Musing: 2048s, Premium Plus, and Estates

[Nika Talaj]

I'm a little bothered by the economics of 2048 parcels and Premium Plus.  Bear with me while I muddle through a few facts leading to a conclusion that surprised me.

Premium Plus is $249/yr, which is $20.75 per month.  Personally, I leave stipends inworld - but I count them as cash received, because I don't buy as many Lindens.  

249 - (650*12/250) = 249 - 31.20 = $217.80 PP/yr minus stipend.  That's $18.15/mo.

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Mainland tier for a 2048 is $13/mo.  

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Private estate prices for a 2048 (703 prims) vary, but I usually expect to pay $21-25/month.  For that you usually get beautifully decorated "private island" estate land with waterfront.  Usually you cannot terraform, but the estate owner may be willing to terraform a little for you.  You can usually choose or build whatever you want, but it has to be in-theme and decent looking.  In my experience, covenant enforcement and griefer policing will be swifter than in Belli.

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SO!!  If you choose your Belli 2048 parcel well, you will have a place as nice, and primful, as most private estate lands for less money.  Plus other PP benefits. In a variety of beautifully decorated themes.  If I were an estate manager, that would be somewhat concerning ... certainly more worrisome than the current Belli 1024 parcels.

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Avid GOH players have many alts and usually only keep even the best parcels for a couple months, then move on.  They might, or might not, act the same way if they can pick a parcel - PP is noticeably more expensive.

A smart group of close friends could manage this pattern more economically, tho, by behaving like a group of alts. Let's say Lisle has a PP account and acquires via ticket a beautiful parcel.  She enjoys it for a couple of months.  Her friend Reggie has always admired the parcel, so instead of tossing it back Lisle welcomes him into her land group, takes her decor away, and lets him stay for a bit.   I think many of us have probably done this, let friends use our LH.

However, for a 2K parcel the cost outlay is a bit high, so he shoots her $35 in Paypal to cover the cost of the Linden Home for a couple of months.  Seems like a nice thing to do!  Even if ... technically ... illegal.  

Right?

But suppose another non-PP friend is interested ... and then another ... and then Winifred wonders if Lisle could put her own decor back, and let Winifred use it for 6 months.  Only an absolutely gorgeous parcel would attract such interest ...( I note with amusement that the wonderful island log parcels in The Hut and The Brambles are now occupied, tho the other parcels there are empty).   All of these friends are probably regular premium and have a Linden Home of their own ... they just felt like playing with a nice 2048 for a few months.  Suddenly Lisle has an informal rental business,  just covering her PP cost, and her "customers" are paying less than they would pay for private estate land.  When she & her friends are tired of that property, Lisle surrenders it and gets another.

Of course, her friends cannot rez whatever prefab they want, or terraform.  But the moles' builds are beautiful, if you like the theme.  And even if her friends only give Lisle $10/month (less than mainland!), it offsets quite a bit of her costs.  It's not like she's looking to become a land baron.

This sort of scenario is more likely with the more expensive 2048s than with 1024s.  Of course it violates covenant, but it's kind of untraceable and I have trouble seeing that there's anything morally wrong about it, tho I really love the noncommercial aspect of Belli.   

I'm still a little uneasy.  I feel bad for smaller private estate owners, who in my experience are decent people who care about their tenants.  Belli keeps nibbling at their ability to attract SL newcomers.  And I am also bothered by a feeling that the economics of this setup encourages the "Lisle" scenario.

Edited June 25, 2022 by Nika Talaj

[Teresa Firelight]

Nika, I think very highly of you and I especially love your home furishings thread posts....

But I think you are inventing a  scenario here that is extremely unlikely to happen even once, much less hundreds of times. I just cant imagine people going behind the scenes and renting out Premium parcels.

[yestothis]

You're overthinking this. Do you trust other SLers not to be tattles? Judging by the forum, they will tell on you in a minute. So I 10000% believe this is NOT happening now or ever.

[Sparkle Bunny]

16 minutes ago, Teresa Firelight said:

 I just cant imagine people going behind the scenes and renting out Premium parcels.

Since I once saw an actual rental box in a Victorian, I'm not sure everyone will suffer a similar failure of imagination.

[Quartz Mole]

52 minutes ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

Since I once saw an actual rental box in a Victorian, I'm not sure everyone will suffer a similar failure of imagination.

I hope you reported it.   It would obviously be against the Bellisseria covenant, but we can't act on infractions unless we're told about them.

Edited June 25, 2022 by Quartz Mole

[Sparkle Bunny]

Oh, I told on them in a minute.

[Polenth Yue]

There always could be someone who'll break the rules in some way or other, or do something or other that might upset others, but it's a stretch to think it'll be so common as to cause a major impact.

It's like the idea that a large group of premium plus people will request most of a region, leaving anyone who gets a remaining house feeling out of place. It could happen, but the houses I've seen in fantasy are either single or next to one other claimed house. Most people are not that organised outside of maybe sorting something with their best friend.

If you didn't know premium plus existed, it's very unlikely that you'd notice anything was happening.