Adding Value to premium membership...

justum · September 2, 2011

Since the quality of products raise very fast, and in additions to the premium sandboxes it maybe would be a nice idea if the Linden would use their best designers and give people the opportunity to get education on a higher level. Since the quality and commerce is raising within SL, it's hard to keep up for many creators.

It would be commercially interesting if LL offer such a thing for premium accounts.

Rabid Cheetah · September 2, 2011

>>> You all must be higher priority residents than I am; I've yet to get that email.

I got mine. You must not be a PREMIUM premium! *giggle*

Rabid Cheetah · September 2, 2011

>>> Paying quarterly my cost is about 90USD a year. The stipend, at 300L/week comes to

>>> (((math deleted for brevity)))

>>> It really doesn't make much sense NOT to have a premium account.

Yep,. And for those of us with higher stipends (due to being older accounts) and paying less per month (due to being on the annual fee plan), you actually can make money (though not a lot) by not even logging in to SL but rather cashing out your Lindens from time to time.

And then Govenor Linden comes by and says, "Hey man, you wanna buy some crack, I mean some land?" :womansurprised:

Void Singer · September 2, 2011

I'll play along... while there may be some small level of competition, but I don't see it as being enough to make a difference to the actual market. Simply because having a chair is not enough for most people... it has to be the RIGHT chair.... meanwhile, for the people who any old chair is good enough, they'll probably grab a freebie one anyways, this only saves them from looking for it.

AND if LL is smart, the could auction off the ability to have a creators item made freebie of the month, perhaps only looking at certain categories each month. this would provide an addition advertising angle for interested vendors, and couldn't be gamed be freebie resellers since they'd have to pay for the privilege.

@Maryanne:
was it really a griefer object? I ask because in general griefers don't bother going premium, because it's not cost effective if they lose their accounts... adult land has less of them for similar reasons (although that can be easily gotten around if they jump through a few extra hoops). it could also be that the person had an experiment gone awry or was given an object that they didn't know what it did and foolishly rezzed it anyway. Not that there aren't premium griefer accounts, they're just fairly rare because of the cost and effort..... which should make them fairly rare in protected sandboxes... (cute pic and story btw)

Rabid Cheetah · September 2, 2011

Well spoken.

And the advertising idea should be sent to Linden, I'll bet they like it.

Rabid Cheetah · September 2, 2011

lolz Great pic. I like this picture almost as much as I like the dead meeroo on a BBQ grill I bought last week :womanvery-happy: I know: I have a sick sense of humor...

Maryanne Solo · September 2, 2011

Void Singer wrote:

@Maryanne:

was it really a griefer object? I ask because in general griefers don't bother going premium, because it's not cost effective if they lose their accounts... adult land has less of them for similar reasons (although that can be easily gotten around if they jump through a few extra hoops). it could also be that the person had an experiment gone awry or was given an object that they didn't know what it did and foolishly rezzed it anyway. Not that there aren't premium griefer accounts, they're just fairly rare because of the cost and effort..... which should make them fairly rare in protected sandboxes... (cute pic and story btw)

Well yes I am pretty sure, not that I know much about it.. the rezzed images were square with some type of mysterious logo on them and there was about 600 of them bouncing around.

The thing is each of these was not clickable to see who made/rezzed them. I have never seen that before. All three avis that were there were all over 1 1/2 years old too. :matte-motes-confused:

Void Singer · September 2, 2011

I forgot one side benefit of premium membership.... the ability to upload mesh (another side effect of having PIOF)

Void Singer · September 2, 2011

creator often doesn't matter... I have in my own inventory items created by various lindens with full perms and a complete set of full mod items with no creator (null key). what matters it the owner mostly, and previous owner if you can see it (phoenix). Age may not a good indicator as sometime people leave and come back.

I'm not sure how they might manage unselectable, although things like distance can have an effect on that. unfortunately reporting is all you can do, but I'd be surprised if reports from those regions didn't get a little bit faster attention. just use governor linden as the responsible person, and the Lindens will sort it out themselves.

Dresden Ceriano · September 2, 2011

justum wrote:

Since the quality of products raise very fast, and in additions to the premium sandboxes it maybe would be a nice idea if the Linden would use their best designers and give people the opportunity to get education on a higher level. Since the quality and commerce is raising within SL, it's hard to keep up for many creators.

It would be commercially interesting if LL offer such a thing for premium accounts.

