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Dnate Mars

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What the...

prinţesă nină

that says a lot hey.

Sarah Nerd

It's not an investment!!! Just ask the smart ass a few pages back in this thread. And you should listen to him. He not really involved in the land market or anything, but he does have a blog! So listen up!

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Ace

Land is the only heavily traded item that isn't created by users, so I can see why they would consider it more an investment than a regular business thing.

There must be something different, as far as measuring the economy, between someone buying land for L$100,000 and making L$20,000, and someone doing L$20,000 worth of business from investing time instead of money. The land dealing would look like L$220,000 if you included it, but the gain to the resident from their efforts is only L$20,000.

If they included land sales in the PMLF, you'd get people complaining that someone fire-saling their land for L$500,000 when they'd originally paid L$750,000 for it was being counted as someone making a profit.

Aztek Aeon

Any investment involves risk...

I would think investing something that is virtual would involve even more risk.

Sometimes you win...sometimes you lose... some times you win for awhile and then you lose. Or if you are like me, you just lose and have fun doing it.

As a relative newbie who fell into owning land rather quickly, I can sympathize with both sides, but I am glad to see some 'land mongers' who really seemed to be controlling prices, being up upended a bit and land ownership to become more accessible to the average person who doesnt have thousands of dollars lying around. The tiers some Estate managers charge is mindboggling...


I bought waterfront land not long ago (and PAID for waterfront) and then the next week the Estate owner moved a sim next to it, turning my waterfront into a brick wall. He apologises and swaps parcels with me...and then charges me 2.5 times more tier.

I almost feel like the playing field is being leveled a bit more for everyone now.

It is what it is... people who dont like whats happened will leave, but just as many will walk IN the SL door.

Estate owners will walk, but SOMEONE is going to buy their islands, so SL will still be getting their money.

prinţesă nină

the risk isnt necessarily inherent though. the risk is imposed by ll at their whim.

Wildefire Walcott

That estate manager is an asswipe and deserves to be penalized. The rest of us? Not so much.

Oh, I'm pleased as punch that I'll be able to buy cheaper sims, and my existing tenants are, too. I'm also not pissed off at the world because I paid more for most of my sims than future residents will have to. That's life.

I do, however, bristle at all the posts and blog comments I've seen where people are like "Yay, now I can enter the land business!" I don't mind having competition so much, as the current rent pool is still healthy. But if a one-time $700 fee is the only thing that was keeping you from "getting into the land business," then I'm sorry, this is not the business for you.

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Persephone Milk

I haven't had the time to read all of the comments in this thread, but I would like to add my own to the discussion. I am not happy with the way that Linden Lab has handled island pricing since they announced the price increase over a year and a half ago. I understand the need to change prices to more accurately reflect both cost and to stay competitive. However, to make these changes seemingly without much consideration for those who have partnered with them in this grand experiment is pretty myopic. We are all invested, to varying degrees, and hopeful this project will continue to be successful. We should be treated with respect to our interests as well.

My frustration started with the first price increase. Linden Lab announced they were moving to a new class of hardware that would offer minor performance benefits, but would be cheaper (on a per region basis) and less costly to operate. Why then did they feel the need to increase the purchase price and monthly tier by 50%? That is a massive price increase by any measure, and then to let it slip that the new hardware saves them money over the previous hardware - well, that really gets you scratching your head.

I bought my island just a few weeks after they increased the price. In that time, I have paid over $2200 more for my island and tier than if I had purchased just a couple of weeks before I did. This seems arbitrary and unfair. But I did accept it, and I did get value for my money. That said ...

I hardly think their recent and massive price reduction was due to a sudden drop in the cost of this hardware. The fact is, those of us who have purchased islands in the last year and a half have been over charged to a massive degree - and they got away with this because there is no competition. Now that the possibility of competition draws near, they have adopted a more competitive price.

And they did so with seemingly no consideration for the land market, or those with holdings far more significant than my own. If this upsets me so much, I can only imagine how frustrated people with 5, 10 or 40 sims must feel.

And what of the Openspace I just purchased four weeks ago? What sudden reduction in cost made it possible to cut the price of those in half just a few weeks after they took my full $415?

I am not saying Linden Lab has done anything ethically wrong, and certainly not legally wrong. But, they clearly no longer take residents into much consideration when they make a sweeping change. There was a time when I felt like I was a partner in this project - and that time has long since passed.

Thanks Linden Lab

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Ace

Because SL was riding on a wave of publicity, and they realized that lots of Big Serious Companies would be happy to pay the increased costs.

And, as it turned out, so were we.

BEARintheMorning

Greeeeeeeeeeat! Just what SL needs.

More landtards.


This has been the case for the year and a bit that I've been here. I've come to expect nothing less or nothing more from LL which makes me wonder - can anyone pinpoint to a date on the calendar or recall a massive change when LL stopped listening?

If I had to guess I'd say it was when they opened up to free accounts but all that stuff was way before my time so it's just a guess.

Should I start a new thread?

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Cocoanut Koala

Yeah, start one, cause I got an answer to your question.

coco

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Aztek Aeon

"that' Estate owner is the apparently infamous Tyrian Camilo of SLIB Real Estate Islands (SecondLife Investor's Bank - Safe High-Yield Investments in a Virtual World) He told no one of the move, tho he claimed otherwise


I agree Wildfire, about those thinking they are going to be in business now....

and I dont think alot of them know how much work is involved for little payback.

There will probably be alot of new land owners who will also grow tired of having to do actual 'work' and be gone in a yrs time.

My involvement in 'selling' real estate is just a very temporary thing... and I have even been rethinking about renting out the 4 gorgeous parcels that had been terraformed for such on my own sim.

Theres a responsibility one has in providing the best service possible for those that earn their Lindens the hard way and very few at a time. Although some don't care and are just looking for a new way to make a buck, I would hate to be the one who created a bad experience for someone in SL.

Ray Figtree

"Land mongers" don't control prices of land in SL. LL controls the prices. End of story. Land brokers get what the market can bear. And their affect on prices is minimal compared to what LL can do with one policy change or dump of more sims.

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Ciaran Laval

This is an issue that many are overlooking but is in reality the big issue in all of this. How could they restructure openspace pricing and then slash prices and claim it is due to lower costs just a month later? That really doesn't add up.

I know hardware pricing drops, but generally not by 40% a month!

It also highlights a lack of planning.

Aztek Aeon

I see the land mongers getting what people are willing to pay, not what LL is telling them they can get.

But I do agree that ultimately, LL can change that...and I think thats part of why they are adding more mainland.