Socially|Mundane

There are two ways to react to anything: emotionally or logically. It is those who step back and look at things logically who suffer less stress and often "get ahead" of the pack in all things they do. I find it that self-proclaimed "successful business people" in Second Life tend to react emotionally every time Linden Lab sneezes. They should buy my book then if they think they are successful now, they'd be in for a hugely pleasant surprise.

But I digress. In a nutshell, it seems the vocal minority hates Linden Lab (LL) and all Linden Lab ideas and policies simply for the sake of hating all Linden Lab ideas and policies. Case-in-point: Linden Lab will soon begin "testing" the idea of giving a free 512 square meter parcel of land to all premium account holders, beginning with a few to see how the idea flies:

In a few weeks we will start beta testing a new addition to the Premium subscription, to see whether we can dramatically simplify owning your first home in Second Life. We believe that, if we can make owning a home both easy and welcoming, it will increase land interest overall, leading to more consumers of both land, content and other inworld services.

This new addition to the Premium membership will be called a 'Linden Home'. This is not the same as First Land, not least because it is about providing a home rather than just land, but it does share the same goals.

As is typical, every time LL makes a blog post about a road map (nothing more than plans, nothing implemented) or an idea (not even really planned - just a heads-up of what they are thinking) - people tend to allow their emotions to overrule any logical thought, which really is a crying shame.

Somehow the above statement (and entire post) has in typical fashion ruffled a lot a resident feathers and most of the comments are rather incomprehensible as they relate to what is actually being said in the original post.
Let's take a quick look in bullet form:

• The free parcel with a Linden Lab-provided "home" will be available only to premium account holders and no one else.
• (as stated in the full blog entry) the land is not modifiable: no slicing or dicing, no terraforming, nothing - it's a perma-build.
• The prims included are "attached" or "linked" to the parcel - though they won't count against the prim usage, they also cannot be changed, moved or picked-up.
• The parcel is only 512 square meters in size, not unlike "first land" Linden Lab used to provide to premium account holders.

In essence, it's the same thing that has been provided by LL in the past to Premium account holders (which I like to call Preemies). The reason I know most of the vocal minority hate anything LL for the sake of it is how they will rant without even know what it is they are ranting about. They don't bother to actually read, much less make any attempt to comprehend the message of the LL posting.

One of the more reasonable replies to the horrendously long thread is by Elbag Gable, and even he gets it wrong:

Okay, fair enough. But let us take a closer look at this thing...

"we have been trying to provide noobs and regular attendees in SL with a cheap place to live for quite a few months now with very little success"

A noble effort, truly. However, it must be understood the Linden Home will be available only to preemies. Not "noobs" and "regular attendees". Based on your statement, ("little success") it sounds like you are renting-out your land. Preemies rarely, if ever rent land. There is not reason to because they get 512 M2 at free tier. Thus, it is more feasible to own land rather than rent it. Thus, your target market is not Premium account holders, but rather basic account holders; who cannot buy Linden mainland parcels (unless they attempt a work-around.) Thus, the Linden Home idea will not affect you or your "business plan".

"the idea of actually spending money seems to put people off... there seems to be a culture/attitude of 'Oh SL it's free that's good'"

Wow. You've hit the nail on the head! But this is the point, Elbag. Those who refuse to spend any real money are not preemies. Therefor, the Linden Home is entirely unavailable to them. Thus, whatever the current situation is for those people it will remain status-quo. No change whatsoever. Your business model is safe.

"...their next question is "great, I like this, so where can I get a free boat.....", so the more you give away Mr. Linden the worse it gets I'm afraid"

Wait a minute here... Linden Lab is not giving anything away. Linden Lab is providing to those who subscribe to a Premium account what they pay for. It is exactly the same thing as "First Land" that Linden Lab offered all preemies way back when. The difference is you don't have to buy the land this time (First land was sold at L$1 per M2 and only available in 512 sizes.)

There is nothing free here. The only people who can even hope to receive one of these Linden Homes are Preemies whom have already paid money to Linden Lab for the priviledge. It is LL's way if giving a little something to the preemies so they can actually feel like they are getting a little something for the real money they are really spending in the real world.

I have been in Second Life (SL) since March, 2006. I signed-on with a annual subscription to be a premium account holder. In Novemeber, I created an alt account (this Ari Blackthorne account) and also subscribed. I have since let the original account fade away, but that's not the point. Over the last three years, the very reasons for being a preemie has fizzled.

Let us take a look at what it was and what it is now, shall we?

