How many chalets is enough?

Matthieu Quander · April 28, 2021

9 hours ago, Mercedes Avon said:

I have deja vu.

Yep. I'm sure it will be brought up again with the next theme, if not sooner, but this poor dead horse has taken a thorough beating. These are many of the same comments I have made previously, but since the same complaints are being repeated, I may as well join the discussion...again.

The system is fair, as the same rules apply to everyone. I suspect many of you are not strangers to playing gacha. Claiming a Linden Home is the same thing. The more rolls you make, the greater your chances of getting a rare. You may get lucky and get one on your first or second try, but the odds are against it. What many don't seem to understand is that this would be the case even without the alt armies. I would even go so far to say that the alt armies actually make it easier to get a parcel on a new region because they grab all the abandoned homes to keep them out of the queue. Of course, you have to be aware of when that is happening, but it isn't difficult if you are willing to put in the time. My partner and I got our lakefront log home on Brichester this way, by simply grabbing one at the right time.

I sympathize with those who are frustrated, but look at the bright side. All of those premium alts help keep SL going. There really isn't any incentive for LL to change how the process works, as it would likely lead to fewer accounts, and thus, less income. Also, it increases demand, which means they have to build more homes, which means more areas for all of us to explore and enjoy, and possibly even better parcels to grab.

Additionally, the alt armies release a lot of really nice parcels all the time. They rarely hold anything for too long. This means that while you may miss out on a nice parcel when it initially becomes available, you will likely get another shot at it. If it had gone to someone who wants to live there permanently, you may never have another opportunity. For some of you, that would be okay, just as long as the alt armies aren't getting everything, but for others, the complaint would change form "the alt armies get all the good parcels" to "I never get anything good."

As for the complaints that they are only decorating the outside and aren't using the homes, I do not really understand this complaint. There have always been a large number of claimed Linden Homes that go completely undecorated and rarely used, if at all. Sure, we'd all love to have friendly neighbors who enjoy spending time at their Linden Homes and decorating them with exquisite taste, but those people are rare. Given the option of living next to an empty home or one with objectionable décor, I'll happily take the absent neighbor every time. If they happen to build a nice garden to improve my view, all the better.

Lest any of you get the wrong idea, I am not a fan of a single person claiming the majority of parcels on a newly released region. I'm simply pointing out that they are not the reason that you aren't getting the parcels you want, and that they do actually provide a benefit for all of us if you look at it objectively. I personally have 5 premium accounts because I love the challenge of decorating the Linden Homes, and I don't want to immediately delete my builds to start new ones. I usually keep one alt available for playing GoH, but the others all have homes. And while I do reuse some items in multiple homes, no two are ever decorated the same.

I know it isn't easy to be appreciative of what we have when other people seem to get everything they want, but honestly, there are a lot of absolutely lovely Linden Homes that become available in the queue every day. Too many of you are focused on obtaining the perfect parcel instead of making the parcel you have perfect.

Sorry for all the words. I'll stop now.

Trinity Blakewell · April 28, 2021

I have given this situation some more thought in the last few days. I have come to the conclusion that ultimately, it doesn't matter what those of us who aren't into the massive home accumulation think or feel. Linden Labs has elected not to restrict people from accumulating tons of alts and dominating new home regions.

I think a mistake many of us have been making is believing, in lieu of any regulation, we can actually appeal to the people who are doing this. But there are challenges with trying to persuade people by appealing to them.

Generally speaking, for an appeal based on logic to work in persuading someone, there has to be common agreement regarding the validity of evidence and claims. I would guess the thing in dispute logically is how disruptive it is to the rest of us, with the people doing this claiming that 1) house assignment is still random, and 2) whenever a house is released, people have a shot at it. So in their minds it doesn't matter how many houses they swoop in and accumulate.

Then there's the appeals based on ethics. In order for those arguements to be successful in persuasion, there has to be common ground ethically. In today's culture, there is less and less common ground ethnically, in my opinion. For some people, thinking of others and being considerate is a strong value, but others have a perspective that as long as they are not actively harming someone (sometimes even their own definition of what that means), it is fine to do as they wish.

In this case, the massive house accumulators do not see anything ethically wrong with what they are doing, and the rest of us believe it is ethically wrong. No common ground, as far as I can see.

Thirdly is the appeals based on emotion. The thing is, unless there are shared ethics and values, how can appeals based on emotion be persuasive? Attempting to guilt people into changing their actions typically backfires and it certainly has been ineffective in this situation.

