Tyche “Statto” Shepherd has updated the results of her findings of the results of last weekend’s sale. Initially Tyche reported that the sale had resulted in 311 private regions being added to the grid, this was a combination of full regions and homesteads. However Tyche ran this survey just thirty minutes after the sale had finished.
However Tyche later reported that another 197 regions were added to the grid, meaning a net increase of 508 regions. This suggests that a hell of a lot of people were keen to have their own sim but were put off by the high upfront cost, despite this, I still maintain that the real barrier to land ownership is land tier prices, USD$295 a month is a mortgage payment for some people, it’s a hefty bill. However as I’ve said before, Linden Lab cannot reasonably be expected to lower tier until they can find some alternative forms of income, this could come via an increase of residents, but it also may mean Linden Lab having to look outside their comfort zone, either way, these issues will run and run.
One group of people whom have been upset about last weekend’s sale are those who sell second hand sims, all I will say to those folk is that they should be using last weekend’s sale as a basis to advertise the fact that second hand sims can be purchased for a hell of a lot less than Linden Lab’s price for a new sim, they should grasp this by the lapels and use it as a selling point. Purchasing second hand sims is a secure process, thanks to Linden Lab, seize the opportunity here second hand sim sellers.
Another disappointed group are sim owners who don’t want to sell, their sims are now worth less than they were prior to the sale, especially as some people suspect Linden Lab will do a sale again at some point. I am a sim owner and I sympathise here but when Linden Lab reduced the price to purchase a sim from USD$1,675 to USD$1,000, as annoyed as I was, I realised there was no equity in my sim and that Linden Lab would not support the idea of equity, people need to realise where they stand and sometimes lessons are hard, reality does indeed bite, but sims will continue to lose value over time, it’s something people need to accept.
Overall, I think the weekend sale was a good idea, long term I think setup fees will go, but for now they are still here and those who sell second hand sims should make a noise about the fact that they are available. Long term I also think tier prices will drop, but probably not this side of Christmas. I’m speculating here, I have no information about this so takes this paragraph with a pinch of salt.