On Wednesday, August 3rd, Linden Lab announced a significant update to the Second Life Name Change service, previously only available to Premium Accounts.
Name Changes as a service was launched in April 2020, at a cost of $39.99 (+VAT, where applicable) for changing a either an avatar’s first name, last name – or both.
As most know, first names are free-format (choose whatever you’d like – within reason!), with last names selectable from a pre-defined list that is updated semi-regularly (e.g. with general or “themed” names to mark a time or year, SL or physical world event, etc).
With the deployment of the new Premium Plus subscription option in June 2002 (see: Second Life Premium Plus launches + some notes; updated), it was indicated a new lower fee level for Name Changes would be one of the follow-on benefits for Premium Plus subscribers, to be introduced some time after its initial launch.
With the August 3rd, 2022 announcement, the Lab not only provided details on this Premium Plus fee, they also revealed Premium members would see their fee lowered, and the service is now extended for all account types – Basic, Premium and Premium Plus.
With this announcement, Name Change fees are as follows:
Basic: US $49.99.
Premium: US $34.99 (reduced from US $39.99).
Premium Plus: $14.99.
Basic members who are not familiar with Name Changes can find out more via the following links:
Nvidia have issued driver updates that appear to fix the rendering artefacts reported with GeForce driver version 516.40 (+ others).
The issue has been primarily reported against Windows and some Linux flavours, when running the viewer with Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled. It would result in some objects to flashing or blinking in and out, or rings and lines to be displayed across in-world objects (as shown in the image below).
Image showing some of the artefacts created during scene rendering following an update to the Nivida 516.40 driver – now fixed in driver version 516.59
According to Techpowerup.com, the new Windows 516.59 (Windows) drivers contain the following fixes:
[Red Dead Redemption][Vulkan]: Some objects may flicker when player is indoors.
[OpenGL] Minecraft Java Edition may display artefacts when using Optifine shaders.
OpenGL] Artifacts may appear in Second Life when connecting using third party viewers.
[Neverwinter Nights] Light sources not rendering correctly.
[Vulkan] Path of Exile displays flashing black textures.
[G-SYNC] Games may stutter when bringing up the Xbox app overlay.
[UE5] General UE5 stability improvements.
(my emphasis on the Second life bug).
Users Ven Banana ((VenKellie) and Wurfi informed me of the driver release after installing and testing it for the fix – my thanks to them for doing so.
In addition driver version 515.57 has the fix for Linux.
On May 2nd, 2022, Linden Lab initially announced the release of a new region product, the Event region type (see the official blog post Event Regions).
Leveraging the additional capabilities available through AWS, this new product was intended specifically for hosting large-scale events. At the time the product was introduced, it was noted by many (including myself), that the initial pricing seemed a little high.
Since the initial introduction of the product, the Lab has been able to learn a lot more about how best to leverage it and looked at offering capabilities more reflected of the needs of event organisers and at prices better suited to their potential use.
As a result of this, late on Thursday, June 23rd, the Lab issued a blog post announcing updates to Event region products – which are new split between Event Pro and Event Elite, each with its own price-point.
Event Elite is considered the “all-inclusive” product, and Event Pro the “a-la carte” variant. The table below provides the prices and capabilities associated with both.
Event Pro
Event Elite
Monthly fee¹
US $449
US $599
Avatar Capacity
175
175
20%+ Script performance improvement
Yes
Yes
Extended chat range (upon request)²
Yes
Yes
Land Capacity
20,000
30,000
Increase to 30K Land Capacity
US $30/mo
n/a
Rollback service (with 48 hr of request)³
US $25 per request
Free
Region cloning4
US $50 per request
Free
White-glove concierge support
n/a
Free
Table Notes:
There are no set-up fees applied to Event Pro or Event Elite regions.
Everyone on the region to see and participate in Nearby Chat if desired.
If you make a mistake with region content, or want to restore a previous build, you can request to roll the region back to a specific time.
Note that you may order multiple Event regions on the same support ticket
Private Region Rollback Service
In addition to the above, the post from the Lab indicates that the US $25 region roll-back service is now also available to all private region owners (another they remain at Linden Lab’s discretion and are not guaranteed).
Feedback
In my original post on the May launch of Event regions, I noted a feeling that while the “introductory offer” price of US $599 sounded reasonable, the (then) proposed increase to US $899 at the end of the “introductory period” was more than a little steep, and could put people off the use of such regions. As such, this restructuring of prices is to be welcomed, and makes a lot of sense. It would still be nice to see these products offered on more of a pro-rata basis, but overall, this is a welcome move by LL.
On Thursday, June 23rd, Linden Lab officially launched the new Premium Plus subscription package (or membership package, if you prefer), offering a new range of benefits and bonuses to those who wish to avail themselves of them. Some of the benefits come into effect immediately for those taking out a Premium Plus subscription, and others will be deployed in the near future, with further benefits also being added over time.
