-- QUESTION --

[StarlaInfinity]

I've never been a premium membership, I've thought about buying it before. Is this really worth it in the long run?

[Qie Niangao]

It depends. It's a pretty good deal if you want to own Mainland. If you're okay with renting Mainland, for popular sizes you can get a similar deal from a reputable landlord without needing Premium membership. If you want the more structured experience of a private Estate, then Premium won't be worth much to you.

But assuming again that you want to own Mainland, the deal is that Premium members get 512 sq.m. of "bonus" tier (so they don't have to pay monthly fees for that amount of land, beyond the cost of their Premium membership), and the annual plan works out to only US$ 6 per month -- but it also pays you L$300 per week in stipend, or about US$ 5.20 per month, so net of that stipend it only costs like 80 cents US per month.

There are other benefits besides stipend and Mainland ownership, but they're not usually enough to sway a decision. There's access to more support, occasional Premium gifts, more groups, etc. Just today I found out we apparently get free access to voice morphing. So they are trying to pad the deal with goodies that may genuinely add value to some folks' SL experience.

[RidleyVoyageur]

I think a premium membership is very worth the price. Consider that you get L$300 a week, plus L$1000 after 45 days. That adds up to L$16,600 in a year, which is worth USD$66.40. If you pay for a year of premium membership up front, the cost is USD$72.00.  So your net cost is USD$5.60 for a whole year, and you can have a 512 sqm parcel with no land tier fees. That is a bargain! The only down side is you will actually be spending the USD$72.00 on stuff, but what fun you will have!