Unofficial 1.2 FAQ

The goal of this thread will be to link to official response about the various aspects of Secondlife 1.2
(I need to stay more up-to-date on this...must drink more energy drink)

I will try and edit this thread, but for now, the questions will appear in no sensical order.


1) How does an existing user switch to the one time payment plan?
They don't need to! Linden Response All existing accounts (including cancelled accounts) will be re-enabled, and given rights to 1024 sq.m. of land. This excludes accounts that were banned for behavioral reasons. (Trials not included either) Note: To continue receiving your land grant, you must continue paying your $9.99 a month subscription fee. Discounts are avaliable for quarterly or yearly payments.

1.1) I'm confused about the payment plans.....
That's because there are actually two of them! A much more flexible payment scheme is being implemented in 1.2. Specifically, you pay for access, and then you pay for land. Access fees entitle you to a small amount of land. Current users who subscribed to any of the 'premium access' plans will receive a 1024 sq.m. land grant instead of the standard 512 sq.m. land grant. Separate from access fees are land usage fees. Avaliable from the getting to know 1.2 page, land fees will be assed once you have used L$ to purchase land. If at any period during a given month you own 2400 sq.m. of land, you will be assed the 2048-4096 sq.m. of land fee (which happens to be $25/month).

1.2) What happens if I accidently go over and purchase too much land? Are the Lindens going to reposses my house?
No Whenever you purchase land, you will be warned if the purchase bring you over your current allocation. You will specifically have to approve moving yourself into a higher 'land-bracket'. Additionally, you will have the option of paying for land in L$, or possibly even some combination of L$ and R$.

2) How much land do existing users get?
All existing users get 1/64 of a sim ( 1/4 of an acre (1024 sq.m.)) free. (You must maintain a premium subscription account for this!!!) All lifers get 1/16 of a sim (1 acre (4096 sq.m.)) free. Getting to know 1.2 (Unconfirmed:Lifers get a premium subscription account for free)

3) What's going to happen to the prim limit?
All users will get their prims allocated dependant upon the amount of land they own. Given the current number of prims per sim (10,000), that works out to 625 per acre, or about 157 per 1/4 acre.Getting to know 1.2 Unofficial rumors seem to suggest that the prim limit per sim will be increase to 15,000. This would represent a 50% increase or cap at 938 prims per acre, or 235 prims per 1/4 acre.

4) What are L$ going to be used for?
Not Taxes! Taxes are gone, in all forms. L$ will be used for a variety of purposes.
You will still need L$ to purchase land (you'll just need to make sure that you also have allocation remaining as well). This means that if you are a lifer, and you wish to purchase 1024 sq.m. of land, you will both have to currently own less than 3096 sq.m. of land, AND have enough L$ to pay for the land you are purchasing.
Additionally, L$ will be the in game currency for object/textures/scripts/vehicles, etc. . .
There are indications from various lindens that L$ will be convertable into dollars in some fashion, but the mechanism for that has not been described yet, and it seems as if it will not be as simply as withdrawing money from a bank.
Kex Godel further correction and elaboration:
4.1) Your SL account will have a *cap* on how much land you may own. This is based on how much money you pay per month to LL. For example, for $25/month, your cap will be 4096m^2.

4.1.1) Current (and past?) members of SL will be grandfathered a permanent gift that raises their cap by 1024m^2. This gifted land cap will not have a monthly USD charge, it's yours forever.

For example, if a current member pays $15/month, they will get a land cap of 3072m^2. If they decide they can't afford SL anymore, they can stop paying altogether, and they will still get to play AND keep their 1024m^2 gift!

4.1.2) Lifetime Members of SL will be grandfathered a permanent gift of 4096m^2 instead of the 1024m^2 mentioned in #1.1 above. Lifetime members may also increase their land ownership cap beyond the gifted 4096m^ by making a monthly payment like everyone else.

For example, if a lifetime member decides he/she needs more land beyond the 4096m^2 that was given to them, they can elect to make a monthly payment of $25 to double their land cap to 8192m^2 (1/8 of a sim).

