now i remember why i hated mainland

spent most of the day going from lot to lot sim to sim to find what me and my friend wanted

we could not find a single area of land that did not have casino's/spam shouting chairs or 16sqm plots all around it with ugly signs

we finally found 2 that seemed decent a few signs far enough away to not be bothered

and when i took a break from setting up our shop what do i find when i come back
the 333sqm lot next to us now has a casino on it all land and machines for sale 100K

/sigh

tell me why premium is better again?

The non-material benefits are huge. The honor, the glory, the ability to say "I pay for this!"

... I pay for this???

Ah well... there we go again.

Anyway, time to look better. Yes, there are aweful places on the main land, but there are also many very nice and good looking spots with very friendly people.

And if you need to know why people go for a premium account.... Just look at the 2087644365476765675 threads on the subject.

And oh... they are named kazino's....

Morwen.

Yes, I pay for this. To have a very nice decorated log cabin, that most visitors as very comfy describe.... I pay for the photo studio I have there.... and my gallery.

Yes, I pay for this... and for the fact that I don't want to take the risk of a landlord/landlady who on a good dayd decides to drop SL... or who for some reason one decide he/she doesn't like me....

Yes, I pay for this... for the freedom to make things as *I* like them.

Morwen

Except for the few sims that are wholly or largely owned by one person or a group with a shared vision, the mainland is a depressing train-wreck of a slum. If I wasn't a land-owning premium account I'd never visit the mainland.

Not correct.... That are many very nicely done small spots around. It just time and the will to look.

Morwen.

Such as the little zen garden lost between a mall and an adfarm?

And why not?

It is about what someone created and not what someone else placed next to it.

If all private islands are that creative with all the rules about what is allowed or not.

Morwen.

well i hope my simple little shop can survive i seem to have a few decent neighbors maybe somehow someone will talk the one into gettin rid of the kasino lol cuz i doubt he is gonna get 100k for it

I pay for those things too, Morwen.

My comment was meant as a playful rueful remark, to perhaps suggest that paying is always a voluntary choice... I enjoy my secondlife. I enjoy my land, even tho I am in a more classicly patchworked sim, most days. Sounds like you currently have agreeable neighbors: may that persist for you. But as Arua's comment suggests, one's mainland neighbors can dramatically affect one's visual possibilities for land self expression.

AHh... sorry for the misunderstanding then.

Most of my neighbors are very nice people..... and some trees make a sight I like less more enjoyable, but those are friendly no matter from which side you look .

Morwen.

333sqm plot with a casino? That must be one hell of a small casino.

I've seen casinos come and go around us. The only people who visit them are campers. Then they're put for sale for some outrageous amount once they generated enough 'traffic'.

Either some mug buys the casino and discovers that the traffic figures have been cooked, or the owner is forced to cut the price and sell as normal plots.

Does anyone make money out of casinos?

I own mainland till the tier gets cheap enough to own your own sim

the ONE industry in SL that no longer makes silly money is a casino, so in essence the owner of the plot is asking an unrealistic price BUT it IS his right to do so.

Im heavily against land griefing but at the same time if you want a land space that has on it what YOU want on it, then buy a sim or bigger plots.
I had similar in Ongwuti.... nice open class 5 sim, I put up my single story store on a 2048... made a nice enterence.. made it all asthetically pleasing... then all the plots around me were sold to one person..... that person used the prims but left the land space so that was still ok.

Then they decided that the casino etc they were going to run wasnt making any money and rented the land out as one plot.... Next day I had 4 stories of megaprims on each side of my store by the person who was renting the land.... so my store became a prison rather than a store... sales dropped..... then i started noticing that there was less than pleasing adverts on the walls facing my store.

I no longer have that land and now the renters are also gone replaced by nice little stores.

The moral of this story is that SL is a lawless extorsion pit for the nasty selfish people who use SL to create a visual protection racket. But the rule of thumb is that you pay for LAND not the view.... your view only goes to the edge of your land if you want a nicer view buy more land and HOPE to god that helps.

It's not immediately relevant to my situation but I would like to buy a bigger parcel (maybe 4608m). I've seen some decent places available but I'm wary about investing time & money in a sim that could turn to crap within days or weeks.

I wondered whether it would be possible to set up a resident's group in a sim which would buy any land that comes available (up to a price determined by the group). That land could then be developed by the members for ambience or simply sold on, taking care over who the next owner is. There could also be preferential rates for members who want to increase their private holding - especially if it is contiguous to their existing holding.

If someone (member or otherwise) builds something ugly or offensive to the group (easily determined through the group vote system), they issue a polite request to change it, followed, if neccesary by expulsion from the group and even remedial action such as blocking on all available sides. Small parcels of land could be exchanged with group owned land to facilitate this if neccesary / practical. This would allow the freedom to land owners that estate land doesn't and the expression of a community consensus as to what is acceptable / desirable. Personally, I would argue for a 'no ban lines' agreement, but something like this would also be subject to a group concensus.

