Lindsay Noonan

That's my intent for now...but I do have one or two basic accounts and this does me harm because I am paid monthly, not annually. This will hurt, badly, but what other option have they left me? This harks back to what I said before...if you are still working and earning a steady income you can't see it from my perspective...I get paid once a month and have to make that stretch over 27-31 days time. It's maybe a third or less of what a minimum wage worker earns. Even 72USD is a big bite of the pie to give up all at once.

I see the forum lists me as a newbie, but let me amend that. I first logged in April of 2006 and went premium in 2009 and have been ever since....monthly...not annual. Between my various odd jobs in SL I manage to spend an additional 40USD or so a month here and at that I'm pushing it...and LL gets a piece of that as well. I recognize there are regulatory fees to be paid and they're trying to spread the damage as thinly as possible but crippling new users or long term users such as myself is not the way to do it. I live on disability, and that number doesn't grow very quickly. As Mehllama pointed out this is my social interaction for good or for ill, and losing it would hurt...of course starving to death would hurt worse so if it ever comes down to THAT decision...buhbye. Try to see not only how it affects you, but how it affects others less fortunate than you before you comment it won't matter. It matters, trust me.

Posted just now I live on a fixed income and have only one premium account but I have to ask, did Linden labs even consider this as a thing they needed to look out for? I see a trickledown effect they won't like the results of happening soon. 1) Premium goes up 2) Retail space has to go rental rather than ownership because they can no longer afford 'land alts' to keep space open 3) People have fewer free $L to spend because they have fewer real bucks to spend. 4) Less free income to spend on retail purchases means retailers go hungry, so they begin closing quickly...even moreso if they actually LIVE on their SL income and the transfer fees make it no longer feasable to make a meaningful profit. 5) Overall fewer memberships are created or maintained because there is little to no point to remaining in what will become an increasingly expensive and empty grid..thus far smaller. I would also encourage LL to not reduce group slots for free members and consider a special premium tier fee (reduced, obviously) for people on fixed incomes. One more thing, people going through this and stil renewing need to be offered perks NOW like updated Linden Homes or something equally valuable, and you need to encourage the basic accounts to stay as well...rather than just abandon altogether...cutting their groups won't help and making it more expensive to trade up won't either. Consider the numbers. What percentage of SL memberships are premium? What percentage of THEM actually pay land fees directly? I'm guessing it's in the single digits percentage wise and in the end it will trigger a steady decline. I am concerned this is their way of 'encouraging' people to move to Sansar or some future product which, frankly, nobody is doing now of their own accord.

I live on a fixed income and have only one premium account but I have to ask, did Linden labs even consider this as a thing they needed to look out for? I see a trickledown effect they won't like the results of happening soon. 1) Premium goes up 2) Retail space has to go rental rather than ownership because they can no longer afford 'land alts' to keep space open 3) People have fewer free $L to spend because they have fewer real bucks to spend. 4) Less free income to spend on retail purchases means retailers go hungry, so they begin closing quickly...even moreso if they actually LIVE on their SL income and the transfer fees make it no longer feasable to make a meaningful profit. 5) Overall fewer memberships are created or maintained because there is little to no point to remaining in what will become an increasingly expensive and empty grid..thus far smaller. I would also encourage LL to not reduce group slots for free members and consider a special premium tier fee (reduced, obviously) for people on fixed incomes.