Second Life Premium Membership plus I Rant at Cynical SL Bloggers

Gawd, I am so sick of reading all the negative blog posts on everything Linden Lab does. First off, I have no affiliation with Linden Lab and they don't even read what I write. I just think it is horribly misleading for established SL residents and respected bloggers to criticize every single action LL takes. They could offer free money (as they sorta do with money trees and the recent Linden Realms game) and these bloggers would call it unfair that hard working residents like themselves were being undercut by "the Boys" giving away money. In fact, the currently running 50% discount on Premium membership is very much "free money". Check this out.

Linden Lab is currently offering a quarterly Premium membership plan that includes a 50% discount on the first quarter. Signup for one quarter of Premium membership at $11.25. Assuming a $L250 per $1 US exchange rate, your one quarter of Premium membership costs approximately $L2812. Premium benefits include a $L1000 signup bonus for first time members and a $L300 per week stipend. Let's do some simple arithmetic.

One quarter is 52/4 = 13 weeks
13 weeks x $L300 per week = $L3900 quarterly stipend
$L1000 signup bonus + $L3900 stipend = $L4900 you receive
$L4900 - $L2812 cost of 1st quarter = $L2088 profit

Linden Lab is paying you approximately $8.35 US to try Premium membership for a quarter!

So, Linden Lab is giving away money and old bitter cynical Second Life bloggers are complaining. Not only do they complain about this 50% discount, they complain about the free gifts you get as a Premium member. Hahaha! Free gifts! So, I thought, these gifts must be awful if people are complaining about something that is free. I went to a kiosk and got my gifts and look! The couch is way cool:

Premium membership gets you a lot of other benefits too. I recommend the annual membership as it is cheaper in the long run. The quarterly membership 50% discount only applies to the 1st quarter so a year on that plan would cost $78.75 while the annual membership plan costs $72. Either way, it is a great deal with excellent benefits and you are supporting the continued existence and improvement of Second Life.

In short, Second Life Premium membership is a no brainer. Everybody should upgrade!