What is going on?????

Ok I will admit first that I'm not much of a forum person I normally sit and read but rarely post. This is because I believe forum posts are futile arguments between residents that none of which can do anything to change things by just arguing with each other at least.

These forums particularily are overflowing with dribble, so much in fact that it's impossible to get straight news unless it's in here.

Now to my main questions at hand:

What is going on with SL?
Why have the basics gone totally free in such a technologically advanced game?
What will happen if all the Premiums and Land holders start cancelling all their accounts?
It is obvious to me that it is no longer worth it to hold a premium account or land for that matter, and I say this because I do not make a profit or even break even on my land.
Is there anything in the near future that will be implemented to give Premiums and Land Holders more of a benefit to stay there and not cancell it all to play free like everyone else is now.
I'm sorry but I do believe I should be getting my money's worth. I pay 75 USD a month for land and 72 a year for my premium and have paid such for a long while now. My premium has been over a year. If you want to let basics in for absolutely free then we should get better benefits to keep us paying for the game.
Correct me if I'm wrong but would SL have made it this far and gain this many employees had no one been paying premiums or paying for land? Not to mention if everyone now stops paying what would happen to SL? I seriously cannot see how the game would survive.

It is my belief that EVERYONE should be paying for a premium account to play this game only because of how technologically advanced it is....this game was not obviously intended for everyone because not everyone has a system who can handle it. Of course this is only my opinion and I state this opinion because I'm more than sick and tired of banning rude newbies that simply love to come and push you around while you are building and ask very rude and obscene questions like "Wont to f***" and yes I spelled want wrong cause that's how it came to me. I can't ban nor do I want to ban everyone from my land cause I rent vendor space here and I'd be stopping people from shopping for not only their stuff but mine as well since my main store is located on my land. (not that it matters cause I rarely sell stuff lol mostly too busy building more) But the people who are renting space from me would probably not like it if customers couldn't enter the land to view their stores.
I've not yet sucessfully opened my land with a finish build yet because I have to much fun sitting there messing with new shapes and trying to build things I think I might have a hard time doing. So yes it's true I've never broken even with my land or store when it's compared to what I have spent monthly for my land not to mention buying lindens now and again, but just because I have not doesn't mean one day I won't want to at least break even. However at the rate this game is going I'm going to be just to frustrated as I'm getting as it is.

So in conclusion I'd like to know if there's any more stable plans to fix this and if in fact they are going to keep the basics free sign up like now. If it does stay like this I cannot see keeping much of my land as it has become more of a nuissance than anything.
Not to mention I'm feeling ripped off by LL because they are now letting every joe blow in to play the game while very loyal customers like me get nothing in return.

Pandora, this of course sometimes comes up in the form of "Basic accounts are worthless freeloaders!" Harsher than your well-meaning post, of course. Even before free accounts, I heard some similar opinions that US$10 Basic accounts (for anyone who remembers those) should be ended.

Basic accounts themselves have been free for a long time.

These observations tend to be cyclical, and come and go like the tide. Whenever there's change, there's societal unrest. Not that it's purely good or bad, but specifically: we're a world of choice. We recognize that different Residents will have different requirements, and certainly, a diversity of hopes and dreams. We also want to be more accessible, and are continuing to improve actual usability within Second Life itself, as well as making the process simpler.

On SL Answers, I come across many juxtaposed opinions: some got very frustrated, saying they wanted to come in here but don't have a cellphone (with SMS) or credit card. That age has passed with open registration, which led to concerns like yours.

That being said, it's always worth further discussion with your fellow Residents. It doesn't have a close-ended answers, but by learning from one another, hopefully we can make more informed choices for ourselves.

And honestly, I wouldn't be here today were it not for Linden Lab offering entry-level accounts. Someone might want to dip their toes in at low risk before taking the full plunge.