Just make the OS available to everyone

I think this would get rid of a lot of the angst with users and "owners" of OS.

Personally, I'm not here to make money, this is a financial sink for me, I put money in and in return I get a level of entertainment. The 2 OS I share here, they give me entertainment, they are private and we are free to do what we like with them. If the $350 (or whatever the new price is) upfront, and the $125 a month, was offered tomorrow, even if they knocked off the concierge care, despite the additional outlay, I'd buy now.

Reading through the threads in here I'm not the only user who it seems would like this solution and would then keep their sim, largely I think because many of us are already paying so close to $125 a month it's a cost we have already decided is worth spending for our entertainment and enjoyment.

This would be extremely damaging to the current owners of Openspaces unless Linden Lab give full sim owners a break on tier and charge them less tier for the product than the people who only own an openspace.

USD$95 for full sim owners, USD$125 for those who only own an Openspace and it could be tied to four openspaces per sim someone owns, so if you own one full sim you get four at a discounted rate and if you want more you pay the full rate.

Linden Lab are biting the hand that feeds them over this issue, biting it harder will not be a good strategy.

A lower rate or structure for estate owners might provide a balanced option though. Given I've already been advised that I'll be paying $130 a month from Jan 1, if someone can buy their own sim for $125 a month then estate owners will need to be price competitive.

Estates can also offer something different from the stand alone sims with a full large area environment, so people may be willing to pay for that.

I think it's my hand that's feeding though, the money just goes via another pair of hands that takes a cut on the way.

First lets remember that the product that an estate owner will pay $125 for eventually is not the product that was sold prior to October 28th and not the product those who are using low prim sims now are occupying. The "homestead" product as it is being called is one that has reduced limits on avatars- the low prim sims were rolled out with a default avatar limit of 40- the "homestead" sims will be rolled out with an avatar limit of 20 which means if you want to have a party once a year at your home you can forget it unless you only plan on inviting 20 or less people. Further, there will be a limit on scripts which does not now exist and has not been determined by the lab or disclosed to any of us at this point. That fact has the potential to significantly limit your creativity or ability to use the sim as you desire.

Secondly, if indeed the issues with the low prim product now are technical (I don't personally buy that reason for this increase) but if they are, then allowing individuals who do not own full sims to purchase the low prim product does nothing to resolve the issues that LL claims got us here in the first place.

Lastly, if the Lab opens the low prim sim product for purchase this way (without having to first own a full prim sim) then they will essentially make the statement that this whole debacle was an attempt to take a chunk of revenue from their current estate owners for themselves....(cut out the retailer so to speak). While at this point this would not surprise me... it would be a very bad PR move in light of the current climate across the grid.

As previously stated, you will have the same avie and script limitations you have now. Regardless, who you purchase it from it will still be the same. Again, why pay more just to get something less.

This is IMHO.

I think you would find that most individuals who would be willing to purchase a Homestead sim as their ONLY sim will be getting it for their personal use only, and not to rent out to several people. As overpriced as it is in terms of cost per prim, a Homestead, if able to be purchased directly from LL as a person's only sim, is still the cheapest solution for real privacy on the grid, if you place it on the grid detached from other sims, and make it not Public.

QFT and that what exactly mine was. Even if they allowed direct purchase, I don't know if I could trust LL again on that level.

That seems reasonable to me as long as i could purchase or at least become sole owner of my homestead,$125 tier is ok with me,i pay that now
Or are you talking about estate owners getting the $95 tier and charging renter $125 tier

No I'm talking about estate owners getting USD $95 tier and homestead only users having tier of USD$125 if they buy direct from LL.

I would agree to that,but if estate owners were to rent them out then the price with profit would be very close to what one could buy outright
If on the other hand you mean estate owners getting a break and only paying $95 because they are an estate owner and want them for their own usage,i would agree with you

That sounds a better idea then at least full sim owners could make a profit with the tier break, but i still think it would be a bad business move by LL to allow OS sims to be sold to anyone who wants. But if they chose that tack maybe ensuring people that wanted to buy one had to have an annual premium account at least.

I still think it wouldn't fit though with maybe LL wanting people back on mainland, 2009 is going to be an interesting year methinks

While I don't think offering homesteads outright would be a good idea anyway for several of the reasons quoted so far...

