$99 problems

[clivesteel]

The chickens have well and truly come home to roost...

This is what you wanted instead of a fair SL with welfare for noobs. Live with it.

[MBeatrix]

21 hours ago, ananoelle said:

New fees for annual memberships raised to $99 usd will be coming. This is the price premium members will pay for wanting nice things. I wanted to make a alt premium but maybe ill pass now. Who needs 2 Linden homes anyway lol 

LL's post about it would be laughable, if the whole thing wasn't so sad... Increasing the premium membership prices has nothing to do with SL's economy, but it sure does with LL's own economy, possibly for funding Sansar which is very much needed (what for? is it going anywhere?)

Really, I can't see how raising the prices will help Second Life's economy, as that will leave premium users with less money to inject into the grid's economy. Also, creators/merchants will take less money from their SL businesses, as the the credit processing fee is raised 100% (was 2.5% and will be 5%) and surely some will start thinking if it all is worth the hassle.

[Selene Gregoire]

9 minutes ago, Malin Sabra said:

Nah, the 1% wouldn't exist without the 99% paying them.

That's only a part of the whole point. A major part but still just a part.

[TommiLynn]

I just scraped together the money to go premium real quick in order to live out on the houseboats.... with the increase to $99 when my membership is due next year it's getting into the range of my Blade & Soul premium membership and is slowly creeping up on my Final Fantasy 14 subscription. While I do absolutely love my community out on Bellisseria, i truly worry for those that are struggling just to get premium as it is. Secondlife is already a form of "pay to win" if upgrading yourself to looks any semblance of real or having your home look pretty counts. This increase in pricing does not reflect the current value of being premium. Heck my Amazon Prime doesn't cost much more than this and i get the Prime Video and free same day shipping with Amazon.

Linden Labs you are shooting yourselves in the foot with these pricing increases. If you continue i can honestly see creators and residents migrating over to the hypergrid that you keep shunning stubbornly for all these years.

[Love Zhaoying]

11 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

In case you didn't know, when you highlight to quote someone quoted in another post it won't show the original OP's name. It shows the other person. Like it's showing you quoted me when it was someone else. Not the first time it's happened. 

How did those words taste?

[Coffee Pancake]

1 minute ago, TommiLynn said:

Linden Labs you are shooting yourselves in the foot with these pricing increases. If you continue i can honestly see creators and residents migrating over to the hypergrid that you keep shunning stubbornly for all these years.

That's not going to happen. There's no one to sell to on the hypergrids and piracy is systemic.

[Beth Macbain]

1 minute ago, TommiLynn said:

This increase in pricing does not reflect the current value of being premium.

That is entirely subjective.

I feel that I'm getting exceptional value. I could easily see paying $20/month for the enjoyment I get out of SL and my premium membership. 

The important thing that I hope the Lindens remember is that there is a very vocal minority speaking out here, and on FB, and Twitter, and whatever else, while the vast majority of members have not one single issue with these increases, never visit the forums, or have any sort of SL social media presence.

[Chic Aeon]

11 hours ago, Nextio said:

I might have to revisit Kitely again and see how their marketplace is doing.

Summer is good there normally as there are plenty of teachers and students that are there for the "off" months.  BUT as someone said, there is no security at all really because of the "God Mode" thing. Very easy to steal if anyone wants too. Kitely does its best, but still plenty of loopholes. So I don't see a giant exodus over there.  You do NOT need to own land though in order to sell on the Kitely Market. And since uploads are free, there is no cost at all to list your goods. Prim builds still sell well there. 

 

[Coffee Pancake]

1 minute ago, Chic Aeon said:

Prim builds still sell well there. 

... because they are much easier to perm flip, export, import and so on.

There is also the slight issue of what do people who got banned from SL for <illicit behavior> do when they end up on an open grid ... 

[Theresa Tennyson]

30 minutes ago, MBeatrix said:

LL's post about it would be laughable, if the whole thing wasn't so sad... Increasing the premium membership prices has nothing to do with SL's economy, but it sure does with LL's own economy, possibly for funding Sansar which is very much needed (what for? is it going anywhere?)

That's funny, I thought it had to do with the fact that the CEO has been saying, "We're going to make land cheaper and make up the difference in other fees" - i.e. what's been happening and just happened again -  literally for years.

[Selene Gregoire]

23 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

How did those words taste?

