Will we see a a new LH theme the 13th February?

[Marianne Little]

The next Home and Garden Expo returns the 13th February, to 4th March 2020.

 @Patch Lindenhas not posted any teasers on his Flickr. It is less than a month to the Expo.

I have a bad feeling about this.... Will there be no new theme revealed then....? 🤨

[Elena Blossom]

I really hope so. It's true that Victorians has just been released, but I'd love to have at least a glimpse of what LL has in mind. By the way, do we have any news on the Super premium membership? I may have missed that one

[Chic Aeon]

12 minutes ago, Elena Core said:

I really hope so. It's true that Victorians has just been released, but I'd love to have at least a glimpse of what LL has in mind. By the way, do we have any news on the Super premium membership? I may have missed that one

Super Premium was said not to be announced until AFTER last names. No last names yet, so a while anyway.

[Alwin Alcott]

10 hours ago, Elena Core said:

 do we have any news on the Super premium membership? I may have missed that one

to be the first to say the obvious :  "soon" 

[Dune Ravenwood]

I found a secret sneak peek of one of the new styles of Linden Homes...

[Jadziyah Nova]

9 hours ago, Ziggy Starsmith said:

I found a secret sneak peek of one of the new styles of Linden Homes...

That's clearly Mount Doom, the dark lands of Mordor. I've heard of some Hobbits sneaking around the grounds. Logically then the new house theme is Hobbit Holes. I figured out the clues yall 😉

[Alwin Alcott]

1 minute ago, Jadziyah said:

That's clearly Mount Doom, the dark lands of Mordor. I've heard of some Hobbits sneaking around the grounds. Logically then the new house theme is Hobbit Holes. I figured out the clues yall 😉

ok...time to stop shaving feet and legs ...

[Marianne Little]

22 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

Super Premium was said not to be announced until AFTER last names. No last names yet, so a while anyway.

It sucks to wait, because I hoped SP would include some more land benefits. I am so ready for something new. It must be my short attention span.

[Nika Talaj]

23 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

 @Patch Lindenhas not posted any teasers on his Flickr. It is less than a month to the Expo.

I have a bad feeling about this.... Will there be no new theme revealed then....? 🤨

/me keeps her poker chips in her pocket when it comes to whether LL will introduce a theme.  Patch may have become a busy enough guy that he has less time for Flickr and playing around with us, giving hints.  I've seen him a few times in Belli's early morning chat recently, seems genial and relaxed, but busy.

It's possible that some moles are sequestered away building out a new theme somewhere.  The moles we see around daily sure are working like they're mainlining caffeine,  but even so they have enough right now to keep them busy through mid-Feb, don't you think?

 

[Chic Aeon]

7 minutes ago, Nika Talaj said:

/me keeps her poker chips in her pocket when it comes to whether LL will introduce a theme.  Patch may have become a busy enough guy that he has less time for Flickr and playing around with us, giving hints.  I've seen him a few times in Belli's early morning chat recently, seems genial and relaxed, but busy.

It's possible that some moles are sequestered away building out a new theme somewhere.  The moles we see around daily sure are working like they're mainlining caffeine,  but even so they have enough right now to keep them busy through mid-Feb, don't you think?

 

Remember there are (many?) less folks doing the same number of jobs at LL now (some that we KNOW are doing two previous jobs - some that we know are splitting up jobs from folks that have departed). So much to do ---  and anything that takes money OUT instead of bringing money IN is likely on the back burner.    I am still thinking March for anything significant to happen. Judging in part by what is more obvious in Sansar there are definitely NOT enough folks working at the moment.  Happily --- for me anyway, fps have been doing well in SL. I have seen 150 fps on the GROUND at my new place.  The "gray" is still an issue these last few weeks so likely some techie stuff is going on behind the scenes.   THAT is really more important (the stability thing) than getting new themes out.  IMO

[Marianne Little]

5 minutes ago, Nika Talaj said:

/me keeps her poker chips in her pocket when it comes to whether LL will introduce a theme.  Patch may have become a busy enough guy that he has less time for Flickr and playing around with us, giving hints.  I've seen him a few times in Belli's early morning chat recently, seems genial and relaxed, but busy.

It's possible that some moles are sequestered away building out a new theme somewhere.  The moles we see around daily sure are working like they're mainlining caffeine,  but even so they have enough right now to keep them busy through mid-Feb, don't you think?

 

I don't know, he has posted the other teasers very early. In October for the Victorians that was released for Christmas. I thought the Home and Garden Expo was in March. So I hoped for a new theme then and a release in Easter week.

After decorating trads, boats and Vics since April, it is like repeat, delete, repeat. I am having a down period in RL, so that may be causing my weariness with SL too.

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

12 hours ago, Ziggy Starsmith said:

I found a secret sneak peek of one of the new styles of Linden Homes...

