We heard you! Private Island pricing increase delayed until November 15th
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 at 1:12 PM by: Zee LindenAfter listening to the community, we recognize that we did not give you enough time to react to the pricing changes. As a result, we are extending our old pricing for orders placed through the land store until November 15th.
This may result in extended delivery times. And we thank you in advance for your patience.
Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.
(If you have special placement needs purchase your region through the land store and then email concierge for further assistance.)
Thanks for your passionate feedback.
Edit: More information has been added on this topic. Check the Land category to see the most recent information.
http://blog.secondlife.com/tag/land/
November 1st, 2006 at 1:15 PM
Great news
Thanks for listening!
November 1st, 2006 at 1:16 PM
sweet! thanks LL.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:16 PM
question- will all the sims sold at the old price be class 4? or will they include class 5? as well?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:19 PM
Community Power for the win!
There are, however, many unanswered questions in the bigger announcement thread, many requiring Zee Linden’s personal attention.
Lewis
November 1st, 2006 at 1:20 PM
Could you clarify what “Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.” means?
It sounds to me like if we buy one b4 nov 15th, we’re subject to price increases anyways.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:25 PM
“Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.”
Could you please expand on this, Zee? In your FAQ you have informed us that the old US$195 tier will transfer with any sim transfer to another resident.
Also, could you confirm that all sims ordered up until 15th Nov will be at the current rates, and not just the first 150?
Thanks.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:28 PM
Chri5 Somme:”It sounds to me like if we buy one b4 nov 15th, we’re subject to price increases anyways.”
Yup. Sounds like they’ll retain the old upfront cost, then jack up the monthly tier fee as soon as they can get away with it.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:31 PM
If those who bought with insider knowledge were exempt from keeping the old price structure, Linden Labs would gain a lot of credibility, plus raise some much needed revenue.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:32 PM
In regards to the “Price increase on transfer” thing, it probably means exactly what it says - “transfer”.
So if you were to transfer the island to another member after November 15th, they would then be liable to pay the full price. But not untill (if ever) the island is transfered.
LL has already stated that old prices will be “grandfathered”.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:32 PM
Have you guys ever thought of whats going happened to the market? some say it will go up some say go down and some say like me this going hurt sl so much it could even crash the market.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:33 PM
Cannae Brentano: “If those who bought with insider knowledge were exempt from keeping the old price structure, Linden Labs would gain a lot of credibility, plus raise some much needed revenue. ”
Too bad that wont be the case, otherwise it would defeat the purpose of it in the first place.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:34 PM
[...] We heard you! Private Island pricing increase delayed until November 15th http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/11/01/we-heard-you-private-island-pricing-increase-delayed-until-november-15th/ After listening to the community, we recognize that we did not give you enough time to react to the pricing changes. As a result, we are extending our old pricing for orders placed through the land store until November 15th. [...]
November 1st, 2006 at 1:34 PM
Since blog responses get buried, let me ask again here.
Are you aware of the proposed ways to increase revenue’s collected through mainland tier payments that does not require a consumer end price hike for those using land for their own personal use?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:35 PM
since you are now running secondlife like a real world company your bound by there rules and regulations..you are supposed to give at minimum 2 weeks notice of price increases for an employee base of 2-30 ppl and a month for 50+ you gave us………1 day your now delaying the price hike for 2 weeks you need to give ppl a minimum of one month so ppl can arrange there finances
also to compensate you should double or triple amount of sims avalible and have them at the old prices
but finding out you are still using class 2 and class 3 servers has made a lot of land owners sim owners very angry as we were told that you had retired all those servers due to there “age and stableness” you told us you were changing all the sims over to class 4 but to find out you were not telling the truth…….that itself is an extra straw on the camals back then out of the blue you announce huge price hikes….that broke the camals back
November 1st, 2006 at 1:39 PM
OK you’re delaying the price hike til November 15th…. are you going to allow more than 150 sims to be sold during that time period?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:40 PM
I wonder how long we’ll have to wait for clarification about this blog, it again raises a few more questions instead of answers.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:42 PM
Chri5 Somme:”It sounds to me like if we buy one b4 nov 15th, we’re subject to price increases anyways.”
Ricky Zamboni: “Yup. Sounds like they’ll retain the old upfront cost, then jack up the monthly tier fee as soon as they can get away with it.”
Please address this Zee. With this announcement, some people will be buying multiple islands.
Will those people be subject to monthly tier fee hikes…$100/mo more!?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:42 PM
Chri5 Somme:”It sounds to me like if we buy one b4 nov 15th, we’re subject to price increases anyways.”
Ricky Zamboni: “Yup. Sounds like they’ll retain the old upfront cost, then jack up the monthly tier fee as soon as they can get away with it.”
Please address this Zee. With this announcement, some people will be buying multiple islands.
Will those people be subject to monthly tier fee hikes…$100/mo more!?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:42 PM
“jauani wu Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 1:16 pm
question- will all the sims sold at the old price be class 4? or will they include class 5? as well?”
I’m guessing it will be class 4 servers for the last 150 spots at the old price fro a few other posts they made and then onto the class 5 server with the price increase, or at least I saw a post on the last part in the ask linden section of the forum about that.
Someone asked about with the new island price leading to them getting on the new class 5 server.
Lennie
November 1st, 2006 at 1:43 PM
Are class 4 servers going to be allocated prior to class 5 servers? Or is this going to be mixed?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:44 PM
Dear Lindens.. Thank You for listening
Reading all the comments, I worried that the expansion of my little Island wouldn’t happen.. I’ve built a place of beauty on my Island.. Created a haven for myself and my friends.. at my own personal cost, I’m nor a corporation.. just a poor wordsmith, and I thank you for allowing me to continue to do what I love to do..
SL is awesome…
Sincerely, As Always.. Irene
November 1st, 2006 at 1:45 PM
We just heard from Jack Linden on the Concierge List that yes, they are going to provide more than 150 sims, but the issue of whether then after the 150 they said they had in stock on class 4s are exhausted, will you then get class 5s? Or will they find some class 4s in the broom closet?
The Concierge Group is open to any resident who has bought more than one sim.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:47 PM
I guess I do wonder what they are telling the insiders’ list *now*.
