Increasing the 300 Linden Stipend

[JoiMarie]

    I really like Bellisseria. Good job, Moles of Linden Labs!  I think the homes are cute and an improvement. I like the sailable waters, the streets, the community areas.... I already appreciate the friendly community chatters, and I look forward to my partner and I both having a house (or 2) in Bellisseria. I've joined several of the groups already, and I watch the progress daily. I am on my dashboard trying really hard to be one of the lucky F5 key hitters to claim a Bellisseria home.

   And I am okay with the premium membership increase. It really wasn't that much of an increase... And being a premium member has always been worth it to me. I love having access to 4 sims of sandbox.    

But I have a thought. If Linden Labs would simply increase the weekly Linden Stipend to Premium members it would really sweeten the pot. 

Just a suggestion....    ❣️ 

[Zoya McDonnagh]

If they increase the other stipends as well, sure

[JoiMarie]

The other stipends? I thought there was only the premium membership weekly stipend?

[LittleMe Jewell]

40 minutes ago, JoiMarie said:

The other stipends? I thought there was only the premium membership weekly stipend?

There are older members that get L$400 weekly and even older ones that get L$500 weekly -- really, really old accounts.

[JoiMarie]

500L per week would REALLY sweeten a premium membership.

 

[Erwin Solo]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

There are older members that get L$400 weekly and even older ones that get L$500 weekly -- really, really old accounts.

I have a 2005 account that gets L$50 per week, but it doesn't get any tier.  The 4096 tier of the Charter Member accounts is a great asset. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Erwin Solo

[LittleMe Jewell]

26 minutes ago, Erwin Solo said:

I have a 2005 account that gets L$50 per week, but it doesn't get any tier.  The 4096 tier of the Charter Member accounts is a great asset. 

Is that the old Basic stipend that requires logging in once a week or something else tied to the Charter Member thing?

[Erwin Solo]

2 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Is that the old Basic stipend that requires logging in once a week or something else tied to the Charter Member thing?

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/What_is_a_Charter_Membership Quote: "Occasionally, an older Resident may be listed in his profile as being a 'Charter Member' of Second Life. This is a privilege extended to the oldest Residents who were willing to risk a larger upfront payment for never having to pay subscriptions ever again for life prior to version 1.2. This membership type was extended at the introduction of land tier to provide a free 4096sqm of land tier per Chartered Member."

A Charter Member once told me they paid $160 for the membership (but either their or my memory may be off), and they get 4096 tier and a stipend, but I don't remember the value of the stipend.  Your @LittleMe Jewell comment of L$500 sounds about right. 

 

[Erwin Solo]

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Stipend Quote: "Stipends (also called "allowance") are a certain allowance of money paid weekly (on Tuesday) to Residents in L$. Premium accounts receive Stipends (300L$/week) etc , though some older accounts have been grandfathered in under previous stipend programs."

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 minutes ago, Erwin Solo said:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/What_is_a_Charter_Membership Quote: "Occasionally, an older Resident may be listed in his profile as being a 'Charter Member' of Second Life. This is a privilege extended to the oldest Residents who were willing to risk a larger upfront payment for never having to pay subscriptions ever again for life prior to version 1.2. This membership type was extended at the introduction of land tier to provide a free 4096sqm of land tier per Chartered Member."

A Charter Member once told me they paid $160 for the membership (but either their or my memory may be off), and they get 4096 tier and a stipend, but I don't remember the value of the stipend.  Your @LittleMe Jewell comment of L$500 sounds about right. 

 

The "regular" stipends - not tied to the Charter Membership - include the L$500 amount.  I knew a Charter member way back in the day and he told me about the 4096 tier, but I have no clue what his stipend was.  The Knowledgebase gives the other stipend values:

 

From 'https://community.secondlife.com/knowledgebase/english/premium-membership-r346/#Section__3_2"

 

[Mollymews]

there is chat here from way back in the day about Charter memberships, including  chat from some Charter Members

http://forums-archive.secondlife.com/120/9c/48936/1.html.

[EricaRiecter]

i think that the weekly Linden Stipend should be increased to $1000 Lindens for all premium members, since everyone here pays so much for being a premium member cause $300 Lindens a week doesn't hardly work, i think it only fair for Linden Labs to do that for everyone who pay for being a premium member.

[Madelaine McMasters]

We seem to have some math-challenged people in this thread, proposing either a L$500 or L$1000 weekly stipend. That's approximately US$2/4 per/week or US$104/208 per year. Both of those amounts exceed the new premium membership price of US$99.

[Mollymews]

2 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

math-challenged people

yes, altho tbh I would be quite happy to be a math-challenged person any time I got more than what I paid for

[Coffee Pancake]

36 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

We seem to have some math-challenged people in this thread, proposing either a L$500 or L$1000 weekly stipend. That's approximately US$2/4 per/week or US$104/208 per year. Both of those amounts exceed the new premium membership price of US$99.

Keep in mind LL don't trade in L$. They are literal tokens they magic them up from nothing (like mario coins), and they only have monetary value when another resident buys them.

When you pay to upload, buy land from a Linden account, make a group etc etc .. you're not giving LL money, you're removing L$ from the overall economy. The biggest sink is probably dormant accounts with an L$ balance.

 

Although .. If LL ever boosted the L$ with premiums to more than the accounts cost, people would just sign up and walk away intending to flip the L$ 12 months later.

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 minute ago, CoffeeDujour said:

They only have monetary value when another resident buys them.

