Gift Codes a Go Go
Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by: jill lindenEffective immediately we are closing the “Give the Gift of Second Life” program.
While gift codes were useful for a time, they have become less necessary with open registration. With demand for this option at an all time low, we decided to discontinue it.
If you are in possession of a gift code obtained prior to the closing of this program, it remains valid. If you have difficulty with a code, please contact billing@secondlife.com and include the code# and what difficulty you are experiencing.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:05 PM
goodbye “Give the Gift of Second Life”!!!!!!!!! *runs off into a wall”
January 8th, 2007 at 1:06 PM
I think there needs to be a bigger incentive to become premium than land and 100L more or whatever it is. Because 100L in SL isn’t much.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:28 PM
Damn, And I was hoping we’d go back to verified sign-up. We are turning the wrong wai!
January 8th, 2007 at 1:31 PM
premium users should get more bang for their buck
January 8th, 2007 at 1:40 PM
goodbye “give the gift of second life”!!!!!!!!!!!!! *runs off into a trash can*
January 8th, 2007 at 1:53 PM
now how’s about you get rid of “free” accounts
January 8th, 2007 at 1:54 PM
Phew. I have lived in perpetual fear that some well meaning friend would buy me a “gift membership”. having heard the horror stories of seized land and frozen accounts when attempting to downgrade, intentionally wiped inventories, etc.. the LAST thing in the world I want is to “experiment” with going premium.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:58 PM
I saw Puzzle Pirates go to pot when it went on Mini Clip, now with “open registration” SL is going the same way! It’s way to easy for underage and griefers to get into the game and wreak their own brands of havoc.
Bring back the Credit Card Verification!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:00 PM
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!! Or anyone that gives a crap… Please Turn off the Free accounts, and Help us, the ones that Subscribe to this game!!!
ok, now runs.. into wall.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:13 PM
Please, get rid of the Free Accounts, or at least make their avatars explode after a certain time limit is met. Thankyou
January 8th, 2007 at 2:18 PM
“# Devian Ayres Says:
January 8th, 2007 at 1:28 PM PST
Damn, And I was hoping we’d go back to verified sign-up. We are turning the wrong wai!”
“# Sunny Says:
January 8th, 2007 at 1:53 PM PST
now how’s about you get rid of “free” accounts”
Here we go again… I haven’t been in-game for a long time, but I’m still knowledgeable enough, both about SL and about life in general, to know that not all ‘free’ accounts are bad. What you’re talking about is eliminating probably at least half the SL userbase, just because of a few bad seeds, some of whom may have even been ‘paid’ members rather than ‘free’ ones!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:21 PM
the free accounts have introduced alot of bad elements to just flow right in, but it also allows those without a card to come on…good or bad….the premium accounts do need a bit more, also for the verified but not used card people could use a little more too, 50L is hard to build up
January 8th, 2007 at 2:21 PM
IS this the same as buying a subscription for another person? (I sk cuz the button I hit did not say ‘give the gift…’)
If so, when will the subscription I purchased for Heather Leavitt be fixed? She still has not recieved her sign-on bonus. This has been mentioned to two liasons via the help chat AND mailed to support by both of us… We’re working on a week now with this problem and my friend wants her money
January 8th, 2007 at 2:22 PM
Unfortunatly they aren’t going to stop the unverified people even with the flood of preteen children into the adult grid. I guess pure numbers are what they want?
I am tired of not even being given preference on login as premium/verified member when software crashes during the middle of an event I am running in world and have to wait 5 minutes to get back? Of course I come back to 20 IM’s from unverified new members cussing me out… And why report their actions when they can’t ban them anyway?
That and the fact I never get a responce to any problems I have from help desk other than a canned auto responce. Guess they are too busy helping the people who don’t pay anything? This is spiralling downhill fast. Between lag and sim crashes and griefer attacks. I can’t wait to see the grid attacks now that the source code has been opened up. Give me back the SL I fell in love with!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:26 PM
For the love of God, PLEASE don’t get rid of free accounts! D: I go to college right now and am having trouble paying for my tuition! If you guys get rid of free accounts, I might not be able to play SL anymore. :’(
January 8th, 2007 at 2:27 PM
The free accounts are definitely ruining SL. I can’t go anywhere in SL without some first-day newbie asking me “you can want have the sex?” Please, Please, Please do something! There are more that a few “bad seeds”. SL is crawling with them and its only getting worse.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:32 PM
*ran into both the trash can then the wall a long time ago…now i think ill go sit in the corner with my thumb up in a pie*
January 8th, 2007 at 2:32 PM
Man, why is it some people have to bring up the ‘free vs. paid’ arguement at every chance? The problem does NOT have anything to do with ‘free’ accounts, it has to do with the fact that the ONLY WAY Linden Labs has to track the mischievious portion of the ‘UNVERIFIED’ accounts is an IP - and that can be spoofed easily enough.
