On-Grid Plan of Action

We have spent a week airing our disapproval of the OP tier price hike. Now it is time to create an alternative plan of action, a point of realistic negociation that is fair to all.


My personal suggestions.. I invite yours:

1. Non transfer Grandfathered tier for non profit groups

2. 6 month non transfer Grandfathered tier for existing OP sims for regular users

3. Re-introduction of the original Voids as a 2nd type OP sim @ 62.50 USD.. strictly for water and terrain purposes such as trees.. anything else would be considered abuse. Original restrictions would apply.. such as buying 4 at the price of an island and should be adjacent to the full prim island they are for.. not spread out across the grid as the existing OP sims are. This way the sailing associations would be able to sail their yachts and people would be able to add extra terrain... may a few low prim structures such a campfire or cabin.

4. Increase prims for existing OP sim from 3750 to 4000

5. A 6 month waivor of cost for those land owners who want to convert their existing OP sims to full prim sims.

In my humble opinion, this suggested policy is Fair, Reasonable And Doable!! PLEASE Hear our voices, LL and make the necessary policy changes to insure a sense of TRUST as well as showing Your concerns for the Residents who would like to be in SL for YEARS to come!! Please consider the Big Picture and the Future of SL. Thank You!

A Concerned OS sim owner.

Sorry, but no.


1. So-called nonprofit status doesn't mean much. Look around, plenty of them rent out their discounted regions and make tons of cash far and above what those of us paying appropriate commercial tier make. Sure there are some real nonprofits, but it's also where the most egregious resource abuse per dollar paid occurs.

Nonprofit is the oldest trick in the book. The corporation may not post profits, because the profits are simply balanced / removed at the end of the year by giving a payment bonus to the owner. If I were less ethical I could easily create a nonprofit entity, show very real papers to our service provider and double profits overnight. And charge a 'membership fee' eerily proportional to land use rates.

If someone really has a struggling, do-good, save-the-world nonprofit sending money to refugees in Darfur or something, what the hell are they doing with pricey, scenic openspace regions tacked onto their expensive-as-is standard region anyway?


2. Simply deferring the whole problem for six months will place the issue smack in the middle of the low season for grid use, when everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying warm weather and off the computer.

It would be just like now, people would angrily flee, but probably not even bother with a forum post on the way out the door. Second Life? Nah. Backyard barbeques instead, and a return to World of Warcraft in the fall with Second Life fading rapidly in the rearview, just a bitter memory. Dangerously. Foolish. Move.

Worst of all, it locks in the punishment on people who *haven't* excessively used resources with their openspaces.

We need a solution fast, and not deferred. It had better be fair enough and clear enough to restore confidence in the platform.


3. Untenable. "Oh dear, I've got 1000 prims out and I've had three friends in here with me for two hours... quick, to the border before we are seen! Let's just *look into* the region I'm paying for, before the Abuse Police report us!"

Sailing, by the way, isn't necessarily light use compared to residential. It is often quite the other way, purely a factor of what people are using.

Just one overdone avatar can be a far bigger impact than both heavy residential use and sailing combined. I see such avatars go through my regions all the time.


4. Increasing prim counts... "We know you think you leased a Ford Focus economy car within your budget, but we have exchanged it during the night for an Escalade SUV and are increasing your monthly payments 67% accordingly. Oh, and no backing out - you've been loyally leasing from us for two years now, so no money back!" Ironically, this is about as close to fair as any of your proposals come. But it still isn't fair.

5. If rates change, anything other than free conversions for a long time would be unthinkable.


I disagree with your overall proposal in general.

This was never about resources in the first place. Furthermore, there has to be a beginning to the end. We cannot continue to go on like this infinitely, just complaining and not making efforts to remedy a solution.

1) Non-Profits: The increase to non-profit land is unfair and although I think they should increase in price they should always below the prices the rest of us pay. You should not be making profits from non-profits but at least make sure their price matches exactly the costs.

2) 6 months of Grandfathering then convert to the new price? This sounds like defeat to me. You are just asking for 4 months extra time with this. Grandfathering shouldnt be considered at all. Also grandfathering in the past is only for older servers with lower specs which makes it fairer that they pay less.

