happy premium member

[Annie Nova]

6 hours ago, Lillith Hapmouche said:

OOOH!!!! UNICORN!!!!

[Ceka Cianci]

And they say Noah never had unicorns on the ark..hehehehe

The true Unicorn

Rhinoceros Unicornis

 

 

 

[Desiree Moonwinder]

I never knew that we had true unicorns!  What a new year!

The horns are actually quite long, but I'll take girth over length any day!

 

 

[Claireschen Hesten]

7 hours ago, Drayke Newall said:

I agree but such things that the OP requested (such as a supporter tag) do exist in the forums of communities much larger than second life with no I'll effect or perception of elitism that some suggest it would have. That said I will say comparing the request or its implementation to that of how Hitler treated the Jews as someone in this thread did is going a little to far.

Whoa, whoa, whoa that thought never even crossed my mind.

Actually reminded me of this character at first 

 

[brodiac90]

27 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

Whoa, whoa, whoa that thought never even crossed my mind.

Actually reminded me of this character at first 

 

Hahah I love Harry Enfield, the best bit of that sketch is when he tries it on with the guy who owns the hotel who also happens to have loads of posh homes elsewhere lol. 

[Fauve Aeon]

Unicorn for attention 

I don’t think it’s a status thing to subscribe with a premium account. Lots of people have multiple premium accounts, either for group land benefits or just to have several styles of Linden Homes to play with. There are people with free accounts who sublet entire islands, run clubs, lots of things are completely possible to do with a free account. I admit that I’m anticipating premium plus and will weigh those benefits as well. But I have my own fancy crowns, and I’ll rest on laurels of achievement if I want some kind of ‘cred’ in this ‘game’, thanks. 

I do however really like my my premium benefits. I see it like this: my SL premium account is the same yearly cost as my old IPSY Beauty subscription box and monthly, less than the price of the pizza we order once in a while. So I think the value is good in comparison, lol...I actually cancelled my IPSY, so I don’t just keep subscriptions that I don’t think are worth the price. FLickr, you’re next under the microscope.

Cost Breakdown on things that have a $ value assigned:

• Tier: Linden Home OR a mainland 1024 = $7/month - $84/year. With my Linden Home, I can also reserve the Bellisseria Fairgrounds as well if I need a party space. 
• Stipend: L$300/wk ~ $1.16/week ~ $60.32/year

$140.32, so this value exceeds what I’m paying ($99/yr) by $41.32.

My partner’s stipend is L$500/week so his is an even better value. Our combined household value for our 2 accounts is like so: $198/year spent on 2 premium memberships, we recieve a $325.30 total value, so it’s a value of $127.30 over what we pay in annually.

these premium perks don’t have a $ value assigned:

• preferred access slots on a region save me so much time, I don't usually have any waiting time for most things anymore. I rank this perk highest in the ones with no actual $ equivalencies. Time is money.
• 70 groups, finally I have enough! And believe it or not, only 4 of those are taken up by shopping/individual store vip groups.
• ability to purchase and rent land directly if I wish to, no middle-man or sublet needed. Mainland parcels or whole regions. We wanted to add more land to my partner‘s mainland 1024, so this was convenient. 
• priority live support. Though I never have needed it, if I do, I’ll be glad it’s there for sure. When my partner bought/sold a region, and in doing a name change, it was all fast and easy and we knew what was going on in the timeline process. 
• premium sandbox access. I’ve never been bothered or griefed in one, I’ll use one more in 2020, I think, because why not?
• event listing for premium accounts will be L$10 per event or L$50 for a series of 12 listings, I think this feature is going to be very handy.
• occasional exclusive gifts. What can I say, I like prezzies! I look forward to them and appreciate the effort to give us ongoing things as a perk. Like a Seasonal Mole Surprise Box benefit? Something like that...
• 90 day transaction history saved vs 30 days for free accounts. Sometimes I forget to DL it so this has been useful to me for record keeping.

So no, please don’t wish for a special ‘premium’ icon, go distinguish yourself in some meaningful way if recognition is what you wish. the best crowns are the invisible ones anyway.   

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Fauve Aeon

[Adam Spark]

On 1/3/2020 at 12:28 AM, BEKAII said:

i like the idea that now  premium members  have more benefit  i been a premium member since i started. I  just wish and hope we have  a tag or color of the avatar name  different from dose that don't  pay i hope in the future we do 😀😀😀

The problem is those that "don't pay", do often actually pay.

