More Ranch Sims On The Map

For those Premium-Plus residents who are looking forward to getting their own Ranch Linden Home, good news. The sims in which these homes are located in are growing in number, and thus the number of homes themselves. A month after we first reported that the homes were open for living in, the original 28 sim area has close to tripped in size, and now extends to the original Houseboat area, connected to it by a single ocean sim. Motown and the Welcomehub sims are a little to the south.

Checking out the channel myself, I noticed someone had left an inner tube rezzer, and for good reason. Flying over the channel was disabled. But trying to 'toob my way over, I ended up crashing. 

More on Bellisseria's growth on the map later.

Bixyl Shuftan

A Look At The New Ranch Linden Homes

 

Last month at the SL20B, Patch Linden announced that the new Linden Homes just for the Premium Plus residents, the Ranch Homes, were ready. Among them were two people known by Newser reporter Gemma Cleanslate. She had a talk with them, and got to see their new homes and land.

 

Read Gemma's story in Places. 

"Second Lifetime" Premium Accounts For Life, Upcoming Ranch Linden Homes Announced at Lab Gab

 

 

 (Click here if the video does not play)

On Monday June 26, Patch Linden was interviewed in the first of the SL20B's Lab Gab shows. Patch almost always reveals something about what Linden Lab is planning or is about to release, and yesterday was no exception. But the big details involve users with the most cash to invest in their inworld experience. 

 

At the SL19B last year while talking about then upcoming Premium Plus option for accounts, Patch stated that eventually there would be a 2028 sq meter option for Linden Homes just for them, double the size of the max available for Premium residents.

On Monday, Patch stated the homes were just about ready. He would also mention them in the forums.

 

The all new Ranch theme features country style Ranch homes in multiple sizes and open floor plans on 2048m2 parcels. It is a beautiful rural area with gravel roads, split rail fences, windmills, silos, and stunning fields of wildflowers.

More land means more land impact. Previous themes have 351 or 175 LI per parcel. These have a whopping 703! Plus a new theme means a new content pack, with wildflowers, hay bales, and such. 

They would also be mentioned in the SL wiki in the page about Linden Homes.

The ranch theme is your invitation to step into life on the grasslands of central North America. This is farm country, a land of rolling prairie and big sky. It’s a place where you can imagine raising wheat or corn or soybeans and having a few cattle, a horse or two, and a flock of chickens. You might have a barn stocked with hay bales and a tractor and harvest machinery. Or, perhaps, you could have the large garden for vegetables and flowers that you always wanted.

The houses are in a new area in Bellisseria, north of the central part of the continent (and the new WelcomeHub area, which is now also connected to Bellisseria by a road). The sims themselves often had appropriate names such as Silo, or whimsical ones such as After You and Knott Mine. There were several different styles of Ranch houses, Spring View, Stable View, Knotty Pine, Creek Stone, Silver Spurs, Buffalo Pastures, and Grizzly Point. With the larger amount of land per home, plus the gravel roads and the country look of the houses, the place certainly looked more backwoods than much of the Linden Home continent. There were silos, windmills, and other farm buildings and structures in places. And some residents and brought in cows, horses, and other animals.

 

Despite that "selection of specific Ranch homes will not be available until July 10," demand for these houses was high. In Bellisseria chat, it was stated that a day after they were made available, there were no more left to claim. When the next batch will be available is unknown.

 

 

The other feature aimed at Premium Plus, and Premium, accounts was "Second Lifetime." This was an option to have a Premium, or Premium Plus account for life.

 Be among the lucky few to claim one of the limited edition SecondLifeTime Premium or Premium Plus plans – available in extremely limited quantities at SL20B. Each SecondLifeTime plan offers the same benefits as Premium or Premium Plus – but for a one-time fee for the rest of your life! Only available while supplies last!

Patch Linden would explain some details at the Lab Gab, and there was also a "Frequently Asked Questions" page. The one-time payment for a lifetime Premium account is $749 USD, and for a lifetime Premium Plus, it is more expensive at $1749 USD. Compared to Premium at $99 USD a year, and Premium Plus at $249 USD a year, it's comparable to a resident paying for several years in advance. 

 

Patch would say that only so many residents can get a lifetime account. Only two hundred residents will be able to get Premium for life, and for Premium Plus for life the limit is much smaller, just twenty. The openings are available on a first-come first-served basis. On the FAQ page, it stated a Premium for life account holder "might not" be able to upgrade to Premium Plus, and anyone wishing to do so would have to talk with a Lab agent to see what could be done. 

While it wasn't mentioned by Patch, or the FAQ, it should be reminded that even a lifetime account holder would still be subject to the Lab's Terms of Service, and people have been banned for what some would see as small offenses such as using a parent's credit card. 

Patch would discuss other things in the video, such as the upcoming newcomer NUX avatars, the new WelcomeHub area, an SL radio station, the *possibility* of one of the more recent last names being brought back temporarily, and Linden Lab talking to the producers of a TV show about a deal which would have Second Life being a big part of the plot of one episode. This would be the first time since an episode of CSI in 2007.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

News In Brief

 

Busy Fox has been busy. So we have only a little time to tell you what's been going on. 

 

Yesterday at the Lab Gab, Patch Linden gave a few details about upcoming plans by Linden Lab, including the upcoming Ranch Linden Homes, available only to Premium Plus residents. They will be available next month (assuming things go according to plan.

There was also "Second Lifetime," the chance to get Premium, or Premium Plus, accounts for life. 

Today, details about the upcoming mobile viewer were released in a video. 

More on these stories later. 

The Hope Driftwood and Dreamscape Ranches

Recently Wesley Regenbogen wrote about the Full Circle Club, which sadly closed. Since then however, two of the club owners have gone on to something else, raising horses. Building a couple ranches, they invited Wesley over, and showed him around. So what did Wesley think of the horsing around?

Read Wesley's article in Places.

Rock N Rustic Ranch

In his traveling about Second Life for clubs, Theonlyjohnny came across one that was a bit different. The "Rock N Rustic Ranch" had a country theme, playing country music. There was also one other feature that he noticed that made it different from other places. So what did he think of the club?

Read Theonlyjohnny's article in Places.

Postcard from Breezes

Visit Big Isle (229, 49, 233)

Rockin Horse Ranch owner Wickman Gibbs of Famous Stage One Productions has created a magnificent ranch. So special to me is he has a pink mare. A Limited Edition Breast Cancer mare. Hopefully she will be come preggie today, 11/17-2010. I don't know, but this must be a 1st for SL.

I am always searching for something,


Breezes Babii

Raisin Ranch

After writing about pet horses in Second Life, Grey Lupindo came across a place truly made for riding a mount. The Raisin Ranch offers long winding trails to ride with great views. Plus once your ride is over, there are other ranch-themed ways to have fun.

Read about the area in Places.