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Land Owning Etiquette


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I recently purchased my first piece of SL land. I searched for lovely seaside property and found some for cheap. I was so excited. I've been here a few days, decorating. I decided to explore a little around me. I haven't seen any neighbors online when I am. But I started taking a look at parcel information for those around me. It looks like one person might have been buying up neighboring parcels as they came on the market (same owner but different purchase dates on the parcels.) The one directly behind me was purchased only a week before mine. 

Then, I started to feel a little guilt. When I bought this land, there was only water on my parcel. I had to raise a platform and texturize it to build on. The privacy screens I have on the sides, I also have one in the back. I notice when I look at the water from the parcel behind me, that screen dissappears. I like that. They can still see the water. But they can still see my side screens and now they see the back of a house, which makes me feel guilty as well. 

My question is this: Should I offer to sell my land to this person and look for something else? Or is what I'm doing acceptable? I'm a premium member and I just renewed. This land isn't going anywhere for at least a year, even if I leave SL. So they won't be able to snatch up the land anytime soon and now if they try to sell their land, the price is probably going to go down since the view is no longer as nice. 

Any thoughts on how I should proceed? 



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My opinion is that you don't need to do anything.You don't know why the other person bought the land, or if they were planning on building at ground level.

I think it is thoughtful of you to ask, but I wouldn't worry.

One thing this points out, though, is that land buyers should always check to make sure that the 'beach front' or 'water front' property they want to buy is not behind some 'water for sale' property.  I once thought I had bought some waterfront land, only to find that the entire bay was private property, with no clear path to sail.

One thing that would be nice would be if the Lindens let any abandoned 'water' property become maintenance land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nothing to worry about here, you are doing nothing wrong in your purchasing of the property or your building. It is awefully nice of you to be considerate of your neighbors for one thing, so to that end I would recommend at least getting in touch with your neighbor and maybe getting on friendly terms! If they were realling interested in buying up all the parcels in the area, they would have purchased the land before you got yout hands on it, or at the very least they might have reached out with a offer to you. 

What you should NOT do is run away from the situation or sell your land because you think you are in the wrong. There are plenty of alternatives for folks in-world who want unobstructed ocean access and beautiful views, from the Blake sea to Eden and all the Private Sims inbetween. Unless it's ones first time buying mainland, people tend to be aware of the neighborly risks of living/building on the mainland. You should not have to adjust what your are doing for anyone elses convenience unless you are actively building a community together. 

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I live in a Sky box but own four partials, bought at different times.  I sunk all my beachfront land to sail,  giving the illusion my neighbours had water views and several put  up piers and boats.  I sent them notes stating the truth of the matter but not to get too comfortable because I might bring the land up someday. None of them seem to appreciate my gift of water  for their lower price of..... none. To show  generosity,  one built a purple Gothic monstrosity, and all but one used ban lines..... On a water Sim with few residents.  My boat kept getting tangled in their ugly ban lines. I  reminded them the water was there for them to enjoy too.  Nothing.  So out of spite, I raised the land and kept it barren.  In Second like no one is appreciative.  So don't worry about being so yourself.  As long as you follow any coveinent,  do as you like.  I once lived on mainland andfrom the time I started,  until I left,  I saw more abandoned sh*t in the sky than Carters has pills.  Even a chicken, which was never removed. 

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Nalytha wrote:

Any thoughts on how I should proceed? 

 

As everybody else have said already, you don't have to do anything.

But, despite Alwin's snide remark, there are some truly wonderful places on mainland where different bulds by different people work together rather than fight each other and the one thing all the good places on mainland have in common is that the neighbors talk to each other. What would you do if you moved in to a lovely new house in a lovely neghborhood in RL? Would you lock the door and hide away from everybody esle or would you go out and say hello to your new neghbors?

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Contrary to what some may believe, there is most certainly mainland etiquette. However, nothing you have done is in violation of it.

Since you're a new landowner, here is some basic mainland etiquette to be aware of:

1. Do not set ban lines.

2. Do not have security orbs with less than a 30 second warning.

3. Do not place big ugly skyboxes on the ground.

4. In general, be willing to work out issues with neighbors and acquiesce to reasonable requests. Just remember that by buying land on the mainland, you are agreeing to be part of a community. You can't treat your land as if no one else can see it.

Like I said, you don't seem to be in violation of any etiquette, though. Buying land that is for sale and using that land is no violation of etiquette.

