Two Queries: Themed Sims and Dance Clubs

#1 Themed Sims.

I have noticed when looking ffor land to rent or own as a third party (no premium), that so mnay sims are cut into 2000sqm and 4000 sqm with no intent on making anythign really look nice.

The sims are literally just slabs of land re named "Island" with no theme, and often no rules enforcing a theme. I just wonder sometimes who would want to rent somethgin like that, when I look for a home I look for a community, which I have found for my business, quite easily on a new set of sims owned by New Found Land Estates, a group of various sims, when grouped together for the most part, despite the varying classes (A/M/P) match one another, have foot paths and the like, with varying sizes in plots that are put in such a way that you want your door facing the side walk, because it just works really, makes it feel more welcoming and really makes the sim feel like part of a city or town.

But they are one of the FEW places that do this, I've spent weeks finding somewhere to call "home" (in other words where I can bring strange dark men and get nekkid in private ((or RP)).

I have fund it incredibly hard but have managed to fin a Mature set fo sims owned by Castle Eternity, now not all of these sims are together, given residential and role play sims are separate, but whichever cluster of sims you are on, they feel like a community, whether you participate in the Role Play or not, and a good indication of this si that I am currently renting, simply because all the buyable land is gone.

I read in an earlier post about Azure Islands docking off some sims, now I have looked at Azure Islands, but I find they are over expensive and all you get is a few extra prims, the islands are plain and ugly with no community or theme to them. And IMHO, throwing some sand and palm trees around, does not constitute a theme. At all.

So what are your thoughts on this? Do you have somewhere that you feel is amazingly themed and you feel is a community, post a slure for us to visit.

#2 Dance Club

Now, I have owned many a club during my day all where yes, the strippers have gotten naked, but the general premise was that it was also a dance club, that the dancers were there for fun and tips.

I've recently opened an art gallery and have been pondering whether to turn it into a venure, as all the exhibits are usable and interactable and easily accesable with various themes for those who may just want to party, those who want sex and those who want to get cozy with a partner.

Now of course, this would be good for business as a gallery (in theory) but would people enjoy it?
Would you like a club that was, in essance an art gallery?
That had decorative dancer?
Would you tip the decorative dancers?
Would you bring your friends to use ti as a general hang out?
Would you tip that sort of club?
Would you bring your own partners and use the sexual ares for your own private use? and would you pay to use those areas for your own private use?

So yes, I have a lot of questions, andf hopefully you cna give me a lot fo answers!

xxAggy

Themed sims (I'm not in-world so I'm not very well equipped to provide slurls at the moment):

Victorian or steampunk themed:
Caledon
Steelhead City

Environmentally-friendly/"green" themed (truly green, not the "green living for the future" theme of Zindra, by the way):
Etopia



Regarding your queries about clubs:
You lost me when you started asking about tipping the club and tipping the decorative dancers, etc. Clubs are money pits, don't even expect people to tip well. It's a very rare thing, and a lot of people never tip at all. Good luck getting people to pay to have private areas for sex too, there are 100% free sex clubs for that, and if you need to have better privacy than they offer, that's why you get your own land.

I think you'd have a lot of trouble and headaches making your ideas regarding clubs pay for themselves, in my opinion.

Desperation Isle is where I call home. BDSM themed and a good community. It is not realy a theme place as most would call it since the individual tenent builds as they see fit.

Fatima's is one of those themed places with amazing landscaping, topography, and a rich Victorian village style. I do not know about community because I have never lived there. I have just gone there on dates for the view and the romantic atmosphere.



Probably.
Sure.
Not a draw for me.
No
I can not answer this as I have not experienced the place but being an art gallery would mean I would be more likely to use as a hangout and a club would be less likely but with dancers woul make it almost certianly a no.
Yes. I try to always tip venues.
Maybe.
Not very likely. They would have to be something much more than your typical sex places with cheap animations. It would also need to be something more than I have in my personal toybox at home.

I occasionally go to a venue that is part art gallery (original hand painted art) and part live music venue. I think it works well and I like the combination.



Probably not, depends on what you mean by "decorative dancers". Strippers? No. I'd be there for the music and art, not to pay someone to flirt with me with my partner next to me. Now, if the dancers were actively doing something and they were somehow part of the art exhibit (i.e. living art) then I might be inclined.



No.



If I enjoy it, yes. I support places I enjoy because I know tier is expensive.



Probably not. It's likely I have better stuff at home and I am free to adjust it there. Public sex equipment is usually locked down and misaligned. Plus, rezzing is usually disabled. Plus... noobs.

There are five levels of "theme-ness" in SL.

1. Mainland. Mainland is completely unthemed and unregulated, except for the broad guidelines of the maturity ratings. While you may find themed builds there (I had one, a Greek seaside village), there is no telling what will be on the plot next door. To some, this is anarchy run amok. Others like the capricious flavor.

2. Waffle-grid estates. Many estate islands are simply carved up into flat rectangular parcels. Aside from the covenant, residents are free to build what they want there. This tends to look bad at first, like the intial stages of a housing development right after the bulldozers have left. Over time, though, it can become quite interesting and attractive, as residents build there within the guidelines of the covenant. Note to estate owners: be sure to allow your residents reasonable terraforming rights, so they can modify the "waffle grid" appearance of the raw land.

3. Lightly themed estates. These estates provide some basic infrastructure (terraforming, roads) and a general theme in the covenant, such as "medieval". Residents who favor builds within the general theme can be very happy here. The resident who decides to put up a hovering starship will likely not be.