“Wait for the feeding frenzy to die down while the feebs and choads buy the 150 class 4s, and order closer to the 15th to be sure to get a class 5.”
November 1st, 2006 at 1:47 PM
Thank you folks for hearing us out and delaying the change!
November 1st, 2006 at 1:48 PM
Bravo. I’m impressed. As Thomas Jefferson put it… “The first lesson that must be faced by any great nation, is whether it can listen to the will of its people.”
Lesson #1 passed. SL can now graduate to the next level
~ Scipio Ellison
November 1st, 2006 at 1:48 PM
I have a feeling that this is going to be another grey area where they leave us in the dark, you can go buy some more sims for the old rate but as they said “Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.”.
You can go buy new sims but with that little sentance there they turn on a dime and charge you the new rates. If they did that i wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to sue them. Of course they probably wouldn’t win but i’d support them.
SL please prove me wrong and answer some of the new questions you just raised, zee linden please answer and give us straight information.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:49 PM
can i hug you zee?
November 1st, 2006 at 1:52 PM
Probley the other areas cost will go up as they upgrade the servers down the road.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:54 PM
To clarify, the concierge program is a dedicated service available for all Residents who own more than 1/2 Region (the USD $125 a month tier level). I believe the Concierge group sends you a welcome email/information upon initial entrance. Also, all private island owners are automatically entered into the group.
Want to read more about the Concierge Program? Check out the initial post announcing the group:
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=33457
November 1st, 2006 at 1:56 PM
Well, i`m up and could barely maneuver onto sl`s website- i assume others could not as well. (or maybe its always like this at this time, i dont know, im never online this “early”
Im sure the site would have been unaccessable before people could even put in their november 1st orders.
If you guys honestly listened - thank you, sincerely. and please consider listening to our major beef which is that a 50% tier increase is simply damaging to many. MANY have indicated they were working towards a sim- hey expansion is fun and a new sim is fun too. now they cant. I know i sure cant. are we no longer the future you envisioned?
But forgive me, i cant help but think there may be some deception. (EG, LL noticed the site wouldnt hold the oncoming flood of traffic and had no choice but to extend the date)
Theres also this question- LL said they have 150 islands left of the “old servers”…if they let us order until the 15 some will get old and some will get new? Or perhaps they have more than 150 islands- such a round number.
Anyway I dont mean to sound like a chronic complainer when they have allowed us until the 15th- just some speculation. im glad for the extension- im sure there were people away for the week who did not have the benefit of being on today to grab an island- really felt for those people.
But non the less, this short notice has like i said- caused a digital hurricane katrina. Many people are being hurt by this. Not only the huge increase but the smalllllllllll notice we had.
Who knows when these new islands will be up. Hopefully i get one or find a new place to set up my shop, seems they may take a month or 2 to be up and running and some of us have to be off of our current land cos of this.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:56 PM
The part about increased maintenance on transfer made sense to me when there were only 150 sims to prevent a few individuals from buying them all up, while some of us that have been planning purchases got froze out. My assumption now is that since they’re going to be inevitibly filling orders with class 5 machines that they they’re going to want to avoid competing with lower priced class 5 sims that people bought before the 15th. For me, the real question is what to do now - I was all set to jump into the land grab today but the part about class 4 vs class 5 now gives me pause.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:58 PM
The land store opens at 1pm SLT.
That’s 10pm CET, when most people are home from work.
Germany is in CET.
A Certain Someone who is a well known land baron lives in Germany.
Do you think there’s accidental?
Lewis
November 1st, 2006 at 2:00 PM
You mean I took one of my vacation days to be at the ready for nothing!
Well, got an island on order now anyway 
November 1st, 2006 at 2:03 PM
So if we buy before the 15th its at 1,250- do they include the 195 tier.
Also i could have sworn i read in 3 months anything transferred will be at the 295 fee, but this is saying “Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.”
Perhaps since we get til the 15h some will be on the new class 5 servers and if they wanted to transfer it tomorrow the new owner will pay 295. meanwhile those who got on the class 4 have 3 months before their new owner pays 295 tier. hm
November 1st, 2006 at 2:04 PM
Applause. Applause. Thank you for listening to your customers LL. I think most of us will appreciate the gesture and the thoughtful move on your part. But I have to ask also is this only for 150 islands? Can you please clarify for everyone?
November 1st, 2006 at 2:07 PM
The land store opens at 1pm SLT.
That’s 10pm CET, when most people are home from work.
Germany is in CET.
A Certain Someone who is a well known land baron lives in Germany.
Do you think that’s accidental?
Lewis
November 1st, 2006 at 2:08 PM
Wierd double post *shrug*
Lewis
November 1st, 2006 at 2:10 PM
Since a backlog is expected and delivery of new sims will be delayed, is it safe to assume that we will not be charged for the new sim until it is delivered? There are a lot of things here that need to be clarified.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:23 PM
A delay is a delay is a delay. It means that the changes will still happen, just not as soon.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:24 PM
Also, what’s with the server times? Is it still on PDT, not PST, which is now SLT?
November 1st, 2006 at 2:28 PM
For crying out, i just bought an sim at 1pm slt, now you’re telling me the sim i just bought for a customer might be subject to the new pricing regime on transfer… Thnax LL this time you managed to royally piss me off…
November 1st, 2006 at 2:37 PM
I wanted to tell linden about this too but in the end i decided to leave the game for today
I was hoping they could give up on this idea of increasing the prices and leave them at least the way they are, but unfortunately I dont think thats going to happen, seeing that they want to like get ritch. Too bad
November 1st, 2006 at 2:38 PM
All orders taken between now and November 15th will be at the old pricing. (realistically, you are limited by what you can put on your credit card). We will sell as many regions as it takes to make you all happy. There are two downsides to this change:
1. It may take us longer to deliver them to you (currently we only have 150 in stock)
2. In order to reduce the likelihood that someone would purchase these regions in order to flip them later, we are likely to charge the increased price ($295) upon transfer.
To hit some of the other questions from above:
As this change is not related to the class of server, there will be some class 4s that are sold but most of them will be class 5.
There are no changes to mainland pricing at this time althought pricing may change there in the next 3 to 6 months. We will certainly not price the mainland out of reach for personal use.