Oh and semantics about directly paying the lab and putting money into the system don't matter much. They are still contributing to the value of the system. If basics weren't around to pump money into the system as customers, how many people would see premium price tag as worth it? Not many is my guess.

Even more they provide goods and services. I was mostly basic for over 12 years. For most of that time I've worked for and operated clubs, purchased land from land barons (who directly pump money into the system thanks to the revenue they make from basics and premiums alike), worked for live singers and countless other events, volunteered for Relay For Life of Second Life, an American Cancer Society run event, sponsored by Linden Lab.

I say this not to brag about myself. I say it to recognize all of the folks who are still basic. I signed up for premium over a month ago. Paid $99 bucks for an annual subscription. My contribution remains the proverbial grain of sand it was when I was buying that much in Ls a year and pumping them back into the system.

[ItHadToComeToThis]

On 1/3/2020 at 4:04 AM, Pussycat Catnap said:

3/10

So generous I would have given them a 1.5. And 1.49 of that is for turning up

[Fauve Aeon]

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 😹 Now doesn’t that seem a bit silly? 

[Drayke Newall]

13 hours ago, Fauve Aeon said:

I do however really like my my premium benefits. I see it like this: my SL premium account is the same yearly cost as my old IPSY Beauty subscription box and monthly, less than the price of the pizza we order once in a while. So I think the value is good in comparison, lol...I actually cancelled my IPSY, so I don’t just keep subscriptions that I don’t think are worth the price. FLickr, you’re next under the microscope.

Cost Breakdown on things that have a $ value assigned:

• Tier: Linden Home OR a mainland 1024 = $7/month - $84/year. With my Linden Home, I can also reserve the Bellisseria Fairgrounds as well if I need a party space. 
• Stipend: L$300/wk ~ $1.16/week ~ $60.32/year

$140.32, so this value exceeds what I’m paying ($99/yr) by $41.32.

Glad you like your premium and have nothing against those that do, but your calculations are only that value if you pay yearly. For people that pay monthly, for whatever reason they decide to, it is still cheaper for people to go rent land on a private sim whereby they can (depending on the land owner) get more prims per parcel or the same prims for a negligible extra cost.

Those items you list as having no cost associated with them, that it true, however all of those are either available via residents or not needed for the majority of residents.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Drayke Newall

[Fauve Aeon]

16 minutes ago, Drayke Newall said:

but your calculations are only that value if you pay yearly.

This is very true which is why I tried to be clear, , my benefits, citing the numbers and specifying ‘yearly’. I think everyone should look closely at the costs and benefits and choose what’s best for them. It’s not always going to be ‘Premium’. ‘Need’ is quite a loaded term. Do of us truly ‘need’ Second Life or anything in it? No, it is not a necessity. As far as I know, most of the other premium things I listed aren’t available without the membership but you are also correct that not everyone assigns them the same value. 

[brodiac90]

I'm not premium and I pay quite a lot into the system. My Monthly rent alone costs L$6400 and on average I spend around L$20,000 a month on market place buying things like clothes, furniture and other accessories. The labs get a decent percentage of that. Additionally, I pay fees for buying lindens and also currency conversation fees to change my pounds into dollars before they can be used to purchase Linden Dollars. That's certainly more than people paying $15 a month and I'm not asking for a special Elite tag. 

 

[Tolya Ugajin]

On 1/2/2020 at 9:58 PM, BEKAII said:

i like the idea that now  premium members  have more benefit  i been a premium member since i started. I  just wish and hope we have  a tag or color of the avatar name  different from dose that don't  pay i hope in the future we do 😀😀😀

You've inspired an awful lot of anti-elitist backlash on here, which I don't understand.  You see such elite status labels in many areas of RL.   I board planes before the commoners, but after the royalty (diamond members), for instance, and I've never heard anyone complain about it. 

But I think we should take your idea further.  Sim owners should  get titles of nobility that increase with the number of sims, so I'd be a Baron, Anshe Cheung would be Pharoah of Goddess or some sort.  For every $50 in Lindens you buy a month you get an animesh attendant following you around.  Oooh or when you TP into a region some sort of music plays to announce your arrival so everyone knows they are being graced with your presence.  Content creator avatars would have some sort of avatar glow that gets progressively brighter the more new content they bring into SL.  A few people on here would be unbearable to look at, though, so maybe they could control how bright they are, like the elves in Lord of the Rings.  That would be awesome!  Then, we can work out some sort of byzantine hierarchy, so everyone knows their place in society.

