Well, if there is one thing that is undeniable about the latest Move by the Laboratory to Solve Everything By Obtaining More Money, it is that, almost without exception, everyone is very cross.
The issue of reduced performance due to OpenSpace Use - or Abuse - does, I am told by reliable sources, have some relevance to reality. However, I would say that there are a number of very good Reasons why this recent action is considered simply Beyond The Pale.
1. “What did you think was going to happen?” Bear in mind that it was in fact Linden Laboratory which increased the allowed number of prims in OpenSpace sims, months ago. Clearly that is tacit encouragement to use those prims. There was complaint that this would distort the land market, but in the main the new OpenSpace sims were greeted well, as they were clearly superior products for many uses.
2. “You knew it was happening and you did nothing.” Everyone knew that OpenSpace sims were being used for all sorts of things apart from Sailing and Occasional Walks In The Park. The Forums were full of advertisements for them as residential, and in fact, complaints were regularly raised that OpenSpace areas were being passed off as full-fat Sims in sales - because on first glance they appear fine, and even on subsequent glances, and in fact they are fine in a lot of cases where certain types of scripting or high occupancy are not involved. Please - the idea that this is an issue that has suddenly appeared out of nowhere is not credible.
On that basis, were attempts made to stop this use? No. Which leads to:
3. “You’re not even trying to stop it, you’re just trying to cash in.” This may not be an entirely fair characterisation but I have to say that, when the response to what is claimed to be a problem is not to try to fix the problem but to raise prices, it appears both cynical and mercenary, even if it can be passed of as some sort of Economic Disincentive, much as simply raising the Tax upon a harmful item such as Tobacco appears cynical and mercenary even when passed off as a Health Disincentive. As a connected point:
4. “I don’t abuse my sim, why am I being charged extra?” Everyone is being penalised without discrimination, and there is a good deal of variation in the use of OpenSpace areas, from rarely-visited gardens to overpacked clubs full of temp rezzers. Oh and yes:
5. “These are the same issues that the mainland and other areas face, and you’ve ignored those too.” The widespread use of temp rezzers for instance is a menace, has always been a menace and has been effectively ignored as an issue. Similarly abuse of sim resources has been something that people have complained about on the mainland before I was born with little or no effect. Poor sim performance due to overuse and abuse is not exactly exclusive to OpenSpaces, and trying to pretend a sudden concern for these matters falls flat, particularly when that concern manifests itself through a two-thirds increase in tier as opposed to any relevant corrective action at all.
And let us not forget another more contemporary factor:
6. “Oh that is very convenient timing.” Enter the Grid nowadays and one is greeted by an advertisement for the latest Laboratory exercise, Nautilus. A series of residential sims. At the same time, a product noted for its popularity for residential use, and generally quite fine for that, suddenly experiences an enormous price increase. Oh, how coincidental.
I do not, myself, believe in conspiracy theories that this was all some sort of cunning plan by the Laboratory, a “bait and switch” as the phrase has it, to encourage the purchase of OpenSpace areas and then suddenly charge more for them. The main reason that I do not believe these theories is that it would imply a level of long-term planning, and successful long-term planning as well, that I consider utterly unrealistic for the Laboratory.
Closer to the truth I suspect is that there have been issues relating to the grid for a while, a Technical Sort Of Linden has put forward the idea that OpenSpace sims are not helping, the matter has churned around for a few months without any action, and then someone or other has leapt upon the matter as something meaning that (a) an Extra Charge could be Levied and (b) lowered Mainland and Full Sim takeup, as well as takeup for this new Laboratory island group, could be corrected.
And so the fatal word was passed down, until somebody, somewhere, actually had to write a Post, which was composed in the usual brash and insensitive manner (the Lord may know who is employed in the Laboratory’s Public Relations department, but I doubt even He knows why) and sent out without warning, let alone Grandfathering.
And here we all are. Rarely have I heard the word “opensim” said so many times in discussions.
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