What are your opinions on the new "Land Price Reductions, New Premium Perks, and Pricing Changes "?

[WillowTenage]

5 minutes ago, Kadah Coba said:

Was that the old larger stipends or the 300L one? I did all my calculations last year with the 300L since that it what I am able to get.

300 a week, it adds up  Before this change, you could almost justify having a premium account on the linden you earned alone.   The extra 1024 land was enough to push you well into justifying the membership.  It still is worth it, I'm keeping two premium accounts active, I might do so for the third if my tax return actually gets here before the shutoff date before the price changes.  

[Kadah Coba]

3 minutes ago, Ani Aunerfal said:

It may not be a huge increase (for us. it is for some people) but it's still essentially a devaluing of the product, adding more cost without much in the way of meaningful increase in gain for the buyer. If you don't use premium homes, cap your groups or your offline IMs (which is actually more people than you'd think), this is basically just a price increase with no benefit. My land is allocated to a sim, i am not in that many groups and my IMs don't cap. So i'm just paying more money and that's it.

Totally. Any premium user who owns less than a full private region is getting screwed by this. The only defend-able point about the premium increase is its the first one in a very long time and less than inflation. Combined with the changes to Basic and the translation fee changes, this whole thing is coming off as more of an insult to residents.

I'm in the small class of residents that will get any benefit from this and its a >7% savings. Its a nice gesture, but not really going to change much. I guess I can treat myself to Wendy's twice a month now.

[Vivena]

Sorry LL but if i can't afford to be a premium member anyway (no matter how much i would love to be), reducing my groups wont suddenly put new money in my pocket so that i can become a premium member, especially now with prices going up ... this is not logical at all.... epic fail!  :-((

[Ani Aunerfal]

3 minutes ago, Kadah Coba said:

Totally. Any premium user who owns less than a full private region is getting screwed by this. The only defend-able point about the premium increase is its the first one in a very long time and less than inflation. Combined with the changes to Basic and the translation fee changes, this whole thing is coming off as more of an insult to residents.

I'm in the small class of residents that will get any benefit from this and its a >7% savings. Its a nice gesture, but not really going to change much. I guess I can treat myself to Wendy's twice a month now.

Yeah, agreed.

I feel like this blow could've relatively easily been softened by just adding value to premium membership that is more universal. An increase to the stipend or perhaps an entirely new feature - it doesn't need to be anything huge. But it would've been tactful to ship these changes along with a better offering.

It's hard to avoid making people mad with a price increase, but there's a lot you can do to smooth the reaction.

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Ani Aunerfal
Grammatical error

[Ati Thei]

No matter how I look at it, I can't see any way how Linden Lab can justify those changes other than pure lazyness and greed.

Can't remember any platform I've used that suddenly cutoff basic features to boost premium accounts....

And on top of that, doubling the processing fee from 2.5% to the wooping 5.0%. FIVE PERCENT? 

 

Quote

This fee change offsets increased regulatory and compliance costs to Linden Lab and is in line with our continued commitment to the long-term successful operation of Second Life.

Our goal with today's announced pricing and feature changes is to proactively evolve and strengthen the Second Life economy. We hope that these ongoing efforts to bring a better balance to Second Life will ensure a prosperous future for the entire community for the next 16 years and beyond.   

To help the economy? Oh really? And I thought you run out of funds because Sansar and now it's time to milk your only profitable project.

Yes, I can see your "commitment" to SL, fired so much of the staff, and moved most of what is left to work on Sansar. It's been about 1.5 years since you announced the return of old names but nothing yet. I fail to see how something this simple is taking you so long. The code for it it's already in the back-end, most of the work is frontend and it's minimal.

SL has been doing gradually downhill ever since Ebbe Linden stepped as a CEO. This guy is just clueless.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Atilla Thei

[Annoukje]

Hello LL, 

I can no longer justify several premium accounts or will have to tier down. I got to calculate. Also because of the European VAT

Just, so you know.

[Maitimo]

6 hours ago, Seba Serpente said:

I agree that it looks kinda stupid in a way that linden lab is having such great sucess with Bellisseria at the moment, making this change seem completely unnecesary.

On the contrary, this is the perfect time, from a business perspective, and I expect it was planned this way all along.

By introducing a perk that so many people want to go Premium for, they are decreasing the likelihood of people downgrading again. How many people would be keeping their premium account if there were only the old style houses?

The way of business is to push the price as high as demand will support. 

