Premium account and didn't get first land?

I am looking to set up a group of like minded individuals and businesses, who would be prepared to donate a limited number of plots to Premium Residents who didn't receive First Land.

If any one is interested in joining the group please IM Nowun Till in world.

If any premium account holders out there, who were unable to purchase 1st land would like to use a 512 sqm plot for free for a period of 1 month, giving you the chance to decide what size plot of land to purchase in the future, please IM. I have a limited number of plots left available.

My question.

Does the commercial sector of SL have it in its heart to support new premium accounts while it appears LL have abandonded them?

Questions such as how will you know and why can't I have one of these plots are irreevant and will be ignored.

Are you planning that the donation is also time-limited to one month?

Either way.

I intend to make this an ongoing offer on my part. If people have short term land availibility that would be good also.

The intention is to create a parcel directory where those interested can find plots and make contact with either Group admin, or directly, to take up the offer.

I am aware that there are groups which offer open space, this is to be more akin to a free rental period where the user can have their own space to do as they want.

With the outrageous price of land perhaps some sort of "rent to own" type of program would work for premiums who cannot afford much land.

That's very good of you. Luckily I held off upgrading to premium until I found the land and rented while waiting. If I had been one of the ones who paid up instantly, I would be feeling ripped off now, especially when the newer accounts are also getting a lower stipend.

I found having a base and neighbours made me feel part of it all, unlike when wondering around homeless. It would be nice if those renting land out put together sort of newbie villages then people could get to know others before fleeing the 'nest' and buying and upgrading the amount of land they own/rent. It's something LL could have done with the first land, had it on set sims and if people wanted more they then move out and finance themselves and the land they have left resold only to first land purchasers again.

I do offer that as an alternative, but this programme is just about free rental for a one month period.

Sorry to trouble you. I am new to 2 L and have an acc and lindens. What do I click on in the home page to get into the V 2nd life world. I have clicked just about everything and cannot get into the V world. I guess easy when you know how. best rgds

If I understand you correctly, it sounds as though you haven't downloaded the viewer for Second Life.

If that is the case follow the link and download the software:

http://secondlife.com/community/downloads.php

If you have already downloaded the software you will find it wherever you downloaded it to and/or you may have an icon on your screen. If so, click from there.

Nowun, that is a very generous offer! I've been trying to think up some schemes that could work to help "first time buyers" onto the SL property market XD. I hope that some land owners in SL (especially those who own large chunks of land or even several islands), could spare a small percentage of their land to help would-be First Landers (those who registered before the announcement, to prevent abuse.)

I don't think it would be economical for land owners to offer 512m land for L$512, without making a loss. But, what about making 1024 plots available for half price? So instead of charging $14/m, charge $7/m? A 1024 plot would then cost a little over $7,000 versus the normal going rate of $14,000. Or even, a 2,048 plot for the price of a 1,536 (i.e. 512 free?) This could be offered to those who are Premium Customers without first land.

Really, the Land Barons who made a fortune out of buying up all available First Land should be the ones who now make some sort of provision for the folks who have been unable to buy First Land as a result. But I don't detect a conscience in those people. And Linden Labs should make provisions for those like me, who became a Premium Customer two weeks ago, with the plan to buy some 512m land, and who never had a chance to buy First Land even if they wanted some.

But the way things are looking, only a class action lawsuit would be likely to change Linden Labs mind (has it really come to this?) Until some lawyer offers his services, us shafted premium customers are depending on good people like you to find a way of helping us First Landers out. And, while you'd be doing a good deed in the process, you'd also be building a good relationship with a new customer, and good references, which could lead to further sales in the future... so it needn't be seen as charity, either

Thanks for the suggestion Nowun. I hope there are others who will agree with you, and see some potential in my own ideas too.

i didnt manage to track down any 1st land before linded stopped it. It is totally unlikely i will bother to rent a home or splash out significant real money to buy a chunk of cyberspace at this point. Ultimately it means I wont be giving lindens to traders who ffer cool stuff for making houses homes and may be a factor in me leaving??
If any groups are in a position to offer cheap land or plots 'at cost' id love to hear from you.

Another option of course is a n00b group where people can team up and eventually co-buy a sim?? Good news is there will already be a community spirit in place. Of course members will have to be monitored to not allow people who already own land or rejoining the group after selling out their first lot of land.

