Premium Plus - What are your 'Must Have' features and what are you willing to pay for it?

[Waialae]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:46 AM, Lucia Nightfire said:

"What are your 'Must Have' features and what are you willing to pay for it?"

No other pastime of mine requires that I pay $99pa to participate. It's already difficult to justify the $99pa cost of Premium, so can't imagine paying more. IMHO, the only benefit of Premium is the Linden Home, which is inexpensive compared to most private rentals. But Linden Homes are extremely frustrating because of the oddly low LI allowance. I regularly max out on the 1250 LI allowed on a residential quarter sim, so the LI allowance with a Linden Home is laughable. Bump the Linden Homes up to that same 1250 LI allowable impact and the $99pa starts to make sense.

Maybe Linden Homes in Premium Plus could be a double lot, with the allowance that the Linden Homes could be removed and replaced with your own, and more finger-shaped regions would be built with all waterfront properties. And allow Linden Home buyers to select individual properties, not just a style of home. It's SO hit-or-miss whether you'll like the property they assign you to. My alts that went premium bounced from place to place until finally finding ones they liked.

[Kalegthepsionicist]

75% discount for upload ing fees

 

[Marianne Little]

I have thought that it should be Business Plus and Resident Plus.

Merchants need a discount on upload fees and cash out US? Plus more group slots for the endless events? Marketplace tools that does managing your store easier? Let us say you have a sale, but you will not have your store so filled that people can't get in. So you want both an inworld and Marketplace sale. But it is hard to change prices on every Marketplace item. Is there something that you could have that's worth paying for? I am just tossing out an idea, I don't have experience with it.

It does not interest me much.

Resident Plus would be all about land and stipend. I believe the stipend does not matter much for those who spend a lot on uploads. But for me, it would be more tempting.

Maybe Moles and LL employees have great fun making Premium gifts, they do not count for me as a perk, at all.

Access to live help, I never needed it. But it is good to have just in case. Business Plus could have a speedier access?

Edited February 15, 2022 by Marianne Little

[Mercedes Avon]

I would want:

- 4096 land allowance.

- Discounted upload fees.

- More stipend.

- Homestead without owning a full sim (should be that way already).

- The ability to transfer lindens via the dashboard.

- Discounted name change. It's already outrageously too high for someone already paying premium.

[LittleMe Jewell]

6 hours ago, Mercedes Avon said:

- The ability to transfer lindens via the dashboard.

It would be wonderful if I could pay another avatar L$ from my dashboard.

[Sid Nagy]

Yesterday when I was reading a similar thread on virtualverse, I had a stroke of genius.
So why not share and post it here as well:

Premium Plus members are added to the official SL FIC group and get a golden name tag above their head.
Only USD 99,95 for a year. Automatically recursing of course. Nobody wants to give up their FIC status right?
Balloting might be part of the memberships acceptance procedure.

Twice a year a strictly themed FIC Night Of The Proms on an exclusive secret location in SL where one can chat and dance with the Linden bosses and their Minion Lindens. Only an additional USD 89,95 extra for each night, on top of the Premium Plus fees of course. Beverages and taxi to the location included.
Only a limited number of tickets available. The last 50 of them will be sold of at an auction.

Ordinary premium members may watch from neighboring sims for only USD 19,95 surcharge on their premium membership.

For only an extra USD 225,95 there will be the option for Premium Plus members to purchase an At Whim Package. That package gives you the right to suspend 25 basic members of your choice for a maximum of 3 days at whim. If you need to suspend more basic accounts a new package can be obtained.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Sid Nagy]

On 2/13/2022 at 1:35 AM, Waialae said:

No other pastime of mine requires that I pay $99pa to participate.

Well, if you'd play golf, tennis, football or would go to the cinema once a month or visit a discotheque every weekend or play darts at the local pub... $99 pa would be a really great bargain.

For the hours I spend in and around SL each month, my 30 euro in tier and expenses each month are a bargain, that I would easily spend with other recreation activities as well.  Ever calculated what a night to the movies and a drink afterwards sets you back these days?

The TV package that I use is more expensive each month, while I spend more time behind the computer fiddling with or for SL.

[BelindaN]

Transferring Lindens from my dashboard would be a huge benefit, that's a great idea @Mercedes Avon

I would also like the option for "one user name change" per year's subscription.

A bit more stipend, say L$500.

[Mollymews]

On 2/15/2022 at 10:39 PM, Mercedes Avon said:

I would want:

- 4096 land allowance.

- Discounted upload fees.

- More stipend.

- Homestead without owning a full sim (should be that way already).

- The ability to transfer lindens via the dashboard.

