Rufferta Mainlander

I've been spending some of my free time near the "White Islands" trying to finish the "White Island Quest". I'm stuck on the last clue, and today I found another mystery. Over several days the map has shown a large clump of green dots in the middle of an empty water sim. I figured it was none of my business. Today, though, I decided to take a pod tour, but when I got to the sim boundary I got the notice "You can't enter, because the sim is full" so I decided to see what was going on. (Yes, I'm nosy). I didn't get too close, but from what I could see it looked like over a dozen alts just standing there, on the bottom of the ocean. It was eerie. None of them seemed to be moving. I scratched my head and took a picture. At my next stop I saw that I had a chat message "Take as many as you like ****** their alts". Obviously one of them was online. If it wasn't for the fact that they had filled the sim, and the profanity, I probably wouldn't even mention it, but I'm still curious. Any ideas? And if anyone can give me a hint about the 'White Island Quest" I would be grateful. Added: I got to thinking that maybe I was mistaken about it being public land and I should go back and apologize, but when I went back, they were all gone...strange.

I've put my machinima on UTube. This was my first machinima, made using the free trial version of Camtasia for Mac. Torley's tutorials on machinima were extremely helpful, as were the tutorials on the Camtasia site itself, although things didn't always work like they were supposed to.I learned a lot making this amateur effort, and I hope to find the time to re-do the video with better footage, transitions, sub-titles, and music.... In the meantime, perhaps looking at my video will inspire someone else to do their own. In spite of the complaint that "What Second Life Means to Me" videos are all showing 'rainbows and unicorns' I would like to see more machinima on UTube that are not about "look, I griefed those poor suckers" or "Life 2.0." I would like Second Life to have the reputation of a place where you can create and dream, so that my little brother doesn't snicker when I try to tell him what I am doing here... One suggestion to fellow noob machinamistas - use an anonymous avatar so that you won't have to contend with people dropping in while you are shooting.

I've noticed a few nice parcels have shown up in auction lately. Also, If you find an area you like and you find a plot that has been abandoned you can put in a support ticket and ask them to put that plot up for auction. My favorite way of finding land is to open the world map and then teleport from yellow spot to yellow spot. You can also do a search through the classifieds and put in the keywords you think are important. One thing I have to remind myself is that the initial cost of the land is not as important as the fact that you will be paying tier on it. Also, I've learned to just stay on the land for a while to give the 16-story buildings on each side time to materialize. Hope that helps!

I visited the site in Bertrada - didn't find any secrets there, but hopped on a small empty boat that was passing and got a free tour of a lot of historic Second Life. Apparently Yavanna Llanfair has created a lot of different 'pod tours' around Second Life. The main hub for the tours is her shop in Basilisk. Search for "Yavascript Pod Tours." Also, in the Coastal Waterways I found a detailed lighthouse, a tiny coracle, and an intriguing "Tiny Isle of Mist" with puzzling creatures, a living rock, and treehouses that look like they were built for tinies. Continuing on, I ran into a place called "Fairy Grove" in Brillant. All of the builds in the Coastal Waterway look as if they were scripted for some kind of quest, but I can't find any clues. Does anyone know what they were for?

Perhaps they were tired of everyone complaining about the other gifts? I, the eternal optimist, was hoping for something like a last name or reduced tier. Nevertheless, ten Lindens is ten Lindens and I can think of thousands of things to spend it on. Thank you, Lindens!

This is the last of my "sell land to reduce tier sale". This parcel is unusual in two ways: It is completely surrounded by a 41792 plot of Linden land, and it (as of a few minutes ago) is the only piece of property on this sim for sale. It could be that the Lindens will set the surrounding property for sale some day, but for now it makes a nice margin. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cryptomono/78/201/107 This had been a renta. I'm returning the building today.

