Unpleasant Local Environment

Hi. I just bought some First Land. It had been unavailable for a couple of days, so when some appeared I bought it immediately without checking it out thoroughly.

The biggest problem with this location (Agamok) is that it is always foggy, and there is a turing light somewhere that makes shadow/light lines pass over everything all the time. Even at midnight, the light passing by is so bright that the scene loses most detail-- you mostly just see white.

I can't find this light source. I'm thinking now that it must be a very large version of one of those light techs one sees at dances.

This problem makes it unbearable to stay in Agamok for very long, and the region is typically very empty.

Another problem is the proliferation of unrented billboards and very tall For Sale signs.

Is there any action I can take to get rid of the fog and the light problem? Thanks.

control - Alt - 6
turns off fog

you might need to activate your debug menu, if you haven't already
if i remember right, it's control-alt-shift-D

Thanks Stephanie.

I ended up having to turn of both fog and clouds. I must be in a high-elevation area. It's a shame that I have to eliminate all clouds that I would ever see anywhere just to fix this problem.

Strangely, removing the clouds also removed the strange light. If that light were removed, the fog wouldn't have been such a problem.

Now I have to try to solve this problem at its source. I don't see how anyone in Agamok would want things to be the way they are.

I just discovered the following shortcut:

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+- Toggle clouds/fog at elevation on/off.

I've turned clouds and fog back on again, then clicked Ctrl+Alt+Shift -

That also solved the problem, and hopefully I'll be able to see normal clounds as well.

If fog is the biggest spoiler for you, then you apparently don't have a penis palace, a pile of plywood shapes, a 512-sq-m mall, the cheap signs guy or enough of those spinning for-sale signs as neighbors, yet. It takes a couple weeks for new sims to acquire that pile-o-prims look.

lol @ "pile-o-prims look"

Doesn't take that long

Brand new sim I'm on looks like a junkyard already, only a few days old. There's a smattering of houses. The rest of it is covered with for sale/rent signs and skyscrapers with ads on top of them.

Unfortunately that seems to be the usual pathway for first land sims. In my experience it works along the following lines:

1. First Land plots are bought up by eager new residents;

2. Some try to make a house, but don't have the patience and never come back, so leave huge plywood boxes around;

3. Some go a bit further, usually involving trying to make a club, or a skyscraper, or something which spins;

4. The majority get bored after a few weeks and sell to land dealers;
4a. Some land dealers split up the property into 16m2 squares with horrible ads on them and hope that somebody will pay their inflated prices to get their view back;
4b. Other land dealers put up "for sale" signs, but nobody buys the property (except maybe dealers wanting to put up ad squares) because the area is packed with plywood boxes, odd-looking clubs, spinning things and ad squares.

5. After a few months, all the people who are left actually want to stay, and they start buying up property around them, or at least trying to, only a lot of it isn't for sale because people have bought several months' worth of account and never come back, either that or it takes forever for property to go up for auction or revert to first land. So they have a lot of trouble.

6. Eventually, after bothering Lindens and shuffling plots about, if people are sufficiently dedicated they manage to get proper-sized areas for themselves, though there are usually still a few ad squares about because nobody wants to pay L$10K for 16m2.

7. Or, alternatively, everyone who wants to stay moves to another sim having learnt their lesson.

I stuck with my first land for a long time, and I did get to stage 6, but then I heard about a great new themed private island starting called Caledon, which I proceeded to move to.

Actually, my sim has all that kind of stuff in it. But if you go to Agamok you'll see that the fog and light problems are even more unsettling that the junk.

Ordinal... your pathway description explains a lot for me regarding the junk in my sim. Thanks. I was wondering whay a lot in my sim was filled with 16m2 squares. Now I know!

It sound like this problem isn't really Linden's fault, but it would be good to have rules in place for non-use and the kinds of exploits you've described.

*shudder* Thank goodness for my friend Gypsy, who found some great land for us to buy.

confirmed, i can see the same lines you described, but those aren't lights, those are simply the cloud particles (yep, clouds are nothing but really big particles!) rolling by and intersecting objects inworld.

this isn't fog, this is just regular SL clouds since the average elevation at Agamok is around 160-200m and the cloud line starts at about 150m and up. you'll get the same effect anywhere there's a build at cloud level, not just Agamok.

Pleasant Local Environment.

