EOTB: Linden Lab Lowering Price of Event Regions, Offering Two Levels, Sim Rollbacks Now Cost $25 USD

 

On May 2, Linden Lab announced they were making special Event Regions available for residents. While they boasted higher performance, such as a capacity of up to 175 avatars and up to 30,000 land impact, they were expensive. Following the introductory period, they would require "a set-up fee of US$999 (includes first month), and a rate of $899/month after the first 30 days." Compared to private sims having a monthly charge of $229 USD and a setup fee of $349 USD, expensive.

Last Thursday, Linden Lab announced they were lowering the price, and offering two levels of Event Regions. The lower priced one was called "Event Region Pro." It cost $449 USD a month "with no additional setup fee." They have the 175 avatar limit, more than 20% improvement in script performance, and upon request extended chat range. Three more options were available for fees. An increase to 30,000 Land Impact would cost an extra $30 USD a month. An Instancing Service, or cloning of an Event Region, was $50 USD per request. And rollback services, done within 48 hours, were $25 USD each.

The more expensive level is "Event Regions Elite." Besides having the features of Pro, the Land Impact is raised to 30,000 with no fee. Niether are there fees for rollbacks or cloning of event regions, and "White-glove concierge service." The price is "$599 per month with no setup fee."

It would then have this to say about region rollbacks:

In addition to these new product offerings, we are pleased to announce region rollbacks as a service. This service is now available to all private region owners. If you make a mistake with region content, or want to restore a previous build, you can now request to roll the region back to a specific time. Please note that rollbacks will still be at Linden Lab’s discretion and are not guaranteed. Rollback services are available at $25 per request.

A rollback of a sim was once done without a fee, but at the discretion of Linden Lab, which cautioned to treat them as "a safety mechanism to be used only when something goes very badly wrong," and one could only roll back a few days.

For more information, check the page on the Linden blog.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

EOTB: Linden Lab Presents High Capacity "Event Regions"

 
At the VWBPE conference on March 31, Patch Linden talked some about "event regions," high capacity sims that could handle a hundred to a hundred and fifty avatars about as easily as others handled thirty to forty. On Monday May 2, Linden Lab announced they were making these types of sims available, for a price.

Sporting the latest upgrades in grid technologies that have been enabled by our migration to the cloud, these regions have been tested running large events in real-world scenarios such as those really big monthly shopping events, and live performances! Our tests saw nearly 200 avatars successfully able to shop and party in these regions.

These sims boast " A maximum avatar limit of 175 per Event region," and "Up to 30,000 land impact." It also advertised "Over 20% Improved script performance." This looks very impressive, even though it added that "During performance testing, Linden Lab has identified a few cases where exceeding 20,000 Land Impact will degrade performance with a large number of concurrent visitors."

It should be noted that a regular private island is advertised as allowing "as many as 100 avatars at a time." But anyone familiar with Second Life will know very seldom do this many appear at an event, most sims having a cap at fifty. One's more likely to crash when more people are around, and sometimes even fewer than that can slow someone down unless they alter their Preferences. Does this mean that people will start to have problems after the 85 avatar mark? Even if so, it would be an improvement.

As for the price, the Lab says they're offering "an introductory price of $599, with no additional setup fee through June 6, 2022." 

With private sims having a monthly charge of $229 USD and a setup fee of $349 USD, this looks like a bargin. But as one might expect, this good deal won't last. After June 6, the price goes up quite a bit.

Following the introductory pricing, event regions will have a set-up fee of US$999 (includes first month), and a rate of $899/month after the first 30 days.

So these high capacity sims will cost quite a bit. How many will the residents get, and how often? It remains to be seen.

Bixyl Shuftan