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Number of Sims Moved to The Cloud Passes 50%

 

Of the move of sim data to Cloud servers, a noteable milestone was achieved a few days ago, at least according to Daniel Voyager. In his blog, he reported that Stawberry Linden had told him that April Linden had told her that half the sims now had their data in The Cloud.

Hi Daniel, this is Strawberry. I have confirmed with our Sr. Engineering Manager, April Linden, that over half the regions in Second Life are now running in the cloud.

Since this was a few days ago, The Lab has no doubt continued it's work. How long will it take until the move is complete? Daniel Voyager himmself thought it would be "six weeks or so."

Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog
Image Source: Linden Lab

News and Commentary: Second Life Revenue Reportedly Down By Half In Eight Years, Number of Sims Drops Below 24K

Some troubling news was posted on the SL Universe forums by Tyche Shepard, and passed on by Hamlet Au. In Tyche's private estate survey in January, she estimated that the revenue Linden Lab makes from Second Life sim tiers had dropped to just under three million US dollars a year, or 36 million a year. Hamlet Au when seeing this information calculated that as the Lab makes about 80% of it's money from Second Life through tier payments, the rest through premium accounts, Linden dollar purchases, and fees, their total income from the virtual world was about 50 million US dollars.

While that is a lot of money, consider that in 2009 Linden Lab's income was estimated to be about 100 million dollars. This represents a drop in income of fifty percent. The Lab is making only half now what they were eight years ago.

This drop in revenue can easily be seen as an explanation for certain actions Linden Lab has taken over the past year and a half, such as reducing the set-up fees for getting sims, lowering sim tiers for a time (in exchange for a fee), and increasing the prim capacity for sims. It's also a partial explanation for why Linden Lab is making a gamble with Sansar. They're not making the money they used to.

But according to Tyche's statistics from January 2, despite the moves Linden Lab has made, the overall slow decline of the number of sims in Second Life continued throughout 2016. In the first quarter of 2017, the total number of sims dropped below 24,000. Linden Lab may very well conclude Sansar is their sole chance for stopping their revenue slide. Hamlet's earlier observation that Sansar was starting to remind him more and more of the old Blue Mars virtual world, which after less than two years was pretty much on it's way out, is not exactly an encouraging sign.

While Sansar may not be "do or die" for Linden Lab as Hamlet also suggested, it's failure would be a huge blow as it would mean a significant investment in resources would get no return, and limit the Lab's options. In the short term, it might mean more tier reductions and more advantages for premium account members as Linden Lab takes more steps to try to stop the decline. In the long term if the decline continues, the Lab may decide to let some of it's members go in a "restructuring," reduce customer service, and other steps to reduce their overhead. And if that doesn't work, well, that may be best left unmentioned.

Sources: New World Notes, SL Universe, Second Life Grid Survey

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Announces Option For Private Sim Owners To Expand Prim Capacity

It was a little more than a week ago when Linden Lab increased the prim allowance of private sims from 15,000 to 20,000. For those who want still more, yesterday on Wednesday December 7, Linden Lab began offering the option to further expand it to 30,000, a 50% increase. But there will be a price. The sim owner will need to pay a $30 USD fee, plus a $30 USD fee every month.


Starting today, Full Private Region owners now have the option to upgrade to an even more impressive 30,000 prims! That’s an additional 50% more room for creating, decorating, designing your own store -  whatever you can dream up!

Upgrading to 30,000 prims costs $30 USD per Region and will incur an additional monthly maintenance fee*. For additional information about Private Region management and this Land Impact upgrade program, please visit our Knowledge Base.

To request an upgrade, please submit a case through the support portal on the Second Life website under the case type Land & Region > Land Impact Change Request.

In the case of residential sims where the owners rent out parcels, most will likely request the increase in further capacity only if the renters are willing to pay for more. In the case of the Purrfection Estates, Nydia Tungsten is currently asking the renters how they feel about ding so. No doubt there are similar discussions going on between renters and estate owners across Second Life.

Linden Lab Offering Half-Off on Premium Account Upgrades, With a Catch

Just after Linden Lab brought back the return of it's 50% off for educational and nonprofit sims, they're offering another discount as well. The Lab is offering a 50% reduction in the price for upgrading a free basic account to a paying Premium one. There are announcements on the Second Life website, and according to Daniel Voyager through emails.

