Teresa Firelight Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Personally I think the Lindens/moles outdid themselves, a majestic feat of design and innovation. Some amazing firsts... plants and crystals that light up at night, changing seasons. And they designed it with waterways that give at least 1/2 of the houses access to water .. something that residents had been begging for. And they made the area so beautiful with whimsical trees and flowers and clearly put a lot of thought and effort into it. When they first came out, I was in love with them. I could even "live with" the "too large" houses because of all the gorgeous community landscaping. I never did like all those crystals, but I would just derender the larger ones. I noticed that I felt fatigued more at the fantasy areas than at other areas. I remember one day TPing from my fantasy home (which I loved at the time) to a friend's Victorian. And I felt this tremendous sense of relief -- as if I had finally gotten someplace realistic and "normal" looking. It was then that I realized that my visual cortex was overstimulated by the fantasy area. I noted it but did not dwell on it at the time. Then the seasons changed again.. and I did not like the new color scheme. I "waited it out" for the next season change and found that this color scheme did not appeal to me either. So I gave up my fantasy home. I came back later to visit but by then, nothing fantasy appealed to me anymore. I find that pure beauty is not enough for me -- it has to feel RL realistic too. I may be the only person in SL who feels this way, but I do like realism in my second life. 9 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thea Amethyst Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 11 hours ago, diamond Marchant said: Combined with fact that the entire subcontinent is a cul-de-sac, having only one entrance (with obstacles), those interested in boating (both dock candy owners and serious sailors) will go elsewhere I am not sure what this means. There are many water exits in many of the Fantasy coastal regions that lead outside the continent. Of course right now they are leading to void regions until/unless they build around the continent. There are also many rez areas to rez a boat. I am probably missing something here so my apologies if I am. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthieu Quander Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 14 minutes ago, Thea Atheria said: I am not sure what this means. There are many water exits in many of the Fantasy coastal regions that lead outside the continent. Of course right now they are leading to void regions until/unless they build around the continent. There are also many rez areas to rez a boat. I am probably missing something here so my apologies if I am. She's talking about this. There is only one way in and out of the Fantasy Homes landmass if you travel by vehicle. The void regions you mention will likely stay that way. It was always the intent to have the Fantasy Homes continent feel more remote and isolated from the rest of Bellisseria. Some consider this to be a feature, others a flaw. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Zhaoying Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 2 hours ago, benchthis said: Is not choo-choo caboose? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I have a few reactions to this very interesting thread. @Matthieu Quander 's observation that position of a theme on the land page may have something to do with its popularity is intriguing, and, I bet, true! Regions making up Fantasseria's (as yet unreleased) coastline have been "wasted"? Would be better used for more popular themes? Please. We have no information to judge LL's cost tradeoffs. Will LL someday be "done" building Belli? I've always assumed that they are building to accommodate future needs, not just today's, but that's just my speculation. I find it interesting that, of the few specific Fantasseria parcels mentioned here, 4 (FOUR!) of them featured interior landscaping. Essentially, people were inviting the fantasy landscape outdoors ... indoors. @Istelathis, your wall shell is amazing. You know, LL does have the ability to add new homes to their rez mailboxes. I cross my fingers that someday they update the theme with a few models that are more open to, and in tune with, the landscaping. Like a few others in this thread, for me right now, Fantasseria is a gorgeous park that I visit occasionally, to quietly boat around in peace. I'm seldom able to resist taking pictures while I'm there. 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond Marchant Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Thea Atheria said: There are many water exits in many of the Fantasy coastal regions that lead outside the continent. Of course right now they are leading to void regions until/unless they build around the continent. There are also many rez areas to rez a boat. I am probably missing something here so my apologies if I am. As I recall, Patch flat out stated that the fantasy home continent would only have the one entrance. There are several places on the west coast that could provide additional connectivity with the addition of one region. About rezzing, for people into vehicles such as boats or planes, the whole idea of home ownership involves the idea of having your vehicle permanently rezzed inworld. One need pay LL nothing to simply rez in a public rez zone and have your vehicle disappear when you unsit. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Mistwood Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I love Fantasseria - The landscaping and colors, the seasonal lighting changes , all those water parcels, and the sounds. I do wish there were smaller house options AND some more interesting fantasy choices for the houses. