Premium IM cap

[Pamela Galli]

I recently signed up for premium specifically so my IMs don’t cap at 15. I know that they are capping because I see them in email, but they are not there when I log in. 

Am I not understanding something?

[Alyona Su]

3 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

I recently signed up for premium specifically so my IMs don’t cap at 15. I know that they are capping because I see them in email, but they are not there when I log in. 

Am I not understanding something?

It may take a day for features like that to kick-in (I really don't know) - but also keep in mind that Group Noticies also contribute toward your cap and the cap is not per group or per IM, but a total cap of all group notices and IMs combined. You are very *smart* to have IMs go to email, so that is a start.

What I do is keep the offline IM emails until after I login. That way I can at least see who they're from. Next, I also turn off group notices on groups where I don;t really need them (and turn ON group Notices appearing in chat (Firestorm option, I believe) - that way you get the group notices when logged in). I also complain to senders of group notices where the notice is "Event starting in 5 minutes!" and tell them they should send those in Group chat NOT notices, because it's useless unless online and it contributes to IM caps.

Also note: If you're a creator and ask for notecards instead of IMs - those also contribute to IM caps (the little bit about Someone sent you inventory...).

So Premium or not, if your IMs cap often, then the offline emails are your best friend - save them if they are important. In the case of group notices that may have an attachment, open that group and look at Notices History to grab whatever was offered.  

Edit to add: I know the OP likely already knows all this stuff, I am being verbose in these tips for all readers, old and new alike.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Pamela Galli]

Thank you Alyona. My display name is No Notecards Please 🙂

I have been Premium for several weeks now.

i have all notices turned off, and get little other spam. 

I filed a ticket, no response yet.

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Pamela Galli

[Solar Legion]

In my experience ...

Opening an e-mail sent by the IM to e-mail system marks that IM as having been read. It will not appear on next log in.

Notices however ... do not behave this way.

[Alyona Su]

15 hours ago, Solar Legion said:

In my experience ...

Opening an e-mail sent by the IM to e-mail system marks that IM as having been read. It will not appear on next log in.

Notices however ... do not behave this way.

Actually, that is incorrect, any offline IMs do not mark the IM as read when logging in. Furthermore, you can reply to the email (best to delete quoted text) and continue the IM conversation as your reply will appear as an IM reply to the other person in the conversation. I always answer question IMs by replying to offline emails (customers who buy my stuff). I have been able to have complete and finished IM conversations and never login once.

Edit to add: the one caveat to offline conversations is that your replies through email will not appear in the Second Life system, so when you do login and look at that IM, you will only see the other side of the conversation.

Edited September 29, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Solar Legion]

28 minutes ago, Alyona Su said:

Actually, that is incorrect, any offline IMs do not mark the IM as read when logging in. Furthermore, you can reply to the email (best to delete quoted text) and continue the IM conversation as your reply will appear as an IM reply to the other person in the conversation. I always answer question IMs by replying to offline emails (customers who buy my stuff). I have been able to have complete and finished IM conversations and never login once.

Edit to add: the one caveat to offline conversations is that your replies through email will not appear in the Second Life system, so when you do login and look at that IM, you will only see the other side of the conversation.

While I appreciate the additional information and partial correction ...

Nowhere did I state that you couldn't respond to an IM you have received via the offline system.

I have also had instances where the simple act of opening said e-mail prevents the IM from showing up when next I log in.

[Pamela Galli]

Is anyone actually receiving the promised expanded Number of offline IMs for premium members?  Because that was my only reason to upgrade to Premium.

[Alyona Su]

25 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Is anyone actually receiving the promised expanded Number of offline IMs for premium members?  Because that was my only reason to upgrade to Premium.

The only way to know is to literally count the number of offline messages you've received after login, after a cap has occurred. I've never noticed it myself.

32 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

While I appreciate the additional information and partial correction ...

Nowhere did I state that you couldn't respond to an IM you have received via the offline system.

I have also had instances where the simple act of opening said e-mail prevents the IM from showing up when next I log in.

I never meant to insinuate that you have said one could not respond to email IMs, I was just adding that as an FYI for all readers because I didn't;t notice it being mentioned previously, though I admit I didn't look very hard.  As for an offline not appearing at all after login, could that one have been made after the cap? (That's been my experience, anyway - and why I usually save the emails until after I login.)

Edited September 29, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Pamela Galli]

37 minutes ago, Alyona Su said:

The only way to know is to literally count the number of offline messages you've received after login, after a cap has occurred. I've never noticed it myself.