Which other residents have been doing regularly since the beginning.

2 minutes ago, CoffeeDujour said:

Although .. If LL ever boosted the L$ with premiums to more than the accounts cost, people would just sign up and walk away intending to flip the L$ 12 months later.

Precisely.

[Bebe Bunny]

I wouldn't mind if they pushed up all stipends to 500L. But I'm just a dreamer.

[RaeLeeH]

5 hours ago, Sylvannas Zulaman said:

I wouldn't mind if they pushed up all stipends to 500L. But I'm just a dreamer.

Agreed, but I understand why they likely won't. And while it's not a popular opinion, maybe an overhaul of the stipends allowance in general across the board is overdue too.

Rewarding older members is great, but if LL truly wanted to simplify why not one set stipend for premium, none for basic. One number across the board, regardless of age. Like I said, not a popular opinion, just an opinion. 

*runs before the torches and pitchforks come back out again* 😋

[Blush Bravin]

It really boggles my mind that people think Lindens are just some kind of free paper money that can be handed out. If they raise the stipends then they MUST also raise the cost of premium to cover raising the stipend. Lindens = money .... money = real money..... Come on people start thinking. 

[Sister Nova]

1 hour ago, Blush Bravin said:

It really boggles my mind that people think Lindens are just some kind of free paper money that can be handed out. If they raise the stipends then they MUST also raise the cost of premium to cover raising the stipend. Lindens = money .... money = real money..... Come on people start thinking. 

*Sits with his Monopoly set in front of him, a wad of Monopoly money in one hand, and a wad of L$ in the other*

"Wouldn't it be great if like, this money was, like REAL!!"

Err ... actually, the L$ CAN be exchanged for RL currency, as Blush said in the post above.

This post is just to illustrate the point Blush made in the post quoted here

[kiramanell]

1 hour ago, Blush Bravin said:

It really boggles my mind that people think Lindens are just some kind of free paper money that can be handed out. If they raise the stipends then they MUST also raise the cost of premium to cover raising the stipend. Lindens = money .... money = real money..... Come on people start thinking. 

 

It really boggles my mind that people think that raising the stipends won't affect the economy. Turning on the money presses, even virtal ones, will lead to inflation. Which, in turn, leads to higher MP prices. Lindens = money .... money = real money..... Come on people start thinking.

[Selene Gregoire]

16 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Is that the old Basic stipend that requires logging in once a week or something else tied to the Charter Member thing?

Yes. I'm one of those old basics and it has nothing to do with Charter membership. You just have to log in for a certain time each week or you don't get the 50Ls. That's all there is to it.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Selene Gregoire

[Selene Gregoire]

7 hours ago, RaeLeeH said:

Agreed, but I understand why they likely won't. And while it's not a popular opinion, maybe an overhaul of the stipends allowance in general across the board is overdue too.

Rewarding older members is great, but if LL truly wanted to simplify why not one set stipend for premium, none for basic. One number across the board, regardless of age. Like I said, not a popular opinion, just an opinion. 

*runs before the torches and pitchforks come back out again* 😋

 

We just got done with a major battle to keep our groups and now you want to take our measly 50L stipend? Sure. Just as soon as they take premium stipend (300Ls or more vs 50Ls) and land allowances (1024m vs zero) away from premiums. That would really simplify things wouldn't it.

[Selene Gregoire]

4 hours ago, Blush Bravin said:

It really boggles my mind that people think Lindens are just some kind of free paper money that can be handed out. If they raise the stipends then they MUST also raise the cost of premium to cover raising the stipend. Lindens = money .... money = real money..... Come on people start thinking. 

FinCEN considers Linden dollars as convertible centralized virtual currency. The guidelines define virtual currency as one that either has value in real currency or one that can be used to buy goods and services. Additionally, a centralized virtual currency is one that has a central repository (LindEx?).

LL doesn't want to consider the Linden Dollar as a virtual currency. LL’s terms of service refer to Linden Dollar as a transferable license. According to LL, when a player “sells” Lindens, that player transfers a license, not currency. Yet, the LL ToS didn't have any influence on FinCEN’s decision to classify Linden Dollar as virtual currency.

FinCEN goes by the approach “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.” And Lindens sure do “quack” like one. Lindens are a virtual currency because it has value in real currency and people buy good and services with it, even if those goods and services aren't tangible.

https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/FIN-2013-G001.pdf

[LittleMe Jewell]

22 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

FinCEN considers Linden dollars as convertible centralized virtual currency. The guidelines define virtual currency as one that either has value in real currency or one that can be used to buy goods and services. Additionally, a centralized virtual currency is one that has a central repository (LindEx?).

LL doesn't want to consider the Linden Dollar as a virtual currency. LL’s terms of service refer to Linden Dollar as a transferable license. According to LL, when a player “sells” Lindens, that player transfers a license, not currency. Yet, the LL ToS didn't have any influence on FinCEN’s decision to classify Linden Dollar as virtual currency.

FinCEN goes by the approach “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.” And Lindens sure do “quack” like one. Lindens are a virtual currency because it has value in real currency and people buy good and services with it, even if those goods and services aren't tangible.

https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/FIN-2013-G001.pdf

Yep, while it is not "real currency", it most definitely has regulations that pertain to it.  LL has to constantly watch the regulations to ensure they are in compliance and that no money laundering is happening.  It is part of why various fees related to the L$ increase now and then - legal teams aren't cheap.