Why waste land?

Another reason for an active-in-SL person to leave a parcel undeveloped: it can be fun to plan. Fun to picture that parcel in your mind, maybe when sitting in your RL car waiting for the light to turn green, and imagine various possibilities.








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It could also be that they feel it's harder to get rid of it and then replace it in the future should they want to use it, prices might go up, and so on. Any land that I own is being used for skybox residences but if I had an unused plot I don't think I'd just sell it for that very reason.

For me the reason is prims. I have a parcel that I keep empty on purpose, on the same sim my SL home is on, to add to my prim count. That's an estate. On mainland, I have 1536 m only, and do keep a house and landscaping on it. It's great for when I need a breather, a get away, to get away from 'where everybody knows my name'. Some may think it' s never used, but it is, and I intend to keep it. I have received, over the years occasional offers to buy it, from neighbors who are buying around it, and I do understand someone wanting it, who has adjoining land. But those people have come and gone, several times over and I"m still there.

There's some issues with an unmanaged estate; it's kind of complicated.

For instance I learned to put things in my covenant that said: "don't buy up downtown and then leave it just sit there empty" because what that did was kill the area for everyone.

Well, almost everyone. The person holding onto it now has a piece of property worth more than ever: intrinsic land value + costs of neighbourhood blight damage. It's anarchy gone wild.

And it's both an economic and civil governance matter. Not everyone has evil intent; they may have very big dreams for an area. Then have to get a new job or go to the hospital or something. But the fact remains, that there's a giant crater left behind in what could have been an awesome place.

The mainland needs a firmer, deeply involved hand. But we knew that already.

Given the chance and the mandate, any one of us could clean up Bay City/Nova Albion within 60 days. 30 days for the new covenant notice, three weeks of grace period after that and one rockingly awesome week of "clean up and do something, anything, our lose it for $L 1 per meter tomorrow."

One other trick: islands with parcel meters have a huge community advantage. If you don't log in to pay the meter... the land defaults and someone active takes over. Caledon's meters are set at 12 weeks. Which means that if someone can't be bothered to log in just *four times a year* their land defaults. Yep, this has actually made all the difference in some areas.

I think the common wisdom has been "just keep charging forever" but what a horrible way to destroy a great product. Eventually longtimers and bitter forum oldbies who never log in take over from the busy but flighty short timers, everywhere. Sooner or later this strategy will reach a tipping point and people will flee such areas rather than fight unwinnable battles to make them nice.

On the other hand, Desmond, some of us are on mainland specifically because we don't have to worry about having the estate manager decide we're icky.

Also its the inflexibility of LL's mainland pricing structure. its no different to own 51% than to have 100% of a region's equivalent for the 195 tier level, much less the next jump to 390us for 51% of two regions equivalent.

-w

There are 2 plots abandoned and left with full rights to everyone in the sim where I had my home (before I sold all, 'cause the new adult polytics).

Both are first lands (these are the names: Someone's First Land), and plenty of ugly junk on it, from penises in all forms, to piles of basic prims.

I've put my own prims on them, using all the left prims allowed, minus one. Than covered both with a huge prim (phantom), with a texture of a pile of log. Not ideal, but better than the garbage in there.

Vania: submit a ticket asking to have them set to no-build and cleared.

Yep I think there should be an area for that too.

But Bay City unmanaged? That's sorta like an oxymoron. Here's our great new PLANNED city area with a theme and stuff and... oh, do whatcha like to it kthxbai!

>_<

First thing I'd do in Bay City, is make an ordinance about pets. Pet washing now mandatory! Can't have, say, any ferrets with muddy feets schtomping all around and makin a mess on the pristine sidewalk...

When LL announced it a lot of people pointed that little problem out.

Washing the pet...

Is that what they were trying to do to this kitty in that club the other day? That explains -everything- ;p


As for a place to go and not worry about being icky, I suspect the new Adult continent is going to end up that way.

I'm just hoping it doesn't end up with too many different kinks all bundled up together - take a look at renderotica, where 3D artists post more adult themed art. Not sure if they finally fixed it, but for several months after an 'upgrade' they lost their filtering software and -WOW- do some people have some unusual tastes...

There are signs along some of the roads requiring that pets be curbed. No, really. Been there since it opened.

As to "managing," the Bay City Alliance has been doing a pretty fair job of helping keep the city on a good tack. It's not perfect, but it's a gem compared to a lot of other (mainland and estate) lands.

Well for land barons it's probably not costing them anything to hold onto a few parcels, wasted opportunity but the cost to them is probably zilch as their tier level would be the same with or without those parcels.