With at least a DOZEN ways that LL could re-invoke a verification system, at least 3 of which do NOT involve a credit card OR bank account, it is plain laziness not to do so. My beef (and many of those on the con side of free accounts) has nothing to do with people not PAYING - the arguement of wisely spending the $10 a month on the linddens and renting is quite good and acceptable - it is with those ‘free’ accounts that are unverified (ie that do NOT buy lindens, have no way to track the MISUSE of the account) because of all the grief these accounts tend to give other players, not to mention the grid attacks and general sluggishness.
If your profile page says ‘payment info on file’ or ‘payment info used’ then you are not an ‘unverified’ user. It’s quite simple.
I hope this will clear it up for everyone that takes personal offense. Besides, this blog entry has NOTHING to do with the proliferation of free accounts, it has to do with people, like Rori, buying a subscription for a friend.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:50 PM
not sure of what all the fuss is about free accounts. SOME OF US seriusly enjoy SL and Purely can not afford an account. Not likeing the put downs at all its never all of a group. A few bad seeds dont mean there all bad.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:52 PM
Give free accounts for 30 days only. If they don’t value sl enough to pay for it after that, let them go their way.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:54 PM
i think the real problem is credit cards. all you paid whiners are ether using paypal or a credit card, both of whom will be doing their darndest to leach you of every penny you have. i do not now, nor will i ever use a credit card, they are temptation in a little plastic box. paypal is the same, but without the box. add an option to billl by mail and im sure you will see a lot of users go premium. me for example: im new here, and i do try to cause as little grief as possible. i find it distressing that i am banned from certain areas based not on MY behaviour, but the proverbial bad apple in our wonderful barrel.
and a note to the side: if you eliminate free accounts, then the lindens may as well kiss any new growth goodbye. im not going to pay 10 bucks for something i might not like, especially if its a subscription system. i think we all know the lindens arn’t that dumb. give them some credit, will you?
January 8th, 2007 at 2:56 PM
Yes Please Please, NO MORE FREE ACCOUNTS. Make everyone pay 9.95 A month For every Account.
Not just New Accounts, Everybody who is currently in Sl. All the accounts created as alts to grief Sl would go away.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:58 PM
again brian some people do treasure the ability to be on second life but simply have no money. you know like a single mom of 3 kids and she dont get child support. to her it would be an escape from the real world. and isn’t That exactly what second life is all about An Escape from the Real Life.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:59 PM
I think the free memberships are good, with perhaps a time limit. In fact, if not for the free initial sign-up I would probably not be here. A friend from another game suggested I check it out and I did, only because it cost me nothing. Had I been required to pay “up front” I don’t think I wold have even bothered to take a look.
And, while I still am not a premium member, I do have payment info on file and spend as much $L as anyone I know, and have recently started working on some things I hope to be able to sell one day. I would suggest maybe a 30 day free membership and then either have to have a verified account or premium membership. That way, the curious can come in, look around and see what SL is all about and determine if they want to stay or go without having to spend any money at the outset.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:00 PM
How about a little more incentive to be a premium member than _500L_ and having to pay 9 bucks a month, always on the same day of the month?
there needs to be better billing plans, personally, I could only have a premium account if i could pay on fridays.. ain’t no money in the bank any other day. but nooo, the..let’s say 11th, doesn’t always fall on friday, but billing is always on -that- day!yeah.. i SO need overdraft charges for a stupid 9 bucks.
