Socially|Mundane

Okay - so Linden Lab is lowering the price of Private Regions, A.K.A. "Islands" or "sims".

It's really pissed-off a lot of people. Though I really don't know why. The same is happening with mainland regions, often known simply as "mainland sims". Now, for those land barons who stay entirely away from private estates and do all their business on the mainland sim - this will eventually hurt.

But for the estate owners - please - don't whine. I saw a comment on Your2ndPlace today, where someone actually tried (yes, tried) to proclaim they lost $17,000 (U.S.) value by that announcement. What bunk and drivel. First, if you lost even a single penny of real life legal tender, then you are one stupid fuckwad. Stay the hell away from the stock markets or you'll lose the hair off your back and groin in two blinks.

First of all, where do you derive that amount from to begin with? Are you saying your name is Anshe Chung? Excuse me while I roll my eyes and sigh insultingly before breaking into hysterical laughter.

And here's the funniest part of their comment - they ended with this (The following is my reply - with a bit of reediting for this post:):

HE sez: "And through all this, I have never taken a dime out of SL for myself - I wanted to grow something, build something neat."

Me sez: "Ummm... okay, so continue building it. Does the sudden price in private estates have some unexpected effect that is causing you to not build things and grow your dream? It's just like the stock markets. When they take a nose-dive, what do you do? Do you bail as fast as you can and dump everything for whatever you can get from them to salvage it what you can?"

Or, do you remain calm and simply sit on what you have?

When the stock market takes a nose-dive, you haven't lost a single cent... until you sell.

The same is true with private islands. Until you sell - they haven't lost any value. Unless of course, you are a land-flipper like Sarah Nerd on the mainland. Now, I really do feel for her because she was playing the actual real estate business. Anyone doing the 'land baron' thing with estates got hurt, though I haven't heard of anyone doing that, because private regions usually sell for less that the cost of a new one, no matter what.

I own an island and the price drop doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, it's encouraging me (read; making it damned tempting) to buy that second island I've been thinking about for so long.

What I'm worried about is the statement that "maintenance fees" (read: estate tiers to Linden Lab) will be "reevaluated in Q3" So, I can hold my breath and chew my nails worrying about it, or just take it in stride, trying to enjoy as much fun in SL as I can muster.

Linden Lab Announcement