Raspberry Crystal

I was so focused on the Linden homes that I forgot about not being able to buy mainland without a subscription account. This does make sense. I wonder about the potential downgrades. Currently I have downgraded from premium to basic. If there had been another 'rung on the ladder', a 512 linden home package,. I would have been there instead. I am actually happy in a 512 home in Belli, but not on the mainland. The outlook is so much better with the pretty and consistent surrounding decor. My decorating stamina runs out half way through a 1024 home in any case The chances are I would have then bought currency as a top up, but at a time of my choosing. So LL would probably have the same income from me, but instead of me spending it on a too large house I would be frittering it away on a new boat or car, or some new clothing. I still think that there's room for a 512 Linden home account.

I think you need to also consider initial outlay when thinking about virtual currency, and how many people would go the trouble of cashing in, especially for small amounts. Anyone on a tight budget is going to see £5.99, $11.99 & $29.99 per month as the options, with the pre-paid stipend being included as a built in commitment. So you are buying the 'rental' and you are buying the currency in one package. SL is definitely more fun with money to spend so it isn't a bad idea at all, but actual money is changing hands and that is how much people pay if they don't want to commit to a longer subscription, not that amount 'minus stipend'. That's sounds like a very believable scenario, it is very much the kind of thing that people say. I bet they are all premium plus members now and keeping quiet about it

I'm confused, Premium is $8.25 per month ($1.90 per week) if you pay annually, or $11.99 if you pay one month at a time. Did you mean the plus account? This is $1.27 per week for the cheapest option (paying annually). Oh wait I understand, you mean if you take out the stipend. This does work if you know you definitely would have spent that money on currency with or without subscribing to premium. I do remember it now you mention it, something about wanting to tempt people away from the older Linden homes, and those people may already have the rest of their premium tier commited elsewhere, which does make sense.

Maybe I am not their intended audience for this, because I do like to swap and change around homes, and buying a mainland 512 land plot doesn't really encourage this because of the purchase cost upfront, and then either losing that investment or hanging on unpredictably for a buyer. I know you can get cheap plots, but they tend to be inland and surrounded by other residents who are using the land as a sandbox and so don't feel residential.

I'm sorry if I missed this discussion before, but was it ever revealed what the thought process was behind this? I'm puzzled because there are plenty of spare 512 new phase Linden homes available at the moment, and having a lower cost option would seem like a good introduction for those who felt unsure whether they would enjoy Bellisseria, or a longer stay for those on a tighter budget, or who just like smaller homes. I can see that the 2048 plots are really popular, and it is obvious why, seeing those lovely decor pictures that people are sharing! Maybe more of a range is what is needed? Currently the 512 homes don't make sense unless you want to also own a plot in mainland or have a group to donate land to.

Yes, it wouldn't take long for anyone to get discouraged, especially if they can see prime property which is not being offered. Maybe the Moles could go in and claim and abandon a raft of unclaimed chalet properties just to reset the queue? It would be a less risky strategy than messing with the coding. ...and then it occurs to me, maybe they already do this sometimes?

This reminds me of playing with OpenTTD, quite an old game now but the signals really work and it is ever so easy to wind up in a complete jam with trains stuck in sidings. With the ghost trains passing through each other, does this work for the passengers as well?

I have been wondering about this, if there is a grand plan for more connectivity (subject to there being enough demand for the extra homes in Belli to fill the gap). My mind could easily accept a car ferry if necessary.

This needs fixing, not least because it is costing LL money if customers want homes and can't get hold of them.

That looks like mine, I think! Very pleased for you congratulations

@xViXeNx71 I abandoned a really lovely waterfront chalet this morning, I hope you are able to get it!

I am working my way though everyone's suggestions :)

I am really grateful for all the detailed advice given here, everyone had something useful to say. Even with the golf cart I have been really enjoying myself, and now I am hopeful of finding a way to get a more conventional looking car to work. @Nika Talaj I would be grateful indded for a ready done script, my coding powers do not extend beyond fiddling with the odd setting and hoping for the best!

After a frustrating week trying to get vehicles under control enough to manage the corners, I caved in and went back to the electric golf cart. It is slow, but it is..slow is actually a good thing. I am able to stay on the road, also a good thing. I wish it looked like my Lusch car though! Is there any way to get a regular looking vehicle to go slow enough to manage these twisty roads? I have tried speed limiters and they don't seem to go low enough. Has anyone else managed to get a regular looking (non sports) style car to work in Belli? If so how did you do it?

I spent a couple of days 'hiking' along the side of the river, and I have been amazed how many water-side homes are vacant. I started checking to be sure that they weren't simply empty of furniture. Like you @Tamara Adored , I found a lovely spot which backs onto the water and for added convenience is within walking distance of a 'boat-slip' rez spot. I can only think that the demo region I saw some time ago completely undersold the feel of the completed region, and that maybe the styles of home available are unfamiliar to non-europeans, so don't give those emotional attachment vibes residents need to feel at home.

This looks like a lot of fun! Are you getting a feel for what times the group will be most active?

