Gorgeous Aurelia When Second Life launched the Premium Plus membership plan, the Choose Your Linden Home concierge service was prominently displayed as one of the perks. I was very excited when this launched and used it a few times to request a specific Linden Home on Bellisseria.
Now that it’s been over a year since Premium Plus launched, the perk is no longer prominently displayed on the Premium Plans page. A new user may not even be aware of this perk, because it’s so well-hidden that they have to dig around to find out any details. In fact, the Premium Plus FAQ page is out of date.
In order to submit a ticket for a Linden Home, residents must first find an available Linden Home by flying around the entire Bellisseria continent (it’s huge!). Then, they submit a ticket and wait for days for the Linden Home to be assigned to them, or the more likely outcome, the home will not be assigned, because someone else already claimed it on the Land page. It’s a roll of the dice… it’s not working well for Premium Plus members who do want to utilize this service. For a new Second Life resident, this is an incredibly confusing process and frustrating.
Did you know that Premium Plus costs $29.99 per month? For this much money, why is it so difficult to use one of the best perks available? It’s nearly impossible for new residents to land the home of their dreams this way.
How to Fix the Ticketing Process
- Allow resident-to-resident homes swap via ticket (and limit the number of times if needed) and/or
- Allow main/alt account home swap via ticket
- Allow a Premium Plus resident to claim the available Linden Home by clicking an accept button right on the land parcel (it’s 2023, why is this not automated?)
- Provide a listing of ALL available Linden Homes (similar to BonnieBots before it was shut down by Second Life)
Honestly, I’m just tired of submitting a ticket for anything. I really hope for a “Claim Your Linden Home” button! I love self-service.
Can I give my house to a friend? Yes!
You may not know this, but the Lindens have been fulfilling homes swap tickets since last year and as recently as last week. When resident A submits a ticket to give a home to resident B, resident B submits a ticket to accept resident A’s home, as long as the information matches, a Linden completes the transfer ticket. I have used this feature as have many people that I know, and everyone is extremely pleased with it. This is the reason why we went Premium Plus even before the launch of 2048 themed Linden Homes.
Abruptly this week, Concierge support denied the swap ticket requests. I asked a Linden why suddenly swap tickets are being denied, and they said that there have been quite a number of swaps, but did not give that as the reason. So, if a feature is popular and used by the residents, why is it being discontinued instead of advertised? That does not make business sense.
For people who claim that allowing home swaps via ticketing will cause some type of black market profiting, please chill out. Just because someone might try to make money off this, that does not mean the majority is doing this, so why punish the majority of paying members? With how difficult it is to claim a Linden Home via ticketing now, it makes sense to allow resident-to-resident transfers, to encourage community and friendship on Bellisseria.
What’s Next for Premium Perks?
Socializing on Bellisseria is one of the biggest reasons for its success. Without or without the Lindens’ help, residents have successfully ‘swapped’ homes and made themed neighborhoods. Why not continue this feature so that the residents can get the home they want and truly get to choose their Linden Home? I believe that in order for Bellisseria to continue to thrive, Second Life must be flexible and willing to adjust the benefits according to the needs of the residents.
I, like my friend, was not blown away by the Ranch homes initially, but once I got my dream spot and saw how charming and how much nicer it was with higher land impact, I was sold.
It is a benefit to Second Life to continue the homes ticketing/swapping feature for multiple reasons. Using an alt to search for my perfect home is great but, if I can not swap it to an account that I plan to keep Premium Plus, then I won’t bother trying.
Additionally, my dream home today, may not be my dream home tomorrow, but it may be something a friend new or old is in love with. There is much to be said about gifting that to a friend who will love it and is more likely to keep their Premium Plus account.
As stated earlier, it benefits Second Life for the residents to make friends and build a community in Bellisseria. Friendships and relationships are the lifeblood of Second Life; it would have died long ago without residents having a reason to continue coming back. This is both a way to increase the number of people signing up and keeping the Premium Plus account. But more importantly, it’s something that will help with long-term user retention, which is something Second Life desperately needs.
If you want change, ask for change. Attend a Concierge & Land User Group meeting and give your feedback! I have found the Lindens here to be very receptive to feedback, and sometimes change does happen for the better!
I have written extensively about Linden Homes/Concierge ticketing, read all about it on my blog JuicyBomb:
- Premium Plus is coming!
- You can choose your Linden Home?!
- Submit a ticket for a Linden Home!
- Linden Homes Search
- Summertime
8/1 – Swap tickets are being honored again. The policies are very inconsistent, so give a ticket a try!