Sky really is falling?

Sorry, i know, editing problem ... message started out as one thing then turned into another ...

Between your comment and Nika's about this being an income stream no longer needed, I would have to agree - the incredible growth in islands in the last year forces us to question the relevance of being premium. It may very well be that the time is ripe for doing away with the premium distinction. At least that would stop the "Where's my stipend" threads on Tuesdays.

I would guess its more likely they remove premium accounts, or else let them continue to decline relative to the overall population -

Then to worry about finding a lot of added value ideas.

That could be. For the most part, I prefer mainland to living on an island, which is boring to me because most of them are non-contiguous and it feels isolating to me. I think there is a place for the mainland with all of its chaos, for those of us who like a little more anarchy in our SLs. That doesnt mean ownership there has to be premium charged, however.

foolish residents! The sky isn't falling. It already fell.

We're just the few remaining people who haven't been sucked into the vacuum of space yet.








yet.

Maybe it's because it's late but I'm confused as to how premium memberships that generate over half a million US dollars a month are suddenly being deemed not worth LL's time.

I wouldn't mind them charging me just the tier, instead of the 9.99 a month (or in my case, the 22.something I pay every three) AND tier. It'd be cheaper.. but what would they do to make the distinction on the Support Portal on who gets to do the live chat? Oh, right.. whether or not we own land

Because that seems small compared to the amount of money that island payments are generating and the overall ratio between mainland sims and island sims. I agree that it's not something just to throw in the bin, but realistically, it's not as important as it once was, with the huge growth of the island grid.

I pay them quarterly. Many pay annually. Some pay monthly... but most people in for the long haul are quarterly or annually. An increase of 454 premiums only nets them $32688 at best (one shot annual fee, for which they can get interest) or 4535.46 (all monthly). This is exclusive of tier; I expect that getting rid of the distinction would still leave us holding tier. But with no premium membership, anyone can own land, and there would be no need to pay the stipend.

Premium was less than 20% of LL's income stream a couple of months ago, and is steadily dwindling. It is also a form of income that is pretty unique to SL the game ... if 3rd-party sims come into being, they will probably be either fully subscription-based or free to a closed community, don't you think?

I could see it being best for LL to phase Premium income out ... it makes SL closer to the economic model that will be used by future grids/customers.

Ultimately, it could even happen that mainland in all its glorious chaos (and I agree it is very cool, just wouldn't want to live there) may be the only part of the game that LL still hosts directly. Not saying its likely ... but it could happen.

Maybe it has something to do with VAT. If I have been following the VAT issue correctly, all users living in countries within the European Union are going to be charged tax on land that they purchase in SL. Does this tax only apply to mainland? If so, maybe all those in the European Union are canceling their premium accounts (required to own mainland?) and renting from private citizens such as Anshe Chung. Also, weren't a lot of casinos on the mainland? Private citizens, and well known ones, wont be asking who is in the European Union before they sell them land....right?

I dunno, I'm happy being premium with a business on the mainland. Maybe I just got lucky - fronting a Linden road with neighbors across the way who have been there a while and show no signs of leaving. Plus I'm in the content business (in my own small, humble way) not the land business, so I figure my margins in a completely different way: as long as I enjoy what I'm doing, any profits beyond what pays my tier and premium fee feels a lot like free money. Yeah there's some plywood and a couple of spinny ads up the road, but you don't see it unless you go looking. *shrug*

The VAT bomb dropped on September 28...with 2 days to go, it could very well be that we have seen the initial shakeout of European users, compensating for whatever gains they may have made between August and September - about 1000 accounts, based on the July to August growth.

I actually think that's fairly likely; LL would have to somehow differentiate itself from competitors in the island market, and island husbandry doesn't really seem like a core competency of LL's business.

But also, kind of following from that, I have a hunch that Mainland just might be the land investment that appreciates, long-term. (Wake up, Figtree!) It'll take some time, I think, before competitors grow to offering land on large contiguous "continents" of sims. Right now, that's not a big deal, but if LL decided to capitalize on the differentiator the Mainland could be for them, that could change very quickly.

