What happened to sandboxes in the beta / Preview grid?

[Cephus Twine]

What happened to the beta / Preview grid? I never really wandered around much there. For years I've logged into the same spot, and it's been a while now, but I logged in this morning and the region was gone. I was TPed to a "Nearby Region": the Waterhead welcome area.

There is no sand box that I can find. Most land seems to be owned by the Lindens with a 20 minute return time or less. Land is divided into parcels. Most parcels on other regions are owned by someone else. You can't buy what little land there is for sale.

I can't find anything on the internet or SL forum about this. Maybe I'm using the wrong search words, but where the hell did the sandboxes go and how the hell are you supposed to find them? Are we supposed to pay something to someone now to be able to use the preview grid? Do you have to have land transferred there to use the preview grid? Is the preview grid exclusive to some elite group or groups?

Pardon my cynicism, but I've been looking for an hour and a half. Either (1) it's privileged to only a few now, or (2) it's become another money making tool. Whichever the case is, using the preview grid is certainly not obvious or intuitive, and no longer meant for just anyone.

Thanks in advance for any info or advise.

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

I can see three mesh sandboxes are up and running, Mesh Sandbox 3, 6 and 22. Those have a 24 hour return time.

Sandbox Wanderton is also open, with a three hour return.

[Cephus Twine]

Thanks so much for that. I did find the sandbox. Kudos!

Asking on point, if you are a new visitor to the Waterhead "Information Hub" it's easy enough to find "ground transportation" (like we need that), but what is there to point you to somewhere you might need to go on the preview grid like a sandbox?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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Cephus Twine wrote:

 

but what is there to point you to somewhere you might need to go on the preview grid like a sandbox?

 

 

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The search box in the map menu, which is what I used. I typed "Mesh Sandbox " and "Sandbox".

Or these forums 

It's a test grid, so don't expect a lot of guidance or help from LL. I only use it for final tests before uploading objects or textures to the main grid and can't think of another reason to log into it.

[Cephus Twine]

I previously tried 'sandbox' in the search window, but didn't think of looking for a region named "Sandbox". Clearly I should have tried that in hindsight, but I did spend quite a bit of time looking on the SL website, in SL forums, and abroad on the net for where a sandbox was in the preview grid.

I still stand by my conviction that LL did not put useful information in their "Information Hub", nor did they put any hint on their helpful and informative http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Preview_Grid page. Admittedly, I did overlook that there a couple regions named sandbox on http://aditi.coreqa.net/gridtool.php , but I don't think we should have to dig that deep. The answer should be more obvious.

 

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

I couldn't agree more, what can I say?