[Tilia takes over]

Hello all.  This is my first post in...maybe a decade or so.  It's only commentary with little to say about the recent changes.  Move on if you like.

I used to spend a LOT of money in SL.  I used to be very active in the forums.  I attempted to take total ownership of Owasco--and came damn close.

My main account, (I have a few mostly forgotten alts)  Is pre-flexi, pre -land rush. I started to lose interest about the time there was talk of introducing mesh, tho I've been maintaining my account at yearly level at $72 per year with  a L$500 weekly stipend.  (Yes--500.)  The stipend, when cashed in through the the exchange, just about paid for my membership with a little left over.  For years, I logged in only to turn Lindens into USD and pay for another years dues.

I came back a few years ago.  Learned how to play all over again.  Learned to deal with mesh.  Got to back to the point where I could make just about anything I wanted.  Made new friends, became re-acquainted with old friends from WAY back in the day.

Lost interest again, but this time I maintained a parcel of land that was actually costing me a little bit of real money.

Soon after I paid my most recent dues, i got the "We're changing membership fees--lock in your old price for another year." email.  I mostly ignored it.  When I got around to checking my account, I found that my next dues will be $99 per year.

If I was active like I used to be, I'd have shrugged it off.  Now it feels like a lot of money for something I hardly do any more.

But for me, it's not just the higher dues and  the changes in payment processing.  SL no longer supports Linux, (Yes I know about Alchemy.)  And...Like I said, I don't really play any more.

I came here to check on how Tilia is going to affect my account.  My current determination is that it won't do much, except for the final $50-$100 or so I have left in that it's going to make it a little more annoying to cash out.

Anyway, LL won't miss me.  I'll miss SL a little bit.  SL and prims are the only "social" 3d modeling tool i know of.  There are a few friends who are urging me to stay, but if i do it will ultimately be basic--just before my membership fees are due.  And, going by LL's attitude towards Linux, and the issues I've had in the past uploading mesh with with an unofficial client...I probably won't bother.

[Do you remember DancesWithRobots?]

I've been gone for a while, and back again--likely to stay a while.  I've been contacting old friends who pop up in my friends list, and others who were friends but dropped me because of my absence.  Sometimes we remember each other, sometimes we don't, but we can tell by groups and picks that we were into the same things.

Some of my inactive friends switched their primary avatars to alts that I barely knew, and reintroduced themselves.

SO, if you remember me--even if you don't want to renew a friendship but maybe have a story or two to swap--I'd like to hear from you.  I didn't make many enemies.  (Only one that I'm aware of.)  Don't hold any grudges.

I'm making new friends, but sometimes I'd like to reminisce.

[Want to buy land but owner is suspended]

Hmm. . .forum being one of those things that's changed--I can't figure out how to edit my own message.  Small plots of land, (under 512sqm) were sold to residents who surrounded the plot on at least 3 sides for 1L$/sqm.  (2 sides if there were extenuating circumstances, such as sim borders or linden owned land bordering, or a neighbor who was willing to state they had no interest in the land.  Larger plots would go up for auction, and then--well, it could be anyone's race.

[Want to buy land but owner is suspended]

i've been gone for a few months, and I see there are quite a few changes.  But the way to handle such things HAD (may still be) to submit a support ticket and ask that the status of the land be checked.