Overcoming Addiction??

[Elena Blossom]

The main reason why I stay in Bellisseria is the covenant; if I could find a really nice region in Mainland, with protected areas built among residents, where I'd for sure neighbors are respectful and nobody is going to rezz some ugly prim building/ black obelisks, it would be easier for me to leave some of my homes behind.

Campbell Coast was a bit like that, but it is gone now, and I really cannot trust any of the other sims I've found. 

[Leora Greenwood]

Just now, Elena Core said:

The main reason why I stay in Bellisseria is the covenant; if I could find a really nice region in Mainland, with protected areas built among residents, where I'd for sure neighbors are respectful and nobody is going to rezz some ugly prim building/ black obelisks, it would be easier for me to leave some of my homes behind.

Campbell Coast was a bit like that, but it is gone now, and I really cannot trust any of the other sims I've found. 

I totally understand; aside from my recent fascination with small waterlots, I have very happily rented a half region in the Gulls Wing Community for years and years.   https://www.gullswing.com/rentals.php   I think you can only find the lovely and protected area you are looking for in a private estate like Gulls Wing.

[Elena Blossom]

4 minutes ago, Leora Greenwood said:

I totally understand; aside from my recent fascination with small waterlots, I have very happily rented a half region in the Gulls Wing Community for years and years.   https://www.gullswing.com/rentals.php   I think you can only find the lovely and protected area you are looking for in a private estate like Gulls Wing.

Thanks Leora, I'll check that!!! . Yes, renting might be the solution for me, or getting a sim with friends. That way I could recreate as many LH as I want

[Elora Lunasea]

I have 3 now. That's down from, let us just say, a lot more. Downgraded all but 2 alts, plus me.

I have a stilt I got in the initial opening which is so perfect, I can't bare to let it go. I think it's the longest I've kept a home here, ever. I haven't even changed the decor I love it so much as is.

Then a traditional in a high spot, overlooking houseboats and a lighthouse. These higher parcels with beautiful views really are a favorite. Very private parcel. Have not gotten around to doing anything with it yet, but eventually will. This one, belonged to an alt I downgraded due to her year being up, and somehow, the Linden gods were looking upon me when I attempted to get it with another one of my alts. I couldn't believe I landed it again. 

Last is a houseboat. Nice location, suits my sailing and privacy needs (or as private as a houseboat can be). It's about half decorated, maybe not even that. 

The only reason I found it possible to let all the others go (including probably the most perfect Log home location like, ever) is because Ghosty and I bought a homestead and I'm there more often than not. I couldn't see keeping all those alts in addition to the cost of our home land. If a new home style arrives that suits me I won't feel bad giving up the houseboat for it. Options are open.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Elora Lunasea

[Hedy Heartsong]

On 1/6/2023 at 5:29 PM, Teresa Firelight said:

So what is the secret to getting oneself down to a small number... say two??

I think about the other things I'd like to spend some of my entertain budget on.  

[Marisa Starbrook]

8 hours ago, Leora Greenwood said:

I totally understand; aside from my recent fascination with small waterlots, I have very happily rented a half region in the Gulls Wing Community for years and years.   https://www.gullswing.com/rentals.php   I think you can only find the lovely and protected area you are looking for in a private estate like Gulls Wing.

Before Bellisseria, I always rented on private estates, because of the covenants. I never could warm to Mainland.

[Annie Evergreen]

I just let 2 linden homes go back up for grabs today. Having some serious talks with myself about downgrading accounts and using the money saved to pay down some bills. Got a couple coming up for renewal between now and spring. Right now all I have is a 512 mainland, testing to see if my alts can live on it. Game of Homes has been the main activity for the past couple of years, and I need to see if there's something else to interest me in SL.

[Marianne Little]

9 hours ago, Hedy Heartsong said:

I think about the other things I'd like to spend some of my entertain budget on.  

Clothes... shoes... hairssssssss for me and my alts. 👢🩱👠👗

[diamond Marchant]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:29 PM, Teresa Firelight said:

So what is the secret to getting oneself down to a small number... say two??

May I say that the Teresa homes I have visited are lovely.

