Understanding groups 101

Hi

Another newbie question.

I'm enjoying discovering lots of new things here in SL and much was self evident right from the start and others took some working out but I'm getting there however a key thing I just can't figure out is what's the deal with groups and property?

I just can'ty get my head around it

Can groups own land? If so can they build on it? And if they can as I have read be given land do they have to pay monthly tier fees etc? And who actually owns the land and assets they were given is it the group owners or collectively amongst the group members?

In short is there a resource section that I can go to to read up on how groups in SL are dealt with?

LO ^|^

http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=128

Just type the word group into the search engine at the Knowledge Base and you will find all the information you could read.

Easy answer is:

http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/category.php?id=18

I'll let you browse that stuff, it's good info for the most part.

To give a couple basic answers,

Groups can own land. Once a group is formed, land is either donated (deeded) to the group, or bought on behalf of the group at the point of sale. Groups don't pay tier fees - The members of the groups do, individually. What enables groups to own the land is the ability for a resident to donate a portion of their own tier to the group. Who owns the land? The group does. You'll want to read up on members and roles, as that will shed some light on how building on group land works, and how other important safeguards are put into place when setting up the group.

One very important thing - this is crucial - make sure your group has at least 2 members in it at all times, BEFORE deeding any land to it. If you set up a group that only has 1 member, it will be disbanded 48 hours from the time of creation, and any land it owns will be reclaimed by Linden Lab. This is a fixable situation, but it's time consuming and frustrating. 2 member minimum requirement for groups, at all times.

Things I have recently learned about groups:

Make sure to donate tier along with the land so the land is covered.

Make sure that all the objects on the land are set to the group before enabling autoreturn.

Make sure that any group member is wearing their group tag when they build anything.

And if you belong to a group, make sure that you don't have accounting liabilities enabled.

I found groups hard to get my head around too and I'm still learning. I don't find the FAQ or Knowledge Base that well written IMHO.

Thank you Dnali

I agree with you about the FAQs

I have read through all the available FAQs and I have to confess to still being somewhat bewildered as they come across as being written by someone who knows what they are doing and who is taking it for granted that everyone else does too.

A common problem with the techies (bless 'em)

The examples they give suck and even now after reading through their Bob and Alice give Pretzels world a gift example, I still have no idea if they are actually giving the group land or the the gift of being able to use land. Or how to go about getting and using said group land and how it's paid for and maintained.

Who get's billed? Does anyone get billed and what's the clear benefits?

I'm wondering if anyone knows of an external resource that explains these things a little more clearly then the Standard FAQs which in anycase are ordered randomly rather than step by step

LO ^|^

My understanding with group land is that the original owner of the land gets billed. When you sell the land, the group members get a percentage of the sales if you have allowed them to do this. There is a place in the Group functions where you can allow Officers and/or Group members to take a percentage of land sales.

There are two main advantages to group ownership of land: 1) you can own 10% more land with a group than by yourself and 2) if you are in business with others or friends, etc., they can share in the revenue from a land sale.

When you deed your land to a group, you are giving your land to that group, at least temporarily. The group members are also able to use your land and do functions on it such as change the radio stream or do terraforming, etc. Of course, you better trust your group members because some of them (usually Officers or Co-Owners of the group) can sell your land out from underneath you.