Now all THAT would inspire me to own enough sims to be a Duke and create enough to blind the plebians and have a choir sing whenever I enter a room.

[Fauve Aeon]

3 hours ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

You've inspired an awful lot of anti-elitist backlash on here, which I don't understand.  You see such elite status labels in many areas of RL.   I board planes before the commoners, but after the royalty (diamond members), for instance, and I've never heard anyone complain about it. 

But I think we should take your idea further.  Sim owners should  get titles of nobility that increase with the number of sims, so I'd be a Baron, Anshe Cheung would be Pharoah of Goddess or some sort.  For every $50 in Lindens you buy a month you get an animesh attendant following you around.  Oooh or when you TP into a region some sort of music plays to announce your arrival so everyone knows they are being graced with your presence. 

Content creator avatars would have some sort of avatar glow that gets progressively brighter the more new content they bring into SL.  A few people on here would be unbearable to look at, though, so maybe they could control how bright they are, like the elves in Lord of the Rings.  That would be awesome!  Then, we can work out some sort of byzantine hierarchy, so everyone knows their place in society.

Now all THAT would inspire me to own enough sims to be a Duke and create enough to blind the plebians and have a choir sing whenever I enter a room.

I’m taking this as sarcasm I hope I’m right because you just never know in the forums...but hey post count and hearing myself talk, right? Right.

RL things you have to consider aside because unless you flaunt or abuse your privilege(s), it’s usually not questioned that much...though people without royalty would have a bit of difficulty with the ‘commoner’ thing because even important peeps in the US are all commoners. I think some high level frequent flyers get to board first too but mostly its just for people with various special needs. If you are flying 1st class you already have time, room and consideration so you don’t need any airplane boarding perk programs. Also these days, people who ‘fly too much’ for leisure get a big side-eye anyway ‘because carbon footprint’. 

But back to SL where we belong because ’on topic’...with some of these you aren’t far off the mark from what exists already based on membership or spending to show that you are 1337. For instance, if you want to be a Duke where everyone on the estate acknowledges your title (and yes, calls you ‘Your Grace’ in perpetuity)...in Caledon, that’s the correct title for those who sublet a homestead sim region there. AFAIK, there’s still a waiting list, as there always has been. I’m sure it’s not the only estate where you can buy yourself some insta-status and a title. Premium members can already wear 2 animesh instead of 1 so you can already wear at least a pair of attendants constantly, it’s one of  your premium perks. Don't forget to adjust them so they can fit through the doorways of your Linden Home and if people around you complain of the lag, be sure to mention that you are merely exercising your membership benefits!

As far as the rest, it could be scripted but the loud effects ‘On TP’ and wearing bright bling or glow are very 2009, unless RP (which all this posturing is anyway, because who mistakes ”SL premium member status” for anything actually important?!?)

And remember, the new membership tier is coming, and so you’ll need to splash more cash if you really want to be 1337 in 2k20.

And of course because I’m so important (and 1337) because I’m premium and all that,  I must end with a quote, it’s just something we do. Not my own quote sadly, but one from the public profile of someone who has spent countless volunteer hours babysitting administering for one set of creators via an SL grant program.

”Being popular in SL is like sitting at the cool kids table in the cafeteria of a mental hospital.”

Edited January 11, 2020 by Fauve Aeon
Spelling

[Ted McGregor]

3 minutes ago, Fauve Aeon said:

”Being popular in SL is like sitting at the cool kids table in the cafeteria of a mental hospital.”

/me gets up from PC and walks into the kitchen to get a towel, while the contents of his drink slowly trickle down the monitor.

[Fauve Aeon]

33 minutes ago, TDD123 said:

/me gets up from PC and walks into the kitchen to get a towel, while the contents of his drink slowly trickle down the monitor.

Excellent! My post was a success!