And to hit some other questions from the other post:
1. It has yet to be explained what increase in service one gets from the 51% hike in the fee. Besides a server that saves your company money, what can we expect in regards to less lag, more AVs per sim, faster texture loads, fewer crashes, etc.?
The hike in fee is unrelated to any specific improvements to the current level of performance. Private Island regions have more features and control than a mainland region & therefore they probably always should have been priced differently. This increase is a recognition of the increase value that Private Islands provide to residents.
That said, we are constantly improving the client and the sim and not increasing the price, but as those things come into the code on our regular release schedule every two weeks, we haven’t changed pricing for any of the improvements that have been implemented in the last year.
Overall, I have stated that our historical pricing has been at or below cost to support the development of the community. At this point, we are identifying segments of customers and feature sets that have more value – such as the Estate Tools of private islands. We can see the value of the Estate Tools to customers in the demand that we have had for those tools, so this was a logical place to start pricing and packaging modifications.
2. Why were some customers alerted and not the rest of us? I am your customer. I’m not big. Yet.
We were seeking input on the subject from a variety of our customers. Certainly at this point now that the news is out there, we are getting input from all of our customers. Not surprisingly increasing prices never makes customers happy, but a profitable and financially strong company is critical to the community just as a diverse and strong community is critical to the company. To be frank, the last time we changed our pricing (over a year ago) no one cared. So we’ll be a lot more careful about how we talk about pricing changes in the future and its a big reason we delayed the increase for 2 more weeks.
3. Although you haven’t “scheduled” a time for the increase in tiers on the mainland, will they come within the next 3 months? 6 months?
Its likely that other pricing and packaging changes will come in the next 3 to six months, but its possible that some resident segments could receive decreases in pricing or discounted pricing. We are looking to identify segments of resident needs and feature sets that we can provide discounted service to – the first and easiest to identify is the education segment. We are committed to providing them significant discounts – at this point below our costs.
4. What are you doing about the unverified accounts economic drain on the community? Are the higher prices/fees used to cover them, also?
We’ve done a lot of analysis on this & it seems that like some things in life, the more you know about the details the more complex the issue becomes. Verification is a difficult issue for us right now, because requiring it would cut out groups of whole countries where we are not technically capable of doing any verification. Many countries don’t use Credit Card & Paypal doesn’t have a lot of international penetration. I don’t think anyone would argue that we should exclude those countries from participation. Since changing the verification requirement our international sign ups now exceed sign ups in the US.
One resident wrote this in an email to me. “This is truly a sad day. You just have no idea what SL means to people and what you’re doing to it.”
We recognize that SL is important to a lot of people. Many people are basing their livelihoods on the success of the community – including me & everyone else at Linden Lab! Owning a Private Island is an aspirational goal for a lot of people in the SL community & we’ll look for ways to enable them to reach that goal in a way that makes sense for the broader community and the company itself. Perhaps there is a way to offer a Sandbox Private Island at a lower price that limits concurrent users? Or with a lower purchase fee and a higher recurring fee for temporary use. These are the kinds of ideas that changing our pricing structure gives us room to explore.
I’d love to hear comments about how to better segment resident needs and features and functionality – that would really help push SL forward!
November 1st, 2006 at 2:39 PM
I’m rather irritated this announcement was made AFTER the land store opened. They whipped everyone into a buying frenzy for those last 150 and then ‘Oh yeah, by the way, you’ve really got a couple more weeks.’ BLEH.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:40 PM
You will not be charged monthly maintenance fees until the regions are delivered. You will be charged for the initial purchase.
Not sure why the times of the posts are messed up.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:41 PM
Something they’ve not mentioned here but came up on a Reuters interview with Philip Linden:
The price hiks has nothing to do with the class 5 servers. The class 5 servers cost more initially (probably by only a small ammount, definitely not as much as the setup fee increase) and will cost less to run (lower wattage as they pointed out). It was used as a convient excuse to raise the costs.
The real reason for the cost increase wasn’t given and there’s been some speculation it is being used to boost the LL/SL numbers (like the 1 million accounts though if you look on the login screen less than half have been active in the past six months and far less are online at any given time) to prepare to sell off SL to someone else.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:41 PM
So, did the land store open at 1pm - sell out of the 150 - then close?
I blinked
November 1st, 2006 at 2:43 PM
Thank you, but we need to know if a sim purchased between now and Nov 15th will be subject to higher maintenance fees more than sims purchased many months ago.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:44 PM
Thank you! Thank you! And on my birthday (RL) no less.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:49 PM
Zee- I run a rental community, I dont make much profit at all - im in it for fun. if in the next 3-6 months our tier goes to 295 we will have to shut down. We are one of the top rental communities in second life- we offer a place of quality residence to the people who will be helping to fill your pocket. There are many other than myself who are here to provide services without trying to get rich. The 295 is going to cause many of us to shut down.
I would like to see an affordable package that would allow us to continue to run.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:50 PM
“2. In order to reduce the likelihood that someone would purchase these regions in order to flip them later, we are likely to charge the increased price ($295) upon transfer.”
We were told that this would not be the case, that all islands transferred prior to February would have the lower tier price after the transfer.
You can’t change the terms of the sale retroactively. I wonder where they found you Zee. Did you happen to work from Enron before this?
November 1st, 2006 at 2:53 PM
My question is the sims purchased today if out of the 150 left, will we expect normal delivery times? If not how long of a delay are we talking about? I would like to coordinate my main land holdings to about the same time.
November 1st, 2006 at 2:53 PM
All orders placed between now and November 15th will be at the old pricing.
There will be some class 4 regions sold but most will be class 5.
There are two downsides to delaying the increase for you:
1. We will bill you upfront for the setup fee and it may take longer for us to deliver them due to the high demand we expect.
2. If you transfer the region to someone else, we are likely to charge the receiver the increased monthly maintenance fee - this is to avoid someone buying lots of servers and then reselling them for a higher price after the price increases for everyone else.
Here are some answers to some other questions as well:
1. It has yet to be explained what increase in service one gets from the 51% hike in the fee. Besides a server that saves your company money, what can we expect in regards to less lag, more AVs per sim, faster texture loads, fewer crashes, etc.?
The increase is unrelated to any specific improvements to the current level of performance. Private Island regions have more features and control than a mainland region & therefore they probably always should have been priced differently. This increase is a recognition of the increase value that Private Islands provide to residents.