(Even further off-topic, but apropos "wouldn't want to live there," I wonder if there's any correlation between choice of Mainland vs Island residence in SL and Urban vs Suburban dwellers in RL.)

Oh, right, apropos the actual topic: I think it's accumulated uncertainty about the whole environment that's hurting premium membership. Seems like about every month there's a new "surprise"--usually imposed on LL from some new RL constraint. If I were new, couldn't get First Land, and wasn't too sure what SL would be like next month, I think I'd be content to rent or be homeless for quite a while--especially if I read threads in the forums about how the economic picture is bleak. Bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, that.

They have the potential to make up to $640 US in tier fee for each Mainland sim

but more likely....

16 people on one Sim each with a 4096 plot paying $25................= 16x$25=$400

It isn't that its not worth their time. Its just that worrying about the declining ratio of premiums might not be something to really worry about long term.

To LL it probably doesn't matter if they get their $10 a month from a premium account, or if they get that $10 as part of a land barons island.

When a land lord buys an island - They do all the work of finding the people to cover their tier, without LL having to do anything except keeping the grid running.

The best way to increase their monthly cash flow? Temporarily drop the price on islands - far more efficient than trying to figure out how to get more premiums, and far cheaper than offering first land.

Temporarily? The 1675 isn't so bad, but permanently drop the tier a little. Tier is the biggest obstacle to buying an island and is what eats away at monthly profit margins. let's say they dropped tier to $250 per month, or $225/month. You'd find a lot more willing island owners if the difference between holding a mainland sim and an island sim wasn't as great.

dumb question... what is First Land? Is that mainland? Is that the big part of the map that's empty/missing on that continent with the snow?

But each mainland sim also brings higher overhead than each Private Island.

AR resolution alone ...

I was thinking of an efficient way for LL to increase cash flow, rather than trying to get more premiums.

Not an efficient way to make SL more affordable.

I think the decrease in premium accounts is clearly the result of the gambling + VAT issues, with a little monthly tier lag thrown in.

I personnally perfer to own mainland property because I don't have to answer to anyone but LL when I want to experiment with my builds. I also like the feeling that I am directly helping pay for the cost of supporting Second Life by paying membership and tier directly to LL. As a result of my payments to LL, I am entitled to support and entitled to bitch when things do not go well. I don't feel that the people who do not pay any fees directly to LL to help fund the cost of providing SL are entitled to complain about the quality of the services they are not getting.

I'm sorry but but if you pay no membership fees to LL, paying tier to a island owner who pockets the profits doesn't count, then I do not believe you are entitle complain about the services that you are or are not recieving from LL. You are not directly providing LL with any funds to enable them to provide better customer service or even maintain the grid and your inventory in the servers.

You can't expect something for nothing, and you are getting your moneys worth if you do not support LL directly in any way.

You can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I choose to be part of the solution and pay my fair share.

/me puts in his flame retardent helmet

They have the potential to make up to $640 US in tier fee for each Mainland sim

but more likely....

16 people on one Sim each with a 4096 plot paying $25................= 16x$25=$400
--------------------------------------------------
I didn't even add in that those 16 people are also paying $6 a month for premium....
............so add in almost another $100 a month.........16x$6=$96

But it would... if you saw a drop in tier, you would find a corresponding increase in island owners. An island goes for 7L/m2 for pristine, terraformable land and utter control. But people make the tradeoff on that power and control because of the tier. It's why crappy mainland can be comparable in price to island land. If island ownership didn't have such a gap, you would find that the baby barons that came out and extended the high prices would shift to estates - and hence greater island ownership.

I wont flame you - but I have to disagree, if you are renting land you are making the island owner able to pay his tier which then goes into LL's pockets.

I won't go as far to say island renters who aren't premium don't deserve service, but I personally feel that the 9.95 I pay each month also helps pay the bills so to speak, even though I am on an island. I just feel better about using SL knowing I pay for membership.
but they really should find some way to make premium worth signing up for.