New Land Changes in SL: Town Hall

That did make me laugh

Siggy

I sense a personal revelation.

The big guys were *not* getting all the auctions. I bought sections up to 1/4 sim, and then resold them for a small profit. These profits helped support my events.

Still, I can see the Lindens need to spend time on other priorities.

My first land was no prize. It was PG and on a slope. It did help me with my building skills. Which was the only point of having the land in the first place. I didnt have sex stuff or nude photos so the PG rating didn't bother me. If you want to be picky, quit complaining already.




Ohh nice move bying your first land from under another player and in mature! You are on your way to being a Baron Cocoa! Watch out SL

I think a lot of the reaction is hyperbolic. Very few people who were not land barons ever bought land on the auctions. Of the non-barons buying land on the auction, I'll bet most were buying it to resell it for a profit. The only thing that separates them from the land barons is quantity. You can count the number of people who ever bought land on the auction for their own use on your fingers and toes. So a dozen people will be affected. Maybe two dozen. Ooooh the sky is falling.

I agree that this amounts to a rise in cost (i.e., "price hike", because although the minimum price is now the old average price, that fails to account for the fact that some land is more desirable than other land, hence more valuable. So when you set the average as the minimum, the desirable land will command a premium that will not be offset by undesirable land at a discount. The new average will be higher. I predict some sims will go for substantially more than they would have before, and you won't be able to get crappy land cheap on the auction any more.

I take it you think some additional types of owners can't exist anymore? By what logic? What types of owners can't survive and why?

Buster

Calm down. You misunderstood the meaning and intent of my post. Try again, if you like.

Woah! That first land I got says "terraforming not allowed in this area." It is on the new continent.

This is pretty dire, as I put a fence around it, and if I could just mold the land a couple of meters in a few places, the fence wouldn't be sitting on the ground in places, then spanning holes in others. Lotsa holes and mounds on otherwise fairly flattish land.

Anybody ever heard of land that can't be terraformable before? Or is it maybe some kind of glitch?

coco

P.S. But Buster, I get the impression that this will hurt mainland land prices, and all the small landowners there. And will only help those who can invest in huge amounts of (generally non-mainland) land.

P.S. Eboni, she already had the first land next door to me. She was just thinking about how to maybe get the land I bought, too. Anyway, we are friends now, and each said we would sell out to the other if we move.

And the reason I wanted mature was not to put up anything naughty, but because the land is worth more. Anyway, it's a lovely area - except for, why so strict about terraforming? That's a nightmare.

Edited to add: The terraformable thing was a glitch. Another neighbor called Live Help this morning and a Linden came out and fixed it for both of us. Now I can mess with the land! (I hate doing that, I don't think I really know all the tricks to it, but at least I can do it now.)

I think it won't really hurt small landowners because anyone buying small bought from a landbaron or from someone who bought from a landbaron. Even when there were small parcels available on auction, they still went to the landbaron. I used to try to buy a 8k or smaller parcel when it was up for bid but I always got outbid. I don't think most endusers ever got a chance in the auctions, but I could be wrong.

I think that's quite an overstatement Seth. The one thing people seem to not be taking into account as they react to this news is that it only relates to new land. I've never once been the first owner of a piece of land.

There was another message that Moopf and I and I'm sure absolutely every other land reseller in SL caught which was the real message.

/120/86/52031/1.html

The rest of it is all irrelevant noise.

Earlier I said to Buster: Calm down. You misunderstood the meaning and intent of my post. Try again, if you like.

Think about the cumulative effects of such a process on the diversity of owners over time. Unless there's some counterbalancing factor or policy. I believe Philip Linden stated that LL would modify things if necessary; my point is they'll probably have to, if they wish to serve a broad base of users with diverse interests and financial abilities.

I don't think that's an overstatement.

As for me, I've always been the first owner of a piece of land. And I've always bought at auction. And I'm not a land baron, nor particularly Linden-wealthy, and I do not as a rule buy Lindens with USD.

On edit: I was less clear about this - These sorts of policies give lie to LL's marketing SL as a fantasy - a place where people can have a life they want. A broad base of users with diverse interests and financial abilities do not all necessarily want to live in a competitive free market paradise defined by consumerism. Many do; many don't. Such policies whittle away at the potential user base: the more LL defines the character of SL, the more people may find that it does not meet their desires or expectations.

Do I expect the sky to fall? It never happens that way. What I fear is a cumulative process of small decisions and changes.

I think your premise will be true in relation to new sims, but I don't see how it's supportable for land changing hands after that. It seems reactionary to me. Sorry.