Should Linden Lab provide compensation if Telehubs go away?

Let's address the primary issue buried under all the smokescreen:

Rumors have it that Telehubs may in fact be replaced or augmented by some type of point-to-point teleporting. Given that land around Telehubs is currently valued signicantly higher than other areas, does Linden Lab owe some form of recompense to Telehub oriented businesses if the land values there take a dive?

I'm not sure that offering some kind of 'Cash' bonus to telehub landowners is a good answer. In fact, I think its a really bad idea.

The value of telehub land radiates out from the hub. Its not simply the land that borders the Telehub that we're talking about here. How the heck could you compinsate folks on an arbritrary continum?

Land values tend to be higher overall for a good 300m radius around a telehub. If you own land within 300m of a telehub, you can expect the value of your land to drop. If you own land futher than 600m from a hub, it'd likely go up. Those in the middle would likely stay the same.

In short, the folks closest to the hub have the most to lose, and the folks furthest from the hub have the most to gain.

How to fix it? Do you fix it? I don't have a clue. But looking at this as if only the buisnesses that immediately surround telehubs would be affected by this - is quite inaccurate.

LL gives, LL takes.

Anyone who invests significant real world money in SL should, imo, know the ToS and stipulations inside and out. If they do, then they knew the risks going in. If they don't, that's unfortunate because they should know better. When I purchased my block of land (going from the lowest tier to 8k shortly after first coming to SL) I didn't need the land and didn't even really want it. I took a gamble partially based on the assumption that some nearby land would be the site of a future telehub. It was my way of becoming immersed in SL... taking some risk and seeing how it turned out. I was wrong. Oh well. I won't ask anyone to reimburse me because I made a bad speculative decision. And anything we do at any time in SL is - like it or not - speculative. Linden Lab makes no warranty that their future changes won't impact us; they make no warranty that SL will even be online tomorrow. That's life.

That said, I do think it's reasonable to have options placed on the table to resolve this issue. There's no reason for anyone to be inconsiderate. Hence, I posted one possible option here. Rather than discussing reimbursement for someone's speculative effort to turn a profit, perhaps we should start coming up with intelligent solutions that satisfy everyone without privileging the few.

Positively not. Land speculation in RL and SL are risk ventures and the two most vocal proponents of the kickback have both demonstrated that they are sufficiently savvy to know that. Moreover, the ToS in force at the time of their aquisitions specifically said exactly otherwise.

Now if there land was taken via "eminent domain", they might have a reasonable case for fair market compensation. But if LL is going underwrite their feared loss then they should similarly be willing to compensate anyone who ever had a diminishment in value of their land for any reason. Ugly build put next to yours? Here's a cheque. Your former ocean view now has a new sim next to it? Another cheque. Club lagging your sim? Temporary land glut so you have to sell at a loss? Jerky neighbors? Hell, let's protect every one from everything.

Can't fault them for lobbying though in sorta the same way that you can't help but laugh at them when they do.

I need to be sure that if SL tanks and goes out of business, that I will be properly compensated for my land holdings! I have invested significantly into my land holdings and in the interest of Justice, it is proper that I be assured of receiving said value (in gold bullion) no matter how the worm turns.

Additionally, the land I bought at the end of the world now has a sim next to it and various unsightly buildings going up. In one instance, someone actually put up a barn. There is almost no way to put a value on the mental anguish inflicted on me from this, but I will do some due dilligence and estimate the amount of cash that will ease my suffering.

Finally, my business renting to people who want to live at the end of the world, with a nice view of empy, grey cyber-ether, is now in ruins. I can assure you that the Present Value of this cash flow is significant and it should be apparent to all that I must be compensated accordingly.

I'd just like to make the point that as a consumer, I NEVER... repeat NEVER look at any of the content around a telehub.

NEVER.

