the premium subscription has just gone up

thanks for telling us LL - not

Basic Account Free of monthly charge*
Premium - Monthly USD 11.69 (USD 11.69 per month, billed monthly) ¤
Premium - Quarterly USD 26.44 (USD 8.82 per month, billed quarterly) ¤
Premium - Annual USD 84.60 (USD 7.05 per month, billed annually) ¤

Paying more for a substandard service? You've got to love these people.

They have no shortage of nerve...you have to give them that.

I suppose the justification will be 'but we're giving you a free house for that!'

Those are strange numbers, and not what I see on the website. Where do these numbers appear?

Hmn, maybe the fees haven't gone up (yet)...could it be Canadian dollars?

Or, theory 2: the OP is a Linden in mufti, testing the intensity of response to the idea of Premium fees going up....???

Celeste, do you live in the UK? those prices quoted are the standard SL premium account prices with VAT @ 17.5% factored in.

yep you're right. interestingly I went to check another account I have that isn't premium and it's not adding the VAT to the amount.

so grumble over. I've got to say that it just shows how little trust I have in LL that I do believe the worst of them.

Whats the instant access to experts thing about?

Ah hah! Now we know why LL will close this old forum with it's archives of solutions and answers.

Not how LL works. They send nasty attitude mobs onto the blog forum to insult people and then other alts start calling for an increase in premium prices and to make the forums premium access only. If you see that sort of bizarre out of the blue behavior then expect an announcement in 7 days.

You do have historical justification for that prediction.

*patpats* Well, at least they're giving you a better idea of how much it will cost with VAT, rather than letting it be a surprise!

After the recent amount of screwing up, it would be like LL to charge more to "fix the issues," rather than, you know, fix the issues

I'm going with "It's not happening" YET! The OP has jump to a wrong conclusion.

I would think out overlords would tell us this if it were true. And well before foistering it on everyone.

But first teh Lab will send in Wallace or Commerce to spark the flames.

Aw poop!

On the other hand, we are each to get a free lifetime supply of chocolate.

I think your first sentence accurately reflected what is in the chocolates box.

Life is LIKE a box of chocolates...

Technically it's sphagnum moss, not poop.

With the stipend subtracted back out annualized premium and a 512 is still the cheapest way to have a home. It's 300L/month after the stipend which is all of about $1.00 month. I use the stipend to support my texture upload habbit and buy a few animations here and there.

It really is. (Of course the Rental route is still better for those who aren't sure they want to commit to a year. But for those who DO know they want to stay, the annual Premium-and-512 is the most economical option.)

In re raising the Premium fees: it's inevitable that LL WILL do so. People have been used to the idea that "prices always go up" for decades and decades; LL isn't going to fail to take advantage of that.

My guess is that when Linden Homes is up and running for all new registrants, that will be the time that Premium goes up for everyone. (Presumably if you've already paid your Annual, you won't have to pay the higher price until your next renewal.)

That looks like VAT included...for Europeans. I recognise the $11.69 amount

However LL has shown in the past a tendancy to "grandfather" older accounts at the original payment/benefit level. The pioneers (or whatever folks like SuezanneC are referred to) and folks like me who still get the $L500 weekly stipends are examples.

True enough. If only new accounts had to pay a higher Premium rate, that would save LL from being the target of a lot of anger. (Though of course they're used to that. )

It will be interesting to see what happens if they do. when I saw that price my first thought was that it wasn't value for money and I wouldn't be paying it.

There are a lot of people who are committed to SL and will grumble and pay (or not even notice) but there are also a lot of people who are a lot less committed to sl and as at least half of the premium accounts don't own land, it's quite possible they'll have the same reaction as me and let it lapse. 12 months ago it might not have been a big deal but there's been plenty of lost goodwill under the bridge since then.

Although knowing LL they probably won't consider that in their plans, they'll just see a way to suck more money out of their declining userbase.

I wish I didn't agree.

/me gives you a hug and passes you the bucket to keep bailing out this lifeboat of ours as we watch the titanic sink in the background.

I guess we just have to enjoy the heck out of every SL moment that remains to us.

I'm still tantalized by the thought that maybe someone could get through to M Linden (assuming the announced February meetings with those who posted in his New Years blog happen). He's so focused on the "SL is for Augmentationists, not Immersionists...those who spend more than 5 minutes at a time in SL are unnatural, sick, and not to be depended on for our future revenue stream" philosophy that he can't see that it doesn't make a bit of sense.

Surely there is some argument that could be made to him, to show that this view is a mistaken one.