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To add to Ilithios' list, here's the text from Abnor Mole's "Good Neighbor Commandments Obelisk":

  • Thou Shalt Beget Privacy Walls, Screens And Shrubbery Around Thy Land Which Please The Eye Of Thy Neighbor As They Do Thyself
  • Thou Shalt Not Set Thy Security Orb To Teleport People Without At Least A One Minute Warning, Lest Thous Beest A Jerk
  • Thou Shalt Not Block Roads Or Sea Lanes With Thy Objects, Nor Shall Ye Set Ban Lines, For They Are The Suck
  • Thou Shalt Allow Build And Run Scripts On Thy Land And Use Autoreturn To Keep It Tidy, For It Is Thy Friend

 

You can pick up your own copy of the obelix at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coniston/7/49/35 and lots of other places too.

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as a first attempt at building its ok. I know its your first attempt bc I can tell from your prim and texture alignments (:

you will get better at this, the more you do it

you have a really good parcel. Is west facing over the ocean. And defo you bought it for the sunset

ChinRey is making a point about environment. The parcels to the left with the cabbage trees on are for sale. 2 parcels over is a jetty. And over the other side is another jetty with boats moored

if this was me then I would be thinking about how to build what I want (a beach house) that fits in with my jetty neigbours, and will encourage someone like-minded to buy the forsale parcels. Someone who goes oooh! beach/boatie community. I think I will move in

so heres how I would approach the build

I'd dump the screens, they are not beach trees. I'd dump the platform and put the house on poles. Then I would build decking in a way that allows water to surround the pole house. Then drop some pot plants and garden boxes on the decking, for greenery and judicious screening of the outdoor living area. Focusing the flow toward the west. To capture that lovely sunset

with the back of the house and the far side. I would cut windows to break up the lines of what is currently a barn like structure when viewed by the neighbours behind and far side

i would also put a narrow deck all the way round (or at least under the windows) and then outside the windows I would drop pot plants on the deck, so that when inside looking out the windows then can see the plants. The plants would also break up the lines when viewed from the neighbours properties

+

eta: if I did want grass then I'd either put a boxed lawn on the decking, or not have decking and build the base out of stone. Retaining wall style, sides and back. with a sandy beach west facing front like you have now

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Your words give me a lot to ponder. A beachy theme wasn't really what I was looking for. I really wanted a foresty/zen type area with water view. There are some amazing private islands that fit my wants perfectly, but are just too expensive. The reason for the privacy screens are things like this. I know my space is very primative, but I've only owned land for less than a week and there's a lot to learn and many objects to find to perfect it. 




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Nalytha wrote:

Your words give me a lot to ponder. A beachy theme wasn't really what I was looking for.
I really wanted a foresty/zen type area with water view.
There are some amazing private islands that fit my wants perfectly, but are just too expensive. The reason for the privacy screens are things like this. I know my space is very primative, but I've only owned land for less than a week and there's a lot to learn and many objects to find to perfect it. 

 

 

Something like this?



It looks to me like you're off to a good start. My first attempts at building were pretty scary.

The advantage of renting estate land is it usually comes with covenants. Residential land often forbids ban lines, buildings that get too close to the parcel boundaries, minimum height of skyboxes, etc. The upfront cost is generally less than buying mainland (last I looked, any size parcel at the estate I'm in was L$49 up front). I assume the tier is higher -- I haven't made any comparisons. I recommend seeing what you can do with the land you have now, then look around later if it no longer meets your needs.

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Well, the guilt kind of started eating at me as well as the knowledge that my home looked like a noob made it. Well.. a noob did make it. So I put it up for sale. I might make a small profit.

I'd love to rent at from an estate. I found one that I fell in love with, but it was L$1,500 for an inland plot and $L1,750 for a water front. The sizes were a little bigger than I needed, so I guess I just need to keep searching. For now, my plot is up for sale and I'm renting a sky platform and I put a nice skybox I like in it. 

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Nalytha wrote:

Well, the guilt kind of started eating at me as well as the knowledge that my home looked like a noob made it. Well.. a noob did make it. So I put it up for sale. I might make a small profit.

You call that a noob build? Good thing you never saw my first attempt at making an SL home then. ;)

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i dont mean to discourage you. Don't sell this land. A unrestricted sunset view across the water is what you want and is why you bought it

so dont give it away just bc you have good feelings toward your neighbours, and specially dont give it away just bc somebody like me goes: umm!

look at the pic that ChinRey Parhelion posted and think: how could I make something like that work ?

then think about what if I made a little island that rises up above the water say 8 to 10 metres. Then the base of the island would be sandy textures blending in with the existing terrain and as it rises it would green on the top. Then I make my little zen place on top

so that when my neighbours see it then they see the way the island textures blend with the existing sandy terrain (which is the key to this kinda thing). And that it is a actual little island

have a look inworld at the seaside merchants places, they make all kinds of organic land shapes for this exact purpose. And then bc it is a island above sea level, other kinds of trees (not just palm and cabbage) can and do grow

basically there is a story to this island that is not OOC in the wider setting

keep it and keep building and keep thinking about it. You will be ok

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wherorangi wrote:

look at the pic that ChinRey posted and think: how could I make something like that work ?

