Month: November 2019

Experience: Obtaining a Camper in the New Linden Home Region of Bellisseria & Added Information on New Age Linden Homes

Experience: Obtaining a Camper in the New Linden Home Region of Bellisseria & Added Information on New Age Linden Homes

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

After months of trying to acquire one of the new Linden Homes in the Bellisseria region, I finally was able to do so. I’ll be explaining my experience of how I obtained one and how those who are still trying to do so shouldn’t lose hope. If you haven’t read my post Bellisseria: Are Linden’s Expanding the Region then I should tell you it seems like they’re expanding the region to meet supply and demand of their premium consumers. If you’re even more intrigued, please feel free to look at the post! The hype is on for these new in-demand Linden homes.

*Note: this post is going to be a little longer than usual as I’m trying to fit a lot of information that relates to the same topic in one blog posting. I’ve added bolded titles so you can find exactly what you want to read. Feel free to skip around you don’t have to read the whole thing even though it would be appreciated. Any questions please feel free to comment or e-mail me at ember435@outlook.com*

Background Information on the Bellisseria Region:

Bellisseria was introduced by Linden Labs around the Spring of 2019 as a new region with what I’d like to call new age Linden homes these homes keep up with the graphical changes and consistent improvements of Second Life as a virtual world. This continent started with traditional homes and houseboats that use 1,024 sqm of your land tier which is how much tier premium members have when it comes to obtaining land in Second Life. This land tier recently went up earlier this year probably to make way for these premium Linden homes. This also means that they have a higher prim limit to decorating with. For those who are unaware, the original Linden homes were 512 sqm’s with 175 prims you can use to decorate with.

However, a few months ago Linden labs introduced a new Linden home theme in the Bellisseria region called the Campers or I just call it a Camper Region. This was introduced in a blog post from Linden Labs on September 24th and just like the other homes in this region they’re first come first serve. So those who of course knew about them before everyone else obtained them quicker than the consumers who find out after the initial hype of new content added to Second Life such as me. These new Linden homes stick to the original Linden home dimensions when it comes to the parcel of 512 sqm and 175 prims to use. But they’re newer and more interactive with a beautiful and vibrant community of premium members. Sometimes it’s better to have a smaller prim limit because this is how lag can be an issue in Second Life when there are too many objects on a server and scripts it makes your frame rates drop. 

In this region, you can travel by car or boat if there is anyone who likes doing either one of these it is 100% allowed and encouraged by Linden Labs.

They’re all hard to obtain but above I did type up a post on how I’ve come to the conclusion and have seen first-hand that Linden Labs is expanding the region with more of these options to even out the supply and demand of premium consumers versus these new-age Linden homes. I’m not going to lie even though I didn’t have one of these homes I still visited the region to look around and experience what the hype is for the Bellisseria region. I’ll say this there was a ton of hype and honestly, I’m not sure if the hype was 100% worth it just by looking around. However, they’re a lot nicer than the original Linden homes because they’re made of mesh and not prim with better textures and fit in with today’s graphic enhancements. The community is nice and each community as per usual has its theme which the community sticks too.

My Experience Obtaining a Camper in the new Camper Region in Bellisseria:

