To buy Land or Not to buy Land, that is the question...

Hello all. Although I have been a member of SL for many years and own a small parcel I am ready to take the plunge to buy more land, specifically a region sized lot. But alas! I am now more confused with so many options: Openspaces, homesteads, Regions, Islands, leasing, renting...I have a headache.

So my question is: What is the best option for a project that I will submit for the Linden Prize that involves the creation of a small/medium welcome area lobby type to present my project and another small prototype residential area. As well as sustaining an as of yet to be determined number of visitors.

What would be my best option regarding pricing?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Regards,

Onodoken Yoshikawa

Definitely skip openspaces or homesteads; these areas weren't designed to support large numbers of avatars.

If this will be a temporary build, you might try looking around for land to rent on a private island. You can explain what you want to the landlord, and he/she might be willing to give you a break on the rent if it's for Winterfaire, as this will bring more publicity to the island.

If that number will ever be 40+ you will need private land with it's own dedicated CPU core so a full island would be necessary.

Thank you. Another Q

Is it preferable to buy the land from a resident and pay him tier fees or is it better to buy and pay the fees directly to LLs?

I located an entire region for less than 500 USD.

tiers are cheaper direct to LL

'buying' a whole sim from a resident usually means renting it..
but
there are some sims for sale with Full Transfer.. sometimes less than the 1000USD LL set up fee
so look in the classifieds..

Thank you for all the replies. I have a better understanding now.