Owning Land – Islands/Estates

Per the request of my lovely friend Ahuva , this is the second in the series of land ownership – island/estates.

Ok, so you want to own land but you aren’t a premium member and you’ve heard the horror stories about mainland and want to avoid it.  You start looking to the islands/estates.

First, a little bit of terminology.  An island is also referred to as a region or sim.  All are valid descriptions.  Each island is it’s own region and each region is a sim.  For purposes of this post, we’ll use island.  Now, estate refers to the group of islands owned by own person.  In my case, Angel Square Estate incorporates Angel Square(the island), BaileysReach(an island) and Crown and Pearl(an island).  There are much larger estates than mine and I’m sure some smaller.  So, you have the estate, then the islands within the estate.  With me so far?  Ok moving along.

Estate owners can(and most do) have a covenant that lists the *rules* for living on their islands.  The theme(snow, tropical, commercial, residential etc), the types of builds allowed, how payments are made, how much tier is per month, who to contact if there is a  problem and various other items that are important to them.  It’s important to read this. For instance, most covenants say that there are no refunds on tier and that if you don’t pay on time or notify the owner your land can be reclaimed.  So, read the covenant.  All of it.

Estate land can be rented or purchased.  Again, depends on the owner.  Some perfer to rent some to sell.  In either case you will pay them a monthly tier.  Check the covenant for how you pay whether it’s paypal or lindens or some other method.  So, your paying the owner a fee to use the land.  Think of it as a mortgage payment or rental payment. 

Ok so you want to buy the land.  What do you get for this?  In most cases you get full rights to do whatever you want, within the boundaries of the covenant.  This means building, terraforming, most security measures etc.  Stay within the covenant and your all set.  Your name will be listed as the owner of the land and you are free to sell it should you wish to move.  Now if you rent the land, you will not get all of those rights in most cases.  Some owners will give them, most don’t.  I do.

Now you’ve bought or rented the land, moved in, been paying tier for a couple of months and you start to get a bad feeling.  I will say this now, there are unethical estate owners and ethical ones.  Just as in RL.  Yes, the estate owner can kick everyone off the island, return your stuff and not say a word, no warning, nothing.  Chances are, they don’t have to refund any tier either.  Stinks huh.  Yep, it does.  That’s why I always suggest getting recommendations from friends about going to an estate. 

The estate owner can really do whatever they want and the residents have little recourse.  That’s the worst case and I don’t hear about it happening often.  Most of us(estate owners) are good people and will go out of our way for our residents.  Just talk to us.  Now keep in mind, we still have to pay tier to the Lindens so we’ll be as accomodating as possible.

So, that’s the story with estate/island land.  Need clarification or more info then IM me in world or leave a comment here.  I’ll be happy to help.  Oh and I do have some land available on Angel Square to buy or rent if anyone is interested? 

To own or not to own…

With all the hoopla about open spaces and questions about who owns what, here is a little primer on owning land.

Mainland:  If you buy a parcel of land on what is known as mainland you pay the lindens a monthly tier fee above the actual purchase price you paid.  You don’t have any estate rights, there is no covenant(land rules), and your limited in how much you can terraform.  Now if you rent a parcel on mainland, there is no initial purchase price other than the first month of tier(generally) which is paid to someone other than the lindens and your rights are further limited.  I won’t go into all the details in this post of how this works, these are just the  basics.  One rule when dealing with buying land on mainland, you have to be a premium member.

Private estates/Islands:  You can buy land on private estates.  You pay a purchase price and get rights to the land you purchased.  Most islands have covenants though that set the tone and rules for the island.  Make sure you read this before you buy.  Some are vague and badly written, others well written and clear.  You will still pay a monthly tier fee to the owner of the estate/island.  You do not have to be a premium member.  Many islands also let you rent land where you pay a monthly fee, no upfront purchase price.  Again, you pay the estate owner. 

There are many different types of estate owners.  Some ethical, some not so ethical.  Some easy to deal with, some absolute jerks.  If your going to buy land on an estate, ask around.  Get recommendations from your friends.  If someone has been living on the same estate for quite awhile, chances are they are happy with the tier fees and the estate owner.

I’ve owned Angel Square for about 9 months now and I’d like to think I’m a good landlord.   I have land up for rent or sale, IM me in world or leave me a note here if your interested.

If you  have questions about land ownership/renting/prim allowances/tier fees/etc.. give me a holler, I’ll do my best to help you.

I hope this helped a few of you.

Privacy

Ok this post has been mulling around in my head for awhile now.  Figured it was time to put the virtual pen to the virtual paper.

I recently moved off of BaileysReach back on to Angel Square.  Most of this decision was financial and i’ll be honest was a double edged sword.  Part of me really hated leaving but the other part couldn’t wait to get back to being close to everyone again.   I missed that sense of community I had when I lived on Angel Square before.  Being on BaileysReach was great, the privacy alone was wonderful but there is *too much of a good thing*.

