New Premium price increases and this Oldbie

[Allen Parks]

As most of you old timers know ,  I rarely post in the forums and try to stay out of the politics of Second Life .  Once and a wile I do peek in the forums. Most newer people do not know me, but that just goes with the territory.

I have had my own  little corner in sl  since 2004 . Since then my place has self sustained itself because I have a very old account that has the 500 l$ a week stipend's.  With the new price increases , My existence in SL can  no longer be self sustained.  Since 2004 I have Had a small place that sells Fireworks in Sl. 

I rarely spend more then an hour a month in Sl anymore.  I have a friends list  that at one time  had over 300 names of very active Second Life users,  Now  there are less then 20 left  on this list that are active . Unfortunately  a lot of them passed away in real  life .  With all of the things that have happened in the world of online communities  in the last  15 yeas,  second life is a senior citizen. Its platform is aged and its older citizens are  retired or retiring.

When I started Second Life  there were NO free Memberships, everyone was an equal,  there was LOTS of griefers and lots of trouble.  I remember All of the work that went into one of the FIRST Second Life Weddings  and the  griefer  that ruined it .  So much has happened. I watch the "Free" accounts take over and commerce in the stores start dropping . I watched Linden Lab Buy a third party exchange  (SL EXCHANGE) And toss it like a used magazine into the gutter so It could dominate with what is now called the Linden Market Place.  With the Marketplace  now under Lindens control, Most creators (With Free  accounts no less  ) need not even own land to peddle their wares on sl.  These free accounts overloaded the few SL sandboxes and this is where the early griefers came from. And who could ever forget the biggest ever griefer in SL  (Now what was the name ?  LOL  )

Despite all of the things that had happened , I stuck it out, Owned my own land and for the most park shunned the marketplace until 2010 when I place a very few Items  on the marketplace. I caved in .  Why because very few people visit the stores any more.

I semi retired long ago to move on to other things because creating new content simply was not worth the time .

So I guess the bottom line is , Will I Stay?   Allen Parks will always be in second life . With no Disposable income right now, Its up  to my little corner of  Second Life to see if I keep my own little corner of the world open.   We will just have to see.

Well that is my 2 cents worth.  Is it even worth 2 cents ?

As Spock would say ,  "Live long and prosper."

 

[Jennifer Boyle]

Different people have different perspectives. For me, SL is a hobby. Compared with many, even at the new premium membership rate, it isn't expensive. For comparison, if someone played 18 holes of golf every weekend at a local public course, it would cost $988 per year. A year of Netflix costs $183. So, I don't have a problem with an increase to $99 per year. Even at that rate, I'll still make money by having a premium membership instead of a free one, because the total value of the stipend and the land tier, which I would otherwise rent for L$0.25 per sq m per week, is $115.

Your stipend alone is worth $104 per year, so, even if nothing else that comes with a premium membership is worth anything to you, you'll still come out $5 per year better with it.

[Alazarin Mondrian]

Quote

And who could ever forget the biggest ever griefer in SL  (Now what was the name ?  LOL  )

Plastic Duck?

[adriannesuz McMinnar]

3 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

Your stipend alone is worth $104 per year

How does that math work out?  300L/week = 1200L/month.  Divide that by the going market rate 251L = 1USD comes out to $4.78/month.  That times 12 comes out to $57.36/year.  Seems a bit off your estimate unless I am missing some information.  The increase in and of itself is really not so horrible unless you have multiple premium accounts and then it adds up. 

[Coffee Pancake]

17 minutes ago, adriannesuz McMinnar said:

How does that math work out?  300L/week = 1200L/month.  Divide that by the going market rate 251L = 1USD comes out to $4.78/month.  That times 12 comes out to $57.36/year.  Seems a bit off your estimate unless I am missing some information.  The increase in and of itself is really not so horrible unless you have multiple premium accounts and then it adds up. 

L$300 per week  x  52 weeks  =  L$15,600 Per year  /  250  =  US$62.40

L$500 per week  x  52 weeks  =  L$26,00 Per year  /  250  =  US$104.00

[WillowTenage]

I just visited your fireworks store and had a fun time walking over your explosives, and playing with the sparkler   I even went through the door, and saw a big red button - I pushed it repeatedly but nothing exploded😆 Anyway, I thought it was fun and I hate to see places like that vanish, I wish you the best whatever you decide to do.

