Misleaded Land Purchase

All these suggestions and words of wisedom from the experienced are AFTER the fact. Where is all this wise and necessary information readily available to the "unwashed" in SL? Who is upfront enough to tell the buyer that anything in SL is a RISK? The orginal poster is out 90 USD because he did not know the dangers involved in doing something that Linden Labs and Second Life encourages..............buy land and make your dream home.

The OP got ripped off. He got his bubble burst by a game. He spent 90 USD to play or do as he wanted...........just like Linden Labs encouraged him to do. Who is responsible? Not the seller..........he was doing just like everyone else. He did nothing wrong. The purchaser of the sim that destroyed the OP's dream? Not hardly..........he put up good money for his sim and he has the "right" to do as he pleases (that's what LL says he can do). And certainly not the OP............he bought and played according to the rules.

Linden Labs is responsible. They don't say a damned thing about the dangers of buying land. They don't mention that your coastline property is subject to being gone at any moment in time. The don't lay out a schedule of what sim is being created and where that sim is going to be placed. The don't even put out a disclaimer stating that nothing is guarenteed............you spend your money at your own risk and any losses are not refundable. And they don't provide any tools or guidelines to allow anyone to "research" before you buy anything. It's up to the player to make the inquiries, search an ineffectibe "knowledge base"...........and "trust" at your own risk.

What kind of company neglects the very basic concept of protecting it's customers? And then hides from it's customers with absolutely no customer support. How can one research without the tools. How can someone new to the game know that it's impossible to do anything without a substanial risk of loosing real dollars? Those are the answers we should be trying to provide. Not all these "from experience" or "what I've heard" answers...........AFTER THE FACT!!

But when there really isn't an answer except..........."you got screwed, and you just have to suck it up and learn for the next time". I guess that's all we can do........not helping but it makes us feel better. It's a basic problem in Second Life. And only the Lindens can fix if. But I'm not holding my breath.

Research research, research!! That's a pat answer. Ask your friends, talk to the neighbors............check the profile of the seller. Research. Where are the tools......real tools to research? Is there profile entry on the "negatives" or "positives" for the buyer to referrence? Is there and independant source on the reputation of any seller? How can someone know that the seller owns sims surrounding the sim in question and the waterfront will be relatively safe? All this research.......great if you had the tools. Or really great if you were aware that you needed to research deeply and long and hard to find even some indications of the possilbe safety of you potential purchase? Linden Labs makes no referrence at all about how risky land buying (actually any buying) in Second Life is. A notecard pointing to knowledge base that is completely inadaquate is not a tool............a better tool would a pop up when you make your buy is a big red text box with the words "Warning you are subject to losing all your L$'s and you will not be reimbursed. Do not contact LL about your lose as we do not control or protect buyers from fraud, theft, cons, or accidents" And maybe a small print note about the sim could be moved to an inland area at the sole discretion of LL without notice and without compensation.

Quit with the research crap...............no one has the proper tools to do it.

Peggy, no one is disputing the OP got ripped off, he DID play by the Rules, But the point you missed was One of those rules is, "The Lindens Don't get involved in Trade disputes between Players". If the OP wanted Iron Clad Guarantee of Land value for Lindens expended he Could have bought from the one source the Lindens DO Guarantee, the Lindens themselves. Any other transaction, In fact ALL financial transactions within SL are done on Trust. LL will Not get involved. The advice here IS Cold comfort for the OP, or anyone who has had similar problems, but That is All there is. all that is left is the Educational Value for Others. it isn't going to Help the OP, but it May help other persons who come to the Resident answers Forum Before Buying land, to learn Just what can happen.
It isn't that people here don't care, it's that they already Know how things work in SL. Like you, They wish there Was recourse, but i don't see the Lindens Knowingly Opening that Can of worms for themselves, and since No one else has the Authority to deal with it we are ALL stuck.

Angel.

