SL Moving to the Cloud

[Pamela Galli]

I took advantage of the region buydown offer, my regions are now $195 instead of $295. At the time a lot of land owners actually complained about it, a lot just ignored it. But it seems disingenuous to complain about the price of land after the fact. Especially since they added the significant prim bonus which greatly increases land value — my four sims were so full I was having to delete stuff, now I have plenty of extra prims on all sims.

[Qie Niangao]

27 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

More land in Second Life isn't really an advantage to the Lab after the initial purchase of the furnishings for the new areas, and with the way the system is set up more land equals more expense - there's very little economy of scale if you grow Second Life from what it is now; it may actually be reversed.

1 hour ago, Phil Deakins said:

I don't see a need to do something with the "abundant abandoned land". Because of it, loads of people have much nicer plots of land.

Although I currently benefit from abandoned land because I landscape most everything I can reach by encroaching, there will reach a point where Mainland is uninviting because it's so barren. Indeed, on some continents, there are already large swathes with nothing but vacant granite terrain, and I sure wouldn't want to own land on the periphery of these deserted areas, despite any marginal performance advantage. I'm seeing Mainland ownership more and more clustered into enclaves surrounded by wasteland.

If it would help curtail this "desertification" it could be advantageous for the Lab to increase the amount of Mainland under ownership, even if they don't increase revenues as a result.

The problem is finding a way to make that happen without decreasing revenues. I honestly don't know what they dare do, but it must be nearing the point where there's little to be lost by trying something, as the share of their income from Mainland dwindles.

[Callum Meriman]

21 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

I took advantage of the region buydown offer, my regions are now $195 instead of $295. At the time a lot of land owners actually complained about it, a lot just ignored it. But it seems disingenuous to complain about the price of land after the fact. Especially since they added the significant prim bonus which greatly increases land value — my four sims were so full I was having to delete stuff, now I have plenty of extra prims on all sims.

I have to agree, I grandfathered three regions and that expense was reclaimed over the following year in tier savings, I am now ahead each month. I'd love another round of that offer to be honest, I'd use it buy a few more (at least 2, maybe 3) new homesteads to do a project we want to do, but wont, at the US$125 point.

The land bonuses have been wonderful too, although we slid in more objects, rather than fixing the bad LODs.

Sidenote: Is it bad if I dream there would be a way, on cloud, to bump that up a little more, even to add a 10K level of region between homestead and full.

[LittleMe Jewell]

As someone that simply owns a bit of mainland, what I'd like is some more price points in the tier schedule rather than the current doubling of size.  That would let me ease up into bigger plots a little slower and budget the increases a bit easier.

[Paul Hexem]

I can get a virtual server to host very similar games as SL, for as little as 10 or 15 USD a month, and those companies are very profitable because of the bulk of customers they have.

LL wouldn't lose money by lowering prices unless they did something that also cost them customers.

 

36 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

Although I currently benefit from abandoned land because I landscape most everything I can reach by encroaching, there will reach a point where Mainland is uninviting because it's so barren. Indeed, on some continents, there are already large swathes with nothing but vacant granite terrain, and I sure wouldn't want to own land on the periphery of these deserted areas, despite any marginal performance advantage. I'm seeing Mainland ownership more and more clustered into enclaves surrounded by wasteland.

If it would help curtail this "desertification" it could be advantageous for the Lab to increase the amount of Mainland under ownership, even if they don't increase revenues as a result.

The problem is finding a way to make that happen without decreasing revenues. I honestly don't know what they dare do, but it must be nearing the point where there's little to be lost by trying something, as the share of their income from Mainland dwindles.

Lower prices and make it more appealing to rent, and profits will skyrocket.

 

2 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

As someone that simply owns a bit of mainland, what I'd like is some more price points in the tier schedule rather than the current doubling of size.  That would let me ease up into bigger plots a little slower and budget the increases a bit easier.

This is probably the biggest issue with premium land, really. There's no price point between "not enough" and "way too much, I'll go play another game instead".

[Phil Deakins]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

Indeed, on some continents, there are already large swathes with nothing but vacant granite terrain

That's true. It was always ridiculous the way that, as the height went upwards, the surface changed from beach to grass to rock. Beach to grass is fine, of course, but there isn't much grassland after the beach until you get to rock.

I'm in a sim where a very large percentage of it is abandoned - all by me. It suits me just fine. My bots can wander around the sim, hardly needing to skirt other people's property.

 

Back to the topic...

Lil mentioned this, and I've been suggesting for years. I think many of us have. Since LL can't really reduce the cost of tier, and continue with the stipends, they could maybe take the risk you mentioned and add more price points in the tier. It would be a risk because, although a lot of people would add to their land, some would decrease theirs. But it might be worth giving it a shot.

[MoiraKathleen]

I'm not sure that the cost of land, particularly estates, could be lowered too much without causing a big devaluation of property value (and consequently a decrease in the income they are able to generate from rentals) for current estate owners.   