 

 

Big red buttons!!  SL needs more of these! 

[Allen Parks]

That is my  holodeck  on the  skypad .  Is  been  there for years .  I don't think I set it to public use because  some of the builds in it are too big  .

 

[Allen Parks]

2 hours ago, Alazarin Mondrian said:

Plastic Duck?

You never know   LOL    

 

[Kyrah Abattoir]

10 hours ago, Allen Parks said:

With the Marketplace  now under Lindens control, Most creators (With Free  accounts no less  ) need not even own land to peddle their wares on sl.  These free accounts overloaded the few SL sandboxes and this is where the early griefers came from. And who could ever forget the biggest ever griefer in SL  (Now what was the name ?  LOL  ) 

Condescending much? At 72$/year Linden Labs was literally PAYING US to be on the grid and we just got upgraded from 512 sqm to 1024sqm.

So you say nothing when the deal gets sweeter but if it gets a little bit sour you're leaving?

[Erwin Solo]

4 hours ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:

Condescending much? At 72$/year Linden Labs was literally PAYING US to be on the grid and we just got upgraded from 512 sqm to 1024sqm.

So you say nothing when the deal gets sweeter but if it gets a little bit sour you're leaving?

It is still US$72/year for two years if you play it right.  Go buy a premium membership for one of your non-premium alts, and then buy the second year. 

[Emma Krokus]

9 hours ago, Erwin Solo said:

It is still US$72/year for two years if you play it right.  Go buy a premium membership for one of your non-premium alts, and then buy the second year. 

I asked one of the Live Chat people about doing this.

I was told that if I upgraded an alt to premium now, the option to buy a second year would not be available. If I had upgraded the alt to premium BEFORE the prepay option became available (last Monday), I could have - but not any longer.

Emma

[DarkRavenWolfie]

what i know for sure is that im not gonna pay a monthly fee just to use the service

 

not to say i wont top up linden dollars every now and then but the moment they expect mee to pay constantly, then it will be the point when i will leave and not come back.

[Beth Macbain]

2 minutes ago, DarkRavenWolfie said:

what i know for sure is that im not gonna pay a monthly fee just to use the service

 

not to say i wont top up linden dollars every now and then but the moment they expect mee to pay constantly, then it will be the point when i will leave and not come back.

How extremely selfish of you. 

Those lindens you buy are being purchased from other residents, not LL. And when you shop, the merchant gets the vast majority of that purchase. LL gets a cut, but the majority of that cut goes to fees and licenses and permits, etc. 

Saying you won't pay to use a service that you, well, use, is like saying you won't pay taxes even though you drive on the roads that those taxes pay for. 

[DarkRavenWolfie]

3 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

How extremely selfish of you. 

Those lindens you buy are being purchased from other residents, not LL. And when you shop, the merchant gets the vast majority of that purchase. LL gets a cut, but the majority of that cut goes to fees and licenses and permits, etc. 

Saying you won't pay to use a service that you, well, use, is like saying you won't pay taxes even though you drive on the roads that those taxes pay for. 

 

 

I dont owe LL employees a paycheck last time I checked.  They can do whatever they want but that doesnt mean me and many others will stay if they forcefully try and pull the rug out of our feet.

 

Also last time i checked, SL basic usage is free to play so please excuse me that im not feeling selfish for using the free portion of a service that is offered to me by the company. If people have plenty of money to throw away, good for them, but lets not dvelve into each others wallet.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by DarkRavenWolfie

[Beth Macbain]

Just now, DarkRavenWolfie said:

selfish or not, thats my 2 cents

I dont owe LL employees a paycheck last time I checked.

And here is the argument I'd make for SL going to a model where everyone is a paid subscriber of one level or another. 

[DarkRavenWolfie]

5 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

And here is the argument I'd make for SL going to a model where everyone is a paid subscriber of one level or another. 

i think people at SL are well aware that making the service paywall gated just to use would decrease the population by large amounts and they would shoot themselves in the foot compared to other virtual worlds.