Bland. Very bland. 

[Chic Aeon]

14 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

 while the vast majority of members have not one single issue with these increases

Do you have a SOURCE for that or is it simply your contention?  Big difference. 

 

Time will be the only real way to know how this will play out. 

 

I have no intention of renewing my building alt's premium account. I am not sure about mine. Have most of a year to decide. The ONLY reason I went premium was for for the new Linden Home. I have had a great time, but honestly this has kind of tainted the experience and I am not feeling all that rah-rah in general :D.  

 

The people that "I" have talked PERSONALLY to have  mixed reactions. Some while not happy will just renew as usual (with some taking advantage of the Early Bird discount and some not) === Some are dropping land alts and land and downsizing keeping their main premium. Content creators generally upset at another cash out increase when sales aren't good anyway of late.  Very small pool of folks, just more input as they do not come to the forums --- hence, I guess they must not be in that "majority of members that have not one single issue" LOL.

 

[Beth Macbain]

58 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

Do you have a SOURCE for that or is it simply your contention?  Big difference. 

 

Time will be the only real way to know how this will play out. 

 

I have no intention of renewing my building alt's premium account. I am not sure about mine. Have most of a year to decide. The ONLY reason I went premium was for for the new Linden Home. I have had a great time, but honestly this has kind of tainted the experience and I am not feeling all that rah-rah in general :D.  

 

The people that "I" have talked PERSONALLY to have  mixed reactions. Some while not happy will just renew as usual (with some taking advantage of the Early Bird discount and some not) === Some are dropping land alts and land and downsizing keeping their main premium. Content creators generally upset at another cash out increase when sales aren't good anyway of late.  Very small pool of folks, just more input as they do not come to the forums --- hence, I guess they must not be in that "majority of members that have not one single issue" LOL.

 

The people that "I" have talked PERSONALLY don't give a damn. See how that works? 

I'm sure the responses we're getting depend entirely on the sort of people we hang out with. The ones I know... well, we're less about creating things and more about creating O's. We don't have alts with premium accounts, nor do we care about large land holdings. We shop and we play. The creators of the types of things we buy already know that we will buy whatever they create at whatever price they set because we trust the quality. We trust LL to keep providing us a place to get our freak on. The price increased a couple bucks? Cool. We're good with that. Merchant fees going up? Okay... we'll pay the creators a bit extra to cover it. Ten more group slots? Hell yes! Ten more swingers groups! Decreased groups for non-premium. Okay, cool, we pay for the groups we have, they can pay for them, too.

Different strokes and all that... literally and figuratively. 

[Vanity Fair]

From what I've read here on the forums and in other places on the internet, lots of SL users are feeling upset about the changes, one way or another. My blogpost with a summary of the changes and my comments has received over 2,500 views and it hasn't even been up 24 hours yet! (Google "Ryan Schultz blog" to find it.)

Basic (non-Premium) account holders are feeling somewhat shafted by the reduction of groups from 42 to 35. It doesn't matter what LL's technical explanation is; what matters is how it LOOKS, and it looks like LL is being petty and cheap. But I personally don't have a problem with the price increase for Premium accounts (although I would love to know what extras the new "super-Premium" accounts are going to have, and how much they're going to cost).

 

[Selene Gregoire]

4 minutes ago, Vanity Fair said:

From what I've read here on the forums and in other places on the internet, lots of SL users are feeling upset about the changes, one way or another. My blogpost with a summary of the changes and my comments has received over 2,500 views and it hasn't even been up 24 hours yet! (Google "Ryan Schultz blog" to find it.)

Basic (non-Premium) account holders are feeling somewhat shafted by the reduction of groups from 42 to 35. It doesn't matter what LL's technical explanation is; what matters is how it LOOKS, and it looks like LL is being petty and cheap. But I personally don't have a problem with the price increase for Premium accounts (although I would love to know what extras the new "super-Premium" accounts are going to have, and how much they're going to cost).

 

Somewhat is an understatement there, Ryan. Very understated. But I understand why you are understating it. 

Raising prices has never been a good way to entice customers. When you "add" taking away things from basic accounts to give to the premiums and give even more to the premiums than what is being taken away on top of that just makes it worse. It reeks of "robbing from the poor to give to the rich". 

Don't get me wrong (like so many others have)  I do, very clearly, understand LL's desire (not so sure there is a real need) to increase profits but doing it at the expense of your customers is a sure fire way to lose much needed income.