If I were in the position to be able to buy more mainland again, I would probably look for an area which had a lot of abandoned land. 

I don't think you can really compare land costs between open sim grids and SL.  I used to have a sim in an open sim grid which I had purchased when the grid was first starting out and the price was very inexpensive, but as time went by and the grid grew, the land prices were increased over time as the number of servers needed increased, server hosting costs increased as the grid needed to be made more robust, servers needed to be upgraded, additional support staff needed to be hired, etc.  Scaling up costs money, having staff and developers costs money.

[Love Zhaoying]

But what happens when it’s not cloudy?

[Madelaine McMasters]

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

But what happens when it’s not cloudy?

I put my top down.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I put my top down.

Driving topless will definitely get attention.

[Madelaine McMasters]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Driving topless will definitely get attention.

Particularly when it's sunny and 12°F.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Particularly when it's sunny and 12°F.

Definitely n*pply weather.

[MoiraKathleen]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I put my top down.

It was mid-70's in my part of the world yesterday.  I almost considered putting the top down on my convertible and driving to the next town to do grocery shopping.  (Driving almost a mile through the middle of town isn't always worth putting the car's top down...   and I prefer to leave MY top on). 

[Love Zhaoying]

15 minutes ago, moirakathleen said:

It was mid-70's in my part of the world yesterday.  I almost considered putting the top down on my convertible and driving to the next town to do grocery shopping.  (Driving almost a mile through the middle of town isn't always worth putting the car's top down...   and I prefer to leave MY top on). 

I never really open my sunroof.

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 hours ago, moirakathleen said:

It was mid-70's in my part of the world yesterday.  I almost considered putting the top down on my convertible and driving to the next town to do grocery shopping.  (Driving almost a mile through the middle of town isn't always worth putting the car's top down...   and I prefer to leave MY top on). 

I'll drive with the top down in sub freezing weather, so long as there isn't a significant crosswind. With the windows up, my Miata is able to blow enough heat to keep me cozy. I think the coldest it's been while driving with the top down is 7°F. It's truly pleasant to drive in a gentle snow, watching the flakes fall in Mom's lap when we stop at lights.

 I generally get positive reactions from fellow Wisconsinites, who appreciate those of us who thumb our noses (nips?) at the cold. And I'm not the only nut out there doing this. I've encountered another Miata, a BMW Z3 and a recent vintage Mustang convertible with their tops down during the last few winters since getting the Miata.

[Madelaine McMasters]

4 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I never really open my sunroof.

A sunroof seems to offer much of the hassle of a sunroof convertible (pounding sun/precipitation) without the big sky feeling. I can understand not opening one much.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Madelaine McMasters
Love does my proofreading.

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Madelaine McMasters said:

A sunroof seems to offer much of the hassle of a sunroof (pounding sun/precipitation) without the big sky feeling. I can understand not opening one much.

Tbh it bothers me because I have long hair (wind). Guess I need to wear a hat.

[Madelaine McMasters]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Tbh it bothers me because I have long hair (wind). Guess I need to wear a hat.

Ever considered short hair? My practical side is loving it.

[Love Zhaoying]

21 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

A sunroof seems to offer much of the hassle of a sunroof (pounding sun/precipitation) without the big sky feeling. I can understand not opening one much.

You mean sunroof vs. convertible?

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Ever considered short hair? My practical side is loving it.

I don’t know, can’t remember when it was short!

[MoiraKathleen]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I don’t know, can’t remember when it was short!

Just wear it in a braid if it's really long, or put it in a low pony tail when you want to have the sunroof open - that's what I used to do when I only had a sunroof and not a convertible.  As fate would have it, just shortly after I got my convertible, I decided it was time to grow my hair out long again

I prefer temps between 70 - 100 F for riding around with the top down.  On long trips if it's over 100 F I will put the top up and turn the A/C on, mainly so I don't get sun stroke.

If we go through Wisconsin when we're able to make our big road trip, I'll be sure to put the top down - as long as it's not raining or more than a light snow

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by moirakathleen
left out word

[iamyourneighbour]

On 01/12/2017 at 1:02 AM, Phil Deakins said:

I think cheaper land is unlikely. I don't see LL voluntarily reducing their income, but I could be wrong.

Possibly incentives IE more LI per sqm as we have seen, if any. LL will cut costs but they will not cut profits, so cheaper land is definitely not very plausible, however potential for more powerful sim processing at extra cost (like the extra 10K estates can buy) will appear without doubt. 

[Love Zhaoying]

When we move to the cloud, hope I get to meet the spirit in the sky!

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

When they say "cloud" do they mean the same cloud service that gets hacked on the weekly? The one everyones nude photos were stolen from? That cloud? If so, is that really where we want our original textures, mesh creations and what not stored? If no, what cloud service?