The stipend really isn't that big a deal, but take it away and we will definitely want more value for the money. If you have a business, which is the usual purpose for buying mainland, the stipend is usually gone in advertising fees or payment to staff. If the stipend ended up being more than the value of the premium subscription, I would question it, but even then, LL makes their money on tier. The subscription fee that LL makes after stipends is a marginal amount of money. Paying stipends at the current rate wouldn't break LL's back.