Bulk Land Auctions: Phase II

I agree with most of what you say, but for heavens sake this is different from selling candy bars.

Obviously, as we scale up the enterprise, this is the model we want.

I am not sure if the short period for terraforming has been set to "reward" a certain type of developer. There are a lot more possible reasons for that - less time until first tier payments for that land, for example.

Furthermore I am not sure, too, if this really favours those who have a well articulated plan. Because, what is possible and no big challenge - even in such a short period - is to cut the land into a patchwork of small islands like those that can be seen on some land barons private sime. They would sell well. I hope this is not the intention of Linden Lab. That's why I suggested a longer development period - maybe with a reduced tier payment before the land is up for sale/open to the public.

Yes, it is rather obvious that Linden Lab wants to retract from the business of developing land. Planning and terraforming is time intensive and not the core competency of Linden Lab. I bet, that they would like to see more competition in this market instead of just giving it all to Anshe (or did you mean Voldemort?). Otherwise they would not reduce the "package size" in the wholesale market.
Frank, when you do an "auction", would you really call it a "success", if there is just one bidder who wins the item at the starting price (not at any "reserve"?

Maybe our Government overestimated the market/financial strength of most Land Barons a little. They will adjust this part of their business model. I hope they will adjust more than just the package size.

All in all it is a step in the right direction as it gives Linden Lab a chance to focus on the further development, maintenance and marketing (?) of the platform.

I would like to renew my offer to purchase naming rights for a sim.
Name a sim "Eggy", win L$10,000 !

Ca. 40 sims hit the auction block end of November/Beginning of December. I don't remember the exakt date. Not all were immediately bid for but you can say they "hit the market". More than 80 sims were sold in November. Not counting in First Land.

The market for fresh land is not so small any more.

When LL would sell all 70 wholesale sims that would be less than a months supply. And there haven't been any new sims that LL has put on the auction block since before christmas. (My group has to tier down already.) So, the volume is not a problem. At least it is not a new problem.

Pham, if my goal is to quickly and efficiently feed an expanding demand for land, yes, it was a success. That is the point of a "reserve" or the undisclosed minimum price; it is the amount that the seller decides is enough for the auction to be a success. If the item actually sold at starting price, the starting price was apparently at or above the reserve.

We see soooo many people with grandiose visions, but without the money necessary to actually implement them. LL is getting large quantities of land into the hands of them who can implement their own vision. That grows SL, adding more consumers for merchants and interactors for socializing. Those grumbling about the aesthetics of the implementation should remember that LL is running SL not as art, but as a business.

*smiles*

Frank, if I were one of those horrible people who like to have the last say in any discussion (me? never!) I would try to discuss the meaning of the word "reserve" in the context of auctions with you. But as I am not - and any argument that focuses on the meaning of words is most often a sad one - lets look at the other aspect of what already happened:

It is not a sign of a satisfied Linden Lab, IMHO, if the company reduces the package size drastically and does that in an ... errr ... a little hectic manner.

One of the stated intents of LL with this experiment was "Selling land in large blocks also allows for the creation of large regions with more interesting ..." terraforming. Please have a look at the positions of the sims in the 5-sim packages that were announced to go on auction yesterday (but didn't) you will see that these blocks are in a straight row! Two are not even contiguous!

This is hardly a try at "more interesting" - and could be easily avoided.

On the other hand: I am not against this experiment. And I am not talking about "aesthetics". I am a business man - by heart and by profession. Aesthetics are interesting when they influence the bottom line. Sometimes they do!

I applaud the decision to give residents a larger role in the creation and distribution of land. I am only asking if this could not be done in a more efficient and profitable (for LL, for Land Developers and residents) way.

Im not sure if this will happen anymore, someone has started the auction on the sims nts 1-40 which was mentioned in robins post