Openspace Announcement Discussion with Jack Linden

Not certain, but I think it was post 583 or thereabouts

I mentioned in a previous post to this thread that because of LL's ludicrous actions and long running poor treatment of customers, I was putting my land up for sale and leaving. I wasn't just threatening either.

I was just a tiny fish in the big sea of SL. I didn't own an open sim....just 2560 sq.m. on the Mainland. I just sold it...at a big loss I might add. I packed up all my stuff, and sold my land, and am taking my money out of LL. Last month, I paid for my premium account for the year...so I'll keep watch to see if LL pulls their head out of the....sand. If I see that they still treat people like crap after my year is up, I won't renew.

Lindens...you just lost this customer. You won't be getting any more of my money.

Dear Sir,

The Open Region product was developed and created by Linden Labs employees, that are very skilled on the technical issues and features of Second Life Grid. Of course this is a product that is attractive and it is very strange that LL didn´t make the correct analysis of the possible usages by residents that would acquire the product and impacts it would bring to the grid. I completely agree that because of its specific features, Open Regions must have technical restrictions, but it doesnt seem fair that because of the product provider lack of analysis during the product´s concept THE USERS will have a 66% raise of the price. Please take into consideration implementing technical restrictions for the existing Open Regions. As a SL resident I feel completely damaged by LL decision on this case.

Thank you for your attention.

Seth Yates.

Maybe we are abusing the forum with all this responses...
lol

is a saying NEVER bite the hand that feed you o well LL just did

come on this is a game you been riping our asses off for years with $1000 to buy a private island and then rip the shit out of us with the $295pm BS then the same on main land $195 and omg go figure on the cost of owning a pice.

as 1 person said if it was green green grass or water WHY put it on with 3750 prims why not 50 pirms. What you expect puting 3750 prims you dam well now they would get used to the max....
I would love to know were my monthly tiers cost actualy go hum
$25 for the server room cleaner
$25 for the server room cobweb cleaner
$25 for a server teaboy
well we all know that CRAP

but i bet this is now way CRAP
$295 private island
$195 mainland {JACKTAXMAN BLACKS POCKET}
$125 openspace

give us all a break and leave it as is. For NEW open space sim then yes $125 . And i bet no 1 gets refunded on abandoned openspace sim.. LEAGALIZED ROBERY

I have no doubt the Lindens are lurking the page. Many of us are hoping they take the hint, many of us have doubts and figure its driven by greed pure and simple. some people actually think its a good thing , In all likelyhood all those that have statesd its a good thing do not own one.

The grids been slowly grinding its self into the dirt for some time now. More and more campers appear everyday with 50 60 thousand log ins in the evening , you know at least 30,000 or more of those are bogus accounts camping accounts.

they want to conserve resources... Do not allow non paying accounts 24 hour a day access limit their usage to 8 10 hours a day.

Remove the traffic rating system from people there and how long they stay to some other hidden rating system that makes better sense.

How much bandwidth and cpu time and asset server is all these bogus accounts eating up/.... for NOTHING.. they don't generate money they don't spend money and they certainly are not there to enjoy the game.

My partner and I have been in SL for nearly 4.5 years and I have been a landowner in one way or another since day 2. I only mention this because it has let me get a bit of perspective on how LL traditionally handles things. We Owned a private Island for years and sold it off even though it was a grandfathered island when the stress of dealing with billing errors ruined my partners health and credit rating. We packed up and moved to half a mainland sim and only this past weekend did we tier down to 1/4. Going below concierge level for the first time in nearly 4 years. 1/2 a sim was no longer cost effective for us. No sour grapes we got a decent price and only took a small loss. We are now at a point that we can easily support the land we have even if we never sell another thing. I am going to give you all a few perspectives I have on this whole mess.

There are a few constants in business be it in SL or Rl.
1. Do your homework. Realistically asses your risks. All business involves risks and there are no gaurantees of success. Not from your government, not from LL, and not from a diety.

2. Once you know your risks make your business plan allowing for them. At this point alot are going to say "I had a plan LL changed the rules" to which I say go back to step one LL has a very LONG history of changing the rules. That possibility should have been in your plan.

3. Capitalize your business solidly. Most of the people I have read in 99 pages are running on budgets so tight they cannor continue with a price hike. Price hikes happen I fully expect to wake up one day and see a blog entry stating that mainland tier is going up. Been waiting for that one since PIs went up $100 a month. I wont like it but its already in my business plan I can cope.

4. And this one seems to be crucial at this juncture. Always have an exit plan. If everything goes to H*LL in a hatbasket how are you gonna salvage something from the mess.

5. Rinse Lather and repeat. Biz plans have to evolve and change as the biz setting evolves and changes.

I didnt enter SL knowing jack about business. I learned alot by way of alot of BAD decisions. In the end our business is solid and sustainable and I am in it for the love of it. Profit irrelevant but nice when it happens.

This is not posted to rub the situation in peoples faces but perhaps as a way to educate folks so that any future ventures might be more successful for them.

As to the current mess.

Assuming that misuse is the root of this (we can speculate all we want on other causes and all have our suspicions what those might be), then this is a typically ham handed response by LL.

The crux of it is NOT the rise in the cost of island fees for OSR's. It is the fact that many who have bought them in what they felt was good faith up to and including the day of the announcement feel slapped around. LL has a right to charge whatever they want for services. We have the right to pay it or not as we choose.