To begin, I’m a recent college graduate in real life so I have a little more free time on my hands than most of the casual players on Second Life. I went to an interview the other day came home and every day for a few months whenever I’m available I hop onto the Second Life browser webpage and navigate to the Linden home selection and see if there are any Linden homes available in the new Bellisseria region. Because honestly, I wanted one regardless of the hype. I tried to obtain one while taking a trip to a different state to visit my grandparents and other family members where there was a small availability on them but even with the time on my hands it was hard to obtain them because they’re first come first serve. Whoever presses the accept button first is going to snag it way before you even if you press it at the same time. I was unable to grab one during this time…so anyway, since then I’ve been consistently trying to find them as sparse as they are. Keep in mind the premium members can get one Linden home per premium account. I currently have a 1,024 sqm parcel in the Horizons sim which is 2x the prim allotment which gives me 702 prims to work with I currently rent that out to a friend. Then I own a 4,096 sqm mainland parcel for interior and exterior design which I love to do! So, I pay the extra $22 a month for that land. This means that my land tier for Second Life was taken unless I wanted to bump up to $35 a month to have more land tier. I would rather not but to be fair I wanted one of these new Linden homes so badly I wanted to understand the hype and see what they were like. When I logged on after my interview there was a houseboat available ONLY. I tried to snag it I did… but every time I tried and let me tell you I tried 8 times. I became blocked from trying again from the Second Life website because of the number of page refreshes on my end. Understandably, these new homes are in high demand and there are only so many of them available. I first upped my land tier in Second Life to $35 a month for 8,192 sqm that can be used to obtain the Linden home and more land elsewhere. After that, I went on incognito because I use Firefox as my browser and when I did this there was a houseboat STILL available and a traditional home. I tried the houseboat a lot and just wasn’t getting it, so the next best thing was trying for the traditional house. I couldn’t grab that either though. 

Then when I refreshed the page one more time…I’m not particularly picky when it comes to the theme of a Linden home. There was the houseboat STILL and then there was the Camper which is the brand-new Linden home region in Bellisseria and that was available I tried twice and then closed my eyes said three times was a charm and somehow got it. I don’t know why but I screamed with happiness when I was able to grab it, I didn’t think I’d be able to! Yes, it is a smaller sqm with the same amount of prim as the originals, but it was still a newer Linden home in the newest region. Let me tell you it took me a whole 10 minutes to go through this anxiety… nonetheless, I obtained one. Upon obtaining it I didn’t realize the starting model that you’re left with is a tiny house! For those who are unaware, I adore the tiny house movement and am a big supporter I honestly, want one of my own in real life I just wouldn’t know where to put it. But, when the region said camper, I was expecting campers, RV’s, trailers. Not a tiny home! I was super ecstatic my dream of owning a tiny house is coming true. The whole area is landscaped beautifully with the nicely textured ground, trees, etc. It was super nice, and the community was gorgeous. The parcels are a whole lot more private than the other homes on Bellisseria and even the original Linden homes. Even though the parcels are smaller this is so they can landscape around it so your parcel is a lot more private. After realizing this I loved it even more and wasn’t even disappointed in size or prim limit anymore. Privacy is super important to me in real life and Second Life and this just matched me perfectly.

About the Campers in the Camper Region of Bellisseria:

To make this a shorter section I’m just going to list everything that the Campers in Bellisseria offer:

  • 8 Campers that you can rez (1 at a time) from the rezzer in the corner of your parcel so you can always have a different one.
  • 512 sqm parcel 175 prims However, I found out the parcels are smaller because the extra space is landscaped for extra privacy which for those who want nice scenery and privacy more than decorating this is the newest Linden home to go within the Bellisseria region.
  • Beautifully landscaped to be a gorgeous forest theme
  • A vibrant community with matching lots and no eyesores
  • No highly scripted items slowing down your frame rates
  • So far from my experience friendly neighbors
  • Only minutes away from the traditional and boathouse community where you can sail
  • Community events in Bellisseria event area
  • All houses and landscaping are mesh and match the theme of the community (thank goodness!)
  • Your own space to add your radio to play in your parcel, invite friends, add and block people, etc.

Linden Homes Covenant (What you can’t do):

  1. Keep to the theme of the community
  2. Cannot use the home of the parcel for commercial purposes or activity
  3. Cannot deed the land to a group or sell it to another resident.
  4. Cannot remove or replace Linden’s home completely or modify the external appearance of the home.
Bellisseria: Are They Expanding the Region?

Bellisseria: Are They Expanding the Region?

