After buying land in Second Life, your avatar must either create or buy a house.
Each land parcel on the mainland, or on an estate, has finite number of prims allowed. Prims are what designers use to create objects such as furniture, houses, plants or clothing. An SL user cannot go beyond his/her land prim limit. The larger the piece of land, the larger the prim limit. Sometimes, as an extra enticement, estate owners double the amount of prims allowed on a piece of land. Prims have nothing to do with the size of an object but they indeed affect how an object looks. A chair with 20 prims will look a bit better than one made with 2 prims. That isn't always the case, there are other design variables involved, but a lesser prim object will certainly be a bit more blocky than one with more prims. The amount of prims the SL user is allowed should always be taken into account when buying houses and furniture. Designers who use create beautiful objects with the minimum number of prims are a prim poor user's friends.
I read an article a few months ago about why SL users are not living in fantastical housing. Why does everyone go for the traditional builds they can get in the real world? That was an interesting question and it was on my mind as I looked for an SL home. But it remained a thought, and I settled for a Victorian Painted Lady. The fantasy was already there within the traditional build. In RL, I tend to favor modern furniture and houses but there is a part of me that always loved the venerable houses of Cape May. So my SL land and house turned into a Cape May tribute. Could I have turned my home into some artful showpiece? Yes, I very well could have. But it struck me as an option of considerable monetary investment(SL does peg its Linden to the dollar) and a leap of faith in taste. To build a house of artful wonder must either be created by the user (if he/she is artistic) or be commissioned to an outside artist. Then there is a matter of virtually living within that one of a kind structure. It isn't for everyone.
So must users go for the prefab builds. These houses are packed into a software program that builds the house for you on your land. The user must decide upon style and how many prims they are willing to sacrifice to the house itself. The user should remember that they need prims for furniture and some landscaping. Otherwise they will be virtually living in a gorgeous, empty VR house. I almost always lean toward more prims for the house then I do for furniture or landscaping. Since I favored the Victorian style I mostly shopped at Antique Artistry and Poppet's House & Texture Heaven. Right now, Poppet is offering some of her old house builds for free in her freebie barn. Antique Artistry has a wonderful sim filled with prefab houses surrounding lovely gardens. Their main store has furniture for the home. I really loved the lighting fixtures available at AA. There are also various smaller vendors selling goods in Sim lands that are dedicated to Victorian design. I found many good items in Caledon and Winterfell Absinthe. Another good store is Elements in Design. Elements also has fabulous gardens filled with mazes, plants, flowers, hedges, gazebos and even housing dedicated to holidays. You must see their Halloween and Christmas areas. Most of my things came from those main stores. I haven't even begun to explore the modern house and furniture providers. Nor have I looked into treehouses, Tiki houses, elven cottages, Arabian tents or castles available for purchase. One of my bigger splurges was buying a pet Hummingbird from Animania. It follows me around when I'm within it's living radius.
I'm happy with the way my VR living quarters have turned out. I can always change the style at a whim. Which is nice too.
Labels: internet, mmorpgs, second life, technology
