Are we facing more fee increases in SL?

Hello everyone.
Hope you are great and life has been kind.

Recently a sim that has been close to many people’s hearts including mine had a drama. While not entering into debate on the rights and wrongs of this or why it happened, it’s always a shame when things go wrong and disputes arise in Second Life. The owners of Buffy’s all agreed to support our friends over where this happened by installing a tip wagon wheel at our entry wharf and publicising it on our group notices. There has been a great response and I personally wish to thank everyone who has dipped into their own money to help out.

Human beings are wonderful sometimes, when things come to the crunch, many people rise up and help out. Some I guess will never help and only want to take but when you see things like this happen it gives great faith in the human race.

Obviously at Buffy’s and Natures Way, we have always wanted to have a free area for people to come in and enjoy. We have no group fee to pay, no day pass to buy, just an open sim where thankfully, griefing is minimal. Obviously it’s going to cost someone to operate this land but along with my other three fellow owners at Buffy’s, we pay the tier for others to enjoy. It would be wonderful to think that tips alone could pay for this but we have only ever received a fraction of what it costs to run the sim. That is our choice to pay this money and keep Buffy’s alive but I want to stress something to everyone right here…

I have never been against people making money by operating their businesses in Second Life either by making things or setting up an area of land to rent out. If the sim or Sims are good enough then I wish everyone there including the landowner good fortune. I believe that without free enterprise, Second Life would never have got anywhere. People would not strive to improve their products and slowly it would wind down to nothing. I also believe that without some idea of profit or at the very least a break even then we would never see beautiful land to rent or buy. I am not against anyone making money in Second Life!!

There is talk of fee increases for mid year for SL. Every person who outlays real dollars will have to examine what these eventual price increases will mean and decide if they can carry on. Having acknowledged I am ok for people to make money in SL, I also hope that the Lindens will observe and reward those sim owners who are not in SL to make dollars but to provide the beautiful areas for everyone to enjoy.

Please don’t think I am after a handout. Proof I am not is right there at Buffy’s but, a smaller increase for those non profit Sims would go a long way in promoting the wonder of this amazing cyber platform and reinforce why people love Second Life in the first place.

I know, you are probably reading this and perhaps laughing at the folly of why people pay cold hard cash for something that offers nothing back but satisfaction of what beauty is and SL means but I do hope you can see the dreams of the folk at Sims that do offer free visits. Maybe I am naive, but I am happy.

Finally can I ask everyone to consider some loyalty to the places they like to hang out at. If you do like a place then why not tip in something you can afford? They will love it and you will feel more a part of it than ever.

Rude event of the month. The other day we had one of the operators of a nude Sim that has day passes for sale and paid memberships to join, come to Buffys and directly try to get our friends off our island by offering free day passes. This person approached one of the owners saying how good their place was and offered a free day pass. If you do this you will soon find yourself on our banned list and will never be welcome back. We will never do this. We only ask fairness and fun. At Buffys, we are not dependant on how many come and join us, however we will not put up with anyone trying to lure friends off our place for their own gain. By the way, I visited the small area where you are allowed without a pass and realised why they need people on their Sim. Pretty ordinary…..

Hope your days are blessed in both worlds.
Peace and love to you all.

Teresa.