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

[Katherine Heartsong]

@Marianne Little Maybe I wasn't clear, and that's highly possible  I want a full homestead and would happily pay (and will be able to afford) $109 a month. In addition to a yearly Premium Super membership of $200/year or whatever. I'd love that as a feature of this new deluxe membership tier.

Like right now. If LL opened homestead ownership to anyone I'd buy one right this second.

$209 for a full 20K sim is too much for me, but I want to space and prims to make something unique and to my tastes. And that's a homestead sim. The issue, as you're aware, is that you have to own a sim to own a homestead. I think that's an incredibly stupid policy, but it's LL playground.

That's why my initial post (a few up) agreed with many here .. give us the ability to own a homestead with this new Super Premium or whatever plan without needing to own a full sim first.

And I don't trust landlords because of the economics of renting. I have posted extensively and done the math on the true costs for landlords and what I consider to be insane markups, especially after first year they own a homestead for rent out (it's far lower than any rent I've ever seen posted), and I also don't trust them to not just vanish and pull the rug out from under a renter leaving them without a land a renter may have spent weeks lovingly terraforming and decorated.

That post that you quoted was my weird follow-up idea only .. two levels of homestead sim. Much like full sims can be 20K for $209 or 30K for $249.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong

[Marianne Little]

14 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

@Marianne Little Maybe I wasn't clear, and that's highly possible  I want a full homestead and would happily pay (and will be able to afford) $109 a month. In addition to a yearly Premium Super membership of $200/year or whatever. I'd love that as a feature of this new deluxe membership tier.

Like right now. If LL opened homestead ownership to anyone I'd buy one right this second.

$209 for a full 20K sim is too much for me, but I want to space and prims to make something unique and to my tastes. And that's a homestead sim. The issue, as you're aware, is that you have to own a sim to own a homestead. I think that's an incredibly stupid policy, but it's LL playground.

That's why my initial post (a few up) agreed with many here .. give us the ability to own a homestead with this new Super Premium or whatever plan without needing to own a full sim first.

And I don't trust landlords because of the economics of renting. I have posted extensively and done the math on the true costs for landlords and what I consider to be insane markups, especially after first year they own a homestead for rent out (it's far lower than any rent I've ever seen posted), and I also don't trust them to not just vanish and pull the rug out from under a renter leaving them without a land a renter may have spent weeks lovingly terraforming and decorated.

That post that you quoted was my weird follow-up idea only .. two levels of homestead sim. Much like full sims can be 20K for $209 or 30K for $249.

No, I got it, that you meant to buy and pay for a full homestead. I am sure I explain badly, not you.

I am not sure to word it, I try: It is currently 98 US/annually to have 351 Li for Premium, no added tier. Increasing it to 200 US/annually for Premium Plus AND 1200 US/annually tier is a huge difference. Either 98 US or 1400 US. There should be something offered in between.

It is no incentive for me to pay Premium Plus if I can not afford paying 100 US/monthly in tier for a homestead. It would be cheaper for me to pay US 50/monthly to rent a homestead with 5000 Li. I will have 5000 Li to use and pay 600 US yearly in rent.

I agree with your arguments for paying directly to LL, but it is not realistic for me to pay 1400 US yearly. The landlord is my only option because LL price land so high.

 

[Katherine Heartsong]

Ah, I understand now Marianne, thanks for explaining!

I'd also happily rent a homestead tier for $50/month!

Edited January 18, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong

[Marianne Little]

10 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Ah, I understand now Marianne, thanks for explaining!

I'd also happily rent a homestead tier for $50/month!

I found one here in the land section, so they are possible to find . It is a more risky to rent cheap from a totally unknown one, but it is land businesses who has been in SL a decade or more. I would have to pay more than 50 US. 

I saw you asking to rent 7500 Li in the same section, for what would equal 70 US/month? That looked like a well established company.