You mean like a Linden College of Creation? Interesting, except that even if LL did have exceptional designers, which is questionable from the start, that doesn't mean that those same designers would be any good at all at teaching. Teaching people what you know requires more than just knowing it.

...Dres

Void Singer · September 3, 2011

sadly true.... I suck as a teacher, but as a tutor (1on1) there's very few concepts that I can't find a way to relate to a single persons experience. probably because I try to be highly aware of other peoples framework for thought, a byproduct of trying to fit in to various local cultures since I moved around a lot as a child.

Randall Ahren · September 3, 2011

Here's an idea to increase the value of premium membership: If you sign up for premium, you get to have a first and last name as it used to be before the disastrous switch to display names. That should encourage a few more to sign-up for premium membership.

Dresden Ceriano · September 3, 2011

Randall Ahren wrote:

Here's an idea to increase the value of premium membership: If you sign up for premium, you get to have a first and last name as it used to be before the disastrous switch to display names. That should encourage a few more to sign-up for premium membership.

But then, they'd have to be required to become premium before they even sign up, in which case, truly new sign-ups wouldn't even know the value of having a surname.

...Dres

Storyof Oh · September 3, 2011

Without reading all the thread (and blog post closed), and im sure its been said....what another kick in the teeth for existing premium members and content creators.

I must of blinked and missed the email inviting furniture makers to apply to offer products..

Not content with wrecking the 512 land sales business, home rental and the prefab home business LL now move onto furnishings. How long before the premium membership offers land, fully furnished house and full prim allowance on top?

As a reward for holding the faith and seen my rental business cease i guess i can watch furniture sales decrease...at least it frees up more of my land as a personal sandbox...

perfect thanks LL.

Venus Petrov · September 3, 2011

I have another opinion on the furniture 'gift'. Some of us who have been around awhile may use that gift to furnish a simple Linden house (I use mine as a refuge when my primary home's sim is being restarted). Newbies who are premium members may like the gift as a starter. Others will not care for it. Such is the nature of 'gifts'.

However, I do not think this gift will be the death of furniture makers. Nosiree. There is such a huge variety in SL and so many individual tastes to please, those creators will be busy for a lonnnng time.

Perrie Juran · September 3, 2011

Rabid Cheetah wrote:

>>> Paying quarterly my cost is about 90USD a year. The stipend, at 300L/week comes to

>>> (((math deleted for brevity)))

>>>

It really doesn't make much sense NOT to have a premium account.

Yep,. And for those of us with higher stipends (due to being older accounts) and paying less per month (due to being on the annual fee plan), you actually can make money (though not a lot) by not even logging in to SL but rather cashing out your Lindens from time to time.

And then Govenor Linden comes by and says, "Hey man, you wanna buy some crack, I mean some land?" :womansurprised:

"It really doesn't make much sense NOT to have a premium account."

If you are content living squeezed into a 512 plot of land, yes. AND if you need the little bit of enhanced support that LL gives to premium accounts it might make sense.

Currently I rent a 2048 with house supplied by Land Lady and get the use of 400 prims.

My monthly rent = 3000L, ~$12.00 per month at current exchange rates.

Tier for a 2048 if I owned $15.00 per month.

So I am saving $3.00 per month plus the premium fees by renting.

So unless you really, really, really need the enhanced support or are interested in a larger land holding than what I use, it DOES NOT MAKE SENSE to be premium.

Quite seriously I was shocked when I read the announcement in the blogs. What a miniscule offering to current Premium Members.

And as far as a marketing tool, A new person signing up will have no idea what a sandbox is though the idea of a monthly gift might add a single pennies worth of value. It fails totally as a marketing tool.

Seriously, I am speaking from the perspective of over 25 years in retail sales and management. This is the best that they could come up with? And yes I know there is someone claiming it is based on a proposal they made to Rodvik. Which essentially means that LL has come up with NOTHING!

For me personally I do not see any added value at all except to LL by taking over the Land / Rental Market.

If you do the math this way, value of a 512 @ $5.00 per month tier @ 128 parcels per region, they are netting $640 per region worth of Linden Homes. That is compared to (v e r s u s - stupid word filter) the tier a land holder on mainland pays, $195 per month. And honestly, where does 99% of tech support come from in Second Life? From Linden Lab or from the Residents?

I have spoken personally with several Land Lords or Lady's in SL and they have either had to surrender land since the inception of the Linden Homes or had to put on hold planned expansions. It's a mess for them.