like i said.. _500L_ a week just sucks. especially when you can easily spend 10,000L in a day shopping. try maybe 500L a day, that i might pay 9 bucks a month for
January 8th, 2007 at 3:06 PM
Very Good Point Naomi. I might quit eating a few days of the week and save the money for SL if they do that lol
January 8th, 2007 at 3:08 PM
I wouldn’t have joined SL if it wasn’t free first time.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:08 PM
a few days of the week? it’s 9 bucks. if you got three kids, you spend more than 9 bucks on dinner
January 8th, 2007 at 3:09 PM
i was talking out of my mouth not theres silly kids come before SL
January 8th, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Because they are sick of paying and contributing to SL directly in the form of tier to LL, and having to crash every other hour, not get in the sims they own, not create content because it gets lost or the perms do, all because we needed to open verification so an extra 5,000 camping alts can be online.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:10 PM
I tend to agree with most of the above & YES free accounts should be given 30 days & after that pay a minimum payment to stay an unpaid account that way premium holders will be happier & free members could become residents without certain abilities ie owning land meaning one parent fams etc with little money can continue to enjoy & LINDEN WOULD BE ABLE TO TRACK ALL RESIDENTS then all would be happy all would be verified (BEFORE 30 DAY sign up) if you have comments please feel free to email me @ rainbow.gardenservices@ntlworld.com
January 8th, 2007 at 3:11 PM
“”"there needs to be better billing plans, personally, I could only have a premium account if i could pay on fridays.. ain’t no money in the bank any other day. but nooo, the..let’s say 11th, doesn’t always fall on friday, but billing is always on -that- day!yeah.. i SO need overdraft charges for a stupid 9 bucks. “”"”
And you don’t know how to save 9 bucks for 3 days til the Tuesday after?
January 8th, 2007 at 3:13 PM
P.S. Guys, some of you saying free are meaning unverified and vice versa. Please be clear about unverified, basic free and premium so no one gets crazy over the wrong thing.
Please line up according to sanity to air your grievances!
January 8th, 2007 at 3:17 PM
Rori, please contact billing@secondlife.com with your concerns.
Please keep comments on topic so we can keep the comments on this post open.
~Jill
January 8th, 2007 at 3:25 PM
Getting rid of free accounts will not be easy if the motivation for these accounts was to drive up the reported number of active accounts. I would speculate that these growth numbers are reported to possible investors. I agree that something needs to be done about getting rid of free accounts.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:26 PM
Get rid of free accounts and you’ll be getting rid of the people who finally found a game thats free to play and fun at the same time.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:28 PM
My two lindeys, if the feature was not being used, might as well kill it. I only know two ppl who got here using them. Free accounts would seem to be the culprit.
As to all the other stuff on accounts, different levels of accounts would be nice. Maybe something inbetween full premium and free. Limits on land and such with that level.
Free accounts are not the problem. Much of my SL income comes from residents using free accounts. The issue is, and has always been, un-verfied accounts. If I can create an account, for free, using bogus information, you have no recourse with me. Take my account, I just make another one.
That said, last I heard from LL, verification is dead and not coming back. So, get over it. An era has passed. LOL
DRD
January 8th, 2007 at 3:32 PM
As someone who signed up with a ‘free’ account, I am apalled at the way some of the paid subscribers/premium users are treating this blog post…
I was a student when I first started playing and simply couldn’t (and still can’t) afford to play SL as a premium user, but then again, I don’t need to - I don’t need land, all I want is a sandbox, some friends and a way to express myself.
SL is a truly wonderful game, despite some weaknesses of the players and sometimes the lag it creates… not everything in this world is perfect, and neither is SL - learn to live with it.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:39 PM
I wish they would do something about all the clones.
I think something should be done about all the mightier than thou attitudes of the premium account holders. Go back to your private little islands and run your casino and strip clubs without us, you find out how many “free accounts” keep you people in business.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:41 PM
If u wanna get rid of the free accounts make it payable by adding more pay options. I want to pay for SL, but i dont have a credit card, sinds its the only(?) way to be a premium member. Money isnt the problem, but the cred. card is. if there is anyone else who knows how to get land without signing up with a credit card? please email me @ supersmoofy@hotmail.com or leave a message in Sl @ Smoofy Insoo. I would really appreciate that!.
Sl is truely a wonderfull game, make is accessibe for more paying ppl.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:44 PM
I quit reading the blogs because of one thing — virtually every single thread, regardless of the subject, seems to almost immediately go off-topic into one or both of two lines: Bitching about problems that LL is working on and knows about, or banning unverified accounts. I take a peek back in, today, and I see the same thing *still* happening.
