Putting my money where my mouth is: I have a Sim

Main page and more information
about the Linji Haven community sim.

I've spoken, written, rambled, and even ranted in multiple venues about how it should be possible to create a community that would not have the eyesore and lag issues that frequently (but not always) plague the mainland.

And moreover, that this vision should be possible at a price better than individuals acquiring land on their own (because the L$ per sqm tier price improves dramatically, as the amount of owned land increases).

Well, enough ranting. Enough waiting for someone else to do it. I'm a fool, and a dreamer, but it was time to try putting my money where my mouth was. Last night, I bid and won an entire mainland Sim in LL auction. It came down to being outbid in the last 15 seconds, and then throwing in one last bid, and winning.

My goal, my dream, is still as previously described: to gather together like-minded individuals in a residential and low-impact commercial Sim, with the simple covenant of trying to be considerate. Raymond Figtree, on the forums, suggested an interesting covenent, which I've extended just a little bit: the C with no CCCCC Covenant: - be Considerate, with no Casinos, Clubs, Camping, (huge) Commercial, or other Crap. Simple enough.

I've written before, both here and in the forums, about how a Private Island would be far more flexible for this sort of goal. But, my other goal, to keep it CHEAP, with rent equal to mainland tier alone for 2,048 and/or 4,096 sq m plots, meant that with a private island, I'd require at least 75% occupancy, merely to cover the monthly fees. There's no way I could assure myself that that would be possible. But with a mainland Sim, I could survive at break-even with only 50% occupancy (overlooking the large initial expense though...), but with these drawbacks:

• loss of terraforming freedom and unlimited water access
  
• loss of ability to "sell" parcels to individuals (although selling on an Island is just glorified renting)
• relying on "groups" to deal with land permissions and parcels
  
• loss of the Estate tools (including monitoring highest lag-offensive scripts and physics)
• no control on the visual clutter of what might be placed in adjacent mainland sims
  

There's a lot of thought I still need to put to this. Maybe a few months from now, this experiment will confirm that I'm a dreamer and a fool. Or, maybe this will become a sanctuary, an oasis, and a retreat that will bring enjoyment and creativity to a small corner of SL. And maybe even serve as a model, of what CAN be done, if people work together.

We shall see.

See http://slged.blogspot.com/2007/03/linji-haven.html for more information.

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Some pictures, from a giddy and proud land owner: