ralph Alderton

0L$ and 10L$ dross dominate any relevant search. This is a clearly a grave error. What other online retail store would allow the lowest quality and the worst products to take up the most important shelf space, in this case, the first 10 pages of any Relevant search results. I've been lobbying the community and Linden Lab for 3 years or more regarding the SUPERABUNDANCE of dross and rubbishy products cluttering up the marketplace I'm worn out with it. 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear' To attract and retain new and existing users SECONDLIFE MUST LOOK ATTRACTIVE and 10L$ and 0L$ dross ain't helping. We need paid keywords and listing fees to rid the marketplace of the appalling SUPERABUNDANCE of dross that currrently dominates

Linden Lab really do need to FREE THE LAND MARKET and release the grid from the absurd historical situation whereby you have to have a full sim before you can buy a Homestead It's a real blocker on the Lab's most desirable product - The Homestead The Lab are not protecting the big estate owners by keeping this blocker in place - they are just stagnating the grid and preventing the growth of Secondlife You know it, I know it, all of the wise Lindens know it - The current Land pricing structure and model needs a complete overhaul, it's 10 yrs out of date and too expensive for the core customer base Nobody wants to be squeezed on to a 4k plot or rent a quarter sim even, everyone wants CONTROL of their own Homestead When Linden Lab corrects the broken pricing structure (read .. make it much cheaper) and let's anyone buy a Homestead, then and only then wil we see real growth in concurrency and the grid

If Linden Lab want to seriously increase their revenue lowering tier is essential. It's only people who don't believe in SL's potential and future who say that tier is the right price. Tier is currently set at the wrong price, that's why SL is stagnating. LL should let anyone buy a HS without a full sim, lower tier and watch SL boom again. If LL halved tier costs they'd sell tons of sims and more than double their money. High tier costs are strangling and suffocating the whole ecosystem. It's all about the land.

@MarmelaGramela, The world is half empty because tier costs are too expensive. High tier costs are driving customers away from the product and depressing users who have projects they want to do but can't afford or can't justify the cost High tier costs = low concurrency

@Gooden, The only thing causing sime to be abandoned is - drum roll - the oppressively high tier costs Estate owners won't have any estates left if high tier costs continue. Wise estate owners, who have foresight, would lobby LL for a large reduction in tier for everybody not just Atlas program members Wise estate owners who actually want to grow their business and not just sit on and turn around the same land over and over again would welcome lower tier costs and no set up fees, it would ultimately, long term benefit estate owners more than any other class of resident. Because lower tier cost would create a greater demand for their product, which is land. Gooden, don't you know ? Secondlife is declining and in danger because of high tier costs. NOBODY can afford these prices ! fact !

@Deltango, I totally get what you are saying apart from this bit : 'If Linden Lab had improved SL dramatically over the past five years, the current tier prices would be justified' Even if there were no lag, SL never crashed at all, the GUI won a prize as a work of art, serach worked perfectly, mesh was seen by all viewers, and a Homestead had 100k prim allowance - the current prices would still be too much for the customer base The core enthusiastic users of this platform can not afford or justify paying these incredibly high tier costs and they never will.

After reflection, it's marvelous to see some movement in LL's land pricing offers but clearly it's not going to make any difference. It might boost this months sim numbers which would have been totally appalling, I'm guessing Right now nearly all the big shops inworld and little shops are suffering the most terrible traffic When I say terrible traffic - that often means no traffic and the marketplace sales are not making up the difference. All my records for 6 years being an SL creator and merchant in SL show that things should have picked up by now after the summer slump, but not this year, inworld and marketplace sales are slow. All the creators I know say they are down approx. 50% and slipping. At the root of this deep decline in interest and use of Secondlife are the outdated, unaffordable, high tier costs. LL know it, we know it, everybody knows it - The current tier pricing model is driving interested, enthusiastic customers away. High tier costs = Low concurrency = low sales = declining economy We're not stagnant anymore, we're not flatlining, we're actually in decline and this should NOT be happening to SL. It's an incredible medium oppressed by high tier costs . LL have the power to turn this around and re-energise Secondlife and make millions in the process. Be brave Linden Labs, REDUCE TIER NOW ! For goodness sake believe in your product - IT'S SPECTACULAR !!

@ Lynda, The mainland is just not an option for so many people and for so many reasons People want control, that means their own sim - that's the only real way forward for Seocndlife. Homestead should actually be affordable and available directly from LL for anyone who wants one.

