New Citizen Stipends Chopped

by Pixeleen Mistral on 20/10/06 at 12:17 pm

LL gives itself a 25% discount on new Premium citizens

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Linden Lab recently announced that as of November 1, new “premium grade” citizens will cost the Lab 25% less in Linden dollars – buying in bulk works! Just in time for the holidays, new premium accounts will be paid a L$300 weekly salary – down from the current L$400 payment for premium class accounts.

As the avatar population of the virtual-metaverse-platform-media-frenzy-game has grown, Linden Lab has easily met the need for cleverly outfitted set builders, shop keepers, call girls, role players, walk-ons, and extras for media events in Second Life. Further pressure was brought to bear on the land-holding premium caste when the metaverse’s doors were thrown wide open to unpaid and unverified accounts in June – and recent media coverage has assured the Lab of a steady stream of bewildered noobs.

These completely unplanned developments caused serious price pressure on the formerly sought-after premium avatars, and most observers are un-surprised at the Lab’s cost-cutting measures. Unverified Linden reminded me, “For the crowd scenes, the machinima camera can’t tell if you are verified, unverified, basic or premium – we can only get 60 avatars on a sim anyway”. The latest cost-cutting move for Linden Lab comes on the heels of a revenue enhancement opportunity for the Lab – selling people their RL names for use in SL.

In related news, widespread shortages of King Philip’s favorite brand of Chateau Linden Electric Kool-aid were reported throughout the grid. These shortages are attributed to rising demand caused by grey and missing texture-clad avatars running into slow to materialize building walls and new residents blocking doorways while navel gazing in an “editing appearance” daze.

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