That said, we are constantly improving the client and the sim and not increasing the price, but as those things come into the code on our regular release schedule every two weeks, we haven’t changed pricing for any of the improvements that have been implemented in the last year.
Overall, I have stated that our historical pricing has been at or below cost to support the development of the community. At this point, we are identifying segments of customers and feature sets that have more value – such as the Estate Tools of private islands. We can see the value of the Estate Tools to customers in the demand that we have had for those tools, so this was a logical place to start pricing and packaging modifications.
2. Why were some customers alerted and not the rest of us? I am your customer. I’m not big. Yet.
To be frank, the last time we changed our pricing (over a year ago) no one cared. So we’ll be a lot more careful about how we talk about pricing changes in the future delaying the increase is recognition of this mistake. We’re sorry that it happened.
3. Although you haven’t “scheduled” a time for the increase in tiers on the mainland, will they come within the next 3 months? 6 months?
Its likely that other pricing and packaging changes will come in the next 3 to six months, but its possible that some resident segments could receive decreases in pricing or discounted pricing. We are looking to identify segments of resident needs and feature sets that we can provide discounted service to – the first and easiest to identify is the education segment. We are committed to providing them significant discounts – at this point below our costs.
4. What are you doing about the unverified accounts economic drain on the community? Are the higher prices/fees used to cover them, also?
We’ve done a lot of analysis on this & it seems that like some things in life, the more you know about the details the more complex the issue becomes. Verification is a difficult issue for us right now, because requiring it would cut out groups of whole countries where we are not technically capable of doing any verification. Many countries don’t use Credit Card & Paypal doesn’t have a lot of international penetration. I don’t think anyone would argue that we should exclude those countries from participation. Since changing the verification requirement our international sign ups now exceed sign ups in the US.
One resident wrote: “This is truly a sad day. You just have no idea what SL means to people and what you’re doing to it.”
We recognize that SL is important to a lot of people. Many people are basing their livelihoods on the success of the community – including me & everyone else at Linden Lab! Owning a Private Island is an aspirational goal for a lot of people in the SL community & we’ll look for ways to enable them to reach that goal in a way that makes sense for the broader community and the company itself. Perhaps there is a way to offer a Sandbox Private Island at a lower price that limits concurrent users? Or with a lower purchase fee and a higher recurring fee for temporary use. These are the kinds of ideas that changing our pricing structure gives us room to explore.
I’d love to hear comments about how to better segment resident needs and features and functionality – that would really help push SL forward!
Oh, and we’re sorry we got some of you up in the middle of the night. Go back to bed and place your order tomorrow.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:05 PM
Dear Linden Labs,
I want to say thank you for listening to the request I made in my post to extend the date. I felt terrible for so many who I know were saving, like I was for a private sim.
This for me has renewed my hope in LL, and not only in the management, but in the citizens who care as well.
I understand you are trying to be sucessful, as are we, and I know that without those of us who create content for this community, there would be no reason to have and SL.
I hope as you court major corps into SL, you remember that we are in SL because it’s a way to do many creative things and have an experience that is NOT like RL…
My hope is that you remember that, as you grow and court big corps. If they have nothing to contribute, not only will there presence here be stale, but I don’t see the community getting behind them much either.
Anyway, these are great growing times for SL and again, thank you for granting the request to extend your prices to your customers.
It has shown good will to me, and that gives me more hope for the future of SL, as well as the business I currently have and the RL properties I will be brining into SL.
Respectfully,
caLLie cLine
November 1st, 2006 at 3:06 PM
I commend you LL on listening to your residents in this. It was the right thing to do and you took the high road on it.
@Lewis on the question of CET time: Maybe it was structured for that or maybe because LL is here in the Pacific Time Zone it was decided at 1pm so it would begin after lunch time is over at LL?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:07 PM
Thanks for the info, Zee.
“2. If you transfer the region to someone else, we are likely to charge the receiver the increased monthly maintenance fee - this is to avoid someone buying lots of servers and then reselling them for a higher price after the price increases for everyone else.”
Could you please confirm that this only applies to the sims purchased in these two weeks of November, and not to the transfer of islands that were originally purchased from LL before these announcements?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:08 PM
Ps- I echo gigs; you said that the transfer fee would not change and we would be notified of it in the future. (As I said i could have sworn I read in 3 months time , which is february)
Extending the date does not justify that to be changed. Also I did not know I would be billed up front it does not say that at the land store.
You cant just expect people to read every single post and dig throughhundreds of blog comments to find yours.
The new transfer change is unnacceptable.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:08 PM
To zeelinden and the rest of the Lin,
Thank you!
On behalf of everyone [the LewNerd shakes his head], well, many, [rustling sounds in the crowd], ah, some, [couple nods], oh heck, *speaking for myself*, I’m glad LL was able to show some of the flexibility and quick reassessment that small companies are said to be better at than their larger brethren.
I still think two weeks is too short but much better than 66 hours 58 mins.
To the older residents (compared to my July creation at the 250K account total), thanks for eloquently making the same point and many others as well - including caLLiecLine and the person who pointed out that a longer current price sale time would probably make more for LL.
Paradox Olbers
November 1st, 2006 at 3:10 PM
I don’t see how that is listening to the residents. The issue was more about why is there a inner group that can have an advantage over others to allow them financial gain. Why are discissions made so dramticaly that it puts all on edge? Why are servers that cost less to run going to cost more to rent? Those I feel are the issues at hand not just that three will be extra 15 days?
Plans for purchasing sims for many is a multi month process. With examples like this there is no security or feeling of safety that next week the mainland tiers will go up 50%. Then maybe in a months time there will be a charge for visitors to your sim. We have no gurantees. How does one plan knowing that it could all change on the whim of a new CFO?
If sims go down we eat it. If one can’t make clothing and therefor do business for a week as is situation now. The designer eats it. The sim can be taken away with no compensation and no recourse. Prices raised. Read the Terms of Service carefully.
It will be interesting to see how the large coporate business are going to take the fragile nature of of sim ownership and our other woes. If the server is down then their customers can’t see their product and there is no recourse? Middle of some presentation an announcement that so sorry the sim is going down if they lucky enough to get an announcement.
