Linden Lab have announced changes to tier prices for Second Life mainland which result in a cut in tier prices, a new pricing point in the tier table and an increase in the amount of mainland you can own as part of your premium member free tier allowance. They’ve made this announcement on Pi Day too.
Here’s an overview of the pricing changes :
| Old land allowance (m²) | Old Price | New land allowance (m²) | New Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 512 | Free with Premium account | 1,024 | Free with Premium account |
| 1,024 | $5.00 | 1,536 | $4.00 |
| 1,536 | $8.00 | 2,048 | $7.00 |
| 2,560 | $15.00 | 3,072 | $13.00 |
| 4,608 | $25.00 | 5,120 | $22.00 |
| 8,704 | $40.00 | 9,216 | $35.00 |
| 16,896 | $75.00 | 17,408 | $67.00 |
| 33,280 | $125.00 | 33,792 | $112.00 |
| Not available | Not available | 49,152 | $150.00 |
| 66,048 | $195.00 | 66,560 | $175.00 |
Official details can be found here, and that’s an important link to go to because there’s an additional point regarding the tier table :
Above the maximum shown on this table, tier allotment increases in quarter-Region increments at $44.00 each.
That suggests that owning a full second region worth of tier would cost you an extra $166.00 a month, but I also thought that you could only go up in half region increments before, maybe that had already changed.
So there are some important points to note here, if you own a Linden Home, you can now go out and buy 512m of mainland with the only cost being the cost of the plot.
If you own 512m of mainland already, you could opt for a Linden Home at no extra cost, or buy a second 512m plot, with the only cost being the cost of the plot.
If you’re in any of the other tier categories, you can buy more land and see your tier costs decrease. Tier can be complicated of course, the important thing to note is that the land sizes are a maximum you can own, if you go over that maximum you go into the next tier level, even you aren’t at the top end of that tier level.
So for example, if you own 12,000m of mainalnd you’ll be in the 16,896 category, which with the new changes is the 17,408 category. The importance of this is most relevant in the changes with the new tier level of 49,152 for $150.00 a month.
Previously, if you owned 49,152 you would have been in the 66,048 tier category and paying $195.00 a month. This was obviously quite the barrier for people who owned 33,280 of land and were paying $125.00 a month, any additional land ownership would take that person into the $195.00 a month tier category, now you can get extra land for a smaller tier increment.
This looks like a positive move, it should encourage people to own more mainland, which in turn can help build new communities and friendships.
But on the other side seems creators will face an increase in Marketplace commissions, Linden Dollar exchange fees, and cashout fees.
So I am stopping the happy dance for now 🙂
There will certainly be some pain points. They’ve been increasing fees in the last 12 months or so.