1  |   Order by index

Dec 18, 2000, 8:39pm

Thought this might interest some people... Originally posted at http://members.boardhost.com/Xavarella/msg/5283.html


-Agent1
-----

Posted by Syzygy on 12/18/2000, 4:55 pm

Someone asked me about the "numbers" that AWcom did not want the investors to see ... this is part of a msg from 2000-11-17:
-------------------------------
Here is the output from the two new bots I have written. They count the number of paying citizens and worlds ...
***
11470 of 33329 users are paying for citizenships.
964 of 2313 worlds are paid for by users.
***
Criteria:
1) Expire date is not "never"
2) Expire date is later than "now" (not expired yet)
3) Owner e-mail does not contain "activeworlds.com"
4) "trial" not found in Comments (worlds only)
-------------------------------
I don't know about "millions" of users, but as of a month ago there were only 11,000 active (paying) Citizens, and less than 1,000 worlds generating revenue.
AWcom has a Serious Problem with retaining their customer base ... but each year there's a fresh crop of newbies to pony-up 20 bucks for something "kewl", so who cares if they renew after their first year? It's like that acne cream ... it doesn't work, it never has, but there's always a new generation to sucker with the promise of a cure. :-)

What's Really Bogus in AW's case is that they leave all of the property built by Citizens who expired over two years ago (like "elvis") and retain their names so that people will *think* that there is a higher population density ... there are objects in AW that have been around since 1995 that still show the owner's name, even though they are Long Gone.

The "Official" reason for keeping all these names and objects is, "Just in case they come back a year later, see their stuff is still there, and they can renew their citizenship with their old name and number." As if! :-)

Let's see, 11,000 paid citizens time $20 equals $220,000 in annual income (assume that new citizens offset the ones who don't renew after their first year) ... how many salaries (and how much rent) can they pay with that? No, I don't think they'd want the public investors to see those numbers!

"Dead men tell no tales." That is, like, so Old Paradigm ... you can no longer just cover up Bad News by getting rid of the person who found the skeleton in the closet. :-)

-=DAH=-

Dec 18, 2000, 11:02pm

[View Quote] It's true, but hey, it's business. :)
>
> What's Really Bogus in AW's case is that they leave all of the property
built by Citizens who expired over two years ago (like "elvis") and retain
their names so that people will *think* that there is a higher population
density ... there are objects in AW that have been around since 1995 that
still show the owner's name, even though they are Long Gone.
>
> The "Official" reason for keeping all these names and objects is, "Just in
case they come back a year later, see their stuff is still there, and they
can renew their citizenship with their old name and number." As if! :-)

Maybe so, but really, it is also for historical documentation also. :) A lot
of treasures and history can be seen in the 5 years AW has been alive, and
to destroy all of it would be a tragedy. :) Sorry to all you
non-sentimentalists, but hey, I haven't deleted ANY of my old works yet. :)
>
> Let's see, 11,000 paid citizens time $20 equals $220,000 in annual income
(assume that new citizens offset the ones who don't renew after their first
year) ... how many salaries (and how much rent) can they pay with that? No,
I don't think they'd want the public investors to see those numbers!

Isn't there only like 4 or 5 people that actually work on AW? That equals
out to 40,000-50,000 a year? It's middle class income (the average is
40,000) if the employees have a family. Somewhat higher than middle class
however if the employee is single.
>
> "Dead men tell no tales." That is, like, so Old Paradigm ... you can no
longer just cover up Bad News by getting rid of the person who found the
skeleton in the closet. :-)

AW is kinda shady. :) But I think that's all smart business...look at
Microsoft. :) We hate it with a vengeance, but we can't DO anything without
it. same with AW (I know I'd be dead without it).

Nornny
>
> -=DAH=-
>
>
>

Dec 18, 2000, 11:21pm

Apparently, Rick and JP alone make 140,000 each... I suppose they do make money from stuff like world design, and the world licenses themselves, too.

-Agent1


[View Quote]

Dec 18, 2000, 11:49pm

Not to mention advertising - think about how much AW GZ probably makes
people?
-Twist

[View Quote]

Dec 19, 2000, 9:47am

So we conclude, the AWLDers are making 6 figure salaries...enough to make us
jealous enough to run a bot and scan for all paying cits to see if we can
get them sweating? :) Definately. :) hehe. I guess if you do think about it
though, AWCOM does make a large profit of their income through everything
else besides AW itself.

Nornny

[View Quote]

Dec 19, 2000, 6:24pm

How can a bot tell the difference between a unique citizenship and multiple accounts? How can it tell if a world is paid for?

[View Quote] > Thought this might interest some people... Originally posted at http://members.boardhost.com/Xavarella/msg/5283.html
>
> Posted by Syzygy on 12/18/2000, 4:55 pm
>
> Someone asked me about the "numbers" that AWcom did not want the investors to see ... this is part of a msg from 2000-11-17:
> -------------------------------
> Here is the output from the two new bots I have written. They count the number of paying citizens and worlds ...
> ***
> 11470 of 33329 users are paying for citizenships.
> 964 of 2313 worlds are paid for by users.
> ***
> Criteria:
> 1) Expire date is not "never"
> 2) Expire date is later than "now" (not expired yet)
> 3) Owner e-mail does not contain "activeworlds.com"
> 4) "trial" not found in Comments (worlds only)
> -------------------------------
> I don't know about "millions" of users, but as of a month ago there were only 11,000 active (paying) Citizens, and less than 1,000 worlds generating revenue.
> AWcom has a Serious Problem with retaining their customer base ... but each year there's a fresh crop of newbies to pony-up 20 bucks for something "kewl", so who cares if they renew after their first year? It's like that acne cream ... it doesn't work, it never has, but there's always a new generation to sucker with the promise of a cure. :-)
>
> What's Really Bogus in AW's case is that they leave all of the property built by Citizens who expired over two years ago (like "elvis") and retain their names so that people will *think* that there is a higher population density ... there are objects in AW that have been around since 1995 that still show the owner's name, even though they are Long Gone.
>
> The "Official" reason for keeping all these names and objects is, "Just in case they come back a year later, see their stuff is still there, and they can renew their citizenship with their old name and number." As if! :-)
>
> Let's see, 11,000 paid citizens time $20 equals $220,000 in annual income (assume that new citizens offset the ones who don't renew after their first year) ... how many salaries (and how much rent) can they pay with that? No, I don't think they'd want the public investors to see those numbers!
>
> "Dead men tell no tales." That is, like, so Old Paradigm ... you can no longer just cover up Bad News by getting rid of the person who found the skeleton in the closet. :-)
>
> -=DAH=-

Dec 19, 2000, 6:34pm

Syzygy, or Dennette, was working for AW at a time. I'm not sure, but if he
had AWLD's rights he could have had a bot check their citezen/world
database.

[View Quote]

1  |   Order by index