Your Winter Holiday Home at the Confederation of Democratic Simulators

[Tor Karlsvalt]

Don’t miss out on a beautiful winter holiday on one of the most beautiful alpine estates of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators.   A list of  available parcels is online at: https://www.casperpanel.com/rentals/EBqr62nTckP1ooQw/available.

Marvelous and private alpine parcels abound on full regions of Neufreistadt and Alpine Meadow.  Similar choice parcels can be found on Friedsee and Monastery regions.  Start your explorations in Alpine Meadow.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Alpine Meadow/63/180/56.  Available land is clearly marked or use the world map.  Land for sale is marked in yellow.   

Land ownership confers citizenship in SL’s oldest democratically organized sim.  Residents administer all aspects of the sim, from landscaping, building of public areas and estate management.   Many opportunities exist  for participation and expanding your knowledge of Second Life without owning a full sim.

The Confederation of Democratic Simulators is among the oldest SL communities.  It was founded in 2004.  The regions are are designed with an alpine or Italian theme with many parcel sizes to choose from.   Many parcels have a prim/LI bonus and are surrounded by extensive public land.  Since June 2022, we have been located in the Eduverse and encourage educational pursuits among our citizens and by supporting a viable democracy in Second Life.  

The common language is English, but members come from all over the world to take part in this cooperative.   Start your journey at Neufreistadt and wander down one of SL's most impressive mountains. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Neufreistadt/160/181/173.

Our tier is monthly and the best value in SL.  For the money, CDS is a wonderful value.   Monthly tier is comparable to what you pay for a week on other estates.  Our focus is to build a community. We welcome visitorsand we offer paths and roads for hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling.  Even if you are not looking for land, enjoy our extensive public area and buildings.  Some have secret passages for you to explore.  Please don’t get lost during the holidays.  We can’t guarantee a rescue party. While you explore some our beautiful public buildings, take a moment to investigate our unique organization at our website:  https://cdsdemocracy.org.  We are a citizen owned and governed sim and land ownership confers citizenship.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Tor Karlsvalt

[Moon Adamant]

I have joined the CDS back in 2006 and have lived at the CDS sims ever since. There is no other community in SL I’d rather live at. The neighbours, the friends, the vibrant community – that’s why I have been there for 16 years… and counting 😊 I like to build, do SL photography and to create mixed-media art, and the CDS sims are a constant medium and inspiration.

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

There are the original winter regions — seriously! Back in 2004, Linden Lab has just invented the concept of 'snow regions', and launched a challenge: come up with a novel idea to use these brand-new winter-themed regions!

The original founders of the CDS accepted the challenge, and the return was the city of Neufreistadt — now one of the full regions in the CDS. The incredible height of the mountains are a flawless copy of one of the original Linden Lab 'winter regions' — a copy made back then by the 'Lab themselves — and therefore sports one of the highest mountains in Second Life, on top of which is a medieval city (with some post-modern buildings) above the (old) cloud layer.

Now close to the Eduverse cluster of islands — where academics and educators showcase their training and informational projects in SL — the CDS has something unique to offer (besides cheap plots and its community!): Democracy. Much neglected these days, the CDS showed that you can create long-lived projects, remaining around the grid, uninterrupted, even long, long after their original founders (well... except for one) have left. The secret for that longevity? Representative democracy and the peaceful transfer of power: every six months, we elect our officials that run the CDS, within a system with bounds and checks. There is no 'owner' setting the rules, nor even a 'friendly gang of oligarchs', nor even a 'benevolent dictator' who only wants the best for their tier-paying customers. Instead, the community elects their own representatives and make their own rules (so long as they abide by the Linden Lab ToS, obviously). If someone doesn't like them, or disagrees with the way things are done, they don't even need to go away and grumble in protest: instead, they can run for the next elections, gather a majority of votes, and run the regions as they see fit! (There are term limits, too, because we all know the old adage that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... so, aye, there is always a degree of rotativity among the community's elected officials)

There are no 'perfect' forms of government — we all know that from real life, and Second Life obviously isn't different, since, after all, we're all humans, no matter how our avatar looks like. However, just like in real life, we have shown that a representative democracy with a peaceful transfer of power is the 'best' of all the 'bad systems' to run a long-lived community — if, of course, we want to have everybody's interest into account, while still giving us enough flexibility to change the rules to better fit with the ever-changing nature of SL (and RL!). That is true of the real world as well, and there is no reason to believe that it shouldn't work in Second Life.