As much as I'd love to steal the credits, it was Parhelion Palou who posted that lovely picture, not me. ;)

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Nalytha wrote:

Well, the guilt kind of started eating at me as well as the knowledge that my home looked like a noob made it. Well.. a noob did make it. So I put it up for sale. I might make a small profit.

Oh please don't sell only because you're afraid the neighbors may not like it. At least ask first.

What if the guy who bought most of the land did it not because he needed the land or the prims but simply to keep the eyesore makers away? That may very well be the case and if it is, I can promise you he's very happy to have you as a neighbor no matter what you may think of your build yourself.

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Sell if you want different land. It's not that big a deal, and it's way more fun to fit in to the surroundings than to try to construct a little patch of private paradise which always looks stupid when the cam pulls back.

Put another way: Ground-level screens are a very visible admission that you bought the wrong land.

After a while, though, you may get beyond aspiring to any particular "private paradise" and instead find it more fun to build the best contribution you can to the scene already surrounding whatever land you own.

(Screens are fine for a skybox, though, because the whole thing "always looks stupid when the cam pulls back." Except space stations, maybe.)

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Qie Niangao wrote:

Put another way: Ground-level screens are a very visible admission that you bought the wrong land.

I'm with Qie there. "Waht will the neighbor think" is not a good reason to sell but a privacy screen definitely is. A ground level privacy screen is really a last desperate solution. When you've spent ages of time and heartfulls of love developing your paradise and suddenly a monstrosity so huge and annoying you simply can't screen it off by other means pops up on the neighbor plot - that's when a privacy screen may make sense, but even then only after you've tried all other solutions.

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Just a FYI:  Very recently it became possible for private estate owners to buy the ability to have their tier reduced to the same level as mainland. So private land with convenants should be coming down in price a bit in some places. 

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I think you all raise some really good points, especially about fiting into the community instead of carving out my own little oasis. Perhaps I need to stick to a private parcel, like on an island if I can't find a community where I'd fit in. 

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ChinRey wrote:


wherorangi wrote:

look at the pic that ChinRey posted and think: how could I make something like that work ?

As much as I'd love to steal the credits, it was Parhelion Palou who posted that lovely picture, not me.
;)

eeps. Sorry about that Parhelion. I fix it

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Qie Niangao wrote:

.. it
more
fun to build the best contribution you can to the scene already surrounding whatever land you own.

(Screens are fine for a skybox, though, because the whole thing "always looks stupid when the cam pulls back." Except space stations, maybe.)

yes. Is way more fun, and is the joy of longstay mainlander builders

building in harmony with the land and in sympathy with the pre-existing neighbours. While at the same time adding little touches and flourishes that add to the diversity of expression in the area. I think that building is about storytelling, and pretty much all longstay mainlanders are into this as well

+

about the sky. Some thoughts to add to the mix

sometimes a person will enclose their skybox in a hollow sphere and then texture the outside of the sphere in a planet/moon/sun like texture. Sometimes the inside surface is transparent and sometimes internally it displays a different sky scene

this often sparks neighbours to do the same. And can end with all these little constellations of space bodies strung thru the sky. Is pretty cool when this happens

then what happens some people then start making Saturn-like planet exteriors, with rings and stuff and all kinds. So even more cool

 

i saw this really really cool thing a while ago now. And so simple to do

the person had a skybox city apartment which was contained in a hollow box. On the inside of the box they had a city scene textured. Like you do

then they enclosed the whole box in a hollow sphere. On the outside was a texture map of the Earth. And the texture rotated ever so slowly. It was timed to complete 1 rotation in a SL day

then outside this was another sphere with a semi-transparent weather texture. Clouds which also rotated in a random walk fashion. Was pretty cool. 2 prims and the neighbours had something other than a big black box to look at

is storytelling this. When live in the heavens what is it that we can reasonably expect to see. Celestial bodies (and/or spacey stuff like you mention already). Whats inslde theses bodies can be anything

 

 

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Well, this is what my neighbors did. As you can see, I'm selling the land. I tried to make it obvious to let him know if it means that much, he can buy it. 

Lesson learned. I don't think I will ever live on mainland again. I'll pay the extra price for private with a covenant. 



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