So, the privacy standpoint.  At any time I could push the button and make The Reach private, denying public access.  I did that several times in fact.  But having 65,000sqm to yourself can get really lonely.  I had friends drop in of course but I didn’t spend enough time there really appreciating it.  The landscaping Rrish did was amazing but other than the occasional lounge about next to the waterfall I rarely used it.  In fact, I think Aribeth was there more than me.

So now I’m back living on Angel Square and I forgot how little privacy there really is.  I’ve forbidden ban lines on Angel Square so if someone wants to keep you off their land they need a security orb.  I have one, just haven’t put it up yet. 

Even when I do put it up, everyone who lives on Angel Square will have access as well as all of my friends.  It’s really to keep out the noobs and the snoops.

The noobs don’t know any better.  They haven’t figured out that it’s rude to go poking around in other peoples houses.  The doors don’t lock so they figure it’s an open invitation to wander thru.  Here’s a hint, it’s not ok.  You wouldn’t do it in RL, don’t do it in SL.   They also don’t realize that they shouldn’t leave their toys around.  Now I know sometimes you crash and you can’t get back to where you were.  But really, rezzing a house is a bit different then a boat or scooter.  Just because there is a space that looks empty doesn’t mean you can simply take up residence.  You’ll get your stuff back, trust me.

Then there are the snoops.  The ones who feel the need to poke in everything, click everything and just be a nuisance INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, WHEN YOUR THERE.  If I don’t know you and you walk in my house and I ask you to leave, that’s a good hint to leave.  Don’t argue with me that it’s public land.  It’s not.  I own it.  It has a house on it.  More clues to someone *living* there!  Again, think RL courtesies.

I’m happy to be back on Angel Square and not off by myself anymore.  I will get the orb working soon though.

To my friends – I love you all, you are welcome to drop by anytime!

Open Spaces…or Homesteads… or Full Sims

The lab by way of M Linden came out with their *revised* structure.  Prices are still going up but slower.  Limits will be placed on prims and scripts and a new level of land becomes available.

I’m not going to go thru all the back and forth on this one.  Is this the end of the debate and restructuring?  I hope not.  An organization has to restructure to stay alive so I hope that this becomes an active dialog between the lab and it’s customers/residents/clients whatever you want to call us.

Does this effect me?  Of course it does.  It will effect all of us.  The Crown and Pearl should be fine, although after January not sure how many fireworks you’ll see set off from there.  We’ll just have to set them off on Angel Square . 

If the many residents currently renting on an openspace don’t want to pay the higher tier, they’ll have to move.  Which means that land sales on estates should go back up.  That will make me happy as I have two residential lots available right now.

So, the lab listened and made some changes.  Not exactly the changes we all wanted but they did something.   The lindens aren’t perfect folks.  They make mistakes and blunders right along with the rest of us. 

The one thing I’ve learned is that the only way to affect change is too decide to do it.  If you want something bad enough you’ll work hard to get it.  Feel strongly about an issue, well take your argument to someone who can do something about it. Not with anger but with real solutions or suggestions.  Don’t just bitch and moan that you don’t like something, come up with a better alternative.

That’s it for me on this subject.  It is what it is.

See you all at the Crown!

Open Space conflict

According to the blog, the Open Space conflict will start to resolve today with a blog post by M Linden himself.  What will he say?  Don’t know.  Will everyone be happy?  Nope.  That’s simply a fact of life.

I’ll read the blog and decide what it means for me.  Of the 3 open space I own, 2 have stores and one has the Crown.  All three should be handle their traffic.  Although the Crown did crash yesterday, I have no idea why. 

So I’ll wait to see what the Lindens say. 

Stay tuned……….

Yes we can…

This has never meant to be a political blog or even one focused on real life at all but I have to say I’m quite pleased with the election yesterday.

Congratulations to Senator Obama on not only a stunning win but for bringing the country together at  a time when it is so badly needed.

I’m actually excited for the first time in far too long to see how the next 4 years will go.

I now return to our regulary scheduled program.  Lots of news to report so stay tuned…..

TGIF

I’ve been thinking all morning about what to write today.  Should I continue the Open Space topic?  Nah, I think that horse has been pretty much beaten to death.  Lots of blog posts, the forum is overflowing, in world meetings, protest groups, flickr groups, you name it.  I’ve said my piece.  I’ll happily explain anything that is unclear or even explain the whole land thing to anyone who wants to know.  Two years in SecondLife teaches you alot.  Especially when you spend time with some of the best content creators, photographers, venue owners etc. They’ve all taught me something.