One other thing I considered is beyond the Linden Homes terms of service/rules, we don't really have a community charter or guidelines. We know that our decor outside is supposed to be in theme and that adult activity needs to be inside of homes, not outside. But beyond the terms of service, there isn't really a common agreement on what it means to be a part of the community.

Eventually, I see the likelihood that this situation will come to a head when someone attempts a scheme to exploit the massive home ownership for profit through using a group, in order to circumvent the "no home rental" policy in the TOS.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Trinity1776

Milk Pixelmaid · April 28, 2021

No one is using groups to circumvent rental policy. Why rent when you can just get your own free Linden Home? There really is no money to be made. Someone isn’t going to want to pay even the stipend to live in one when they can get their own house AND stipend on their own. This kind of thinking or speculation sows mistrust and discord in the community. So let’s not think that.

Kristin Linden · April 28, 2021

Hey folks! It's that time again for another friendly reminder now that I've cleaned this thread up again.

Please remember to remain on topic and keep any personal gripes, disputes, bickering, etc, off of the forums. If you have an issue with someone you have two options:

1.Take it elsewhere.

2. Drop it entirely.

Continuing to make jabs at one another only serves to derail threads further, and could result in disciplinary action. Soo...as I always say

Sylvia Tamalyn · April 28, 2021

18 minutes ago, Milk Pixelmaid said:

No one is using groups to circumvent rental policy. Why rent when you can just get your own free Linden Home? There really is no money to be made. Someone isn’t going to want to pay even the stipend to live in one when they can get their own house AND stipend on their own. This kind of thinking or speculation sows mistrust and discord in the community. So let’s not think that.

Although I don't think there are any rental deals going on, I would point out that in order for one to get a "free" Linden Home, one has to pay for a Premium membership. There's your market for rentals: the folks who don't want to pay that fee (the same folks who rent on private regions or on Mainland).

Tamara Adored · April 28, 2021

So the original question was ‘how many chalets is enough’? Trying to follow instructions & keep on topic I’d say it’s like saying ‘how long is a piece of string’ or ‘how much coastal mainland is enough’? Only the people involved can answer that. The Lindens have provided homes. We all want that perfect spot but they aren’t miracle workers & they can’t cater for each & every one of us. I have one Linden home that some would love, some would not. I can see why house hoarding annoys but the reality is if you could afford it you’d probably do it too, just to find that perfect house. Nothing lasts forever. One day they’ll get bored & move on.

Trinity Blakewell · April 28, 2021

2 minutes ago, Tamara Adored said:

I can see why house hoarding annoys but the reality is if you could afford it you’d probably do it too, just to find that perfect house.

Nope. In addition to the money, it's too much time and energy.

A few scenarios I can envision for someone attempting a rental scheme. (all of these would violate TOS)

1) In-demand property. On the water, with a good view, with access to the ocean. Someone could pick up as many of these properties as they could find and then rent them out to others at a premium rate.

2) Fully furnished homes. Part of the cost of having a Linden Home in SL is the premium membership, but another part of the cost is acquiring virtual home furnishings. Someone could rent out properties that they had already furnished.

3) Renting multiple low-prim-limit skyboxes on one property.

4) Renting for "hard" currency instead of Linden Dollars, through another pay service.

5) House-sharing.

Milk Pixelmaid · April 28, 2021

24 minutes ago, Trinity1776 said:

Nope. In addition to the money, it's too much time and energy.

A few scenarios I can envision for someone attempting a rental scheme. (all of these would violate TOS)

1) In-demand property. On the water, with a good view, with access to the ocean. Someone could pick up as many of these properties as they could find and then rent them out to others at a premium rate.

2) Fully furnished homes. Part of the cost of having a Linden Home in SL is the premium membership, but another part of the cost is acquiring virtual home furnishings. Someone could rent out properties that they had already furnished.

3) Renting multiple low-prim-limit skyboxes on one property.

4) Renting for "hard" currency instead of Linden Dollars, through another pay service.

5) House-sharing.

The enterprising will always find a way but they also risk losing their account so.. is a few bucks worth it? Doubt anyone is going this route, seriously. Too many disgruntled people in Bellisseria waiting to report each other for rental scheme to remain in secret for long.

Nika Talaj · April 28, 2021

50 minutes ago, Trinity1776 said:

Nope. In addition to the money, it's too much time and energy.

A few scenarios I can envision for someone attempting a rental scheme. (all of these would violate TOS)

Long ago, I ran a few numbers on rental schemes. I couldn't see anybody renting LHs just for the money - there really isn't enough to be made, and it would be quite a bit of work. Occupancy would have to be very high, so high that if you didn't rent a property out every month you'd get rid of it. And that does not fit the pattern of acquisition/usage that I observed.

