A curious question about "lifetime" accounts

I was talking to friends who seems to be coming to Second Life and one question sort of stuck out which is what is considered a lifetime account? This was kind of brought up to my attention as a reminder in other threads i've read.

For example: Is a "free" basic account considered a lifetime account which the basic resident can log in to play whenever they choose to like if they play one day and then don't play until the following year.

Or is it like a lifetime warrenty contract, as long as the database/company exists? Or is there actually a limitation on how long any avatar can exist for before being wiped/purged?

Alot of mainstream games caution players that their account would be wiped after 6 months type of thing, so i was wondering how safe are our avatars if for some reason we cant log in for "any" reason.

Lifetime Accounts (also known as "Charter Member" accounts) are essentially special gifts that were given out at the end of beta for residents that paid a small fee at the time. They're also given out from time to time for Linden promotions.



The benefits of a lifetime account include:
- 4096m^2 of land
- Premium Account stipend rates
- A spiffy "Charter Member" tag by their name, as opposed to "Resident."



The name is also sort-of a misnomer. Yes, basic accounts are available for life - assuming SL lives that long and you log in every so often. A few folks were discussing whether or not you had to log in once every thirty days to maintain this, and the consensus seems to be you do.

Then again, an email my new distribution alt (Codebase Nerd) received stated the time was actually 90 days, so I would double check. Either way, a free "Basic" account and a "Lifetime Account" are two very different animals.

does one have to login inworld to retain their account, or does logging into the forums count to preserve one's avi+stuff?? (i would presume - and am hoping - that since forum login requires same log/pass, that this would be true...)

been off-world for maybe sixty days now; don't know when i'll have an adequate machine to come back inside... s'why i spend so much time here in the forums. but actually i would've never really 'discovered' the forums if it wasn't for that... a good habit to check around here and see what's happening.

Just to clarify, the "small fee" Jeffrey mentioned for the original Lifetime accounts were $159 during beta, and $225 after beta. They stopped offering them at the launch of version 1.2 in December of 2003. At the time, investing several hundred dollars in an unproven system was a risk to take. The only thing a lifetime account got us at that point was freedom from the $14.95 a month fee. It became more valuable after 1.2 - the accounts have no monthly fee and 4096m of tier, which is 3072m more than premium accounts that existed at that time have (they get 1024m, current accounts get 512m).

I have a lifetime account bought after beta and I don't have the spiffy Charter Member designation.

You'll always be a spiffy Charter Member in my heart! ^_^

Same for me. And there are some beta users who don't have the title, and some who bought after beta that do. It is one of those mysteries, like why there are so many damn Midnights.

Do lifetime folks pay tier on the 4096m2?

no

Regarding the $10 or now free "lifetime" accounts, as far as I know there is no cutoff date for inactivity. I pulled an alt account back up not too long ago after more than a year and it wasn't missing anything.

Lifetime for either account means, of course, as long as Second Life exists in its present form (i.e. run by Linden Lab, on its servers and under the current grid system). Any fundamental change in these and the current world is over - no more "life".

Too bad they weren't offering a 4096m² lifetime account recently - I would have bought one.

I'm surprised nobody has complained of unfairness (i.e. some people are getting more land for less real money per month).

Oh, they have complained! This was Prokofy's main grudge point for a long time, till he was forum-banned. Search the forums for any of his earlier posts and you'll find it in there.

As Lisse mentioned, plenty of people have complained, but another way to look at it is the fairness of some people being rewarded for taking a chance on an unproven fledgling company and investing a significant amount in something they believed could be great someday but which, at the time, might have disapeared in a month.

<pet_peeve>Charter accounts and Lifetime accounts have nothing to do with each other. Charter accounts are accounts carried over from beta, whether they are Lifetime or not. Lifetime accounts were also offered after beta. You can be Charter and not Lifetime, Lifetime and not Charter, and Charter and Lifetime.</pet_peeve>

So basically, if i went back to the basic account one day in the future, got sick or whatever, for a long period of time; my character and all her possessions will be erased if i dont log on every so often?

There are many people with beta accounts not listed as Charter members, myself included, and I have both a beta account, and a Lifetime account. There are also some post beta accounts that are listed as Charter.

I don't believe it will be erased. However, not 100 percent sure so this would be a good question to post in the Hotline Lindens Forum for clarification.