Is City's Plan to Build Virtual World a Waste of Tax Dollars ???
Is City's Plan to Build Virtual World a Waste of Tax Dollars ???
December 26, 2008
Last week GamePolitics broke the news that Decatur, Georgia was gathering information in the hope of building an avatar-based, virtual world (think Second Life / PlayStation Home) interface for its citizens.
Not surprisingly, there are those who see such a project as a waste of tax dollars.
Conservative blog Say Anything writes:
To help spur economic growth in their community the city leaders in Decatur, Georgia area creating an online virtual version of their city on Second Life.
Because I’m sure that’s just what those in Decatur who are struggling with economic downturn want. Their tax dollars spent on a video game. I’ve born witness to some pretty sillly moments in economic development history, but this one takes the cake.
The whole idea of keeping taxes high so that politicians can spend the revenue on “developing” the economy is bogus to begin with, but spending those tax dollars on a video game takes a special kind of stupid."
Via: inDecatur
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Posted 11/08/09 at 09:02am
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
Posted 11/08/09 at 09:01am
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:53am
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:46am
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:31am
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:07am
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:06am
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Posted 11/08/09 at 12:24am
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
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Comments
Well, I wouldn't use such an agressive and dismissive tone, but I do agree that it seems like a waste of public money. Especially in the current economic climate.
Let the Game companies do a Social network, don't let the goverment do it for you(Waste of Tax money for gov, Goverment should only endorse SL or PSH)
right now Goverment should stick to fixing the economy so we dont end up in a Great Depression(My 2 cents)
What? Conservatives afraid and skeptical of technology? Why, I never would have guessed!
The Honest Game - http://www.thehonestgame.org
In what way is this not a complete waste of taxpayer money?
But if you'd prefer to harp on your idiotic comment that has no part in this discussion, go for it. I fail to see how a 'virtual world' will help with their economy, other than to spend a million or two that could go towards something useful.
I smell a man who has an irrational loyalty to the word 'conservative'
I smell a few who have an irrational disdain for it. Sure, they often don't have a great grasp of new techonology, but its hard to see this plan as anything BUT a waste of tax dollars. Businesses won't be interested, advertisers won't be interested, and there's a good chance residents won't be interested either.
In the same way that the City's municipal Wifi is not a waste of taxdollars. Ie the city probably wont pay for it.
I would agree, it sounds like a bad idea.
I dunno for building and getting people to preview the place so they can move to it, its not that bad of a ieda, but like most seemingly good iedas is the price worth the cost.
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Pirates,Shearers,Lenders and downloaders are not a market that can be taped by the mainstream.
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I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
As a game developer, critic, and as happenstance would have it, resident of Decatur GA, who received and read the RFI, I'm also unsure about whether or not this is a good idea. But it's worth noting that the city isn't sure of it either. An RFI is just that, a Request For Information, and if you read the document Dennis posted you'll see that the city's primary purpose is to determine how much such an enterprise would cost if they were to pursue it. A focus on frugality is clear in the RFI materials as well.
Decatur has high taxes, a strong local community, and a reputation for focusing on the development of that community, so the idea of creating a virtual social world for its current and potential residents isn't that far afield. After all, aren't we always talking about how socially galvanizing virtual worlds/MMOs are and stuff?
I don't think theres anything wrong with government representing itself online to its citizens if its determined that enough of them are on Second Life to make it viable. But I don't see where it would be useful in attracting business development, especially since many corporations attempts at online advertising and the like in Second Life have not been borne out.
In general I'm not a big fan of economic development corporations, and how local towns tend to wield them. More often than not they are used to give ridiculous tax breaks and property subsidies to large corporations, ostensibly to bring in jobs, but often at the expense of smaller locally owned businesses. Many "urban redevelopment" projects push out mom and pop stores for high end chain stores or botiques selling luxury goods. Smaller firms in an area, which are often homegrown, do not receive the large tax breaks larger firms, often in the same industry, receive for often only temporarily reloacting for the length of time the company is given a tax break.