I could MAYBE see a person who loves GOH finding properties for a 'finders fee', where the person who wants the home loans the hunter a premium alt until the hunter finds an appropriate property, at which time they are paid a fee and the account password is changed. Maybe a certain amount of decor would be bought/provided, for an additional fee. That would explain the usage of many of the best full-perm items that I sometimes see on these types of properties. But again, the amount of money changing hands doesn't seem likely to me to be large enough to bother, unless the hunter really LOVES the GOH.

Which many Belli residents do (only a few of whom are on the forums).

PrudenceAnton · April 28, 2021

I'll put my 2 little cents worth in here. The question: "How many chalets is enough?"

Someone could also rephrase this as how many Linden Premium homes is enough for one person?

The issue doesn't really seem to be how many homes any one person (or group of friends) has, but the location of their Linden home premium properties. It is a lot like the Lotto, you roll the numbers and you might get lucky and hit the jackpot. But most of us settle for a small prize or even another ticket to play again.

With Linden premium homes, some of us tend to forget what our membership states we'll each receive from Linden Labs when you pay for a premium membership.

Premium Member Benefits
Benefits Include

Weekly L$300 stipend*
L$1000 sign-up bonus** for first-time Premium Account subscribers
Priority entry when regions are full of avatars
1024m² tier allotment for use towards a Linden Home (subject to availability) or a parcel on the Mainland
Expanded live-chat customer support
Premium virtual gifts
Exclusive access to Premium areas and experiences
Increased cap on missed IMs
Increased group membership limits
Voice Morphing

Each premium member is allowed to receive 1 Linden Premium home per account (subject to availability). Linden Labs does not promise or guarantee any of us a special plot that some find ideal, and others might not. It's all on personal taste and preference. There are really no bad Bellisseria home locations. But yes, there are some that are better than others and preferred by residents to gain. Sometimes we are beating a dead horse to complain over and over again. Keep trying, you'll find a nice location you like, unless you are setting your expectation and standards too high, then you'll be left with a lot of disappointment, sadly. Bellisseria is a great community. Search the Bellisseria groups, make some new friends. No one has to feel alone on this vast continent if they wish to have that community of neighbors they can enjoy and fill some of their SL time with.

Sparkle Bunny · April 28, 2021

1 hour ago, Milk Pixelmaid said:

The enterprising will always find a way but they also risk losing their account so.. is a few bucks worth it?

If you have fifty accounts, losing one is neither here nor there, really. And if you have fifty premiums you're not landlording for the money (you don't need the money) but... I don't know, to be honest, maybe the power, maybe a pathological compulsion to own ALL THE HOUSES, maybe to show off that you can afford ALL THE HOUSES, maybe just to annoy the peasants who can only afford ten, or five, or one.

I'm kind of surprised this blew up over the chalets rather than the stilts but that is the only thing which surprises me about any of this.

Matthieu Quander · April 28, 2021

32 minutes ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

If you have fifty accounts, losing one is neither here nor there, really. And if you have fifty premiums you're not landlording for the money (you don't need the money) but... I don't know, to be honest, maybe the power, maybe a pathological compulsion to own ALL THE HOUSES, maybe to show off that you can afford ALL THE HOUSES, maybe just to annoy the peasants who can only afford ten, or five, or one.

I'm kind of surprised this blew up over the chalets rather than the stilts but that is the only thing which surprises me about any of this.

It did blow up over the stilts...and the vics...and probably the logs.

Sparkle Bunny · April 28, 2021

3 minutes ago, Matthieu Quander said:

It did blow up over the stilts...and the vics...and probably the logs.

Oh, I was here for the Vics. Had to mute a whole bunch of people over it. I don't think the stilts caused quite as much fuss as they did.

Bela Tolsen · April 28, 2021

@PrudenceAnton Yes! this is it! Also I'd like to reinforce that each premium account can give you mainland sqm OR a LH. But unfortunately I have to agree with @Sparkle Bunny about the pathological compulsion to have ALL the houses. And thats the main issue here. Thats why so many complaining and whining and cryings and in my case, vents. And @Trinity1776 also wrote brilliant about it. And about the "few scenarios" we are here long enough to dont doubt a thing.

Fact is, we all know what TOS cover and what it doesnt cover. We all know what we can and what we can but shouldnt. Even the ones that couldnt care less, they know. Everybody knows.

Fay Starlight · April 29, 2021

I love linden houses. My favorite are the TRADS! Tried them all--all the themes, and excited to see new ones! These new chalets are pretty cute though, and the features are even better than ever, as are the floorplans. My dream place would be a new Elderglen--Hobbit homes, caves, fairies, the whole works!

