Polenth Yue

If you're concerned about a file, scan it before you run it.

All the named houseboat regions along there seem to be in the queue. They're filling, though not super fast. Interestingly though, the chalets on those regions are still "Protected Land", which I don't think I've seen happen before.

My experience of Discord is that it's used to deal with some of the issues with group chat, not as a replacement for group chat. Some examples are that Discord chat remains even if you're not there, so you can ask a question and check back later for the answer. Notices aren't time limited. Also, it doesn't take a group slot, so people can juggle groups to be in the ones for active events, but remain in the Discord all year round. In the initial build to the event, the people chatting are mainly creators and there's a big overlap in the people who use group chat and those who use Discord. You can see this going down with Fantasy Faire right now, as it's still a fair bit of time until the event for regular people, but the creators are already working. Most will be standing alone on a build grid somewhere, so chats that don't require being in a certain place are useful. As the event approaches, chat in both places will shift towards the actual stuff happening and getting people to the events within the event. Those events could be a party, avatar chess or slowly digesting Patch in stomach acid. But whatever the event, this is when chat shifts to local. It's noticeable that people who are active in group chat and/or Discord are the ones who are most likely to turn up and talk in local. So it's not that the other things replace local. It helps people get where they need to be and means everyone else isn't a stranger when they get there. In other words, this is a bit like refusing to use a phone or email to arrange a meeting with your friends, because you want to be talking face-to-face. Instead, you wander about and hope you'll happen to run into them. This is not likely to work very well, as the original post demonstrated.

One potential issue would be if your system isn't set up to open slurls in a Second Life viewer. If that's the case, right click on the link after "Slurl" and copy the link. Then open your Second Life viewer and paste it in the location bar. This is the bit that says where you are currently at the top of the viewer. First click it to select it, delete what's there, and paste your slurl (you can press ctrl and v at the same time to paste). Then hit return to teleport there. If that doesn't work, knowing your region name and avatar name would be enough for someone to help you find it.

If your exposure to steampunk has been a quick walk around Caledon and New Babbage, that's not really what it's about. Those areas are steampunk, but they don't represent the whole genre. It's not strictly Victorian. It can cover any place and time. It covers a range of different technology interpretations, not just literal steam engines. It can include roleplay, but also stories, music, fashion, art and so on. You also don't have to follow the theme for exhibits. This wasn't true in the long past, but the more recent birthdays have made the themes optional.

Cariggus, a new houseboat region near the chalets, looks to have entered the queue and I can see at least one claimed. Brinehaven has just restarted, so probably next.

I'm hoping that'll end up in fantasy, where they can add eldritch things. (Also looks like some of the houseboats have released now.)

The houseboat regions along the south chalet coast are getting names and the in-progress borders are being removed.

Last year the theme was optional for exhibits, though there's more than just the classic steampunk. I'd do a more solarpunk thing with some steam vibes if I was doing it this year. But I need a break to work on other things and will enjoy what other people build instead.

The theme is steampunk (not a guess, they've announced it now).

This is where we're hitting the problem. Most people in Second Life simply don't care if they're technically renting or not or whether they technically own the land or not. They know what they've got and who they need to pay. That's all that matters to most people in the end. This is why I asked why you posted this, because it was clear that to you, this is the most important thing in the universe right now. It is vitally important that you show people you are right about your definition of rent and they are so very wrong. Which was a bit puzzling given the topic, as it's a piece of language trivia. I can see now that you were upset that you got a post deleted for being in the wrong place, but this thread isn't going to help that. The moderators aren't going to argue it with you. If they say you need to post a thing in a certain place and not where you did, that's what you've got to do. Regular forum users don't control that.

I'm seconding the question about why fine distinctions in what the word means is important. Did something happen?

I've seen no signs that there's an extra step. The queue only stops having homes of that theme when all the regions set to "Linden Home" are done. There aren't any delays that make it look like a mole has to kick something.

The people who designed the system have stated many times that there's no advantage to standing by the house you want. There would be no benefit in coding a system that looks at where you're standing. To prove that this is wrong, you'd need to record the statistics for thousands of tries and then analyse whether the results were statistically significant. You'd also need to randomise where you were standing and when you tried, as obviously, you're going to have some idea which houses are available and which regions are just releasing. I'm not going to buy lots of premium accounts to run such a study, but the things you've said do not make me think that you have either. Standing by a house you really want and you have a funny feeling is going to be available soon is a test of how good you are at predicting the system. It's not testing how the system works.

Beware of assuming that because you turned around three times and dropped a glass of water that it had anything to do with getting the house you wanted. Two events being close together does not mean that one caused the other.

One way around those issues is to pick a different start location. As long as login is working overall, it's often down to that region having some issues during the restarts.

They've released that whole block of stilt regions now, so go now if you want one.

The original regions have all released, so it is down to waiting on the new ones or abandons.

Yep, they don't want us spying!

Parties and other events will have more people than infohubs and sandboxes. Abandoned land is literally just that, so you won't find much of anything there.

Though it could be anytime, they've been releasing one stilt region a day for the last few days. Less likely to do so at the weekend, but I wouldn't be surprised if one each work day continues until this group is done. Which means seven more regions. In other words, now (and next week) is a good time to check for people looking for stilts.

One thing I wonder if they do the last theme replacement, will there be a mix of smaller and bigger plots? That was a nice feature with the modern ones and gives more choices for people coming over from the old houses.

Open plan and wall colours are the missing features, though updates could also be non-house things. Adding bits to community areas. Finishing coastlines. There was also talk of a museum area for the old Linden Homes (which I hope will be an island attached to the rest, so we can sail/fly out there).

It looks like all the new regions are now "Linden Home" unless I've missed something. Still a number with no claimed homes, so a bit to go until it fills.

It's not always considered out of theme and some exterior changes can be done. What makes a change out of theme is a trickier question and wouldn't be easy to make firm rules on. I'm not sure why people are pressing for firm rules, because they're likely to be harsher than the current "we know it when we see it" rules. That said, it might be handy to have a general description of the vision for each area, as it'll make some things more or less obvious as in or out of theme. It has been said that it isn't assumed that people are trying to cause trouble. Items are returned and messages left, rather than banning people or stuff like that. So if you think something is in theme, don't worry about it too much. They'll let you know if not, but you're not going to be banned or anything. Continuing to put the same stuff back after being told isn't going to end well though.