MoiraKathleen

Traffic reasons may not be the only reason one has what appear to be bots on their parcel all the time. I seem to remember someone mentioning they had a lot of alts on their parcel all the time because they were all playing Tiny Empires.

Following Patch's update thread is one way, but I believe that he doesn't update that until the release is actually happening. Last time the hints of an upcoming release happening soon (like in the next 24 hours) were mostly through posts on threads here, and in comments in the two main Bellisseria community groups (which are open to anyone who wishes to join). If I remember correctly, the relevant comments from the groups were also copied and posted on threads here. Until it reaches a point where the new supply is closer to meeting the current demand, I think it will be true that the people who really, really want a spot, and are willing to do what is necessary to stay as informed as possible, will be the ones most likely to be able to snag a parcel. Later, as the hype dies down and the inventory count continues to increase, that will become less important.

The moles are building on, and in the light. If you look at the last few pages of the "SSP" thread you can see pictures taken by residents of areas currently under construction, and you can even pop out there to watch in person.

Areas that have new construction happening now appear to be over in the area of SSPE136, SSPE105, SSPE88 - even on the big map in the viewer you can see the green parcel boundary lines now in those regions. Areas that are a little further along are some that have received proper names - like "New Hamsterdam". The best thread for following where new things are happening is the "SSP" thread. The last few pages of it will often have pictures of new things or new work in progress sighted by residents.

In my opinion, the biggest increase of value in being premium wasn't the recent introduction of the new 1024 sqm Linden Homes - it was the doubling of free tier allowance from 512 sqm to 1024 sqm together with a reduction in mainland tier costs which happened in March of 2018. Perhaps that would have been a better time to increase the premium cost, if they wanted to associate the cost increase to a benefit increase. I think that the increase was not tied to any particular benefit increase, but was part of other things that LL has talked about for the past several years of lowering land costs and increasing revenue from other SL revenue streams (and perhaps due in part as well, to increased costs of business). The new homes were in fact, in progress long before the new premium increase - the first posts from residents in the forum talking about the new "SSP" regions spotted on the grid, and the speculation that they might be for new LH's, began showing up last August. I think the first pictures that Patch posted which showed him standing in a neighborhood of new homes was before last Halloween.

One of the interesting things occurring because more homes are currently being added into some of the empty areas of the new continent, we actually get a chance to peek in and watch the Moles transform an empty region into a fully landscaped, parceled and 'housed' region. If you glance through the last several pages of the "SSP" thread in this forum, you can see pictures that others have taken of the work currently in progress for the next release, along with map pictures showing the new regions and some of the names of regions just given official names in the last week or so.

footloose and fancy free

out in my garden loving the warm summer weather

Taking a break from garden work.

It took me awhile to figure out which houseboat style I liked best, and then how I wanted to decorate. I think I'll probably be staying with how it is currently set up, at least for awhile. I finally ended up going with the Evening Star, and added @Blush Bravin's "Evening Star Upward" add-on. I got the houseboat during the additional houseboat release, having given up the house I got from the original release after a couple of weeks. I don't have a lot of permanent "clutter" out, but I still have 63 LI available for things I might decide to put out temporarily from time to time.

What I'm wondering about is … how many people are currently auto-refreshing and will they get bumped off somehow before the new spots are released? It seems like the number I read somewhere this morning for the number of new homes in this little mini-release was an estimate that was between 300 - 400. If there were that many people auto-refreshing, the new release could be gone in a matter of minutes, it seems to me.

Check the skin applier for the head. Sometimes there is an option that does not include eyebrows.

If you were looking at the land for sale classifieds, it also possible that you came across parcels where the owner has it up for sale, but also is open to renting the parcel out (which takes if off the 'for sale' side of things until it's vacant again). There are several mainland land companies that operate in this fashion.

