30 hours into SL and want to buy land

(Edit: I just bought Premium account, now what?)

I want to buy some land to make some objects and play with some scripts etc.

I just got SL about 30 hours ago and have hardly logged off. I don't play games at all and I bought a new graphics card for the hell of it, and I finally found something worth using it for.

Been playing with scripts but I think to load a texture from a URL I needed to own the land or something or other (looking at llParcelMediaCommandList).

Anyway I may be wrong about that function requiring you to own the land that the object runs on to set a texture from a URL, but anyway, I want to buy some land dammit

So how do I just get a couple squares where I can play without some damn elf telling me that this isn't a sandbox? Better if the place I buy isn't laggy as hell too.

Thanks a LOT

SL RULES

Stop! Wait! You're way too young (in SL age) to buy land. It's expensive, and requires some careful research before you know what you're doing and what you really want.

Rent land first. Trust me, I'm not a big fan of renting, but it's really the best thing to do while you're learning. You can build and script on rented land, but you're not obligated to stay and can leave at any time.

Once you've gotten a better idea of what you want to do in SL, where your friends are, how much land you can afford for your projects, etc. then is the time to buy.

OK Beebo I hear you. If it's not too expensive I would just like to get some, like say 5-10$ a month. I'm not looking for an island Lets say I do go the renting route, could I use that texture call? I wouldn't own the land... here's the link that I'm talking about:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlParcelMediaCommandList

Caveats

* This function causes the script to sleep for 2.0 seconds.
* This script's object must be owned by the landowner or the function will silently fail.
* If the land is over group owned land, then this object must be deeded to that group.


See those caveats? That's what I'm trying to get around! THANKS!

There are rental contracts that will allow you to set the media and there are contracts that won't. So pay good attention when renting.

That's your tier price per month for about 1024m2. But the land itself will cost you at least US$50-60 for that size parcel of land.

If that's not a problem for your budget, and you don't mind risking it on something that turns out not to be suitable after awhile, then go for it. I'm hardly risk averse myself, having bought 1024m2 when I'd been inworld only a few weeks. I eventually outgrew that plot, but was able to sell for a profit since land prices were still rising.

Currently, land prices are a little more volatile, so you may end up paying more for land now than it will be worth in a few weeks or months. You'll get a wide variety of speculations on that issue.

Again, assume the risk that meets your comfort level.

Nuhuna, you don't need your own land to build and script, although it's nice to have a home. You can build and script in a sandbox or on group or friends' land. At first it's best to experiment.

the texture command is to be able to play media on your land the texture is the screen you load the texture onto your media interface can make fancy tv's but most of us use a texture any texture on a prim and then just stick the texture in the video box (no commands needed) just be aware right now SL is only good for quicktime media hehe but basically you want a tv I see and yes you need to have access to the media controls to run the tv

just so you know you dont need a scripted tv to run video content on your land only the texture a cube and access to the interface. Rented land typically doesn't allow you to have access to that function unless you are a part of a very special group that trusts you a whole lot cause if you have access to that stuff you can well do anything

anyhow apart from that just a warning land is very overpriced right now and you are likely better off to buy from a private estate owner of good reputation there are two or three very large ones and a couple of smaller ones. The land is cheaper but make sure to look into tier as well.

and remember that you can have 117 object per 512 sq meters and with a premium account your first 512 is free err well included really but ONLY on mainland. Estate land is not mainland land..

there is a bunch of stuff to find out hehe but the bottom line is that prices on the mainland are very very crazy right now although you can uh look into that coldwell banker thingy.. if they are up and running although I went to peak and the first think I would have done is toss the house (second floors were not accessible on many of the models yet they take prims..) and build a more prim efficient looking house..

okay shutting up now what you want is to make a tv which in all honesty doesn't require scripting just to get one stream at a time

hmm, does SL actually load textures from urls at all? I never heard of anything liek that. All textures are on LL's servers.

But anyway, if you want a semi-permanent structure, rent/buy is the way to go. If you just want to practice building stuff, I suggest searching for sandboxes instead.

thanks for the post, really killer

I want to load up a jpg from a url and after a few seconds reload it.

Later on I will play with quicktime on it, I have a bunch of mov's that I would love to see playing on a 3d box.

Lots of info but can you just break it down to answer this: where can I get a couple squares where I can have access to every function. Renting is out I guess. So where do I get a few squares to buy? And do I have to buy more L$ to buy it even if I have 512 included? I don't get that.

Thanks

check that out, you can load any jpg:
http://www.hackdiary.com/archives/000085.html

Rather than give you bits and pieces of information I think you would benefit most by checking the section of the SL website that covers buying your land..

http://www.secondlife.com/community/land.php

Thanks for all the help, I am renting 2048 m2 at 1750 L$ / week on a new island. Looks good so far and my LSL calls work fine

<HAPPY>