A Tale of Lotteries and Resource Allocation
It’s true. The Sandbox has moved south and assumed a new name: Cordova. And Olive is itself taking on a new identity – as the long-awaited addition of a new Mature region. While Olive will no longer serve as a Sandbox, the spirit of experimentation that came to characterize the area will live on – the way the new land is to be distributed and the manner in which Olive’s resources are allocated will be unlike any land release Second Life has yet experienced.
Second Life Residents are occasionally frustrated when object limits in particular regions prevent them from building, especially when they feel that another Resident is using more than a fair share of the available resources. As every region is limited to 10,000 objects and made up of 4096 4 x 4 meters squares, a landowner might legitimately feel entitled to about 2.4 objects for every 4 x 4 square they own. The math is pretty simple, and landownership in the new Olive will come with this condition: The number objects allocated to each landowner will be directly proportional to the size of the owned plot. To put it in plain language, if you own 1/16 of the region your guaranteed portion of Olive’s resources will total 625 objects.
The second new development in the transformation of Olive from Sandbox to Mature Region is the way in which the new, resource-allocated plots will be distributed. M-Rated land is at a premium in Second Life, and controlled resource allocation makes these plots even more valuable, so Governor Linden has ordered special provisions to ensure that all Residents have an equal chance to own a piece of the new region: we’re going to hold a lottery.
Olive will be divided into 15 plots varying in size from ¼ to 1/32 of the region. Any Resident hoping to get in on the ground floor of this new real estate opportunity will enter their name into the lottery, and those whose names come up will have first crack at choosing a new Olive homestead.
The deadline for entry --by reply to this thread or via IM to Realestate Linden -- is 11 AM Thursday, November 20. (All times are PST.) Names will be drawn immediately thereafter, and the list of winners in order of their selection and a waiting list will be published in the Forums. At 3 PM on Thursday, the first name gets first choice of one plot. The Resident must be present to purchase it on the spot or pass on the chance to own a slice of Olive. Anyone not available when their name is called will go to the back of the line and will have until 3 PM on Friday to IM Realestate Linden to arrange a time to choose and buy a plot or lose the opportunity. Realestate Linden will be available sporadically from 9 to 3 on Friday. If plots remain unclaimed by 3 PM on Friday, people on the waiting list who show up will be allowed to purchase a plot.
P.S. We know that adding this one region does not satisfy all the demand for land and we do plan to add more in the future.