Golden Years Virtual Park Homes

Having a break and watching the sunset, after motoring North up the 'chalet river'. This really is a very beautiful part of the Bellisseria Continent and well worth an excursion!

Oops I hadn't meant to accuse the designs of being McMansions, it was just my clumsy attempt to Britishify the Linden Lab's name as an attempt at humour! I am going to give up now and leave some of you still puzzled, apparently.

Yes, this is a US based style, and we all borrow from each other. Blush, I don't know what to say, this might be a quirk of google, or it could be you would need to search for particular areas of countries which border the Med Sea as the area is so large and there isn't one kind of architecture which covers this vast sweep of cultures. I copied this list of countries from wikipedia; List of countries on the Mediterranean Sea[edit] Below is the list of the countries and territories bordering the Mediterranean, listed clockwise from Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula: Southern European coast, from west to east Spain[4] Gibraltar[4] (a British Overseas Territory) France (specifically Southern France and Corsica)[4] Monaco[4] Italy[4] Malta[4] Slovenia[4] Croatia[4] Bosnia and Herzegovina[4] Montenegro[4] Albania[4] Greece[4] Turkey [4] Cyprus[4] Western Asian coast, from north to south Syria[4] Lebanon[4] Israel[4] Palestine[4] Northern African coast, from east to west Egypt[4] Libya[4] Tunisia[4] Algeria[4] Morocco[4] I need to go do Christmas stuff so have probably run out of time to find examples. The American 'Mediterranean' style picks out Italy and Spain as the main influences (or so it seems) and there homes in the UK based on those, particularly spain which has been a popular holiday destination since the advent of cheap flights decades ago. Even if someone from the uk couldn't come up with this whole list (and I couldn't!) they would probably be able to name the main holiday destinations all of which have quite varying architecture. There is nothng wrong with having homes which are influenced by other cultures, and the USA med style is quite attractive, it's just that the word makes no sense because it picks out a very small selection of styles from a vast choice. It would be like, to use an exageration, saying my own home is an example of 'northern hemisphere architecture'. editing in another example; If second life was based in the UK, and the new 'McLinden' Home was advertised as 'American', and it was maybe a selection of ranch styles, you could quite rightly object to that and say 'hang on a minute, there isn't only one type of american home that name doesn't make sense!'.

It isn't Mediterranean architecture though. It is completely its own thing, a style which grew up in the USA and had elements of design which have been adapted from other cultures. The name only makes sense within the US.

I am having the greatest difficulty imagining anything that will both work as intended, and not put off a section of potential new sl residents. I suspect we all probably suffer from confirmation bias with this topic, that if your SL life is primarily focused on finding virtual sexual partners, or a particular kind of self-expression then you will think that this is the biggest thing in SL and will be surrounded by people who agree with that. If you spend the majority of your time exploring, socialising, taking photos, or decorating your virtual home then you will pick out information that supports the view that your particular niche is central to virtual life. We don't (as far as i know) have any actual stats about what drives people here, or what keeps them once they do arrive. It's possible that Linden Labs doesn't know either and every move is tentatively based on guesswork. Bearing in mind that most people are pretty boring (including myself here!) then there could be a whole range of activities that seem nice to have, but which most people never actually get around to and are actually minority sports, despite the enthusiastic evangelists making out otherwise.

I had a weird visual jolt seeing cacti in the mole landscaping. They look nice though. My sometimes literal brain gets very caught up in the naming of these home types. I wish they were not called Mediterranean as this is very confusing. When I first saw this home type within second life I had them described to me as 'californian spanish style' and if I think of them that way everything seems to snap into place nicely. That probably doesn't cover it really but it stops my brain getting too caught up in dissonance.

I had seen river parcels that I liked, and decided to be patient and roll on for a few days, but it actually only took three goes to get a lovely spot next to a pond, with the river right behind, and close to a rez area. I can bend my mind to think of the Alpenrose as a traditional english cottage and that is what made the difference for me, especially away from the main theme items, like windmills. My decor is tending towards domestic1930s, but not very strictly. The spring flowers and surrounding terrain details are so lovely, especially the marshiness of the river with broken branches and other details. Driving up the side of the water channel the houses are broken up by green spaces, and it gives the impression of riding through villages, which is lovely. How to improve things? For me, more variety in the exterior finishings would be ideal, some weathered traditional (small) brick options would work a treat. I'm sure stone would appeal to others. Maybe some more textured interior wall finishes could work, panelling for instance, or limewash render? I imagine some would find a smaller house model appealing if they fancied a small-holding, growing veg etc. It would leave more room. There are probably too many 'estate houses' with pretty streets, but not much individual about them and kind of bend the brain thinking about vintage houses built in the layout of modern house builders, it doesn't quite feel 'right'. I would love a snowy Belli theme, but maybe it would be better to have a different theme with traditional alpine chalets for that? Not sure what they would call that theme, 'Alpine' maybe? This style is certainly popular in world already. This might relieve some of the pressure for those who want to go down the full festive decor route and take some of those 'snow rugs' out of the greener themes?