Protected land / Sim?

How can I tell if a Sim is really "protected?" In ads for land for sale, they often say "unblockable view," or "protected ocean front."

In particular I'm wondering about the Sims that surround Nautilus that contain no land, and have names like "Nautilus_XV4" or something like that. They report as "owned by Governor Linden," and "not for sale." Are these intended to remain as unspoiled ocean as the ads claim?

I'm impatient and bought a bit of beachfront property already, so I'm really just seeking some peace of mind here. (And I haven't found an answer to this anywhere). However, before I go buying up more property in the Sim for prim boost, I'd like to know whether one day I'm going to log in and find that someone has bought that "protected" Sim and, for example, stuck the Exxon Valdez right in front of my beach.

Protected land typically refers to land that's up against a linden owned land ( a road, for example) or up against water, which theoretically should not be developable.

I have, however, found that 'protected land' doesn't mean very much in the grand scheme of things. Roadside land often means small parcels that get broken up easily in to adfarms.

Land on a coast somewhere, unless right up against the sim edge... is no longer protected from other people building out closer to the sim edge.

Restrictions on just what happens to open water in new sims really aren't there anymore. I have seen hundreds of sims where the land ends at a coast... yet people have built homes or businesses right out on the water. THis has been widespread, throughout Nautilus and the continent that came before it. The thing to remember with Linden owned land is they can do with it as they wish at any time. Sometimes buffer/void sims are converted to land that can be developed by residents.. sometimes they are left alone.

The only sure thing is to develop in a sim owned by someone you trust and who can (and has the time to) administrate these things.

lol @ valdez.

no, if its linden protected, it wont likely ever be public. Meaning your beach will remain beach. Never say never in SL...

If a parcel or sim is not labelled "Protected", then it is going to be sold.
Owned by Governor Linden, Not for sale means what it says : the Governor owns it - and it's not for sale - Yet.
"Nautilus_XV4" are just placeholder names. The will be given names before they are put up for auction. They will be put up for auction.

The only "Protected" land that I have seen in Nautilus and Corsica has been those narrow Linden 'roads' running through some of the sims.


The words "Protected", "Unblockable" have the same meaning for a land sale description as do phrases like "LUSH GREEN LAND", "GREAT VIEW", "LAG-FREE SIM".
In RL, those fraudsters would be prosecuted.
That is not water your looking at. That is square metres of building plots. Right now it just looks like water.


Unless your plot runs right to the edge of the *final* continent, then your beach is someone else's back yard. They can build towers, ad farms, dance clubs. On the other hand they could do an underwater build and/or a skybox, but the odds are they will build on the water.

Those open water sims are absolutely no different to inland sims as far as building is concerned. They just happen to have their ground level lower than Linden water level.
There is no requirement for anyone to build at ground level. Water level will do fine for building thank you!


Gawd but the lowlifes of SL make me want to puke!
"Protected, Unblockable" my arse!!!!!

Do NOT trust a land seller claiming "protected borders"!

I have seen many parcels labeled as having protected borders that absolutely did not. In my experience, these fall into two different categories:

(1) A parcel is on a sim border, and the adjoining sim appeared open but later was sold. Some sellers may be deliberately dishonest in labeling the border as protected, but it seems most are just unaware that the next sim might get sold.

(2) The sim as a whole has a protected border, and was labeled as such. Then when it was subdivided, the sellers did not re-label each parcel. This leaves individual parcels that are in the middle of the sim, entirely surrounded by other for-sale (or sold) parcels, labeled as having a protected border. This is just pure laziness and dishonesty on the part of the seller.

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Either way, you simply can't trust what is written in the land description. This goes for everything in it: mature/pg, fast/no lag, etc. To be a wise land purchaser, you must investigate and verify for yourself.

From what I've seen on the last several continents, LL labels Linden parcels within a sim (like a road) as protected, but full sims of ocean are not marked as such... which is precisely why it is difficult to be sure.

Although you can't be absolutely sure an ocean sim is going to stay open, there are a couple of things that indicate it will.

First, LL is no longer auctioning land in that area. The older the continent is, the better. Obviously something in Corsica, which is currently being built and auctioned, would be very high risk. Something on the older southernmost continent (with the Korean names) is a much better risk, as LL appears to have finished it months ago, and has built two full continents after that.

Second, do protected Linden roads or waterways in other sims connect to it? A protected waterway that leads to the open ocean sim is an indication the ocean is meant to stay open. This is iffy, though... it could be that the currently-open sim will be sold, but have a protected waterway leading to the truly intended open area further down the line.

With these factors in mind, you can evaluate the level of risk and decide if you are willing to accept it.

I appreciate all the excellent responses.

I'm just going to proceed with my plan for the place and take the worst if it comes. I make it a rule never to spend any more money on this than I could afford to throw away. If a jerk buys the place and ruins it, I'll cut my losses and buy something else.

You never know, I could end up with nice neighbors like on my other 3 sides -- not everyone who buys a Sim wants to create eyesores. I might even try to snatch it at auction myself.

For now, I'm just decorating the place with rocks and trees and things. I'm planning to try my hand at building a hotel/condo. For now, it's basically in sandbox mode, so if anyone wants to play around there, or just see what I've done with it, be my guest. It's the long island on the eastern edge of Devolin Mal in Nautilus. I thought it would be funny to call it "Devolin Paradise."

I have my own ideas as to what is "protected"--and I've never been wrong yet.

It's not a question of whether you can or can't trust land descriptions--some are trustworthy, others aren't. It's more a question of understanding for yourself what the issues are, and making your own evaluation. Certainly many parcels of land for sale include words such as "protected" and "unblockable" when the land is in fact not protected and is blockable, for whatever reason. Other parcels with those labels are just what they claim.

First, you may assume that any Linden-owned road or waterway will remain Linden-owned. This enhances the value of any adjacent land for those that like extra space next to their property that nobody can build on. Sometimes it dramatically enhances the view--consider, for example, a parcel at a Y-intersection, where two roads meet at an oblique angle on the downhill side of one's property, such that in effect there is 50-75 m. of unbuildable land directly in front.

Second, when the outlines of a continent are pretty well known, you can buy land at the edge of the continent and know your view is unblockable if you own the land (even underwater land) all the way to the edge of the sim or all the way to a Linden-owned waterway running along the edge of the sim. Such properties are especially prime if there is a water sim next to the continent that shows up on the map (so ships may navitage on it) but is Linden-owned. While there may be a chance that such water-only sims will be sold later if not labeled "protected," in my experience this hasn't happened once the continent shape is fairly complete. Sometimes LL just provides water for us to navigate upon.

What about when continents are still under construction? When the land goes right up to the edge of a sim and then is abruptly cut-off, you can count on the next sim being added at some point and developed. It is not waterfront, even if at the moment it is just water. If the land slopes down into water, and continues deep enough that one cannot raise the terrain back out of the water, the land will probably remain waterfront; just realize that even that underwater land can be bought and developed upon. Many have bought lakeshore properties only to end up glaring in consternation at artifical land built immediately in front of their beach house.

Finally, realize that prime waterfront land is easy to find--it's just that most people don't want to pay the market price for it. Good waterfront land can go for 2-3 times the market bottom, often even more.