All this puts one ill at ease. So I do not believe that you are listening. You just see one aspect. Those who were worried that they would loose out to larger interests with the time limits given and the passing of insider information. The larger issue is that now many expect that tier prices for mainland will be put up. There is a whole thread on Robins idea to charge for support while there are stories of lindens ignoring Residents who point out exploits. There is no trust and the feeling is that we are not listened to.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:13 PM
Giving people more time is a good move.
You asked about comments to better segment resident needs and help push SL forward.
Here are mine, and I feel very strongly that they are necessary and in fact overdue for moving SL forward:
1. We, the regular residents of SL, are not corporations. We should not be charged the same for private islands as corporations are.
Nor should individuals running businesses on private islands be charged the same amount corporations are.
Most real-world businesses offer corporate rates and individual rates. Even the movie theater on the corner charges different rates for seniors, children, and students.
2. We are also not the Electric Sheep Company. But many of us do have businesses of our own. They are real businesses. To give insider tips to only a few businesses or individuals (and it’s still unclear which few, or how you selected them) is unconscionable, and shouldn’t be repeated.
Our businesses also have customers, and would also appreciate the courtesy of advance warning for ourselves and customers, too.
If any business gets advantages through insider tips, all Second Life businesses and residents should get the same information, at the same time.
3. We regular residents aren’t Nissan, and we aren’t Electric Sheep. But we aren’t chopped liver.
If you want to move SL forward, start giving all residents the respect and consideration we deserve, and above all, the equal opportunity and fair treatment we expect.
coco
November 1st, 2006 at 3:17 PM
zee-
All orders placed between now and November 15th will be at the old pricing.
There will be some class 4 regions sold but most will be class 5.
Sorry for appearing dim but, If I go to the land store and order a sim now, can I say I want the old type? If I can buy the old type, will the $195 a month be fixed?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:17 PM
Lewis :
Say the land store opened at 10pm in CA, USA.
That would make it … 7am or so in Germany.
Gee, right when the Land Barons rise up out of their crypts to stalk the living!
No matter what time you have it, people who SERIOUSLY care will be up at that time.
The reason that it was at 1pm was probably, I am guessing, because LL staff are working in the datacenter at that time. It is, simply, because that is the most convenient time to do it, work-wise.
LL have made some very unpopular choices, yes.
At the same time though, there is such a thing as taking a conspiracy theory too far.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:17 PM
Two questions:
“If you transfer the region to someone else, we are likely to charge the receiver the increased monthly maintenance fee - this is to avoid someone buying lots of servers and then reselling them for a higher price after the price increases for everyone else.”
Does this apply to sims bought *after* this point, orto *all* sims? LL previously wrote that existing sims would be grandfathered at the current rate through the end of January, even if they were transferred. Is that still the case?
“Since changing the verification requirement our international sign ups now exceed sign ups in the US.”
That’s good, I guess, but it does cause me some concern. There are countries where running confidence games on people in the US is a significant source of income. Are we now going to see 419ers treating SL residents as a new pool of mugus?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:20 PM
Thanks for throwing us a bone..!
November 1st, 2006 at 3:22 PM
Followup: here’s what the FAQ still says:
“Q: If I transfer an island, does it keep the same monthly fee it had?
“A: For transfers actioned in the next three months we will honour the original monthly fee, so that if when transferred it is being billed at USD$195 per month then it will remain at USD$195 for the new owner. This will be reviewed on February 1st, after which we may decide that subsequent transfers will move to the new pricing for the new owner.”
Is this still the case for islands bought *before* Oct 29th?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:31 PM
Zee, I still await an answer to when you would like to spend 30 minutes with me so I can show you in-world just how much damage these price increases will make to the communities within SL.
Corporations are not communities. They are not residents. Hell, they aren’t even players really, just paying someone else to build something for them. To expect us, who make up the majority of your playerbase and income, to compete on the same level as multi-million dollar corporations like American Apparel and Toyota shows a complete lack of understanding beyond all reasonable belief.
I do hope that your plans for success with Linden Lab don’t mirror your success with Housevalues.com. http://finance.google.com/finance?q=SOLD&hl=en shows a drop from $18 per share at the start of 2005 to less than 1/3 of that at present.
Publicly available information again. Google is our friend, although I’m not sure you’re a great fan of it.
Lewis
November 1st, 2006 at 3:33 PM
Argent:
Why wouldn’t it apply to islands purchased anywhere up until the 15th?
They wrote it there in black and white. They can’t very well change their mind after people acted on the information. We had no reason to believe that information was false, until just now when Zee decides he wants to amend the terms after the fact.
I sure hope Ginsu Linden doesn’t have the day off. I think someone should page him, and ask him what “good faith” means.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:35 PM
Zee Linden: “Overall, I have stated that our historical pricing has been at or below cost to support the development of the community.”
You guys are real martyrs. I feel for you. Seriously.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:38 PM
could you delay the price upgrade for a year?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:39 PM
Thank you for listening to us. This certainly helps those of us considering a purchase in the near future and worrying that we wouldn’t get one of the 150.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:40 PM
“Please note that, as indicated previously, all Private Island regions may be subject to increased monthly maintenance fees upon transfer.”
LOL. If the community buys this, I have some prime Florida swamp land to sell.
All statements up to this time were that existing private island maintenance fees would be grandfathered in– INCLUDING those that were sold. Looks like I’m getting out of this madhouse just in time.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:47 PM
Great.
But did you also hear us asking for doing away with *free* accounts so that LL’s path to profitability is not totally on the backs of the paying residents?
Did you also hear us asking for corporate level pricing tiers? That to charge the little content creators, small merchants, the would-be micro community builders prices that Fortune 500 corps would bear is the direct path to destroying our community?
Did you hear any of that as well, Zee?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:50 PM
Erm why is everyone now running round patting the Lindens on the back all of a sudden?
Fact is in the next couple of months or so they are gonna hike island tier up to $295 a month and have openly admitted they have no plans to spread the cost fairly across the whole of sl, ie actually charge ppl to access sl. I really can’t be arsed with this any more, soon as the price goes up i am voting with my feet, No Zee the excuse that we have estate tools does NOT justify a 50% price hike. If you need to make more money then start charging ppl a flat monthly access fee and stop trying to cripple your content creators.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:53 PM
“All statements up to this time were that existing private island maintenance fees would be grandfathered in– INCLUDING those that were sold.”
