If they wanted to turn a profit quicker, then they really missed the boat on encouraging user development. I always felt like I never had enough space to test build things, a key factor in getting users to fork over cash. In Second Life, sandbox regions allow limitless content creation for non-paying residents. In Blue Mars, the Dev Tools do the same. It's the sandbox aspect of content creation in virtual worlds that ultimately leads to profits for the host company. The more a user is allowed to create, the more inclined that user is to pay for some space to share their creations.

In metaplace, you only had one "world" with two "places" at your disposal. Using it as a sandbox meant not being able to have a world to share. using it to share meant stagnant content growth because you no longer had a sandbox to experiment with.

That sandbox wall is what made me leave metaplace soon after joining.