There *are* ways to leverage the mainland, if private islands aren't quite your cup of tea.

One can rent from a mainland "land baron" and *possibly* have a much better environment, provided that said baron owns enough of an area and is deeply committed to remaining there.

Of course, there's that extra layer of determinism to deal with - the whim and tastes of the land baron - because one man's pile 'o prims is another man's castle.

* * * * *

Citizens of Caledon sent the HMS Venture to the mainland once, stayed at anchor for a month, and sold trinkets to the natives.

We are weighing such options again - but not only a mere merchant vessel next time. We may even establish a fort and a small colony. Just keep a weather eye out for this: http://westtrade.250free.com/caledonflag512x384.jpg

I waited almost 6 months before buying my first land, then a whole bunch of us got together to upgrade to premium and buy First Land next to each other. Since then I've done the whole shuffling thing, buying up plots in-sim and then trading "new lamps for old" to get the parcels around us together.

It's worked pretty well.

We did have a couple of "land griefers" to deal with, buying up small parcels and building ugly things on them. I've been able to wait them out.

Caveat Emptor [[let the buyer beware]]
Next time you will research a Little BEFORE you Buy.

Angel.

A plot sold per minute doesn't allow much time for research sadly Angel and Ordinal's process took off to a flying start in Yamma Yamma

The tip about buying land next to Linden land is a good one, BUT ONLY if the Linden land is protected and/or has official stuff built on it already... or you could end up like I did. Prospective lot looked great, an edge lot in the sim abutting a wasteland Linden sim... Wrong. A week after I bought the lot the empty sim which had been my eye relief opened up as first land also... now every direction you look from that place is a circus sideshow, including up. Buy carefully as it's the ONLY tier-free land you'll get.

I may have interpreted this wrong but I thought if you subsequently sell your first land but buy another 512sm elsewhere you remain tier-free?

Just the only land you'll get for a dollar/square metre?

You are correct bilbo99 Emu.
You will remain tier free if you sell your 512 of first land then buy another 512 land on the mainland as the premium account supports 512 of mainland land without you paying tier

Unfortunetly First Land sells so quickly that researching is next to impossible and even then its hard to tell if it is early in the SL day and most places are quiet.

I bought a nice edge lot when First Land went on sale a few weeks ago. One side was overlooking a small cliff and the front opened on a seemingly massive abandoned lot. I thought "Great" and bought it up only to start building and slowly end up lagging so bad I couldnt move. Upon investigating I found that on three sides of the lot, within the same sim there were just as many 1024 plots filled with nothing more then an endless supply of camping casinos and particle objects. So in the end I got fed up and sold it...went back to renting for the time being.

I think though when first land goes on the market, it should be zoned either commercial or residential. There are so many great places out there just they are surrounded by camping zones or eye sores. That and if one person has sold their first land plot for a similar reason they should be able to get another say a few weeks later or something. Dunno, just a thought.

Nope, you read it right... I wrote it wrong - lol sorry. It should've read "only first land"...

Thanx Dana and Cortex for clarifying

I think all things considered, first land is such a firefight and with the next plot probably going to absolutely anybody within a few seconds of you're buying yours you really don't stand a chance of determining if your first land is going to develop into a nice residential area. At least not while the present trend and practices go.

My advice is to buy anyway and wait a while. If you were after a fast buck, waiting will get you a better price and if you're wanting to set up home? Well you can practice and experiment while the sells and resells slowly peter out and more long term developments take over. Then when you see the lie of the land and mebbe meet the neighbours and still don't like it, you'll still get a better price?

I shall login tonight with some trepidation as what's sprouted up round my little house today!

I find the main problem to be that 512 meters and 117 prims are simply not enough for any kind of reasonable build. Ordinal's assessment is spot-on, but I wonder how many get frustrated by the extreme limitations of first last? Perhaps it's time to make first land plots something that might keep people coming back, like 2048 meters for L$2048.

That would give some breathing room, at least!

Regards,

-Flip

I had a friend that lived in Agamok and I really liked the fog and atmosphere. Very different than my bright and cheery island land

It may be tier-free, but you are still paying a monthly fee for premium membership. It's not a bad deal to buy from a private island, where if you are lucky you can find 512 sqm for less tier than what your premium m'ship would cost, AND zoning regulations keep your neighbourhood nice.