LL,
I don't think that anyone argues that raising the prices for islands is not a good business move because it is. They are your hottest commodity so why not charge more especially since the new sims will be on new upgraded equipment.
consider though that perhaps you could have given everyone more warning, perhaps you could have announced this when you announced the new servers on the blog. Consider that you need to offer more than a better server for such a higher price.
Could you please list what this higher price includes for people who have to pay it? Could you please explain why you only gave 3 days notice to the general public about this change?
As for your little insider notice to your "special" customers, all I can say is Marth Stewart, Enron, etc....
I seriously hope you will allow people to back out of deals made with these "special" customers and keep their islands since they did not know what was to come.
Also...are there plans in the forseeable and unforseeable future to raise mainland tier? LL is very crafty at using words like "not for the forseeable future" or "not right now" Well that is obvious, I'd like to know about later...Since we are on the topic of later, what about established resident stipends? Are there plans to remove or lessen these in the unforseeable future?
I'm just asking because my ablity to use SL has diminished as of late, I'm paying plenty, the only reason I stay premium is to keep my land and get my stipend. Should tier go up or my stipend go down I have no reason to stay premium and want to downgrade as soon as possible to save more $$ at home. I'd rather not hear about a tier change 3 days before it happens and then get billed at the higher rate before I can sell my land.