4.1.3) New members who join after 1.2 goes live do not get any of the grandfathered bonuses, but they will have the option to play SL forever for a one-time fee of $9.95. They will get no land privledges, but they will be able to play with attachments and rez prims/objects near them.

4.2) At the time that you are playing in the game and finally decide to "claim" some land, you will have to make a one-time payment in the "virtual" Linden Dollars, just as it has been in the past. As new sims come online, they will be auctioned off (in $L), probably similar to Olive.

4.3) If you possess enough Linden Dollars, you can use them as a "coupon" to reduce your payment mentioned in section #1 above. Therefore, if you have a LOT of linden dollars, you may not have to make a USD payment at all.

4.4) There are no more taxes. No taxes on land. No taxes on rezzed prims. No taxes on altitude. No taxes on light sources.

5) Can I still get a lifetime membership?
Yes, Brianna and I bought ours today Though, the official Linden resposne is that there are a limited number of lifetime slots avaliable, and as soon as they run out, thats it!
Lifetime Program End of Life There are also indications that Lifetime's will not be sold once 1.2 is out.(Heard in game from Phillip Linden)(Confirmed: Here is the quote from the chat log)
Nala Galatea: Colin: Will lifetime memberships still be available after 1.2, and is there any reason to do so (except for really liking you guys and wanting to give you money ^^)
Colin Linden: Nala- No. the lifetime memberships will not be offered after 1.2 at least not in their current form. we may revisit the idea at a later date

6) Can I get a lifetime membership and pay for it later?
Sure! If you upgrade to a lifetime membership, you don't have to pay for it until your current subscription runs out! So if you are subscribed for the next 6 months, and upgrade to lifetime NOW, you don't actually pay for the $225 until your subscription runs out. There is a caveat, unfortunately. Any dates after the release of 1.2 are being moved back to the launch date of 1.2. You CAN pay for it later, but the latest you can pay for it is at the release of 1.2


7) Do Chat/Visitor only users (one-time payment accounts) get prims?
Yes! In 1.2, the Linden Labs is introducing the concept of a temporary item, which will allow avatars to rez objects/attachments and vehicles in their vincinity. These items DO NOT count against your prim limit, and will vanish after a moderate amount of time. They will also get a modest stipend (now called a grant). Land ownership will only be necessary for those who wish to put prims on display.Link Here!

What's happening to the stipend system?
Well, they are called grants now . Seriously: All monthly accounts (plus lifers) will receive a grant similar to the way they receive stipends now. There will be NO cap on stipends in 1.2. No stipend cap One-time only accounts will receive a smaller stipend. Straight from the new getting to know 1.2 page:
Small 'grant' = $100 L$
Big 'grant' = $500 L$
Small "stipends" are not calculated if you did not log in that weak. Perhaps you ratings are reset on a weekly basis?
Big "stipends" are calculated on a weekly basis even if you vanish.

9) When is 1.2 coming?
From the chat log
(Lordfly's question regarding Lifetime memberships), as of 12/9/2003
Philip Linden: Lordfly, you can still but a lifetime membership until 1.2
Philip Linden: So a couple weeks.

More random information from Philip Linden:Link Here!

Correction:

There will be on taxes for extra land purchased that goes over you're free amount given. It can be payed in L$ or in USD.

Chat log (unedited) from last night in the Welcome Area with Colin then Philip at this link. It's a zipped plain text file.

V1.2 Chat Log

Candie

There's a lot of confusion of terms in the discussion so far. When you say "free amount" do you mean the 1 acre / 1/4 acre given to existing accounts or do you mean the tax-free land entitlement your monthly fee will buy you?

They've said you will be billed based on your peak land use in the preceeding billing period which suggests to me that you can buy above and beyond your current entitlement if you want more land and then wait until the next billing period for your monthly fee to catch up. Indeed it would see like this is the way to increase your entitlement rather than going to the website and selecting a new payment plan.

What do you think?

What I meant was the amount you are given based on your subscription plan. And I suppose also the free 1/4 you get.

