More Linden Home theme ideas

[Chloe Bunny]

6 hours ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

And New Toulouse / Bayou! 

I've lived in all of these estates - Rosehaven, Babbage, the above, and Caledon etc. They are mostly seasonal and for the most part really strong communities with strict but fair building codes.

[Raspberry Crystal]

3 hours ago, UnilWay SpiritWeaver said:

Personally no. That could appeal to some, but I put that idea in here as an idea for Belli homes.

Now that Sims 4's rental apartments expansion has come out - I can further see how the idea can be done.

In one way this was already done in the old linden homes:

You build a single building on the corners of 2 to 4 plots.

Or the homes link up and have one exit to a common space (linden land outside the parcel - a hallway)

 

This could be a 'tunnel hallway' underneath a balcony that physically connects them all while it's actually on a 4m wide strip of linden land.

So two patterns emerge as the initial ideas:

One	Two
Three	Four

- All four touch.

or:

One	Two
----	----
Three	Four

- One and Two touch, Three and Four touch. 4m wide covered hallway between them.

The rest of the parcel land is then used to make it appear like one building sharing a common lot. It'd need some added covenant rules for theme in that outside land.

 

 

I think once they finish all their main themes, it becomes the perfect time to do small scale builds of niche themes. Something like this wouldn't want to be done on more than 6-12 regions. Niche themes could appeal to some, but wouldn't have the same mass appeal. you could toss them around the map in quirky places.

Other niche themes could be underwater builds, sky builds, cliffside houses, etc.

 

We don't really know if apartments  are on the agenda, but I love your corner idea.
Unfortunately I think we do know about the chance of having 'niche' designs, because it was discussed some time ago. We were told that the Moles need to build so many homes in the same design or the economics of scale don't work out, basically they can't make money from niche Linden homes.
However, I suppose it could be possible if there was a premium charged, say a Platinum account with access to low volume designs in exclusive neighbourhoods?

[Sid Nagy]

9 hours ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

So you're main point is basically that LL should stop further development of Belli in favor of mainland, because everything is there already?

[Sid Nagy]

3 hours ago, Raspberry Crystal said:

We don't really know if apartments  are on the agenda, but I love your corner idea.
Unfortunately I think we do know about the chance of having 'niche' designs, because it was discussed some time ago. We were told that the Moles need to build so many homes in the same design or the economics of scale don't work out, basically they can't make money from niche Linden homes.
However, I suppose it could be possible if there was a premium charged, say a Platinum account with access to low volume designs in exclusive neighbourhoods?

Premium plus are already pretty low volume designs compared to the rest.
As a hobbyist I can create for SL without looking at my wallet. I don't calculate the hours invested.
For the Lab that is different. They have to justify the wages they trow at a project. So a 2-5 sim project will never happen I guess.

Premium plus is expensive already.
I don't think people will line up for a 100 USD\month plan. For that kind of money one can get a homestead.

Edited February 8 by Sid Nagy

[Persephone Emerald]

9 hours ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

I second (or third) visiting New Toulouse. Estate rentals offer almost any environment one could wish for, some with a roleplay community included. New Toulouse is a perfect example of a New Orleans style city and bayou, with roleplay,  community events, and even weather events. I don't think LL and the Moles would be able offer these kinds of time-intensive perks that a smaller estate can provide. 

I don't think we really want LL to get into the roleplay estate business anyhow. This should be resident-created community option.

As for small, niche Mainland rental environments, @Prokofy Neva and others offer these too.

[animats]

3 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

So you're main point is basically that LL should stop further development of Belli in favor of mainland, because everything is there already?

No, it's simply that the niche markets are already addressed by others. There's some minimum size for a viable themed area in Bellesaria, and it's probably more than a thousand homes.

[Love Zhaoying]

17 minutes ago, animats said:

No, it's simply that the niche markets are already addressed by others. There's some minimum size for a viable themed area in Bellesaria, and it's probably more than a thousand homes.

I totally agree. How many "boutique themes" should LL create in Bellisseria, before it is "enough"?  People will always want more, and there is always the Mainland and/or Private Regions where people can have whatever home style they want.

[Love Zhaoying]

17 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

A Bayou neighborhood, on the other hand, would naturally have larger parcels (1024 m) with both small rustic homes and larger 2-story mini mansions. There could be waterways and lush foliage on the Protected Land between them, as well as a few dirt roads. I like the idea of using uniquely South-eastern landscaping such as hanging moss, climbing floral vines and bottle trees. Pet alligators and cranes would be perfect here, as well as dogs and cats sleeping on the front porches. Water rezzing zones would be best-suited for small boats, though a large river-boat could fit in a community region.

Do enough people really want a Bayou home though? 

My RL stepmom is Cajun / from Louisiana, and has bottle trees at her home in Texas.  Since she is an artist, I assume it was "her thing" and she never mentioned if it was a "Louisiana thing"!

 

[UnilWay SpiritWeaver]

15 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

I've been wondering if they'll do "niche" builds as well.

There's a number or posts in this thread about row houses, and frankly I wouldn't want to live in any of them (including the one I posted).  None of the townhouse/row house proposals so far pass my 'smell test' for LH themes: "I've always wanted to live in a " .... Townhouse?  Not so much, and besides it's fairly easy to do in RL.

I actually wouldn't want one either. But the idea is there. And if they ever did niche themes it'd be one people could relate to.

BUT I do wish we had a theme that felt more like a European or Latin American city - lively and vibrant spots. Mixed use zoning so you had commercial alongside residential.

Which brings up a whole other "they should never do that, except wouldn't it be neat if they did" idea... Linden storefronts.

Imagine a region with the standard 18-20 lots on it. Only 6 of them were small shops, and 2 were community social venues. And they were mixed right together side by side with the homes. Like in... almost any city in the world outside of the USA - and a few US cities that were fully developed before the 20th century.

They'd never do it because I don't think they'll ever off a "linden storefront space" as an option for a premium account. But if they did... that would be the region I'd want my linden home in. Yeah... not my "Linden Business", but my home. It would just feel more like a lived in community even if like everywhere else all the other folks were rarely logged in at the same time as me.

To some degree, this exists on some estates and places like Bay City. But I'd prefer it in somewhere with a covenant that kept the weird builds at bay. Even if I have some weird inside my own linden homes... I have it INSIDE them, or in a skybox.  (Well not the skyboxes anymore, I ran out of land impact before I could do that).

This would be one kind of region where I'd want the covenant for the "Linden Shop" to require at least 30% of the store, and the "landing spot" for the store, to be at ground level. Empty storefronts would ruin the experience.

I don't think they'd ever build this. I suspect I'm almost alone in liking the idea. Other Americans probably just can't understand the appeal of NOT living in a walled off suburb.

But I can still imagine it and pretend what it would be like if it existed.

 

 

 

[UnilWay SpiritWeaver]

21 hours ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL.

. . .

There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

Estate land just doesn't appeal to me.

I don't like the lack of assurance for consistency.
I don't like having to remember to log in and pay a box somewhere.

And I'm just not interested in that here, in this discussion.