3) I can agree that there should be 2 different pricing models for OS sims. One for light use and one for heavy use. But light use which shouldnt cost much should also incluse personal use for a home (not lots of homes just one owner). I would also encourage that such sims be used combined with one another to be used as passage routes for sailing which would be more sustainable if they are funded as a personal home.
Also the Higher price should be applied to sims that use higher traffic and these sims are usually used for clubs, shops, lots of land rentals and all of these are for generating money from its users. These sims that try make money from open spaces and are driving traffic up should at least be the ones asked to front the bill for their higher traffic.

4) The Prim counts dont seem to be significant enough in affecting the performance compared to other factors such as agents/scripts. But for this reason i dont see nothing wrong in increasing the amount of prims for those sims increased in price as i believe the prices can be absorbed better by people with enough prims. Most people calculate their rents by the amount of prims to work out the best deals available.
I also believe the price rises were made so they can put less sims on one server to make the server capable of handling the traffic better. something like 12 OS sims on one server or 3 per core compared to 16 per server and 4 per core they currently use. So a server normally handles 60000 prims split up over all its sims so they could split up 60000 over 12 open sims for 5000 prims each.

5) A 6 month waivor to convert to full sims would be good. I also think they should allow for 6 months free transfer of an OS to another person or a complete refund of the setup costs.

1. I don't know if a lot of people are abusing non-profit status, seems it should be simple to only offer them to actual charities and educational institutions (like the oh-so-well respected Woodbury!, OK bad example). I feel bad for non-profits and I know LL loves all that SL is for education crap so I feel this is a good idea.

2. 8 months notice is very very fair (2 months until January then 6 more). Desmond's objections seem silly to me. I'm going to trust LL and believe they have to raise prices and so then the only question is how and when. 2 months seemed reasonable, 8 months seems amazingly generous.

3. I also agree with this although I'm concerned that suddenly my OS sims will be competing with old school void sims for renters. It might take policy and enforcement effort to stop that sort of thing and I'm not sure that it's practical. I know Jack said they don't have the technical capability to limit the number of avs or scripts on a sim but surely it can't be all that tough to code.

4. This seems pointless. Disagreed.

5. Again 6 months is more than generous. Personally if it comes down to it I will abandon OS sims and don't see any sense in converting OS into full sims but it sounds like a lot of people want that.

The only thing I'd add to this list is a buyback offer for very new OS sims, say under 2 months old and then we're looking at a very fair and reasonable way for LL to increase their prices to cover their costs.

Chaley, the thing is the price change will happen.. a 6 months grandfather is realistically feasible as opposed to just a no expiration grandfather. Jack already pointed out that the expense is still there so just a blanket grandfather is not really realistic.

Furthermore, with OP, what we are paying for is the space and not the prims. As I have said before, some prefer space whilst others prefer prims.

What we need to do is come up with realistic compromises that are fair to all.. not just a all or nothing stance.

Here are my suggestions. Please keep in mind these are only my suggestions/personal opinion and in no way are intended to represent any groups desires. Each group will make their own decision as to how they want to collectively be represented

1 Non transfer grandfathered tier for non profit groups
Keep in mind that non profits bring students etc into the grid.
For every student they bring in LL creates a future market of users.
A very good marketing strategy.....Microsoft used this strategy and it was successful for them.

2. Free conversion to full sims for all OSS owners with 4 or more OSS. (4 OSS turn in for 1 full sim). If they want to keep them at 75 tiers reduce the prim count, only intended light use avies (boats etc as LL originally intended)
and number of scripts allowed but must be attached to a full sim. Offer a secondary product at the current proposed price increase to full sim owners with 3750 prim 125 tiers but with increased performance as they stated.

2b. for those who really use them as intended (forests and water) the reduction in prim count, avies allowed and script reduction would be feasible and should be acceptable to them.

3. Prorated credits for OSS owners with less than 4 OSS as follows:

Ownership 2 months or less -full refund
Ownership 3 months 230 credit
Ownership 4 months 210 credit
Ownership 5 months 190 credit
Ownership 6 months 170 credit
Ownership 7 months 150 credit
etc until time they LL offered the 250setup 3750prim OSS or until 250 less 20 per mo ownership =zero

While this would create a short term increase in personnel resources need by LL to determine who would get what credits, it would allow LL to regain trust and improve their customer relations

4. create level playing field for all full sims....all should be at 1000 set up price 295 tiers (they can raise it back to 1500set up as far as I am concerned. That would help full sim values lol).

