Introducing T Linden. What would you do to improve Premium subscriptions?

this is actually one of those cases where LL should be careful in how they phrase things. The actual Premium fee does not give them much because they give almost all of it back in stipends. But many that pay the Premium fee are doing so in order to buy land and therefore pay monthly Tier. Many however did get the feeling that Premiums were totally expendable accounts.

I can understand that, Sindy.

I believe that LL were genuinely trying to do the right thing with their OS reversal, but they f****d it up badly, and messed up lots of genuinely good people, instead of the 'quick buck' folk they were after. If I had a serious financial investment in OS sims, I have no doubt that my commitment to the platform would be very strained right now.

Just demonstrates that, whatever the business, keeping your customers on your side isn't about PR and promises, but working with them, head to head.

Surty ..

1) As the mainland is suffering at the moment offer premium subscribers who own land the option of stoping getting the stipend in return for discounted land rates.

2) A special "thank you" gift every 6 months or so with unique LL created content such as clothing, textures, builds etc etc. I am sure LL can work with some existing content creators as they did with the new "newvie" avatars etc.

3) A "best of second life" weekly journal, notecard etc with landmarks with cool places to explore etc created by premium account users.

4) in depth educational video tutorials on building, scripting and other content creation. The videos we have by Torley are great and all but longer and more detailed ones can be made just for premium account holders.

5) Free tools for premium account holders to assist with content creation.

6) Special "premium account holder" sandboxes

I think the above improvements can assist Linden Labs in growing Second Life by:

- Supporting second life financially
- Improving content creation
- Involving current residents
- Rewarding those who own mainland and hopefully, with better skills, the residents can help buld a better mainland

Welcome, T!

Perhaps T stands for 'tier'... I see a lot of posts about tier, and that's what I wanted to say: The problem isn't premium, the problem is tier.

The way things work now, if I'm at a certain tier level and want more land, I have to either buy tier from someone in-world, or tier up. And tiering up means doubling my available square meters and almost doubling the cost.

But if I only want a tiny bit more land, I don't want to pay that much more monthly fee, do I? To get around this, some folks have been known to use an alt account, which they tier up at a lower rate. This allows them to fine-tune their tier amount, but also means that LL pays two (or more) stipends.

So if you think of stipends as a loss for LL (which they might not really be, but let's assume...) then by fixing the granularity of the tier system, you also fix the stipend problem by reducing them for paid-up alts.

As far as delight is concerned: The delight of SL is something that must be learned through time in-world. Watching someone create something, watching someone succeed at their business, watching someone's project come to fruition. Especially if the person you're watching is you. Delight comes not from being entertained but from doing things and making friends and having the kind of relationships where everyone can play along and contribute.

SL is the game where you make your own level-ups.

Good luck, T!

Some of these might be repeats, but what the heck.....

#1 - Increase the stipend, rewarding longevity, 500 for your 1st year, 1000 for your second, etc...

#2 - Happy Rez Day to me.... a yearly 'bonus' on your rez day... how about 1000 * your age?

#3 - Free Uploads for textures, animations, etc.

#4 - 1024 instead of 512 'free' tier.

#5 - Happy Rez Day to me... and your 'free' tier goes up as your longevity goes up, 1024 * your age.

#6 - your own personal email address 'myname@resident.secondlife.com'

Thanks Surty!

We miss you over at Waikiti, you need to come visit more often!

-Atashi

For myself, SL is a creative outlet for building and to a lesser degree participating in the society. More premium goodies would be nice, but they pale in comparison to getting more commitment from LL to making SL better and less hostile.

Better for me means making the tools work, fixing bugs, and completing projects rather than abandoning them halfway through. It seems like a lot of LL development is based more on what the developers think is cool for the moment rather than which will help content creators. Once the first 20% is done, the coolness wears off and the project is tossed aside for the next whiz bang thing.