In an ideal world of course I'd rather pay no setup fee or a nominal one if any and then have a much reduced tier. FREEING THE LAND MARKET, reducing tier and letting anybody buy a Homestead is key to the future success of Secondlife. Like you say Sy, it's the ongoing high monthly tier costs that are blocking the spectacular growth of the grid

I think it's marvelous to see a glimmer of light shining in the frozen darkness of LL's land pricing model

Time Limited offer, this weekend, No Set Up Fees on new sims This is a great idea, marvelous to see some changes from LL regarding the land pricing model. I really hope this encourages some new users to get a sim. The time is right this REALLY should be a permenant deal - no set up fees ever - and also LL should introduce no need to own a full sim before you can buy a Homestead. Then we'd see some massive growth in the grid The set up fees have always been a blocker to sim purchases. But unfortunately, we still have a big blocker to sim ownership - and that blocker is the requirement that we own a full sim before we can purchase a Homestead. With no set up fees and no requirement to own a full sim, Homesteads would become LL's killer product. But with the massive 300USD per month tier for a full sim, LL are blocking the core user base from getting the product they want - which is their own Homestead directly from LL with no set up fee. That would be awesome. I genuinely hope the current DEAL generates new interest in land ownership. But the only real solution is to reduce tier, it would put literally thousands of new sims on the grid. Secondlife needs : No set up fees Anyone can buy a Homestead (no full sim needed) Homesteads 49.99 USD per month tier Full sims 195.99 USD per month tier The above pricing model would make sims fly off the shelves, it would halt the abandonment of sims overnight. Secondlife is an amazing, outstanding technology, people love it, want to use it. If tier was priced right we would see dramatic and incredible growth.

Thank you for your take on things Tateru It's pretty much what I was thinking. Signups are not being converted :matte-motes-crying: Unfortunately what seems to be happening is , even the 0.1% of people who are converted are unable to make use of SL because of the high tier cost There are literally thousands of grand projects waiting to be born, by the core user base, but tier costs are such a blocker nothing is done and SL continues to stagnate I'm pretty sure we're getting near tipping point, with a saturated marketplace, declining economy, shrinking grid, slipping concurrency. It really is time for The Lab to reduce tier costs and re-energise the ecosystem otherwise it doesn't bode well. I can't keep investing my time in a platform that is shrinking and I know several other creators who are feeling the same way I'm even starting to think about an exit strategy from SL content development and I never thought I would say that:matte-motes-crying:

@Poenald, Do not worry about RL mesh artists flooding the SL Marketplace. Content is so undervalued here. Creating top quality mesh content is a non trivial task which takes time and in the current price dumped, declining SL economy and ecosystem, the mesh artist's time is best spent increasing their product ranges at RL model banks where they will get a proper return on invested time and skills. With the current decline of SL ( low concurrency, shrinking grid, less user hours etc ) and the devaluing of content at the marketplace via price dumping - I will NOT be bringing any of my mesh content to SL. What is the point in supporting a stagnant, possibly dying platform ? I love SL, it's an incredible medium, it's outstanding in a thousand ways but it's true potential is being smothered by inappropriate, outdated land pricing model.

@ Tateru, "There is a distinct, statistically significant increase in completed new user registrations," Since there is an increase, where are they all ? No increase in concurrency - been slipping all year No increase in grid size - also shrinking all year With my main AV and with several alts I am in contact with a large number of creators and everybody is saying the same - we're all down approx. 40% - 50% compared to this time last year. These are great creators with excellent and growing product ranges and who are keeping up to date and adapting to the changes happening in SL. The truth is the whole SL economy is probably down 40%-50% and compared to the 2006/2007 boom it's down 70% The decline in Secondlife can be attributed to one overriding factor - high tier costs blocking proper use and adoption of the platform. And still after how many years ? pffft !! you still can not buy a Homestead sim without a full sim - another superb way to block your customers from getting your premiere product ! Also of note, my RL mesh content sales from TurboSquid, Renderosity and Daz3D are increasing as I increase my product range. But even though I am increasing my SL product range, my sales here are decreasing Something is seriously wrong with LL's biz recipe and it's the High Tier Costs that are driving active interested users away Secondlife is an incredible medium and it would grow dramatically from within if the tier costs were more sensible

@Orca, You may well be happy being a hobo - it's an interesting life choice. But I assure you that 99% of human beings are territorial creatures and they want a place to call their own. Their own Sim, that's where the real fun is. Until land is affordable so that everybody and anybody can have their own Homestead Linden Lab are not doing their proper job - facilitating and empowering people to LIVE / PLAY / WORK in a virtual world The fact is that literally thousands of projects and grand ideas that could be materialized in Secondlife, are NOT BEING DONE because of crippling tier cost Its a terrible shame that a medium as powerful as Secondlife is being neutered - basically Secondlife is like a eunuch, it's balls have been cut off. Linden Labs castrated themselves with the knife of high tier costs in Oct 2008. All growth halted at that point.