Open Question: What's your fantasy theme sim?

If you had the opportunity to choose
to reside in a private "gated" sim
with land use controls and behavior standards
consistent with a particular "theme" or lifestyle,
and could be sure that it would not "go to seed" due to ownership changes,
what theme or lifestyle would that be?

Just as example (not a menu) of what I mean by "theme":

1. A PG-themed elven fantasy world?
   
2. An M-rated Hollywood suburbia?
   
3. An M-rated post-industrial world of abandoned factories and tenements?
   
4. Your idea here.
   

Frank

It'd be a huuuuge tree in the center of the sim with a pathway all the way up and lil living pods in the branches, all rather well spaced and beyond camscan range, so it'd be kinda like an interconnected network of skyboxes, and you'd be able to indicate your current privacy settings by subtle things like being able to put thorns up the branch paths to your abode.

Tell ya what, gimme a sim. It's easier if I just show you

I'll take the M-rated post-industrial / cyberpunk / sci-fi sim Alternatively, there's a few time periods I'd love to see resurected in a themed sim, but only with a building comittee supervising that all builds are historically accurate - for example, a medieval fortified town like Aigues-Mortes, or Paris at the turn of the 20th century.

Oh, and while that's not really a lifestyle concern - either some public land infrastructure so I can fly in that sim from A to B without bouncing between ban lines and security orbs; or a flat-out ban on the usage of such devices, maybe with the island not being open to the general public so the residents don't have to fear the invasion of the commons

I'm with you on that one Jackal - doing my best to bring a little feel of this to the club I'm building over in Butler

I'd love to see Dune themed sims (anyone who saw my avatar knows why), with sandworms and all. Noobs could even harvest spice for a bit of money

Still suits : L$1800
Thumpers : L$150 each
Water of Life : only available in damage-enabled sims

I'd sign up for the Dune themed sim in a second...

I would kill or die for a reasonably accurate representation of Snow Crash's geography - including the street. "Login terminals" in the sprawl could actually be sit teleporters to the street.

60 people and no lag

Done the 'Big Tree' thing already in The Forest and Elf Haven. (Ok, not quite as dramatic as Kris or Frank's suggestions.. I had to work within narrow constraints). Things I'd like to build:

1) A cross between the orbiting station from 2001, DS9 & the B5 station... (definitely M)
2) A Futurama-style sim (M-rating)
2) A Martian sim
3) Titan (or one of the other Jovian moons)
4) Extraterrestrial sims complete with city, landscape and alien pr0n
5) A Transmetropolitan-style sim.

The suicide booths in the 'Futurama'-style sim would allow disenchanted users to cancel their SL accounts in the manner of their choosing.

---> Foolish Frost's tree in Techra probabaly comes closest to Kris and Frank's ideas.

My other project would be SL Hell:

A flat sim full of camping chairs, slot machines, slingo, tringo, hold 'em tables, etc, etc. The sound stream would alternate between rat-pack sleaze and coutry'n'western cheeze. Not forgetting a bazillion dancing tables, poles, cages and a generous supply of fuckballs littered around the telehub. And a wall-to-wall mall selling badly fitting lingerie, skins and shoes.

No thousands of vampires and goths... x.x

PG themed fantasy old world style.

PG themed Stargate world theme, perhaps Abydos (the planet from the movie).

PG themed Dinotopia (I ran a MUCK based on this, it was great. The BOOKS not the BS miniseries)

The main thing is that there would not be one single building in the whole sim that is shaped like a box.

Most of these aren't currently technically feasible, but ...

- Eden (as in "Garden of ...": no builds, no clothing, no pretentions. Lots of beautiful plants and animals (yes, dammit, animals that move realistically and have simple AI).
- Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Underwater dome cities with air in them dammit!
- Luna (and I want to see Earth in the sky, dammit!
- Mars (and I don't want to see Luna in the sky, dammit!)
- West World (like the bad 70s movie) - this one could be done, dammit! Oh, no dammit needed.
- An aircraft carrier - this one could be done, too. And actually, I would find this boring. Never mind.
- Planet of the Apes - OK, I'm losing it. I'm gonna quit now.

This is what much of the population just heard -- Once you mentioned money chairs, it ceased to be hell for 79% of SL's zombie population and nothing else mattered.