Less hostile means not making decisions like the OS one that leave everyone with the impression that any investment in SL hangs by a very arbitrary thread.

Between the two, LL's lack of follow through and their active sabotage it's very difficult to keep much enthusiasm up for putting a lot of effort into SL. Frankly without that, I don't really care much what benefits premium membership offers. Fix those first then ask again.

My votes for best suggestions to improve Premium Account subscriptions:

1) Remove group limits for premium accounts. Period.

2) Increase tier bonus annually to reward long-term Premiums OR Discount tier annually to reward long-term Premiums

3) Ability to group Friends/Contacts into categories

4) Free or reduced texture/sound uploads Set Status

5) Reduce or eliminate the $30L fee for parcels to in Search

6) Change tier structure to include more levels of land Set

7) High quality/prim efficient premium only Library content

Create SL email address [email]first.last@secondlife.com[/email]

9) Remove IM cap or increase cap limit

10) Bring back First Land, w/ important changes
- All First Land expires after 1 month of ownership. It reverts back to Governor Linden, all objects belonging to the owner are returned, and the parcel is recycled to a new Premium member.
- First Land is NOT transferable, sub-lettable, etc. It can be used and owned by only the new Premium member.
- First Land parcels are grouped around stable Infohubs that are staffed by Mentors who have ban/eject rights on those Infohub parcels. This will create a sense of community for new users.

Obviously I like this one.

I would much rather see this handled with Jabber.

And, no, SLIM doesn't serve the purpose of Jabber. SLIM is another heavy-duty firewall-hostile protocol, and it's complex, and it's not actually integrated into IM.

Ideally, if you choose the option, you should be able to have all your "away IM" queued up in Jabber and get them when you connect in Jabber, just as if they were Jabber messages sent when away. Without having to have a special SLIM version of the client.

/me waves at Atashi, whilst not wanting to derail the serious thread

1. More Groups
2. No more IM capping
3. 5 Linden Dollar Upload Charge
4. 1024m of land before tier takes affect


None related wish list

In order to give the SL economy a much needed boost give us....

1. New building tools
2. Flexi on more shapes
3. Better detailed avatar mesh
4. More Clothing Layers (tattoo layer)
5. More attachement points

Perhaps it's as much about what should be taken out of "NEW" free accounts rather than adding much to premium accounts. Features that use extensive resources and put potential unnecessary strain on the platform should be moved toward premium benefits in my view.

FREE Accounts:
- Reduce group cap back to 15 or 20 maximum with restricted ability to create groups. (they are way too many useless groups out there created for the lols with no purpose whatsoever which creates a downside in overall performance for everyone else)
- Restricted inventory capacity to 10,000 items. (with warnings on 90% capacity and at every 100 increment above 90% capacity)

PREMIUM Accounts:
- Raise to 40 groups cap (25 is too much of an impediment for many business entities, the most likely candidates for premium accounts, to operate)
- Increased IM cap to 50-100 messages.
- Additionally please close the loophole that make people missing IMs, voluntarily or not (VWR-7866).
At the least, implement a BOUNCE BACK NOTIFICATION PROTOCOL back to the sender if the IM is not reaching its destination, until you can provide a better solution. Anything less can't be called a "professional" communication platform, I am afraid...

Premium feature suggestions for future development:
- Creation of account inventory snapshots/backups.
- Removed IM cap for a mailbox system with reasonable storage accessible within the viewer and on the web.

Firstly, stop reaming the Europeans and making the Europeans uncompetitive in the SL market by dumping VAT on top of them, if you are to charge VAT, AT THE VERY LEAST show prices INCLUDING VAT. Every UK store I go to shows VAT inclusive prices. Maybe also start charging in local currency at a reasonable conversion ($1 != £1) If you're going to make premium and tier competitive, make it competitive for ALL.

