Is Premium Worth It???

[MrBalloone]

I'm serious, is Premium Worth it?

Premium is; $21.11 monthly, $58 quarterly & $158 annually

According to LL, The benefits of Premium are

"

• Your own private Linden Home
• Linden dollar rewards
• Exclusive virtual goods
• Premium-only sandboxes
• Live chat support
• The right to own mainland parcels in popular areas
• Immediate access to adult-only areas
• Maximum number of group memberships increased from 42 to 70
• Preferred access to highly populated regions, utilizing increased region capacity
• Access to premium-only events and experiences
• Voice morphing
• Cap on missed instant messages increased from 15 to 80
• L$ transaction history increased from 32 days to 90 days

                                                                                                                                            "

For comparison here are the prices of other memberships

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is 15.95 monthly, 47.85 quarterly (i did the math), 191.4 annually.

According to Microsoft the benefits of XGP Ultimate are:

• Unlimited access to over 100 high-quality console and PC games
• New games added all the time
• Xbox Game Studio titles the same day as release
• Exclusive member discounts, deals and perks

ALSO INCLUDES:

• (A $10.95/month VALUE)
• Includes Deals with Gold, Games with Gold, console multiplayer

But then again, Xbox isn't competition to second life however I cannot seem to find any competitors to SL that have a subscription (if you can find one please list it's Monthly, quarterly and annual prices).

Also just so you know, The prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) Where I live ))

[Cindy Evanier]

40 minutes ago, MrBalloone said:

I'm serious, is Premium Worth it?

Premium is; $21.11 monthly, $58 quarterly & $158 annually

According to LL, The benefits of Premium are

"

• Your own private Linden Home
• Linden dollar rewards
• Exclusive virtual goods
• Premium-only sandboxes
• Live chat support
• The right to own mainland parcels in popular areas
• Immediate access to adult-only areas
• Maximum number of group memberships increased from 42 to 70
• Preferred access to highly populated regions, utilizing increased region capacity
• Access to premium-only events and experiences
• Voice morphing
• Cap on missed instant messages increased from 15 to 80
• L$ transaction history increased from 32 days to 90 days

                                                                                                                                            "

For comparison here are the prices of other memberships

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is 15.95 monthly, 47.85 quarterly (i did the math), 191.4 annually.

According to Microsoft the benefits of XGP Ultimate are:

• Unlimited access to over 100 high-quality console and PC games
• New games added all the time
• Xbox Game Studio titles the same day as release
• Exclusive member discounts, deals and perks

ALSO INCLUDES:

• (A $10.95/month VALUE)
• Includes Deals with Gold, Games with Gold, console multiplayer

But then again, Xbox isn't competition to second life however I cannot seem to find any competitors to SL that have a subscription (if you can find one please list it's Monthly, quarterly and annual prices).

Also just so you know, The prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) Where I live ))

I think you need to ask yourself is it worth it to you.  

I have 2 premium accounts because it's worth it to me for the land.  

[Nick0678]

Haven't been premium since 2015.. Practically nothing changed for me.

I only needed it at that time in order to cover tier for Mainland parcels that after a while i found other ways to cover it without being premium.

The Live Chat Support was kind of disappointing at that time, i don't know how they are doing now, but i had great support to some problems regardless if Premium or not from the Ticketing System. (People with very good experience and perception seemed to be working there.)

So for me Premium means nothing, for others maybe it's worth something.

[Chic Aeon]

3 hours ago, MrBalloone said:

I'm serious, is Premium Worth it?

Premium is; $21.11 monthly, $58 quarterly & $158 annually

So WHERE did you get that info?   I was pretty sure I would have heard if premium went up -- or if the new Premium Plus was unveiled (there would certainly be some chatter).    

 

According to the Premium Membership page on SL    https://secondlife.com/premium/

 

 

SINESPACE has similar and very many levels of "premium".  You can see them here: https://sine.space/premium

 

I was only premium for a year - that because of Belliserria :D.  Other than a Linden Home, I don't really see any need or giant advantage. The Premium Sandboxes are nice if you build.   Note that you will need to agree (no check box last I checked so by going premium you ARE agreeing-- it states that at the bottom of the form) to Tilia TOS and privacy policy.  That is something not everyone is aware of (long chat with SL friend last night who was thinking of renewing).    

Edited July 11, 2020 by Chic Aeon
adding info

[Cindy Evanier]

9 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

So WHERE did you get that info?   I was pretty sure I would have heard if premium went up -- or if the new Premium Plus was unveiled (there would certainly be some chatter).    

 

AH

He did say at the end he was talking about AUS dollars

3 hours ago, MrBalloone said:

I

Also just so you know, The prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) Where I live ))

 

[Chic Aeon]

Ah. Last line of the post --- buried the lead :D.  

There is also a newish tax or charge for Australian folks (and Norway) so that probably should be part of the decision.   

[MoiraKathleen]

Different people have different reasons as to the benefit of premium membership for themselves.  I've had a premium membership because I like to be able to own a mainland parcel.  I also enjoy being able to have a Linden Home, increased number of groups and access to the premium sandboxes.  

If you are questioning the value of premium membership for yourself, then I would suggest holding off until you feel a need for one (or more) of the premium benefits and the value makes sense for you at that time. 

[MrBalloone]

5 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

So WHERE did you get that info?   I was pretty sure I would have heard if premium went up -- or if the new Premium Plus was unveiled (there would certainly be some chatter).    

 

According to the Premium Membership page on SL    https://secondlife.com/premium/

 

 

SINESPACE has similar and very many levels of "premium".  You can see them here: https://sine.space/premium

 

I was only premium for a year - that because of Belliserria :D.  Other than a Linden Home, I don't really see any need or giant advantage. The Premium Sandboxes are nice if you build.   Note that you will need to agree (no check box last I checked so by going premium you ARE agreeing-- it states that at the bottom of the form) to Tilia TOS and privacy policy.  That is something not everyone is aware of (long chat with SL friend last night who was thinking of renewing).    

[Alwin Alcott]

8 hours ago, MrBalloone said:

thats a significant difference ... i just put the exchange rate here to compare it to me (dutch)

yearly rate .. (VAT doesn't apply to yearly subscription)

 

 

[Jordyn McGregor]

42 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

thats a significant difference ... i just put the exchange rate here to compare it to me (dutch)

yearly rate .. (VAT doesn't apply to yearly subscription)

 

 

Did they accidentally put a comma instead of the full stop where the cents should be, cos how can $99 US = $142,425 AUD?  Cos....yikes!

[Chassie Rowley]

It's worth it to me.

Where I was living was great, but they upped their monthly price and straight out of my budget. Just as well. I was due a change in scenery.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Jordan Whitt said:

Did they accidentally put a comma instead of the full stop where the cents should be, cos how can $99 US = $142,425 AUD?  Cos....yikes!

Different cultures use comma vs. decimal for that..

[Jordyn McGregor]

2 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Different cultures use comma vs. decimal for that..

Oh thanks for clarifying that!

[Cougar Sangria]

I've been a premium member since my second day in Second Life. That was 10 years ago and  it has been more than worth it to me.  You have to ask yourself if it is worth it to you.

[Colt Leeder]

Premium is worth it for me - no rental to pay and worry that the landlord will kick you out and do a runner. The new Linden homes are really well thought out and landscaped. The stipend is a welcome bonus.

I factored in the stipend and my premium land and it was cheaper for me to be premium than rent based upon L$ per land impact - I doubt that this has changed,

[Talligurl]

it's like anything else, the individual has to figure out if it's worth it. Like for example Netflix, is the cost worth it to you or not, Some will say yes and pay it to have Netflix. other will say no and they wont have Netflix. Premium membership is the same, there is no one answer to the question is it worth it.

