Second Life v1.5 focuses largely on extending and enhancing existing features, but there are several significant features that will change the way you experience Second Life.
First Land: Homes for New Residents
First Land is an in-world system that replaces the current Land for the Landless program. Gone are the days of signing up for subsidized land via the Second Life Forums - Residents can now browse and buy specially discounted land in the Find tool. First Land ensures that Residents who have never owned land can find an affordable home by offering moderately sized parcels of 512 square meters for the bargain price of L$1 per meter. Select the Land Sales tab of the Find tool in-world and pull down the First Land choice. Hit Search and you’re on your way -- you can even teleport directly to a parcel and buy it on the spot.
Take Control of Your Social Calendar
Second Life’s daily activity schedule has grown to the point that it’s hard to keep track of everything that is going on each day. To help you take control of your social calendar, you can now search Events by category, name, or description and tell Second Life to remind you about the Events of your choice -- you'll get a notice five minutes before the start time. And yes, this is the end of Liaison Event announcements.
Live Help: Now it's Easy to Connect with an Expert
Shortly after v1.5 arrives, Second Life will introduce Live Help -- a new way for knowledgeable veterans to share their expertise with the Community. Residents seeking assistance can ask a question by selecting Live Help from the Help menu and have their inquiries instantly transmitted to the Live Help volunteers currently in-world. The Helper who first responds can click on a landmark to teleport directly to the caller. Members of the group get no special powers beyond their own unending knowledge of Second Life. Helpers will be rotated in and out of the Live Help group. In order to qualify as a Live Helper, you must be at least 90-days old with a clean Linden Rapsheet (no offenses in the last six months). Current Mentors are especially encouraged to apply. If you are qualified and would like to be considered, please sign up at http://secondlife.com/livehelp.
Developer Incentives Add Group Dwell
Linden Dollar Dwell rewards earned on Group-owned land have traditionally been distributed to all group members equally -- but the dwell itself hasn’t counted toward the monthly Developer Incentives cash awards. With v1.5, group members who contribute land allocations will get credit towards the US Dollar Developer Incentive awards for Dwell - in proportion to the amount of land allocation they’ve contributed. Linden Dollar Dwell awards will continue to be distributed to all members equally.
Private Islands Enhancements
Private Island owners will now be able to transfer ownership of the whole Island to another Resident for $100 fee. This payment is for the backend work by Linden Lab including changing settings, billing transfer, and returning the island to original terraform (if desired). This does not allow an owner to sell individual parcels, but does include the option to change the Island’s name. Any transfer of funds, whether in L$ or US$, between the original owner and the new owner to cover the initial cost outlay by the original owner is between them. We aren't in a position to provide billing support, or to enforce agreements/payment.
Private Island owners will also be able to adjust several region controls on their island – including terraform limits, maximum number of simultaneous Resident, water height, ground textures, texture ranges, and the position and phase of the Sun.
Private Island owners can also set visibility and access rules. By setting a Private Island as not visible from the mainland, only Residents and Groups on the Allow Lists will be able to see the Island – and this visibility extends to finding parcels, Events, and online Residents. Up to 50 residents can be placed on the Allow and Ban Lists, and up to 50 groups can be added in the Allowed Groups List.
Scripts, Bugs, and New Prims
There are more enhancements than will fit in this space -- for a full list of script changes and bug fixes link to here.