Question about Island or Mainland Sim Purchase

I am looking to purchase a Sim either an Island or Mainland in about 1-2 monthes
...A few questions ???

I would be using the Sim for Personal and Probably My Main Store

Advantages or Disadvantages of each besides the obvious Cost differences.

1. Terrraforming...More control or less Island vs Mainland ?

2. Any Issues with Access differences ?

3. When You buy an Island when are the Tier fees assessed ?

4. Any Differences in The Owners controls (Resetting, Rollbacks, etc)

5. Can you still load your own Terrain Maps on Mainland also

6. Where can you get Custom Terrain Maps created and what Kind of cost is involved ?

7. Any other Advice or Opinions you might have.


Thank You

Kurt Ludd
"The Gesture Maker"

1. more, u can terraform +-100

2. u can allow groups or individual residents and ban ppl to enter the island at all so they can`t grief from a distance
also more control with debugging, restarting sim when u want and locate running scripts

3. the moment the island is deliver is the time tier fees will start

4. u don`t have that on the mainland

5. nope, only on islands

6. there are a handfull wich sell (beats me where again) but i have a couple wich u can use (needs some hand terraforming after)

7. terraform to what u want for the main building area first and then work center out not to affect land u`r pleased with, also take a look at estate tools to get the feeling for it specially the "estate" tab where u can control all the access

also, when islands are deliverd, they are restricted to owner only and will have to be made public manually in the estate tools under "estate" tab so if u get an island, not be suprised when no one can get to it

More control on an island. There are +/- limits on most mainland areas -- there are also limits on islands, but they are much higher.



You have more control with an island because you have the estate tools.



I'm not aware of any differences here in practice, but it isn't technically "tier" for islands -- it's your island fee. It's separate and distinct from any "tier allowance" or "tier level" that relates to any mainland you may own.



Yes, you get more controls on an island due to the estate controls, which mainland owners don't get.



You'll get many good views here. My own view is that an island is a more flexible, versatile vehicle, but it's more expensive and it's isolated. I personally prefer the mainland with its wackiness and tackiness because I like to explore, I like the variety of what is seen there, and I like to sail or use my helicopter to fly around -- things you can't really do on an island unless it s a part of a large string of island developments. But others feel differently and are much happier with their own island.

One point re tier fees: When you purchase an island the price includes the first month's tier.

In other words, when you purchase the island from LL you pay US$1,675. That includes tier for the first month. One month after the delivery of your island you will be billed $295 for the next month.

On the Mainland, when you purchase a sim I believe that one month after your purchase (or is it on the first billing date after your purchase?) is when you are billed for the previous month.

On mainland typically only +/-4m

Plus the terrain map you can upload on an island can set altitudes way beyond 0-100m



However, the US$1675 you pay *includes* the first months tier. i.e. you are really paying 1380 for the island plus 295 for the first months tier.

This is important, as although an island costs more in tier fees long term, if you pay more than 1380 for a mainland sim, the mainland sim costs more short term. Roughly for every US$100 you pay for a mainland sim it will take a month before you break even over a private island. e.g. if you paid US$2000 for a mainland sim, the total cost of sim plus tier for the first six months will be less than for an island plus tier. After six months, the mainland tier would be the cheaper option - assuming that LL hasn't change the tier fees by then, which has been rumoured.


Also, there is the promise (not yet realised) that island owners will have more control in enabling new features or early testing of bug fixes. If you are scripting, the debug tools for tracking down laggy scripts is quite useful, and these are generally useful in protecting against lag and griefers too.

Matthew

Regarding terraforming mainland: If you choose a sim that is close to your final vision, the +4/-4 limitations of mainland terra are not an issue. I spent a lot of time scouting the ideal mainland sim and found one that was nearly perfect for my needs. That's the one I bid on. All I ended up doing was raising some of the land above the waterline to create more beachfront area.

Good answers and exactly what I needed.
I appreciate the advice...



Kurt Ludd

Your mainland tier for your new purchase is debited at your bill date...whatever date your balance is due. It's important to time your purchase so you don't pay $195 for a few days of ownership. You have seven days to take ownership inworld once you win at auction. I waited until my land use fee was paid before taking ownership, so I was able to delay getting billed for a month.