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Almost everyone is aware that Linden Labs recently started making new age (as I’d like to put it) Linden Homes that keep up with the innovations of Second Life. It’s a slow process but little by little they continue to build the Bellisseria continent up with hundreds of new Linden homes to choose from. The original Linden homes are still available today and they’re the easiest to obtain as of lately. The first homes that were introduced right after the Summer of 2019 were the traditional houses and the announcement of their houseboats. For those who are unaware of premium land fees that are included with your premium account have recently risen from 512 sqm to 1,024 sqm. These new Linden homes use up the full 1,024 sqm of land fees that you have with your premium membership instead of the original 512 sqm. With the rise of your land per sqm that you receive that means you also obtain more prims that you’re able to decorate within these Linden homes. How exciting! I’m a little late to the ball game when explaining the Bellisseria continent as other bloggers have obtained some of these new Linden homes and have already posted about them. But what they haven’t posted is something I’m going to be explaining.

Along with these new traditional Linden homes and the welcoming of the houseboats to the Bellisseria region the other day they’re building onto the Bellisseria region more to make more of these homes available. I logged on at around 1:30 pm EST yesterday and they had houseboats and traditional homes available. Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough for either but the fact that they’re becoming available more often than before states that they’re building onto the region, so everyone can partake in the new age of Linden homes in Bellisseria. It seems every few days between 1:30-3 pm you can find some of these available whether people abandon them and let them go or Linden Labs adding more of these homes for their consumers.

This region is highly sought after and recently I also noticed their new camper region in Bellisseria having more options available and availability for us premium users. Make sure that you keep an eye open. However, keep in mind the camper region is a little different as far as the Bellisseria homes that they have released before this region. The campers are smaller is square meters making them similar to the original Linden homes at 512 sqm’s per parcel and camper with an amount of 175 prims to decorate with. This isn’t an issue but you have to be okay with the fact that it’s not using your full land tier that comes with your premium and that you don’t have the same amount of prims to decorate with like the traditional homes and the houseboats that were released before the camper region. The camper region is brand new to the Bellisseria region and was announced on September 24th before Halloween came around. All the campers were snagged almost immediately after they were released. I was able to find a lot more of these available when looking to get something in the Bellisseria region with my premium account. I feel you have better luck obtaining one of these than the other Bellisseria Linden homes and I think it has to be with the square meters and the prim amount. I don’t know about you but if you want more just add more land tier to your account and buy some mainland if you want more land to decorate on or whatnot. That’s just my opinion or if you don’t mind using a sandbox than that is completely free and with your premium account, the Sandboxes that are available for premium members are normally empty. Take advantage of this! 

To draw these conclusions since now I live in Bellisseria I traveled around a little and I was just exploring my surroundings, However, I came up to areas that said SP and then a number means that they’re building more of these new Linden homes. To be honest, through my explorations they’re either adding beach homes next or they’re going to work on making more houseboats in one specific area. To be fair though I think the Campers part of the region is where I currently reside… has the most privacy. For the first time I also accidentally walked into a Linden while they were working which is indicated by a blue dot on the map instead of a green (first time this has ever happened to me off of Teen Grid in the past). Ahead of time, I’m sorry Kona Linden for walking in on you while doing whatever you were doing in these areas. When they’re building up new sections the area is unnamed and yellow lines are indicating the separation of parcels. The green that you see in these photos indicate the position of the Linden home and where the rezzer will rez it when completed. I didn’t expect to walk into this building process but also keep in mind in December they’re releasing a new Linden home option as well so keep your eyes peeled for that. This information is found on the new blog post that Linden Labs had made for today. There’s a lot of work being done and it’s all super exciting!

In conclusion, those who feel like it’s virtually impossible to obtain a new Linden home it’s not. They’re starting to pop up a whole lot more with more opportunities every day to obtain one. Don’t lose hope if you’ve been trying to acquire one this shows the initiative that Linden Labs is making to create more of them for their consumers like you and me. Also, after today’s newest blog post on the Second Life website, they’re releasing a new theme of Linden homes for us as well which will be shown during the December holiday expo this year. There are going to be more chances than ever to move away from the original Linden homes. For those still trying to get one of these Linden homes may the odds ever be in your favor and good luck.