So, all current 195 tiered full sim owners pay same as 295 sim owners but they would get class 5 with better performance. This would stablize the full sim market and allow 295 tier sim owners to compete. Reducing the unfair oligopoly currently existing
This would also help both the full sim owner market and Mainland markets. Healthy competition helps all.


5. For future price increases give a 3-4 month notice which will allow land owners who rent to others time to notify their residents and give residents time to make adjustments

Thanks to Kitt for at least entertaining the consideration of our suggestions

Having each non-profit group submit a 501(c)(3) statement to verify would eliminate this

Don't they already? Or not?

There is always a way to abuse the system, whether it be in SL or RL. I have known people who did that. They were able to successfully register themselves as a nonprofit org in RL, then qualify for reductions in SL. There probably needs to be more goverance of these non profit sims and how they are used.

My idea is very basic, very simplistic, I feel that LL is doing this to increase revenue, that's amicable and expected from a company with vested interests in their product. I feel that the problem is the policy of Opensims has caused an opening for this kind of cost increase, but this will be detrimental to the economy as alot of people aren't going to be willing to swallow a 66% increase in the cost of their land, particularly people with multiple openspaces.


My idea spesificly is this:

First, increase the price of it by a smaller amount (Capping at 20% increase) as due to the amount of openspace sims, there is likely to be a substantial increase in income from just that amount, but to also change the policy of Opensims to reflect the newfound uses. This would give policy support to the people who want to use it for other things, but also give linden labs increased revenue.

From there, I'd say either re-offer void sims for land, like V mentioned, OR! How about renting protected land, that's deeded to a spesific group for the sake of terraforming and landscaping, which is basically allowing people that open, protected space around their sims, while preserving the original intention of them through policy from LL? Protected land is still technically owned by LL, but renting it to consumers and tacking it onto their land won't be any further difficulty then giving them a void sim. You could technically combine the ideas and rent them a void sim of protected land, with the option to buy later at perhaps a reduced rate. This preserves the intention and gives a person a taste, but perhaps their income will later support BUYING one of those lands and expanding their buildable region.

plus a statement that the os sims can be used for residential at least

Jack already said that they could... supposdly this was part of the price increase, server load, etc, bla.

I like your idea, Daniel. I think that it has merit.

If LL does not require 501(c)(3) proof then they should

Btw....non-profit does not mean they cannot show a profit on their income statements. It means any profits made must be held in Retained Earnings for future use only toward the mission of the organization. They cannot pay any individuals/board members other than salaries or vendors that satisfy the needs of the non-profit. All payments over certain amounts to individuals must be disclosed on the form 990, 990T and 5500. Any income from any activity outside of their non-profit status is taxed as unearned business income.

It's quite funny watching the apologists for Linden trying to carve out something that will defuse the rage felt by the users.

But rather sad that the Lindens won't engage in this discussion themselves. Jack's statement was last Wednesday and still no official responses that would move us on.
It is said that some of the apologists are in fact Lindens using non-Linden-named alts.
And what does _that_ tell us of LL's confidence in their own position?

Come off it, LL. Admit that you screwed up. All but a few Land Barons have been using the open-space sims as they were originally intended (which we were told several times _does_ include residential facilties). Let's not have any sly proposals for 'helpful compromises' like 'perhaps a one-storey building or a low campfire); we were permitted much better than that in the original Linden scheme for open-sims.

Admit a big mistake, Linden; no changes; and lets simply move on.

I'm not a Linden, lol. All I am saying is we have spent more than enough time complaining. Time to move on to resolutions.

Agreed.

First off, Jack Linden noted there was only a 'small number' of OS non-profit users and their obvious desire is to push them into the full sim standard discount for non-profits and educators. Linden would hardly want to discourage that effort by grandfathering, and they specifically stated that non-profits will not recieie discounts for OS sims. If a few low budget non-profits walk, Linden won't sweat it.