[Fox Wijaya]

29 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

ok Now I am confused. I can't make any sense out of what you just said. English isn't my native language either. 

mean to say, if creators/stores unite in groups, ánd make their posting/spam behaviour change a bit, for example limit to one post a day, it would be a perfect workable situation that people, instead of all messages, read the notices in the groupwindow instead of email

[Jeny Howlett]

7 hours ago, Tippi Dagger said:

removing groups will not help people want to join premium specially when the price is going up this is crazy we fought hard to get those 42 groups y take them away most have been maxed as is now have to leave groups to be able to join anything else specially when a lot have been paid groups u really need to rethink this drop in group slots big time 

i agree so much i have paid huge membership fees for my groups and being forced to leave them will be uff a big turn off. Sadly that after 13 years of being a resident i have to reconsider if i want to stay in SL after all

Edited May 30, 2019 by Jeny Howlett

[EdmundPendragon]

I am retired and living on a very FIXED income. At one time (when I was working), this increase would have been able to be absorbed in my budget with no problem, but not now. It all comes down to what the individual perceives to be the value of his/her entertainment dollar. For me, the time spent in Second Life NO LONGER is worth my luxury entertainment dollars. If you had enough new Linden homes for all who wanted them already, this announcement might have gone over better and would have caused me to think more on this subject. But with only the promise of new Linden homes (and bluntly Linden Lab's track record is not the best when it comes to releasing new features) and the threat of an even more drastic Premium change later in the year, for this user it is time to leave.

[Kadah Coba]

45 minutes ago, WillowTenage said:

300 a week, it adds up  Before this change, you could almost justify having a premium account on the linden you earned alone.   The extra 1024 land was enough to push you well into justifying the membership.  It still is worth it, I'm keeping two premium accounts active, I might do so for the third if my tax return actually gets here before the shutoff date before the price changes.  

You're right. I thought my sheet had accounted for L$ but it didn't. I had forgotten I had left that out as I haven't bought L$ in many years due to the small amount of rent income I get doing that for me.

I updated my workbook to account for the stipend and the new and old premium pricing. I converted the stipend to an even $60/yr value as that is about where L$15600 (300/7*365) comes to without fees.

Above assumes you would otherwise buy the L$. This one does not and would be annual price paid.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Kadah Coba

[Kadah Coba]

29 minutes ago, Ani Aunerfal said:

Yeah, agreed.

I feel like this blow could've relatively easily been softened by just adding value to premium membership that is more universal. An increase to the stipend or perhaps an entirely new feature - it doesn't need to be anything huge. But it would've been tactful to ship these changes along with a better offering.

It's hard to avoid making people mad with a price increase, but there's a lot you can do to smooth the reaction.

 

The transition fee increase should have been a separate thing done at least 6 months away from the other changes. These type of fee increases within the industry have been happening for years due to the added regulations. I'm surprised LL didn't do them earlier, but I''m guessing they waited to do one single increase rather than several smaller ones.

Had they done it separately, they could have passed the blame off on regulatory compliance and increased payment processor costs.

By combining it with the premium increase with its tiny crab apple treat than only a few of us horses will even get, plus also saying the ponies will get fewer carrots, it was more of an insult to all.

Sorry for the equine analogies. I'm tired and was saw a lot of horses at the park this evening after work. x3

[Shauna Greymoon]

For me, the price change doesn't affect whether or not I'll get premium. I already couldn't afford it.
But losing that many groups is gonna take me off the platform completely for a lot of things. Which means a little juggling and less time on sl. More engagement with Flickr, Discord, etc to be able to keep up. Losing some of these old groups is gonna be sad too. 

I'm just bummed about it.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Shauna Greymoon

[Kadah Coba]

36 minutes ago, Kadah Coba said:

You're right. I thought my sheet had accounted for L$ but it didn't. I had forgotten I had left that out as I haven't bought L$ in many years due to the small amount of rent income I get doing that for me.

I updated my workbook to account for the stipend and the new and old premium pricing. I converted the stipend to an even $60/yr value as that is about where L$15600 (300/7*365) comes to without fees.

 

Above assumes you would otherwise buy the L$. This one does not and would be annual price paid.

 

The separate charts were annoying me, so I made a combined condensed one.

[Desudesudesuka]

My ultimate opinion is that we're now paying for Sansar. All big increases to buying lindies and taking out USD began when Sansar hit the field, in the past two years.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Desudesudesuka

[Yaruu]

31 minutes ago, Shauna Greymoon said:

For me, the price change doesn't affect whether or not I'll get premium. I already couldn't afford it.
But losing that many groups is gonna take me off the platform completely for a lot of things. Which means a little juggling and less time on sl. More engagement with Flickr, Discord, etc to be able to keep up. Losing some of these old groups is gonna be sad too. 

I'm just bummed about it.

me too, im taking a break off SL, maybe check out IMVU. 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

9 hours ago, Seba Serpente said:

Being a free member you aren't directly paying Linden Lab a steady income. Yes, you will buy products, you will rent lands, you will pay tips, you will probably exchange lindens... they get something ot of all that in some way or the other.. but is not a pure continuous stream like premium memberships.

Really? Are you absolutely positive about that? I buy at least $50 USD worth of L$ a month. Some months twice that. I have NEVER cashed out so LL has kept every penny of mine. What is the point of punishing basic members? And yes, it is very much a punishment. We fought long and hard for those extra groups. They even made is 42 as a nod to Douglas Adams. Why drop them to 30? Does it make SL run better? Does lowering offlines to 15 make SL run better? I would say no, which means this is a punishment for not being premium. And then they jack the cost of premium. Real big incentives, LL. Shoot yourselves in the foot a little more. 

