Buying a Void Sim

I am looking at buying a void sim from an existing sim owner. BUT, everything I'm reading says I can't really own the thing. They are asking $147 us to buy and 3500 a week after. I get 1875 prims.

I don't really want to buy a full size sim and the place is really cute. BUT...from what I read since I'm sharing a CPU the adjacent 3 other voids on the cpu can lag me down.

anybody have any experience with buying living in one of these. Linden support says they don't recommend living on or renting out a void sim.

leesha Oh

You can't own a single void sim on its own. Linden Labs only sell them in blocks of 4 (ie, you own all four void sims that are running on a single CPU). You may be able to rent one from a landowner, but you will not own it completely. If you do buy one, then yes, your lag will be affected by the other sims on the CPU.

1875 prims is equivalent to an 8192 on the mainland - less than 1/8th of the available space.

Wow! That's really cheap!

Here's the thing though. Actual ownership (not leasing from the estate owner) isn't possible the way you're describing it. You have to own a regular sim, then you are eligible to buy FOUR void sims at a time. You can own four void sims per one regular sim. Four void sims are driven by one processor core.

So it sounds like you are buying a void sim from a larger estate, which means you don't actually truly really own it. But if you trust the estate owner, it can work out well. And the price is fantastic.

I have found that the greatest impact of lots of activity on a void sim isn't in the physics, it's in script execution speed. So if you're not planning to do any serious scripting, and don't plan to hold a lot of big parties, then this deal may work out well for your needs.

leesha, my home is in one of those 'void' sims. I've not had any problems whatsoever, except for the ocassional lag now and then, nothing over the top. Actually I find it that most of the time, I don't get lag when the rest of the grid is falling apart. I only have one other neighbor in my sim and that's a great advantage. In your case, you'd be the only one in the whole sim, you can practically seal the sim to all except for you and your guests. And an extra bonus, forget about those terraforming limits from the mainland, open sims have no terraforming limits unless they're especifically established by the estate owner, read the covenant. Finally, the price you've mentioned is very good and tier is a great value. I'd personally go for it. One thing to remember though, always enquire about your potential landlord's reputation. Chat with some of his/her existing tenants to see what they have to say.

To be precise, it's an "OpenSpaces Sim" that you're talking about, not a "Void". Void is the term for the open ocean beyond all sim edges, that is just an illusion and you can't travel on.

OpenSpaces sims are low-prim, low access sims that run four per server. You get 1/8 the normal prim count of a full sim, which means that although you have a 256 M by 256 M area to play with, you have about the same prim allocation as an 8192 M2 normal sim parcel. OpenSpaces sims also only support 10 avatars at once, as opposed to 40 in a normal sim. To actually "Own" an OpenSpaces sim, you have to already actually own one full-purpose sim, and you must purchase a set of 4 OpenSpaces sims as a unit. LL won't split them, or sell them individually. The cost to obtain 4 OpenSpaces sims is the same as the cost for one new Class-5 sim - $1,650 USD and $295 USD per month maintenance.

I have built a 5-sim island for a client, where one sim was a normal sim and 4 were OpenSpaces sims. The island spans all five sims as a single land mass. Her main home is on the "real sim", for the better prim count and higher available visitor level. But she has alternative homes in the OpenSpaces sims, and being there is exactly like being in a normal sim. The houses and scripted beds and all that work exactly like anywhere else.

That same client is renting one more OpenSpaces sim that is adjacent to her other sims. It still belongs to a set of 4 sims attached to some other sim owner's real sim. She simply has the use of it for the payment of her monthly rent. The main downside is that she can't do a lot of the owner-only or estate-manager-only functions while there.

The only down sides that I have seen to existing in an OpenSpaces sim are the ten avatar limit, and that it sometimes takes a little longer for the sim and content in it to initially rez, when you teleport to it. But once it all shows up, it's just like anywhere else.

Personally, I think an OpenSpaces sim makes a great rental! You get the land area of a full sim, with the associated distance from any neighbors, for a fraction of the cost of setting up a whole sim.

The deal sounds too cheap, $147 US to buy doesnt cover the cost to the real owner. The L$3500 per week amounts to $50 per month, that isn't enough to give the real owner profit. I am not sure if 4 voids bill at $195 or $295, if it's $295 I would be REALLY leary about the whole deal.

Based on $L 3500 a week,

$L 3500 * 4.333 weeks / month = $L 15166 / month.

$L 15166 / month divided by 1 USD / 265 $L = 57.23 USD / month.


Then take out the Lindex fee of 3.5%,

57.23 USD/month * (100% - 3.5%) = 57.23 * .965 = 55.23 USD / month.


Fees: let's presume an older voidsim still at 195 USD/mo, that would be:

(55.23 USD * 4 (if all are rented out the same) - 195 USD, or,

A net income of 25.90 a month for the sim owner from doing this.


