Mags Indigo

Ack - M. Linden was somehow so cut off from SL that everything he said made my hackles rise. I have mentioned before in this blog that for me, at the moment, the real issue I have is one of confusion - I'm really not sure where LL is going with SL. There seems to be many conflicting decisions being made right now. I am also totally aware from my RL experience that many decisions looked at without access to the 'bigger plan' can seem confusing. I do hope that there is a 'bigger plan' and I do hope that it will be good for SL in the long run. But all we can do is wait and see.

There are a number of things that LL could do - in my opinion - to make Prem Membership more attractive - especially for those who have been in SL for some time. The ability to use megaprims is definitly one - and even if there was a limit of say 30 or 50m to the megaprims it would still be a vast improvement to what we get today. Other things to consider are more group spaces, the ability to have more 'tags' or roles within groups, the possibility of adding tier in a more balanced way rather than doubling up all the time, the ability to keep more in your inventory (maybe this means penalising basic members), a reduction on upload fees - maybe 5L instead of 10L. I'm sure there's many more things that could be possible and not at a huge cost to LL - indeed most of the things I mention wouldn't cost them at all.

This is how I see it - LL are now pushing for 'paid members' and are reducing the services that basic accounts can avail of. It's probably a cost cutting exercise as well - as support services are expensive. Genuinely I can find little fault with this. I know, I know - a lot of basic members spend a lot of money on SL through renting estate etc etc etc. Many own large business and invest in SL in 'indirect' ways. Given all of that it does strike me that for a long time there has been little reason to become a prem member unless you wanted to actually 'buy' land - or live in a linden home. I have argued for quite a while now that the tier allowance for prems should be increased from 512 to 1024 - making it a reasonable size for building anything on. Some people have argued that the stipend should be bigger - it all depends on how you see things. Right now I'm beginning to think that maybe either tier allowance or/and stipend may become a thing of the past - and what prem members will actually be paying for is the ability to buy land straight from LL - and get decent support. To a point - yes it is a step backwards - there was a time when prem members got stipends, free tier AND great support. In these economically tight times I have a feeling that many things are going to change in SL. I guess if LL brought tier down in price - or at least rethink how it is charged for (going up in small chunks as opposed to the 'doubling up' that happens now) it may be worth it. I do feel that 'free membership' is not going to bring much else with it apart from the ability to wander about SL and buy things (including estate land). Prems will get support and possible some other 'perks', and that will be it. To be honest - apart from emotional arguments - it's a development that it's difficult to be too critical of, it's kind of in line with what happens most places both in virtual and real life. I just wonder what LL have planned (and I DO think you have a plan). A while back I thought it might be about sanitizing the Grid and making it primarily an education/art place where students and artists would feel most at home. The recent announcement re the dropping of the discounts to education and non-profit organisations seem to evidence that this is not the case. Actually now I'm just confused as to where LL are taking the grid and what the plans for the future actually are. Interesting times!

In RL people have to work through issues in relationships - including (irrational) jealousy. SL is slightly less problematic in solving these issues, ask yourself - do you really want to be 'attached' to a virtual bf/husband who has trust problems of this level? Sounds to me like he's looking for a way out, and wants to be the 'innocent' party - dump him and move on. It may hurt a bit now - but not half as much as if you let him get under your skin like this. Good Luck

Hi First - make sure it was Mainland you bought. If you bought Estate you are actually 'renting' from another SL Resident and your 512 will never count against your rent. After you check that feel free to come back and if it's still a problem I'm sure someone will help. Good Luck

Just a few points - firstly they (the accounts suspended) aren't responsible for paying tier - I am - and it's paid. Secondly - if you're locked out of your account you can't access it so you have to come on as an alt - and guess what - LL won't talk to anyone apart from the id in question. So live chat is sort of defunct - even if you upgrade your noob alt to a prem. So phones it is. Last time this happened it took 10 days to sort and the person lost all their inventory - and no - no compensation or indeed adequate explanation from LL. Goof luck all