Mongolian grassland, arguably the last open commons left in the world. Nobody owns land title, nor are there any fences. Rolling hills, herders living in yurts and the occasional buddhist monestary. Live like a cowboy in the land of Ghenghis Khan. Open to everyone!

A land where professional 3D content works.

Then some of the stuff listed above.

Too close to the truth?

Depressingly... it would be packed

This would beautiful to see. I'd like to see wide open grasslands. "Live like a cowboy in the land of Ghenghis Khan" clinches it for me!

Again, I ask why we have so many water voids, and not more forestal/plains/desert/tundra/etc. I know some of the technical reasons (thanx Rick) but it doesn't come from the heart.

I would like to see more primeval forests, rolling hills (not abrupt bumps too steep to build on), And some grass that looks like grass. Or perhaps linked Myst-like worlds.

However, no matter how beautiful the sim, it would be empty unless something were actually GOING ON there.

So what I would really like to see is a simple cafe where you could always count on running into a friend. I'd build one, but it would be empty, alas.

As would I, which is why I bought a private island (dubbed Stephenson) to create it. A scaled-down version of The Street exists, and The Black Sun is under construction. I'm not a very proficient builder, so I'm enlisting help from anyone who might be interested in making Neal's vision a reality.

At the risk of making this sound like an ad, I'll mention that there's plenty of land available for rent. In fact, only one 8192 sq m parcel is occupied so far. IM me in-game for details or take a notecard from the InfoCube at the telehub.

Da5id Neurocam
Black Sun Systems

I'd like to see Bayou Land, with swamps, houseboats, alligators, Spanish moss, Cajun music, and a place to throw yer boiled crawdad shells on the floor, not to mention a pirate or two and a treasure cave and a voodoo mama livin' near a cemetery.

I was struck by the diversity of ideas ... and also how most (but not all) described a visual theme, rather than a social theme.

I've seen many beautiful builds in SL, some entire islands with creative visual themes, but many of them are almost completely unpopulated, unless they have a dance club, tringo parlor or camping chairs.

The exceptions seem to be those private islands that cater to folks with a particular lifestyle that tends to be out of the mainstream. Those seem to combine a unified visual theme and an active resident population that are conversing and socializing without a club, tringo or chairs.

Is that just my imagination, or have others noticed it too?

Just like real life.

The beautiful wilderness areas are practically empty, yet the shopping malls and casinos are packed.

I guess it is to do with content, or role playing.

You want to play a particular role in your second life, be it Vampire or Evil Bunny Rabbit, then you find one of those islands.

But if you arent doing that you are usually looking for content. For some it is gambling, others get a kick out of shopping.

Some of us explore the beautiful landscape and wonder where all the people are. Or make it.

Edit-

Oh my suggestion would be a sim devoted to Neil Gaimans The Dreaming. From a DC Graphic Novel. It is the land all things go to when they dream.

It would be an Empire.

Part of my 'history' developed in other Table top RPG's and MMOs is that of the great would-be conqueror...the villain that constantly tries to overthrow the status quo and reshape the world in my image. Happily, the heroes always manage to stop me.

But in Second Life, I would succeed.

My Empire would be a vast stretch of broken metal buildings gleaming in the fetid light of a sun made red by industrial pollutants. The streets are broken and buildings sagging on their foundations with garish neon lights spilling sickly light into otherwise inky alleyways where covert deals for every crime imaginable take place. And on every street corner the heavily armed and armored Imperial Militia to keep the peace...or destroy it as they wish.

And towering high on a volcanic plateau would be the Palace of the Empress, it's stark obsidian walls festooned with gargoyles and gothic latticework.

The sim, if realized, wouldn't be pretty to look at but it would offer a few features to interest people:

M rated, naturally ( violence and sexual situations)

Weekly Events: Players would be invited to participate in weekly events whether it be working for the Empire or against it. Imperial Militia may be called to put down an insurrection, or perhaps players would be invited to participate in a plot to overthrow the Empress and restore decency to the Lapine Empire. Though these events would be aimed primarily to die hard RPers, everyone could participate with great prizes awarded to the victorious players.

Vendor Spacing and land rentals of course.