why is it so hard for some.....

I have read many threads about free accounts credit card verification upload fees and a few other topics.

I get the feeling that some people are just very reluctant to spend money in Second Life.

This I can not understand If you think about the amount of enjoyment you get, The amount of time spent in world and the entertainment you get from Second Life.
this has to be one of the best values you can find.
you cant take a family of 4 to the movies for the price of a Second life Yearly subscription.

I personally have a premium account and it is the best deal i have ever gotten for the amount of enjoyment i get from it.

Someone mentioned that your not even required to spend anything to get verified. (true/false)?

If you don't spend any US$, but just give your details, you can get

- L$250 free
and
- "Payment Info On File" status.

For the top level of verification ("Payment Info Used" you have to spend money on something, either a Premium membership or L$.

@Dustyn

The reason is that people don't think alike. People don't see things the same way. People have different life experiences.

People in general are reluctant to spend money on anything. I too began on a free account (with CCinfo). I was reluctant to spend money on something I wasn't sure I'd like to continue. I stayed on basic for 2 months before going premium. Some will take longer, some might never upgrade.

A good number of people I'm sure are trying to keep their expenses down. US$1 is cheap for a lot of people in the US, but in some countries, that's a day's wages. I'm sure there are residents coming from those countries. I'm not saying that those who have such wages are the players, but if such are the wages, that would give some indication of the per capita.

A premium account is a pretty good deal if you do know how to derive enjoyment from SL. But we can't say that all who enter SL find out how to get that enjoyment. In MMOGs usually you know what needs to be done to progress in the gameworld. In SL it's the opposite: the options are so unlimited that most people simply get paralyzed. From my experience as an ex-teacher I have to say that you may be surprised at how paralyzed some students can get when you give an exam where constraints and "have-tos" are removed.

For some of us working up from nothing is part of the fun. That is what I did until I found myself needing land for a store and was forced to go premium for about a year. It was one heck of a lot of fun to start with nothing more than a basic account and build a SL and SL Business from it.

Every person has their own unique approach to what SL is and how they wish to persue it. This was just mine.

I was basic for about 2 weeks before I decided I needed to buy some land and start building... so I went premium. Now I've got more land and pay more, although I'd have more land if I could afford it.

Basic should be seen as a 'starting point' to give the game a trial and see if you like it, not the basis for long-term playing.

Lewis

I don't agree with that Lewis. I have a basic account. I was premium once for a month and decided I didn't need to be. I don't need to own land. I don't need the stipend. I earn my L$ and plenty of them. Why would I pay more to do the same things I'm doing now? That would be silly.

Frankly I do a lot in SL besides running a business, a whole lot. I don't get offended easily, but when people say that a basic account is freeloading or that I am somehow less valuable or less "committed", that does offend me. I know you didn't use those words in this post, I'm now encompasing statements I've heard before in the Forums from a few people.

But I have a basic account and having been here a year, I think I can say I'm long term.

I just happen to believe that 'basic' accounts should be limited in some ways, so that people can get a 'feel' of SL, but to enjoy the whole experience you should pay.

All those tens of thousands of active basic accounts..... just think how much money LL could be making if only they were paying for using up the bandwidth, server space etc.

So you run a business .... do you rent a large plot of land, or merely vendor spaces dotted around? Just curious.

I'd rather be paying a little extra and have security, than be at the mercy of a land baron, if I had the choice.

Lewis

All those tens of thousands of active basic accounts are PEOPLE, most of whom contribute to SL in ways you can't possibly know. You are the person always saying SL is too commercial and should be more about content yes? Well, those are content creators like myself.

Frankly how I run my business is none of your business. If you asked me for advice on how to run a business, I might offer some suggestions but thats not the manner in which you asked. Trust me though I'm at the "mercy" of no one.

You think basic accounts should be limited. I see, so limited how? I should not be able to upload as many textures as you? I guess all the people who like my clothing designs and textures and the numerous free items of clothing I have all over SL will just have to find their prim gowns, jeans, and building textures elsewhere.

I should not be able to create as many prims maybe? Ok then I guess the trees and plants and roads and buildings I helped to build on the islands I help to manage will just have to be done by someone else.