In my case it is obvious that some IMs are missing, because I see them in email but no trace when I log inworld. I understand that the whole email conversation does not appear inworld, but my complaint is that the intitial IM does not show. So in order to, say, send something to someone, I have to find them in search. Which is just about worth $99 to me. Nothing else Premium offers is. I guess I can get a Linden home at some point, and rent it out. 

[Alyona Su]

21 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

In my case it is obvious that some IMs are missing, because I see them in email but no trace when I log inworld. I understand that the whole email conversation does not appear inworld, but my complaint is that the intitial IM does not show. So in order to, say, send something to someone, I have to find them in search. Which is just about worth $99 to me. Nothing else Premium offers is. I guess I can get a Linden home at some point, and rent it out. 

If the IM is not appearing when you login, then that IM was sent after you were already capped. Doing a people search is pretty easy as you already have their use name in the email you were sent, or, you could just reply to the email. They will IM you again if they reply and if you're in-world when that happens, the IM will open for you, no? I rarely have to search for people when it comes to capped IMs - I reply to the offline email. Then when I get in world, if the IM is there I just close it (and wait for their reply if any) - if my IMs were capped and that IM does not appear - I don't concern myself with it because when (and if) they reply it will open a new IM box.

This system will work no matter what the caps are on your IMs may be, so if this is the primary reason for upgrading to Premium (and ignoring the other wonderful features and perks of Premium) then you should not renew. What it comes down to is adapting to the way the system works. And, frankly, the additional number of IMs before capping is the least valuable feature of Premium accounts for me, albeit it surely carries a higher priority for others, such as yourself.

If you do have a genuine concern, you may want to submit a support ticket or even go to live chat support (A premium perk, by the way.)

Edited September 29, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Pamela Galli]

@ Alyona Su

TY for your input. I mentioned I had filed a ticket, no reply yet. I am evidently not being clear about what my expectations for a higher IM cap would look like and why it was worth $99 to get it. 

i have been doing customer support through IMs to email since 2008.  I handle most support requests through email alone. When I log in I do see most IMs in the  list, so If I need to send something to someone, I can just click their name. One click.

But there are always those whose names don’t show up, so I have to open search, type or copy paste what is often a confusing  name, click that, then open Their profile, so I can send something. 

Anyway, my first thought when something does not work as I expect is to assume the problem is with me not understanding something. That is what This thread is about — why am I seeing no change in IM behavior? What should the changes look like? is anyone else seeing a change?

Edited September 29, 2019 by Pamela Galli

[Alyona Su]

2 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

@ Alyona Su

TY for your input. I mentioned I had filed a ticket, no reply yet. I am evidently not being clear about what my expectations for a higher IM cap would look like and why it was worth $99 to get it. 

i have been doing customer support through IMs to email since 2008.  I handle most support requests through email alone. When I log in I do see most IMs in the  list, so If I need to send something to someone, I can just click their name. One click.

But there are always those whose names don’t show up, so I have to open search, type or copy paste what is often a confusing  name, click that, then open Their profile, so I can send something. 

Anyway, my first thought when something does not work as I expect is to assume the problem is with me not understanding something. That is what This thread is about — why am I seeing no change in IM behavior? What should the changes look like? is anyone else seeing a change?

Okay, your description makes more sense to me now. This and my original (alt now) have been Premium since I can remember. I have one other alt that I use for mermaid stuff, but she's never received enough IMs to cap out, so I cannot say I was or am able to see a difference in it. In your case, I would presume that you get *so many* that it's difficult to see any change as well. The only thing I can think of to test it would be this:

I *believe* IM caps are actually based on the number of characters sent through IMs and notices, so to test the caps I would do the following, once with my premium account, then again with a non-premium alt - even if just creating a new one for this test. Then I'd create a long message in a notecard and IM the non-premium alt and past+enter, paste+enter and keep doing that until I'm sure the IM gets capped. Then count the number of times that message comes through email - compare that with the number of times that message appears in-world.

Then log into the alt and repeat the same in IM to the premium account. In your case, I'd try to do it at a time when it is least likely that you'll get "interfering" IMs from others.

Then compare the counts. I know, it's a lot of work, but then you can be sure whether your premium account is getting the proper number of IMs before capping.

[Solar Legion]

It is possible, considering that Av the time I had a fair number of groups sending me notices. It does not help that such notices count against that cap.