Princeton is dropping 4 sims in Second Life as a result of the OpenSpace fiasco. More info on what is going into the digital void here at Primperfect blog:

"But for me, a key point of the loss of the Princeton voids is not the disappearance of the installations, stunning as they are. It’s the loss of the exhibition space and, underlying that, the fact that one of Second Life’s most prestigious institutions and supporters is quietly scaling down."

For the people out there that are convinced that Second Life is a game without a purpose--they should consider the ultimate purpose of Linden Lab is to sell virtual land.  Seeing the virtual world as a fake land development project helps you understand why LL does certain things and how it prioritizes activities (ie, Land Store, Raising Prices, Seeking better markets)

Virtual World News reports comments from Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon on the void crisis:

"Openspaces were intended for empty areas of ocean and desert, allowing estate owners to add scenery and space to their estates, just as Linden void regions are used around the Mainland. Instead, the large majority of Openspaces are being used as more than simply space," Kingdon continued. "They have people living in them, building on them and generally using them as a cheaper version of normal regions. The increase will adjust the cost for this type of land to match the way in which it is actually used."

But...this is what people do on full sims? What commitment is there from Linden that the next announcement won't be to "jack-up" full sim prices (of course with 60 days notice).

So then we can expect the price of a full sim to increase by $195 per month then also? $390 per month tier on full sims coming next?

What do people do on these openspace/void sims? Generally nothing too stressfull. We had 6 voids last week (upgrading 4 of  them now to full sims and deleting 2 soon). 2 were basically empty and 4 had art galleries on them all within prim limit. We never had any comment from Linden Lab about "abusing" these regions. Visit Viva La Viva on a void now.

Photos of openspace sims collected at Flickr group set-up by the ever clever Crap Mariner. Add your photos and join this open enroll group also. 

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.