So THIS is why they put my island near Pyri Peaks? It's going to be the new style...?

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

I'm open for a little wait.

If they add too many styles too fast, it gets a little attention diluted.

I am still seeing posts in the Citizen's group of people with Vics that don't work.

Better to let the community absorb all that - and for the massive number of new people to 'become part of the social dynamic' before adding a whole lot more again.

 

Notice how we seem to be spiking up a lot more of those 'Crazy Neighbor' issues lately? Since the last week of December, Bellisseria has nearly or actually doubled in size... that is a whole LOT of new folks that are not yet up to speed on the covenant. I hope we have some time for them to grow attached to rather than resent it... before doubling the community size again.

 

At the same time, if you look at a lot of estate land - it's rapidly vacating. Looked at Fruit Islands and Eden the other day when an alt got a notice on some rental prim I clicked on back in the Nixon era... so much of it is unclaimed now. Peruse other estates - likewise...

LL can now choose: lets the estates bite it... or give them time to adjust their business model and be relevant again, then letting the ones that don't play catch up bite it. I'm no fan of land barons and estates - but I think it might be better for SL as a whole if they get maybe another month to change their tier, covenants, and region layouts to be competitive. There ARE models that can compete with Linden Homes... and the estates not using those deserve to get shut down. But the ones that are willing and able to adjust also need a little lead time to do so.

 

TL:DR: I don't have any idea when the next style will get announced, but I think it should be later than February.

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap

[Dune Ravenwood]

I think the Home Expo in Feb will be when they release the last names but not a new home theme yet.

[Nika Talaj]

7 hours ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

At the same time, if you look at a lot of estate land - it's rapidly vacating. Looked at Fruit Islands and Eden the other day when an alt got a notice on some rental prim I clicked on back in the Nixon era... so much of it is unclaimed now. Peruse other estates - likewise...

LL can now choose: lets the estates bite it... or give them time to adjust their business model and be relevant again, then letting the ones that don't play catch up bite it. I'm no fan of land barons and estates - but I think it might be better for SL as a whole if they get maybe another month to change their tier, covenants, and region layouts to be competitive. There ARE models that can compete with Linden Homes... and the estates not using those deserve to get shut down. But the ones that are willing and able to adjust also need a little lead time to do so.

Yah.  I see that Eden is trying a new rental model of pre-configured homes, and The Grove is adjusting tier and customer relations.  Last year Grove put together a strategic partnership with Calas Caladon to leverage each other's entertainment contacts and budget.  I suppose an estate could compete with Linden Homes, but I don't think it's a matter of a month's time to adjust: I think you'd have to be a genius marketer.  It's LL's game, and if LL wants to continue letting Estates slowly dwindle, then that's what will happen.

I've spoken directly in the past to a couple of estate owners about Linden Homes.  They basically said the same thing: two things keep their estates afloat, excellent retention and new residents.  When LL created Linden Homes and then garrotted the Community Gateway program, the flow of new residents through estates dried up, and a long downhill slide commenced.  I don't know whether LL values the income they get from private estates; maybe they've decided that land sales channel can just disappear.  Of course, when it does, many estate residents will simply leave SL. 

Let me share a pipedream.

@Patch Linden  owns the 6-region tip of Sansara closest to North Bellisseria.  He has it for rent at a very high rate, presumably would only consider leasing it to someone whose project would be seen as enhancing mainland, Belli, or both.  I would LOVE to someone create a transition center there, a way for residents who outgrow Linden Homes (or who are looking for housing for any reason) to more smoothly transition to owning mainland or renting from an estate.  (Owning mainland is a pretty odd process, really.  I don't know if LL appreciates how much time Oxbridge instructors, other schools, and huge numbers of forum & other volunteers have spent over SL's history teaching noobs how to get land.)  Such a transition center could also provide space for estates to explain how renting in them works and pitch their various visions.  It could educate people interested in putting together and playing in RP regions.   It could basically present all SL housing options, succinctly and hopefully interactively.

This is not a well-thought-out idea, because I have a habit of spending time fleshing out doomed ideas, and I don't have time for that in my life anymore.

Anyway.  What's happening now seems like a slow estate strangulation, and it's sad to see.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Nika Talaj

[Marianne Little]

And I wonder what LL is going to do with all the unused Mainland. It is many 1024's under 1 L/square m. They will probably be abandoned when people can't pay tier any more. Bellisseria draws people from both estates and Mainland. I guess people are leaving Bellisseria too, when they are tired of Linden Homes. 

I am just waiting.... hoping there is news about Super Premium.

[Alwin Alcott]

9 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

And I wonder what LL is going to do with all the unused Mainland. It is many 1024's under 1 L/square m. They will probably be abandoned when people can't pay tier any more. Bellisseria draws people from both estates and Mainland. I guess people are leaving Bellisseria too, when they are tired of Linden Homes. 