I also am "stuck" in the 4 to 5 range (plus a bunch of mainland). My primary enjoyment (brain chemical?) from these homes comes from modding/decorating/landscaping. I find that if I keep redoing/updating/improving the properties I hold, it  diminishes my desire to increase the number of homes or mainland parcels. Changing things for the holidays or seasons also helps.

[Teresa Firelight]

3 hours ago, diamond Marchant said:

May I say that the Teresa homes I have visited are lovely.

Thank you !!

[Freddie Venus]

I have three premiums, me and two alts. My log house owned by an alt ( he does nothing except log in occassionally) I've had for over 2 years now because it is my perfect spot and I had a Vic in Poole up until a couple of days ago for a year and a bit. It was a great spot however I grew bored and wanted to try out the new houseboat styles. After two days rolling I got a houseboat in what I call central Bellisseria and it's great. I love the new models. I also have a trad set up as a public house which belongs to my more well known alt (lol) and troublemaker. It's in a really good place along the small river leading to the fairgrounds so it's a keeper.TBH I could easily make another alt and go rolling again but I have to resist lol. 

 

I can understand the addiction to GOH because it is fun to gamble and see what's out there. 

[Freddie Venus]

18 hours ago, Marisa Starbrook said:

Before Bellisseria, I always rented on private estates, because of the covenants. I never could warm to Mainland.

Me too

[Matthieu Quander]

I don't see how any of you can have the perfect Houseboat, Stilt Home, or Log Home locations when I have all of those. 

I have keepers in the three themes noted above.  I have a fourth Premium Account for hopping, trying new themes (or retrying old ones), and grabbing content packs.  I also use it for major remodeling add-on builds when I don't want to tear down my keepers until I have everything finalized. 

I have had as many as five Premium Accounts, but don't see myself going that high again.  Four is already more than I need, but it's hard to let them go once I have put so much labor and love into a build.  Everyone has a different situation.  I don't consider mine addiction.  It's more of a difficulty in letting things go.  As long as I can afford it and I get enjoyment from it, I see no reason to change anything.  

[Elena Blossom]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:18 AM, Marisa Starbrook said:

Before Bellisseria, I always rented on private estates, because of the covenants. I never could warm to Mainland.

And you avoid the risk of getting one of those black obelisks next door. They are just everywhere, apart from Belli and private regions.  

Edited January 9, 2023 by Elena Core

[Trinity Blakewell]

I think the idea about thoroughly documenting the build is a really good one. It helps with closure, and is an acknolodgement/memorial to your creative endeavor in furnishing the home.

Personally, I've only had one LH most of the time. I had gotten one under an alt in a couple of situations - first, when certain home types were difficult to acquire, and second, to do a seasonal/holiday build when my main LH was not an appropriate style. For example, last Halloween I wanted to do a prepper/alien invasion theme and my LH was a Newbrooke. I got a Log Cabin for a month using an alt.

What prevents me from acquiring more homes? The following is my personal viewpoint...

First, time. I have a full time job and a full life. I need to budget my hours in SL. Second, money.  And undergirding both of those is core worldview/beliefs. While leisure and rest, as well as creative outlets, are important on the life pie chart, they need to occupy only an appropriate slice. When that slice becomes too big, other areas of life suffer.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 1/6/2023 at 5:29 PM, Teresa Firelight said:

Overcoming addiction -- is it possible??

Owning nice Bellisseria Homes can become an addiction for me. At one point I had 11 houses... all of them in nice-ish locations. That is way too much for one person. I end up hardly visiting most of them on any given day. But when I go to one to think about tossing it... I see how nice it is and think to myself "I cant toss this."

I have been trying to cut back for months now... and had finally gotten down to five ... still too many, but hard to give up. Then they released the new style houseboats and I landed a lovely location on my first roll. That brought me back up to six.

I plan to toss two of them as the alts expire in a couple of months. That will bring me down to four... which is still more than I need. (I also have a mainland parcel that I love and I spend most of my time there when I am not out/about other parts of Second LIfe.)

So what is the secret to getting oneself down to a small number... say two??

The secret is having bills to pay in RL.

I have a total of five now, 3 that are public venues that I have in the Land Preserve list with the BBG stamp game, and two houses which I almost never visit. I had more, but precisely because I never go to them I ditched them, and even a premium account with $500 stipend because it's just one more mouth to feed at the end of the day.