Two 512 parcels side-by-side for 200 each - less than half the price of abandoned land. Buy one or both. Both lots front on maintenance land. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chomo/87/23/46

**Only uploaded images may be used in postings**://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amydria/246/12/22 - the land for sale is shown in blue. This is a cozy corner by the road, looking out over water. The photo shows the default terrain is mostly underwater. I had my house here set on a one-prim block, and the former owner had a house on piers. For sale for 1024 Lindens.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Having recently tried to reduce my tier by renting out a bit of property I have learned a little which might be some help. You can advertise in the forums, and you can put "For rent" in the property title and description. You can also buy different "rental boxes" that can be placed at the rental site and/or different locations that will take care of the mechanics of renting. You can list your rental business on the Marketplace, with a link to your "real estate office" if you have one. You can put a discreet sign on the property itself if there is any traffic in the area. You can pay extra to have the rental placed in "search", and that is how I found the first place I rented in Second Life. In order for renters to get access to the rental (place items, etc...) I believe they have to be members of your group. I think some landlords have it set up so the rental boxes do that automatically, but if you have to do it by hand I feel you should refund any rent paid before the renters have full access. There is a lot of information on the Wiki and in past forum articles, and you might try looking at the big real estate companies' set-ups to see how they handle things. I have decided it is not in my nature to be a good landlord, but I wish you the best of luck.

Circumstances forcing me to tier down, so I am selling three parcels in Mocha at what I consider to be reasonable prices. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/31/123/21 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/22/75/22 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/67/36/26

I can understand, Annalvanovna. When I first signed on to Second Life it was partly because my RL movement had become severely restricted. I became immersed in Second Life. When my physical world became less limited I started to notice that large chunks of time were missing - I would log into Second Life and suddenly, hours had passed. Now I have a timer by my keyboard to remind me that I need more balance in my life. Sometimes I ignore it, but I think my experience in Second Life is better now that I have rationed it a bit. Best of luck in whatever world you inhabit.

Thank you for your post. The information you gave, and that followed, was very helpful. I looked at the land in Clyde and it is quite lovely, but currently seems way too expensive. Perhaps if the land goes unsold for some time the current owner will be willing to sell it to you at a reasonable price. As far as auctions go, outside of S I tend to try different approaches - there are the "walk around with your hands in your pockets and pretend you are not interested at all until you rush over and bid at the last minute" and the "put in such a high bid at first that people who were expecting prices to go up gradually get discouraged" approach. Neither is always successful. It does seem, though, that there is more competition when there are a lot of bids, so I might wait to bid in SL auctions until the last minute for that reason alone. On EBay the 'last minute bots' I believe are called 'snipers'. I don't do Ebay much anymore, because I found myself paying high prices for things I really didn't need, because I just wanted to 'win'... () I don't dislike landflippers that much (I tried it myself, but I found myself losing money) but I do dislike the people who "slice and dice" . I remember looking at some coastal land that had been split into long thin 512's with the narrow edge facing the water so that everyone had an ocean view, but the parcels were so narrow that you almost had to move sideways... Take care.

caligirl07 wrote: Hey all, I am writing a research paper on why people play Second Life and what they feel they obtain from playing Second Life. I began to play Second Life this week to help me research but I wanted the input of people who play Second Life on a daily basis. I am researching the different reasons people play online virtual worlds, specifically Second Life and I would greatly appreciate your opinion! The questions I am asking are: 1. How long have you been playing second life? I have been a resident for about seven months 2. How often do you play second life? I log in whenever the wolves are sleeping. 3. Why did you begin playing second life? I was doing research for an article, but by the time it was published I was hooked. 4. What do you gain from second life that you can’t get from reality? I can explore: For about a year I had been unable to travel in RL, so I traveled in SL. I am enjoying terraforming, designing, and building. I can forget the wolves at the door and lose myself in wonder at what other residents have created. Reality is for sissies. You have my permission to use my answers and username in your paper; however, please correct any grammar and spelling mistakes you find. .................. Only reply to this message if you feel comfortable with me using your answers and username in my paper; as you respond to this blog, please state that you give me permission to use or quote you in my research paper, thanks!. I greatly appreciate everyone's input and answers! Thanks!

I made several attempts at Blender and gave up. Then I found a free Google program called Sketchup and was able to make and import a small table into Second Life. I found out later that I wasn't supposed to be able to do that. Most opinion also is that Sketchup is not compatible with Second Life, but it gave me courage to try Blender again, and the most recent version now doesn't seem as hopeless. Many good video tutorials on the web. I find that I learn best by actually making something, so I follow the tutorials and pause and backtrack frequently. Gaia Clary's tutorials are great, also I found tutorials by cgboorman on YouTube that I could understand (so far). Good luck!