- Discounted name change. It's already outrageously too high for someone already paying premium.

i think this Resident Plus package could come in for about $US299pa. 4096 tier, L$1200 a week stipend. Name change $US30 per about

not sure if discounted upload fees would be included as given L$300 stipend per week over the current pricing

the right to buy a Homestead might cost more than $299 tho given its potential impact on the larger estates

for no real reason at all I think Premium Plus is going to be at least $US299pa, if not more

Edited February 18, 2022 by Mollymews
typs

[BelindaN]

Maybe they should make it a "tick box" subscription, like a streaming service. I wouldn't pay L$299 because a lot of what's discussed above I would never use.

But if options I WOULD use came in at maybe half that, it would get my attention.

[Katherine Heartsong]

This ...

"The ability to transfer lindens via the dashboard."

Is a superb idea. Really brilliant.

Plus I'll say it again, my number one ...

BEING ABLE TO OWN A HOMESTEAD WITHOUT OWNING A FULL SIM!!!!!!!

Seriously, Lindens, I have my credit card ready, right now. Today. Like this second. Do it, already.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong

[Silent Mistwalker]

7 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

This ...

"The ability to transfer lindens via the dashboard."

Is a superb idea. Really brilliant.

Plus I'll say it again, my number one ...

BEING ABLE TO OWN A HOMESTEAD WITHOUT OWNING A FULL SIM!!!!!!!

Seriously, Lindens, I have my credit card ready, right now. Today. Like this second. Do it, already.

 

I kept my card ready and waiting for over 10 years. Now? I can't afford one. Look at all the income LL screwed themselves out of.

[Sid Nagy]

I bet they have to give the big landlords a discount on sims and homesteads.
Leasing them directly to the customers could be at full price.  And by now the system should be fully automated so not to much personal involvement from Lindens I guess.
Tricky part might be that they have to do a bit more customer service themselves than.
The customer service adagio "clear cache" will not be enough, like that snake oil solution from them was in the past.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Katherine Heartsong]

3 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

I bet they have to give the big landlords a discount on sims and homesteads.
Leasing them directly to the customers could be at full price.  And by now the system should be fully automated so not to much personal involvement from Lindens I guess.
Tricky part might be that they have to do a bit more customer service themselves than.
The customer service adagio "clear cache" will not be enough, like that snake oil solution from them was in the past.

You know, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, except when it comes to pineapple on pizza, but I've always suspected that the land barons and their sometimes insane profits on homesteads (sometimes US$40/month) might not be one of the main reasons Lindens refuse to offer homesteads to non-sim owners.

Fact is, that if LL were to offer homesteads to anyone who wanted them at the $109/month they cost, that would wipe out 95% of the rental homestead market for land barons (yay!!), effectively wiping out a decent portion of their income. And I think that LL might not want to piss off the land barons, hence, my concern that this is a contributing factor.

No one needs to pay someone the equivalent of $140/month in rent for a sim that costs $109. I have yet to see any major landlord, anyone actually, offer a homestead sim at cost. Offer one at cost, with no tech support at all, and I'm in. Either Linden or anyone else. (I'd prefer LL since I want to own the thing, not just have estate rights.) ***

Yes, there will be technical issues and landscaping issues etc, but no more than the current issues around some of how other things get done in SL (even seen a newbie struggling with the concept of even bodies and heads, let alone BOM and clothes?). Your $109 buys the land, how you mess it up? Not LL's concern.

And it opens a market to landscapers to sell their landscaping services.

There may be other issues why LL doesn't do this despite demand. Server costs for a homestead instance on AWS may require some cost offset from a full sim, but still ... come on Linden, wake up.

Or at the very least, acknowledge this is a demand and address the issue. Tell us why.

** This is a bit of a miss on my part. There is one landlord who I've just checked and is offering a homestead at the equivalent of $112/month, based on today's L<>$ exchange rate. I always take the weekly L rent, multiply  by 52, then divide by 12 to get a true monthly L=cost, since there are more than four weeks in month. (Pet peeve for land barons .. don't advertise your "monthly" rate as simply 4x your weekly rate. It's misleading.)

Edited February 18, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong

[Chic Aeon]

3 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

No one needs to pay someone the equivalent of $140/month in rent for a sim that costs $109. I have yet to see any major landlord, anyone actually, offer a homestead sim at cost.

Mine comes in around $111 per month and when I was originally looking for a homestead there was another land baron that had them at $6200 L  ish.  Those came with landscaping and mountain surrounds which I did not want so opted for the higher priced. This comes with support and an inworld "staff" but I have never had the need to use it. 

 

 It is important to note that LL was known to give big discounts to "land barons" (I have no idea how many sims you needed to buy to be classified as that) for WELL over a decade.  And those with grandfathered homesteads pay less.   

I didn't read your whole post, just commenting on that one point.