The ham handed comes in the form of no consideration of those people that bought between the March announcement and this one. Sorry those previous to the march announcement in my opinion actually got a several month bonus from the march announcement and have no right to complain too loudly.the post March purchasers however I think are due some consideration. A FAIR level of consideration (also in my opinion) is a prorated reimbursement of the setup fees for any OSR turned back in. That means If you bought the day after the march announcement you will get very little back (after all you had months to recoup losses and enjoy your region). Those that ordered yesterday will get 100% back. That would be fair. I don't believe it will happen but it would be fair.

As I said I have little to nothing to gain or lose whichever way LL goes with this thing. I dont for a minute believe this is the end of SL. Do I think a major market correction is coming. You bet. Do I think we can look forward to a much smaller SL...very possibly. The real death toll for SL wont happen until there is a truely viable competitor. the Open grids (of whatever name) are getting closer but they are not there yet.

I send warm friendly hugs to all those hurting from this and my very best wishes for a brighter future.

That's more or less self-inflicted though. Anybody who saw the original Openspace Sim announcement with reasonable language comprehension ability could tell the intent was exclusively residential. Put your modest house on a huge yard and enjoy; not sublet the thing out to a bajillion people or run a nightclub or store in.

The way I see it is that we are like stakeholders. We have invested heavily into this and therefore pay to keep it alive.

As a stakeholder in this, I feel whoever is responsible in making this decision should be seriously looked into and perhaps a resignation sought.

Without stakeholders SL could not exist. Sure there will be others joining and paying into the system, but, once word travels that SL will destroy all you pay for and work toward, and the talk of other grids opening, then SL may very well become a thing of the past.

We live in a small global village since the inception of the internet and news travels fast. Therefore it would be unwise for the SL creators to ignore the forums and in doing so, could be just playing the fiddle while SL burns.

Thank you for hearing me out.

Dear Jack,

Treat the cause not the symptoms.

Love Sophia xxx

You agreed to price changes in the TOS. And this will discourage businesses from misusing openspaces as places of business.

Never mind that 90% of businesses in first life fail because of unforseen issues.

Hey Baloo you got somethin on your nose there Jack might wanna check the back of his pants to make sure a Friendly, 8-foot-tall kodiak bear doesn't have his nose somewhere it don't belong.

It discurages anyone from owning a open sim. Why would anyone want one.


Why spend 125 bucks to rent a 1/4 sim with limited capacity when you can rent a half a full service sim for slightly more . 125 bucks on mainland you have half a sim and twice the prims.

This isn't bait and switch, however. You agreed to the terms of service, which among other things, says that LL can and does change their pricing. You were warned. Sorry you didn't read what you agreed to and/or entered into a contract you didn't understand.

Considering the state of the economy at the moment and the difficulties with SL real estate as it is, it is ludicrous to increase fees now. As a lot of residents have pointed out, why should the residents and tenants be punished for a mistake Linden Labs themselves made? Where is the justice? How fair is that? I have become more and more disappointed with SL during my tenure here, and this last announcement has pretty much made the decision for me .... we pay higher fees for less service ... and now you are making it even more difficult for people to afford something that should be fun, not another financial burden.

I urge you to rethink your decision. You are only hurting the residents who make it possible for Linden Labs to stay in business. Without your residents, you are nothing.

Something to sincerely think about ....

Read what he wrote for comprehension and understanding. The last column is the four-pack of openspace regions.

Please read what was ritten carefully. The last column was for the four pack of openspace sims.

After reading all these post, i have learned alot. but i have notice this, Jack you are going to lose alot of business if you up the prices. I have been thinking about making my account a paying account instead of basic, but i think i will wait and see how all this plans out. I'm thinking this might not be worth my money. Though i do understand where you are coming from. Those who abuse it should have to pay. but intil today i never know what you thought was in open sim. Should have done my homework long ago. I do have to side with some of the others. who would pay $75 for a sim just to have a park? Most sim owners on here are here to make money. Because if they make money you make money. And in case you haven't been watching the news lately, Wall st is falling. Money issues around the world is in trouble. Therefore most don't have alot of money to spend on here as rl comes first. There has to be another way to solve this issue. cut the prims down. something rather making them pay more for less.

I wanted to buy 3 openspace sims in December, for my regular sim (a dark RP city).
Well, I won't buy, but wait and see for a few months.

http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?p=2194303#post2194303

and A Merry Christmas to you too Jack !

Ugh, Ugh and Ugh. Community is what Second Life is meant to be about and hearing the above just brings a lump into my throat. It's projects like the above that enticed me to come to Second Life, to embrace it and to create here. It's always why I have used it for my RL clients and various projects. I am all for a commercial base to supplement the creative community - both *can* live in harmony if well thought out and respect is there.

But what are our options now for communities residing in Second Life. Perhaps commercial sponsorship, rather than resident contribution. I think we are losing something very precious here if this it what it has come to.

I hope something changes on this strangely against market decision e.g. grandfather tier provided that helps on this.

If not perhaps with such a large community and space you could look at getting onto another grid and I certainly would visit you there.

The market will find balance on it's own. Which it did. Heavy handed attempts to fix a problem that doesn't exist will only cause things to go bad. Just like in real life.