Responding to my post on VRChat's emerging new creator economy featuring the video above), longtime reader Martin K. has some provocative thoughts on the sociology of virtual worlds:
One interesting thought that jumped at me in the context of monetization was this:
When your world is Quest-compatible, more kids get in; it's just a fact – an uncomfortable fact, because it's also people who don't have as much money – who can't afford a PC – who get a Quest.
All this is probably true, but one might jump to the conclusion that Quest-users spend less money on microtransactions (on average) because they are younger (on average), and that's probably not true for microtransactions targeting children: as Roblox and many other free-to-play games have shown, children might be quite willing to spend a few dollars regularly on (exploitive) microtransactions. (And that inclination is in addition to the larger number of Quest-users compared to PC-VR users.)
Of course, the offerings have to target children; your typical, over-sexualized Second Life skins probably won't sell well to children.
Which reminds me of the idea that The Big Sort is not only happening in real life but also in virtual worlds with creator economies: specific metaverse-apps with creator economies attract specific audiences.
Martin's referring to the highly influential sociology book arguing that people across the United States have been "sorting" themselves by culture and worldview, to the point where even differing neighborhoods in the same city can hold widely contrary values and opinions.
Martin argues that different kinds of commerce can have the same sorting effect on virtual worlds:
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 