Anyone know how much you end up paying per metre if you bought a whole sim??

bah! done the maths, you'll end up paying aroun L$3600 for a 512 plot. There is still the upkeep to think about too, but that should end up very small.

Because of the TOS that we all have agreed to when using SL, it is highly unlikely that a class action lawsuit would hold much merit. As I have stated before, the only way to truely show LL our dissatisfaction with their business decisions is to hit them where it matters most. In the wallet. I do think this can be overcome by someone who has the means to buy acutioned sims and run some sort of buying program for firstlanders and having it set up in such a way that completely kills any way for the prospectors to try and take advantage of it.

Well, I only ever bought one piece of first land - my own, when I first joined. I have one alt which isn't premium and has never bought any land at all. I'm suddenly having second thoughts about helping out with this program if I'm going to be accused of buying first land to profit from.

The fact of the matter is that there wasn't any first land to buy, by barons or newbies.

(sorry about that title just couldn't resist it).

Nowun, well done. I have already started no-cost rental to a few new joiners to let them get their feet planted before making any significant "new" investment in SL.

To be honest, I felt moved to do this ever since "First Land" became impossible to get - ie well before it became "non-existant".

It is worth being clear what the "real" effect of stopping first land has been, at least from the newcomers point of view (as I see it). With the most recent First Land program you could buy a small 512m plot for US$2, without First Land you would need to pay say US$25 for the same size plot and scaled up for bigger.

A premium account (at least currently) pays back US$1 per week (in Lindens) and the cost of such an account is from US$6 to US$10 per month (depending upon how far ahead you want to commit).

Of course this change is a blow, but more to the ego than to the pocket - anyone playing this game is doing so on a relatively expensive computer using a relatively expensive broadband network connection.

I don't think Land Barons caused the problem - I do think the "get rich quick" attitude engrained in most of us did - I suspect that very many of the plots that ended up with genuine newcomers were quickly resold at a single plot profit of probably US$10.

This is not the end of the world - I agree that Linden Lab dropped a bombshell - but we will survive.

Nowun has the right idea - if "we" like the game, like to encourage new players; then do something practical about it - don't blame Linden - they really do have serious serious problems to resolve over performance and stability - anyway they won't listen, they have made their move over to "us".

The attraction of Second Life to me is the "community", if it is to you, at least in some part, lets be one.

Nah, you're not a land baron I'm talking about people who used bots and numerous alts to snap up First Land the instant it becomes available. The reason there was no first land availabe is precisely because of the system of bots these people had set up, and in fact, this is also the reason given by LL for cancelling the program.

I have no problem with people who were using the program legitimately. You bought one First Land parcel, I see nothing wrong with that at all. My criticism was no in way meant for people like you, Stephen. I even see nothing wrong with buying 512 to sell for a profit. But I do think it should be limited to one parcel per one real human being. Maybe two at a pinch. Buy grabbing dozens is profiteering at the expense of legitimate First Time Land Buyers, and thats what these bot-owners were doing.

While I'm not sure a class action lawsuit would succeed, it would certainly make LL set up and pay attention. It might also make them think twice before casually dismissing features and benefits that members have become used to. The way LL threw this out was atricious. I certainly agree that we should hit back in some way. I currently have a Premium Account. I plan to cancel it when it runs out, like many others. It's simply not good value any more. However, I'm not sure how we are meant to "hit LL where it hurts." Whatever we do in SL earns a profit for LL, whether it's buying or selling items and Lindens, buying or selling land, etc. Even if we buy/rent on a Private Island - the PI fees go straight to LL. Unless we stop spending any money in SL, LL will profit from what we're doing. Unfortunately I can't see any way around that.

I'd agree with that. I think the only people (other than LL) in a position to help are PI owners - or even multiple island owners. (Or people who own a lot of mainland land.) I do think there's an opportunity for PI owners to make a good name for themselves and help out First Landers at the same time here. Could be good for business in the long run

Depends how you define baron. I prefer to call myself a reseller. Again, you've fallen for the myth of the first-land buying bots, spread by certain individuals.

Steve, and people like him are the reason I won't be participating in this program.

The brief answer so far, is Yes commercial residents are prepared to step in where LL is leaving the Premium members behind.

I have had offers of land donation and have been able to place some residetns already.