Finally, an umbrella group could be created which local groups could then affiliate to (via membership drawn from group owners / officers). In time this could provide resources for those starting new groups, advertise in welcome areas and point 1st time buyers to land for sale in sims with local groups operating.

Thing is I did think of joining the Arbor group but some of their attitudes grated - the whole thing about public apologies for example feels like an unpleasant cross between evangelical missionary zeal and totalitarian 're-education' methods.

Does anyone think this could work?

Well, I started with a small piece of 1024sqm in the sim where I have my house. Bit by bit I expanded it to the max amount one can hold for a tier of 40 US$ per month (something as 8100sqm I believe). It took more then a year to this and thanks to a good friend, I was even able to make one big piece of land of it.

Could a owners club or something work? Maybe... but I have my doubts. I am affraid that soon opinions and thought may go differ and lead to arguments. But maybe I am just persimistic

Morwen.

A residents group is always one step, we did that in our mainland sim called Pumori, drop by sometime, weve really tried to work together to make it coordinate and blend a bit better within reason, all the residents joined up, and it just serves as a forum for discussing ideas and problems. Cant enforce rules cos defeats the idea of no covenant, but we give each other first choice of land sales and try to coordinate the sim a bit better, and so far it works.

Havnt gone down the road of deeding land and probably wont as we havnt found the need yet, all in all, working well, drop by and say hi sometime.

I've seen plenty of mainland sims that are attractive and have land for sale. They already have people in them that have nice builds. In my own sim there are no casinos or ad plots and although some designs are a bit whimsical none are ugly -- and everyone has agreed not to raise banlines to each other. Once again, this is a mainland sim where people own their individual plots.

My advice is to look at the plots for sale in the new mainland sims, pick a nice lot and put a beautiful house down ASAP. That generally attracts others who will want to do the same--but it will always be chancy. Also, rather than use banlines--leave it open -- no one can alter or steal anything from you and you can always ban an individual who gives you problems. It will be more likely that someone will be willing to put an attractive build next to someone when they can't see ugly red "no entry" lines. Lastly, make friends with your neighbors. SL is a social medium--I don't why people isolate themselves in a platform that is clearly designed for interaction. It's like entering a chatroom and telling people not to talk to you.

Wow, another "bash the mainland" thread. This gets old really fast and considering that there are decent parcels with nice neighbours and views around, I hazard to wonder if trolls are coming out of the woodwork these days regarding this contentious issue.

True, apart from buying an Island, the fluctuating nature of mainland can make your neighbours and environment ever changing, and whenever land goes up for sale nearby you say a silent praryer. But some of us have learned to deal and still find paradise on the mainland.

The attitude that surprises me is this one: "the mainland sucks, but I'm gonna try living here. There, bought some land. OMG, a kazino. OMG, an ad farm. Mainland sucks. I'm gonna vent on the forums 'cuz I'll get sympathy from all the other mainland haters." Maybe, just maybe, if people who hate the mainland so much just stayed off the mainland, they would not be flagellating themselves with broken glass and therefore not require therapy. In other words: buyer beware.

My thoughts.

I've noticed an increasing animosity developing between mainlanders and islanders in a number of threads lately and it's a shame. There's really no need for these sometimes quite vitriolic attacks on each other. Creativity and a love of freedom isn't restricted to those who live on the mainland. All islanders aren't clones who want to live in an SL suburbia. Let's try to be nice to each other. There are plenty of other targets for our vitriol.

/me sneaks back to her cupboard under the stairs muttering "landbots, landbots....."

wow.
Sorry this venting and brainstorming are so old and offensive to you - why exactly are you reading and posting in this thread? Ah yes, to position yourself as superior, and silence "trolls"...

*I* don't need therapy...

My experience much be an anomaly. I've lived on Mainland most of my SL time, and generally we've had good neighbors an stuff. No real complaints.

Mari

i went to the new mainland sims first and the few i found with the size lots i needed next to eacthother had huge picks of rotating rl peni on them (is that the plural? lol) or were so overpriced it did not make it affordable

i would love to buy more land but i dont see me payin 100k for the plot next to me and untill i can at least start breaking even my rl hubby says cant buy anymore land and my business partner cant buy anymore either so for now we will just try to make our lil shop a pleasant experience

so sorry that i have messed up your forums and your mainland i wont bother you anymore

It's purely conjecture. If you're not a troll, and simply very unhappy and needing to vent, then fine and I do actually apologize.

I do subject myself to skimming these threads because sometimes I do learn things about what can be done to combat some of the concerns individuals have with mainland. For instance, I didn't know about the Jira vote (now linked from my sig) regarding one possible way to contend with ad farms.

So no, I don't venture into these threads looking to cause trouble. But with so much anti-mainland chatter these days, I can't help but wonder if it's a certain type of individual attempting to fracture the residents. As was noted by another so wisely, there is enough grief to contend with, why must there be this conclusive disdain for mainland or Island dwellers. Very sad indeed.