first off i would like to state that i can see pretty valid points on both sides of this arguement. However, i do not see the solution that lynden set out to be a very practical or fair solution. the solution they came up with, will not only stick alot of honest people with a loss of money. but it will also hurt future sales of open spaces.
the problem lynden states is that they created sims called openspaces, the point of these sims was to allow people who already owned reg. sims to purchase a openspace to expand or compliment their already exsisting sim with. For example: lets say i owned a private estate. and i decided i wanted a big open section of open water, or maybe a mountain range, or even a forest. but didn't want to sacrafice a good chunk of my existing sim to make room for this new addition, and really couldn't afford to purchase a second full sim to compliment the one i already own. that is where the open space comes in. instead of purchasing another private estate, i purchase a open space to compliment my existing reg. sim.
Ok now they stating that they have incured a problem, that people are purchasing these open spaces for the purpose of turning around and selling the land to others and making a profit off the monthly tier payments. The people who buy these open spaces, then turn around and try and treat it as a reg. sim. Which is causing a over load in the servers that the open spaces are being handled with.
ok now to be honest, yes i can see this being a problem. but the solution, is to raise the land price, and the monthly payments, as well as prevent any future transfers of open space sims? now this is not a very good solution. not in the least.
i see alot of people state the complaint of the raise in cost. and yes i can see this a valid point. but to me, the real issue i see the problem in being at, is the practice of preventing any future transfers in open space land.
to me, the very thought of this idea is nothing but obserd. basically what it is telling me, is if i buy a private estate, and then when time comes i want to expand my land by purchasing a open space. then time may come one day where i decide to move and sell my land. well i am taking this as i can sell my private estate, but i can not sell my openspace i bought to go with it? so i am just out of the money i spent for that land?
should buying land in second life be seen as making a investment? well, if you buy something you know you will not see the money back on, doesn't sound like a very sound investment to me. as a matter of fact it is something i would really try and avoid.
i see it this way. lets say i was out to buy a house, and the realitor told me that i could purchase this farm field next to my yard for a lesser price then the going rate of land. but, when time comes for me to sell my house, i could not sell the field with it, instead i either have to keep it, and continue paying property tax on it, or let it go back to the seller, which would in turn turn around and sell that same land to the person who just bought my house.
is it just me, or does that sound like a bum deal?
and lets not forget those who already own a dozen or so open spaces, and have if ya want to call them tenants on them. and these tenants can not or will not pay the increase of the tier payments, they abandon land, for they can't sell it, so it goes back to the actual owner of the sim. now that owner still can not sell the land to someone else, but are still going to be required to pay the monthly fees to keep the land. if not they either abandon that land, or it gets closed down and/or repocessed by lynden for failure to pay. either way the land goes back to lyden only to be sold again to someone else.
so i really think that there has got to be a better resolve for this issue. raising the prices may detour the massive misuse of future open space use. but by disallowing the tranfers of such land if going to to alot more then just detour the purchase of this land by people who are intending to use it for differnt reasons then what it was intended for, it also going to detour future sales from people who want to get a open space foe the reasons a open space was offered for.