Considering the voidsim is just sitting there waiting for you, if you do a cost benefit analysis, this is *not* a stable business model. Of course, the 147 USD down helps but long term, if the other 3 voids in the group aren't renting you may find yourself on some veeeery insubstantial ground, as it were.


What I think you may be dealing with, is someone who loves SL and is trying to reduce some costs, while still paying a bit themself. Or maybe someone really big but in dire straights, who just needs to get as much land tier as possible covered immediately, any which way, until they are back on their feet.

I'd check out the character and reputation of the person. If it is, say, a wealthy content baroness simply trying to offset some fees, you are probably going to be alright.

* * * * *

Now, on a technical level - if the math serves, I suspect you are dealing with someone paying 195/mo tier for the set of 4 voids. Otherwise their rental to you would leave them bleeding badly each month by about 75 USD, if they are paying 295/mo tier.

To make yet another huuuge assumption, in this case, you are probably dealing with a class 4 voidsim. There were class 5 voidsims released at the old 195/mo rates between roughly 1 Nov - 15 Nov 2006 (I have a set!) but these are rare, rare, rare.

Alright, what's the difference. A class 5 voidsim is actually, REALLY GOOD from most accounts. I've got 99 witnesses who saw one of mine filled with 100 avatars and it still functioned.... somewhat laggy, but: 100 avatars! That's better than a class 4 standard sim, although it didn't hurt that voidsims simply don't have the prims and textures available, with which to load down so horribly.

A class 4 voidsim is good or bad, depending what you do with it. Lots of avatars - forget it. You'll be in trouble waay before you ever see 100 avatars. Think more like: 10 is reasonable, maybe gently pushing it. Also, scripting cycles are lean - scripted objects run out of cycles with just a few things out, and then every scripted object goes slooooowwwww. Still, for the price offered, it's a wicked good deal so long as the provider doesn't go bankrupt on you.

Please note that pricing and performance comments made here may all be complete balderdash within a few months. Sim price hikes, the introduction of Mono or Havok or any manner of features may completely change the landscape.

* * * * *

As for 'buying' - I personally feel that using the word 'buy' is very deceptive when it comes to private estates. Ejected and banned? Nothing you can do.

I've never even come close to anything like that with residents of Caledon, but I *still* wouldn't dare imply that land there is 'owned'. In fact, according to service terms, I don't own anything either. Just something to consider.


Good luck with your decision

I hope it's not a stupid question, but what exactly is the point of one of those sims? Just more space for less money if you know you don't need that many prims/visitors?

The initial intent from LL was to provide either open water that you could go boating in, or a barrier of open forest land that you could surround normal sims with, for some privacy by distance.

As a water sim, take a look at FairChang Palma, and in particular to the sims just South of there. Palma is a normal sim. The sims to the South of that are OpenSpaces sims, with a couple tiny islands and lots or room to run a boat around.

Or imagine setting up a normal sim with 4 rentable sections, and surrounding this with 8 Openspaces sims that have been terraformed into lush parkland and forests. Beats the heck out of staring at a void water sim, doesn't it? And you can walk through those forests and play there.

@Ceera: Thanks-that explains it! So they were never really intended to be used on their own.

Hmm I thought it would be 1/4 prim usage, sounds like at 1/8, you only end up buying 50% of the amount of prims for a single sim and paying the same price.

Been offered the possibility of renting an OpenSpace Sim in the near future, and must say it does sound idyllic & tempting.

This has been a timely and very informative thread. Thanks for the info, guys

Hey all. Thank you for the great responses. I ended up buying my little island and been happily noodling around building things and making the earth move. I've got to say I love shaping the land. Is a total blast! I'm very happy!

I live on one and never have issues with lag, usally get 40fps though i seldom have more than half a dozen people there at any one time. Go have a look if youd like - MoanaKane

Zog

If Linden Lab sold them individually ... I think they'd sell quite well because I can think of quite a few things I could build where space is more important than prims.

Broccoli

Perhaps once Havok 4 has been released to the main-grid they might be convinced to start selling void-sims individually. I would love one for the space too, as I don't require the full-prim amount, but the 10 avatar max would put me off a bit. I have a tower I'm building for my new store which is pretty big (will hit the 90m mark, 60m diameter) and would look so much cooler on an island crafted to fit its base.

But as it'd be a store I'd need more than 10 avatars as a maximum. However my store is low-lag (I'm really picky about my scripting for things like vendors) and only uses physics for a couple of simple elevators.

With Havok 4 we could possibly cope much better in such cases. I don't need the huge prim-limits as even the tower itself is fairly low-prim without using mega-prims despite its height.

As it is I'll probably end up going for rental land on a private-sim somewhere, as close to the middle as I can swindle. But a void sim would be an absolute dream. Hey, with Havok 4 if they keep unlimited link-distances then I could even link my whole tower and move it easily enough if they change their minds on voids later =)