Sim, island, private region and mainland

[Muletta]

What is the difference between these kind of lands?

I have tried to figure out myself by reading the forum and search, but can't seem to find the right answer anywhere.

Someone please explain it to me :matte-motes-impatient:

[Qie Niangao]

In casual use, "sim" and "region" are used interchangeably. (Technically, a sim is the set of computer programs that run a region.)

Every region (a named 256 x 256m block of virtual "land") belongs to an "estate", and there are two kinds of estates:

1. One gigantic estate, called "Mainland",  run by Linden Lab itself. Most of Mainland is grouped together in several vast "continents" each containing hundreds of sims.
2. Hundreds of privately run estates. Among these are a few mini-continents, but most consist of any number of standalone regions surrounded (at least on four sides) by empty space on the map (which the viewer draws as if it were water).

So a "private region" is a region in one of the private estates. Usually an "island" refers to one of those standalone private regions surrounded by void.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Some private estates use the term "island" to refer to a parcel of land located in a region that is surrounded by water.  These islands can be any size and usually they state the size in square meters.  This doesn't necessarily mean you have that much dry land as some of the property may be under water allowing you to boat or swim.

There are also private estates where you can rent an island that is connected to other islands by sailable water between the parcels.  Many also include whole sims of water owned by the estate for the tenants and sometimes the public to use.  These can range in size from a small lot to more than half a region and the area of sailable water can equal a large number of regions.

[Muletta]

Thank you for the explanations. I now understand, that a sim or a region is a land of 65536 sqm. And a region/sim can include islands surrounded by water too. 

But I still don’t get it about mainland and private estates. All land in sl is belonging to Linden Lab, so how can some of it be private, while others are mainland. You can buy land from Linden Lab, but it is still mainland? It is a bit confusing I think:matte-motes-impatient:

Can you abandon private estates like you can abandon mainland? And if you do, will the land go to Linden Lab? (But if it is driven by Linden Lab afterwards, it must be mainland now)? 

The names on land, is it the name of the hole region/sim? I know I can call my own land what I like, but it will always have the other name too.

 Sorry if I seem a bit slowly in understanding.

[Qie Niangao]

It's probably just confusing to say "[a]ll land in sl is belonging to Linden Lab." It's true that the Lab runs all the servers that run all the regions, but a private estate owner has a claim on their regions that we generally call "ownership". (In fact, of course, those owners must pay a hefty monthly fee to continue "owning" their regions, but they have a lot of control over those regions.)

Further clouding the "ownership" term is the assignment of land units within a region to parcel "owners".  This kind of "ownership" is very different on Mainland than on private Estates. An owner of a Mainland parcel deals directly with Linden Lab--pays tier directly to the Lab, relies on the Lab for support, etc.--and if they abandon their Mainland parcel, it reverts to the Lab for finding a new owner. In contrast, a parcel owner on a private Estate deals with the Estate owner for all these things, and if they abandon their Estate parcel, it's up to the Estate owner to find a new "buyer." (The messiness here is that a private Estate may go out of business at any time, stop paying feels to the Lab, and then all the parcels they sold to other residents will vanish. In this sense, "buying" a private Estate parcel is similar to renting a Mainland parcel from another resident.)

Depending where you're looking, you may be seeing either the Region name, the Parcel name, or both. On the Map, zoomed in close enough, the region names are shown. In the addressbar-like thing at the top of the viewer you can see the Parcel name first, followed by the Region name and its maturity rating. A parcel owner can change the parcel name; the region name is set by the Lab when the sim comes online, but on a private Estate, the Estate owner can change it by paying a special fee to the Lab.

[ETA: It may also be confusing that one can buy a Mainland parcel not only from Linden Lab directly (if nobody currently owns the parcel) or from a resident who currently owns and wants to sell a parcel. Indeed, most Mainland is purchased from residents, not from the Lab, but the Lab does also set some abandoned Mainland parcels for sale (cheap, at about L$1/sq.m.), and offers some others for auction.]

[Muletta]

Thank you for spending the time to explain this "mystery" for me, and I think I understand now how it works.

It also explains why there are either mainland or estate to buy/”buy”, when I have searched for land for sale.
I also see the difference now, that in order to "buy" land of the estate, you do not ever need to be a premium member, because you are actually not buying but renting from another resident. But you are dependent on if the estate owner pays fee to LL, and suddenly your land can be taken away from you, and you can do nothing about it.

Now I also understand about the names.

 

Great to have learned that today, and thank you again to you all for helping me to get the point.