What this equation leaves out is the $375 setup fee. That would be the difference between buying direct and renting. So, there would still be an advantage to renting for the end user.

and what about support? if the estate owners were to be rubbed out like this, LL's concierge support team would quickly become overwhelmed. they'd need to expand that team in huge numbers. where would that money come from? tier would probably need to be raised again to compensate. be careful what you wish for...

So far, other than during the initial set up, the only support we've needed is things we could have done ourselves if we had estate tools. This stuff really isn't rocket science.

You don't think that extra 67% income they are going to be getting might help pay for that support?

certainly some users can self-support. but you'd be amazed at the things your average renter has trouble with. it's that middle of the bell curve that would swell support requirements at LL.

I don't see LL doing stepped tier for Openspaces at least for the setup fee since it costs them same to setup the sim whether the person owns a full sim or not from what I read so they have absolutely no reason to cut the price. On tier I can see them taking a profit cut though if they have a wide enough price margin if only to act as an incentive but I doubt they'd do much if any of one as long as they're still making enough money without the cut.

I think that was already an issue with islands being in a name other than the estate owner but USD$125 does indeed qualify mainlanders for concierge support so it really wouldn't be surprising if this turned out to be the plan.

They're already planning different setup costs depending upon whether it's an openspace or a homestead. At this moment in time there is nothing to justify the higher setup cost for a homestead, it's just something LL have decided is the right price. If they start running them three to a core then a higher setup fee starts to make sense.

hmmmm, what would SL be like if instead of mainland and estates....we all had Homesteads?

Since they are obviously more popular than over priced full prim sims, and more attractive than a largish mainland parcel....that is the direction this change would make.

I am not saying it is bad, but something I think LL is reacting to right now(or a few weeks ago) Mainland prices are at very low levels, anyone with a few fullprim sims has had a difficult time renting parcels due to the OS competition.*

Not saying that is bad, but certainly something to think about.

Maybe we would all be happier living on private personal islands, i know i enjoyed the privacy of mine.

But as a community...will that really help growth? Will we be so spread out the we could amplify the ghost town effect we have so perfected?

Then there is the performance issue. If we all lived on homesteads, the over all experience *could* be diluted.

Also, can the grid and central stuff even handle that many regions? Doesn't seem like it from their claims of "abuse".

Just my thoughts on the subject. =) I am not sure which way would be better for SL as a whole. I am pretty sure though that changes like this have much larger long run implications than are initially obvious.

Alisha


*((without confirming metrics --and just in my recent experience-- My full prim sims are now completely rented again.......as if the OS debacle never happened. As long as I can ignore the loss of My setup fees =/ ))

How many people actually walk, drive, fly to different place on mainland? How many people can travel that way given the ban lines and home security systems in place? Landmarks and teleporting I would have thought were the main way to travel here so whether it's mainland, private sim or Homestead really isn't going to come into play much.

The US, like many other countries around the world has anti-trust laws that prohibit price discrimination.

In fact, when the Homesteads become officially available as a stand alone item rather than under the term OS for estate enhancement, LL and the restriction of having to have a full sim will fall into the category of tying arrangements. ie the restriction of a sale that a person must also purchase another product.

I'm not a lawyer (and I'm guessing you're not either) but since they're not being anti-competitive (as they have no competition) I don't think the Sherman Act (the main anti-trust law) applies here which is also why I think all the people who are serious talking lawsuits are going on the false advertising angle. It should be noted that these people suing LL will probably lose because they don't have a leg to stand on but that's beside the point of this topic.

False advertising is a very serious offence Gordon, in the UK deceptive price advertising is a criminal, not a civil offence. Linden Lab are still advertising openspaces at USD$75 a month, this is plainly false. I don't think this is a malicious policy, but it's a silly one and I'd wager anyone who took them to court over this right now would win because the price is a lie.

Maybe they'll prove me wrong although I doubt it and I dobut it even more that it will be in the UK since other than it's token office there for banking LL is based in California so success in a US court is much more likely.

I doubt very much that Californian laws on false pricing are much different to the UK, it's simply not the right thing to do.