A Look at the New SL Economy

A Look at the New SL Economy

I just got the email of the new cost breakdown, and here's how I see the cost of living in SL.

* All prices in Linden $, unless otherwise noted.

Old Economy:
US$15/month, uncapped prim and land usage
$10 + 1tax / prim
$48 + 15 tax /land (4x4 plot)
-or-
US$255 (1 time), uncapped prim and land usage
$10 + 1tax / prim
$48 + 15 tax /land (4x4 plot)

$1000+bonus stipend. If your ratings gave you around a total of 250 points, I think you got around $2000 a stipend. This means for your US$15 a month, you could hold on to a thousand prims or so, and around 1024m^2 of land. (Numbers not exact)

Not counted here are dwell + voting stations + personal sales/contracts/gifts etc. Also not counted is neighbor discount, light and height tax.

Not a bad deal, I think. I liked the old economy. It was geared towards entrepreuneurs and builders. As "confusing" as the old economy was, I don't think many people worried too much about money. Also, I think sim prim fullness was more the exception than the norm. Every sim that had <90% prim usage meant that everyone in the sim was happy with how many prims they got.

This new economy is confusing, and I'm struggling to piece together what everything costs.

New Economy:

For Socialites:
- You're good! Own nothing, it costs you nothing! ($9.95 one time fee)
- Pricing is better than There. You can customize your av for free, and you still get some stipend ($50 + bonus) to buy toys.

For People who actually wish to own something:
- $9.95/month. You need this to get the land ownership grant we've been given. If we ever fail to subscribe that extra 512m^2 land program we're being grandfathered into goes away.
- 1024m^2 of land cap, which means a cap of 234 prims.
- Stipend is $500 + bonus.

For Prim Heavy users & big builders:
- Suppose you want the 1000 prims you could previously afford for $15 a month. This means that you need roughly 1/16 of a sim, which is 4096m^2. Roughly equivalent to a lifetime membership.
- You seen $9.95/month premium access + land fees
- Land fees is now $50,000 or US$25. If you can't afford L$50000 a month, you need to pick up US$35 a month now.
I can't even begin to calculate the cost of the monster builds.

- For reference, 4096m^2 of land is $12,288.
- The cost of and old prim used to be $10 + $1/week in tax. Now, the cost of a prim is $10 rez + $13.107 land claim to support = $23.107.

* Also, I have not taken into account what the unannounced L$ to US$ conversion rate is. If the L$ and US$ land payment rates are an indication, LL seems to believe that US$25 is equivalent to L$50000.

A brief on land fees, in L$: (These numbers are constructed to favour the new plan as much as possible)
Old plan:
- A 4x4 plot costs at most $15 a week (not including neighbor discounts).
- A 4x4 plot costs you at least $22 a week. This assumes you own an entire sim, to yourself, entitling you a 69% discount. Personally, I don't know anyone who owns enough territory to get such a deep discount.

Why I'm not going in for a lifetime, even though it might solve all my problems:
In economic terms, investor confidence is low, and there are too many fluctuations in the economy.
In lamens terms, in the last week, LL has changed pricing twice. We've from good to bad to worse. I'm concerned that at some future date, the rules will change again, making a lifetime membership worthless to me. LL, please reconsider pricing. Was the old economic model that bad? If the new figures are here to stay, I wish LL the best of luck, and I know SL will be a success based on the quality of the people you have, community you've developed and the technology you've managed to create.
* I do not know if lifetime members will have to pay $9.95 a month for "premium" access.

If I've made a mistake somewhere, please correct me.

Feel free to verify these numbers for yourself:
http://secondlife.com/support/faq-v1_2.php