basic members got what they wanted...how about us premium members???

[Selene Gregoire]

3 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Well I know what I want..

I want me one of them thar fancy dancy popcorn machines for those real exciting days in the forums.

And that's all I want and I don't want nothin else..

Oh and this Lamp,I want this lamp.

The shade goes on the lamp, Ceka, not your head.

[Fox Wijaya]

12 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Sorry. I have no sympathy for someone who can afford it.

perhaps at least try not to see the premiums as the ones to blame. Perhaps skip the threads with this subect if it causes so much bad memories come up.

[Ceka Cianci]

4 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

The shade goes on the lamp, Ceka, not your head.

That rule doesn't apply to,Super Premium Excalibur Account of Awesomeness Members.

hehehehe

[Selene Gregoire]

2 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

That rule doesn't apply to,Super Premium Excalibur Account of Awesomeness Members.

hehehehe

Who said anything about SL?  

[MoiraKathleen]

For me, I still feel that the premium membership is worthwhile.  It is still a good value in my opinion, compared to costs of other types of entertainment, and SL is what I have chosen as my main form of entertainment.  

While I expect that a premium or paid membership would offer some perks over the basic level, I would not expect that the value received back would necessarily be equal to or more than the cost of the membership.  It would not make sense for the company to be, in essence, paying people to be a member - especially in a world like SL where lindens can be converted to real dollars and taken out.

LL has talked for a couple of year about working to balance out their sources of income, of making land less expensive (and they have reduced not only private estate costs, but also reduced the cost of mainland tier in late 2018).  I saw the premium cost increase as part of the balancing out, and also as a reflection of the increases made to premium benefits in the last 5 years that I've been here. 

 

[Kyrah Abattoir]

This is going to get me absolutely lynched but i suspect that the prevalence of rentals in SL might play a large role on the low premium adoption.

[Selene Gregoire]

LL knew they would be in competition with land barons when they first allowed residents to buy regions. But instead of lowering land prices to be more competitive (mainland vs private estates), they raised them in an apparent attempt to discourage land barons. They never (that I am aware) even considered lowering tier. Lower pricing and tier for mainland only is what would allow LL to be more competitive in the land market and more profitable via increased volume. But the land barons would throw hissy fits over that.

[KanryDrago]

23 minutes ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:

This is going to get me absolutely lynched but i suspect that the prevalence of rentals in SL might play a large role on the low premium adoption.

They need rentals there are plenty of people that want nothing to do with mainland, nor want our land directly under Lab as landlord. There are too many advantages to it. If there were no rentals I probably wouldnt bother with a home

[Kyrah Abattoir]

16 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

LL knew they would be in competition with land barons when they first allowed residents to buy regions. But instead of lowering land prices to be more competitive (mainland vs private estates), they raised them in an apparent attempt to discourage land barons. They never (that I am aware) even considered lowering tier. Lower pricing and tier for mainland only is what would allow LL to be more competitive in the land market and more profitable via increased volume. But the land barons would throw hissy fits over that.

Well I assume they wanted it or they would simply have made it a ToS violation to sublease.

As far as I remember land barony didn't quite start right away, group tier contribution was more popular for a while.

[Selene Gregoire]

31 minutes ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:

Well I assume they wanted it or they would simply have made it a ToS violation to sublease.

As far as I remember land barony didn't quite start right away, group tier contribution was more popular for a while.

Well...what the residents wanted back then did play a large part in it so it was kind of obvious what would have happened if they had made it a violation (that was discussed). 

Land barony started as soon as LL made regions available for sale. Anshe jumped on it right away and others followed her lead very quickly. The only reason group tier was popular was because at the time it was the only way to have land without having to pay premium. LL had shut basics out of land "ownership" completely even if only for a very short time.

LL keeps coming up with plans that backfire on them. It's long past the time LL should have learned they need to change their approach.  There will always be someone who will see through the distractions/deceptions and speak up. They know what silencing the residents would mean. Most of them would probably rather not lose their jobs.

[Kyrah Abattoir]

3 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Land barony started as soon as LL made regions available for sale. Anshe jumped on it right away and others followed her lead very quickly. The only reason group tier was popular was because at the time it was the only way to have land without having to pay premium. LL had shut basics out of land "ownership" completely even if only for a very short time.

That's not what I'm talking about, I'm saying that for a while it was popular for multiple people to pool tier for a large piece of land, where not necessarily all the contributors of the group are handing the land purchase/sales.

[Selene Gregoire]

13 minutes ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:

That's not what I'm talking about, I'm saying that for a while it was popular for multiple people to pool tier for a large piece of land, where not necessarily all the contributors of the group are handing the land purchase/sales.

I simply told you why it got so popular. What got that whole thing started. You had to be premium to own land. Most felt the cost of premium, at the time*, was not affordable but people (basics) wanted to be able to own land. Thus pooling tier and renting was born on mainland and private estates followed not too long after.

 

*14/15 years ago.

[Rolig Loon]

I have rented shops on the Mainland several times in the past but never wanted to live there. I own a private region now, so I never need a sandbox of any kind (much less a Premium one), and I have Concierge support on those rare times when I need it.  As I have said each time this topic comes up here, the only Premium perk that might entice me to move up from a Basic membership is having my own Experience key. As long as it's only good on my own region, though, that not enough of an incentive. 

All of that to one side, I can see a lot of value in Premium membership for other SL residents.  If I were not a private estate owner, I would be clawing my way into the market for a Linden Home.  They are lovely.  If I were more interested in shopping, I would definitely want more than the 28 groups I have right now.  If I spent a lot of time going to events or sales on crowded regions, I would gladly accept priority access. 

I have a hard time putting any of those benefits into a monetary evaluation of what membership is worth, because the real value of SL has very little to do with how much I spend here.  Since many of my expenses in world are nearly balanced by rental income or what I earn from creating things, I spend way more real money on coffee and donuts in a year than I do on SL.  A modest increase in fees makes very little difference to me.  This is my vacation world, my escape home, my hobby, and the place where I have a host of great friends.  The answer would not be much different if I were Premium. 

[Kyrah Abattoir]

46 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

I simply told you why it got so popular. What got that whole thing started. You had to be premium to own land. Most felt the cost of premium, at the time*, was not affordable but people (basics) wanted to be able to own land. Thus pooling tier and renting was born on mainland and private estates followed not too long after.

 

*14/15 years ago.

Again i'm not talking about anyone renting from anyone.