land

The profile of CP Costello, owner of Second Life based real estate business CP Realty, was recently modified to announce incorporation in the 'real world'. While that isn't particularly significant, this shift seems to have motivated them to begin filing class-action lawsuits against those running virtual real estate scams.

[...] we will be hireing a legal team to pursue what we feel is unfair practice in game. First issue at hand will to aquire a court order for RW names of players that cut and ruin sims with adfarms for profit while damaging value of property owners.IF you have land that has been damaged ruined or devalued you need to contact My self in the next few days we will have a group in place for a future class action suit .

This not only has the potential to affect the smaller businesses around Second Life who fall victim to land extortionists, but large real-world companies like Coldwell Banker who have been accused of using extortionist tactics themselves. Anyone perusing the mainland for any amount of time has witnessed the phenomena of tiny 16m plots of land with spinning "For Sale" signs, available for purchase at a high rate. Between this and griefing, the mainland has been all but useless for larger business applications.

To find out more, I contacted CP Costello directly. When I asked about what court this was going to be filed in, he replied: "WE ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING REAL NAMES FROM LINDENS - when i am closer we will be searching out people to join." He declined to comment further.

Whether this class action lawsuit goes any further than a comment on someone's profile remains to be determined, but with the growing legitimacy of virtual worlds as business places, the numerous land scams that cover the surface of Second Life are bound to be prosecuted. We'll keep you posted if anything goes to court.

(via Your2ndPlace)

Managing land in virtual worlds tends to be a bit complicated. Second Life in particular sees dozens of permutations on property management and how ownership versus renting can work. Recently we published an article entitled "The Trials of Virtual Land Baronry" that covered some of these issues, and Crap Mariner followed up in the comments. His group has a unique take on how to work around the major land issues in Second Life, and may offer a model that others can follow. Below is an email he sent me, republished with permission, that really digs into the details and may provide a valuable resource if you're wanting to own your own land but don't want to pay a fortune for it.

I've done very little editing except for formatting and for emphasis. - Caleb Booker

I went from Podcast Island to SoHo to Podcaster Island, not terribly happy with the owner-renter model, the level of customer service some owners provide, etc. So, I did the math, talked with a bunch of friends, figured out who would be compatible with others, etc. Then I watched them for a while, saw how they interacted, made a few changes to the group after some discussion, and pulled the trigger on it.

We planned out an island divided 3x3, with 8 occupied parcels and a ninth "commons/sandbox." Prims divided among the 9 parcels so there would be a reserve. Scripts and collisions monitored to avoid crippling the sim. No megaprims to avoid stability issues.

Setup fees and monthly costs shared equally. In the long run, based on the rental costs of some islands, you come out ahead AND you get the added benefit of full control of your parcel, the ability to collaborate between parcels without going "MOTHER MAY I?" to the landlord, and you know that weird spinning banners won't show up overnight advertising strip clubs.

Even though I get the benefit of Concierge, I also get the burden of it and being on call for the need to ring them up for disasters. All land deeded to a group, all parcel owners would have owner rights on that group, also estate/region manager on the island. All have kick and ban capability, so it's a sim-wide militia defending the sim against attackers (when they remember to type "/1 ban" on their mystitool, eh)

The island is a part of a mini-continent with 4 other islands owned by friends of the group. Lots of opportunities for cross-sim builds, etc. when we want to, lots of cross-promotion. For instance, Daphne Abernathy of the Going Broke Podcast has her parcel opposite her podcasting partner's parcel on Nowhereville. Gomem Desoto of the
Podmafia has his parcel opposite Stuart Warf's. The commons is opposite the commons of Woodbridge for an eventual cross-sim ferry or suspension bridge.

Our island does its best to avoid competing event-wise with the others because, heck, we want to attend what they do and vice verse, right? Any island disagreements that I can't settle as "first among equals" can be settled by an agreed-upon third party. Resident-owners encouraged to work together on builds, prims and such can be exchanged, etc. Essentially, everything's negotiable.

No absentee landlords allowed. If you're in, YOU are in. Owners are more than welcome to provide space to friends as long as there's a general consensus that the person will not introduce drama, conflict, or problems. (The Black Tie Martini Club in my tower is one such arrangement. One frequent visitor has set up camp in a gazebo, another in a skybox. The Lighthouse on the NW corner is another. Several "Podmafia" types hang out in the SE corner, too.)

It's been working for over a month and a half without too much drama or disagreements that couldn't be resolved easily. Still working on how we're going to plan sim-wide events... it's pretty much "cujus regio, cujus religio" for each parcel for that. I have a few other groups in discussions with their own "Edloe Model" sims. You could liken this to a commune or a kibbutz or even a cult. Whatever works, works. It'll be interesting to see how stable this is over time.

STA Travel, who specialize in student travel packages, are to launch two Islands in the virtual realm of Second Life according to developer Cory Edo. The Islands will open on Monday 23rd of April and will feature a branded version of Orientation Island, the compulsory virtual profficiency test all residents must complete before being let loose amongst the general populace, and a residential dorm, entertainment venue, public sandbox and of course, the main attraction: A virtual "Epcot Center" of world travel.

STA have also lined up a full 16 week schedule of events, so there'll be no shortage of entertainment and things to see and do on the new sims in coming weeks.

It sounds like a marketing home run for STA, though the proof will be in the pudding - Let's see how it looks on launchday!

