|
Written by LEEORIE ALTER and DULCIE MILLS
In a move that apparently came as a surprise to those affected, Linden Labs announced this week a change in Openspace pricing. LL blog posts on this topic can be found at http://blog.secondlife.com/, but for those strapped for time (and who isn’t?) here are a few excerpts:
“We will increase the monthly maintenance fee from USD$75 to USD$125 per month. This price increase will apply to all owners of Openspaces on January 1st as well as new purchases after that date. There will be no grandfathering of Openspace maintenance pricing. For anyone owning class 4 Openspaces on January 1st, they will be upgraded to class 5 by end of January, to further improve the experience people have on those regions. At the same time, we will be increasing the upfront fee for brand new Openspaces from USD$250 to USD$375.”
Linden Labs alleges the price increase and policy changes are a response to unanticipated use of openspace sims for heavier use than they were designed for, according to the blog post by Jack Linden:
“Openspaces are being used about twice as much as we expected, in other words being loaded with double the content/avatar load than we’d expect for a region that is supposed to be light use.”
The initial announcement posted the evening of Oct. 27 was quickly followed by a flood of protest and a follow-up LL blog post.
“I wanted to clarify one issue, “ Linden wrote, “As mentioned in the post, Openspaces were intended for space, empty areas of ocean or forest. Take a look at the Knowledgebase article description here. By that criteria, the large majority of Openspaces have more going on than was the original intent. We are not suggesting this is a bad thing, and of course we’re delighted that people have found them to be so useful. And we’re not saying that everyone is abusing resources. We are saying that the use has changed, and continues to do so as people find more creative ways to use them. So the revised pricing is about recognizing that change of use and the additional costs and value associated with it,”
Linden assured blog readers all posts to the blog and forum regarding the issue are being read. One can assume that includes the letter posted by Lorelei Junot (Lori Bell in real life) on Wednesday, October 29., Junot, Project Manager for the Alliance Virtual Library project and Director of Innovation for Alliance Library Systems, pulled no punches with her response which was also posted on the alliancesecondlife Google group list:
“I have sent the following letter to Claudia and Pathfinder at Linden Labs and asked that they share it with decision makers,” Junot wrote.
Hi Claudia and Pathfinder,
I know you were not in on this decision, and that you are not the contact people, so I hope you will pass this on to the decision makers. I am very disappointed and upset by the sudden announcement about new pricing and no educational discounts for open space sims. We have a number of open space sims in addition to all the regular sims that we have. Open space sims allowed us to put up smaller projects to enhance what we are doing on regular sims. I talked to a concierge who told me our pricing is okay until the annual renewal since we paid a year in advance. Upon the annual renewal, we will not be renewing or keeping any of our open spaces. With a price increase from $37.50 per month to $125, if we do manage to get a grant or donation, we might as well get a regular sim. To purchase a regular sim or now even an open space will require quite a bit more investment. There was no communication about how we could help solve the technical issues - with communication about what is going on people could offer to help or offer solutions. When a decision like this is sprung on people with a huge increase and two month’s notice, instead of trying to help, we get angry.
All of our activity in Second Life is volunteer, grant, or donation, or revenue from events. Alliance Library System, as many other organizations, has had to cut budget and staff. Open space sims enabled us to grow the Info Archipelago for special collections, etc. Yet when needed, we are still purchasing whole sims like Karuna for our AIDS information project which really requires a full sim. We no longer have this growth opportunity thanks to this increase in pricing. We are bringing a lot of new people into Second Life as are other budget strapped education groups which brings in new income and opportunities for Second Life. This type of decision and management will make it difficult for me to recommend any growth or additional projects in Second Life. We have a great deal of money, investment and staff time in Second Life. If you can, please allow our community to have input and provide support in these decisions instead of reacting to the fallout.”
Bell told readers of the Google group list that because of the increase in pricing, Alliance will no longer purchase open space sims and that, upon annual renewal, existing open space sims will be abandoned. The affected sims are: Illumination Island, emerald City, Bradburyville, Museum Isles, Machinima Institute, Health Eduisland, Circumference, Cinque Terre and Cybrary Square.
“I have notified the people working on these islands,” Junot said. We no longer have the staff to set these up and with the suddenness of the drastic change in price, we cannot be liable for price increases we have no input in or control over.”
“Linden Labs was not forthcoming about their expected use of the openspace sims and indeed allowed 37500 prims to be used on each,” said Abbey Zenith, Director of Library Services for the AVL. The problem with misuse is something they should take up with individual owners and not penalize everyone who purchased openspace sims. Educators and librarians have brought a lot of people into Second Life, they have worked hard to create spaces that residents enjoy using and to create community in Second Life. To suddenly remove their discounts is an affront to the relationship that Linden Labs once said was crucial to their operations.”
Nearly 30 avatars attended a meeting on the issue Wednesday evening, October 29, at the Info Island auditorium. Another meeting for those unable to attend Wednesday was conducted Thursday morning, October 30. A meeting of the AVL board was planned for the morning of Nov. 1, followed by a second meeting of those from the affected sims. Committees are being formed and alternatives are being considered. As of this writing developments were still underway but among the options being considered were consolidation of some services and projects. Others are examining alternatives for moving to a virtual world platform other than Second Life.
Rocky Vallejo, Head of Collections on Info Island, said, "I thought the meeting was a good opportunity for people to let off some steam and share ideas on possible responses, plans and processes that we all will need to take to make possible cut backs while still maintaining a high level of service to people who visit our sims."
Another result of the meeting was an offer by Hugobiwan Zolnir, owner and founder of the Bibliothèque Francophone, to allow the Alliance librarians to use his sim at Ebeoplex for classes and other events. "It will be an honour to host you," he said proving that comraderie unites colleagues in times of confusion and disappointment.
For a show of numbers, Zenith encourages everyone to post their thoughts on this topic to the SL forum.
Notes from Jack Linden's office hours meeting of October 30 can be viewed here.
For CEO M Linden's statement to blogger James Wagner Au regarding the price increase, read this.
Another report by blogger Infinity Linden that addresses a possible grandfathering consideration can be found here.
Read A Letter to Second Life Residents, posted Nov. 5 on the Second Life blog by M. Linden.
Watch for further updates as RezLibris continues its coverage of this news breaking issue.
|
Librarianship
