Many Questions

[L0LAM0NR03]

Ive been playing sl for many years but i was an off and on person and really didnt care to play it like i should have.

 

However ive noticed rentals are expensive so i was wondering how to get started with my Linden home and land? i know i have to buy the home and land but im not aware of what im looking for and i have no clue what prims are? is this just like the furnitute and etc or?

 

Also is premium worth having? i have never bought premium memberships before and i see their is 

 

plus membership ..premium membership and premium plus membership. which range in order from 5.50per month, 8.25 per month, and 20.75 per month. 

if anyone can better explain if im better off getting a membership or buying land and a home? trying to start somewhere and need a home to go to. 

[Rolig Loon]

The easy answer is that you don't "need" a home in SL at all.  Homes are handy as a place to crash and a place to decorate, but you don't need one to enjoy SL.  It took me almost two years before I finally decided that I wanted one. 

So, if you "want" a home the option that leaves you the the greatest flexibility is rental. You can move as often as you like, and can do a lot of customization.  Once you find a place that fits your personal standards and is available at a price you consider fair, you just pay a week's rent and move in.   How big should the parcel be?  There are two considerations.  One is size and the other is capacity.   They are related.  You clearly need enough space to built (or plop down) a house, and you need a high enough capacity (Land Impact -- sometimes still called "prims") to allow you to rez the house and whatever you want to put on the parcel.  L.I. is proportional to parcel size, so the bigger the parcel, the more stuff you can put on it.

Personally, I wouldn't suggest buying land until you've had a little a feel for what it all involves.  Read Land articles in the Knowledge Base, take @Lindal Kidd's free class on land management at Caledon Oxbridge University, and do a lot of exploring.  Ownership is not really all that complicated, but there's no reason to rush.

Do you need a Premium membership in any of its variations?  Maybe.  That word "need" is still misleading.  Plenty of SL residents (like me)  live happy lives and own property without a Premium membership.  Premium does have its benefits, though.  One of the more obvious ones is the ability to get a Linden Home for "free" (i.e., fully paid for with your membership).  The Bellisseria regions, a couple of thousand and still growing) are very popular places to live, beautifully landscaped, and fun to explore.  You may want to at least lurk in the Linden Homes section of the Land forums here to see what some residents chatter about.

I guess the bottom line is that you shouldn't feel rushed into deciding about any of your options. Wander a bit, meet people, read KB articles, and have fun.  The bigger decisions can wait.

[Lindal Kidd]

Since Rolig has conjured me by mentioning my name, I'll second her thoughts, and add that, in my own opinion, a Premium membership is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to have a home in Second Life.

The other ways work fine, too...renting a Mainland parcel, or buying a parcel on a private estate (another form of renting, really). Or if you like dealing directly with LL, go Premium. Then, if a Linden Home is too small for your desires, or you simply don't like any of the styles, you can buy a Mainland parcel and build or buy whatever sort of home you wish.

If you contact me in world, I can show you my home, and give you a tour of some other options.

[L0LAM0NR03]

@Lindal Kidd that would be great. i plan to buy the membership was also told like u stated i can buy my own home and add it to my own land. which would be great to do. if you dont mind im going to add you

[Katherine Heartsong]

Hope you've been doing well, Lola! To add to what you might now already know by now ... the premium membership allows you to own a 1024 parcel of land free; that is, included in your yearly (or monthly) fee to LL. You could either buy a 1024 parcel of land on the mainland from another resident and buy a home for that parcel, or get a Linden home. Either way, you have a total of 351 prims to decorate with on a 1024 parcel. As @Rolig Loon mentioned, bigger parcels mean more prims, but you have to pay above and beyond your Premium membership to get more land (tier). 351 is more than enough to decorate a nice 1024 parcel.

So yes, everything on a parcel you place down (rezz) will have a prim count. The house, furniture, decorations, plants, trees, landscaping like rocks etc. Clothing and items in your inventory do not count however. For example, a home could be 20 or 60 or more prims depending on size and builder skill in optimizing. A sofa might be 5 or 15. A complete kitchen might set you back 30 prims. A few houseplants maybe 5. A tree? 1 to 3. A living room table, rig, and a few books on the floor maybe 10. They all add up to your 351.

The one benefit of Linden homes and a Premium membership, besides nice neighbourhoods without garish neighbours, is that the house itself does not count against your 351.

You could also rent land, and will have the same (sometimes more) prims to use. You do not need a Premium membership for that and may find that cheaper. It might cost you 300L/week (just over US$1) to rent a 1024 parcel, and by renting you might find a really attractive parcel on the water etc that you might no otherwise be able to afford to buy if it was for sale. There are a fair number of trusted real estate rental companies in the world. At least, there are maybe a half dozen I'd trust for sure.

Hope you've been having a great time exploring and welcome!