Linden Lab have confirmed a plan to auction all land on the mainland in Second Life owned by residents who've not logged in in over 12mts. They'll try to contact these inactive folks first, but if unsuccessful, that land goes on the block, with the proceeds being deposited into the land owners account.

Seems like a sensible plan to me.

As a Brit, I'm quite likely to leave a shop in disgust and never return if the shop assistant doesn't help me, pleasantly, the moment i grace a store with my divine presence. Ok, well I'm not that bad, but I do appreciate great customer experience and I'm inclined to spread the word when I encounter something truly remarkable.

In Second Life, people are still working out what works and what doesn't in terms of commerce and customer experience. It shouldn't come as such a shock though that a lot of the things that work in real life, work in the Metaverse as well. As I finally get the Metaversed.com blog into shape, I'm also working hard at our virtual presense. I've searched and searched and searched for land to rent or own but for someone relatively new to SL it's a daunting an nerve wracking task frought with danger and pitfalls for the unwary all around. Second Life truly is a wild and wonderful place, but as with all frontiers, there are planty of low-lifes preying on the uninformed, uneducated new membership.

Finally though, I found a great looking place called Belvedere Island, run by a man called Lefty Belvedere. When I teleported to the island, I was greeted by a bot, and informed that Lefty was not online, but I could IM him and he'd get back to me the moment he was inworld. Ding! 10 out of 10 for "meet and greet" , even though it was done automatically. People just want to be aknowledged, it's not hard is it?

When I did meet up with Lefty later that day, he was the sole of courtesy and kindness, helping me navigate his island and showing me around the various plots, explaining how it all worked, how I could edit the land, turn off markers and how the community in Belvedere operated. He took his time, didn't rush me and made sure that this crucial stage of the buying cycle left nothing answered in my mind.

Needless to say, I'm now the proud owner of a plot of hillside land in Belvedere. Lefty is even building the Metaversed meeting space for a modest fee.

Top show.

It seems obvious, but the personal touch works just as well in SL as it does in real life. What makes that difficult is the low prices for many SL goods, it's just not cost effective to personally help every customer of a $0.50 pair of trousers right? Well, one way smart businesses in SL handle this is with a simple greeter bot, and an easy way to get assistance if really needed. It's not hard to do, and makes all the difference. The more I explore SL, the better a feel I'm getting for what works and what doesn't. Expect more posts on this subject as I flesh out these thoughts, and don't forget to take a look at the upcoming brand rating project Metaversed is organizing.

You heard it right, Amsterdam was sold for $50,000 Not the real one of course, the Second Life version, which I have to say is almost as beautiful, and even more seedy hhh! While taking a snapshot I was asked if I was gay, I said no, I was just a tourist there thanks. The guy, oddly dressed in a kind of tuxedo thing, still insisted I come to some "kinky place" with him though. Some people just have no manners huh? It's a great region though, and well worth the visit, just plug "amsterdamn" into the map search, it's not hard to find.

via wired

Many corporations entering Second Life immediately jump in with a large, expensive and often ill though out presence. Mitch Wagner, whose avatar is called Ziggy Figaro, recounts how he recently rented a modest office in Second Life, and kitted it out with furniture less than $15. A small start, but as Mitch says, it's better to understand what you're doing before dumping a ton of cash into a potential black hole.

I wanted to not make the mistakes that big company, and others like it, have made. Before investing significant money in SL, I wanted for us to learn about creating a journalistic and business presence in Second Life. The way to do that is the same way that smart companies learned about doing business on the Web, more than a decade ago. You start small, and see what works.

At the time of writing, I don't even own small office in SL, so this is particularly useful. Watch this space, I may finally be ready to dive in and buy some land :)

ColdWell Banker, a 100yr old real estate company out of San Francisco have set up shop in the Ranchero region of the Second Life mainland where they have real estate reps waiting to show you around one of their 500 pre built homes.

Naturally there's a real world business tie-in as well:

“The Coldwell Banker headquarters in Second Life features coldwellbanker.com amenities, including the home value estimator, streaming videos and the ability to search for real world properties and find a sales associate,” Young said. “And to keep in the spirit of fun, we wanted to introduce the Coldwell Banker helicopter so that looking for a home in Second Life and exploring our headquarters can be a really unique experience.”

According to this CNN story you'll be able to arrange a viewing from 9am Second Life Time today.

It seems Linden, creaters of Second Life are struggling to keep up with the demand for land, but are taking steps to address the issue that's causing sharp increases in auction prices on new land:

January was another record month for Second Life in many ways. The size of the world, as measured by the virtual square kilometers of simulation, expanded 23% over December to 361 square kilometers. In fact, continued brisk sales have left us with roughly a two-week backlog for new Island order delivery. (Thanks to everyone for their patience on this.) The backlog has also affected our ability to expand the mainland sufficiently to meet. demand. As a result, the average price for mainland auctions is up higher than I think anyone would like to see it. Over the next several weeks, we hope to rectify both situations with a greater volume of server delivery from our supplier. With a recent release of more than 40 regions of mainland, the addition of a new mainland continent & and doubling of the daily release of new mainland regions I would hope that we will satisfy the seemingly insatiable demand and stabilize the mainland auction market to a more sustainable price.

The economy in general seems to be thriving, with user to use transactions up 37% on December, though actual sales of $L down.