Secondly, there are no benefits for premium. I'm still on a grandfathered account that is paying for itself (Even with VAT) My tier goes to my friend to allow me to live on her land as it's too small for anything else, I think the free tier might need to be re-evaluated, if people want money, stipends aren't really the way to go, they'll just use the money on buying lindens instead. Mainland land is the reason people get premium accounts, but even then the mainland is a joke, any good land is swept up by money grabbing land barons and isn't properly zoned. Alongside the free tier being too small for any real use.

My idea is tradeoff stipend for better inclusive tier, make the mainland more attractive, especially by re-introducing first land again (but changed) and by making the mainland actually attractive to use.

I also like the idea of being able to buy a openspace/homestead sim without having to have a regular sim first, especially homestead otherwise they're still just openspace sims, except they cost more (which is what they already are).

Nah.

Let's have multiple types of groups:

* Land/Chat groups: have land functions, group IM, notices, etc...
* Chat groups: No land functions, not even looked at by the permission system.
* Land groups: No chat/notice functions, not even looked at by the IM system.
* Identity groups: Just a label.

No group limits on identity groups.
50 max groups, otherwise... with "full" land/chat groups counting as 2 groups.

Also, if a user is in an existing group, they can "suspend" it down to an identity group only, for them. They won't get chat or permissions in the group. But it won't count against the total.

Once you have this ready to roll out, you can make something like "only premiums can create land or chat groups" without having a mass uprising.

First something broad: there's two ways to make a product more attractive than an alternative: 1) increase the value and functionality of one, or 2) decrease the functionality and value of the other. We have seen 2 in the premium/basic equation before, in terms of how support and live chat was overhauled, and eventually made so basic members could get only a very low level of support. We've also seen 2) used in the Openspace policy issue to increase the relative desirability of full sims. My opinion is that option 1 is the only acceptable solution that will grow SL.

Here's some suggestions

Building: free uploads, or a certain number of free uploads. For new premiums who track every L$ ("seed" users who may go on to be very profitable users with lots of land) this could be a big plus, as they could upload pictures, textures and so forth without touching their stipend money or purchased Lindens.

Social: more groups. This alone would give premiums much more value. At the same time, it is essential not to decrease group numbers for basic members, as limiting existing social tools (and SL is hugely about social interaction) could lead to some basic members leaving SL out of disinterest before becoming involved.

Land: more tier. The basic entry point to SL land owning- small mainland parcels- needs to be opened more to give new users more breathing room to experiment with SL and see if it is right for them. This is especially important during the current economic crisis. A good plan would be to try to retain user's interest now, even if they cannot spend much, and when the economic recovers, those users could become more profitable users. Upping the premium tier to 1024, or even 2048 would reap great returns.

I do not believe that giving premiums AR-review priority over basics is a good thing. Practically, this could frustrate new users who find themselves AR-griefed, or harassed themselves with a much slower recourse for resolution.

What he said.

The biggest thing you could do to help us is to stop hurting us. The openspace decision killed several communities and gutted others. This includes many that were just in the planning stages. If you want people to invest in premium accounts, land, and SL in general, you've got to allow people to actually plan their investment. People can no longer make community building plans because of the fear of drastic price increases/service reductions. Openspaces were fine at 1875 prims and $75/month. When LL found out what a bad decision they made by upping them to 3750 prims, the sensible thing would have been to drop them back to 1875. Building a large community space requires expanse without the expense, but the expanse needs to have something in it to make it worthwhile, and something else in it to get someone to pay for it. At 1875 prims and $75/month, you can make most of the sim a great public space, and still have enough prims and land available to rent to someone to cover or partially cover the recurring costs. Low density rentals are almost always deserted, and don't add to the server load that caused the problems.

Fix this horrible decision, and announce that all future price increases will be announced a year in advance unless they are grandfathered. This will return some confidence back into SL, and allow people to plan out future communities and expand the current ones. This is better for people at all levels of service, basic, premium, and concierge.