Alongside the announcement (but not linked to it at the time of writing this) this Lab released a FAQ page on Premium Plus.
What is Premium Plus?
Premium Plus is a new subscription package that increases the benefits and options to those taking it above those offered within the Premium package, as well as sharing some benefits in common with Premium.
It does not replace Premium, which continues as a subscription package for anyone who prefers it.
It does not change the Premium subscription package in any way, all benefits found within that package remain “as is” with the launch of Premium Plus.
It is open to any Second Life user – you do not have to be / become a Premium subscriber before becoming a Premium Plus subscriber.
It brings the total number of options for using Second Life to three: Basic, Premium and Premium Plus.
Premium Plus Benefits Comparison with Premium
The following as a complete a list of Premium and Premium Plus benefits I have been able to assemble based on available information, and should hopefully provide a direct comparison be tween the two. It may be subject to update.
Note that √ in any field means an unchanged benefit from Premium to Premium Plus.
Benefit
Premium
Premium Plus
45-day L$ Sign-up Bonus¹
L$1000
L$3000
Weekly L$ Stipend²
L$300
L$650
Free Tier³
1024 sq m
2048 sq m
Linden Home Option4
Up to 1024 sq m
Up to 2048 sq m
Group Slots
70
140
Off-Line Message Cap
80
160
Upload Fees (textures, animations, sounds)
L$10 per item
Free
Name Changes (+VAT if applicable)
$39
$155
Event Listing Fees
Single: L$10; Recurring L$50
Free
Group Creation Fee
L$100
L$10
Land Experiences (Experience Keys)
1
2
Voice Morphing
√
√
Animesh Attachments
2
√
Support
Live Chat
Live Chat + toll-free ‘phone (International: use Skye or similar)
90-day transaction History
√
√
Premium Gifts
√
√ + Premium Plus exclusives
Premium Sandbox Access
√
√ + Premium Plus Sandboxes
Preferential Access to High-Volume Events
√
√
Table Notes:
The 45-day sign-up bonus is open to both Basic and Premium membership upgrading the Premium Plus.
Note this is a first-time sign-up bonus only, it will not apply if you downgrade and then re-up later.
The Premium Plus Stipend – L$650 is a flat rate; there is no upward adjustment for those currently receiving Grandfathered stipends of L$400 or L$500.
However, the Grandfathered status will be re-applied if the subscription is subsequently downgraded to Premium.
Free tier can be used against Mainland land holdings; or against a Premium Plus Linden Home (coming soon); or a mix of Linden Home and Mainland land.
Linden Homes:
Only one Linden Home can be held per account (Premium or Premium Plus).
The new Premium Plus Linden Homes will hopefully start to be deployed in late 2022.
Once available, 2048 sq m Linden Homes will have their own themes / styles, and the 2048 sq m parcels may in the future be able to leverage versions of the Premium Linden Homes for those who would like a smaller house and more yard / water space.
Premium Plus members will be able to go via Land Support to request they are given a specific Linden Home parcel this is not currently part of the automatic Linden Home assignment system (i.e. being handled by the Linden Homes ordering web page).
Update: Patch Linden, Meet the Moles [video 37:31-39:08]: Premium Plus homes are to have completely new ground-up themes / implementation, rather than being pre-planned (as per the Premium home themes).
Name Changes:
Premium Plus subscribers can change their name for US $15, but this has to be done via an Account Issue support ticket (subtype Change Account Details).
The first name remains free form, but the Last Name must be from the current Last Names list.
Premium Plus Fees Compared to Premium
All prices US dollars – see the section below for upgrading from Premium to Premium Plus.
Premium
Premium Plus
Monthly Billing¹
$11:99
$29.99²
Quarterly Billing¹ ³
$32.97
Not available
Annual Billing4
$99.00
$249
Table Notes
Monthly and Quarterly billing are subject to VAT where applicable.
Those taking a Premium Plus subscription in the first 30 days following the launch will be charged $24.99 for their first month and $29.99 thereafter.
Quarterly Premium billing is only available to those who were on the billing plan prior to it being discontinued on June 24th, 2019.
Annual billing is VAT exempt in those countries that normally charge VAT.
Upgrading from Premium to Premium Plus
Premium subscribers can upgrade to Premium Plus before their current subscription expires on prorate basis. So, an annual Premium membership that has 30 days remaining before renewal. This value is equivalent to $8.10 of the $99.00 Annual Premium membership they originally paid for. This would be credited towards the initial Premium Plus membership payment at the time of upgrade, either Monthly or annual.
Note that if the credit to be applied towards proration is larger than the value of the Premium Plus membership being upgraded to, Linden Lab will extend the renewal date for the Premium Plus membership to account for the additional value.