Wayfinder: Good luck with your future endeavors.
It’s depressing that what should be good news is tainted like this. I hate being negative like this. The fact that this extension was announced right after the feeding frenzy ended, and the retroactive revision of the terms really sour this whole affair.
Onward to profitability (at any cost) eh?
November 1st, 2006 at 3:56 PM
I bought an island because in the faq it said i had until january to where i could transfer it and the new owner would till pay 195 in tier. i felt assured buying it thinking “Well if they do something stupid or it doesnt work out i could just sell it and the new owner would get a deal”
Then i come back to the blog and further read to see that Zee Linden had tried to change that.
This just goes to show they are not thoroughly thinking of their decisions and the consequences. They make changes on a whim then later on realise- “Oh wait, this this and this might happen, let me go add to the blog comments and try to fix it!” Meanwhile they have said one thing and now zee is saying the opposite- AFTER purchases have been made. Not to mention they charged up front. It was always “you will not be charged until your land is delivered”
November 1st, 2006 at 4:01 PM
I have a headache!
May I respectively suggest that although Z has had some very lucrative deals in the past, neither he (or others who run LL) have thought this out very well…nor have they managed to COMMUNICATE it very well to the rest of us.
Unless of course, as some suggest, that’s the idea?
Perhaps the lack of communication is because the CyberBusinessWorld Matrix is new and has not been used in this fashion too many times before?
May I further suggest that LL put the whole thing on the back burner until ALL or MOST of the questions raised by the populace are at least discussed. Could a Consulting entity be called in to direct the whole procedure?
What’s it gonna hurt timewise? When November ends, we should have a clearer picture of what’s at stake for all or most of the people who use SL. By the end of December, all who celebrate various holidays throughout the world should be able to enjoy a great gift–all to the good for LL public relations and the people who work and live at/in SL.
chmarr walcott set forth this basic business guideline in her post; not sure if it’s applicable to the business world round the globe but it sounds sort of basic:
“since you are now running secondlife like a real world company your bound by there rules and regulations..you are supposed to give at minimum 2 weeks notice of price increases for an employee base of 2-30 ppl and a month for 50+ you gave us………1 day your now delaying the price hike for 2 weeks you need to give ppl a minimum of one month so ppl can arrange there finances
also to compensate you should double or triple amount of sims avalible and have them at the old prices”
I sure hope we can work this out, I reaaalllly wanted my own island next year, and our church (ALM Cyber Church) wanted an island too–at a price our membership can afford.
By the way, if ANY corporation out there, or private citizen wants to help ALM develop this idea…please contact Ben Psaltery, Pastor of ALM.
Our church is growing and needs the room. Corporate sponsorship could help us develop a theme park something like the one now at Vine…only on a grander scale!
November 1st, 2006 at 4:10 PM
I think People are extremely concerned about your intent to raise monthly tier on not just this next batch of sims sold between today and the 15th when transferred to new owners in private sales, but the liklihood of deciding to raise tiers across the board regardless of purchase date of sim in the near future.
This may sound like jumping the gun and undue hysteria from those of you in the Lab but its a valid concern and really does warrant a prompt and concise response.
While its nice of you to realize that not enough notice was given when the announcement was made on Sunday, theres still enough fog and haze here that has some people rightfully scratching their heads.
Zayn
November 1st, 2006 at 4:22 PM
Missed Zee Lindens posting.
“Private Island regions have more features and control than a mainland region & therefore they probably always should have been priced differently. ~~~ such as the Estate Tools of private islands.”
The control of sun has never worked right as an estate. Most of the tools beinfits are toward dealing with griefers and alts. I am aware that teraforming/texturing and other tools are of help and support. But at end of day it is also a harder position to be in. Having to get residents to teleport over. If the sim were attached to mainland with estate control then there might be something. I don’t think it can be said that the features are so much better on a private sim that one should charge more. Back when there was not direct teleporting there was an argument but now not really.
I also note
“Verification is a difficult issue for us right now, because requiring it would cut out groups of whole countries where we are not technically capable of doing any verification. Many countries don’t use Credit Card & Paypal doesn’t have a lot of international penetration.”
That is just not right. I live in Thailand and trust me when I say that creditCards are as rampent here and in europe as they are in the US. Linage, Ragnarok and Guild Wars with their 16 million or so users each on asian servers are all verified and paying accounts. The Korean, Japanese and Chineese online gameing market is the largest in the world and they are more consious about security. The world knows how to do business with the net.
To get the Asian market you need to learn the asian market and deal with their press and personalities. It is a very sophisicated market with TV channels dedicated to online games. Thai TV hosts 4 game channels of which one is totally dedicated to Liniage. In 7/11 there are rows of magazines dedicated to one game or another. Secondlife is not to be seen.
As to a system to assist those who devlop and provide education, content and creativity. That is a noble thought. But it is but a thought, like so many that have been offered up to quell the heat of the moment. There are many in SL that sadly have gone to the wayside because their business accumen was not as sharp as their creativity. Devloper Bonus’s were a nice way to look after them but the system ended up supporting a lot of gambeling sites and commercial entities.
There are many of us out here who are not in SL for a $ but here for the community. Clubs that offer support and help. Artists that love creating. Programmers that go with the urge. No financial compensation required. This group are an inner core that believe and work selfishly. They should be nurtured and looked after.
I am not against costs going up, though I may not like it, if they are fair, explained and though out so that all may be able to adjust to it. This was a feeding frenzy that makes any corporate PR person blanche.
November 1st, 2006 at 4:22 PM
Well, you listened, at least to the extend that you realized we were screaming in pain. But I don’t think you paid much attention to what we actually *said*, it terms of attempting to offer constructive alternatives.
I do thank you Zee, for at least making an attempt at a reply. But I think you really need to read past the “OH NO, DON”T RAISE PRICES!” screams and see what we actually said beyond that.
The delay is only that. A delay, that allows a few people who were on the cusp of ordering a sim the chance to do that. The fact remains that any sim purchased AFTER that brief grace period will still be at a severe competitive disadvantage, with far higher monthly overhead costs than the mainland or all the thousands of existing sims. So this change will STILL kill a lot of future development, because it is so unevenly handled.