Telehubs are a nuisance and that's all. As soon as I rez at a telehub, I /roam to my destination. Before I got my hands on a ROAM unit, I would just fly straight up to 150+ meter and then fly to my destination, never once looking at the buildings or objects around the telehub.

Those of you that think a telehub makes your property more valuable, I'd say you ought to reevaluate. I'd offer the suggestion that telehub proximity makes land far LESS valuable. I paid premium $L to purchase land that was as far from a telehub as possible, and as far from any direct route from a telehub to a popular locale as possible. It sure is nice having relative privacy, not much lag and no huge ugly boxes all around me.

In my opinion, no.

Nope.

And when Telehubs do vanish, I would love for there to be a global laugh track implemented across the entire grid.

Absolutely not.

Say they did, what determines who?

I have land in the same sim as a Telehub but about 200m away, do I get compensation?

I know someone who bought a good chunk of land surrounding this same telehub from the auction at a great price. He wouldnt be losing money but he would not have the opportunity to sell it for more in the future, does he get compensation?

Ms. Land dealer has sold high, and bought low the same piece of telehub land about 5 times over again. Keeps making profit off that same parcel, do they deserve to get a credit?

It is a tricky situation that can only be dealt with fairly by saying nobody gets compensation in my opinion. Unless of course everybody gets the credit, in which case the economy becomes that much more unstable. SOmething LL is trying to prevent.

Suck it up and deal with it. Its a business loss.

It happens.

I think no compensation is necessary because I don't think that businesses near a telehub get much more traffic than anyone else.

Honestly how much traffic comes from being right by a telehub?? I don't go from hub to hub looking at the businesses by it and I'd never want land by a telehub. By the time my comp. catches up and starts rezzing annything I'm far away from the telehub. I find the businesses I want to visit through the find menu or getting landmarks from friends.

While I'm at it, I gotta say I HATE the new telehubs. The ones with roofs over them! Though I can't see the roof I still get stuck in it. They should all be out in the open so as soon as you arrive you can take off flying.

investment
risk
gain
loss

be thankful if your telehub parcel made money.

This argument to be refunded for land you have been using holds as much water as asking to have the cost of your meal refunded because you ate it all and it is gone now.

You mean the current one's in my head??

Whatever, Keanu!

HELL no. If land speculation was a sure thing, it wouldn't be called "speculation"

what's the big deal over this chunk of shit?

Oh HAHA, Taco.

We've gone through major major changes. Coming through beta, up until now. There were huge gains and losses on all sides of the coin. There shouldn't be any reason for LL to compensate for it. ANY sound business 'Person', would understand this risk, ESPECIALLY in realestate.

I bet if you still have the reciept you can get a refund for that

Only the 'land barons' charged more for the land, not Lindenlabs, hence I think the 'land barons' should offer compensation.

WOW! ... What if those roofs are part of /the conspiracy/ .... the telehub land owners influenced the telehub designers to keep people form flying away as soon as they arrived!!!!



All kidding aside, I find them annoying as well.

I hit the roofs all the time. I am apparently too stupid to remember and end up pinballing around in my jetpack and swearing a blue streak.

Whatever comes, sometimes I'm going to pound my fists on a keyboard like one of those anthromorphic insects from A Bug's Life, but I believe in the due course of time... with so many changes here... if things are gonna be shaken up, I hope there'll at least be some gradualism, with old paradigms giving away to new as the torch is handed off (not a sudden jerky "wake up one day and you're scrooed".

So, no, I don't think compensation should be provided, but I do think COMMUNICATION should always be provided, so we don't all awake in a state of mass confusion... there's enough of that going on.

Maybe it all starts first with a new chunk of land that can be P2Ped to, and leaving the existing telehub structure perfectly intact. For awhile, anyway. If that's technically possible, and if not, I see no good reason why it shouldn't be trialled out to actually get some practical feedback on the matters of hands. (Or a P2P TP day, as I've suggested before.)

Future Shock, a book relevant to understanding accelerative thrust in SL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_shock