Bitcoin Virtual Market

[bizzy]

Would be great if it supported international shopping. Even if a retailer is willing to sell internationally, international shipping rates are often so high it's not worth buying anything (and it can be VERY tough to find the shipping rates for an item).

Given the international nature of Bitcoins (it's cheaper to buy BTC from many different currencies than it is convert country specific currencies), it could be something really powerful.

[logansryche]

Indeed. I know that shipping via US postal flat rate priority mail is cheap here in the states but dunno about international(something to look into).

I'd find this interesting but wouldn't use it if it involved depositing BTC into a wallet for mall use as mentioned above. No way, no how. When I want to buy I should send money to a store for a purchase directly. And it's your job to collect rent from the sellers not from me.

Just caought this from page one. You're paying for a service(the mall). Linden Labs sets up their services this way and it makes the most sense. If vendors choose to charge for their items(which they obviously will), that's extra. It makes sense to set this up this way as it eliminates needing to attempt to link several wallets to several stores. It also makes everything more secure(by needing one wallet instead of several). I'm sorry you would never shop there but this is how this type of thing is set up.

[logansryche]

Here are some rough construction pics to get a feel of things.
This is being constructed in SL currently and will be moved over to Opensim when that's up and running.
The shops as they stand are 10x20m and the pathways are 11m wide.



Wide Shot of some shops.        Close up of a shop                    Overview from a corner


Close up of a shop(10x20)         1st wing(L) 2nd wing(R)            Entrance construction

[BkkCoins]

Indeed. I know that shipping via US postal flat rate priority mail is cheap here in the states but dunno about international(something to look into).

I'd find this interesting but wouldn't use it if it involved depositing BTC into a wallet for mall use as mentioned above. No way, no how. When I want to buy I should send money to a store for a purchase directly. And it's your job to collect rent from the sellers not from me.

Just caought this from page one. You're paying for a service(the mall). Linden Labs sets up their services this way and it makes the most sense. If vendors choose to charge for their items(which they obviously will), that's extra. It makes sense to set this up this way as it eliminates needing to attempt to link several wallets to several stores. It also makes everything more secure(by needing one wallet instead of several). I'm sorry you would never shop there but this is how this type of thing is set up.

Good luck with that. I'm sure if eBay could have charged a fee to buyers to browse they would have long ago - they milk everything else to the limit.

[logansryche]

They do indeed, and unless you know how to link such things together, I'm going with the business model I have. Sorry.

[Ayo_4_Yayo]

Is it going to be a megamall? I want to buy a bunch of electronic things but so far I can only go to the local electronics store but they don't accept bitcoins over there. Even though the guy behind the counter looks like 70s Meatloaf and is a real nerdish type, he doesn't know what bitcoin is, even after I explained it to him.

[logansryche]

There would be a shop to buy electronics from yes once the mall is built.

[fsvo]

What I like about the idea is the fact that you could "walk around" finding things you wouldn't imagine searching for conventionally, but still get the benefit(price?) or buying online. But whatever you find in there you would still want compare to "the real Internet" i.e Google, price comparison sites, which makes it an unnecessary layer.

Also how are businesses going to showcase their products? SL and OpenSim is not really great for masses of text and pictures, and these are people who run webshops. I worry a mall would look more like this:
http://fsvo.rymdraket.net/slbtc.jpg

[logansryche]

but it wouldn't since both SL and opensim introduced mesh, which allows the creation and importation of 2d items. So lets say a shop is showcasing 2 cars. You'd go into a 3d program such as Sketchup Pro or 3d studio max(both can be torrented; mine are) and create the car, or better yet, the pieces of the car(ie: the doors, seats, engine, etc..), import them, and set a price to that car for the value in bitcoins. Grouping items is the same as it is in SL and so is the buying/scripting system.

I was just thinking more about what BKKcoins was saying about needing to put all the coins into a central wallet before going into the mall. I could have either Kitsune or Kurin write a script where when the user clicks on the item or goes to buy the item, their redirected to that vendors page to buy it instead, seeing how trust has become a huge problem here -.-.

Also, thinking about it more, I think the shops might be too small as their 10x20m but I dunno what dimensions to make them as I don't know the dimensions of a shop in real life and i'm sure they'd arrest me on sight if I tried to measure. Any idea what to make them?

[memvola]

I've been tossing this around in my head for a while now. My idea is to create a virtual mall for all bitcoin business. The viewer would work much as the Second Life viewer would, except the currency would obviously be bitcoin. If I found a way to create/build such a thing, would there be any interest in it?

Comments? Questions? Critisizm?
I want to hear it all, and don't forget to vote.

I don't think the "simulated life" aspect is very attractive. That's why it got old very fast. Having limbs hanging out, having to walk around, having to move around obstacles, etc. is already annoying enough in real life.

On the other hand, a virtual mall with a 3D interface is a fantastic idea, just because it's socializing (which you don't get when you are shopping through an ordinary online store) and allows spectacles that's not possible in 2D. I haven't really thought about how you could structure the system (navigation, extensibility, etc.) but I'm hopeful that there is a better approach than a "simulated life" experience.

[logansryche]

I don't think the "simulated life" aspect is very attractive. That's why it got old very fast.

