Abandoned Builds

What happens if someone aquires land, plonks down some builds, then drops out of SL? By dropping out I mean closing their account and/or not paying their land fees. Are the builds autodeleted or do they just sit there?
I've seen a few half-finished builds that havn't changed since I started eight months ago. Am I looking at ruins or just very gradual works in progress?

If they don't pay their land fees, the land will eventually revert to Governor Linden ownership. The land will then be auctioned off on the http://www.secondlife.com/auctions website to the highest US$ bidder. The proceeds go to pay off any debts owed to Linden Lab, and the balance returned to the previous owner.

As for ruins or gradual works in progress, we all have varying amounts of time or expertise to pour into a build. I, for example, have lots of time but poor artistic ability. Others may have awesome artistic texturing and building talent, but not a whole lot of time to spend on their build, so it may take them awhile. And others are just learning the ropes!

Another thing to consider are people with Lifetime Memberships. . . they might leave the game, but since they don't have monthly fees, their build would just sit there.

I'm not certain what the policy on a completely unattended account is in this situation.

Yes I was curious about this myself. In my lot at Miru, I am surrounded on 2 sides by 2 512 lots that have small houses on them and I have not seen the owners SINCE they first built them months ago. If they truly left the game, I would LOVE to actually tier up and buy that land that is adjacent to my lot. If they have lifetime accounts though, sounds like I am screwed, unless Linden Labs sends them something on the order of an email notice like "We see that your account has not been active for X months. Are you still interested in SL? There is a person interested in buying your plot from you blah blah blah" or something to that effect.

Arti

Part of the beauty of SL (and probably a real irritation to the Lindens, in some ways) is that we can do (or not do) whatever we want with the land we purchase, as long as we continue to pay our subscription fees. It's the risk you take by buying land somewhere, and it's not the only risk. You might have a club move in next to you, lag the sim and be constantly filled with people to the point of not being able to get on your own property (it's happened before).

I believe we need some sort of zoning regulations in SL, maybe even the ability to enact something like RL covenants. And, of course, it would be best to still have the option to own land in a covenant-free area where you could do whatever the heck you want, if you so choose. If the Lindens want players to take this game seriously and spend a lot of time and effort here, we need more of a reassurance that our money and time investment won't be significantly devalued by other players' actions.

I get annoyed enough at homeowner's associations in real life, and I'd hate to see them enforced from the top down by the Lindens. However, if there is a group of like-minded players interested in "zoning" an area for specifically-themed construction, there's already a mechanism for doing so: form a group and pool your land. There are already several "exclusive" neighborhoods like this in SL, and I can hardly see where the Lindens would have the time or inclination to enforce zoning regulations.

I do feel for people who have noisy neighbors move in near them, though. But I figure it's a small price to pay for the freedom we have to build what we want.

There's an unattended account clause in the TOS now, which I think addresses the lifetimer land that's been sitting unused for 12 months+; anyway it states that you must login at least once every [30-60?] days otherwise it will be auctioned.

Errp: Logged in as wrong user (this should be by Adam Zaius)

-Adam

They could also just be people like me. I will pay for things automatically charged to my card for months before I ever think about taking the time to go in and cancel.

Uh...I thought the lifetime Basic Membership did not include land ownership...that you had to have the monthly subscription to own land.

One thing that I would hope for is that really nice builds that are abandoned for some reason are preserved in some way. I'd hate to see a beautiful garden someone built a year ago get torn down for yet another casino/club...

There was once a different kind of "lifetime" membership. For a couple hundred (can't remember the exact figure), you no longer had to pay monthly access fees (which no longer exist anyway) and got an extra 4096 sq m in your land tier.

Liona, there was an offering to the beta players to have a lifetime account. It cost between US$160 - US$225 in a lump payment for a lifetime membership. Those that purchased this option now how a base land tier of 4096m with no monthly fee.

It was a risk buying this type of membership because SL was so young and its future was uncertain. But it was a way for Lindens to raise some money and a way to thank the early residents that had faith in SL.

Is that true about the 30-60 day login thing for Lifetime accounts? What happens if you go on an extended vacation?

I thought the auctioning of land was to pay any overdue back fees. Would they really auction off a Lifetimer's plot like that?

That time period seems awfully short. I'll have to read over the TOS. Know what section it was in?

I dont see how account termination applies to Charter Members. It looks like you have to cancel the account before it will go into a dormat status. I see no reason for anyone to actually cancel one of these accounts other than to make a statement about dissatisfaction.

I've seen a sad case in this before happen. It was a case of Skeedalee's place being taken down because of the account becoming dorment (or so I think). Not that, that place has a really good reputation mind you, but lots of memories in that place. I remember someone trying to preserve it because we knew she wasn't around any longer. It may not have been one of the best builds, but it had sentimental value.

Well, that really bites.

Every once in awhile I just plain get annoyed with SL (mainly LSL) and don't log on for weeks/months at a time.

What makes it even more annoying is that I'm paying tiering fees to hold land that I paid for, and now they're going to sell it out from under me?

I think that, the binding arbitration clause, and a whole lot of other little "gotchas" may very well keep me from ever coming back. (Yes, yes, I know. BUt don't throw the party yet.)

No, they were referring to lifetimer land i.e. land not supported by a tier fee.

I could have SWORN I saw her stuff for sale in one of Mistress Midnights shops in her shopping complex. So she may be back.

Not just her stuff sold by someone else, but owned by her.

Hmm.. guess I need to get out more!

I'm a lifer.

How exactly are they going to determine which part of my land is covered by tier fees, and which part is covered by my lifetime allotment?

I think if your paying any land use fees, your probably exempt from it. It probably more refers to the lifers who have scaled back to 4092 land and then just vanished.

Very interesting post. Opposite my neighbours and I in Uli, someone built a really, we think, ugly black and glass building. I saw the guy who built it twice about 2 months ago and have never seen him since. It would be really nice to see that disappear from the landscape.