Also, buying a private island should automatically bump you into a premium account at no additional charge. The concept of someone paying $295/month and not being considered a premium member is pretty stupid.

I know I am probably repeating some things already said, but here goes....

Increase the land holding to 1024 (or even higher) and add a 512 on each anniversary. (not a huge amount but does help when one owns land and wants to own more but can not afford the tier)

restructure the tier so it doesn't have such huge jumps in the latter part (or allow a person a way to customize the tier (per meter with a discount for x meters or something)

priority on abuse report submissions (might cut out on ppl who use basic account to abuse report as a form of abuse within it's self)

x # of free uploads per month, then 1/2 price uploads on anything over that number.

unlimited log in times for premium, limited for none premium

bring stipends back to 500L per month
(I like getting my 500L (signed on april 06) and it helps for things like uploads and stuff)

no fee when selling lindens on the lindex

I would love to see premium account holders have the dwell back on their land, however I know it is totally unrealistic (you wanted suggestions hehe)

more groups for premium
only premium could create groups


As someone else mentioned, it is not just what can we do to make premium more attractive, but also what should or can be done to make basic less attractive.

If one limits the things a basic can do, and give a little more to the premium, then one will see the benefits of having a premium account.

As it stands right now, the only benefit to premium is the ability to own land, and many folks are happy just renting

I have more ideas but will wait and see what others have to say as well

Yes, LL making smart business decisions is indeed speculation
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Ughhh! I have been reading this thread since it opened and I have to say I felt the same way as Chaffro.

Yes, of course I understood what M Linden was talking about when he said that, this did not however take away the sense of insult to injury I felt when I read that statement.."Premium subscriptions are immaterial in our overall business."

I have been here 2 years; I have been a premium member since I was about 2 months old. I have not owned Linden Land in I cant say how long but I have kept the premium membership. For me it was a statement..."I believe in whats happening here... I am here for the long haul. I am a member of this community."

I didn't care about the perks. Well I have thought seriously about canceling my premium account since this quote by M Linden. If we are an immaterial part of the business then maybe I will keep my $9.99 a month.

I have to ask now... why when so many are so disheartened with what is going on with the open sim product why is the first thing the "newish chief product officer" would choose to look at Premium Memberships when they are according to the CEO " immaterial in our overall business".

You know I love SL; but this kind of thing for me smacks of more of the same- change the subject .... divert the attention ... hope the disheartened will just shut up and go away.

You Know T Linden, I really think there are a lot of positive things that could be done with premium memberships, but honestly.... someone really right now needs to do something to restore the trust and relationship with the consumers that has been destroyed in this open space sim debacle and that will only be done by dealing with the issues that still exist for the consumer with regard to that product and the way this whole thing has been handled at the Lab.

Respectfully,
Luci

rather than making SL a upper/lower class structure, remove both basic and premium accts. have one acct that has equal benifits and costs 5/10 a month.

More thinking, more suggestions. Desmond was quite right in that different customers have different needs. Whether the distinction is 10 days versus 10 months, or someone using SL to socialize and have fun versus someone running a business.

So rather than a one-size-fits-all solution, there could be 2, or even 3 different kinds of 'premium' account.

Premium / Citizen Account: I like the term 'citizen' in this context because it works with SL's terminology of 'resident' but adds a little something to it. A citizen doesn't just live here, they are involved. Even if that involvement is just at the point of paying "taxes". Anyhow - Citizen accounts would be more or less the current premium accounts, except with the following improvements. 1) 50 groups instead of 25. 2) Access to premium-only sandboxes. 3) Every year they get a bear from "Birthday Linden" along with a gift of L$2500 (or some other non-trivial but not-outrageous amount).

Premium / Creator Account: This is for the content creators, and includes all the benefits of the above, plus all the enhanced inworld stuff that has been suggested. Ability to create mega/micro prims. Ability to create larger/smaller avatars (aka more control over shapes, avatar mesh, etc). Ability to compile scripts without the built-in function delays. Reduced (or free) upload fees. Perhaps allow up to 100 groups instead of 25 or 50. I accept that this level account would cost more than premium does now. And as a content creator, I would be willing to pay more, if I got these kinds of features. I'm sure there's a better name for this than 'creator account'... but the point being, these features wouldn't be as useful to people who weren't building / making / etc. but to content creators they should be worth more than the cost of the account.

-Atashi

How often is he not?

3 year member, returned to Basic Membership this summer...

1) "Basic" does not equal no-land-owner.

2) Your challenge, if you want to make Premium-ness a broader-appeal and more profitable option is, as it has always been, to figure out how to entice us back from the Islands.

3) Give every paid Premium account a 30-day expired/returned First Land, as was suggested earlier in this thread. But also give these new accounts, regardless of initial subscription, the option to do a one-time upgrade to "Premium-Plus", but only at the end of that 30 days. What would a "Premium-Plus" account get, you ask?

a) The chance for a one-time, base-rate (L$/sqm) purchase of a "First Land PLUS" plot of 1024, 2048, 4096, etc. of NON-TRANSFERRABLE land, in a QUALITY-constructed sim environment such as Nautilus or Bay City...and keep the tier blocks somewhat as they are...

b) An extra five exclusive groups (above the current 25) to each land owner in that First Land PLUS sim, exclusively supporting five chat/notice/networking channels oriented specifically to activities/interests/residents located in THAT community (1 x social, 1 x arts/music, 1 x education, 1 x games/entertainment, and 1 x ???...you get the idea).

c) One time (or factored?) tier breaks (only on the cost of maintaining/owning that First Land-PLUS lot) for each additional 90-days active Premium-Plus member they recruit (who isn't using the same IP as them (dohhh)).

d) Two (one? more?) hours of free support from the LPW team, for things like landscaping/terraforming, accenting, shrubbing, rezzing that first complex house, re-texturing the beater/freebie house they have from their very first lot, etc.

Seems like lotsa options out there

Many people suggest increasing the number of groups that a Premium member can be in. It would be more valuable to me (who happens to be a Premium member) if *everyone*, and that particularly means Basic account residents, could be in more groups. I want Basic people to be have group slots so that THEY can JOIN my groups! This allows me to promote to them (to everyone) more effectively.

People sometimes forget that most transactions (L$ and otherwise) are with non-Premium accounts.

It doesn't really benefit me if only Premium people can be in more groups.

I'd be thrilled if my tier costs were lowered due to restructuring, though.

When I was a newbie, I upgraded to Premium right away so that I could find First Land to live on. Bringing a land acquistion benefit like that back (in some necessarily more elaborate way - see various suggestions by people in this forum) sounds like a good marketing idea to me. If you can work it so that existing Premium accounts can get some new or related benefit by this, it would be really excellent.

Don't reduce the stipend. I buy lots of L$ and would hardly notice, myself, but that would be seen as a real negative; for a long time I really needed that stipend. But you could have the option to get either the stipend (forever) or the land acquisition benfit (whatever that is...lower cost Homestead, better tier deal, etc.)

There are so many good suggestions here. Lindens, please hear us roar! (or bark, or squeak, or make whatever noises we make).

I would strongly suggest you not remove or reduce the stipends - we kinda like our spending money. Any added benefit to premium membership should not involve taking away what we already have. I know it's tempting to make premium membership more attractive by taking away privileges for basic membership, but I think you'll have a whole lot of problems if you do, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Things I'd most like to see you do to enhance premium membership?
1. "Loyalty" bonuses for continuing premium membership - say an extra free 512 for every year, and/or an additional stipend amount.
2. Free texture etc. uploads for premium members.
3. Increased group slots and picks for premium members (okay that's two).

I like many of the other ideas too - but am trying to focus on the ones I would use the most and thus would like to see happen first.