[Fox Wijaya]

1 hour ago, Desudesudesuka said:

My ultimate opinion is that we're now paying for Sansar. All big increases to buying lindies and taking out USD began when Sansar hit the field, in the past two years.

it perhaps is, but could also be blockworld?  It's not really important or relevant in this discussion.
 

[ananoelle]

9 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

Really? Are you absolutely positive about that? I buy at least $50 USD worth of L$ a month. Some months twice that. I have NEVER cashed out so LL has kept every penny of mine. What is the point of punishing basic members? And yes, it is very much a punishment. We fought long and hard for those extra groups. They even made is 42 as a nod to Douglas Adams. Why drop them to 30? Does it make SL run better? Does lowering offlines to 15 make SL run better? I would say no, which means this is a punishment for not being premium. And then they jack the cost of premium. Real big incentives, LL. Shoot yourselves in the foot a little more. 

If you can afford $50 usd or twice that a month then premium shouldnt be a problem for you if your not already. 

Grumpity has explained the reasons for lowering groups for basic accounts. See her post for clarification.

[Snow7512]

Increasing the Premium Membership feels like I'm being punished and the perks wouldn't really effect me as I don't have loads of friends or a member of many groups. I've been a Premium Member off and on for many years, I can't afford to pay for a year membership so I really do feel like I'm being punished for being not so rich IRL, this is pushing me away imho, I'm in two minds weather to continue my membership. This feels like a cash grab! 

[KanryDrago]

39 minutes ago, ananoelle said:

If you can afford $50 usd or twice that a month then premium shouldnt be a problem for you if your not already. 

Grumpity has explained the reasons for lowering groups for basic accounts. See her post for clarification.

Like Drake I am a basic payer like drake I also buy lindens monthly around 80$ worth. Like Drake I never cash out. Its not about affording premium its really just there is nothing worth paying the extra on top of premiums for. I don't want mainland or a linden home, I dont care about extra groups as 42 were more than ample for my needs. A premium acount wouldnt appreciably diminish the $ I spend on lindens

In effect I am paying the same as 12 premium members a year that don't buy lindens on top so please enough of this entitlement attitude from premium members about how they carry us basic freeloaders. The truth is the labs get the majority of their revenue from land and a lot of basic members are paying into that

[Sammy Huntsman]

I honestly think that with the price rise of Premium, the amount it's being raised to which is $10.47.  Is not really worth it, hear me out. There should be more perks for premium members as is, yay 10 extra groups and 30 extra offlines, whoop dee freakin doo. There should be more bang for our buck, maybe a stipend increase. That and why decrease the number of groups basic account holders have?  Keep basic the same, add perks and rework existing perks that premium members have. Then it would be worth the price increase. I am a premium member, and I feel that the basic account holders are being shafted by this. I also feel that LL can do more in the way of perks, both reworking them, and adding new ones. Tonnes of people aren't happy with this change, I am one of them.

Edited May 30, 2019 by halebore Aeon

[Sammy Huntsman]

1 hour ago, ananoelle said:

If you can afford $50 usd or twice that a month then premium shouldnt be a problem for you if your not already. 

Grumpity has explained the reasons for lowering groups for basic accounts. See her post for clarification.

Okay, clearly you don't understand people's financial situations.

[LadyJane Bailey]

10 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

Look at this realistically -- not from "your" point of view (and I know that is always difficult). 

It cost LL almost nothing (just some programming time) to switch some group slots FROM "free users" TO "paid users".  Personally I care nothing about group slots as I use 20. 

LL is trying to balance things a bit better. Most "free" folks have the option to go premium if they choose. If groups are all that important to them, then perhaps they will. 

IF a ton of free members leave and THAT translates to a HUGE reduction on the Marketplace, then maybe The Lab will rethink, but honestly I don't believe  it will happen. Most of the basic membership folks that I know (and I was one for over ten years)  spend some money but not tons. There are oh so many "free" citizens that NEVER spend money -- hence LL gets no income from them in any way. The freebie society is a good and viable one, but it doesn't pay the bills on the servers and for the employees.

 

We all have choices. It looks like this will cost me about $150 US more each year.  I could leave my new premium and give up my Bellisseria home and get rid of my land and only sell on the Marketplace.  That doesn't make much sense to me. That is $12.50 a month or so.  Many folks pay more than that for an online game that they play once and discard.

 

I know some "Free" members who not only paid a lot into SL but also created some valuable content that LL even integrated into it's permanent content. DO NOT KNOCK down free accounts, They did a lot more than you think. Those 42 groups in my accounts are paid groups, with only maybe 4 of my personal work / business groups. I can't leave any of them if I want to keep my business and I definitely can't afford to go Premium now with the price increase. I do not and will never cash out. 

[ErikMouse Dawid]

2 hours ago, Fox Wijaya said:

it perhaps is, but could also be blockworld?  It's not really important or relevant in this discussion.

If you are looking for a blockworld, just go into Minecraft.