4. Medium themed estates. I class Caledon and similar places as this type. Caledon has a theme (Victorian steampunk) and a lot of planning and backstory has gone into its development. I think that this type of themed estate develops the greatest sense of community and shared purpose for the widest range of people. Still, it's not for everyone. I love to visit Caledon, and interact with its residents, but I'll always be a tourist there.

5. Roleplay sims. These sims are not necessarily even places of residence. They are places for shared storytelling and character development. Some of the builds in these sims are utterly stunning, whether they are the work of an inspired individual or a team of dedicated roleplayers. Unless you are prepared to "live" your role, these areas are not for you. For those that love this sort of thing, they are ideal.

Speaking of "interactive art"...I ran across a bizarre place yesterday, a skybox with a lot of lifesize marble sculpty statues.

Each piece was two or more people in various poses. In addition to the statues, there were poseballs nearby, each labeled "connect".

You could get a free "statue-like" shape and skin, sit on a poseball, and become part of the exhibit.

I just recently moved to Lionheart Estates, and I feel it is worth a mention here. It is a lightly-themed estate that does impose some standards on what is built there (they're quite moderate, though). Looking around, it is apparent that a lot of effort went into designing the place, as there are roads, foot-paths, lakes, and rivers running throughout, and there are commercial districts nestled in among the residential neighborhoods. The place is well worth a look.

I believe it's better to focus on doing one thing well, than attempted to do many things and not making anything the best it can be.

Having a mixed strip club / dance club isn't fair to your strippers. The club should be designed to funnel attention to the strippers. If people walk in and see a dance floor when they walk in, that is where they will go instead of watching the strippers.

I still have dance balls in my strip club, because some people want to be dancing rather than sitting or standing around. But there is no obvious dance floor, and I tried to make the design of the club such that, when one teleports in, one is right in the midst of strippers.

Same thing with a sex area. Or a game area. They divert attention from your live staff, the strippers.

If you have strippers, don't do things with the club that draw attention away from them. It's not just a matter of whether or not they get tips. They also get bored when no one is paying attention to them, and then it's going to be harder for them to snap back to interactive mode when someone else arrives. They devote a lot of energy and creativity for your success, so set them up for success.

I don't necessarily see why "decorative dancers" would be getting tips. It's a trick that some real life DJs and party-planners use- hiring a few people whose sole purpose is to mingle and dance with guests, when expecting a group of shy guests, or guests who known and would be bored by all the other guests (co-workers come to mind), or when a party threatens to have too many heterosexual members of the same sex. But the illusion is supposed to be that they are just party-goers having fun, not people who are paid to be forced to socialize with you. But one wouldn't tip them in real life, and I'm not sure what the motivation would be to tip them in Second Life.

I believe that whatever you do, it's important to stay focused, organized, and not cut corners.

That includes using two separate threads for two separate questions. Seriously, there's a lesson here that can be applied to your own business.

1) Theme is usually a good thing if you like uniform looks or like to RP, but "community" and "home with privacy" are not always good bedfellows if the place has a RP-like environment. Don't aim too high for the environment or you might end up shooting yourself in the foot as far as the home being able to function like a home. Far too often people use the community and theme parts as an excuse to butt into your business, or try telling others what they can and cannot do. Been there, done that, mainland for me thanks.

2) I personally don't see any kind of attraction in the idea of frequenting a linked art gallery and dance club that might have stripping. I've always associated galleries with the older intellectual crowd.. ones that seem to be more apt to standing around in their eclectic clothes, stroking their goatees, and discussing diverse artistic impressions/expressions and the like. Not the type I would expect to see being comfortable around strippers, open sex, party atmosphere, and blatant cheesy erotisism. At least not all rolled into one venue.
I DO however like the idea of strippers/nude dancers mixed with a regular dance club though. A place where the nudity is there to be seen, appreciated, tipped if enjoyed, but NOT center-staged and spotlighted like a bad Vegas show or a cheap teaser for escort services. I would work for a place like that..

Heya! havent read lal your replies yet, but I used the term "decorative dancers' so not to get confused with strippers

a decorative dancer would be one who was dressed to fit in with the exhibition and in essence would BE A PART of the exhibit. And nooo, they would not remove their clothing.

As for a club paying for itself ... It has worked for me before, but completly unb intentionally. I don't aim for a huge money making shceme for the club to simply run itself, I aim for fun. Pure and simple..

As forthe sex, all my stuff is top end, nothign I have is free or taky or jerkily animated.
I'm an artist and designer in RL so I can't be bothered with half arsed s * * t =D

*edit* and Kid, if typing '1' and '2' is too hard for you ... Maybe you need to find an EASIER thread to follow

In regards to this particular post, My building was ste in a way that you had the choice to go where you please, I get the feeling you may think I had some cheap square building like os many other places and lopped everythign in. Far form it.

It was a proper designed building with a VIP area upstairs with carious casual activities for their pleasure, donwstairs in the main area was the dance area, where the dance floor was with the dancers in various locations around the dance floor, so when you walked outside around the dance area if you saw a dancer you fancied, off you went and sat down.

But yes, as i said above, this new place is just a club, with decorative dancer, in otherwords, girls who wear the shape hair eyes clothing I tell them to in order to fit into the exhibitions.

I think it'd make it easier if you were to visit the place instead of jumping to random conclusions.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberty%20Central%20SE/31/45/25

It's set out much like an art gallery, seeing as that's what it is, but everythign is very much useable, and yes while one exhibit would have strippers, that's because that's what it's for.

The club area would ahve the deco dancer and well the forets doesn't need dancer except for yourselves. The gallery would work on a schedule based on the demand or s imple rotation fo which exhibit was featuring that evening.