Comments on: A Thought About Mainland

By: Gahum Riptide

Gahum Riptide — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:18:23 +0000

Personally, I think perhaps the compromise is for LL to zone NEW mainland areas, liek Bay City, and the newest micro continent of Nautilus. THAT place is fantastic, and has this sort of fantasy Aegean/Roman look to it. It’s very nice. I think this is what LL should have done from the start. While I love the freedom of the mainland, I enjoy now living in an estate with zoning rules.

By: Landsend Korobase

Landsend Korobase — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:01:15 +0000

Bailey, I have actually lived on the mainland before, right next door to people who walked regularly into chat range and besides a huge ad farm, so I do know what it’s like. It suited our needs at the time and if we’d wanted something more than that we’d have paid more – but all we wanted was something small and cheap where we could freely rez things and play around with decorating our home and have a little fun together, and that was fine. If people want something bigger or better they should pay for it, or if they don’t like what they got they should not pay for it any more. Clearly the better solution than forcing everyone en-mass to abide by a set of rules that will require constant tweaking and enforcement.
I understand the plight, I still disagree whole-heartedly with LL’s “solution”.

By: bailey longcloth

bailey longcloth — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:54:33 +0000

Lands, you make a fair point. The only thing I’d point out is that unless you’ve lived next to an ad farm, and had to pay an exorbitant fee for a 16sqm plot. Almost triple what you paid for the 4096sqm you live on I might add because of land speculators. You can’t know how awful it is because there have been no zoning rules. Awful views, griefers and spammers all sit on these little plots waiting for you to buy them out to get rid of them. By then, you’ll pay almost anything for a little peace and quiet.
I’ve lived on the mainland twice, and now I own Angel Square sim so that I don’t have to live that way. I hope that LL goes about this the right way, and only time will tell.
I’m happy to see them doing something though.

By: Landsend Korobase

Landsend Korobase — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:00:40 +0000

In the words of Jack Linden:”This won’t be a short read, so grab a drink, make yourself comfortable and join me after the cut..”

Part of what so attracts me to the world of SL is the freedom, to be who you want, do what you want, make what you want, with only the barest of restrictions that echo people’s universal rights in RL. This is in part a reflection of it being R18, but also of the freedom-loving tendencies of the interwebby world in general.

The sort of restrictions and “central planning” involved in what Jack talks about exactly echos the attitude of RL bureaucrat, as conceded by Jack himself, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. I can only guess the immense time and costs involved in implementing a plan that flies in the face of the freedom loving aspects of SL also doesn’t bother him.

In my unwavering view, it should be left to the market to figure it out. You want a nice view, then buy the land around you to get it or upgrade accordingly. As soon as there are restrictions on what you can do with your own land, and there are thereby costs involved in implementing and enforcing those restrictions, prices go up to maintain that which thereby removes the slums but also removes access to the entry point of having land and for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it. By “improving” the experience for those who buy the cheaper plots of the mainland, they also squeeze out those who were attracted to the cheaper costs and freedom of those places to begin with.

*takes a breath*

At the end of the day it’s LL’s choice, but I am strongly disappointed that they’re choosing this path. I don’t know a heck of a lot about mainland vs private islands and associated costs, but I do know a lot about philosophy, politics, law, and economics to some extent, and the realities of their implementation. And the language and dialogue going on here is both predictable and grrr-inducing.

Sorry Prad, this is your blog not mine, so I’ll stop now. I should be using the forum Jack mentioned, but I won’t, because they’ve clearly made up their mind and at this point just seem to be looking for input as to how people would most like to tell everyone else what to do. Joy.