The purpose behind the thread was about trying to be constructive, be nice if it could get back that way instead of guessing whose fault it is that First Land exists no more.

I really appreciate all you and your fellows are trying to do, Nowun. I hope you're able to do something to help us would-be First Landers out here.

Well, I was trying to be helpful, by suggesting ways that land owners could offer cheap package deals to save First Landers money, while still making money themselves and perhaps getting a good reputation/references. I did not want to get into any arguments myself, but I seemed to of got dragged into one despite my good intentions, and I'm sorry about that.

i suppose one factor that prompted LL to do this was the fact a lot of this land was promptly sold on for profit. Maybe the system can be replaced with a cheap long term lease direct from linden or making a new first land scheme that makes the land either non-transferable or can only be sold for the price you bought it, or just swapped and no rentals. The land staying as Lindens for the needed control but you have indefinate permission to use it.

If you've formed a group that people can check out to make sure you're legit, why don't you put up some donation tip boxes? I don't have any extra land and I'm not rich, but I wouldn't mind throwing in a few L$ every week towards buying some land specifically for this project. I also have an afternoon or two a week that I could volunteer for teaching a beginner's class or something--it would have to be beginners because I'm not what I'd call an expert at anything! I suspect that some scam help-the-homeless phony charities are going to spring up. It would be nice to have some central organization involved to guard against that, and make the most efficient use of donations of either land or L$.

Has anyone asked the folks who run the Shelter for their input? They already do a great job helping new avs get started. (I'm a member there and I always give a landmark to new people that I meet, but I'm not part of the group management.)

It would be great if enough L$ could be collected to put this all in a sim with a central gathering place for newbies, where alumni could keep in touch with the friends they meet and help out the new people. Maybe the major home-improvement businesses could get on board, putting up low-prim kiosks with some of their lower priced goods and a TP to their main store. A showcase of beginner houses would be a good idea too. If you're going to limit residence here to a month or two, there would be a steady turnover of customers. It would be nice if there was a guide to help graduates transition to ownership or rental of their next plot, rather than just kicking them to the curb when their starter land expires.

Katie

Katie, all valid points and well worth considering.

My primary objective was to try to step in to do something. Sure it would be great to have a range of facilities and services for New residents, that as you say is more towards every new resident.

This idea is toward working with Premium Members, who have missed the First Land option.

I would be delighted to speak to people inworld who want to expand the concept further than pure free land use for a month. But they need to be people who want and can take the concept from chat, to action.

There is no group set up yet, this idea has been in the forum for a couple of hours.
In regard to setting up tip boxes, not part of the plan at present, not discounting by any means, but again that is a larger organisation than I have time to contemplate and would require, as you say appropriatre safeguards.

I know your focus is on premium members right now who got left out, and that's wonderful. I'm also trying to think of a way to continue the original spirit of the First Land program, which is to provide an entry-level to land ownership. I'm just saying I'm willing to help if I can. I've been doing volunteer work in RL for a lot of years, why not put some of that experience to work in SL as well? Speaking of volunteer work, gotta go. I'll be helping take care of the kitties at the animal shelter this morning.

Katie

katie, I have sent you an IM inworld.

Let's see if we can do a little more.

Nowun

I like this idea. I wasn't in any rush to buy land but it is something to keep in mind. I guess I am in a minority in that I don't feel ripped off by LL. Before i went Premium, I read what was offerd at the time as far as stipend goes, and as I said First Land was not a big deal for me. I do believe LL could have handled pulling the plug in a better way oppsed to dropping the shoe. I didn't join to make money...so putting in more than I recieve is not a problem, I mark this as expendable entertianment funds.
Since Sl and LL for that matter operate on a Capitalisyt Model, those who are upset or dissatisfied can speak their minds with their wallets. Don't renew your membership, don't spend money in world, find something else to do with your time and money. For those remaining looking for land...Supply and Demand. Wait it out . Let the Barons hold onto their empty land. Go sit on a virtual beach and read a virtual book, go sky diving, boating, climb a mountain . Land sits empty and the price will go down.
.

The concept of ths group has expanded further and we now need volunteers to help mentor new residents.

Land is available for New residents, although further land donations would be welcome.

Please IM inworld for ladn, to donate ladn or to become involved as a mentor.

So my question of are residetns of SL prepared to take over from the LL vaccuum is most definately yes.