I’m not going to get into a knock-down-drag-out argument with anyone subscribing to verification-snobbery, but I want to make something *perfectly* clear. We unverified users are not to blame for everything that has gone awry here in SL, however much you might try to bend LL’s collective ear in that direction. Yes, some “undocumented immigrants”, to borrow a term from Real Life, have caused problems, but most of us are at least as well-behaved as the rest of you. And before you point out (as is inevitable in these threads), that free and/or unverified accounts are just a drain on LL resources and not returning anything into the system let me point out that in the last two week I’ve personally injected over $150 of real honest-to-goodness legal U.S. currency into the system. How I did that as an unverified user is beside the point. What I would like to ask is how many of you premies have paid LL more than your measly monthly membership and how many of you basics really bother buying L$ (funny how I see some of the same verified users at every camp spot I go to, regardless of the time of day)? I’m spending far more per week in this world than the average “premium” member, I suspect. I’m renting a nice island plot. I’m a good neighbor. I don’t hesitate to drop whatever I’m doing in-world to help someone who has a question or an issue s/he doesn’t understand. I’ve put myself between a griefer and a poor newbie to let her escape while I dealt with the butthead. Assuming that LL doesn’t do something incredibly stupid like getting rid of unverified accounts, I’ll soon be going into business, supplying you verified users with products that you won’t hesitate to buy from me, even though I’m banned from some of your own stores, and even entire regions, just because I don’t have payment information on record.
The moral of this story is to get off your high horse (and off our case) and get back on topic. Sorry, Jill, but I had to say this. I’m really getting frustrated that a small, but very vocal, minority of verified users might, possibly, convince Linden Lab, just through their incessant repetitive litany, that it would be a good idea to dump unverified accounts.
I’ll shut up, now. *climbs down off soap box and smashes it with a big sledge hammer*
January 8th, 2007 at 3:45 PM
The only reason to get a premium account is for a bit of land. I dont want land so im not upgrading. I do however regularly buy linden dollars and spend in world so i am supporting the econemy.
A hell of a lot of money spent in SL is from free accounts.
Just because someones account is free dosnt mean they arnt contributing by buying and spending L$ and making exciting things to sell and improve the lives of everybody in SL.
The bottom line is that unless theres a better reason than land and a small pittance to go premium then people will stay with free accounts and Linden labs will not abolish the free acounts because of the vast amount of money free acounts are bringing to them in the form of L$ purchases.
Someone said earlier that if your profile says Payment info on file then you are varified, this would be a better way to combat the miority of griefers if everyone was made to give payment info, also people without credit cards can still join because you can use paypal with a simple debit card.
You premium elitists are sad. If there was a way to show you what you wouldnt have if people wiht with free acounts werent here you would change your minds.
Also im quite sure that not all griefers are free acount holders, anyone free or premium who buys a weapon in SL has teh potential to get carried away and grief.
Maybe more information should be given when people sign up and payment info should be a must to at least varify age but the lindens use of free and premium acounts is good. it gives people who otherwise couldnt afford SL a chance to play and those who wish to own a part of SL can do so in premium acounts.
If you premium guys dont like it then set a list of people allowed on your land and keep to yourself.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:47 PM
I think free accounts are just fine as long as they are credit card verified. This way we know they are an adult and SL could track persistant free accounts that cause problems. They also are able to buy Lindens and things in sl if they have a credit card on file. Sooo, let them have a free account with CC verification and let them spend spend spend!
January 8th, 2007 at 3:48 PM
every time the lindens post something, people always scream to get rid of free accounts. to that I say HAY I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK!!
I am sure that no one I have met in Second life would classify me as a greifer or pest. I am working on opening a shop and relaize that to do that I must upgrade my membership but until then I have been an active and pleasant member of the community and I have a FREE acount.
Were not all bad!
if the “share SL with a friend” is no longer available oh well. but how many rl friends have you convinced to join, that might have started as free accounts also?
January 8th, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Ok, my question…why does (almost) everyone have a problem with free users? We’re people too! I’m a player no less than the premium users. I just don’t feel like paying $10 a month, since I get free housing and L$ from the shops I open up. I know everyone says that we’re the problem with the game, but I object!!!
Hate to see this go. I was thinking about giving my friend a SL subscription when his birthday rolled around. Ah, well, guess money in a card works too
January 8th, 2007 at 3:53 PM
I’ll just say that my sales went up almost 5 times since verification was removed. And don’t forget that though someone might have a free account, they are often spending much more then 10$ a month renting land or buying from someone who does have a premium account. Taking away free accounts would take away in my opinion the glutted markets that out there and I beleive that I would quit Second Life if I didn’t get my daily Monopoly fix of selling stuff and brokering land to newbies.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:53 PM
So… creating a future addict by giving them a gift of a 3 month subscription, leaving it up to them to pay for the rest once they’ve become addicted to what little benefits being a paying member (300/week stipend and the right to own land - WOOT pay more money each month in maintenance fees) is being taken away? I thought the idea was to invite our friends to come on board and, if we liked them enough, maybe encourage them with a b’day gift of a premium account… if you’re so inclined.