Hello Kitty 45th Anniversary Event an Astralia & Sanrio Collaboration

Hello Kitty 45th Anniversary Event an Astralia & Sanrio Collaboration

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Finally, something to report to all my Hello Kitty and Sanrio fans out there! To be fair, this isn’t about the Sanrio Town or the Hello Kitty Online game. Second Life often has various events going around made by creators and brought in from people just like you and I. A new event that just recently started up is Astralia’s Hello Kitty 45th Anniversary event and Celebration. It’s posted throughout the Second Life Linden Labs blog and to be honest I’m a little late hopping on this event bandwagon. Reality has stolen me from my creativity, and I’ve been hustling like most of us nowadays in the workforce. I had no idea that Astralia was a licensed partner with Sanrio no wonder I loved their products. For those who don’t know a lot of my inventory is filled with items from Astralia, I feel I’ve put a lot of real-life money into Second Life just for their creations and now it finally makes sense. Being a huge Hello Kitty and Sanrio fan since I was a little kid, I had to take part in this glorious celebration, and I’ve decided to take all my readers with me on this fabulous adventure!

*Note: Ahead of time I apologize if there are more photos taken and placed in this post than some of my others. This is a huge interest of mine and I’m just super excited to share my adventures at the event with you. Also, if you’re a premium member now is the time to use your perk in being able to enter sims, events, and shopping centers before those who don’t have the premium membership. For those who didn’t know this is one of the best perks of premium so you’re not standing outside of a sim for hours waiting to get in. Use this to your advantage for future places and events you want to get into. *

To Begin… Words of Encouragement:

I encourage all of those who love to explore in Second Life to visit some of these events that pop up always of the year. You don’t even have to like exploring just to check out some new places and redirect from the usual of your virtual life. I’ve learned the hard way the past few days but trying new things helps you to grow emotionally, physically, and mentally no matter what age you are.

Upon Entering:

You’re welcomed by a welcome bot created for the event. Those who don’t know these welcome bots aren’t real people behind the avatar. They’re set to send you a greeting either privately through IM or local. At this point it will also ask you if you want to join the Astralia group which is $149l this is for their VIP group honestly, it depends on who you are but I only pay for groups if I’m consistently at the store all of the time and want to support the creator. So, for me, the group was worth it. It’s up to you whether it’s worth it to you.

To you’re right you will see a map of the entire two sims and to the left, you will see a board that talks about the racing area where you add on a HUD and how to use it. Right behind you when you first pop in is the racetrack and right in front of you is where you want to go for everything else. Being me and wanting to see everything and not just the race track I just kept going straight. There was a good amount of people to make it a joyful experience. Not too many to the point where I’m lagging out of control but just enough to the point where I could meet new people, chat and enjoy everything in the sim without feeling like I was alone. If you keep going straight upon entering there is the Astralia store and then a right and left path, it’s up to you which way you want to go upon entering the sim. There was so much to explore that it took me about two hours to fully enjoy, try, and explore everything in the event. 

Souvenir Photos:

When you first enter from the welcome area and your past the bot to your right there is a photo area where you can snap yourself a souvenir photo. I did this because let’s be honest, events come and go, and I wanted to remember this one. This event hits home for me mainly because I’ve been a huge Sanrio and Hello Kitty fan since I was a kid and I’m still a huge fan. I never did grow out of it and I embrace it! But this was a lot of fun to do I’m glad they had a small area for this.