People are thinking that there will be a preview area at the SL16B celebration, and that the preview may include a third theme of house style. None of us know yet what this third theme will be, or when it might be released (but many are expecting it may be not to long after the end of SL16B). From comments Patch has made, it sounds as if there will be even more themes to come in the future. One thing that is different from the prior Linden Homes is that each of the two 'themes' released so far allow the parcel owner to change between 4 different homes in that theme on the same parcel. In the meantime, anyone can go and visit the new continent, participate in resident hosted events and activities out there and join the resident created groups that have sprung up (search for groups starting with Bellisseria). You can also see where the Moles are currently at work adding a small group of traditional homes and houseboats for release before too long. One of the two main groups (or perhaps both) have had a HUD available to group members which provides a 'tour' of houses and houseboats where people have given consent to allowing visitors to stop by and check out their homes. I'm not sure that the new homes themselves are specifically the reason for the higher premium fees. To me, I see them as one of many improvements to the premium benefits over the past several years, and specifically over the last year or two when the premium free land allowance was changed from 512 sqm to 1024 sqm.

If you think it is a scam, then don't play gachas.

For me, I still feel that the premium membership is worthwhile. It is still a good value in my opinion, compared to costs of other types of entertainment, and SL is what I have chosen as my main form of entertainment. While I expect that a premium or paid membership would offer some perks over the basic level, I would not expect that the value received back would necessarily be equal to or more than the cost of the membership. It would not make sense for the company to be, in essence, paying people to be a member - especially in a world like SL where lindens can be converted to real dollars and taken out. LL has talked for a couple of year about working to balance out their sources of income, of making land less expensive (and they have reduced not only private estate costs, but also reduced the cost of mainland tier in late 2018). I saw the premium cost increase as part of the balancing out, and also as a reflection of the increases made to premium benefits in the last 5 years that I've been here.

I agree with Selene, if you have to re-join and pay the L$2500 each month, then it isn't a gift. It sounds like they are selling some mysterious package each month for L$2500 each month and making it "exclusive" sounding by making you join the group each month in order to receive it. In my opinion this is a misuse of group functionality. I understand that they want to offer something of more value than what is paid for it to their group members each month. They could have a VIP group that you don't have to re-join each month and have a VIP group-member only package with a purchase price of L$2500 at their store - with a different package available each month (and past month packages no longer available).

It sounds like you and he should find some completely new places to hang out at for awhile. And perhaps some new people for awhile as well - if he and she have friends in common will be very likely that she will be able to find out where he is and where he is working. SL is a big place, though we tend to stay within our circle of familiar places we know. Treat it like and adventure for just the two of you, and have some fun exploring and finding other places / communities to enjoy.

But if you are paying the tier to Luxory Estates and you are allowed to sell the parcel, then it is almost certainly "Estate / Full Region" or "Estate / Homestead" and not a Mainland parcel, so this should not be in the "Parcels for Sale: Mainland" section of the Land Forum. The best way to find out which type of land it is, is to look at the "Type" on the About Land window.

If you bring up the "About Land" information it should show you the "Type" of land. It will say "Estate / Full Region" or "Mainland / Full Region" or "Estate / Homestead". Another clue is that if you pay 'tier' to someone other than Linden Lab it is an Estate (or you are renting mainland in which case you couldn't sell it).

This doesn't look like mainland. This should probably be in the "Region for Rent: Full Private Islands" or the "Region Rentals: Homestead" section. You can use the report post function to ask that it be moved to the appropriate section.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that Bellisseria was meant to be an all-encompassing location, as in everything you ever need will be provided and you never need to leave the continent.

I do not think that there should be actual commercial activity in Bellisseria. The biggest issue I see with that is if creators start getting "free" (with premium) store locations in or connected to Bellisseria, then every premium level creator would think they should be able to have a store there. If there was a limited number allowed, I think that would turn into a headache for LL to administer and there would always be creators who felt the method was unfair.

You're right. First the new homes and now this - I should probably just stay away altogether for a few weeks. It would probably help my frustration levels a lot.

I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought I remembered Grumpity saying something about the option showing up on 6/4. If it's not available by mid-day tomorrow I might start worrying, but otherwise I'm in no hurry. We have a pretty good sized window to do the pre-pay so one day isn't going to make a big difference.