Hrm. Maybe I’m too old fashioned. Gift certificates? Bah humbug.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:56 PM
why make everyone pay to play, when not everyone wants to own land. If its to stop people from messing up the game.. what makes you think they wont pay a month just to get in there and cause problems.. i mean thats their main intension and will do what ever it takes to do damage even if its to pay a month to get in. Also removing free accounts would make people not even want to join and experience the game.. if free accounts werent available i would have not even tried it out, and im sure that goes for a lot of the people out there. Even now that i have played for a bit and do like it.. im still not even thinking about being premium.. no need for it if not going to own land.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:57 PM
I’m not sure yet what my point is going to be, but bear with me while I toss off a few points from the top of my mind.
I am a paying user and I was from the first day I arrived here, and I’ve paid a lot over the last year or so for premium land, rent, stuff, and junk in SL - yet, I also want alts - I have a couple of different second lives and not all of them can be lived on one paid account. But I’ll be damned if I’ll pay for more than one until this “company” fixes this “platform” to be at least as good as some of the online worlds from way back in 1993 - remember the early entries? Slower engines, horrible interfaces in some cases - but ALL of them more stable than this joke. And as a veteran software developer of some 20 years now myself, I’d be embarrassed to be rolling this system out in the way that LL has managed it so far.
However, regarding the ongoing debate here of paid vs free accounts, and time limits and all of that noise… IF this world is even remotely intended to resemble anything like the Street in Snow Crash, something many of us like to compare it to, then why not follow their model. I am hereby deciding that the point of this post is to suggest taking a page from Neal Stephenson and giving free accounts limitations like the ones in the book - make them black and white instead of in color, make them grainy and low-resolution. Make them chose from Barbie ™ or Ken ™ like the free users had to make to do with in Snow Crash but for the love of God, give us premium users something that matters - something to reward us for supporting a company that routinely screws up and we stay anyway for the love of the “game”.
Like the first land debacle. When I joined, it was not at all made clear I should buy some, so I bought some other random land, paid a fortune, then later learned I could never buy a cheap first land lot again, since I had already paid out the nose for some crap on the mainland before I learned enough to know better. Now I look for first land for my alt’s, and there isn’t even any for sale - so what’s the benefit there again exactly?
Over all, We all really want to believe in Second Life and it’s future, but until this company starts listening to ALL of it’s customers unilaterally, and the word “Customers” means the ones that PAY, stops faking registration numbers, stops rolling out buggy code without a proper QA cycle and stops acting like the world revolves around 10 well known avatars, NONE of us will take you seriously, not much of the press will yet be positive and SL is ultimatley doomed.
First order of business tho -would someone PLEASE get rid of this prokofy neva person, a thorn in the side of the world and someone who clearly needs to get a third life, because they came to second life after being shunned in the first life and now turns the stomachs of those who have to read his/her/it’s drivel around the web. So many words from someone who has NOTHING to say.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:05 PM
I’m kind of with a little of everything said above. Free accounts are needed to keep this place alive, but they need to have a time limit. Also the incentive to become premium needs to SERIOUSLY get better. that 500L a week I’m getting really isn’t worth jack. If you consider the average price of even some of the ‘normally bought’ things in SL that 500L really doesn’t get you anywhere. I understand that if you take into view the fact that you’re getting 2000L per month, which is twice as much as what you’d get if you bought them on Lindex, it seems like it’s something, but after dealing with downtimes, crashes, lag/packet loss, inability to log into your own homes, inventory that you PAY FOR disappearing without ever being returned, etc….. it’s really not worth it. I pay, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else because the cost to benefit ration is totally skewed against the paying customer. The free accounts have it made. LL, give SOME preference to those that keep your bills paid before they all go back to free time.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:09 PM
default
if(ll Detected type(0)& Paying Member)
{
//Stop utterance whimper
State entry
free account holders best creators!!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:11 PM
I have been in Second Life now for 5 months on a Free account (I refuse to have a Credit card) and Work Hard as a Builder and TUi NEO instructor, I do not Grief people and I don’t consider Myself to be a bad seed, I find it rather insulting to be grouped in with Griefers and Bad seeds, I have met quite a few Premium account holders who are rather small minded and Eliteist but I certainly wouldn’t arbitrarily Tar all Premium holders with the same brush.
