Forum Cartel - Tier Question

This morning I got a notice from the Forum Cartel group that it was time to donate tier for the hangout.

I've seen posts about this before, donating tier.

I'm quite confused about this. For me Tier is something I pay each month to keep my land. How would I donate that? How would you have extra tier ever?

Are they asking for money to help pay the tier for the land? If so I'd be happy to donate money. I've been there a few times now and the other night I actually hung out with a nice group of people and had a wonderful time.

If anyone can explain what this means, as if you are talking to a one-day-old newbie I would appreciate it. ~8^)

FaTeke Wottitz

open the forum cartel group thingo.
click the land tab.
you will see an area to type in an amount of tier to donate. type in 512 or 1024 or however tier you have to spare.

(mainland) tier is paid in stages....

http://secondlife.com/whatis/landpricing.php

This link has a table. Basically you can own less than the next step up, and donate the rest.

So say I owned 3000m2. I would be paying $15 a month for it, but I am not using 1096m2. I can then choose to donate this to the group until I want more land. Otherwise, I have an allowance of land that is sat going to waste.

I think thats the basic jist of it...

I must be stupid because again these explanations make no sense to me at all.

If you have 3000m2 land how can you not be using it? And tier is an expense not an income so how would my donating my expenses to the group help?

FaTeke Wottitz

Hold the Phone! No one should be asking you for tier donations, there is no requirement. I cn't get inworld to see what was sent to you, hopefully Chris will see this soon, but at first look this looks bogus. Who's name is on the note as the sender?

Ok, say you have 5000m of land, this would put you in the 8000m tier level. So you would have 3000m of tier extra that you could donate.

We like to have a cushion of tier donated for the land. So that if people have to remove tier, it isn't a mad scramble to cover the loss. The notice last night went out because one of our larger donations was going to have to be withdrawn, leaving us with less tier than we needed to cover the land owned. The cushion has been built back up.

Thanks. That's what I get for not logging in.

Okay, I'm slow but I eventually get there. I think I get it now. So LL has tier scale and if you fall in the middle range of actual land but have to pay tier for more land you can donate the left over money you are paying to someone else?

So if you don't donate it does it accrue to the point that you don't have to pay tier at some point? Like my electric company does once a year when you are on the budget plan?

I assume this only counts towards mainland. I have a 4096 on a private island so I guess I can't donate any tier.

I would like to help out with the tier costs though. Is there any way to do that?

FaTeke Wottitz

No one was demanding it brenda, it was just a notice to say that the cartel is losing some and if you have some spare, then feel free to donate. No demanding or saying it was required. Chris sent it out I think.


ok. on the table in the link. It says that for my example you could either be paying $8 for 2048m2 or $15 for 4096m2.
This is an allowance only. It just gives you the ABILITY to own land, you still have to buy the land in the first place.
If I have 3000m2 of physical land (I can build on it etc), that is too much land for the 2048m2 tier band, so it auto jumps up to the next one. I am now paying $15 and have the ABILITY to own 4096m2, even though I only have 3000m2. Perhaps I dont need the extra allowance, so I would donate that if I wanted to.
All you donate to the group is the Allowance. No land. They already have land, but perhaps not the tier allowance to cover it.

So in my case, I do not own any land, but I would have a premium account. This allows me to own 512m2 free, with no tier costs. I am not using it, so I might as well donate it to the group. I don't have to buy land, but it still helps.

I just got a PM from Chris *Clean out your inbox*. Sorry for ringing the scam alert whistle so quickly. I deleted the post.

Please understand that at no time did I think it was mandatory to donate anything.
The request was polite and friendly.

As are the people in these forums.

And since I get so much out of these forums (I always know more about whats going on in SL and with LL's than any of my friends), and I enjoy going to the hangout and meeting people, I WANT to help out.

Anything I can do please tell me.

FaTeke Wottitz

no. it doesnt build up as far as I know. there are plenty of people who do not use all of their tier allowance, and dont donate. They will still have to pay the same each month.
Mainland only. Private rentals do not count towards tier. But if you are on a premium account, you have 512m2 mainland tier free to use...no tier payments. you can donate that with out having to pay anything, just make sure you take it back before you buy on mainland or anything.

OR, you could always pay me your moneys lol

Okay, so I have a premium account, but I already own my 512.

I still want to help out with the tier costs. Can I do that with Linden Dollars? Who do I send them to and how much do you need?

FaTeke Wottitz

Im pretty sure the cartel doesn't have to pay for any land does it? Its all already bought etc? No monthly payments or anything...?

Actually, Im surprised I have a clue at all about land...one of my first posts was about how i didn't have a clue lol and asking for help.

Imagine going to a shop where payments accepted are $5, $10, $15, $20 only - but the merchandise comes in every price. You can buy a widget worth $15, but maybe the one you want is $12.95. You still pay $15. If that were your tier payment you would have tier to the tune of $2.05 (but expressed in m2) every month that you aren't using, and which you could donate.

Don't be so hasty.

Also, if your land is group owned, you get a 10% bonus...so, for example, you could add another 51m to a 512m lot without a tier increase. You may not actually need the bonus meters, in which case, they could be donated.

And a group can just be you and an alt.

Tier is done in stages according to land sizes.

Owning any amount of land between 4097 and 8192 m2 costs US$40 a month.

If you have 5000 m2 of land the difference between 8192 m2 is 3192 m2 which isn't being used, so if you donate that 3192 m2 to a group they can use it without incurring addition Tier fees for that amount of land they own.

If you bought more land later, say another 1000 m2, you would take that back and leave them with only 2192 m2 of the Tier, so they would have to replace that difference (1000 m2) with someone else donating it, which is what's happening now.

I've not heard of a club, residence or any other doing this before now. I would imagine this was and is discussed with group members before joining this place. While it's not too bad an idea wouldn't people think they were being forced to pony up cash with notices such as the one described by the opening poster?

The land was all paid for through membership donations, and thanks to tier donations, there are no "property taxes". There are no imediate cash needs I believe, usually when an event is run sometimes members will donate, or Chris and I throw in Lindens. But as always, no donation of any type is required and all that are made are greatly appreciated. Since i am no longer Premium and have no tier to donate, you are all doing more for the group than I am.

I certaily didn't feel like that at all.
The group is owned by us all i think, so it shouldn't be up to one or two people to support all the tier needed etc.

The notice was not worded in such a way as to demand that members pony up. I donated my paltry 512 because it was serving no purpose and it is my way of making an entirely voluntary contribution.

Out of interest, if a private island was in a group, could the owner donate 10% of his 65,536 m2?

UGH! look what I've started. It wasn't a demand or suggestion that anyone has to give anything. I jumped to a conclusion beased upon not seeing the notice. Everything is fine, move along, nothing to see here. *I'll go spank myself, later for causing alarm.*

lol, I donated an even more paltry 275m, which is the majority of my aforementioned group bonus.