So if you payed 8$ a month and had 1/64, plus the free 1/4, but then if you added more property on to that, then you are taxed for the extra land.

Atleast this is my understanding, I could be compeletly wrong, but based on whats been said, thats how I understand it.

I thought I had a handle on this, but I guess now I'm not 100% sure =D

This needs clarifying. Does all accounts mean people who have paid at least a monthly fee, or does it also include anyone who signed up for a 7 day trial and never came back?

If it includes trial members, then darnit, I want something extra since I at least signed up to pay. Lifers get bonuses over standard members, regular members should get bonuses over trials.

If trials are not included in this, then ignore the above.

I am almost certain that they said anyone would had been subscribed for at least one month.

Trials get nothing

Found my own answer in the chat log I think.

Great Candie thanks!

I haven't seen this particular point expressed in any of the v1.2 threads yet, so bear with me a moment... apologies if it's been stated elsewhere.

Lets assume that in v1.1 we have two Lifetime members, Joe-A who already owns significant land - let's make it 4096 sq meters for argument's sake - and Jane-B who has no land.

When v1.2 arrives, both of these Lifetime Members will receive their 1/16 of a sim for "no cost" - that's a quote from the Linden announcement - but if Joe-A already owns this much land, what benefit is he receiving, compared Jane-B who currently has none, and is getting 1/16 of a sim for free?

It seems like this GREATLY benefits those Lifetime Members who currently own little or no land, if they are receiving for free up to their 1/16 of a sim. Members who already own this much land have significant $L ( guessing around $12000 on average ) tied up in it, and it seems unfair to give the same amount of land for free to people when you won't be receiving any extra land.

If this is true, wouldn't it make sense to dump all your current land and convert it into $L, just before v1.2 launches? And then get your "no cost" 1/16 of a sim disbursement?

Am I missing something or is there a problem here?

=Sinclair

I think you are missing something. What the RL$ / month does is set the cap on how much land you are allowed to own. You still must buy that land with L$ (or possibly when new land opens you will be able to buy with RL$ auctions or L$ auctions).

Jane will not be given a plot of 1acre somewhere in world, instead she will have a land cap much higher than she is currently using.

That is my understanding of the system.

On further reflection, I agree, Ama, this is probably the intent - the reference to "no cost" is meant to reflect the OPTION to own land up to this threshold (1/16 sim) at no $USD or $L MAINTENANCE cost - but the wording is not specific enough and I think should be clarified if it hasn't already.

=SV

OMG OMG IT JUST HIT ME! I CAN BUY OUT A HOLE SIM NOWW FOR 200 SOMETHIN! I CAN FINALY HAVE MY OWN SIM WAHAHA LOLL

Great FAQ, thanks so much.

Important clarification regarding 'grandfathered' land allocations:

If you are currently a paying monthly, quarterly, or annual SL subscriber, you will only receive a land allocation of 1024 meters if you continue to pay for a monthly subscription. That is, if you decide to stop paying altogether, the land allocation goes away at the end of your payment period.

Additionally, 'Reinstated' users who have previously cancelled SL and now will bet a basic access account will NOT receive a land alllocation.

Technicly yes and no snoopy, you can own the land equivlent to a whole sim, it has been said that there are no plans right now to offer whole sims, only to offer bidding on land in new sims that come out. So potentialy you could bid on each parcel of land in a new sim, but this would cost alot and probly anger alot of people, or you could try and buy the equivelant of how much land is in a sim, but spread out.

They might later offer whole sims up for sale.

This all my understanding from it.

To expand on what Philip said a bit, here are a few examples of what you (as current residents, the numbers will be slightly different for new folks post 1.2) can do.