It is not realistic to say what I will pay, since I have that cursed VAT added to tier. That makes my situation so different, paying 20 US more for every 100 US Americans and others pay... I doubt the number of EU members and Australians is large enough to have anything to say for tier and Premium payment.

[Anicha Heartsong]

I have this fear that the Lindens will offer more of their Premium gifts and think people will actually pay for that.

For me, it will have to include a higher land and ideally prim allowance. 4096 seems reasonable and for that I'd probably be prepared to pay up to $50 a year. I like the ideas put forward for better inventory management - but if and when that is possible then everyone should get it.

I also think  owning a homestead without the need for a full sim should be included (though that requirement should be done away with all together).

But to get this off the ground, they need something new, innovative - a surprise, with 'wow' factor.

I haven't worked out what that could be yet. I'll get back to you

 

 

[Marianne Little]

What about Premium Plus regions? Regions with a fixed number of empty plots by LL that can not be divided or sold. They can only be abandoned. It would be like Premium homes, without houses. LL is using heaps of Li on landscaping around Premium homes today, so it is only 351 Li for every 1024m .

I know moles want their trees and other elements to be visible over a region if someone increase their draw distance to max That is why they have high Li. But I have seen some mole trees with lower Li, so they can make it.

So imagine these Premium Plus regions. Let us say 9 parcels on each.The plots could be 4000 m square, each can use 2000Li and have freedom to pick any house, but limits in height. The rest is public land around the plots. LL could use more raised land and rocks, to create privacy, without the super ugly privacy walls (that must be banned). Same rules for skyboxes as in Bellisseria. Today we have regions that hold as much as 30 000 Li. Moles would have plenty Li to use on their landscaping, roads et cetera.

Resident landscaping should be allowed, but only down so they can create ponds and sink pools in the ground. This way no one can make thin, ugly spikes up around their parcel.

Is it possible to auto terraform land back to flat when abandoned? Can the mailbox do terraforming if the new land owner selected "Revert land to default"?

What would I pay for Premium plus with this tier included? I say 300 US/yearly.

The reason to buy Premium Plus is to have more land included for less than it would cost me to pay rent or tier for a year. That is the main thing for me. Do not bother with premium gifts. Who will buy Premium so they can get those gifts? Pffft.

[Silent Mistwalker]

I can't afford Premium much less a more expensive Premium Plus so even if I put my 2 cents worth in, it won't make any difference. 

I fully expect to have to leave SL within the next year or two because it will be made too expensive for people like me. There is no upgrading from here.

[Teagan Tobias]

31 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

I fully expect to have to leave SL within the next year or two because it will be made too expensive for people like me. There is no upgrading from here.

 

And some people wonder why noobs don’t last very long and are then gone for good.

Second Life is an expensive hobby and it keeps getting more expensive all the time.

 

[Stephanie Misfit]

4 hours ago, Teagan Tobias said:

 

And some people wonder why noobs don’t last very long and are then gone for good.

Second Life is an expensive hobby and it keeps getting more expensive all the time.

 

That is certainly true. Most of the people I meet in SL (and I meet a lot) do not own land, many do not even have rentals and can't even consider this.

[Rick Nightingale]

On 1/13/2022 at 6:48 PM, Sid Nagy said:

Things that I would appreciate:
1. The possibility to own a homestead without a full sim.

This! So much this! That requirement is just downright mean.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Rick Daylight

[Crim Mip]

While I don't think there's much that could be offered that would convince me to pay for this, here are some things that would certainly have me considering it:

2k of tier free land. This would of course coincide with super premium Linden homes with more land and prim allowance.

The ability to buy an empty lot on Bellisseria and do your own scratch build or pick from any applicable Linden home.

The ability to get a spot in a commercial district in Bellisseria that would be created for that purpose.

The ability to buy a Homestead sim without an associated full estate. Obviously rules for use would have to be followed.

Elimination of upload fees. I'd be fine if that meant doubling them for unpaid accounts and left as they are for premium.

No group limit (this would probably require the fix to group chat that would preclude seeing who was logged in or last logged in)

No message cap (not a huge deal, but it sounds good).

A free user name change. Let's face it, the current fee is just to discourage people from doing it often. It doesn't actually cost LL anything to do it. If you're going to charge an additional $50 or so might as well include that as a perk for those who want it.

 

[Crim Mip]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:47 AM, Silent Mistwalker said:

I can't afford Premium much less a more expensive Premium Plus so even if I put my 2 cents worth in, it won't make any difference. 

I fully expect to have to leave SL within the next year or two because it will be made too expensive for people like me. There is no upgrading from here.

Why? You will still get exactly what you're getting now. Your expense won't go up, well maybe the cost to upload will, but so what? You still get the full experience of SL without paying a dime if you choose not to.

[Crim Mip]

On 1/16/2022 at 8:02 PM, Teagan Tobias said:

 

If they do something really nice, it will be really expensive, and I had enough of a problem going from $72 to $99 so I will not be using it anyhow.

What I am afraid of is they will take part of the Premium perks and move them to Premium Plus, that will put me back to basic.

 

They tried that when Premium came out with the Basic accounts and the pushback was so strong they had to walk it back. They know better than to take away what people already have. There are some real perks they could offer that would appeal to those most likely to pay more.

[Cyanide Pixie]

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

So, the Web team yesterday reaffirmed  the Lab's desire to offer Premium Plus this year.

As this thread's title says, "What are your 'Must Have' features and what are you willing to pay for it?"

Please answer both and please keep the thread on topic.

Thanks.

I'm going to echo a lot of people here when I say my first priority would be land ownership perks. Whether that be discounted tiers, increased free tier, double prims (although I'm not sure if that could be implemented because of deeding to groups and all that)... just SOMETHING along those lines.

Behind land, my next wish would be for increased group slots. Even after the increase from a little while back, it's still a constant shuffle. The group limitations are a daily frustration.

EDIT: And also, I really hope those of us grandfathered in to the high stipend won't lose it if we want to go plus. As it is, I've still been paying monthly for all these years because I'm terrified switching to a quarterly or yearly plan will knock me to the lower stipend. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Cyanide Pixie

[Cyanide Pixie]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:31 AM, Marianne Little said:

What about Premium Plus regions? Regions with a fixed number of empty plots by LL that can not be divided or sold. They can only be abandoned. It would be like Premium homes, without houses. LL is using heaps of Li on landscaping around Premium homes today, so it is only 351 Li for every 1024m .

I know moles want their trees and other elements to be visible over a region if someone increase their draw distance to max That is why they have high Li. But I have seen some mole trees with lower Li, so they can make it.

So imagine these Premium Plus regions. Let us say 9 parcels on each.The plots could be 4000 m square, each can use 2000Li and have freedom to pick any house, but limits in height. The rest is public land around the plots. LL could use more raised land and rocks, to create privacy, without the super ugly privacy walls (that must be banned). Same rules for skyboxes as in Bellisseria. Today we have regions that hold as much as 30 000 Li. Moles would have plenty Li to use on their landscaping, roads et cetera.

Resident landscaping should be allowed, but only down so they can create ponds and sink pools in the ground. This way no one can make thin, ugly spikes up around their parcel.

Is it possible to auto terraform land back to flat when abandoned? Can the mailbox do terraforming if the new land owner selected "Revert land to default"?

What would I pay for Premium plus with this tier included? I say 300 US/yearly.

The reason to buy Premium Plus is to have more land included for less than it would cost me to pay rent or tier for a year. That is the main thing for me. Do not bother with premium gifts. Who will buy Premium so they can get those gifts? Pffft.

And holy moly, this is a cool idea too! I would adore the freedom of mainland (or close to it) but with the roadways and landscaping of Belli. Some of us who are part of large private sim communities can kind of get this vibe (and my Bay City parcel is a particularly good one too), but having a new continent for premium plus members to build on would be fabulous. And I'd be fine with a strict covenant to keep things looking good. In fact, I'd encourage it.

