Circle of (virtual) life

Last week I emailed my club members. My intention was to remind them I'm here and selling ThereBucks in ten minutes or less mostly, but it was also rather chatty and encouraged them to email me about anything at all.

I received some very nice responses. I kept waiting for something nasty (wow, am I cynical or what?) but it was all positive. One person mentioned that they used to buy ThereBucks from me, then they started developing and bought ThereBucks from me less but purchased some of my model licensing rights. Then, they started selling ThereBucks to me sometimes as they became a successful developer. Now, they sell ThereBucks to me all the time!

The truth is, they aren't the only virtual life I've seen go that way. I had just been thinking the other day about the very same thing. I could name a half dozen avies/people like that off the top of my head and I'm sure there are more that did it so gradually I just didn't notice. And it's just...it makes me sooo warm and gooey inside. There are people who bought LARGE quantities of ThereBucks from me for SEVERAL YEARS who eventually started painting and even learned 3D modeling and maybe lost a bunch of money doing it at first, and now they sell me 500k of ThereBucks at a time or are just SO PROUD every time they have enough ThereBucks to get $100 from me.

Hey, if somebody never, ever takes an interest in developing, if the only time they ever sell ThereBucks is when they're unloading a neighborhood or decided to sell their rare one seater buggy to make a real world mortgage payment, or if shopping is their favorite activity and they wouldn't touch Photoshop with a ten foot pole, that's totally cool and I will sell them ThereBucks until the day There shuts its doors (oooooh....knock on wood!) But the ones that have made that journey from first time buyer to profitable seller/developer...those are my babies, my children, my darlings, my fledgling birds that left the nest but still migrate back to the same spot. I just want to give them a biiiiig hug.

Ooops, wait...There doesn't have hugs. '''sad