Please don't get me wrong. I see nothing wrong with Linden Lab making money. I love the World here that they have made available to us. My only thing here is this, please don't play carrot and the donkey with me. OK? TY.

Ceka Cianci · September 3, 2011

Void Singer wrote:

well it's about time.... I just got an email that they are opening up premium only sandboxes, and giving you free gift items (mod furniture it seems).....

couldn't care less about the furniture, but the protected sandboxes are a step in the right direction IMO.

ETA:

apparently the gifts are going to change on a monthly basis... and as long as you are premium you can keep getting them.... that's more like it. =)

yay!! for us hehehehe

where do we get us some free sand box at? lol

ETA: never mind..i found my email with the links =)

kattatonia Wickentower · September 3, 2011

This is my second year with a premium account. I don't know if I will continue it or not. I miss the island I used to share with my partner. Landscaping was fun and you really don't get to do that with a Linden home and let's be honest. You pay your 512 for a linden home but you don't actaully get 512 worth of land. There is no land beyond the house. In fact for some home styles you have to derez the building in order to access the land menu. The gift furniture, while nice, is not to my taste. But it was a pleasant surprise. I've pretty much tried all the Linden homes that interested me and they make for a nice private changing room. But I think I am ready to cut loose, quit premium and get a private island again.

Ceka Cianci · September 3, 2011

kattatonia Wickentower wrote:

This is my second year with a premium account. I don't know if I will continue it or not. I miss the island I used to share with my partner. Landscaping was fun and you really don't get to do that with a Linden home and let's be honest. You pay your 512 for a linden home but you don't actaully get 512 worth of land. There is no land beyond the house. In fact for some home styles you have to derez the building in order to access the land menu. The gift furniture, while nice, is not to my taste. But it was a pleasant surprise. I've pretty much tried all the Linden homes that interested me and they make for a nice private changing room. But I think I am ready to cut loose, quit premium and get a private island again.

aren't you like auto premium when you buy a sim anyways? or are you talking about leasing from another resident?

Perrie Juran · September 3, 2011

kattatonia Wickentower wrote:

This is my second year with a premium account. I don't know if I will continue it or not. I miss the island I used to share with my partner. Landscaping was fun and you really don't get to do that with a Linden home and let's be honest. You pay your 512 for a linden home but you don't actaully get 512 worth of land. There is no land beyond the house. In fact for some home styles you have to derez the building in order to access the land menu. The gift furniture, while nice, is not to my taste. But it was a pleasant surprise. I've pretty much tried all the Linden homes that interested me and they make for a nice private changing room. But I think I am ready to cut loose, quit premium and get a private island again.

Any one who has followed my posts and my recent travails http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Forced-Out-Of-My-Home-By-Linden-Homes/m-p/1057463 knows I live in a skybox on Mainland on A SIM that my Land Lady maintains as residential only so we do not have the problems others have in other Mainland locations.

So while I dont have the joy of terra forming, my home is furnished to my tastes. Maybe someday I will own my own Island but really, I am mainly a social creature who likes to be out and about SL.

Amazingly, Linden Lab gave to ALL Residents the one perk that might have motivated me to go premium: An increase in the number of groups we can join. It is just that personally, I do not see the added value of Premium in my circumstances.

During my sojourn in SL, I have had three Land Lords or Ladies. All of them were extremely helpful in my settling in to Second Life and my continued sojourn here. All of them helped newbs settle in. They had a vested interest in providing dependable help.

These people give an added value resource to Second Life that it is very foolish for Linden Labs to ignore.

Dresden Ceriano · September 4, 2011

Perrie Juran wrote:

And yes I know there is someone claiming it is based on a proposal they made to Rodvik. Which essentially means that LL has come up with NOTHING!

Just wondering... are you actually complaining that LL is listening to what their customers have to say?

...Dres

Dillon Levenque · September 4, 2011

Perrie Juran wrote:

Rabid Cheetah wrote:

>>> Paying quarterly my cost is about 90USD a year. The stipend, at 300L/week comes to

>>> (((math deleted for brevity)))

>>>

It really doesn't make much sense NOT to have a premium account.

Yep,. And for those of us with higher stipends (due to being older accounts) and paying less per month (due to being on the annual fee plan), you actually can make money (though not a lot) by not even logging in to SL but rather cashing out your Lindens from time to time.

And then Govenor Linden comes by and says, "Hey man, you wanna buy some crack, I mean some land?" :womansurprised:

"

It really doesn't make much sense NOT to have a premium account.