1) Buy the Premium subscription package at $9.95/mo, and an additional $5/mo land option.
You pay:
-- US$14.95/mo
You get:
-- 1536m land total
-- A big stipend

OR

2) Downgrade to the Basic, no-reccuring-fee account, and get an addition $15/mo land option.
You pay:
-- US$15/mo
You get:
-- 2048m land total
-- A small stipend which is only paid on weeks you login

OR

3) Buy a lifetime account before 1.2 is released.
You pay:
-- US$225 ONCE
You get:
-- 4048m land total
-- a big stipend

OR

4) Downgrade to the Basic, no-reccuring-fee account only
You pay:
-- Nothing! (since you're already a resident)
You get:
-- no land
-- A small stipend which is only paid on weeks you login


Now, (4) is what we're going to give previous paying residents who've cancelled, although of course they could upgrade.

Also, as is already mentioned in this FAQ, you could offset the optional land fee in (1) and (2) by spending some L$ every month. Or, under any of these options, you could use your L$ to own additional land.

(Edited to include Basic/Premium account terminology)

Hey, what do we get for our already paid in advanced money for those on quarterly or yearly? Will we get the $15 plan until our prepaid time has ran out or what?

Amidst all this 1.2 craziness, I think some wierd things are happening. If everyone that is paying a subscription gets a grant every week, once they reach they're subscriptions allowable land limit, they can just stockpile cash. Buy a whole tonne of stuff and just amass so much cash that they might now want to see all hose numbers in their UI. Now this is nice in a way because without the threat of money, creativity can be more free and easy to do. However, at the same time... it kind of stifles business. If everyone's got something and a lot of it, then it's not worth very much anymore, is it?

That doesn't seem to had the 1/4 Acre bonus for current users.. seems like the direct price from the 1.2 faq.

I have to agree with Alondria here... From the two Linden posts in this thread I am not seeing where we are getting the kudo for being an existing member. Can a Linden please post a comparison of options for a current resident Vs. a post-1.2 resident? I would really like to see the in hardcopy here.

You are, look at the announcement again. A new user post 1.2 will only get 512sqm. Option 1 includes 1024sqm for your $10 a month (instead of 512sqm) and an additional 512sqm for $5 more per month totaling 1536sqm.

But I thought the stated amount was 1024 m/sq for existing members but the sum in that equation is off.

Thus:
Basic access One-time access fee of $9.95
• Can access SL at any time.
• Initial grant of $L500
• Grant of $L100 and can earn other bonuses any week when logged in.
• No land grant.

+

$5/month 1/128 region (512m2) --

+

1024 Current user bonus

=

512 + 512 + 1024 = 2048
$9.95 + $5 = $14.95

Err...no---I misunderstood it too. Me thinks the Linden's might have just come up with the access subscription idea

You are looking at the wrong category

This is what being a current Slifer is doing for you.
Instead of:
Premium, monthly
$9.95/month, billed monthly
*Full Second Life Access
*Initial grant of $L1,000
*Weekly grant of $L500.
*Land grant of 512m2.
*Access fee waived.
If you are a 1.2 member, you have the following avaliable to you:
Premium, monthly
$9.95/month, billed monthly
*Full Second Life Access
*Initial grant of $L1,000
*Weekly grant of $L500.
*Land grant of 1024m2.
*Access fee waived.

As I understand it........

As it was explained before, I thought it meant something else.

But the way it was explained before, it meant that very few people would actually have had to pay anything at all So this is a good thing----

After all, you still pay $5/month less. And if you pay the same amount ($15/month), you get either:
1536 sq.m., big stipend, or
2048 sq.m., small stipend

From 'Getting to know 1.2'

All other current Second Life residents get an allotment of 1/64 of a region (1024m2) before incurring any land fees. You can use these no-charge land allotments to hold on to the parcels where you're already living.

No-charge and additional implies this should be added on top of, not in substitution of.

Also, examining option 2 from the post above:

2) Downgrade to the basic, no-reccuring-fee account, and get an addition $15/mo land option.
You pay:
-- US$15/mo
You get:
-- 2048m land total
-- A small stipend which is only paid on weeks you login

This is the normal cost.

$15/month 1/32 region (2,048m2) 25% discount.

Souldn't that be 2,048 + 1024?

Or are we basically getting 512 only if we choose to do the basic membership? If so, they should state our bonus is only 512, and very limited on how we get it, opposed to 1024, lumped on top and phrased the same way as lifers.