Personal Thoughts
Patch Linden’s initial (and incomplete) outline of Premium Plus during his Meet the Lindens session as SL19B did not garner a good response within the forums, largely on the basis of pricing. And, in fairness there are reasons to feel the offering is over-priced; but equally, there are cases where it may be viewed favourably.
Take the free tier offering, for example:
For those seeking modest mainland space or wanting to put the tier to Group use, an outlay of US $249 a year doesn’t come off well against promoting an alt account to Premium and paying a total of US $198 a year for the same free tier.
For someone (like myself) who has both a Premium account + a modest amount of privately rented land (at US $10.50 a week), or someone on Basic paying (say) $15-20 a week for a moderate parcel, it is possible that – once available – the Premium Plus Linden Home with their double Land Capacity and fewer-per-region density over Premium Homes might be an attractive proposition.
Similarly, while the rest of the benefits look to be middling – I personally have little need for 70 Group slot, let alone 140! – others might will be appealing, such as the $15 Name Change fee, particularly among those who swap back and forth between names almost monthly (and there are some – I know a few!). However and overall, whether people find the offer in keeping with Brad Oberwager’s “give two dollars of value, but only charge a dollar” philosophy or not, is liable to be hotly debated.
For my part, would I move from Premium to Premium Plus? Quite possibly; as noted above, depending on how Premium Plus Linden Homes regions are presented (e.g. themes, water access), then there is an attraction for me in upping to Premium Plus and dropping the $530+ a year I spend on renting a small private island.
Update: the issues described blow have also been noted on Nvidia drivers 512.95 and 515.48. If you encounter similar issues please check for driver version (go to Help → About in the viewer and then look for the line “OpenGL Version: X.X.X NVIDIA YYY.YY”, where Nvidia YYY.YY is your installed driver); if you note a different driver to 51.6.40, please consider adding a note to the two official Jira linked to below, and in a comment on Beq’s NvidIa forum report, so other can see potentially affected drivers. Thanks.
It is being reported that the latest Nvidia driver version 516.40, issued on June 15th, 2022, is causing issues for Second Life Users running either Windows or Linux who have updated to use it. As a result, the general advice is not to update to this driver for the time being.
In summary:
The issues are apparent when running the viewer with Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled.
They can cause objects to flash or blink in and out, or can display rings or lines across in-world objects (as shown in the image below).
Image showing some of the artefacts created during scene rendering following an update to the Nivida 516.40 driver. Image courtesy of ermanart / BUG-232264
The following bug reports provide further information on the problems reported thus far:
For those who have updated to driver 516.40, two courses of action are currently available to try to correct:
Minimum: disable ALM (Preferences → Graphics → uncheck Advanced Lighting Model. Note that this may not work when under Linden Water in Second Life, per BUG-232268 (above).
Recommended: revert to an earlier driver version or use the Nvidia Studio Drivers instead.
Again, please note that the issues are driver-related, and so not something either Linden Lab nor TPVs can address themselves.
In September 2021, Linden Lab introduced Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as an opt-in service to provide additional account security to users who wish to use it.
The implementation was promised to be the first pass at MFA within Second Life and its services, and the capability would be extended and enhanced over time.
On May 4th, 2022, and as part of extending the current MFA implementation, the Lab announced that MFA is now officially a part of the Second Life Viewer (SLV), with the promotion of the MFA RC viewer to de factorelease (and download) status.
This means:
Anyone who has opted-in to MFA will be required to provide an authentication token the first time they log-in to Second Life using this viewer.
The token is requested after the user name and password have been entered, and should be generated using the preferred authentication app before being entered into the field shown below.
The MFA token prompt, displayed after entering your user name and password into the viewer
Once a valid token has been entered, clicking Continue will complete the log-in process.
Important Notes
Once a token has been entered into the viewer, it will remain valid for 30 days – so you do not have to provide a token every time you log-in to the viewer.
However, after 30 days, the token will expire, and the viewer will once again prompt you for a new token when logging-in.
Some authenticators generate their token as 2 groups of 3 digits (e.g. XXX YYY). Where this is the case, you can enter the code with or without the space.
Third Party Viewers (TPVs): MFA does not currently extend to TPVs, so if you are a TPV user and have opted-in to MFA, this functionality will only apply to you afteryour preferred viewer has updated to the MFA viewer code base.
Linden Lab is allowing all TPVs a “grace” period to adopt the MFA code.
Again, if you have not opted to enable MFA on your Second Life account, logging-in to Second Life, regardless of the viewer you use, will not change.
You can also disable MFA on your account and viewer log-ins by opting-out (Account → Multi-Factor Authentication, entering a code from your app and clicking on the Remove MFA button).
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 