Plans for the Future
Well.. this has been an interesting week in an interesting month in an interesting year!
As many of you are now aware, Bakes on Mesh is coming. This has elicited a variety of emotions in the community, from impatient joy “GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE” to Anger “WHAT ABOUT THE MATERIALS?! ARE YOU DUMB?! THIS WILL RUIN ALL THE THINGS”. I’m being asked daily about my plans and what I think of it.
I, being in the position I am, have run a bit of a gambit. I’m super hopeful for what this means for SL. Rendering Costs and Alpha Glitches will go down dramatically, creation processes streamlined. There are some things that I’m still poking LL about. I go to those Creator Meetings every dang week for a reason. (Like.. srsly LL.. give us API..and materials pretty please?!).
But I’m not stupid, I know this is going to cut my market share dramatically. My tactic of drastically undercharging to ensure total market saturation just isn’t going to work when BoM is free. Omega is going to end up being a frill for many meshes, a way to make clothing and makeup look better rather than a pre-requisite just to put it on. This means some things are gonna have to be adjusted.
Pricing
My pricing model has to change. Most meshes I make almost nothing on. It’s charity work because I’m operating as the only available common carrier and I do NOT want to be a hurdle for creators just to get to market. I wub you guys and I want you to make ALL THE THINGS.
I could regale you with the various spreadsheets and calcs I ran to try and figure out what would work.. but ultimately.. it came down to “throw something at the wall and see if it works!”
So, starting 7/15/2018, pricing for Kits on the Marketplace will be changed to this:
Body Kits: 199L
Head Kits: 149L
Hand/Misc Kits: 99L
Retired Kits (like wowmeh & signature): 99L
License Fees for Pre-Installed will remain the same, as will in world prices. (That’s right! The Lazy tax is back!)
Pre-Installed because it’s guaranteed sales and by far still the best thing the for customer.
Inworld, simply to give yall a vote. If you absolutely hate the new pricing and think I’m being a greedy c#$@, get your kits inworld. (I won’t be offended.. ok.. maybe a bit.. but I’ll wub you anyways!)
I’m hoping I won’t have to raise inworld prices too, but that will ultimately end up increasing will depend heavily on what happens when BoM hits.
New Head & Eye Kits sometime this month
In addition to pricing changes, I also need to brace for the impact of a 1000 new head makers charging toward the gates wanting scripts…
So this month, likely in the next week or so, I will be releasing 2 new kits. One will be a Generic Eyes and Lashes Kit and the other a Generic Head, Eyes and Lashes Kit.
Both will operate similarly to the current full perm kits, with Trans and No-Trans versions for creators and customers to pick up.
This time, however, I’ve got a new trick up my sleeve that will let me remotely convert any creators meshes to Pre-Installed just by adding their keys to a table.
The Price to do this will be inexpensive but only available to trusted creators.
There will be Stricker Scripting Requirements
The era of “Check all these boxes and you get in” is going to have to end once BoM hits.
The whole reason Omega is so time-consuming is that I script ALL THE THINGS. As long as you fulfill some very basic requirements, ie no stolen meshes, no IP infringement, you’re not making a griefing tool, etc, I make you a kit.
I do this because I am the only real option and it’s not fair to exclude someone from the market because of my laziness. Once BoM hits though.. I’m going to be a frill.. not a hard entry requirement.
As such, once BoM starts, I will no longer be making scripts for any mesh that comes through unless I think it’s worth the man-hours. It’s just going to have to be that way as Omega will inevitably, even with price increases, need to become a part of my work instead of my entire Portfolio. By all means, don’t be afraid to come to ask for scripting, but please don’t be offended if I ask you to either pay or work on your mesh some more before we work together. 🙂
In Summary, I love you guy. I love the time I’ve had building this system. I’m going to love the time I spend taking care of Omega as it (hopefully) ages gracefully into semi-retirement. The days of just rabidly flinging Omega Kits at yall knowing at least a couple will be popular enough to pay for the rest are over, but will some luck, I plan on making sure I can take care of this baby of mine for as long as you need her, whether that’s a month, a year or another decade of SL.
oxoxoxox
-Chellynne Bailey