Yes, property on private sims is far more attractive than mainland, if you own the sim yourself, or if you have a good landlord. But the average Player isn’t going to think it’s worth a 50% increase in their monthly rent just to live on a private sim.
Please consider the following suggestions:
Keep the monthly charge at $195. Raise the server price for new sims if you must, but don’t castrate our ability to compete in terms of month to month overhead. A one time higher charge for a sim or for land purchase is a lot easier to swallow than an ongoing 50% rate hike in maintenance.
Seriously consider the benefit of raising *everyone’s* tier/maintence fee by a much smaller amount, instead of just making one sector of the economy pay for it. A 5% tier/maintenace increase, across the board, would be survivable for most of us, and would make far more money for LL. It also does not place anyone at a competitive disadvantage. A 50% increase, now or some time in the future, will kill most sims that aren’t laden with malls, and casinos and other non-residential ventures.
Offer a severe discount for sims that are to be zoned as RESIDENTAL ONLY. Many private sim owners would be happy to build quiet, peaceful sims that are just for people to build their dream homes in. No casinos, no clubs, no camping chairs. But with the new pricing, we can’t reasonably expect to do that. We would have to sell every square meter to make our costs, destroying any hope of providing realistic terraforming or public spaces, and would STILL have to charge a higher price mer M2 and per month after initial purchase than the thousands of existing private sims, or the mainland. Or else we have to add in a mall or a casino or something else that rakes in a steady income higher than mere land maintenance can earn. All those new members you’ve signed up will want homes. But who really wants to build their dream home next to a laggy club or casino or slingo parlor, that eats all the sim’s resources?
November 1st, 2006 at 4:37 PM
Well said Ceera.
It seems we are all pretty much ok with the new cost to purchase an island. But please consider lowering the tier fee. 51% is too much.
November 1st, 2006 at 4:40 PM
GREAT!
Now not only will you raise private island prices, but your answers (points) reveal that you also plan to increase fees for mainland people the next 3-6 months!
This just SUCKS!
November 1st, 2006 at 4:41 PM
Zee quote: “There are no changes to mainland pricing at this time althought pricing may change there in the next 3 to 6 months. We will certainly not price the mainland out of reach for personal use.”
November 1st, 2006 at 4:42 PM
Zee Linden said:
“Verification is a difficult issue for us right now, because requiring it would cut out groups of whole countries where we are not technically capable of doing any verification. Many countries don’t use Credit Card & Paypal doesn’t have a lot of international penetration.”
WHY does LL have such a fixation that US Credit Card services and Paypal are the only two ways in all the Universe to verify identity for an on-line transaction? This is pure NONSENSE! There have to be HUNDREDS of valid ways to verify identity, or to establish valid international financial transactions. WHY limit yourselves to a “One size fits all, or it’s nothing at all!” solution?
Look at any corporation that does business interntionally. Do they just throw up their hands and say “We can’t verify them with a California driver’s license, so we won’t verify them at all? EVERY COUNTRY that has Internet Access has some sort of banking system, and those banking systems have ways of communicating and transferring funds to other countries. It just means that you need to look beyond US Credit Card firms and Paypal, and find out how other companies handle international accounts. There are companies that handle international monetary transfers. Ask any International Business Marketing expert. Sure, Ken at the 7-11 store down the street can’t verify that some person from Belgum is who they say they are, or that the foreign currency he is offering is not just play money. But you are NOT limited to the resources of a US convenience store clerk! Either figure out how a real International business verifies customer accounts and financial transactions, or give up on playing the International field until you mature enough to understand it.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:00 PM
Wow, well said Ceera. Agree with your posts 110%
November 1st, 2006 at 5:01 PM
Thank you for extending the time period! In my eyes this regains you a lot of the faith your customers put into you! I certainly am very happy to see this and applaud you for making this decision!
November 1st, 2006 at 5:14 PM
I also echo the thanks. I think that some of the above posts make some very valid points, but also I’m sure you’re often between a rock and a hard place in supporting the needs of the in-world economy while making sure that LL’s revenue growth meets your investors expectations.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:15 PM
I add-
Zee linden quote: “We will certainly not price the mainland out of reach for personal use.”
And by personal use he means what? They should of that about that for PIs too before many went and bought those for personal use. Now we will be raised to a 295 tier fee, thats the price of what? Large business corporation use? What about those who already bought PIs for personal use. How unfair.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:28 PM
I just thought I’d give my two cents as a regular user of SL who recently bought an island. I do this because I feel LL is detached from the process we, the norms, go through to get our own islands.
I am not a land baron, and I have no interest in being one. I wanted my own private island so I would have more prims to work with (I use sets for backgrounds in my webcomics), so I would have a private place to work, and so I would have more control over my space than I could get on the mainland (with stalkers and several griefing attacks that LL Ignored).
I do not intend to use my island as a business, or to make money. I put my store on the island to help pay FOR the island. The $195/month tier scared me, a lot. But with my store in SL, I knew that it could pay for it on its own. That doesn’t make me comfortable with the tier, which I have not even paid yet. Let’s face it, $195/month is a small car payment. Most people need cars, most people do not need islands.
It took me a year to save up the $1250 down payment. I could have used that money to put towards our house payment, our truck payment, some home improvement, a new dishwasher, or other hobbies. I chose to spend it on SL because I felt this was something within my reach and something I felt was worth spending my money on.
I was lucky that I was able to place my order mid-October. Had you pulled the price increase on us a month sooner, I would not have gotten my island. I feel sympathy for everyone who was also saving up to buy an island who are SOL now. I could have easily been one of you. As it is, I am very afraid our island tier fees will increase, whereas I will have to give up the island. I’m not certain I can afford to pay any more than $200 a month.
Heed this well, LL. I’m one of your average users. I have a store to help pay my tier. I’m not a big corporation that can toss money your way. I help create what draws people to SL. And those people draw the big businesses to SL for marketing purposes. The question is, who supports who in SL? The businesses help pay for your company, we all understand that. But without the people, they aren’t attracted to it.
We’re not asking you to go under for us. We’re asking you to take a better look at the people that helped make SL great. I know you guys want to make more to support your company to keep us going. I understand that fee increases happen. But please understand our points of view. I would be willing to save up a little longer for that $1650 fee (or whatever it was changed to). It would have stung, but still been worthwhile. But I *cannot* by any stretch afford a $300 per month tier. It isn’t a matter of being unwilling, it is a matter of being unable. I think that is the problem that most people are having with this idea.