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Little Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Chalets comes up high on the land page, and it is only a few% different from Fantasy. You don't have to click on "View all houses". Fantasy: 56% empty. Chalets: 53% empty. Log Homes are high up on the list, and 20% empty. Newbrooke are almost on the bottom, and 28% empty. So they are not unpopular, but not a success like Victorians, Stilts and Houseboats. Chalets are in a realistic enviroment, that should rule out the "overstimulation" too. I notice that what I like and dislike match the list over available themes well. I like it= sold out. I dislike it=50+% empty. I like it, but not totally= 20-30% empty. I am not sure why I dislike Chalets so much. Maybe one of my ancestors was Don Quijote and fought windmills. One of the things on the Bonniebot page is that Campers are totally missing on their own. They are counted with the whole "Old Belli" continent. That are Trads, Boats and Campers. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthieu Quander Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, Marianne Little said: Chalets comes up high on the land page, and it is only a few% different from Fantasy. You don't have to click on "View all houses". This is only true when the older themes are sold out. I'm not suggesting that placement on the theme selector is a the sole reason why some themes are less popular, but I do think it is at least a minor contributing factor. Many owners don't care what theme they have, and they will select whatever is first available and immediately rezz a skybox. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Little Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 That's true, I forget that all the Stilts push Chalets down on the list. I was thinking that Chalets came after Victorians, instead of Stilts. But since Houseboats, Victorians and Stilts are not on the page so often, the Chalets are visible more than Log homes and Newbrooke's. Two average popular themes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond Marchant Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Nika Talaj said: Regions making up Fantasseria's (as yet unreleased) coastline have been "wasted"? Would be better used for more popular themes? Please. We have no information to judge LL's cost tradeoffs. Tis true, sort of. As Second Life is hosted on AWS, we can assume that they have some flexibility in binding server power to particular regions. One can imagine that some sort of load balancing is going on where a region with no avatars is down-powered and a corresponding up-power occurs when the load increases. But the grid as a whole likely has a limit based on cost. Moles (and one in particular) have often mentioned that region deployment is limited by a budget. Hence, some of us wonder why they make the decisions they do. As of today, 44 fantasy home coastal regions appear to be unreleased. Approximately 30 regions would be required to complete the northern coast of the log homes, from Snert to Really Wet. Many people would actually use those regions. Edited February 20, 2023 by diamond Marchant 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Little Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Yes, it cost too much, when one ask why it is so many housed crammed together in a region, or why it isn't more sailable water to bind continents together and edge the continents. Money, money, money. Regions are expensive, LL tell us. Coastline houses will be more popular, no matter what theme. The Fantasseria coastal regions should have less empty houses when they are realeased. Fantasseria has come to stay, and maybe LL will add more diffferent houses, and smaller houses in the controller. But I would not bet on that. LL has learnt of their mistakes, and released only a little over 1600 Sakura homes. So 800 empty houses there is not a big deal. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 1 hour ago, diamond Marchant said: Approximately 30 regions would be required to complete the northern coast of the log homes, from Snert to Really Wet. Many people would actually use those regions. Well, yes. I want that "Northwest Passage" just as much as you do! But I doubt "lack of regions" is the reason it hasn't been built. One time long ago when we were agitating for that coastline to be built (yes it has been FOREVER), Abnor mentioned something about having a plan for all the coastlines to eventually be finished. If this mysterious plan (what am I saying? ALL of LL's plans are mysterious!) is the reason why it hasn't been finished, all I can say is it better be pretty dang fantabulous if/when they DO finish it! Right now, I'd be willing to bet that LL will finish the NW coast of Newbrooke before they do the Northwest Passage. If they do, I think I'll go to my lovely Sakura home and commit harikari. 2 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevinKnights84 Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 The fantasy themed homes are one of my favorites and the scenery there is amazing. Best part of Bellisseria to me, other than the lack of sailable sea. The houses could've looked less modern but I think they mixed modern and fantasy fairly well. I'd be ok with houses changing if they go more fantasy, just don't go back to the mini castles and giant stumps. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Starlight Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 I was wanting a redo of Elderglen about as much as anyone could. I actually still get Elderglen homes now and play with them. Fantasy homes should be at the very top of my list, but I am sad to report that though I tried so many, and I don't have any at all right now. For me it's 98% about the houses. They are too big! They are too big and too modern looking inside so they frustrate me. I have scads of fantasy decor and a million ideas, but instead of an exciting challenge it's a feeling of frustration. I also like placing decor on the outside, and the houses take up most of the parcel space. This just adds to the frustration . It has been a real struggle for me with them. The longest I lasted was about nine months on one. It was an exceptional spot! I managed to keep it a while, but I had to completely wall off a room on the smallest house of the choices. I sometimes still want one. I will roll a few and see if I get anything decent, but I usually sit on it a couple days and then let it go. Just feel uninspired by them. I would have one if they had been Traditional Home sized or had 512 on 1024 choices like some newer themes. The other 2% that bugs me is the terrain texture. I think the purple and teal almost checkered looking terrain is not appealing at all. The crystals and shrooms and trees and things are so colorful and pretty and they don't need to compete with the terrain. It would all looks so much better to me if it just had some sort of simple green grass and sand like usual--maybe a unique one that leans into teals, but not so distinctive and loud. It's actually rather nerve racking to me. (lol) I hate to complain, but this one really does bug me enough to chime in. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethelwine Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 The landscaping is sort of fairytale fantasy for fairies, pixies etc, whilst the homes feel more like a setting from a Victorian gothic novel... the sort of setting you might want for a ghost story or black magic rituals. It is an odd juxtaposition. The areas themselves have much to commend them, frequent rezz areas, interlocking road and waterways, lovely landscaping. Some Elderglen styled homes as an option for the area could rejuvenate interest as the homes would better fit the landscaping. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Starsmith Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I had a fantasy home for awhile and did like it but I was dissapointed in having no "Hobbit" homes like they had with the older Linden Homes. I used to love that style. I gave up on Bellisseria and premium accounts and just rent mainland and built my own Hobbit hole with my own fantasy landscapes etc. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Starlight Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 6 hours ago, Punky Starchild said: I had a fantasy home for awhile and did like it but I was dissapointed in having no "Hobbit" homes like they had with the older Linden Homes. I used to love that style. I gave up on Bellisseria and premium accounts and just rent mainland and built my own Hobbit hole with my own fantasy landscapes etc. I hear you, that was my big wish too. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Starlight Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 (edited) Maybe they will do a hobbit theme someday? Titans already makes a really nice Hobbit home called The Burrow. (I would link it with a MP link but it's not on the MP. Hopefully they still sell it?) Another fun little hobbit like home I love is my little Candle& Cauldron-The Burrow Den-- https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CC-Burrow-Den/14269653 Edited February 23, 2023 by Fay Starlight 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthieu Quander Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I can't imagine that they will add any additional fantasy theme regions in the foreseeable future, so unless it is practical to add new models to the existing parcels, I don't think it is likely that we will see what many of you want. That said, predicting what they will do is a fool's game. They were able to add new houseboat models, so I suppose there is some hope. When deciding on a new version of Elderglen, I think they focused so much on the landscaping, that they overlooked the fact that they were replacing multiple home themes, each of which had unique appeal. No other Linden Home theme (new or old) has the variety that you see in Elderglen. I suspect that it was rare that someone who wanted to live in a castle or stone manor would also want to live in an earthen dwelling or giant log. Choosing between them was no different than deciding between a Tahoe and a Meadowbrook. They are completely different things. The new Fantasy Homes only offer different floorplans of a home that only pays a small homage to any of the Elderglen designs. For some, that is enough, but obviously if you liked the hobbit dwellings, there's currently nothing close in Bellisseria. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Starlight Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I agree with you Mattieu, so we can always try to create our own with other land options. I appreciate they did the fantasy theme, I just had hoped it was actually more like Elderglen and had the similar choices and in particular Hobbit burrows. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Starsmith Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Fay Starlight said: Maybe they will do a hobbit theme someday? Titans already makes a really nice Hobbit home called The Burrow. (I would link it with a MP link but it's not on the MP. Hopefully they still sell it?) Another fun little hobbit like home I love is my little Candle& Cauldron-The Burrow Den-- https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CC-Burrow-Den/14269653 I use this one. Best textures and most realistic,-https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Fanatik-Architecture-NAKAMA-mesh-fantasy-cottage-mesh-building-prefab-package-houses-fences-gate-and-hills/5141546 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Starlight Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Oh that is great Punky! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 It might save LL some heartache if they were to invite a few discrete residents to "preview" a new theme (under NDA, of course) before they commit to build a whole LOT of it. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzureWaves Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 They could just ask all of the GOH addicts if they want one of these... if the answer is no, don't make them. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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