Why Own a Homestead In Second Life?
I’m often asked what’s the point of owning a home or land in Second Life? It’s certainly a valid question. You sure don’t need to have a home or land. You can just as easily find a place you like, and put your avatar there when you log off, so when you log back on, that’s where you’ll appear. There are plenty of public sandboxes and changing rooms to use when you buy new clothes or hair.
Even so, many of us want a place we can call our home base, a place where we own the rights, where we can have privacy, where we can play, learn to script or build, or even work. It’s nice to own a place you can decorate to your taste, then change it around as often as you like.
I have rented apartments and houses in Second Life, but I enjoy owning land even more. The avatar Dana Oceanlane most closely resembles my physical life, and so when I decided to buy a homestead, I did it under her name. My other avatars also come here to use this space as home, but when I want to kick back and relax in SL, it’s usually with Dana Oceanlane.
Relaxing by the waterfall
I’ve owned land in the past in SL, but this time I took a little more time to research the various types of land available, and settled on a half SIM Homestead. Homesteads cost less because you are only allowed 20 avatars on a full SIM, and 10 on a half SIM. You also get a smaller prim allowance. The reason is these SIMs are set up to be low traffic, fairly private areas that contain mostly land. It’s ideal for those of us who want to emulate nature, and enjoy privacy.
I found a few SIMs that were flat, square plots of sand, with the islands being close together. No thanks. I found land for sale on the mainland that cost less, but I’d have to put up with ugly buildings from neighbors. I really wanted something where I could enjoy the view, play with some terraforming, and not have to worry about neighbors. So, a Homestead is ideal for me. I found a great island, and half of it was for sale. This gave me a little over 16 K square miles, with an 1875 prim allowance, which is plenty!
To my delight, this land was already terraformed nicely. Scripts had been set up so as soon as I purchased it, everything went right into my name and I had the permissions I needed to set up the place like home.
House shopping is a lot of fun, but after awhile can become grueling. Lag is bad on the SIMs where homes are already rezzed, and after awhile houses start looking a lot alike. But I found the perfect house for me, then set off to do some furniture shopping.
Last, but not least, I shopped for animals, both wild life and pets. I have three dogs, one of which is an adorable puppy who plays with his bone, chases a ball, sleeps in his bed, and pees on his newspaper. My husky Zooley growls and barks when he looks out the windows, and outside, Zack, my tiger roams the property and swims in the ponds.
I enjoy watching the ducks, the loon, and the swans, all of which dunk their heads to feed. I have dragonflies and humming birds, as well as butterflies flying around.
Now, between going to Buddhist talks and meditations, role playing in the Star Wars SIMs, and blowing Linden dollars like there’s no tomorrow, I sit and fish or just watch the wild life, which is surprisingly entertaining and not unlike their physical counterparts.
No, it’s not the same as being out in physical nature, nor is my home the same as my physical home. But it’s a lot of fun in all kinds of ways.
Come by and visit when you get a chance!
