Animations and lag?

Does having numerous animations (20 or more) running on your land such as smoke, steam, fire, etc. slow down all activities in the land or region? Avatar flight is very choppy these days, but not sure if it is SL lag, some other issue in the region (like a casino), or having too many animations running at the same time.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Those effect you're talking about aren't really "animations" in the sense of what this forum is about; animations are the things that make avatars walk and dance etc.

That said, the things you're talking about generally won't stress the simulator much (if at all), since they are mostly client-side effects. But they will make more work for your local computer - more stuff to draw on screen. If you're having trouble moving around the sim I'd look somewhere else for the cause.

Very useful information.