Perhapse LL need to look into other ways of Verifying Age and allowing users to make Payment (Debit Cards possibly I have no objection to those).
January 8th, 2007 at 4:14 PM
I think the problem with blocking unverified accounts is that a lot of people refuse to verify themselves. I really want to block unverified accounts on my parcel because of the amount of kids (who freely admit their age) appearing in groups & in world, but I don’t want to block all the free users. Hopefully LL is working on tools to simplify verification and automate the process when a user is denied access. :3
I think I heard talk of different levels of reliability?
January 8th, 2007 at 4:19 PM
Please don’t dis members like me who can’t afford or won’t spend $120 a year on a membership. I obey everone’s rules, try my very best to contribute to the fun & excitement , and buy the products that others create with Lindens I earned at my SL job. I’m a good citizen plain and simple.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:20 PM
According to my opinion, the bigger problem is not “free accounts” or “verification” but the approach of the majority to SL. As long as there are many people who call this a “game” and talk about “playing”, the whole thing loses its attraction and meaning for me.
The reason I’m here, is I see this as the dawn of a new platform, not succeeding but accompanying the World Wide Web. Many possibilities of exchanging information, a great opportunity for the people of different cultures to learn to coexist and tolerate each other, new ways of sharing knowledge, a great entertainment and fun environment, new horizons for artists, programmers, graphics artists and musicians. Totally a new era at online communication.
If I’m terribly wrong on this, if this is really a “game”, then SL should get rid of *me* (and people like me) instead of getting rid of free accounts.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:21 PM
Have to chime in and agree with the comment that the problem is not “free” accounts or gift subscriptions, it is unverified accounts. Require a valid credit or debit card number for the adult area, and you all but eliminate the teenagers whether they pay or not. You also raise the bar for a griefer who is 18 or over because you can block his credit card number from holding an account and he has to get a new card - or go somewhere else to grief people.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:22 PM
I am totally against getting rid of free accounts as I am one. Free accounts are accounts that can and eventually do become paying accounts so plz stop trying to get rid of free accounts. If you have a problem with newbies, you should try helping them or be silent. Sry 4 offtopic but I get tired of reading that in every post about get rid of free accts. I have afree acct and I am a law abiding resident of SL who contributes GREATLY to the economy of SL.
As far as the gift codes are concerned, I”m sry to see it go but understand your logic for it.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:22 PM
superdano…here to right the wrongs of the world!!
ok…i’m a free accounter and a newbie. would i be here if it wasn’t free? NOT without the very good recommendation of a good friend,would i dream of paying no!
i maxed my credit card years ago…they won’t give me another for some reason….
to me it seems fairly simple, but then im not a program techie etc, but isn’t it possible to make a large island or a portion of the world especially for free joiners? give them a shopping mall and a club or two, let them see whats going on in the full world. if they want to build, design things,sell,or just simply explore the bigger world and it’s delights….then they pay the monthly fees and get off the island! if not then they just stay happily on newbie island having what fun they can.
no need for 30 days free to decide, and LL will still pull in lots of newbies and potential payin customers. plus the regular payers can have their world,and the griefers will be (mainly) stuck in newbie island!
success,i’m a genius, gimme a job
also…i do think that the paying members shouldn’t have to suffer all the crashes and grief it can cause them because the system is packed with non payers! to me it just seems wrong, and they should be compensated for this. just my thoughts.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:26 PM
I am a single mum with 3 kids and no child support but because i dont get the chance to go out much i love to be in secondlife building and chatting with my friends - i do have a paid account and no i dont have a problem with new people comin in with free accounts (apart from griefers obviously) but my concern is (and maybe im wrong - im not a server genius) but surely all these new accounts being made are putting more of a strain on the servers or whatever thing it is that deals with the amount of avatars in world at any one time - and i dont think thats fair to those members who do pay money to enjoy the game.