Well fortunatly for Second Life and Opensim, depending on your video card/pc set up will depend on how realistic things are. Scripting objects to move and mimic life adds to it. I've never experimented with it since all I have is onboard graphics lol.

On the other hand, a virtual mall with a 3D interface is a fantastic idea, just because it's socializing (which you don't get when you are shopping through an ordinary online store) and allows spectacles that's not possible in 2D.

It would indeed.

I haven't really thought about how you could structure the system (navigation, extensibility, etc.) but I'm hopeful that there is a better approach than a "simulated life" experience.

Well it all still goes back to the clients hardware and has nothing to do with the viewer or even the server. The server obviously contains all the data and the viewer is just the viewer although even if I was able to force it to show first person view instead of 3rd person, you'd still see everyone's avatars if they were anywhere.

I think if this mall experiment works I'm going to see about opening it up to a complete virtual world based on bitcoins. A friend of mine in PA finds deals on servers(when he has the money) so getting hardware wouldn't be an issue. The key is finding folks willing to come to such a place since it would use bitcoins. Also, below are a couple of maps I whipped up as to what I want the mall layout to look like. Of course shops could be added and not limited to just 2 floors.

[logansryche]

Um.. uh...

[memvola]

Since I am unable to explain what I was originally thinking, I'll fall back to a more conventional idea.

The only way I see myself coming here to shop is if I will be able to meet with sellers directly. That's one of the disappointments of SL, there is architecture but it lacks livelihood. What's the function of buildings if there are no people in them?

Instead of a mall, I imagine a small town outdoors bazaar, where vendors call to me to pitch their products. I want to see people crowding in front of a temporary stand put up by someone selling today's snake oil. I want to hear people quarrelling and gossiping. I want to be distracted by something that is being sold on the next stand. I don't want to see walls or stairs. They can be created when needed. Human civilization didn't begin with malls, maybe this doesn't need to as well.

Just an idea.

EDIT: The idea is not to replicate the feeling of a bazaar. So catalogs, flying billboards, etc. are all OK. I would just want to be in a socially active environment, so starting from an architecturally free basis and then build on that could probably attract people like me.

[logansryche]

Since I am unable to explain what I was originally thinking, I'll fall back to a more conventional idea.
The only way I see myself coming here to shop is if I will be able to meet with sellers directly. That's one of the disappointments of SL, there is architecture but it lacks livelihood. What's the function of buildings if there are no people in them?

Instead of a mall, I imagine a small town outdoors bazaar, where vendors call to me to pitch their products. I want to see people crowding in front of a temporary stand put up by someone selling today's snake oil. I want to hear people quarrelling and gossiping. I want to be distracted by something that is being sold on the next stand. I don't want to see walls or stairs. They can be created when needed. Human civilization didn't begin with malls, maybe this doesn't need to as well.

Just an idea.

EDIT: The idea is not to replicate the feeling of a bazaar. So catalogs, flying billboards, etc. are all OK. I would just want to be in a socially active environment, so starting from an architecturally free basis and then build on that could probably attract people like me.

So what you're idea is more along the lines of like a flea market/swamp meet/convention center type atmosphere. I like that. I like it better then the mall idea tbh... I could create the enviroment, set up the booths and then have folks come rent them. I do still see the need to create 3d objects with dae(collada) files for object representation, and the need to create a username for the enviroment plus depositing btc to be used inside the enviroment. Man.. this could work out just yet! Changing title. Also reset the vote thingy.

[indicasteve]

Yea...  I would like some empty land to rent if you can get a bitcoin currency happening in world.  That way I can build my own shop or w/e.

I would also like to see a sandbox so ppl can practice building stuff on your sim.

Maybe have adult areas for a Red Light district?

[logansryche]

Got more ideas swarming in that thing I call a brain!
The point right now is that if I built an outdoor flea market-type market place like pictured below, would that be more acceptable then a mall? I can add a sandbox and the like later on, but right now this would serve as a virtual way of buying/selling/trading real life products like the hundres of pokemon cards I have >.<

[fsvo]

Starting to sound more and more like a sandbox Which I like better. Let users go crazy with whatever business they want with their rented prims, just that the currency is bitcoin.

But even with a trick to use actual bitcoin transfers for each purchase the delay would be annoying so there's no choice than to transfer bitcoins to get in-game currency beforehand?

[logansryche]

Yes actually... just like in SL, the user would have to go to the site and deposit the coins so it shows up on their account. This would be done before hand.

[fsvo]

So the easiest(and most secure by using an established partner) way to realize this without even having to host a website would be hosting an OpenSim with OMC (https://www.virwox.com/omc-open-metaverse-currency.php) and in fact just let people exchange their BTC for OMC at virwox.

Of course that doesn't make this project unique in any way other than trying to keep the community bitcoin.

[logansryche]

Actually since Kitsune already has a working opensim up and running, I just need him to obviously change the currency to bitcoin but I was thinking of having a wallet on the same server or possibly host it with btcwebhost since he has a dedicated server for wallets. This would allow folks to send btc into the game and export it out of the game through the website.

Sorry if my words are slurred or don't make any sense, listening to blues on pandora radio.