OpenSpace sims and where will renters go?

A lot of the mouthing off against mainland comes from some estate land dealers in an attempt to get people to come to them I think. I think a group of them have realised that if you invoke a meme often enough like a mantra people will begin to believe it. Of course I have no proof of this it is pure speculation (before calls to prove it are made), but in my time of reading the forums I have seen this meme repeated time and time again by those who admit they sell estate land.

That is not in question but calling for people to hurt LL and thereby other residents ultimately is not the way to dispute resolution. Vote with your feet if you feel you must but trying to ruin it for others is just as bad in my book.

I live on the mainland and I'm not leaving. I have seen my little area go from a cluttered ugly place surrounded by adfarms and dangling for sale signs, to a pretty area where people are actually building. Do I like everyone's build? no...but they may not like mine either.

I often ride my motorcycle for hours on the Linden Highways...and I have seen the scenery change for the better. And another thing I notice is that a few new things are appearing, I am already seeing people gravitating from the OS to the mainland. Some nice shops, some nice builds, replacing what was an eyesore or just empty (since the adfarm changes).

I agree, the policy has made some significant adjustments for the better to the problem. All that needs to happen now is for LL to apply that ad-farmer extortion policy to unscrupulous mainland land dealers who deliberately uglify their land in order to get a ridiculous price from you. So far that has not been as successful. However those land dealers can be beaten and broken as I did recently by outwaiting them and letting them catch for the tier until they are ready to bring their prices into something approaching reasonableness. Now my sim is much better for it and I got the land for less than I originally offered the land dealer before their shenanigans.

Fairchang Islands comes to mind. Beautiful and tranquil. I have never seen one complaint against the Fairchangs. If I lived anywhere on an island it would probably be there. BUT.............. I have never done it because I know I would be bored with the sameness within a month or so.

Agreed and anyone in any sort of business here should not be going out of their way to upset the applecart, that would make them as boneheaded as the Linden Lab management who decided to bite the hand that feeds them.

I'm an Open Space sim renter.... OK, I rent half an Open Space sim and I really don't know what I'm going to do. For starters, the avatar who owns the sim I rent on has vanished and deleted their account. Secondly there's the price increase and change to 'Homestead' status as of January 2009 which makes them almost useless to me. At the moment I'm weighing up my options between buying some mainland or renting on an island estate. Either way it won't be as much because I wont be able to afford much so I won't be able to host my own live music shows from now on. Bleh, I'll probably spend most of my time in Cordova or Goguen from now on.

... which I understand to imply that the island may disappear any minute now, and all your objects rezzed on the island with it. Nothing will be returned to your inventory. Everything will be gone!

I'd urge you to take back all non-copy objects from this island NOW! If you don't, they may be lost for good. Get hold of your stuff while you still can!

Uh, why not, if you pick the Mainland? A Mainland sim can hold 40 avatars, and events of 20 or more are not uncommon--and surely more comfortable, lag-wise, on a Mainland sim than they ever were on an OpenSpace. If the audience is much larger, I own a four-corners spot that I'd be glad to let you use, so attendees could be in three different sims and the performers in a fourth, if that would help.

Well just to answer the original question. I started in a little 512m2 sky, then had a lovely plot on a full sim then just a month ago moved to an openspace shared with one other. I had the whole place beautifully landscaped, mostly beach and water.

I had to think long and hard but figured that i do not NEED a home in sl! While i loved having one there is a reality check here and i dont feel the need to subsidise a virtual home when i need that cash for RL home cos there is a bit of a financial meltdown that the lindens dont seem to have noticed.

So i shall give up on land ownership and since my premium account is soon due for renewal, likely cancel that too, a small place on mainland holds no attraction.

On the upside, the money that i earn inworld will be spent with content creators.

And now an important message to M linden...

STUFF YOU!!!

No, one does not NEED a home in SL. One does not NEED anything. Homes are a luxury.

I think it is highly disrespectful how they went about it, but it is long past the point of decision.

To be honest, there are many mainland landlords who have invested in making beautiful communities. It's not laggy like disorganized communities because we've typically bought enough land to control the entire sim, or most of it. And much of it is Class 5, purchased during SL's expansion. Granted, most people on OpenSpaces are not looking to move back into a mainland unit. But like anything, if you shop around, you could find something really nice for a reasonable price.