• Weekly stipend of L$300 (currently. Older members such as myself get a little more.)
  This has not chnged. In fact, it you subscribe to a premium membership on an annual basis ($72 per year) - it actuall comes-out to L$300 a week based on the recognized standard exchange rate of L$250/$1 U.S.
• 512 Square meters (M2) of land, tier-free - you'll never have to pay the "tier tax" for it.
  This also has not changed. But you had to still buy that land. In this case, the only difference is that LL is giving you that land instead of forcing you to have to buy it. Additionally, owning a 512 M2 only give 117 prims. After plopping a house, little is left for anything else. The Linden Home idea allows all prims to be used for furnishing. So what's wrong with this?
• Discount for first-time purchase of land, called "First Land" at only L$1 per M2.
  Poof. This is gone. Too many people gamed it. They ran around finding newbie-preemies, paid them the money to buy the land then transfer back to them so they could sell at a profit. it was a complete mess. So LL abolished it and never replaced that benefit with anything else. Minus One Premium-only Benefit.
• Only preemies can buy and own land
  Back when private sims were rare, the only rental land available was Anshe Chung - and very pricey. So it was actually beneficial to be a preemie just so you could actually own your own land. However, there now seems to be more rental parcels on private sims thant there are parcels for sale on any LL land - and the LL land is littered with neighbor-garbage: ugly, laggy builds. There is no incentive to buy mainland anymore, other than pricing per M2, and even that can be rather ridiculous at times. However, there is a work-around:
  
  Even a non-preemie can buy Linden mainland and it's easy-to-do: No Payment Info On File (the freeloaders eluded to above) can create a group. Add another freeloader alt to the group to "lock it in". Go to any mainland parcel set for sale and simply choose "buy for group" option. They now own the land. yes, someone is supposed to "donate" liability - and that someone is supposed to be a preemie. However, it could be months before the system finally figures-out the land is in tier arrears and reclaims the land into the grid system. Minus One Premium-only Benefit.
• Premium account holders have a higher level of access to customer support.
  Ummm... no. It used to be that way. However, LL has since long ago changed their entire support structure and paradigm. A preemie must rely on LL's proclivity to check on any support ticket submitted at their own whim, just as any basic account-holder must. There is no elevated status in the ticket system just because it is a premium account. The only people who do actually get elevated support response are people who pay at least $300 U.S. a month to LL, regardless of whether they are a premium or basic account holder. Minus One Premium-only Benefit.

There were a few other minor, negligible things that aren't even worth remembering. So if you consider the "big-five" benefits of premium account status, three of them have gone poof. technically the annual fee for premium accounts is given back in the way of weekly stipends. However, once one learns to build and sell, it becomes easy enough to earn Linden Dollars, so the only remaining reason to have a premium account is the ability to buy mainland parcels.

However, the prices are often far too high or the parcel is surrounded by garbage and junk and wholely undesirable as even the sky is littered with garbage skyboxes and other dreadful things, all of which are causing serious lag. So it becomes more cost-effective and desirable to "rent" land from a private sim owner because at least there will be a covenant and some semblance of management with regard to the ambiance of the palce.

Therefore, what reason is there at all to go Premium?

The preemie count has dropped drastically over the last couple of years for these exact reasons and LL is feeling it. Preemies are not a high priority on LL's assets receivable lists, but they to caunt for something and preemie accounts have been hemeraging for quite some time. LL needs those preemies in order to sell mainland (technically) and to keep those tier fees coming in.

The only reason I have maintained my preemie status is because I get a stipend of L$400 a week. And that is technically a rip-off as well as when I signed-on it was supposed to be L$500; but Linden Lab dropped the amount the day I created this account and then announced it the next day on their blog (and the web site wasn't updated for a couple weeks.)

So: message to Mark Kingdon, a.k.a. "M" Linden and Linden Lab:
It's about goddammedtime you even started to remember we premium account holders.

I know the why you are doing the Linden Home experiment. I know it is geared and intended for new premium account holders and supposed to entice new subscriptions.

I.
Don't.
Care.

I am a premium account subscriber for three goddammed years.
For three goddamned years I have receive no benefits for my money.

Do I need it? No.
Is it a "must-have" for me? No.
Will I "live" there and spend all my time there? No.

But I still want and fully expect to get one!

I just want something - anything that I can say is mine that no one else can possibly have unless they also are a premium account holder. because I'm tired of paying you real money every year and getting nothing at all for it that anyone else can't have.

So, reward me for my dedication all these years or I've had enough:


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