Well, the CDS is still around — even beyond their founders' wildest dreams, who would gladly have settled for 'just ten years' of uninterrupted existence. We're now close to our second decade, and the democratic model — which naturally enough has changed over time! — still shows that it has the ability to adapt itself to whatever the present (or the future!) might throw at us!

On the other hand, one of the founder's plans to take over the (virtual) world didn't work out :-) The CDS grows as slowly as SL itself (perhaps even slower!) and is always operating within a very constrained budget — at the current prices, there is no much margin left. But on the other hand, the CDS is not around to make a landowner rich — there are plenty of other for-profit communities around. Rather, we're happy if we can pay all tier to Linden Lab and save a little bit every month to pay for events and improvements for the community, and, with luck, stash away a few US$ to think about whatever might be next region...

Oh, and for many weird and historic reasons, each region is themed slightly differently. From the Alpine heights of cold Neufreistadt to the pleasant beaches of Locus Amoenus, the CDS offers different views, different styles of buildings, an ever-changing landscape, adequate for different styles of users — from those requiring just a far-away remote place with a gorgeous vista, where they can be left alone to their building or scripting tasks, to those who prefer the wild and crazy urban life in densely-packed neighbourhoods — or anything in between. The themes and styles have not been 'written in stone' by some Higher Authority: they are subject to revision and change by the community itself (and, indeed, they tend to get adapted over the years, as the population changes, new citizens come up with their own ideas and projects and get them voted upon, and so forth). It just happens that change is not drastic. Democracy, after all, is more about Evolution than Revolution: things change, subtly and over time, but you can literally wake up the next day knowing that the sun will rise from the same spot as the day before.

Unless, of course, the community voted to change that — but it won't come as a surprise: you'd have been given lots of opportunities to discuss, both spontaneously in public, during in-world meetings, and on the official CDS forums. Like in real life, democracy is not fast-paced, giving everybody the time they need to adapt to changes, if those are forthcoming...

[Rosie Gray]

If you are looking for a community where you can put down some virtual roots, get to know people, and contribute in various ways, then the CDS is a truly great place to be.  There are plenty of beautiful communities in Second Life, but one that is governed by the people that choose to live there is rare indeed.

[Tor Karlsvalt]

Check out these wonderful offerings in Alpine Meadow.  Beautiful parcels set on one of SL's largest private mountains.  Grand vistas of the lowlands before you, and towering peaks above you.  

BS1 Alpine Meadow, L$6243 monthly tier, 1536 sq.m.,1406 prims

AT2 Alpine Meadow, L$4156 monthly tier, 1024 sq.m., 936 prims

AT1 Alpine Meadow,L$4156 monthly tier, 1024 sqm., 936 prims

CS2 Alpine Meadow, L$4156 monthly tier, 1024 sq.m., 936 prims

CS1 Alpine Meadow, L$4156 monthly tier, 1024 sq.m., 936 prims

 

All our parcels are listed here.

For more information about our unique community go to our website at www.cdsdemocracy.org.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tor Karlsvalt

[Garnet Psaltery]

I've just taken a parcel in Alpine Meadow after years away, and had a walk around the regions.  CDS is looking beautiful, which must be from some hard work by the landscapers and gardeners.  I've also had a wonderful welcome back; a place where people remember you says much about community - and possibly tolerance.  

[Tor Karlsvalt]

Here are some more offerings in our alpine Regions of Neufreistadt and Freidsee.   Neufreistadt is an historical region of Second Life, having been the result of the Neualtenburg Project begun in the Snowlands at Anzere.  Feidsee is a wonderful alpine community rising above a lake.  

P170 Neufreistadt, L$3699 monthly tier, 1456 sq.m., 666 prims

P110 Neufreistadt, L$1301 monthly tier, 512 sq.m., 234 prims

P160 Neufreistadt, L$2114 monthly tier, 832 sq.m., 380 prims

Friedsee 5, L$1259 monthly tier, 832 sq.m., 189 prims.

Friedsee 6, L$2677 monthly tier, 1760 sq.m., 402 prims

Friedsee 1, L$2138 monthly tier, 1408 sq.m., 321 prims

[Love Zhaoying]

Love the name of your Confederation, it sounds like something a group of intelligentsia could come up with!!

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

On 1/1/2023 at 11:25 PM, Love Zhaoying said:

Love the name of your Confederation, it sounds like something a group of intelligentsia could come up with!!

/me *blushes*

... well, that's what we are.

In a way.

Not so seriously as it sounds!

And, in the good democratic spirit, the name was chosen from several others through a referendum. I remember distinctly voting against this proposal. Alas! The name stuck, 15 years ago, and now I guess it's way too late to change it, anyway.