Its great that there are so many people to talk to but where is the line going to be drawn?
are linden labs able to keep up with the influx of new avatars in world ??
or is it going to cause more problems like we have having lately - im not saying scrap the free membership forever but how about maybe having special offer periods now and again to let free memberships in ?
allow the free members to drift in bit by bit and making sure the grid can cope without ruining paying members games before letting the next lot in ?
whatever happens there needs to be some sort of control otherwise i presume it would be like letting thousands of people into a football match at once - the barriers drop and people get crushed …
January 8th, 2007 at 4:26 PM
i’m a free user - please stop bashing me!
I’m paying a lot for a plot of land and more, and not every free user is a bad user. Go on and recheck your prejudices.
No more gift certificates? Ok. no gifts for friends - just a mail to join, if at all.. I don’t think that’s the way, but i may be old fashioned and wrong.
As long as the desaster area called grid persists, i don’t see any need to invite anyone: Laggy, packet loss up to 50% and more, teleports don’t work correctly for severall days now, just been logged out by the system again, had to wait for relogin, after relogin stuck with no movement possible, reset the cache, relogged again, the first teleport lasts about a minute, initiated a second one without demand, after that teleport i’m stuck again without any possibility to move…
First: i don’t pay one single cent for a premium membership, as long as this desaster goes on. I’m not willing to pay on top of the loss i’ve had by failing transactions and inventory faults.
Second: i’m not willing to invite anyone, with or wihout a gift certificate. I don’t want to disgrace myself.
So, as the status of malfunction seems to persist, it doesn’t matter if gift cert’s are available or not… With a working grid, i think, it’s the wrong way to stop the cert’s.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:35 PM
Please, keep the comments on topic. This comment thread has devolved from “Goodbye ‘Give the Gift of Second Life’,” to “Please, get rid of the Free Accounts, or at least make their avatars explode after a certain time limit is met.”
This is ludicrous. I’ve seen off-topic posts before, but this takes the cake. Just to end this argument once and for all: Free accounts improve the economy, those who buy Lindens inflate prices. Long story short, because free accounts don’t get stipends, they work for a Second Living. This means that *gasp* Lindens actually circulate instead of being created out of thin air by the LindeX. I may be biased because I use an unverified account, but really, this whole Premium vs. Free argument is pointless.
So please, let’s get back on the topic at hand. Gifting Second Life is gone, and I for one will miss it.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Hmm..all valid points here, even if some are off topic. First, if you can afford Internet access, it means you have a computer to do so. If you can afford 500 dollars for a computer, an overclocked (or just expensive) graphics card, then you can afford even the BASIC paid monthly membership.
I find it hard to believe that even a COLLEGE student can’t afford 10 dollars a MONTH for a basic subscription here. If you can afford 20 bucks for booze every weekend, then, stop whining about not being able to afford for something like SL.
Besides, this particular blog is about the expired gift thingies. We were ALL newbies at one point and time on Second Life. The fact is, SL doesn’t HAVE to be here. They COULD do away with all the free accounts. Heck, they could just, out of the blue, raise the PREMIUM rates. At the core, this is ’supply and demand’. I have NO CLUE how hard it is to write code, do updates, deal with griefers and such. True, I don’t like it when I can’t get into my SL house because of “bugs”, or to have completely lost two items that i purchased worth over 3500L in the past week from my inventory. I sent in a bug report about that.
So, until I can learn how to write code, and come up with something that even just BARELY blows SL out of the water, and since I don’t know what it’s like to have to deal with SIM crashes or to fix “bugs”, all I can do is just hope that the ones who DO KNOW will be able to get things fixed.
Anyway, enough of MY off-topic rant. I’m tired, and I’m going to slam my head into a PILLOW, thank you very much!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:41 PM
I think LL should consider a min payment for new accounts. Like $10 reg fee for a new account. Not a monthly just a small fee so we don’t have any more throw away accounts being used for greefing.
It would bring in some money but more importantly it would reduce the number of greefing attacks and thus the Lindens can focus on other things like making SL better.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:43 PM
I’m sorry to see gift subscriptions go - however since I work for a bank, let me remind everyone that you can buy a gift card that works just like a Visa Debit card, if you choose to give a gift towards SL.
Now about the secondary topic here - I don’t like the “unverified” accounts, either. Like others have said there are multiple ways to validate people without using a credit card. Also, I don’t like newbies that approach you on a sandbox with something hanging out and “Wanna f**k?” These may or may not be “unverified” accounts - I do read profiles, but cannot say offhand what the average is. Perhaps a lesson in manners would be appropriate while learning how to pan with the camera and how to edit your appearance.