[Rabid Cheetah]

You'll need to do your own currency conversions for what I'll say, as my bill is in USD.  And I'll talk about my alt, as it's a newer "Resident" account and therefore more relevant to your situation;  Rabid Cheetah is old enough to be grandfathered in for the higher weekly stipend and the now defunct First Land program, incentives that convinced me to make the jump to premium that simply no longer apply to folks trying to make the same decision 14 years later.  So, it costs twelve bucks (USD, rounding up by a penny) a month.  The stipend is 300 lindybucks per week, which works out to 1300 lindybucks per month (300 $L/wk * 52 wks/yr / 12 months/yr).  And yes, "lindybucks" is the proper accounting term.  I asked an accountant on the internet, so you know it's true.  1300 lindybucks is about five USD, give or take, at the usual rate.  If you sell your lindybucks back from time to time, your actual cost per month is only seven bucks.  For seven bucks a month, you get priority tech support.  You get 1024 m2 that you can subtract for your land total for calculating tier fees;  Keep it at 1024 or below, and you pay no tier fee.  You can use that 1024 allowance to either buy a 1024 Mainland plot, get a free 1024 Linden Home, or some mixture of options in between.

There are other advantages to premium membership, but let's focus on land use, as that's one of the main things that drives myself and many others to go premium, and you haven't yet mentioned what your motivation is.  If you get Mainland land, you can alter the terrain (unless you're in one of the areas that prevent this, but those parcels are so costly that their moot given your budget concerns).  This is a fun thing to play with;  I love making hills and ravines, using prim-water to make lakes, and making high points for viewing the sunset.  On the other hand, getting a Linden Home will mean that you'll have a free pre-fab house that doesn't count for parcel prim limit, plus a community of other players should you choose one of the newer Belli homes.  But the biggest advantage of owning land versus renting it is that Linden is your "landlord", as it were.  Why does that matter?  Because most landlords use rent boxes, which will automatically kick you out of your place after just a few days of past due rent.  Linden will give you up to 30 days to pay your monthly bill -- though do understand that if you go beyond 30 days of non-payment, you won't just loose your home, you'll loose your account.

Now, why am I making such a big issue about rent versus land ownership vis-a-vis ability to pay?  Because you're concerned about the affordability of membership.  And I've been there, too, where twelve bucks, or even only seven, IS a big deal for your budget.  And because all any of us can do with our advice to you is inform you of our own motivations for premium.  Loosing my rental homes a few times on the alt account pushed me to make that one premium too.

As to the premium sandboxes, I don't see that as a big motivator.  There are plenty of non-Linden sandboxes out there, Linden rez-zones, and even HUDs that search for nearby Build-Yes parcels -- yes, some kind folks not only let others on their land, they let them build.

My suggestion to you would be to try premium for a month.  See if you like it.  If you do, great!  If not, no big deal.  Just cancel your membership before the next billing date, and you're only out seven bucks.  And I suggest getting a 512 Linden Home, such as a camper or houseboat, as well as 512 m2 of Mainland so you can see which you like more.  I think you should take the leap for at least a month because the only way you're gonna know if premium is worth it for YOU is if, well, you go premium.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Rabid Cheetah
me hate typos

[Syo Emerald]

On 7/11/2020 at 3:03 PM, MrBalloone said:

I'm serious, is Premium Worth it?

The answer to that is very subjective. Also you have to keep in mind that the real price for premium varies greatly, depending on the country you live in. I'm in a country with the Euro as currency, so the annual membership isn't too pricy (I think my WoW subscription has a slightly higher price). For me, Premium has become worth it once they increased the free land to 1024. I love playing with land and decorating a home. I also like shopping, so getting into crowded sims easier is a plus. And I prefer the Linden sandboxes over the normal ones. But someone else might not care for any of that.