[Candide LeMay]

The ability to cash out using a direct bank deposit (for EU residents) instead of Paypal would make the premium plus attractive to me, although I think that option should be available to everyone in general.

[LittleMe Jewell]

16 hours ago, Cyanide Pixie said:

I've still been paying monthly for all these years because I'm terrified switching to a quarterly or yearly plan will knock me to the lower stipend. 

Changing that is not supposed to change your higher stipend.  I would contact Billing directly before the change to discuss it -- and then again afterwards if the stipend does change.

[Simon Fenwitch]

More prims in the land we get

larger number of groups to join

[Whispering Dawn]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:48 AM, Cyanide Pixie said:

I'm going to echo a lot of people here when I say my first priority would be land ownership perks. Whether that be discounted tiers, increased free tier, double prims (although I'm not sure if that could be implemented because of deeding to groups and all that)... just SOMETHING along those lines.

Behind land, my next wish would be for increased group slots. Even after the increase from a little while back, it's still a constant shuffle. The group limitations are a daily frustration.

EDIT: And also, I really hope those of us grandfathered in to the high stipend won't lose it if we want to go plus. As it is, I've still been paying monthly for all these years because I'm terrified switching to a quarterly or yearly plan will knock me to the lower stipend. 

I wish they would offer lifetime accts again. I have two accts that Id like to make lifers.. this one is a lifer. 

[Whispering Dawn]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:19 AM, Teagan Tobias said:

 

And some people wonder why noobs don’t last very long and are then gone for good.

Second Life is an expensive hobby and it keeps getting more expensive all the time.

 

They  Need to offer life time accounts again.  That would bring in more people for sure. Say offer it for one to two weeks

[Solar Legion]

No, bringing back lifetime accounts will not "bring in more people" especially at the price point it had when initially offered - it will however, entice a few existing users to grab that particular level of account.

[Silent Mistwalker]

7 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

No, bringing back lifetime accounts will not "bring in more people" especially at the price point it had when initially offered - it will however, entice a few existing users to grab that particular level of account.

I'd pay as much for a lifetime as I did for my STO lifetime. That was $199.00USD, on sale. If I recall correctly regular price (at that time) was $299.

Just checked. Regular price is still $299.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/game-pack/detail/2064

Edited January 23, 2022 by Silent Mistwalker

[LittleMe Jewell]

If LL ever offered Lifetime accounts again, you can bet it will be for A LOT more money than it was way back then.  It was initially $159.95 and then later $225.00.  That initial deal was in lieu of the monthly fee that accounts paid - there were no free accounts back then.  Later, the 4096 tier & L$500 stipend was added.   

So to get the 4096 tier and higher stipend for life, I would expect we'd need to add at least one zero to that $225.00 amount -- if not more.

 

ETA -- Who knows, maybe they'd be nice and throw something like that out there for $1000, limiting the offer to a few weeks.  I wouldn't advise anyone to hold their breath for anything like that though.

Edited January 23, 2022 by LittleMe Jewell

[Rob Huntsman]

More land, and more weekly allowance would be dope for premium plus.

[adriannesuz McMinnar]

On 1/19/2022 at 4:19 PM, Teagan Tobias said:

 

And some people wonder why noobs don’t last very long and are then gone for good.

Second Life is an expensive hobby and it keeps getting more expensive all the time.

 

This is true, and while I think it is (of course) fair to pay for the service, if SL wants to reach more customers and be more competitive, I feel like these hikes are going to result in only a select few with a large disposable income to be able to truly enjoy all SL has to offer. I can't even fathom paying $200/year for SL for premium plus.  It was tough enough for me to stomach the regular premium price hike to $99.   I feel like it's pushing out a lot of creators to make way for mostly consumers.