LL cemented their decision on Openspaces recently when they sent out their email notice to Estate Owners on Openspaces. M’s final word? Graduated pricing, reduced resources, and a semantic ball and cup game in which everyone is a loser except LL.
By the end of 2009, Openspaces as they are currently will be called Homesteads, and will cost $125/month. They will have a throttle of 20 max agents, as well as some scripting limitations. Another, wholly different and almost useless service will be dubbed the new ‘Openspace’, and still cost $75/month, BUT be limited to 750 prims and only 10 agents at a time, and no dwellings will be allowed. Scripts will also be severely limited.
So this is what becomes of popular dissent, these days. It used to be that LL would listen to suggestions and actually take them to heart, being flexible to the needs of its userbase.
It’s disheartening, really.
At the same time, while i COULD go ahead and keep paying for a homestead, the additional cost combined with the extra bit I pay my landlord puts me pretty damned close to full tier on a grandfathered full region, which is pretty damned ridiculous, considering i am already up against my 1/4 region prim limit as it is.
All this to maintain a place I enjoy, more or less on a hobby basis. :/
So… winter 2008/09 is one of choices, i guess. Already over a thousand regions have been either abandoned or coalesced back in to full regions. For the first time ever, the grid is shrinking, and faster by the week.
While there have been developments towards getting governmental agencies, schools and solution providers more involved in SL, it’s hard to see how LL can possibly find merit in stepping all over its userbase right now because *IT* made bad decisions and can’t now own up to them.
I don’t have much more to add except to leave you with this poignant video Wildefire Walcott put together in response to the whole debacle: