Blogs - Second living

In the 4 years I’ve been in Second Life, I have rented more than half a dozen homes and apartments, owned a SIM, and rented properties. And that is a huge benefit about living in Second Life, you can find a place and call it home permanently, or you can move frequently.

The benefit of living in a place in SL is that you have a home base, where you can return and log back into, and you have a place you can change, entertain in, or just hangout and relax. In this respect, it’s not different from in-person living. But living in SL has other benefits.

Moving is easy and inexpensive. Finding a place where you want to live can be fun and challenging, and there are considerations before dropping Lindens into that rental box or selecting Pay for land.

The reasons I’ve moved so much is because I wasn’t aware of the great variety of rental types and places, and also because I can and enjoy the variety. In doing so, I’ve learned a lot about what’s involved in renting or owning land, and the benefits and drawbacks to each.

In order to find the right place, or places, for your avi to call home, you have to know what you are willing to spend, and what it is you’re looking for in a virtual home.

Community or Privacy

Just like in-person, your intentions for having a place in SL are based on how much community or privacy you want, or a combination thereof. I think intention is the single most important factor in finding a place to live. Do you want your living quarters to be a part of a community, or do you want your roost to be isolated, private, and away from wandering avatars?

When I had my own SIM for awhile, I realized that it was too isolated for my taste. I had all the room I wanted to create, to have wildlife thrive, and to set up rentals to bring in other people, but I wasn’t focused enough to make it a true community. I decided to sell and rent within an established community instead. Why reinvent the wheel?

Community Living

The benefits of living in a community is that there is opportunity to meet others by walking around on the SIM you live on, going to events put on just for that community, and simulating real old style neighborhoods. Communities come in many types and price ranges.

If you are a role-player, then the SIM where you carry out those activities might also have apartments, cabins, caves, or houses available for you to rent. This way you’ll be seeped in your role-playing fun. Check for some sources in my article Role-playing in Second Life.

But if role-playing is not your style, and you are just looking for a friendly community to live in, there are many.

What type of place and how much you spend on rent depends entirely on the type of community, the size of the homes or apartments, and how many prims you are allowed. That can also be the drawback. For SIM owners, prims are a precious commodity that they must hand out sparingly, depending how large or small the community is. In some of these communities you may have a yard or not, and scripted objects may or may not be allowed.

Communities are often built around themes or terrains, such as Victorian, Country, City Life, Forrest, Mountainous, etc.

As you search for the right community for you, be sure to read the rental agreements. These are often found in rental offices, or on the boxes of the residence. In these agreements, you’ll discover how many Lindens you’ll have to pay each week, what the prim allowance is, and what the rules are for the SIM. Read these carefully! When you rent a house, you generally get private chat, and music channels of your choice.

Some SIMs have large apartment buildings if you enjoy city life. These tend to be much cheaper, allow for fewer prims, and lack chat privacy. So there are benefits and drawbacks.

As for pricing, you pay for size of the home, how much land you get with the house, and what the prim allowance it is. Rent can vary from 100L a week to 8,000L, depending on whether you get a small house and no land or an estate with a huge yard and lots of prims.

Here are some communities I’ve lived or live in and are worth considering.

• Harmony: Several SIMs are hooked together here, creating a wonderful big community, with a variety of lifestyles. Live in a lovely Victorian house, a woodsy cabin, a beach house, or a big estate. The owners are delightful, and the people who live here friendly and respectful. Check the rental office for listings, or fly around.

• WhoopEm Up Hollow Estates: This is a lovely rustic community, where you can attend weekly dances and live entertainment. The people here are friendly, and the owner is considerate and fun.

• Mystic Paradise Rentals: This is a lovely smaller community with houses all in a similar style and ponds and wildlife. Prices are moderate here.

You may notice in searching for a home that it can cost the same to rent a big house in community as it does to rent a region or part of a SIM where you get more prims and land. This is because you are also paying for community, which you won’t get with a big chunk of land or a SIM.

Private Living

Not everyone wants to live within a community, but instead return to a private getaway. If privacy is what you want, you’ll discover finding a rental is a bit more expensive than renting within a community.

Buying or renting a SIM might be ideal for you. You can buy or rent an island, or if you can’t afford that, you can get a ¼, ½, or ¾ SIM. If you know how to transform land, then you know you can create the exact kind of environment you want. Otherwise, you can purchase a RAW file to transform your SIM, and then enjoy the peace and quiet.

Privacy often comes with a price, but there are also other freedoms you can benefit from. Price generally controls prim allowance, and you can find low traffic areas.

Be sure to read the rental or buying agreement, or covenant, as these explain how you can deal with intruders and whether or not ban lines or other devices are allowed, etc.

Prices vary widely, so I won’t site them here, and unfortunately I can’t recommend many places, as listings pop up and disappear daily. But it is easy to rent or buy with a simple click when you find what you want.

To find private land to rent or buy use the Search and type in land rental or land purchase. XStreet SL also has many listings.

Alternatively, you can also check with Reach Isles. They do a great job of renting SIMs of various sizes, with a variety of terrains. Their land, even if it’s a ¼ SIM is quite private. They also offer great support.

Redecorating and Moving As the Mood Strikes

A huge benefit with living in Second Life, as opposed to your in-person life, is that it’s easy to redecorate as frequently as you like, or to move as frequently as the mood strikes. You can even rent several places at once!

Sometimes it takes a few moves before you find just the right community, or the right island private life. Experiment and have fun with it!

Once you’re moved into your new home, you’ll need to decorate. This is as fun as shopping for a place to live. When renting, you need to be especially careful of prim counts. There are many low prim furniture stores, where you can get enough to fill your home. Be careful to test out furniture before buying though, as some chairs come with strange or unpleasant sitting poses, some sofas don’t work the way you want, and bed come with a wide variety of pose scripts.

Additionally, if you are yard decorating, get low prim plants and trees, or you’ll reach your prim allowance in no time.

For low prim furniture, or trees and plants, use the Search. I find it works well by typing in low prim furniture or low prim plants.

Some rentals also come furnished, which is nice, unless you don’t like the furniture style. If the latter is true, you can often get the owner to take away the furniture so you can set out your own.

I have found owners to be friendly and willing to accommodate in many ways. Because I like to have dogs and other animals, my prim allowance is met quickly. Some owners offer more prims for additional rent. Currently, I pay almost many Lindens per week as I did for a ¼ SIM I rented some time ago, and I get fewer prims. The reason I decided to pay more is because I wanted to be a part of a community but have enough room for a good size house and all my animals. For me it’s worth it. I don’t like being isolated on an island somewhere. But if privacy is your thing, there are some great deals out there.

Have fun finding and decorating your home. Maybe we’ll end up in the same community or SIM one day!