However, there's a catch. First, the discount is only available "for a limited time." Also, it's limited to those choosing the quarterly billing plan. And the discount only takes place for the first quarter you signed up for. On your second quarter under premium, you would be charged $22.50 US dollars instead of $11.25.

Hamlet Au thought this was a sign of Linden Lab taking the initiative on attracting more revenue. Others felt differently. One posted in the official forums the discount was misleading. Hamlet Au's article had a few commentators who felt the Premium account itself was misleading in that it's benefits were few.

There is no word on how long the discount will last.

Sources: Daniel Voyager, New World Notes, Second Life forums, 

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Brings Back Educational & Nonprofits Discount

Yesterday on July 24, Linden Lab announced on it's blog "an update to Second Life pricing for educational and nonprofit institutions." To educational institutions and nonprofit charities that qualify, the Lab is offering a 50% discount to setting up private sims and maintaining them.


Effective immediately, any accredited educational institution or any organization with a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit tax status (or equivalent) is eligible for a 50% discount on private region set-up costs and a 50% discount on private region maintenance costs.

Longtime users will remember the half-off price and tier was standard operating procedure with education and nonprofit groups in Second Life until October 2010, in which it was announced they would be paying full price in January 1, 2011. After that, a number of sims owned by such groups shut down, such as ISTE Island. Hamlet Au put the number of closings at "hundreds if not thousands." In Spring of this year, Linden Lab began quietly offering "a select number of nonprofit and educational" groups that let sims go the return of the discount if they returned. Now, the discount is back for all.

The response seems to be a varied one. At the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, which opened that day, those I overheard talking about the announcement were pleased, considering the announcement timed with their conference. Daniel Voyager considered this development great news. Hamlet Au, not so much. He felt in the years since the discount's end, education and nonprofit groups have moved on to other places online that are much less expensive. Readers commenting to Hamlet's article had mixed opinions. Some called it good news, or at least a step in the right direction. Others felt Linden Lab's move had ruined the trust education and nonprofit groups once had in them, "it's not just about price, it's about trust and stability," and saw the move was too little too late on bringing back the groups which had left the Grid. In the SL Universe Forum thread on the topic, some posters wondered if the abuses of a few had helped contribute to the discount's end.

But for education and nonprofits that remained in Second Life, such as Virtual Ability and the Relay for Life, this move is good news and will help ensure they stay.

Sources: Linden Blog, Daniel Voyager, New World Notes, SL Universe Forums  

Bixyl Shuftan

Breaking News: Linden Lab Offering 50% Discounts to Limited Number of Nonprofit Groups To Renew Expired Sims.

By Bixyl Shuftan

According to an article by Hamlet Au, Linden Lab spokesman Peter Gray has confirmed that the company has been "quietly contacting a select number of non-profit and educational" groups who have let their sims in Second Life expire in the past few years, offering 50% off land payments if they renew.

Before October 2010, it was standard practice for Linden Lab to offer half tier for nonprofit and educational sims. Then the discount was stopped. Gray's announcement means a partial reversal of this decision.

Gray wouldn't say how many groups would be given the offer, only "that we've extended this special offer to a targeted number." There is no process for nonprofit and educational groups, whether they still have their land or not, to ask for the 50% reduction, "There isn't currently a way to apply for this; it's a special offer … as part of our customer win-back efforts."

Hamlet called this development exciting news, as it could mean the return of some popular places that faded away due in part to the end of the discount. His enthusiasm wasn't shared by those commenting on his article. At best, people called it "a step in the right direction." Some however had some bitter comments, "will Linden Lab also (pay) for our teeth they kicked out, the surgery required to remove the knife from our back, and the trip to the eye doctor for the dirt they kicked in our face?" A thread started in the SL Universe forums, but as of the publishing on this article, there were just a few entries.

So what do you the readers have to say? Please enter comments below.

Source: New World Notes


Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Offering 50% Discount on Premium Account Signups

It seems Linden Lab is resorting to a sale in order to get more Premium accounts.

Become a Second Life Premium Member. Save 50% on your membership when you sign up for a Premium account. This is a limited-time offer!

The details are Here, though there is nothing listed on how long this "limited time offer" lasts.

*Addition* Tateru Nino had a comment about the discount as well, suggesting it was a sign the Lab plans no new perks for Premium accounts in the near future.