We've enjoyed many of the modifications and updates you have been working hard at placing into Second Life and are very much looking forward to 1.9. The improved Estate Tools have been long anticipated and greatly appreciated.
Of course, what we're really waiting for is increased group numbers and communications. That will make our sun shine.
I did wish to take a moment if I may, to bring to your attention the issue of land editing. As has been often stated, land tools seems to perform roughly. $20 game programs (such as Zoo Tycoon) seem to have more accurate land editing tools than SL. It seems the primary problems come in accuracy of land rendering.
* EDGE BUCKLING. For example, when one digs a hole over 10m deep, it causes the land around the edge of the hole to "buckle" rather than remain flat. The deeper the hole, the more severe the buckling, even resulting sometimes in huge "spikes" around the corners of the hole. (Same applies when one raises land with a hole in the middle of the land; the edges of the hole, especially at the corners, buckle).
* RIPPLED FLOORS. A hole that is dug deep never has a "flat" floor; instead the floor is "ripply" and "spikey" and no amount of flattening or smoothing will resolve the issue.
* SLANTED-SIDE HOLES. When one digs a hole, the hole doesn't go straight down; it slants. There is no way to overcome this slant. When I dig a hole 1024m in size... I'd prefer for the bottom of the hole to be 1024m in size. I can't really see a reason for the sides of the hole to slant in such a manner. If the user wants slanted sides, they can do a slight "smooth" between the top and bottom of the hole and that should result in a decent slant. But in truth, I doubt that many people want the sides of a hole to slant when they dig it; they likely want it to go straight up and down. The same applies when one raises land; likely they want it to raise straight up, not slant.
* 16m SELECTION LIMITS: When one selects land, there is a mandatory minimal size of 16m. It would be nice to have a user-selectable size, starting at 1m. This would make select-editing much more versatile (for example, it would allow one to design odd shapes such as diamonds or circles). A 1-m selection option would greatly increase the ability to design land by mass-selection.
In summary, no matter how much one raises or lowers land, folks generally want it to go straight up and straight down (or you could place this as an option: straight or slanted sides?), with no "rippling" or "buckling" effect on the surrounding lands (all surfaces should remain flat). It would be nice if we could select smaller chunks of land than 16m sq.
Thanks for listening. Keep up the good work!