Now beyond what I’ve written above, I’m not going to critique your decisions without offering some ideas, perhaps something to spark ideas within your company. Perhaps through listening to your users a compromise can be met. Afterall, all these people are bemoaning the prices because they care, and because many of them, like me, wanted their own island - that now cannot afford one.
My suggestion? Like many others, perhaps make certain Tier groupings based on real world information, such as the following:
1. Educator/Non Profit
2. Average User (Potentially with business in SL to help pay for the tier)
3. Business (outside of SL, using SL to market their goods.)
I realize that this isn’t idyllic for everyone, and would have its issues. I own a business in SL that doesn’t exist outside of SL. My business helps pay for my tier. If you lumped me in the Business category with the $295 tier, I wouldn’t be able to afford it, plain and simple. As a regular user, using SL to help pay a $195 tier, it’s well within reason, and within my reach.
I used to work for a nationwide magazine publisher as a photographer, Trader Publications - Auto Trader, if you’ve ever heard of it. We had “Tier” levels such as this for our ads. A regular joe trying to sell his vehicle paid $25 per ad, Dealers were charged much more (And didn’t always get more/better features unless they paid premium for front page or full page ads). The ads for the regular user were generally “at cost,” they didn’t often make much more for the company. The Dealer Ads carried the company. The regular ads attracted more magazine sales, which attracted the dealers.
What we’re asking for is a system such as this so we can keep islands within our reach, but you can ask the big businesses to make up the difference.
Otherwise you’re going to be missing out the tier from all these people who can no longer feasibly afford an island. Is $295 a month for one company better than a few regular people paying $195/month?
-Jakkal
November 1st, 2006 at 5:32 PM
# Argent Stonecutter Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 3:22 pm
Followup: here’s what the FAQ still says:
“Q: If I transfer an island, does it keep the same monthly fee it had?
“A: For transfers actioned in the next three months we will honour the original monthly fee, so that if when transferred it is being billed at USD$195 per month then it will remain at USD$195 for the new owner. This will be reviewed on February 1st, after which we may decide that subsequent transfers will move to the new pricing for the new owner.”
Is this still the case for islands bought *before* Oct 29th?
–
I want to know this too. Because as I am reading it if I transfer my existing island after Feb 1st, 06 the new owner will not be paying the 195.00 I am. They will be paying the 295.00.
So you just put this off for two weeks. There were no signifigant changes to the class 5 servers which would justify the 51% cost increase. More so now your telling me in 3-6 months all sims are going up in price one way or another. To include mainland sims.
Call me stupid but I don’t think you heard the ppl at all.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:32 PM
grrr not 06, 07 where is the edit button.
November 1st, 2006 at 5:34 PM
This is all so much BS, it is intolerable. A delay is only a delay. A grandfather clause the keeps the monthly fee as it is now is a grandfather clause…no exceptions. Now that will go away upon transfer? Make up your !*(^&# minds!! !*(&YW….I’m nothing short of furious as I feel like I’ve been royally !&(*@#^ becauses I am “verified”. There are corporations all over the world that do business all over the world and have no problems getting paid. What IS the damn trouble with LL? Why do I have to be punished financially because of this sort of BS? I was SO looking forward to buying a sim after the beginning of the year. I’ll be dipped if I even stay in SL that long after being (*&Y^# like this!!
November 1st, 2006 at 5:43 PM
I think there are more ways of getting money from us that doesent mean a 25% raise on land and a 50% raise on land fee. This everyday looks more like real life…..the rich get richer and the poor get more dificulties to get out of being poor. I bet my account that all the land Lords and Anshe are only dreaming with a 65% profit just by doing the same thing they were doing last year. The company doesent explain anything and just go on this HUGE and DISGRAFUL raise, also as in real life, telling about it to just “some selected people” and not all of us.
I truly hope you, the company I mean, think about something else because this whole thing just fucking sucks.
I am european and learn my english with american people around 15-18 years old, so if my english hurts anyones feelings, I do apologize.
Since I think USA it has freedom of speach, I hope that goes to hear as well and not get any reprimend because of my words.
Thank you for the oportunity of expressing myself,
Pablo
November 1st, 2006 at 5:43 PM
Exactl Jesseatui
I said right from day one that i would never let my island become another commercial zone, i have strict self imposed rules at my pub, the only income i get from the 20k average traffic i generate is tips , this barely covers the cost of paying for DJ’s and live music , the rest i pay for from my own pocket. But it has been worth it, my sim is a meeting place for the brits in sl as well as many others, what am i supposed to tell the 1300 members at the pub when you jack up the tier to a level that i can no longer personally fund? Linden Labs seem to have this idea that island owners are all making vast profits. I have done my best to encourage as many new people to sl as i possibly could, make them feel welcome and give them somewhere they feel they belong and want to come back to sl for. i have never charged a single linden for anything on my island. Thank you so much for your gratitude Linden Labs, are you intending to do the right thing and buy back all the sims from non profit making owners once you price us out of existance? Cause our islands are gonna be worth squat now.
November 1st, 2006 at 6:00 PM
I agree with the idea of having different zones.
A lot of corporations are looking at SL as an opportunity to get their products or services in front of a million plus potential customers. They can throw $300/month out for that without blinking an eye, and a $3,000 setup fee is a drop in the bucket. That’s a bargain for places such as Honda and Reebok.
We operate a ministry in SL, and have been in a half panic trying to raise the money to buy an island before the prices go up. We can barely afford the $195, much less $295.
And those who want a nice residential place, perhaps even with a small store or two to mimic a “neighborhood market” and bring in a little help with the tier, are of the utmost importance. Those who cater to the average resident’s desire to engage in community by offering neighborhoods and churches are what sets Second Life apart from the rest — it’s not just a game, it’s a “Second Life”.
In the real world, business real estate costs considerably more than residential. And a small plot of land out in the country costs even less. It’s this way in the real world because it works. And since Second Life is modeled after First Life, I’m convinced this is indeed the way to go.
November 1st, 2006 at 6:11 PM
“I’d love to hear comm