Term Limits for Babbage - A change of management.

[Shaunathan Sprocket]

It has been an exciting and challenging time running a city-state for the past 2 years. I see entirely why George Washington set the 2 year term limit in motion within the United States. After two years you feel exhausted in a way that's practically impossible to describe. Even the will to log in seems to not be there for me. I want new challenges, I want to move on. Also I think New Babbage deserves better than my absence. It's time for a new mayor. I hereby invoke a 2 year precedent.

Sadly, it's not as easy as hosting an election. New Babbage is an asset. It is profitable. And it is indeed worth something. It would also be a thoughtless act to simply sell to the highest bidder. Everyone here deserves more than that. I want to sell to someone who has vision, someone who will not only maintain what we have, but strive to grow and evolve it further. We have a unique situation.

Currently, a brand new (and vacant as a desert) sim costs someone $1000 USD to purchase and $295 USD per month to keep. New Babbage is 6 sims of thriving community and active renters, and to use an analogy, an appartment full of renters is worth more than an empty building. I am willing to sell New Babbage to someone for $6,000.00 USD, However there are some strings attached. I want the people of New Babbage to approve you.

If you are interested in buying New Babbage there is nothing I can do to "make" you continue New Babbage. Legally, you could wipe the sims, tell everyone to leave, and build a gorean wonderland (no offense to any who enjoy Gor). But, by having the land owners of New Babbage approve you, I think there's a good chance you'll take New Babbage on a path to greatness.

If you fancy yourself a mayor. If you think you can lead New Babbage, I invite you to post on a second thread I have started "New Babbage Election". Please go there and make your case to the people of New Babbage. Tell them what you will do as Mayor of New Babbage. PLEASE remember, if you win the election, you will have to pay me $6,000.00 USD for New Babbage so only post if you are serious please.

This thread is for any reaction, but only post on the "New Babbage Election" thread if you want to be the mayor. I ask the forum mods to keep this enforced. I think we can have an election before Valentine's Day. After we have a New Mayor, I'd like to share with everyone what I plan to be doing with my time, I think you will all approve.

IF YOU WANT TO RUN: If you are elected, and I receive payment in full. I will provide a "change of power" peroid where I'll make sure you have all the items, contacts, and permissions so that you can run New Babbage.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOTE: You must be a New Babbage landholder with a positive number of days remaining in the rental board by January 25th. The size of your parcel or number of parcels you own does not matter. You simply must own a parcel of land by Jan. 25th. If I am not available you may do land deals through Charlene Trudeau, as she is authorized by me to sell land in New Babbage on my behalf.

For quick reference the place for campaign platforms is here:
http://newbabbage.ning.com/forum/topics/new-babbage-election

[TriloByte Zanzibar]

Perhaps in the best interest of the community, it would be best to put aside personal criticisms. The town is the first concern (as both resident/stakeholder and landowner I agree), which I think this plan (having an election) reflects. I know that in RL if I was interested in making a purchase the due diligence would be my own responsibility, and I see no reason why the same wasn't true here.

In under an hour of exploring the build you could get a strong sense of its value. The tier boxes show high occupancy rates in all but two sims. The rates and buy prices are public information, as are the tier fees. Anyone with the money to invest and dedication to proactively manage the place could likely get a good idea of the profitability from all that alone.

While I agree with you fully on ruling by committee, comment and discussion about other folks' plans or dreams just seems out of place in this thread (to me at least). I'm not sure if comments on candidates plans should go in the thread Shaun linked, or if they warrant separate threads of their own.

[Ceejay Writer]

I'd think it best to keep candidate proposals in the thread Shaun started, and all other general chatter about this upcoming change here. Shaun separated the discussions for just that reason - and if we spun off discussions for each varied candidate or opinion, the ning would sink under the weight. While all this goes on, we still have a web-based face to present to the public, and newcomers aren't here for the politics, they are here to experience what we have all created.

[Remington Thursday]

Thanks very much for saying that, Trilobyte. I wanted to very much last night, and I wasn't able to get a chance. You perfectly state my thoughts on the matter.
While I would need to get a look at the P&Ls before buying, based on Candace's own math, it shows profitability within a year at a price of $6000. Even if there were no growth whatsoever, that is nearly the textbook definition of a good investment.
Also, I wouldn't expect to see accountings here on the ning. There is an appropriate place for finalizing business discussions, and this is surely not it.

[Doctor Obolensky]

Well, how much is Babbage worth certainly goes beyond what the raw value of a sim is. And I would also assume that whoever would be willing to purchase it, is not expecting major profits out of it.

I would expect anyone interested would contact Shaun about the details, and decide for themselves if it's something they want to take on. I know that if I had that kind of cash available at the moment, I'd be sorely tempted.

I do quite agree about the coalition, though. That sort of thing always leads to Drama, of the bad sort. While given the right sort of people, it may last longer than 24 hours, sooner or later, something will turn up that will piss someone off, and that's all it takes to start an avalanche.

And let me add how much I appreciate New Babbage, and everyone who has made it what it is. And I'm not just talking about the builds, either.

[Kandace Commons]

I agree, it does have value, I said as much, I'm just saying the sims themselves aren't part of that value. And as I said, what it's worth is going to be entirely subjective to each interested bidder. Someone may think it's worth that much just for sentimental value, and that's their choice. From a business perspective however, everyone I know in the business says that it's not worth that much.

--Kandace

[Ceejay Writer]

My personal opinion is that EVERYTHING in SL is subjective-value. I personally hold a very high value on Babbage, and a few other ventures in this reality. Each of us needs to ascertain for ourselves what that value is... and when that's done, I think our next Mayor will start to emerge.

[TriloByte Zanzibar]

I disagree there - I think the sims DO have value. 6 regions have an initial outlay, whether you buy them first or second hand. And then from there it's countless hours to create it all. Not just creating the build (which I'm sure you could do in far less time than the rest of us), but in getting that community. Moving people to a different build would likely see attrition of at least 50%. Whether the community is the icing and the sims are the cake or its the other way round, the two are inseparable.

We must certainly travel in different circles, the comment most heard from multi-region owners (or managers, since technically nobody really owns anything in SL) since the news went public is "I wish I could afford it." Not complaints about the price being too high, but wishing available cash was on hand.

[Kandace Commons]

Please don't misunderstand, I'm only saying that sims themselves do not have value. What's IN them certainly does, there's no question about that. Both in regards to time investment and a lot of the infrastructure Shaun paid people to develop, such as the trains, Palisade wall, and so forth.

As far as traveling in different circles, it depends. I know Charlene on the Caledon state said she wished she had the money to buy it, but in retrospect later said that she wasn't sure, the investment was so high that even if she had the money she'd be uncertain as to whether she would commit to it.

[Mr. Tenk]

*drops his hammer*

[Ceejay Writer]

*gently hands the hammer back to Mister Tenk* Your services will still be needful, sir.

[Kandace Commons]

Another quick point here... Anyone seriously considering buying Babbage for $6000 should realize they really need to have about $8000 on hand in reality, because Babbage requires a tier payment of $1770 to Linden Lab every month, and you will need a month's worth of cushion while you wait for residents to pay up for the next month.

[Ceejay Writer]

Ah. Good practical point there, Kandace. thanks.