Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Difference Between Virtual and Real Life costs - Dances

Virtual Dance Animations

-  Single dance animations: free - L$250 (US$1.32*).

-  Group dance animations: free within groups/clubs that make them available, up to L$10,000 (US$40.79*) for purchase of individual HUD packages.

- Investment: Depending on how much you go out virtually clubbing and value individual expression (as well as how you define individual expression and originality), the cost for the latest and greatest dance animations and/or packages can be considered a waste of money or priceless.  When starting out, the freebies are certainly entertaining, and a gateway into the virtual world of animation on the free and open metaverse.  Whether one ventures out to buy the more impressive commercial animations depends on the variables of whether one wants to shell out money for the particular commercial dance or package, or if they want to put in the time to learn a software program that is able to make poses and animations.

On the value of spending money on dances, the factor to consider is that, what is the latest and greatest US$40 package one day, may be resold some months or year or so down the road for at least half as much.  Cost of virtual goods always is a depreciating expense, and you're none the better for it beyond the basic experience that comes from using the animation(s).  However, if you put in the time, and possibly a bit of money invested into learning an animation software, or a multipurpose 3D program like Blender, you have learned a skill that has a certain amount of transferability into real life applications.

Real Life Dance Lessons

- Single/Individual Dance Lessons:  Depends on the instructor, but generally around US$45 - US$65 per hour lesson.

- Group Lessons: Depends on the group, but can be anywhere from free to US$12 per hour session.

- Investment:  For real life dance lessons, the investment is always personal. It's dependent upon what you value more. If you want  the individual attention of a professional instructor for the purposes of honing in on personal dancing skills for a particular dance style or method, then a personal instructor is the way to go.  However, if you are seeking a more social route to either learn the basics or just enjoy learning and improving skills among a peer group of dancers with similar interests in dancing, then group is much better.  Dancing in real life is a use it or lose it sort of deal.  Sure, as you grow older, depending on how one's health depreciates, so too will one's ability to dance depreciate.  However, if you have a passion for dancing, and are willing to commit to the cost of the lessons, for those that enjoy dancing, and work hard to maintain their health and physic as best as possible, the value is priceless.

The point is that your money goes to what you value.  If you're willing to shell out between US40 on up to nearly US$70 (which are fairly conservative estimates, both for virtual and real life), then that is your prerogative. Likewise is true if you prefer to put more time and effort into group/community oriented activities.  What shows, really, and maybe not entirely objectively, but objective enough that generally, the individual activities cost more in money.  The more group/community oriented cost more in time and effort.  This is what investors don't always get.  Well, aside from focusing on the family - often the wealthy, supposedly non-dysfunctional, practically a fantasy family that goes to Church at least every Sunday -, the Dave Ramseys of the world just don't get why community projects and experience is important.  Either that, or they are to focused on partisan politics and counting their money to care about real people beyond a superficial monetary 'need' - and I use the tern 'need' rather loosely here.

*  All exchange to US$ currency is according to current SL lindex Buy L$ calculations as of 8-15-2012, 11:15AM PST.

The information on real life dance prices comes from the web page info Cost in Learning to Dance from the Kansas City Social Dance website, Copyright © 1999. Therefore, current prices may vary.

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