But seriously, it’s over-complicating the situation to worry about all of this from either direction...in SL, do what you like at the level that fits YOU best, spending nothing or spending within your own budget (as with any hobby or endeavor), and try not to be so concerned about what’s good or right for someone else? Premium membership tiers are optional, free accounts will always have some but not as much of what the paid tiers offer, and some specific advantages will always be ‘premium only’ as long as it’s financially successful to have the premium levels. There are so many different things to pursue in so many other ways in SL if a premium membership isn’t a good fit. I’m sure there are always plenty of people who are power users who spend way more than the average premium account holder does, and would never subscribe to a premium tier. Which is why I’ve never seen premium as a status thing, just as an opt-in thing IF you like the offered perks. 

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

1 hour ago, TDD123 said:

/me gets up from PC and walks into the kitchen to get a towel, while the contents of his drink slowly trickle down the monitor.

I took care of that on my monitors.  Went to the local auto store and picked up some stuff to put wipers on them!  Problem solved!

[Tolya Ugajin]

4 hours ago, Fauve Aeon said:

I’m taking this as sarcasm I hope I’m right because you just never know in the forums...but hey post count and hearing myself talk, right? Right.

RL things you have to consider aside because unless you flaunt or abuse your privilege(s), it’s usually not questioned that much...though people without royalty would have a bit of difficulty with the ‘commoner’ thing because even important peeps in the US are all commoners. I think some high level frequent flyers get to board first too but mostly its just for people with various special needs. If you are flying 1st class you already have time, room and consideration so you don’t need any airplane boarding perk programs. Also these days, people who ‘fly too much’ for leisure get a big side-eye anyway ‘because carbon footprint’. 

But back to SL where we belong because ’on topic’...with some of these you aren’t far off the mark from what exists already based on membership or spending to show that you are 1337. For instance, if you want to be a Duke where everyone on the estate acknowledges your title (and yes, calls you ‘Your Grace’ in perpetuity)...in Caledon, that’s the correct title for those who sublet a homestead sim region there. AFAIK, there’s still a waiting list, as there always has been. I’m sure it’s not the only estate where you can buy yourself some insta-status and a title. Premium members can already wear 2 animesh instead of 1 so you can already wear at least a pair of attendants constantly, it’s one of  your premium perks. Don't forget to adjust them so they can fit through the doorways of your Linden Home and if people around you complain of the lag, be sure to mention that you are merely exercising your membership benefits!

As far as the rest, it could be scripted but the loud effects ‘On TP’ and wearing bright bling or glow are very 2009, unless RP (which all this posturing is anyway, because who mistakes ”SL premium member status” for anything actually important?!?)

And remember, the new membership tier is coming, and so you’ll need to splash more cash if you really want to be 1337 in 2k20.

And of course because I’m so important (and 1337) because I’m premium and all that,  I must end with a quote, it’s just something we do. Not my own quote sadly, but one from the public profile of someone who has spent countless volunteer hours babysitting administering for one set of creators via an SL grant program.

”Being popular in SL is like sitting at the cool kids table in the cafeteria of a mental hospital.”

The current boarding process for Delta is handicap, Diamond Elite & First Class (which is mostly upgraded elites), babies and active military, Comfort Plus (people who pay a little more and the rest upgraded elites), Sky Priority (Platinum and Gold elites), Cabin 1 (full price coach tickets and Silver elite), and then Cabins 2, 3, and "Basic Economy".  Gold through Diamond elites also get expedited security lane access and various special considerations if there are delays (for instance, Diamonds & Platinums get free hotel rooms for weather delays, the commoners get to pay their own way or sleep in the airport), and if "bumps" are necessary, the lowest status people get to take a later flight.  United is slightly more complex - I'm not sure how American works.  And everyone flying sees that different statuses get treated better, but nobody ever gets snippy about people who spend more getting treated better.  Of course, I haven't spent much time flying on non-US airlines, so perhaps it's more egalitatian in Europe, etc.

Status is not quite so beneficial for hotels (although with Marriott the top benefit tier can, if they try to reserve a room 24 hours in advance and the hotel is booked, Marriott wil actually cancel someone's reservation to make room for the Titanium Elite) beyond priority checkin and some perks nobody else would see.  Car rentals have "pick your own car" lanes - very nice if all they have left for the commoners is minivans and you want a sedan.

I do hope they give sim owners (region is such a vague term) the same perks as Premium, because Lord knows we pay a lot more, but I've never had much use for anything it sounds like Premium provides.  Knowing LL and their general lack of sense, I doubt it.

