Community/Project Sim Region Pricing
under review
Aliton Firehawk
I believe that, with the economy in the way it is, it would be beneficial towards the health and longevity of Second Life for Linden Labs to offer discounted incentives for private regions who run not-for-profit communities on this game, much like educational Institutions and charitable institutions are able to do. These should be regions that do not monetize or commercialize their estates, and also not be a private region (family/personal residence). They must have a focus on a community/project. This would be a great incentive to bring back exploration sims, more roleplay regions, combat/game sims, as the price of these regions is large and entirely unforgiving towards people's passions. Especially with how the economy is right now. To apply to this, the project would need to be pitched to a team to ensure the project does not encroach upon IP and would meet the standards needed for the discount to be approved. I have seen many sims vanish due to a lack of sufficient funding, and this would help in the long run of things. There would likely need to be rules on store vendors, rentals, and donations, but that is manageable.
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Rental Rizzler
Down with the Chungs! 🫃
Dictatorshop Resident
I have a social sim that just celebrated 17 years in continuous operation (16 of those on a private region). I cannot speak to non-profit or any of that, because, well, I dont really want to. My sim is a labor of love, not a profit making group. So what I CAN speak to is that sim prices have been reduced once in that time from $295 to $195/$209 (depending on if extra prims have been added).
I would like to encourage LL to take a deep dive into how this pricing compares to actual current real world costs for each type of sim and reevaluate if those prices are fair. Given that computer servers have come a long way in the past 20 years of SL, I suspect that reductions could be made, and that they SHOULD be made again. More options for sim types/prim counts need to be offered. From the kind of sim that will spin down if nobody is in it, to 10k sims, to the old water sims that I believe are discontinued now.
These options would give more people the option to own land with the most suitable type for them. I expect that this could be a boost to overall ownership. The tier on mainland sims/parcels should also be given a once over.
Chance Acoustic
Honestly, the funding isn't the problem. A lot of sims went down because of in-group out-group politics and poor choices of immature passive-aggressive moderators. They simply weren't nice places to be, and harassing players for Lindens was simply an indication that the end was close.
Kyrah Abattoir
Doesn't Linden Lab already sponsor community projects?
ST33LDI9ITAL Resident
I've been saying the same thing for quite awhile now.. having only been on SL for about 4 years now, and already witness to several of my favorite sims and friends going under due to unsustainable sim cost for popular non profit community content. It's an issue. A big one. I can only imagine all the awesome sims and communities that have died out over the years due to the same...
People that run non profit sims for entertainment like racing sims, combat sims, dj and music sims, etc etc... they provide regular content for others and that's important to keep people and communities active. It's a huge part of what keeps SL alive. As is, many sims have already gone down over the years and they will continue to as well sadly.. And when those sims go down, it fractures communities and sometimes takes people with it. Can only do that so many times before it's completely dissolved.
There needs to be a means for non profit communities to exist and thrive... I don't know what the solution is, but it's needed. As is, they can only exist through labor of love and depending on donations for an unsustainable cost. And that doesn't provide very much or last long...
Zy Butcher
The costs of land are simply too high and it’s killing some communities because on top of paying for the land costs, you also have the burden of moderating it on the daily which can often make the owner’s experience a hell and it’s not contributing to the development of communities in SL. Sims close as soon as they realize the experience add to the costs of land.
I also noticed that plenty of people are confused and think this would apply to mainland because of a miss-interpretation of the term “private regions” what Aliton refers to, or what I think he does, is that regions closed to the public should not apply to this program; which is essential given the aim of this request.
I support this, or alternatively a discounted price on land costs for these types of communities. It is unreasonable that each avatar slot for a full sim costs this much.
Alwin Alcott
no
Aethelwine Resident
I might be missing something here. All my mainland (and infact my investment in private regions are on public spaces - (aside from 200 prims of sky box on an otherwise open parcel, that houses my pose stand). I am far from alone in this, a lot of high value land bordering water are used as open public spaces, similar along roads.
I and those land owners in similar situations, I am sure would welcome a reduction in costs, but I am not asking for that or expecting it. There is no obvious need.
I certainly wouldn't want to be in a position where it felt like people wanting their own private homes were paying more and effectively subsidising me.
Aliton Firehawk
Aethelwine Resident
You are correct that you are missing something.
This isn't for private residences. This is for regions that have been privately rented from Linden Labs (Not the Estate Barons) and are not closed off to just a small group of people. You have to have a community growing there, that has no commercial interests. It needs to be a joinable community, with rules and tenants that match TOS, and the concept of it needs to be pitched to a team in order to get approved. Then, on top of that, likely the region owners have to report demographics, or LL has a way to check demographics and keep accountability.
This isn't about an overall reduction of costs. I am aware there is a push for overall reduction, which is far more unlikely due to the complications of the politics with Land Barons and the Labs, as well as server costs for the Labs (Even if it is minimalized with Cloud-based servers). This is an initiative to allow people to build communities or small regions on this platform that is intended to draw people in, without being a major financial burden on the owner to either continue to pay those costly payments in this economy, or rely on supplementary income from the sim (donations, rentals, shared store space, etc.).
Chance Acoustic
Aliton Firehawk it sounds like you're proposing that some sims are more "worthy" than others.
Clem Marques
No way.
Prokofy Neva
I don't believe you know the actual facts of Mainland because you don't inhabit it or explore it of every kind, from art galleries to wiccan to motorcycle buffs -- you name it. A lot is outside the US/Anglosphere. I regularly see 50+ sims and I see plenty of RP and nonprofit efforts. But more to the point, I dare say most SL residents are NOT into RP; that's why there's Bellisseria -- and regular "normie" Mainland owned land or rentals.
There is no evidence that Second Life needs even more RP or combat sims (all online MMORPs are simply better in every way than SL) -- especially not given away for free. If a sim vanishes, it's because it cannot earn enough in tips or content sales, let alone admission fees or rentals, so that in itself is a telling comment. Again, if you already have a commercial activity in SL on any account, there does not seem to be a valid reason for the Lindens to provide you with a free or reduced sim.
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