[A brief note on pricing changes, which ran long.]

2 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

I wonder this too, although I haven't read all 42 pages of this thread so maybe it's revealed somewhere. The concern is, suppose I re-up my Premium accounts now to forestall the rate hike for another year, and suppose it turns out that the new Super Premium offer includes for free all the grid-scope Experiences I can eat so of course I must have it -- but what will become of my one-year grace period for the old rate when I want to upgrade to Super Premium?

If Super Premium is expensive enough, though, I suppose that US$ 99 - 72 = $27 savings will be beneath notice -- and if so I wouldn't be upgrading anyway.

As far as I understand what I'm reading the only people that benefit from paying LL the $72  for old price this year is any accounts due between 3rd & 24th June this yr. For me my account is due after so will get hit with the $99.

Since I'm not from USA that means my SL bill will cost me almost double now because I use the stipend to help pay my tier & without a 37.5% increase to stipend to match the account increase this means I will have to choose where my money will go. I pay almost $1.50 of my currency for every US$1, that is before any country banking conversion fees or LL fees getting money into SL & then also the extra to convert the L$ back into US$ so LL can take it when it is due has been added on top the amount needed to pay the final bill. 

This increase of US$27 will cost me approx $71 extra from my pocket before any extra for fees from anywhere has been added & there is no extra benefits to offset the cost. At moment I'm wondering do I sell or abandon land I live on & pay LL premium account  to live on the free 1024sq mainland or go to free account & invest my money into SL directly & live under a bridge.

[A brief note on pricing changes, which ran long.]

21 minutes ago, polysail said:

You realize, that L$ earned from the stipend can be cashed out, and then used to re-purchase premium right?  And that Premium didn't really cost 72$ USD / year all this time, because they've always been paying you 62$ USD back in L$ ( minus 3.5% transaction fee ) >  60$ USD of that back , for an 12$ annual membership fee.  And that the ACTUAL COST of the new Premium, when stipend is factored back in is still only 37$ per year.

That's 3.08 cents per month.... 

Yes I use my stipend to help me pay for my account. My point was that cost went up & stipend doesn't. At US$72 a year Stipend works out to be US$4.50 help each month to pay for account that is about 75% of cost over the year for people to use it in SL in paying for shopping etc or use to pay accounts IF they save it. After increase this will only cover 54%. For me this is not an increase of just US$27 but an increase of Approx AUD$40 for the account with also having to find an extra AUD$31 for the decrease in stipend bonus because it stays the same making this change an approx AUD$71 bill increase this yr with no benefits for a platform with increasing maintenance & performance issues. Whatever the %$ increase LL should add a = stipend cost of living increase too. 

[A brief note on pricing changes, which ran long.]

I can see an increase is needed & over due but a 37.5% increase with no stipend increase to go with it. It should have a cost of living increase of L$112 a week to match the US$ 37.5% increase.