Shopping:

If you keep going straight after you first enter it leads you to the Astralia items for the event. You can buy pretty much everything that’s on the sim created by the Astralia. There is so much I’ll be honest; I’ll probably end up buying everything there’s so much that I want from the store all these items are created and licensed by both Astralia and Sanrio. These are going to be exclusive after the event so if there is something you want; I’d buy it before the event ends. Keep in mind a lot of the things will be a little pricey because it is Sanrio related items and they’re all part of an event, but this is something you should expect. It’s like going to Disney and expecting a water bottle to be $1 which we all know is never happening in a million years. I’d suggest checking out the store though it’s worth looking at.

Games and Interactive Things to do:

Where do I begin? There’s so much here to experience and do. From checking out a party area to the racecourse, outdoor bouncy maze, kids’ playground, Ferris wheel, boats to ride throughout the sim, and a small sitting dock. I loved the party area it did seem a little overwhelming at first, but I don’t expect anything less when it comes to Sanrio and Hello Kitty related anything. There is a large birthday cake which I grabbed a photo of and at the beginning of the event they held parties and DJ’d in that area. There is a VIP lounger for Astralia VIP members who bought the $149l group tag. There’s also, a Ferris wheel that works that your avatar can ride on and see one of the sims from up above which is always a fun time. You do lag a little when riding the Ferris wheel just a heads up on that I think it’s because of how much scripting went into the Ferris wheel itself to make it move… the racecourse almost takes up a whole other sim which is amazing and everything is Sanrio related it was so much fun to take a trip through my childhood in a race car. What I must say I enjoyed the most were the small little tube boats that you could take through both sims. The event is made up of two sims if I didn’t specify before and you’re able to explore everything from the comfort of your boat! It was a lot of fun and super exciting. If you’re also someone who enjoys playing Second Life as a child avatar (I do it sometimes for family RP’s) there is a small child’s area called the “child playground” here there is a bounce house, trampoline, and other interactive items you’re little avatar can interact with. Another thing I wanted to bring up was the gigantic board game looking area where I ended up sitting and taking a couple of photos and just relaxing out while I looked around. It was so relaxing, cartoony, and just environmentally pleasing. I loved it more than I probably should have! This is a Sanrio/Hello Kitty Heaven if you’re a huge fan you won’t know what to say and will probably spend a whole lot of time here.

To conclude, I am super speechless there was so much to explore, it kept my ADHD brain satisfied for hours. Which a lot of things don’t keep me entertained for long periods. I realized a lot of players in the area were new and a lot of them created avatars and entered Second Life specifically for the event. This event is bringing in new members into the virtual world community and entertaining our veteran players who have been around since Second Life has been around. Between the games, mazes, and interactive things to do on the sim there is a little something for everyone. Don’t forget about that souvenir photo I don’t want you to regret not taking one while you were there! I hope some of you will go and visit this event whether you’re bored and need something to do or just love Hello Kitty and Sanrio this is the perfect celebratory event for you.

New Addiction: Kleptocorns

New Addiction: Kleptocorns

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post is a little more out of the ordinary than my usual concepts. Today I’m going to discuss an app. Yup you heard it here folks! We’re going to talk about an application found on the app store and Google play store (if you use an android device). Ahead of time I apologize for the black around photos and what not. It is an application so photo’s weren’t coming out like they should and even with cropping it’s still there. To continue, I felt like a professional adult the need to spill my heart out on the pages on something adults don’t normally download. But let’s be fair we’re all kids at heart. Let’s be honest, we all have that one app on our phone that’s just the best time waster. We may be on the subway in New York city making the commute home or you could be that one individual in the doctor’s office who got there at you’re appointment time but you’ve been waiting in the waiting room for 3 hours (big thanks to my doctor’s office every time). This is sure to keep you happy and entertained during those adulting moments. Today we’re discussing the new app that was just released yesterday on November 6th called Kleptocorns.