So I think one more of them will be dropped soon.

I have a Gatcha Addiction Treatment Center that can be repurposed for any addiction, shopping, love, etc. or for getting over SL traumas.

 

[Istelathis]

9 hours ago, Trinity1776 said:

I think the idea about thoroughly documenting the build is a really good one. It helps with closure, and is an acknolodgement/memorial to your creative endeavor in furnishing the home.

I think this is a good one, for my first Linden homes I took video of them and uploaded them to youtube so that if I ever felt like visiting them again I always had a video to go back to.  In this way, you never really lose your build, it is always available to you when you wish to revisit them.  With 360 snapshots, and a bit of ingenuity, you could even create a virtual site of your home by taking a snapshot of every room, with links leading you to each one.  It would be almost as though you never really abandoned the property and you could share it with others in a portfolio of previous builds you had made.

 

[Always Incognito]

On 1/6/2023 at 11:29 PM, Teresa Firelight said:

Overcoming addiction -- is it possible??

Owning nice Bellisseria Homes can become an addiction for me. At one point I had 11 houses... all of them in nice-ish locations. That is way too much for one person. I end up hardly visiting most of them on any given day. But when I go to one to think about tossing it... I see how nice it is and think to myself "I cant toss this."

I have been trying to cut back for months now... and had finally gotten down to five ... still too many, but hard to give up. Then they released the new style houseboats and I landed a lovely location on my first roll. That brought me back up to six.

I plan to toss two of them as the alts expire in a couple of months. That will bring me down to four... which is still more than I need. (I also have a mainland parcel that I love and I spend most of my time there when I am not out/about other parts of Second LIfe.)

So what is the secret to getting oneself down to a small number... say two??

The secret of succeeding with downsizing is depending on your life situation i think. My question is; why do you feel such a need for downsizing? (You dont have to answer that here just ask yourself this). If this is something that makes you happy and you can afford it? Ppl spend tons of money on RL stuff otherwize like travels, cars, clothes, fancy houses and furnishing, going to the movies - it just goes on. So compared to this maybee aquiring and furnishing virtual homes its not that bad. Its environmental friendly too 😃 

I love Bellisseria for the covenant. Iv been so sorry so many times when iv had lovely spots on mainland and then i got a new neighbour…. So no more.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Always Incognito

[Always Incognito]

I forgot to mention; the only thing i feel bad about abandoning was ”The Embassy of Human Rights”. Not because of the location wich was nothing, but for the purpose. I still regret that.

[Hedy Heartsong]

On 1/8/2023 at 9:10 AM, Marianne Little said:

Clothes... shoes... hairssssssss for me and my alts. 👢🩱👠👗

Yes! And cruises and things.

[Cougar Sangria]

Last week I let go 3 beloved Bellisseria homes.  A log, vic, and trad.  It was tough doing it.  But I quickly got over it and put those three alts in storage.  I've kept a Stilt and my beloved Newbrooke.  I never could get to all of them to decorate, as I also have a full region that occupies a lot of my time as well.  To be honest after 12 1/2 years of shopping I have just about all the clothing I need and a large percentage of that is conservative dress.  I still have a few things on my list to purchase clothing wise, but it gets shorter and shorter.  The fun part I enjoy is mixing and coordinating clothing pieces.  That is addicting.  I love shoes, and to a certain extent hair. I pretty much stick to GOS shoes.  I have long hair in first that I wind up sitting on.  So it's fun to look for hair...and right now is updo's I am on the search for.  I have a very nice collection started.   Makeup not so much.  So overrated in my book.  I have digressed a bit.  Linden Homes can be and are addicting.  I am waiting for the 2048's as I am Premium +.  If I am able to get a nice plot I may consider letting go of my other Linden Homes.  Time will tell.  In the end lots of things are addicting in Second Life lol.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Cougar Sangria
spelling

[Persephone Emerald]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:29 PM, Teresa Firelight said:

Overcoming addiction -- is it possible??

Owning nice Bellisseria Homes can become an addiction for me. At one point I had 11 houses... all of them in nice-ish locations. That is way too much for one person. I end up hardly visiting most of them on any given day. But when I go to one to think about tossing it... I see how nice it is and think to myself "I cant toss this."

