5 Ds matter most to me: Desire, Drive, Determination, Dedication and discipline.
In any communication, personal or professional, ethics are most important to me.
In RL, I am a student enrolled in Masters in Business Administration-Operations & Finance.
In SL, I am owner of Nowhere Creations and manage the finances of Terra Nova Landscape & Design for my wife, Sammy Raleigh.
Earlier we talked about the mainland and private estates with various types of private estates available for any resident.
In this, we will talk about the difference in getting land from Linden Labs™ and renting from another company in SL. Before that, we need to have some clarity on concept of buying vs. renting.
What exactly means buying? Why it is different from renting?
Logically speaking, the difference between buying and renting in SL is same as real world. You can either be owner of your property or rent it. Technically speaking, if you are “buying” from Linden Labs™ you are still renting it.
Have a look at the TOS of Second Life™.
“You acknowledge that Virtual Land is a limited license right and is not a real property right or actual real estate, and it is not redeemable for any sum of money from Linden Lab. You acknowledge that the use of the words "Buy," "Sell" and similar terms carry the same meaning of referring to the transfer of the Virtual Land License as they do with respect to the Linden Dollar License.”
So, it is actually a license you are paying for and you are not actually an owner. Having understood that, let us come to the main and more important part of the virtual land.
Should I get a land from Linden Labs™ or from a company in world? We will try to understand that by keeping in mind the following factors. Here, we will be referring to only private estates not mainland.
1) Authority
If you want to have more control over your land, that is, second only to Linden Labs™, then you should definitely get the land from LL. This will guarantee you the full control over the land. You would be able to change the terrain (RAW file) anytime you want.
2) Duration
So let’s say you need land to organize a big event for 2 months. Do not think further. Get your land from any company in SL. Why is that so? Let us do some math.
From LL:
- Setup Cost: $705
- Monthly Maintenance: $295
- Total Charges: $705+ ($295 * 2months) = $1295
From Company in SL:
- Setup Cost: $2 (mostly sell it for less than $1)
- Monthly Maintenance: $360 (taking average rent as L$90000 monthly & L$250=$1)
- Total Charges: $2 + ($360*2month) = $722
3) Fraud
One of the major drawback of SL is you do not have any concrete real life information about the identity of the owner of the SL land company. It does happen that at times, small trades rip-off their customers by taking in the rent and then later banning the poor customer from all their regions. Now, you must understand that LL usually, does not get involves into resident-to-resident dispute with the exception that the matter is of legal nature. So unless you are renting from a reputed company, or from people you know for a long time, do not rent from an in-world company.
4) Homestead Region
So, you need homestead region only. Well that leaves you with no choice but to get the land from an in world company as homestead are available to only those who own full region.
5) Size of Land
You need a small land and you do not want a mainland. Then, get a land from the company within SL. No questions.
These are the most important factors while deciding from where to get your land.
Should you have any comments and suggestions, feel free to IM me any time. See you in world!
Siddhart Sohmers
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