[Sister Nova]

5 hours ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

You'll need to do your own currency conversions for what I'll say, as my bill is in USD.  And I'll talk about my alt, as it's a newer "Resident" account and therefore more relevant to your situation;  Rabid Cheetah is old enough to be grandfathered in for the higher weekly stipend and the now defunct First Land program, incentives that convinced me to make the jump to premium that simply no longer apply to folks trying to make the same decision 14 years later.  So, it costs twelve bucks (USD, rounding up by a penny) a month.  The stipend is 300 lindybucks per week, which works out to 1300 lindybucks per month (300 $L/wk * 52 wks/yr / 12 months/yr).  And yes, "lindybucks" is the proper accounting term.  I asked an accountant on the internet, so you know it's true.  1300 lindybucks is about five USD, give or take, at the usual rate.  If you sell your lindybucks back from time to time, your actual cost per month is only seven bucks.  For seven bucks a month, you get priority tech support.  You get 1024 m2 that you can subtract for your land total for calculating tier fees;  Keep it at 1024 or below, and you pay no tier fee.  You can use that 1024 allowance to either buy a 1024 Mainland plot, get a free 1024 Linden Home, or some mixture of options in between.

There are other advantages to premium membership, but let's focus on land use, as that's one of the main things that drives myself and many others to go premium, and you haven't yet mentioned what your motivation is.  If you get Mainland land, you can alter the terrain (unless you're in one of the areas that prevent this, but those parcels are so costly that their moot given your budget concerns).  This is a fun thing to play with;  I love making hills and ravines, using prim-water to make lakes, and making high points for viewing the sunset.  On the other hand, getting a Linden Home will mean that you'll have a free pre-fab house that doesn't count for parcel prim limit, plus a community of other players should you choose one of the newer Belli homes.  But the biggest advantage of owning land versus renting it is that Linden is your "landlord", as it were.  Why does that matter?  Because most landlords use rent boxes, which will automatically kick you out of your place after just a few days of past due rent.  Linden will give you up to 30 days to pay your monthly bill -- though do understand that if you go beyond 30 days of non-payment, you won't just loose your home, you'll loose your account.

Now, why am I making such a big issue about rent versus land ownership vis-a-vis ability to pay?  Because you're concerned about the affordability of membership.  And I've been there, too, where twelve bucks, or even only seven, IS a big deal for your budget.  And because all any of us can do with our advice to you is inform you of our own motivations for premium.  Loosing my rental homes a few times on the alt account pushed me to make that one premium too.

As to the premium sandboxes, I don't see that as a big motivator.  There are plenty of non-Linden sandboxes out there, Linden rez-zones, and even HUDs that search for nearby Build-Yes parcels -- yes, some kind folks not only let others on their land, they let them build.

My suggestion to you would be to try premium for a month.  See if you like it.  If you do, great!  If not, no big deal.  Just cancel your membership before the next billing date, and you're only out seven bucks.  And I suggest getting a 512 Linden Home, such as a camper or houseboat, as well as 512 m2 of Mainland so you can see which you like more.  I think you should take the leap for at least a month because the only way you're gonna know if premium is worth it for YOU is if, well, you go premium.

Very good points made here.... likewise for me the big draw for premium is the ability to own land.

Just a small point to amend: On the new Linden Homes, only the campers are 512 m2, the houseboats are all 1024 m2 at the moment.

[Wulfie Reanimator]

Comparing the price of SL subscription to anything else is not the way to determine "worth."

What you should do instead is compare the price of the individual things you get with Premium to the total cost. 1024sqm land tier, 1200L$, etc. 

Before the price was raised, you would actually get more than you paid for, if you bought a full year of premium. 

Then there are the more intangible benefits like increased group capacity, priority entry for crowded sims, and transaction history. These are the things you need to value subjectively. 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Wulfie Reanimator

[bob Iwashi]

for me, yes it's definitely worth it, as I'm from June 2006 I get the l$500 stipend, and the 1024 land  - the annual cost to me is about £100 give or take.

 

monthly l$ is 2k based on 4 weeks, £8.67 at current market price, 8.67*12 = £104.04 so technically the lab are paying me to be here.

Edited July 16, 2020 by bob Iwashi
typo

[Sister Nova]

1 hour ago, bob Iwashi said:

for me, yes it's definitely worth it, as I'm from June 2006 I get the l$500 stipend, and the 1024 land  - the annual cost to me is about £100 give or take.

 

monthly l$ is 2k based on 4 weeks, £8.67 at current market price, 8.67*12 = £104.04 so technically the lab are paying me to be here.