[Chic Aeon]

I haven't been watching this thread so this may have been mentioned but was thinking as I started my RL chores of the day, that very close to the beginning of Belli, there were plans for a commercial area. That has been dropped it seems, but .....

 

What if premium plus included a multi sim commercial area with buildings on their own lots much like the Belli houses -- and only premium plus could claim those?  The area could be quite lovely with a boat dock and parks, maybe even a small air field. So a destination shopping area.

 

While this wouldn't educe ME to opt into Premium Plus, it would likely be a big draw for many. After all Belli has been the biggest perk and drawing force for Premium -- as far as I know anyway.    

 

[Anicha Heartsong]

I'm fairly convinced that some of the land barons ARE Lindens. I may be wrong - and you would think there would rules against that. If there are such rules for LL staff, I'd love to see them made open and public. (Oh, and enforced).

But then again, I would also like to see the discounts offered to 'land barons' made public. Perhaps we should make one of those 'freedom of information' requests.

[Marianne Little]

22 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

 

I kept my card ready and waiting for over 10 years. Now? I can't afford one. Look at all the income LL screwed themselves out of.

I 100% agree. 😪 So I would want more land on Mainland included with the subscription. No tier for a 4096. 200 or 300 US divided on 12 months would not be so bad. But for 300 US annually, I would have a noticeable rise in the stipend. To 800 or 1000 weekly.

Why, oh why is owning land in SL so expensive? One night I was dreaming that the land I am renting was sold to another person. If a 4096 m allowance became a reality, I could make an offer to buy it...

[Pamela Galli]

25 minutes ago, Anicha Heartsong said:

I'm fairly convinced that some of the land barons ARE Lindens. I may be wrong - and you would think there would rules against that. If there are such rules for LL staff, I'd love to see them made open and public. (Oh, and enforced).

But then again, I would also like to see the discounts offered to 'land barons' made public. Perhaps we should make one of those 'freedom of information' requests.

 Convinced by what? Conspiracy theories? 

The FOIA doesn’t apply to private businesses or individuals. You can’t get private information from your next door neighbor or work colleague.

 

[Nick0678]

1 hour ago, Anicha Heartsong said:

I'm fairly convinced that some of the land barons ARE Lindens.

They don't even need to be *Lindens.. but yes of course they could be and nobody will know it or can do anything about it. If something is profitable then anyone who has a better/inside view at it will want to make a profit without much risk. Easy money.

Similarly to how real world stock market, land market etc works (*or is manipulated if you prefer).

Edited February 19, 2022 by Nick0678

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Anicha Heartsong said:

I'm fairly convinced that some of the land barons ARE Lindens. I may be wrong - and you would think there would rules against that. If there are such rules for LL staff, I'd love to see them made open and public. (Oh, and enforced).

But then again, I would also like to see the discounts offered to 'land barons' made public. Perhaps we should make one of those 'freedom of information' requests.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

 

[Pamela Galli]

1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

Why, oh why is owning land in SL so expensive?

It’s much less so than in the past. I used to pay 295L per region, now after discounts and fee reduction available at the time to everyone I pay 179L. 

Also I now pay higher marketplace commission and higher fees to cash out. 

 

 

[Anicha Heartsong]

50 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek. I am aware that LL is not actually a government.

[Marianne Little]

49 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

It’s much less so than in the past. I used to pay 295L per region, now after discounts and fee reduction available at the time to everyone I pay 179L. 

Also I now pay higher marketplace commission and higher fees to cash out. 

 

 

Yes, I remember that Premium only held 512 m free of tier, for years after years.

As soon as the change to 1024 happened, I bought Mainland, the first mainland I had. Soon I had an alt premium... then a third... a fourth...

To hold 4096 m now, I have to pay all four premiums in one go, then make an offer for the land. And that can be expensive, it is a good location. I pay a low rent now, maybe that's why I am dreaming it was sold? Lol.

I have to calculate the price for Premium Plus vs. old premium for one avatar, vs old premium for several avatars, vs basic and renting... I do not like math. Math makes me grumpy.

I have changed during the years. I have grown attached to the little place I live on now. I really do not want to downsize. A 2048 m free with Premium Plus would not feel good. Especially if the price is as high as 299, as somebody guessed it would be. 199 US? Maybe two Premium Plus avatars... especially if it is a noticeable raise in stipend. It would support my shopping addiction.

[Anicha Heartsong]

I see a basic issue with most of this: we Avatars want better value - perks that mean our land is cheaper, we get higher stipend etc etc.

But I'm pretty sure LL is hoping to make extra income off this initiative - not use it as a method of giving away money.

One thing I would pay for is less lag - especially when I venture out into clubs and the like, where other folks congregate.