Evaluating the Value

Greetings all,

Some of you hate me, some of you like me, most of you have no idea who the hell I am, and are wondering where the pie is.

There is no pie.

I have had a premium account for most of the time I have been in SL. I have spent countless hours over a period of 6 months learning LSL to produce fun, interesting, and useful items with some success. I make a profit, and haven't paid for my premium membership with my CC for months.

I have defended the Lindens on the these forums often, and while I may not have agreed with how some things where handled by them, for the most part I have been a supporter of LL.

That has changed.

The announcement that LL is removing the forums indicates to me that they are afraid too many people are seeing posts about legal issues involving intellecual property theft, child pornography, or a lack of age verification. It says to me that they want these posts gone, so they can continue campaigning for investments from companies that would not associate with an organization which practically promotes copyright violation and giving access of adult/mature content to minors.

Removing the forums silences the population for the ears of the investors.

My feeling is that LL is planning on selling SecondLife, which has been suggested often on the forums already, or they are attempting to remove the controversies they do not wish to deal with by removing the voice of those who speak up about them.

I have changed my subscription from quarterly to monthly, and will be selling off my land and tiering down. During this process, if LL decides to keep the forums, I will remain premium. If they do not, I will drop down to basic.

There are plenty of MMO's coming out this fall/winter/spring, and I am considering a couple of them. While I absolutely love scripting in SL, I cannot support a company that will not support its paying customers and their concerns.