As for the rest getting a 6 month reprieve, that's just prolonging the agony and the rancor. The only acceptable solution is to either grandfather everybody indefinitely (including the non-profits), refund the purchases of the OS sims, or provide vastly increased service and performance standards given the absurd 67% price hike. The latter is not going to happen.

Alternatively, Linden is counting on people to pony up the extra fees even as they bitterly complain, and they have history on their side. Unless a large segment of the community divests or there's a successful legal challenge, this is a done deal.

What did you think about Daniel's post? In case you did not see it, I will repost it here:

Daniel Gottlieb makes a fine suggestion but I think you're missing my point. Linden has no need to compromise on this issue as long as people either pay the extra tier, convert to full sim, or otherwise obtain an equivalent amount of mainland or full sim.

To Linden, we're like junkies who yell and scream about their unfair policies & threaten to leave. but in the end we crawl back & pay for another fix. They will only consider a compromise or alternative if the money grab backfires and results in a significant contraction of tier revenue across the board. Personally I think it will backfire but it's early in the process.

I have read all these suggestions to make this rate hike transition fair to all involved and they are all excellent in a very logical and intellectual way. Now may I approach this with a bit of emotion from the heart as a disabled person? Of course, rate hikes are a part of life, it was bound to come, however it is almost going to "double"..Wow, there has to be more substance to LL than that, I really think there is. Not everyone in SL is online just to "have fun", but actually use it as a way to participate in the human race when otherwise they couldn't normally do so. I am talking about disabled people who are homebound but still are able to contribute to society if given the opportunity. Profit is good, it's the "american way" there is nothing wrong with that but if LL would take a step back (and I'm sure they probably have already) SL isn't in any danger of losing money by allowing non profit and educational discounts continue without an increase. As a matter of fact, making it available to the disabled could get them tax breaks from the US government and unbelievable profits from companies taking advantage of their servers to enable disabled employees to link to their jobs. If I had had that chance, I would still be working instead of just playing games on SL. The potential of Second Life is incredible, far beyond merely playing games and making Ls to cover tier payments. SL could be a way for disabled people to actually "work"enriching their lives and contributing to society in a positive way. Future Second Life could be the beginning of disabled people who can't drive to work a way to link to their companies, or disabled students link to schools and universities to take classes... I know, they are "doing" it already, but not on the scale that it could be by any means. Doubling rate hikes wouldn't be necessary if LL would go ahead and take it that one step further, it just takes someone who cares about more than profits on paper. I believe the original idea of SL was going that way, how can they get back on track? Their profits could triple, quadruple if someone would just take the time to think it through. A Linden was brilliant enough to create this astounding idea, now are they brilliant enough to enhance it far beyond the dollar signs? They may discover that their profit would be astronomical without raising rates at all and help others doing it. Wouldn't it be nice to hear more positive stories about SL helping people's lives then ones telling how it ruins them?

I simply suggested this to Jack:

1) Create a new "Void Sim" product, which is limited to 1875 prims (or lower, but prims aren't really the issue, as Jack keeps saying), 10-25 max avatars, 5.0ms "max" script time (20.0ms is standard on full sims) and maybe some esoteric "don't use these for this" restrictions. If necessary, add some extra throttling to mitigate resource overuse.
2) All present OS sims, as they are today, will be converted to US$125/mo billing on 2009/01/01.
3) Owners can opt to keep their existing OS sims as they are and pay the new rate, or ...
4) Opt to switch their regions to the new "Void Sim" product before 2009/01/01 to keep the current rate. There will be no fee for any conversion from OpenSpace to Void regions for 6(?) months.

This lets people who are using them as intended keep their regions and price, and those who need them for more, will pay for it. While it won't make those who are using them almost as full sims happy, it won't punish those who are using them as "intended".

Technical point: I'm pretty sure they do require this, and they should, of course.

Fully agree with your statements, and yes I did oversimplify a bit - I didn't mean to create a lecture on the matter. The point is that nonprofits are rife with abuse mechanisms - especially when it comes to compensation and perks. If you are fairly familiar with the tax code, and difficulties defining what is reasonable or enforceable I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm not one to be goody-two-shoes secret spy neighbour, but let's just say it takes *very* little investigation to find groups abusing their nonprofit status. Sometimes blatantly. Ticks me off, but even so, I don't go after other people on the grid. Not my style.