Next, quit whining about $10 US a month - ’cause it’s only $7.50/mo when you go quarterly and $6/mo if you pay annually and if you’re already using a credit card then you probably have $22.50 available every 3 months. Most of you probably spend that at Starbucks in one month anyway much less in three months.
I only get $400L a week, so I’m sorry your $500L isn’t enough - plus some members are only getting $300L a week. I also would love to see a “Preferred” membership that would get a stipend of a sort but not be able to own land. Why would you want to buy land when it’s outrageously priced and I never can find “first land” at the $512 price anyway? Plus there are places where you can rent a room for $250L a week.
I’ll get off my soapbox now - I agree that some changes need to be made - I remind everyone that “you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
Thanks for your time.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Most of the comments are absolutely on-topic (except those who whine about off-topic comments). If the main post is somewhat about the premium accounts (gift or not) then it’s very normal for others talking about the features and quality of the account types and their future.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:17 PM
The issue of doing away with free accounts few accounts, is moot. Simply look at the Second Life economic statistics since their introduction. We’ve got a rapidly increasing economy with more and more money entering the world every day. For deveolpers of content and products, that’s a powerful incentive to continue working. And with new number of sims being ordered, there is no way LL can back away from free accounts.
However, I would suggest not doing away with the Gift of Second Life, just change it. Verification is important, and right now credit cards are the only way it is done. However, one friend introducing another friend is also a form of verification. The person being introduced into SL is known by at least one other resident. This results in current residents inviting in those people they want in-world with them.
If you change the Gift of Second Life to, let’s say earn $L 200 for every friend invited to sign up and provides verificaiton, I thnk we would experience a greater growth of residents (which us developers of content want) but you will find the quality of new people coming in will be high as well.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:20 PM
This shows that LL’s focus shift from premium to basic is not likely a temporary thing.
I don’t understand what it took to keep the program going. A link on the webpage and a code generator? I can’t help but think this is more a statement then a policy shift?
I agree if LL wants premium account payers they need to do more to entice that. At this point why buy the cow when the milk is free?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:34 PM
OK … one last comment and I won’t make any others in this thread. Jeffery, I agree with you, for the most part. My gripe is that I *know* I’m 31 years old. I can’t prove it because I’m not permitted, for reasons not under my control, to divulge *any*personally-identifying information to anyone on the Internet (and very few people IRL). I wouldn’t mind paying for my account. I’m having enough fun, here, that I’d even pay $20 a month, but Linden Lab, in it’s sage wisdom, has decided that you can’t upgrade your account without backing it with a bank account. I could walk into their office and slap a thousand dollar bill down on the counter and tell them I want a premium account, but it wouldn’t matter. And, no, you can’t use PayPal, either. If you don’t “fund” your purchases with a bank account or a credit card, any money in your PayPal account stays there — even though it’s *your* money in *their* bank. It’s a Catch-22 for me. Trust me — I have $100 of my own money, transferred to my PayPal account by my S.O., that I can’t touch — all because I can’t “fund” it with a bank account or credit card.
Yes, I know I’m a special case. I may be the only one of SL’s users in this position, but it’s terribly frustrating to know that the hard work, and real money, I’ve poured into SL, with the intent of eventually setting up a business, here, could suddenly vaporize at the whim of a high-ranking Linden Lab officer who let him/herself be convinced by all the anti-verified diatribe I’m seeing here and in almost every other blog thread. Amazingly (at least if you read the blogs), this attitude isn’t shared by the majority of verified SL users — only a few who seem to come here just to vomit more of their prattle and run virtually every blog thread off-topic in the process.
Frankly, I think people who post off-content material should be banned from the blog, but that’s probably not going to happen, in spite of “the rules”, which are seldom, if ever, enforced. I have to go back to work, now, where I hope to make some more money to send the way of Linden Lab — even though I’m *gasp* an “illegal alien” in eyes of many of our fellow blog posters. Well, I’m doing *my* part to keep Linden Lab, afloat. How about you whiners chipping in and sending some more of your Real Life money in, too? Maybe we could help them increase the size of their server farm, and maybe upgrade to a more robust data base system.
I’m gone. Have a wonderful time, people. See you all (I’m sure) in the next blog thread that gets twisted into a bitch-fest about free and unverified accounts.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:40 PM
We are closing comments at this time since the conversation has veered from the original topic of the Gift Code program closing.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:39 PM
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