Background Information:

A little background information on this application is it was created by “HyperBeard inc.” currently it has 4.9 stars and is still killing it with the reviews upon its launch. There are in-app purchases such as being able to get new unicorns quicker without the need to earn coins every few days for free to reach being able to get a new unicorn buddy. To be fair, it is a little off-putting for me sometimes as it takes forever to make more than two unicorns when first starting. But hey! Apps need to make money through in-app purchases somehow which is where we come to the next thing. There are indeed in-app purchases! Don’t we just love them (I can taste my sarcasm as I type this)? The in-app purchases are to earn something called gems faster. Their prices are a lot more affordable than some applications on the market with in-app purchases but still, sometimes these are annoying. Depending on who your app is aimed at and the market if your 10-17 most likely you won’t be spending your hard-earned cash on a unicorn. But yes in-app purchases they’re in there.

Who is This app for?

Let’s be honest, this app is for anyone who has a love for cute and adorable. If you’re an anime and cartoon fan, you’ll fall in love instantly. If you need a time waster yes! This is also for you. You could waste hours on this game trying to grind for coins to get new unicorns and accessories to dress your cute little pal up in. I would say the age range for this type of application would normally be marketed for tweens to young adults if I had to guess the target market. I am still somewhat young and odd so obviously, I’d have this game on pre-order. But honestly, adults can have just as much fun with this application as it’s targeted audience in the app store it’s under family so that just tells you it can be for pretty much anyone who falls in love with the graphics. As I’ve explained before in all of us we’re kids at heart even if we don’t want to show it it’s there. We’re all expected to grow up so quickly in today’s society I feel this app gives us our youth back to an extent and it’s so simple that it’s both fun and enjoyable.

Mini-Games:

Oh my gosh! Don’t get me started. Too late I’m already there. The in-game mini-games are more fun than you expect them to be. Remember when we were all younger and our parents might have taken us to a carnival or maybe you didn’t have the experience, but you went later on in your lifetime. The mini-games are similar to carnival games. They’re very chance related and if a kid plays this game it’s almost like children’s gambling. Good luck with that one’s kids! If you don’t want your kids participating in carnival-like games and thrills on an app just don’t point out the small icon to the bottom right of your smart devices screen and you should be fine. It’s such a small button that honestly, I forget it’s there a lot of the time and when my unicorn is out grabbing objects (which it always is because that’s how my broke self gets coins for free without spending money on in-app purchases). But if you’re using this as a time waster and don’t want to run this app and another app to do whatever it is you do than there are mini carnival games for your enjoyment.

Unicorns & Dress up Accessories:

This is the cutest part of this game! If you’re into virtual pets or can’t have a pet of your own whether you’re in an apartment or mom and dad won’t let you have one for whatever reason. This is a great little companion. When your unicorn comes back from its hunting journeys through space and time there is a health meter in the shape of a heart in the bottom right-hand corner that shows you a percentage. You always want that at 100% to do anything this is where you can care for your little unicorn. Yes! You can care for your unicorn. Pet, bathe and feed it treats to raise its health and with that when you have enough coins you can buy cute little customizable items to further customize your little unicorn. I think it’s an adorable addition to customize your unicorn in the way you want within reason. I remember when I was a kid and had a Nintendo DS after saving up which felt like years for it and being able to dress up my dogs in Nintendogs or my pets in the Littlest Pet Shop Winter Pet Series game that was out at the time.

My Experience, Thoughts, & Rating:

My overall thoughts about this app are I’ve been playing it since I got home last night at 12 in the morning and couldn’t sleep because of insomnia. I played this during the time I was up and then played it a little more when I woke up. It’s cute, entertaining, fun and overall just a great time waster and something to do that will keep you smiling. Also, if you’re not smiling it will make you smile it’s one of those feel-good apps where you can do what you want in it at your own time and own pace. I love games and applications like this! The only thing I wish was a little better was earning unicorns I have to wait days depending on how much I play or even weeks just to get a new one to have and take care of. I highly would recommend this game and I can see where the 4.9 stars on this app come from, I give it about the same in my opinion and hope to see more from this game in the future as they roll out updates.