I have been trying to cut back for months now... and had finally gotten down to five ... still too many, but hard to give up. Then they released the new style houseboats and I landed a lovely location on my first roll. That brought me back up to six.

I plan to toss two of them as the alts expire in a couple of months. That will bring me down to four... which is still more than I need. (I also have a mainland parcel that I love and I spend most of my time there when I am not out/about other parts of Second LIfe.)

So what is the secret to getting oneself down to a small number... say two??

I think the first step is cutting down how many alts one has. What purpose does each serve for you besides having another virtual house?  I have my main (virtual me), 1 alter ego who shows me a stronger, more courageous side of myself, 1 in honor of my dear wolf-dog who was like a fur-child to me, and 1 basic guy alt so I can see how guys can be outfitted in SL despite not having it as easy as female avatars. For every avatar I have, each requires some time out of my real life to pick up free stuff and sort their inventory, so 4 is my maximum (aside from occasional accounts that exist only to collect linden bonuses and then get killed off).

Second, think about how you use SL and what you want to get out of it. How many virtual dolls and dollhouses do you need to be happy? Can you get enough enjoyment from exploring the houses and builds that other people make? Can you get enough enjoyment from maintaining 1 or 2 virtual houses? Or can you limit yourself to maybe 4 , rotating one at a time for a new house? Do you really love all the themes or do you have a couple you like best? Could you be happy with a house for each season? Or a sunny summer home and a darker winter home? A modern home and a traditional home? Remember too, the fewer avatars and houses you have, the more time you can spend with the ones you do have.

Do your avatars have different personalities or are they all clones of yourself? Which are your 4 favorites and why? Do these each need to have different homes to express different sides of your own personality? Could they double up and share a home, so the premiums each own a house, while the basic avatars just get a bedroom?

For a long time I thought I needed to have 2 premium accounts so I could have enough mainland to landscape it nicely. Then I thought my favorite alt "needed" her own house because I felt guilty for not letting her have her own bedroom in the house I had there. I got that out of my system when I move to 2 Linden homes, each mirror images of each other in a way, representing my "light side" with my main avatar's house and my "dark side" with my goth alt's house. Cutting corners now, I decided I really need only 1 home location for rezzing packages and dressing my avatars. So now I'm down to 1 house for my premium account, 1 bedroom for my wolf-dog's memorial, and my other 2 avatars using my skybox for unpacking and dressing. In my imaginary dialog with Alycia she said she doesn't sleep in SL, and since I don't use my beds for anything else, she doesn't really need her own bed. I give her a few lindens and gift cards to appease my conscience about making her give up her premium account and house.

P.S

Getting a year of Spotify for $ 99 instead of keeping Alycia's Premium account was one of the best things I did for myself in 2022. For the same price, I get unlimited music, podcasts, ambient background sounds, and even some stories - all of which I can listen to as I do housework or cook, or stand in line somewhere, rather than sitting in front of my computer.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Persephone Emerald

[Teresa Firelight]

I am making progress. I ended up getting a new house (a trad) but I am letting go of both my stilts (because the new houseboats are similar) and my other houseboat. All three of the ones I am letting go are on really nice locations that I normally find hard to give up. But I have been "practicing" by derezzing all the furniture and landscaping decorations so they are empty lots. Then I wanted another week to make sure I won't miss them too much. Now I am ready to release them in the next 24 or 48 hours.

That will bring me down to four. Still a bit more than I need, but getting closer.

[Marianne Little]

15 hours ago, Teresa Firelight said:

I am making progress. I ended up getting a new house (a trad) but I am letting go of both my stilts (because the new houseboats are similar) and my other houseboat. All three of the ones I am letting go are on really nice locations that I normally find hard to give up. But I have been "practicing" by derezzing all the furniture and landscaping decorations so they are empty lots. Then I wanted another week to make sure I won't miss them too much. Now I am ready to release them in the next 24 or 48 hours.

That will bring me down to four. Still a bit more than I need, but getting closer.

Four is an okay number. Not enough to be an addiction at all. And you are not going down to zero, are you?

[Teresa Firelight]

1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

Four is an okay number. Not enough to be an addiction at all. And you are not going down to zero, are you?

on no! definitely not going to zero. My goal (which I may never reach) is 2.