I’ve heard people talking about leaving SL and looking for some other virtual world to hand their hat in.  Not me.  I’m not going anywhere.  SL is where I’ve built my home, it’s where my friends are, it’s where my business is.  I may not like how LL does somethings but I’m not about to jumpship either.  In some cases they are learning as we are.  So my suggestion to the Lab, create an advisory panel that includes residents you can trust to discuss important issues that will effect EVERYONE.  These residents by the way should be a cross section of people.  Large landowners, small business owners, small landowners, basic and premium account holders alike.  Anyone who has been around long enough to understand the issues you’d talk about.  Yeah, I  know the idea needs work but it’s just an idea.

Today is Halloween.  Go out have fun.  The land debate will rage on tomorrow I’m sure.

So, go hug a pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!!!

It’s Halloween everyone.  I’d like to propose that we all take the day off from protesting, arguing, and bitching about the Open Space Sim issue.

Go put on a costume and go to a few parties.  You’ll be glad you did.

I recommend the Crown and Pearl(big surprise right?  lol).  We’re having a party.  Aribeth and I will be DJing tonight.  Ari up first around 12:30pm slt.

Prad is responsible for the decorations.  I have no idea what he’s doing. :/

I’m looking forward to being in SL all night tonight and getting myself a bit pished.

See you all at the Crown and Pearl tonight!!!

New and Noteworthy….

While the debate and protests over the Open Space sims rages on the rest of the world continues on.  Here’s a bit of what’s coming up this weekend on or about Angel Square.

Friday: It’s Halloween.   There will be a party at the Crown.  Prad is in charge of decorating this year.  I really don’t need to say anything else do I??  Good.  The sploder will be going, DJs will be DJing and the dead will walk again.  Wait, that’s a normal friday night at the crown.   Eh, it’ll be good times.  It’s also the last day the Crown will be on Angel Square.

Saturday:  The Crown moves.   The Crown and Pearl moves to her own island to the east of Angel Square.  Little place called….  wait for it….. Crown and Pearl. hahaha   Starting Saturday if you use the Angel Square Landmark you’ll end up in my house. lol  While I love you all to bits, I don’t need ya all hanging about while I’m gettin dressed so delete the old lMs!!!  No perving Bailey!

Monday or Tuesday:  Official Opening of the gallery at Angel Square.   Invites will go out today or tomorrow to the artists I’m asking to participate for the opening.  The point of the gallery is to give artists a chance to participate that wouldn’t  normally get an invite to a big gallery.  For that reason I will rotate artists.  That doesn’t mean you won’t come back, it just means someone else is getting a month.   I’m all about being fair here.  There will be 7 artists.  A new theme every two weeks.  As popularity grows artists will rotate so everyone gets a chance.  If you want to be considered, drop me an IM or a comment here.  The first theme is *Myself*.  In one pic, show us who you are.  Show us that piece of you that maybe we don’t see.  All work must be your own or creditted to the original artist.  For the first showing, drop your full perm pics on me and I’ll put them up.

Expect to see a notice about a bar quiz in the near future.   Maybe Sunday afternoon…..

Debate continues…

The Open Space sim debate rages on.  Vint posted this last night.  Interesting post.  If it’s true, and I’ve no reason to doubt Vint, then it would *appear* that LL wants to get into the Open Space sim rental business.  Why else would they build this stuff on an OS?  But why tell us(the residents) that this is not what they were intended for and then go and do it themselves?  Good question.

Now I totally understand the concept of paying for performance.  Want better and faster, it’s gonna cost ya.  Want more bells and whistles, it’s gonna cost ya.  So, if LL tells me, you can keep your OS with the 3,750 prims and continue to use it as a club with 40-50 avatars every night and blinding particles and intense lag you go right along doing that but it’s gonna cost you more.  I’m more or less ok with that.  The drain on resources becomes another issue altogether. 

The problem is, I don’t have a club on BaileysReach.  It’s just my house and whole bunch of plants.  I’ve never had more than 5 avs there at a time.  Most of the time it’s just me, sitting there while I’m doing something else.  My usage and the usage of the above club owner are totally different.  Should we both be paying the same?  You wouldn’t pay the same money for a Porsche that you would for a Volkswagen right? 

So here is my suggestion:  Pay for what you use.  I’m sure LL can come up with another tier level to bill on.  Or even multiple levels.  One size fits all never really works.  With so many different uses for the Open Space sims why not simply offer multiple use levels.  High traffic/use gets one tier fee.  Waterways, roads, true void sims gets a different tier fee. 

Suggestion #2:  Implement controls to match use.   You can’t give me an island with 3,750 prims and then say, but you aren’t supposed to use them.  Sorry, that’s silly.  Eventually I’m going to push the limits imposed on me.  Don’t give me limits and watch out!  So, put controls in place.  If I buy an Open Space at a waterway level, it should have few prims available and a low price.  The number of av’s allowed should be low as well.  The reverse goes for a club level, lots of prims and a higher price.

Jack Linden has another meeting in world today. I’m at work with no access so I won’t be able to attend.  If you go, remember, nasty verbal abuse gets us no where.  Be respectful, go with suggestions and constructive comments.