This is a donut-shaped piece of gently sloping land. I included the fence just to show the outer property lines. The structure in the middle is not included. It is owned by someone else and pretty much covers his or her 512 parcel so I figured a fence there was unnecessary. If you need additional land, this property is surrounded by a thin ring of 960sqm which is currently for sale as 'abandoned land'. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Labro/206/110/43 *added 11-17-12. Actually I pretty much gave it away for pennies. Just so's you'd know.

I set up a group "River Run Realty and Restoration" to own real estate so that I could have a little more land for the tier rate that I could afford. I've been buying small parcels, fixing them up, then re-selling them. Not making a profit (actually, just losing money more slowly) but getting building practice. I found a donut-shaped block of multiple small parcels in Labro, near 224.238, that I have been buying, one by one, and joining together. When I buy them I set them to the group, allow deed to group, and "owner makes contribution with deed". When I join the parcels; however, they lose the "allow deed to group" and "owner makes contribution with deed" tags. When I try to join the undeeded parcels with the "deeded to group" parcels I get the message "Cannot join property because it belongs to two different owners." I haven't been able to change the tags to make them match. One piece made of joined patches is 1280 and the other is 1344. (Some of original parcels were as small as 16 meters. Don't know why they were cut so small before being abandoned.) I tried selling the smaller parcel to myself to see if I could change the tags that way, but I get the message that if I buy the land I will have to pay the next higher tier - the difference is more than the land is worth! The "sell to group" option is greyed out. (I actually now have 860m less than I did last week at same tier rate). Submitted this as a bug report, but Alex Linden says this is not a bug, ask for help here. I hope someone will be able to suggest a solution. If not, I have two very peculiarly-shaped plots of land for sale. Rufferta (the perennial newb) Added 10-24-12 Made sure I was wearing group tag. I was able to subdivide a small piece of "deeded to group" land, but it lost the tag when I did so. I notice a discrepancy in the land account tab/group account tab/and info on the land itself as to ownership. I'm wondering if I misunderstood what one of the Lindens wrote in the Knowledge Base "Group-owned land is held collectively by a group, not by any one group member. For the group to own land, its members must submit land contributions, donations that members make from their own personal land tier allowance. The group can own a total amount of land whose area equals 110% or less of the sum of all group contributions. " and that perhaps I can only contribute part of my total land holdings to the group? I'm pretty small potatoes as far as land barons go - with only 16,880 square meters perhaps I am a "land baronita"? Meanwhile, I will just muddle along. 10-24-12 Thank you, Chaos Mohr, for your help. I was finally able to resolve the problem by splitting the parcels and re-selling them to the group. The sticking point seemed to be whether or not the box "owner makes contribution with deed" was checked. The system saw these as belonging to a separate owner and would not let me join parcels with this checked to the parcels that did not have this box checked and it would not let me change them until I had split the land and re-sold it to the group. Once I bought the land I was able to change the boxes to match, and rejoin all the piddly parcels. Whew!

Ry0ta Exonar wrote: Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer? - I have a permanent place. Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait? - I got a home almost as soon as I signed in. Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates? - I rent a small parcel in Caledon Stormhold. I also have other small parcels on the Mainland I am using to practice building. What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? - With the Julia Hathor house, landscaping,, three cats, furniture and art collection I am using 333 of a prim allowance of 468 on the 1024 parcel. Don't know the percentages. What do you do in your house? - Play with the cats, move the furniture and art around, change clothes, sit and meditate while looking at the water. Do you recommend homeowning? - Yes. Does it make you stay in SL? - Not necessarily, but I think if I were to down-tier I would save at least a small 512 parcel with a low-prim house just so I would have a home. Perhaps women are more "home" oriented than men?

Dear PitbullTheDog: The answer is "It depends" - It depends on the supply of similar parcels; and It depends on the demand for this type of parcel. I think the old saw is "You can charge what the market will bear.." If you look at land sales, for example, you can see that prices vary tremendously. There is plenty of land available at the "Abandoned land" price and lower, yet people will continue to pay more than that if they want a particular parcel. I would suggest offering a few parcels of land for rent and seeing what happens. Good luck!