So you are telling me that the land I own with three sides Linden Protected Land and one neighbor that butts up to my back lot in another region who also has three sides of protected land surrounding her..................I AM SAFE FOR LIFE?

Why do I not believe that?

Let me qualify that...............that is if my neighbor doesn't sell to some jerk.

True story:
My family and I moved to our house on the outskirts of a rural town. Technically it's a city - it has a cathedral and a castle but that isn't the point.
Our front view looked across a road, then a field with horses grazing to another road leading away past a line of conifer trees. We could see hills in the distance. We were told it was 'Green Belt', protected land that wouldn't be built on.
Within 10 years, the local council had 'moved' the Green Belt and sold the plot to developers who have put up houses blocking the view.

It's change. People need homes. Where is all the First Land for the newcomers going to come from? Linden don't hold a copyright on adaptation and change. It's life. We change.
Guarantees? I can only think of one.

Edit: Sorry Peggy, didn't mean to sound like I'm attacking your point. RL making me melancholic today

Rule #1: Location, Location, Location
Rule #2: The more money people spend on a home, the less time they spend in it.
Rule #3: To protect the view... you must OWN the view.

All Your View Are Belong To Us!

Okay... I was rolling when I read this, Ceera! I don't know whether to be glad you're not my angry neighbor, or send you a fan-letter for the great idea and visual!


Kae

I didn't take that as an attack of any kind. I don't know how many times I've stated that I don't own a lot of land and that I don't pay a lot of USD's play. I don't mind telling y'all that I have one 512 plot on mainland (Philadoria). I purchased it the same day I became premium.........it was first land. I have no tier, I pay quarterly by CC, and I have yet to buy Lindens. I've made lindens by stripping, doing a little camping in my early days, playing sploders, entering events and a lotto or two.........oops forgot won a few slingo games too. I get my weekly stipend of 500 lindens because I was grandfathered in at the same amount as when I went premium. My point is I don't have a lot invested in this game..........it's really no sweat off my back if my niegbor sells out and some disco circus opens up next door to me. I'll either live with it or sell and go the rent route. But when I see a newbie come in all enthusiastic with SL and get immediately shot down and everyone basically says: "You should have known. You need to do some research. Welcome to the club, this happened to me..........blah, blah, blah." That just does not help other newbies coming in.........there are no research tools, there are no warnings (except that vague disclaimer stating that Linden Labs will not get involved in land disputes). This is a game that cost a premium member real money to play.........the rules for the game are not adequately laid out. Not in the TOS, the knowledge base, or anywhere. One comes to the forums (if they even think of forums being a place to get answers) and they get nothing..........Just like this thread.

It's not the residents (members) duty to tell other residents the rules.......especially when the rules are so vague or even non existance. It' anarchy.........some may like it. I happen to not like it and I'm hoping some day LL will wake up and take control of their virtual world. Right now there is no control.

Am I mad or irrate? No..........not at all. Am I disappointed? Absolutely..........and a little saddened too.

I've said all I can on this thread. If you've read it all, you know where i stand. I'm not budging either.........until someone decides to take control and stop this anarchy. And I'm not holding my breath for that.

Edit to add:
Why is that so many arguments about buying land in Second Life centered on real life purchases of real estate? This is not real life.........it's a virtual life. Real life has laws governing sale of land..........and people selling land for for living are licensed by a government to sell the real estate. That license requires the person to know and pass a test on the laws concerning real property. In other words...........that argument is so lame it's sickening.

Of course, in RL, buying a home or a parcel of land requires notaries, legally binding contracts, an escrow period, inspectors, appraisers, several dozen signatures, and that's just if everything goes smoothly. Often there are lawyers, and settlements and disputes, remediations, hidden costs, extra forms to file, tons of restrictions and caveats.

Buying and selling land in SL is trivial, but still prone to many of the issues that plague similar RL transactions. People would still complain if SL's property transaction features were more rich. It's an inherent aspect of the business, on both sides of the table, whether the issues are imagined or legitimate.