Yes, I do have an "alt army" I guess, but I don't know who decides the boundaries of what constitutes an alt army. To some five may be too many, maybe to others even one? Seems impossible to sort out. I have a feeling it will be one more than what everyone themselves has. So if you have five then six is a no-no etc. LOL

I have been using my "alt army" to try to help break into "uncharted territory" for weeks now.

I have some friends and they are doing it with me, combining their "alt armies" big or small.

Anyone is welcome to try to help/join. The concept is not complicated and or one sided. We just roll our alts to try to overflow into the next region. We have no control over who gets what if anything.

My end game is to break open new areas, not just to get the ultimate house. Of course we all hope that we might. That would be nice! (I usually don't! LOL)

I have four chalets-- and yes ONLY the gardens are in development. They are on Chaily (recently deleted the garden), Averhoff and Leuchtkaefer (hope I spelled that correctly lol, it means Firefly in German according to my Austrian friend). I won't keep them all in the end. I am trying to decide if one of them is the one for me or not.

Too many homes scatters my creativity so I can't keep THAT many. I consider all the ones I have now temporary (across themes) as I am still playing along.

The garden/outside is the most important part to me. I won't waste my time on the interior if I may toss and shuffle houses any second. I often put so many prims into the gardens that I can't complete the inside. LOL

I enjoy putting out colorful flowers, and standing on the lot to appreciate the colors, light, sound. Some places just have a better "vibe" to me, and some I feel there might be something there, but I might have to play around a little to see if it gonna work or not to suit me.

I love seeing everyone else's homes, especially the ones with a lot of talent, and there are many people out there with enormous talent to decorate. To me these little houses are like little digital works of art. Some of you are amazing artists, but we all are in our own way here.

Would I love a perfect house? Sure, as I think we all would. Do I have a perfect house, I don't know, but seriously I don't think so. Does anyone? If you ask me it depends on each person to make their house perfect. I find good and bad things in most all the houses I claim. I either work around the irksome stuff or move on.

I think someone else here nailed it when they said the more alts the better the odds. Yes very true! Most of the ones I claim are not the most desired, lol. Total strangers can benefit by my losing. lol

It has happened, but it is rare that I land multiple good spots on a place. I almost always pick one and let the rest go very quickly. I might hold one a day or so to toss when a friend has tries. Sometimes it's hard to decide between two and so also delays it a little.

Overall it is true my luck usually fails me, it's actually very true and still I press on

All houses I claimed yesterday were returned, and so forth each day, as I shuffle along looking for a new garden to plant in maybe a new exciting place.

It can be irksome to want something and not get it. I understand that, I have felt that same annoying disappointment many times. In my case it might even feel worse if you upped your odds and still failed as I have many times as I have. LOL

In closing I will tell you what disappoints me the most. Having secured a nice spot that I decided to leave, and then seeing someone else unlock the potential that I flippantly overlooked.

That is a strange feeling.

On one hand I love to see it, and on the other I feel a bit silly for missing what they saw. LOL

But there is always new houses coming, and "new old" houses out there to try for.

Sylvia Tamalyn · April 29, 2021

Random thought: Whenever someone claims an entire new region by flooding it with their alts, I keep picturing the Wicked Witch releasing her winged monkeys, and it makes me laugh. "Now fly! Fly!" 😂

Evangeline Ling · April 29, 2021

Personally I'm going to take a pass on participating in any form of gaming the system to force regions into the queue quicker. To me that sounds self defeating. Most of those homes will not be kept so in the end we are still left with an accumulation of mediocre abandons that everyone keeps tossing back in. And since we "broke into new territory" over and over again with "alt armies" the number of mediocre abandons increases thereby once again frustrating the more casual user who has neither the time nor the money to join in on gaming the system.

And this is just a commentary on the Chalets themselves, I think this criticism applies also to the Stilt homes as well... TOO MANY HOMES PER REGION... Either of these themes I feel like a sardine in a can. Space them out a little more Linden Labs. How about 20 homes per region as an average rather then an obnoxious 24.

Ok off of my tangent and back to my main point. I reject any thought or argument that somehow the alt armies are doing anyone a favor. It is the exact opposite.

I'll keep rolling for homes with my puny assortment of strange looking alts. I will play the long patient slow game I know that patience does eventually prevail. But for now I'm giving up on Chalets altogether, may even toss the one I do have and go back to an older theme. I feel too much like a sardine in those chalets and I have other reasons too why I no longer like that theme.