlined, user hours were up as were user to user transactions.

'If a tree falls in a forest with no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?'

With just over just over 1.5 billion square meters of land in SL is it getting just too big? Or is this only my opinion?
An old friend recently returned to SL after a long absence and after chatting he said to me well where does everyone go? Where does everyone meet up and the answer of course is that they don't unless there is a specific event, Residents no longer seem to just hang out, the world has grown so much that huge tracts just sit empty the majority of the time. You know those fabulous builds we have all seen, take a visit when there is not a prize to be won, its empty.
Your favourite club, shop, mall, beauty spot all will be the same one or two avatars wandering about and that will be it.
See all those wonderful green dots congregated on the map? TP in and see if you can actually get anyone to answer you? The chances are 95% of the time you either cannot find anyone as the 'dots' are 'bots' hidden on platforms in the sky or sitting on camping chairs.
A huge empty world to explore!
So a big pat on the back for Linden Lab for a great looking business review.
A desert for the residents to wander aimlessly in.
Yes its great to be a Landowner in SL, and I won't take away from that, BUT think carefully why you want to own land or you could find yourself isolated and alone in the most beautiful place in SL.
'Is it still beautiful if no-one ever sees it?'

Dana

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