Avion Raymaker has made some really lovely communities. Yes, I'll pimp Avion's places because they just are that awesome. And the Villas at Lebettu are absolutely charming. There are many more, in all kinds of themes. People that have taken care to build something beautiful, orderly, and still affordable.

And then, there are many good and reputable estate owners out there who sell land. A quarter sim is still a lot of space, and on a full prim managed sim, the lag shouldn't be bad at all. I know it's tough to give up an island, but there are lots of reasonable options out there if you still want to enjoy a certain standard of SLiving. It's not all crap. There is far less crap out there than you think.

To answer the OP: Keep on renting estate

In my case, I rented a double prim lot on Ecstasy, and together with some other renters and estate management, we decided to split the sim we were on into 4 OS sims. 2 days after my move, LL came with their sweet message.

So at that moment, I could either move to a mainland plot or rent on another sim of the estate. Since estate management always did their utter best to help me, I decided to stay, and did not regret that. So once more a double prim lot, but a bit bigger then the one I had before this one. I would not like to be on 1 isolated sim, but this estate is big enough to make it attractive to me.

My OS adventure has been a sour grape. To me, and to the estate owner and managers. But I did not really need a whole sim, so no matter how happy I was with all that space, I shrugged and moved on. Still recovering from the move (it is hard to get back to your original revenue after a move, if you are running a business), but very happy with my new location.

Finally, why estate? Because of the excellent customer service! As soon as I have a problem, the estate managers are happy to help me. For me, Ecstasy Realty is a way better landlord then LL can ever be.

In other words, YMMV.

mainland, I hope, half the mainland sims around mine are all empty or up for auction

What Cristalle said.

Yes, there are crappy mainland locations out there with giant, flashing, bright green sex malls next door, but indeed there are several beautiful places to find.

After we gave up our OS sim, we bought a small parcel in Jingbo. It's oceanside, which is great for boating (much more fun on the mainland, with dozens, if not hundreds of navigable regions nearby), no banlines or low hanging skyboxes, a lovely area and very friendly neighbours.

If you hunt around a bit, there are lots of nice places to find.

True Qie, sad enough true.

Renting on Estate land does have its difficulties as well as buying mainland, to mention two:

Your landlord might call it a day. Especially when they are not generating much of a RL income, this might be a risk. People who get an income will not easily throw that away, but if they do it only out of hobby interests, they might decide for another hobby one day.

You might get booted for nothing. In the past, there have been stories about people forking over a purchase price for estate land, only to be booted a day after that. Easy money for the landlord, sour grape for the renter.

So as soon as you are going to think about renting estate (same goes for mainland in fact):

Make sure you know who you are dealing with! Of course great new landlords are starting up on regular base, but I would rather go to one that is established. Ask the current renters how long they have been at the estate and how they like the management.

Never pay upfront money. Not entirely true, some established estates can ask upfront money, but exactly those estates are the one that are not likely to disappear. But beware of people that buy an island, sell the parcels to clueless renters, and boot the renters soon afterward.

Never pay too long ahead. On the estate I rent on, payments are monthly, something I prefer over weekly. Months have more days then 4 week periods But do not pay for several months ahead, you never know what happens.

And finally: DO read the convenant. The furry bdsm club you had in mind might very well be prohibited on the estate you just payed rent to.

My husband and I are giving up our openspaces. He and I also own small mainland lots. He was more upset with this OS situation than I was. Because firstly, he just purchased his OS. Secondly, he just sold off most of his prime mainland land. Those LL's changes was a double slap in the face for him.

However, our estate owner has worked diligently to accommodate us and we will soon be moving to a our own sim. We are very pleased because we will have 15,000 prims and allows us to consolidate.

As far as mainland, there are some lovely areas as well as horrible areas. I would consider purchasing so more if the jump in tier would not be so hefty. Also, after reading some of the suggestions in the "how can we make premium membership better" thread, I'm inclinded to wait and see how that comes out before making any additional mainland purchases.

I will miss the privacy my OS afforded me. But I have lived without that level of privacy before and will do so again. He and I will just have to "chat" more in private IMs, that's all and for more private moments activities, just take it up to the sky and that really isn't half bad either.

If LL makes homesteads directly available premium subscribers, I seriously doubt I would purchase one because the same avie and script limitations they are imposing now would likely still be the same regardless where you purchase it from. Where's the appeal and sense in that?