Ahhh, that clears up a question I've had when I visit Blumfield. There are some nice homes and builds, some have furniture in them, others don't, that have been exactly the same for the last two years. The area that I tend to visit reminds me of a "Twilight Zone" episode where everything looks normal...except I'm the only person there.

Can I move next door to you?

Yup, exactly. Essentially abandoned land (in that their owners are no longer in SL, or at least are not using that space), but in some sort of odd limbo. Many of the older homes are the "starter homes" initially resent in those sims to begin with.

I tried to rent some land from the last person Mari mentioned in her OP. After three days of trying to find out how to get the land grouped over to me to build, I checked one of the owner's groups and found he hadn't been on for two months. That shocked me, to say the least, considering his fairly sizable holdings in Bay City (not to mention other areas). He did come on a couple nights ago, apologized for being absent and gratefully refunded all my tier I had dropped in the box (plus some, I think). He did mention that he was debating whether to stay in or not and that he probably should pick up the tier boxes, at the very least.

It will be interesting to see what transpires. Will he sell the land and a steep discount? Sit on it again for a while? Who knows.

On a similar note, I did rent another plot in Bay City to put up a new store. I love the (at least suggested) architecture and theme of the area. My street is really shaping up well, other than a somewhat (but not totally) loud build across the street. Heck, there's even a nice church that has sprung up down the street. A typical Sunday afternoon has kids riding down the street on their bikes, and the occasional noob flying around after sprouting wings from the Moose Beach infohub. It's really a nice place and Mari's right, the Bay City Alliance is very active in promoting the area and supporting the residents and shopkeepers.

Glad you like what we're all doin' there, Ty.

Coming From Nova Albion

Yes! This is prevelent in the parcels for sale in Sistiana. The current owner was affected by the Adult Theme and instead of trading has put them for sale at a totally rediculous price. So what is the future of the FIRST City Sims?
The land in Barcola that sits, unattended to. I have attempted to contacted the owners as they are in the HUB group in Nova Albion. In IM or even group notices they send back an automated responce, that they are sorry they are not online but if you will follow this url link and join our web site you may file any report. Well....I followed the url and jumped through the hoops and followed directions. That was 2 months ago and no responce.
So SPITE continues. Or simply "I dun care"
Solution? just throwing it out there....Get LL to make an owner click an owners box once a month just like rentals. LL could buy out what is unused (at current per sq m price) and put it up for auction. LL will only lose a month or so in tier but gain so much more in the new owners. If it's $$ that LL wants then Yes!...this needs tending to.
Nova Albion is a great City of wonderful history. And I will not let squatters continue without a fight. This is my home and I am here everyday.
messege to the Bacola owners...Jus put up a store! A building...Something so you can collect rent! WIN WIN! don't ya think?
Messege to Sistiana Owner. Ba bye!

They're "squatters" because they bought land and pay tier on it? If they don't visit it regularly enough for your liking it should be confiscated? WTF? Is the grass getting overgrown and unsightly? Is their car getting rusty in the driveway?

*ETA* I may be bitter on this issue...I have a nostalgia plot I rarely visit (not First Land, just the first land I bought). I only have a few plants on the ground and server/backup storage in the sky. People write to DEMAND that I sell it to them because I'm not using it anyway. [Expletive] that noise.

This solution is already in place: It's called a Tier Payment and every month it gets clicked out of the land owners choosen payment option. When the land owner chooses to stop clicking the Linden Rental Box of Tier, the land is either sold or put up on Auction.

Until that time, you have no right to decide between what is "underutlized" or "wasted" no matter how much you might personally want the land or wish the landowner built up the land more to your liking.

To me, trying to get someone to give you something you want regardless of what they want to do would be an act of spite.

I suspect a fair bit of the land on the old continent could be ownerless, but LL leave the previous owners stuff on there if it looks pretty to make it look occupied.

If Linden Labs started doing that I'd give up on mainland and go to an estate. If I have to put up with those kinds of shenanigans I might as well get a landlord I can talk to out of the deal.

I fear there will be a mad rush to the new land so that we can swap. Many of us will get trampled in the stampede. How many of you think you will actually get a plot that you like? I want to do t his now, so that if LL is going to throw me out of SL I can stop paying now instead of later. I feel like I am being robbed.
BT

I'm sure there are many thousands of plots that have been abandoned by their owners that are no longer being paid for but that LL has, in its uber-efficiency, failed to put back up on the auction block. There is of course no way for anyone to know which plots these would be without submitting a support ticket.

But then, the question would be why does Linden Lab waste land. Maybe they are the ones being spiteful.