There are other options but it would seem that LL doesn't have the finances to thoroughly investigate them. Perhaps due to the expense of developing and launching Sansar with expectations being set way too high.

[Chronometria]

*Edit*

All I say is - this all serious kinda upsetting news. I gotta try not to let the drama get me all mad about this.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Chronometria

[Fionalein]

2 hours ago, Beth Macbain said:

That is entirely subjective.

I feel that I'm getting exceptional value. I could easily see paying $20/month for the enjoyment I get out of SL and my premium membership. 

The important thing that I hope the Lindens remember is that there is a very vocal minority speaking out here, and on FB, and Twitter, and whatever else, while the vast majority of members have not one single issue with these increases, never visit the forums, or have any sort of SL social media presence. will vote with their wallets without ever giving any other feedback ...

fixed it for you

 

[Luna Bliss]

39 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I'm sure the responses we're getting depend entirely on the sort of people we hang out with. The ones I know... well, we're less about creating things and more about creating O's. 

The price increased a couple bucks? Cool. We're good with that. Merchant fees going up? Okay... we'll pay the creators a bit extra to cover it.

While you are O'ing around I will be earning less for my time, and I'm not happy about it.

While you would be willing to pay more for content here, the reality is that most would not. This only means, for us merchants, that we will be earning less...this has been the pattern for years for most people.

Please shut up.  Thanks...

[Beth Macbain]

1 minute ago, Fionalein said:

fixed it for you

 

Yes, we will. i'm happy to pay them another 7 cents per day. I'm also happy to pay the creator's 2.5% more for their creations to cover the increase. Hell, I'll be generous and offer to pay 5% more. My L$300 hair will now cost L$315? Okay! 10%? Sure, I'm good with that, too. 

SL is a luxury item and my entertainment. I expect to pay for it, and I expect the prices to increase over time. I'm far more upset about my rising healthcare premiums, rising gas prices, groceries, utilities... the things I can't live without. If I get to the point I can't pay those, I'll start making cuts in SL. No, actually, I'd start those cuts with Amazon Prime or Spotify or something else first. 

My cost of living hasn't really changed in the decade I've been in SL. I'm okay with it increasing.

[Beth Macbain]

13 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Please shut up.  Thanks...

Um... what store is that? If telling people to shut up is indicative of your customer service, I doubt increasing your prices will be what hurts your sales...

Edit: Never mind... found it. Live in bliss!

Edited May 30, 2019 by Beth Macbain

[Fionalein]

Instead if 72 USD the new yearly fee will be 99+ 19% VAT for me (under the assumption leaving vat out of yearly is a typo - if it is needed for legal reasons it will be needed for yearly too)

That is 45.81 USD more or a whoopin 63.6% increase ... not yet available features are not enough to lure me in at that raise ... 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Fionalein

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

If telling people to shut up

Beth, you are taking up the space of about 10 people with your posts. We know how you feel about the issue already, so please...

Your solution of merchants charging more to offset these additional costs will not work -- the trend has been for content to be less-expensive. It's irritating that you repeatedly think all people in SL would do what you are willing to do, and using this theory to minimize our (merchants) concerns.

[Mahala Roviana]

I would have thought a merchant would be appreciative to hear from a resident who states they're more than willing to pay higher prices. But that's just me.

[Luna Bliss]

15 minutes ago, Mahala Roviana said:

I would have thought a merchant would be appreciative to hear from a resident who states they're more than willing to pay higher prices. But that's just me.

Oh I'm always happy to encounter a customer who would be willing to pay more for content -- the problem is that this rarely happens, and to suggest it as a solution for merchants (apparently as a way to shut them up so they don't complain) is delusional.
The fact is that merchants are earning less as LL repeatedly increases fees. In most cases our customers will not pay more to compensate. The price for content has been dropping for years -- it's a downward trend.

[Beth Macbain]

32 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Beth, you are taking up the space of about 10 people with your posts. We know how you feel about the issue already, so please...

Your solution of merchants charging more to offset these additional costs will not work -- the trend has been for content to be less-expensive. It's irritating that you repeatedly think all people in SL would do what you are willing to do, and using this theory to minimize our (merchants) concerns.

Would you like instructions on how to block me? It's really very simple... I'm sure you could figure it out.