I was actually being sarcastic both about the people making such a silly fuss out of "elitism" and of the OP's apparent need for additional affirmation of how "special" he is for buying, for a mere extra $10 a month or whatever, a package of perks.

[Fauve Aeon]

On 1/11/2020 at 3:58 PM, Tolya Ugajin said:

I do hope they give sim owners (region is such a vague term) the same perks as Premium, because Lord knows we pay a lot more, but I've never had much use for anything it sounds like Premium provides.

But you aren’t officially a sim region “owner” unless you rent it directly from LL, for which you have to be a premium member anyway. Otherwise it’s a sublet from another resident. LL can’t be expected to keep records on the sub-letters and give them perks, surely? unless there’s some kind of trickle down perk, probably in volume discounts? 

...also I’m guess unless you are an older Land Baron, old as in still under the old Atlas program of land owning, even most multi- sim region land owners don't get volume discount. Can you run an estate via sublets, and then yourself offer sub-sublets? Sure, and I guess that’s how the Atlas oldbies make their dosh, subletting these at current prices with no initial creation fees

 

edit: apologies, I was wrong about needing a premium account to own a region, as I state in post below. My mistake. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Fauve Aeon

[steeljane42]

21 minutes ago, Fauve Aeon said:

But you aren’t officially a sim region “owner” unless you rent it directly from LL, for which you have to be a premium member anyway.

You don't have to be a premium to have own private region, the premium part only applies to mainland.

[Tolya Ugajin]

29 minutes ago, Fauve Aeon said:

But you aren’t officially a sim region “owner” unless you rent it directly from LL, for which you have to be a premium member anyway. Otherwise it’s a sublet from another resident. LL can’t be expected to keep records on the sub-letters and give them perks, surely? unless there’s some kind of trickle down perk, probably in volume discounts? 

...also I’m guess unless you are an older Land Baron, old as in still under the old Atlas program of land owning, even most multi- sim region land owners don't get volume discount. Can you run an estate via sublets, and then yourself offer sub-sublets? Sure, and I guess that’s how the Atlas oldbies make their dosh, subletting these at current prices with no initial creation fees

You most certainly do NOT need to be premium to own a private region.  Not sure why you think you would.   I've never been premium, and the $200 and change goes right from my CC to LL every month.

[Maryanne Solo]

I don't have fantasy/cartoon Alicorns/Unicorns - I haz real ones! 😜 Argentium Silver hallmarking stamp & Mark of The Unicorn sound engineering stuffs. 😍 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Maryanne Solo

[Fauve Aeon]

1 hour ago, steeljane42 said:

You don't have to be a premium to have own private region, the premium part only applies to mainland.

 

1 hour ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

You most certainly do NOT need to be premium to own a private region.  Not sure why you think you would.   I've never been premium, and the $200 and change goes right from my CC to LL every month.

I was mistaken then, apologies. It sounded a bit off. I’m really not sure why I thought that, I probably was indeed confusing it with the ‘must use a premium account to buy mainland’.  I’m not sure why they don’t bundle some of the premium features in with region ownership, maybe because it’s a straightforward rental transaction, and not about account enhancement? Perhaps it’s kept compartmentalized for a tax or income reporting reason? 

[Frank Ziplon]

On 1/3/2020 at 4:08 AM, moirakathleen said:

To think that many non-premium members do not pay money into the system one way or another is incorrect.

Very well put, I've never been a premium member as I have never felt it would be of benefit to me, but recently I was curious just how much I had spent on SL over the years, so I downloaded all my account history and put things into a spreadsheet, it totted up to well over $17000 and yes that is dollars people and not lindens, though using MP purchase history, I determined only approximately $3000 was spent on the MP, the rest will have been my time renting regions and other land at various stages. The way premium members feel they are somehow special or contributing more, is a pet hate of mine in SL as we non premium members, spend as much and in many cases more.

Edited January 12, 2020 by Frank Ziplon

[Fritigern Gothly]

1 hour ago, Frank Ziplon said:

I determined only approximately $3000 was spent on the MP, the rest will have been my time renting regions and other land at various stages.

Believe me when I tell you that math is... well, I super suck at math, more than most other people do (I've dyscalculia). However, I already had a feeling that since I went premium in April last year premium I was saving money on rentals, and you've just confirmed that for me.

In other words, if you are a cheapskate like me, go premium