Parcel has been sold. If I have any new parcels available, I will post them here.

Tamara Artis wrote: ...... If you preserve the right not to care of your avatar's look and walk around like a noob then pls continue be careless when someone comments on that look. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- But, I take umbrage. Sometimes I feel like a noob, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I go out all prim-d, but other times when I am going to an event where the organizer has asked everyone to "please remove excess scripts, prims, etc...." I will slip on one of the standard avatars or a "low lag" outfit I put together based on the numbers given by the "Show draw weight for avatars" in the Performance tools in the Advanced menu. While I have heard many arguments that "high draw weight" is only a problem to the person carrying the weight, I feel it is only polite to try to comply when asked. Performance tools says the draw weight for this outfit is 1000; however, if I have time I add a non-noob walk. Please do not judge an avatar by its cover. Sincerely, Rufferta Resident The Eternal Noob

I sort of enjoy watching the vehicles go by. I've never riden one, though, but I have riden other vehicles (trains, pods, horse carts, etc....) in all parts of Second Life. Perhaps the scripting could be enhanced so that they are rezzed only when needed, and so they can follow the road more smoothly? (Saw one go by on its nose the other day). Added at 7:14pm Linden time: Just took a long ride in one of the convertibles. While the ride wasn't terribly smooth, we never ran off the road or over anyone's property that I could see. Went through several sims and it seemed to me that there are still a lot of structures being maintained by the side of the road, in spite of what some people are posting. I enjoyed the ride, and I for one would vote to keep the vehicles around. Thanks!

Knowl Paine wrote: I'm guilty, it was me. I don't want a wrecked angle, I wanted a square. The last person to touch the land (a linden), thought it would be a good idea to revert 22,000 sqm on a hill side, rendering most of the surrounding land unusable. The only way to make any sort of flat area, is to purchase the surrounding land, edit terrain, and then abandon it. When editing terrain, it is sometimes necessary to subdivide some land sections, because of the way the land shears differently at each adjacent property line. No sane person will buy that 22,000 sqm, I have no idea what the Linden plan is, somebody (LL) needs to chop that into useable peices, and bit the bullet on the fragmented plots. I know what some of you are thinking; SL has plenty of insane people. I agree, but do they also have cash? Land preservation and reunification, is a noble, but misguided effort. Monies, time and effort, would be better rewarded in a private region, with an enforceable covenant, providing surety in investment. Knowl Paine, the land that was dissected was flat; however, your explanation of why you split up land in order to do better terraforming makes perfect sense, and I will try to remember it next time I'm trying to bulldoze property on a slope. As for ..."SL has plenty of insane people. I agree, but do they also have cash?" I have to answer that 'yes' based on some of the builds I've seen. (Though some might think my builds the work of someone 'differently normal'.) As for "Monies, time and effort, would be better rewarded in a private region, with an enforceable covenant, providing surety in investment." I partly disagree. I rent a small parcel in Caledon, but it is far too civilized there for me to mess around and experiment. While I try to respect my neighbors on Mainland, I don't feel so bad about leaving the cement mixer out overnight.... Thank you all for showing me that there may be many reasons for subdividing land into odd bits.

Property has been sold. IM me if you want a free copy of the temple. (Either the one originally shown or the revised one with straight columns.)

And don't forget back in the good old days a 512 plot,even one sub par location cost you 17000L. Not too long ago I saw a woman trying to sell her 512 for almost 200k. Now that was really greedy because she knew the resident yacht club had an eye on that parcel to finally have the whole sim. So one could say it's like blackmailing. End of story was she finally had to abandon the land and it went onthe market for 512L

The first 'miracle' was very simple - seeing virtual swans swimming in virtual water. Later when I went to the place in SL that sells the swans, I was again excited by seeing all the different creatures roaming around. I was also amused and gratified by the way the seller has a drop box where you can place your swans to be updated (it works!). There are so many things I love about second life. These days, when I sometimes feel that I'm running around a giant hamster wheel in RL, I come here to get a bit of peace and to work at building my own landscape (with swans), and to explore a little more. There are so many wonderful creative, talented and generous people in SL. Thank you for reminding me.