--
If you're a landlord in RL, it helps to have a laywer in the family.

I wouldn't say Safe for Life, No, But your Chances of Living peacefully have increased by a large Margin over buying land surrounded by Four other owners.
I used to live in Jenner on a Tract of land owned by a friend. She was wise enough to Buy land next to a Linden protected Waterway, and a Tract of Linden Protected land the Only other resident close to us owned a small, but comfortable home next to us. It guaranteed that we kept our Waterfront Views and nothing interfered with our terraforming even as the Land near us developed. We lived there for almost a Year Undisturbed (Until my friend sold her land to Later Buy a Sim) so Yes, there Are cases where researching the Lay of the Land Will be of Benifit, But if you just say "Pfft, research won't tell me anything" then Yes, every property ownership decision you make Will continue to be a Crapshoot. Doing what you Can is better than Doing Nothing at all.
That's the benefit of doing a little research.

Small plots are Vulnerable to Unpleasant changes, mainly due to locations. One small plot in a sea of small plots runs a great deal of risk of having at least One Objectionable neighbor, or eventually being Crowded out as a developer buys all the other small properties in a region (If you remain in contact with neighbors, and aware of your surroundings you can actually turn such a situation into More lindens, but again, you have touse your head). also, you have proportionately smaller control of your Local environment.
I have to say, If i owned a Tiny Lot, or found myself in the situation that the OP was in, I would place a TP point on the ground, and Skybox my Home. I did that once and lived in a magnificent Egyptian Palace in the Sky complete with trees, a garden, and a pool all 500 meters in the air, and what went on down below was a Matter of the Purest indifference to me.
In the end, if you Own the land you Can do something with it. If it isn't what you had in mind in the first place, you haven't really lost anything because SL offers a Lot of options to Compensate, and since everything in SL changes, and changes frequently, eventually the situation with your land will change for the Better. All the OP has to do now is alter his plan for the Land to something he can live with, and wait it out.

Angel.

A good point worth emphasizing.

I'm curious. On a mainland sim I see a plot for sale. It is "inland" on the mainland, but bordering what i will call some Governor Linden "Seas". That is, entire sims that are owned by Governor Linden and do not say "Maintenance" but have been water for a very long time.

Are these sims considered "Protected" as the land sales ad claims, or are you all saying the Lindens may one day just decide to up and convert them to land for sale?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Some of those All water, or mostly water sims have been in place and Unchanged for two years, i think you could consider then Protected. whole other sims have been created by the Lindens ajoining them, and still the space within the water Sims remains Unsold, and Undeveloped.
The Lindens do seem Intent on creating a Fixed Coastline for the Continents.

Angel.

When I see the word "Protected" that just means to me that LL owns that space, not residents.

If there's a space where no sim has been put... that's not protected, LL could put one there at anytime. When they do they rarely announce it before hand.

If a parcel is owned by LL inside a sim, LL may never put it up for auction, or it might go to auction tomorrow... again, you just never know, and LL seems to wisely not tell anyone beforehand. (cries of Favoritism! abound otherwise).

Before being sold, a void sim will first get a name, and the land in it will be Linden-owned. So there is no guarantee that a void sim will not become "land," or that Linden-owned land will not be sold.

When evaluating waterfront property, I personally look at the coastline. Once LL sells a sim, they don't go back in and change the coastline. If the bottom of the water drops so low that no landowner can modify the terrain to the point of making it dry land, that water is going to stay water. If you buy a parcel that includes some land and that water to the edge of the sim, the worst that can happen to you is LL creates land on the other sim--but you still have a river (that you own) running between you and that land. If you have a "feel" for the continent, you may even be able to judge whether or not LL is going to sell the sim across from you or not. Finally, a strip of Linden-owned land (particularly "maintenance" land) along one edge of a sim I consider "protection."

When the edge of one's sim has no natural coastline--when the edge of the sim is the edge of the world--I assume land will be added sooner or later.