 

Ever wondered why so many monthly fee mmo-s went f2p? Little hint: its not because the subscription model was so succesful.

 

Bottomline is: they can do whatever they want, i dont think that my opinion will really have any effect on that, just stating the cold hard facts that in 2019, you are kinda kidding yourself if you think that just because  back in the days, people  happily paid a monthly fee just to enter second life  means that nowadays they could pull off such businesss model change and still be in profits.

And im not talking from the perspective of veteran users/ people who are already invested into their accounts but from the pov of new users/newcomers.

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by DarkRavenWolfie

[Beth Macbain]

2 minutes ago, DarkRavenWolfie said:

i think people at SL are well aware that making the service paywall gated just to use would decrease the population by large amounts and they would shoot themselves in the foot compared to other virtual worlds.

Ever wondered why so many monthly fee mmo-s went f2p? Little hint: its not because the subscription model was so succesful.

None of that makes you any less selfish for your "I dont owe LL employees a paycheck last time I checked" attitude. Are you that hoggish in all areas of your life?

[DarkRavenWolfie]

1 minute ago, Beth Macbain said:

None of that makes you any less selfish for your "I dont owe LL employees a paycheck last time I checked" attitude. Are you that hoggish in all areas of your life?

 

Dont worry im not but thank you for your concerns and that you pulled off some ridiculous conclusions out of that one statement of mine.

 

 

Anyway im gonna cry myself to sleep because Im so selfish apparently   suit yourself, miss Moral Police

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by DarkRavenWolfie

[Beth Macbain]

Just now, DarkRavenWolfie said:

Dont worry im not but thank you for your concerns

Then what is it about SL and LL make you feel differently?

[Selene Gregoire]

40 minutes ago, DarkRavenWolfie said:

think people at SL are well aware that making the service paywall gated just to use would decrease the population by large amounts and they would shoot themselves in the foot compared to other virtual worlds.

LL went down that road in the early days. It didn't take long for them to wake up and realize SL was sinking fast and needed a boost before it was declared a epic failure. Ergo, basics and premiums and 16 years later SL is still kicking. 

It would be the epitome of stupidity to go back down that road again.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Selene Gregoire

[Coffee Pancake]

And this is why modern games are pay to win dlc premium gem adware infested time gated BS.

[Akane Nacht]

59 minutes ago, DarkRavenWolfie said:

what i know for sure is that im not gonna pay a monthly fee just to use the service

 

not to say i wont top up linden dollars every now and then but the moment they expect mee to pay constantly, then it will be the point when i will leave and not come back.

Pretty much this. The L I buy now and then goes to creators who in turn pay for land so it does support the service in that way. 

[Ceka Cianci]

Yea,I'd hate to see the free accounts ever go away..

I've met too many good people that were basic members..And really,many went onto investing more and more in their SL's..

It gives people a chance to get to know the place..

Either way both types of accounts are important and have shook hands with the economy since their inception..

And the Super Premium Excalibur Account of Awesomeness Members,well there just are no words to describe their awesomeness.

hehehehe

 

[Samarra Sands]

I'll be another one that bites the *Premium* dust in 2020, not that I noticed much difference as far as *perks* being a *member* anyway. I'm not able to afford the jacked-up price for a 1024 space in SL which is not something I'd make much use of ... perhaps they could make this an optional feature for the extra money rather than mandatory? I barely get to my 512 SL *Home* as is. Personally, I can hardly afford the 72USD, so now I'll save not only 72USD but 99USD for me instead of them! Too bad they didn't have a *senior's discount* or something LOL. Oh well, it'll be their loss, not mine.

[Mollymews]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:52 AM, Emma Krokus said:

I asked one of the Live Chat people about doing this.

I was told that if I upgraded an alt to premium now, the option to buy a second year would not be available. If I had upgraded the alt to premium BEFORE the prepay option became available (last Monday), I could have - but not any longer.

Emma

hmm! that's not the impression @Grumpity Linden left in the other thread

did you ( or anyone else reading) try to do this since last Monday ? if so and the answer is what Live Chat  said - that the prepay is only available for premium accounts older than 3 June  then I be interested to know, as I was looking to upgrade my basic alt account on the 20th

Edited June 8, 2019 by Mollymews
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