Clariel Rishmal

Bobbie Faulds wrote: First off, if I PAY for a private island and I want it to be private, I don't have to let anyone on it. I'm paying for that priviledge to the tune of $300 USD unless I grandfather it then it's $200 USD a month. Next, the "sea" areas between islands you see on the map are actually just place holders. There's not really anything there. You have sims that share a corner and you can't see one form the other. You can only see the next sim if they share a side. There is actually nothing in those blue areas on the map unless they have been set up as a sim so there is nothing there to fly over. Did you read the rest of the thread? This has all been covered. Phil had an excellent suggestion to keep the appearance of flying over the empty areas, and I have already said that anyone wanting to opt out of the "flyover ocean" could do just that - opt out. There really isn't any privacy concern with my suggestion. It would just make SL seem more like a real, interconnected world, instead of a disjointed patchwork of many small worlds.

I'm not sure why my boyfriend is being dragged into this discussion. Jealousy?

"I really don't think you have thought this through very well." Actually hon, I've thought this through quite well ever since my then-bf got me into SL in 2008. Phil, thank you for your reply. That's exactly what I think LL should do. There would be no privacy issues, but it would appear you can travel seamlessly between regions with no TP. They should implement your idea today! Seamless flight would make the entire map seem open and inviting. Another change I would like to see is that each island should be viewable from the nearest neighbor island. Nothing specific, just a smudge on the horizon that would let you feel like there is another place over there. I guess if some owners are so fixated on their privacy that they don't even want the neighbors to know their island is there, they could opt out. But I think the vast majority wouldn't have a problem with a neighbor seeing their island on the horizon and knowing there is someone else over there, building a home. These might seem like tiny changes that aren't even worth it, but they would make the whole place more inviting and "real"-seeming. Simple things that wouldn't cost much but might pay for themselves in the long run by attracting or retaining residents. I for one would love to sit on a beach and see new islands being created on the horizon. Maybe even fly over and say hello if the builders permitted it.

There are other ways to have privacy. Enclose your private island in a bubble or structure. Or gently nudge away avatars who get too close to your private island. Fragmenting the world into a bunch of pieces that you have to teleport between robs SL of continuity and the feeling of being an actual interconnected place. Did this decision cause the sort of stagnation SL has seen over the past 10 years? I don't know but it can't be helping. It's not a real world until it's possible to fly over empty sea areas and reach other regions. Not just on the continents but everywhere. Server limitations are a poor excuse in 2016 and so is privacy. There are other ways that don't break the continuity of the world.

Think of how amazing it would be to fly between one island and another. No more teleportation hell. Think of all you could see, all you could explore, if we could seamlessly fly from the mainland to the island areas. A virtual world isn't really a world when each island is isolated and separate from the others. Tech limitations in 2009 or whatever dictated this sad fact, but now SL should liberate itself from this anchor around its neck. I believe freedom to fly over the ocean between islands would revolutionize this whole experience. Come on LL, please consider this. How is a mass of thousands of isolated specks that you have to teleport between a "virtual world"? Sounds more like virtual fragments.