You may choose to convert some of your Private Regions from one Private Region type to another. Converting a private region from a homestead to a full region, or from a full region to a homestead, allows you to keep the same region name, map location, and landmarks for your region, while also choosing the right level of performance and resources for your needs. As your region needs change, your private region can change, too.

• Full Regions are the default private region type. They have a large capacity for content and avatars and are well-suited to busy event venues, businesses, or high-demand residential uses.
• Homestead Regions are a lighter class of region than a Full, and are less expensive as a result. They're optimized for light commercial use, low-density land rental, or light residential use. 
• Openspace Regions are the lightest class of region available, designed as open water, parkland, or other types of largely empty space. They're perfect for expanding oceans for sailing or connecting existing regions. Openspace Regions have specific limitations that only apply to them, but they are also the least expensive type of region available.

This article covers the different scenarios and costs associated with each possible conversion.

Converting regions

There is a $100 USD fee to convert regions from one type to another, but this fee is waived if you are upgrading a Homestead or an Openspace to a larger capacity region type.

The cost to convert a region is the setup fee of what you want minus the setup fees of what you have to trade in. 

 For example, if you have a homestead region (setup fee $149 USD) and you would like to convert it to a full region (setup fee $349 USD), what you want is $349 and what you have is $149. $349 minus $149 is $200 USD. Because you're converting your homestead into the more powerful full region, we waive the $100 conversion fee, and the total charge for the conversion would be $200.

Once the conversion has taken place, the appropriate new monthly fees apply. Your bill date remains the same as that of the original Region.

When converting up from an Openspace Region to a Homestead Region or Full Region, you are charged the difference in setup fees between the two types of Regions. We waive the $100 conversion fee if you are converting up. Once the conversion has taken place, the appropriate new monthly fees apply and the new billing date is an average of the billing dates from your converted regions.

If you have multiple Openspaces or Homesteads to convert, each contributes its setup value against the price of a full Region. For example, if you want to convert two Openspaces to a Full Region, it costs the set up fee of the Full Region ($349) minus the combined setup fee of each Openspace ($99 + $99), and we waive the conversion fee ($100) : $349 - ($99 + $99) = $151 USD.

Examples:

• Converting 2 Openspace Regions to a Full Region would be $349 - ($99 + $99) = $151
• Converting 2 Homestead Regions to a Full Region would be $349 - ($149 + $149) = $51

Comparison chart

Converting Up

* Subject to Skill Gaming program restrictions and guidelines. See the Official Second Life Skill Gaming FAQ for more information.

Converting Down

Converting regions down into lighter classes, such as converting a full region into a homestead, has a fee of $100 USD, plus any additional difference in setup fees if there are any. For instance, a full region can be turned into 2 homestead regions for the $100 conversion fee; if you wanted 3 homesteads, you could also pay the difference between the setup fees for 3 homesteads ($149 x 3 = $447) and a full region ($349), which is $98 USD.

As before, conversion prices are based on the difference in setup fees between what you have and what you want.

How long does a conversion take?

You can normally expect your Private Region conversion to take 5-10 business days. Depending on the size of our current conversion queue, your conversion may occasionally take longer than 10 business days, but we do our best to get it done in a timely manner.