I am just waiting.... hoping there is news about Super Premium.

just thoughts.. perhaps LL could turn the large abandoned regions in a kind of "stripped" Belli .. offering larger empty plots at waterways and sea to outgrown Belli residents

[Kat Shadow]

2 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

just thoughts.. perhaps LL could turn the large abandoned regions in a kind of "stripped" Belli .. offering larger empty plots at waterways and sea to outgrown Belli residents

I was having a similar thought about SP: landscaped plots without houses, larger LI allotment, but with a strict covenant. It'd be a popular idea, I think, but would the constant policing it'd take be worth it for the Lindens?

[Nika Talaj]

Of course, LL needs to define Super Premium so that it's Super for them as well as for us.  So what problems does LL have that SP could help with?  As you-all have been saying, the swathes of mainland lying fallow is certainly one problem.  The deal would have to be pretty good, and include strict covenant enforcement, for us to even consider it.  But covenant enforcement is labor intensive, as you say, Kitten.  I have trouble seeing LL signing up to do more of it.  And I REALLY can't see them hiring residents to do it, you know, a Mole Enforcement Brigade ... that way lies madness.

Another problem they MIGHT have (only LL has the numbers on this) is getting LH owners to keep premium memberships past one year.  I'd wager that very few LH owners are interested in using tier to acquire mainland.  Personally, I would pay more for a premium membership if I could transfer a home once a year from an alt!  Or, more likely, just transfer the alt's premium membership, along with the LH.  LL wouldn't lose anything on the deal, either the alt or Nika will fall back to basic when a year elapses.  It would just be nice to have Nika own her home. I would actually pay more for my mains' memberships if I could guarantee that both of them will end up with homes I like.

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 minutes ago, Nika Talaj said:

Another problem they MIGHT have (only LL has the numbers on this) is getting LH owners to keep premium memberships past one year. 

As we come up to April, when the first homes were released, some of the folks that took multiple accounts to Premium for the house hunt, may very well relinquish some/many of the extras.  While some folks went ahead and took advantage of one or both of the early renewal deals, especially for some of the home owning alts, I have no doubt there are plenty that didn't.

[Raspberry Crystal]

11 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

As we come up to April, when the first homes were released, some of the folks that took multiple accounts to Premium for the house hunt, may very well relinquish some/many of the extras.

I'm thinking that this would be a good time for LL to offer another annual deal of some sort?

[Sister Nova]

3 minutes ago, Raspberry Crystal said:

I'm thinking that this would be a good time for LL to offer another annual deal of some sort?

Didn't they just have a lower price offer for annual? Was only a month ago if I remember rightly.

I made two alts premium in addition to this a/c in order to have different themed Linden Homes. But their 1024's are now donated to my land group and being spent on the mainland. The next step up in my tier allowance is quite costly so I'll probably renew their premium as I've no intention of reducing my land holdings. I can even see one of them starting to pay tier for more to be donated to the group too  .

My name is Walpurgisnacht, and I'm a land addict

[Garnet Psaltery]

21 hours ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

LL can now choose: lets the estates bite it... or give them time to adjust their business model and be relevant again, then letting the ones that don't play catch up bite it. I'm no fan of land barons and estates - but I think it might be better for SL as a whole if they get maybe another month to change their tier, covenants, and region layouts to be competitive. There ARE models that can compete with Linden Homes... and the estates not using those deserve to get shut down.

Well, thank you for saying I deserve to get shut down.  That really makes my day.  I already run at a loss and it's all about to break me.  Take the letters after E and T.

[LittleMe Jewell]

11 minutes ago, Walpurgisnacht said:

My name is Walpurgisnacht, and I'm a land addict

I have 4 Linden Homes and a Mainland plot - and I pay monthly tier to for part of the mainland.

 

[Evangeline Arcadia]

15 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

I don't know whether LL values the income they get from private estates; maybe they've decided that land sales channel can just disappear.  Of course, when it does, many estate residents will simply leave SL.

LL said last year in some interview (can't remember which or where now) that they were shifting away from making income from land to other stuff (I think more along the 'goods' line, marketplace, content etc.).

I would love to own more land, but the cost of tier prevents me (what with the price of Premium going up). Had to give up some land last year, and may have to later this year too:(  If LL could make tier cheaper I'd certainly get more/keep what I currently have going forward.  I love making spaces like parks and galleries. It's a shame to see all the abandoned land that's around, and considering what residents are likely to spend on content to furnish their land, whether with property, goods or landscaping, it benefits LL in the end. I have a really big inventory of stuff I bought for my park and galleries in the past.

I really think some thinking outside the box probably needs to be done to address it.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Evangeline Arcadia