Even better news Bob... if you calculate using 4 weekly cycles for a year you get 13, so £8.67*13 = £112.71 ... Huzzah!

[Crim Mip]

It's well worth it to me just for the extra groups and higher message cap. I've also got a Linden home over in Bellisseria which I really like (as well as owning some mainland parcels). I pay yearly and it works out to around $37 a year after the stipend given back is figured into it. I earn some L$ inworld so I just put aside enough to pay for the next year when my due date comes around.

[Pussycat Catnap]

I have a mainland plot somewhere or other since 2009.

I prefer being able to have a spot somewhere that I have control over and for which I don't have to worry about someone else's opinions of me & my race (yes even these days, I still get the random person dropping by just to yell some racial slur at me because expressing hate is what they live for - and when it's a neighbor that some landlord is letting do it, the last thing I want is that same landlord... after all even here on the forums - I find that the abuser is rarely punished, but if you clap back against them you will be), or even their stability on the grid.

When I have gone in for estate rentals, I have seen them vanish on me because I didn't log in for a few days and there's not ability to have tier autopay... I've seen them vanish because the estate vanished or they gave up that one region. I've even logged into a boatside water plot to discover I was now in a half built desert...

[Prokofy Neva]

On 7/11/2020 at 9:03 AM, MrBalloone said:

I'm serious, is Premium Worth it?

Premium is; $21.11 monthly, $58 quarterly & $158 annually

According to LL, The benefits of Premium are

"

• Your own private Linden Home
• Linden dollar rewards
• Exclusive virtual goods
• Premium-only sandboxes
• Live chat support
• The right to own mainland parcels in popular areas
• Immediate access to adult-only areas
• Maximum number of group memberships increased from 42 to 70
• Preferred access to highly populated regions, utilizing increased region capacity
• Access to premium-only events and experiences
• Voice morphing
• Cap on missed instant messages increased from 15 to 80
• L$ transaction history increased from 32 days to 90 days

                                                                                                                                            "

For comparison here are the prices of other memberships

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is 15.95 monthly, 47.85 quarterly (i did the math), 191.4 annually.

According to Microsoft the benefits of XGP Ultimate are:

• Unlimited access to over 100 high-quality console and PC games
• New games added all the time
• Xbox Game Studio titles the same day as release
• Exclusive member discounts, deals and perks

ALSO INCLUDES:

• (A $10.95/month VALUE)
• Includes Deals with Gold, Games with Gold, console multiplayer

But then again, Xbox isn't competition to second life however I cannot seem to find any competitors to SL that have a subscription (if you can find one please list it's Monthly, quarterly and annual prices).

Also just so you know, The prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) Where I live ))

I was puzzled by your prices at first as they didn't seem correct, as premium is $11.99 for one, $32.97 for two etc. But when you say these are in Australian dollars, then my question would be: what is the cost of a basic food basket for you? Then judge accordingly. Unless I make a big effort to go to Costco or Trader Jo's which is hard to do with COVID, I find I have to pay at least $50 per week at a minimum for groceries, usually more due to laziness and not going to the cheaper shops or buying generic things that don't taste as good. So $9.95 in US terms is a lot, but it's less than a day's groceries, and if I buy the 3 months, it's less than at least a few days' groceries, so I figure I can justify it (and to have a Mainland rentals business at all I need to have premium).

Groups I could manage without, by distributing them without alts. But the sandbox is a great perk for me. I go there every day, if not several times a day to unbox things, rez houses to fix them, build things. I usually have them to myself, or maybe one other person. I could go on my own land, but then I might get in the way of a tenant rezzing something big so going to the sandbox is great.

I'm lucky I have an old grandfathered account with $500 stipend which is $2000 and nearly pays for itself; now it's $300. The Linden Houses are a pretty good thing once you manage to get them. The content is fair, often worthless but some of it is ok. By itself, the content is not enough. I think the Linden House and the tier are enough, and the $300 is a slight rebate.

I don't think the war games are equivalent as you can't build or create and sell content there.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Prokofy Neva