Oh I know, I should not be able to have or spend as many L$ as you. Ok then, you can start paying out all the prize money and buying all the furnishings and classified ads and other numerous items for the club on the island too, since I'll have to stop doing all that.

Maybe I should have to make do with fewer IMs, not be able to create groups, be forced to only play a certain amount of hours. Tell me Lewis, how would you limit us mere basics without taking away all the content we create and contributions we make?

All those basic accounts are in some ways not totally free. When people join SL, they earn their stay here by being human 'content'. They become people whom you can talk to, while some others produce tangible contributions. Whats the point of a zoo when there aren't enough animals in it? Some produce a positive impact while others don't, but its something you live with.

EDIT: Hit submit and Allana is saying the same thing!

Between a premium paying griefer who might own lots of land, and a free unverified account that becomes a friend ... junk the griefer. The freebie guy or gal just added more welcome content to my life than the paying griefer.

I was never for limiting the basic. If LL did that, I might have left before going premium.

I think I've heard those words more from the mouths of basics concerned with how people see them than premiums levelling accusations to be honest...

Maybe, no ones saying that you don't contribute anything, because that's clearly not true, but the unavoidable fact is you'd be contributing MORE if you paid a subscription too, just like all the premiums who contribute like you do AND pay a subscription.

Not necessarily so. They could indirectly be paying far more tier than you, through a landlord. Relative to tier, premium subscriptions are a much smaller slice of LL's revenue. There are many successful content creators paying quite significant amounts of tier via landlords. The end result for LL is the same.

Why should people pay for a 512 they're not going to use, and a stipend they don't want/need? They're paying for what they use. Give people more options, more flexibility, you get more people buying in through one means or another. The premium subscription is not the be-all and end-all of LL's revenue. Tier is their primary revenue stream.

Who would I be contributing more to..LL? Not SL. Whether or not I give Linden Labs my money has nothing to do with contributing to the SL community.

If they told me I had to pay in order to stay then I would pay them, but not because I would feel it is some kind of duty. I would pay them for the privelage of continuing to contribute to and get something out of SL.

I owe nothing to a company until they tell me I owe them something and right now their position is that they are doing just fine without my extra 10 bucks a month.

There are some LL employees I like very much, the people, but the company itself I feel about as much loyalty to as my local electric company and as far as both companies are concerned, I will give them what they TELL me I am responsible for and not more than that.

Where the PEOPLE of SL are concerned I'm happy to give all I can and I do that daily.

Extending on what you're saying, they're also like tourists in the economy. They may not pay LL anything directly, but if they buy some L$ and spend it inworld, they're helping a premium pay their tier. They contribute by making SL businesses more viable, hence, more able to keep paying LL tier.

There's a reason why governments spend millions promoting tourism.

A completely reasonable and rational point of view Allana. LL are not a charitable organisation, not a community funded organisation, they are a private company.

I also find it interesting that many who say 'hey you should be paying to support LL', are the first to scream 'hey if you take such-and-such away I'll revert to basic!!!'. This indicates to me, that they're not viewing it as a 'charitable contribution', but just like anyone else, they're looking for value as a customer from a private company. Otherwise, they wouldn't ask for anymore in exchange for their premium fee than LL's continued existence.

*agreeing with Fade*

But now that said, I'm willing to bet that if LL suddenly said, sorry we're going bankrupt and in order to be able to keep SL running we need to start charging everyone for premium accounts, we just can't do basics anymore.... most if not all of us would pony up in a second. We wouldn't do it because we feel any sense of loyalty to the company but because we love SL and want to see it continue. But seeing as how, as you stated, they make their real money from tier and add to that they clearly don't have a problem with free accounts as they just made them easier to get..... I don't see that happening anytime soon.

And with that I am off to bed, I'm so tired even my avatar's not lookin so good..... be well everyone.

I was just writing that actually I agreed with you both and my reasons for suggesting everyone pays to use the service provided by LL (irrespective of tier & stipends) is to ensure the continuance of SL in the face of no real alternatives !

Spot on. LL has increasingly been moving away from the subscription model, and has been for a long time now.

I believe that of you absolutely CJ. My statement in the second paragraph of post #16 was in no way directed at you.

I think it's the viagra.

Now I'm cuirous to know if any people in SL earn the equivilant of 1US$ in daily wages in RL?