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evwuniverse · 3 months

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The New Age of Linden Homes Part 1

Linden Homes on Second Life has advanced! They have been for a while, but almost all of their older neighborhoods they have recreated on the Bellisseria continent. Which is where all their newer Linden Homes and various neighborhood communities reside. The great change to these is from prim to mesh! This is something the active Second Life user has been looking for. There are not too many users on Second Life who are sticking to classic avatars anymore, all the avatars are full mesh in some way shape, or form. Second Life is finally playing catch up with graphics to other virtual world platforms and video games alike. It's amazing to see where Second Life started to where it has become. The only gripe I have is the Second Life economy is very much matching reality which is a little disappointing, but everything else has just been a build-up from where things were originally were. In this post, I'll be discussing the various new neighborhoods on the Bellisseria continent as well as outlining some of the new customization options for these houses and the amenities available to you in various neighborhoods.

*Note: This post will be updated with new content throughout the year before I type up a new post for 2025 to update this entire post.*

Table of Contents:

To make things easier for everyone, this post has a table of contents so you can skip to the part you specifically want to read as this will be a long post considering needing to place everything about Linden Homes in one place.

Before I Begin! - SL Advertising on Linden Homes for non-Premium Members and what they see, my gripe.

Log Home

Fantasy Home

Camper

Chalet

These are just a few of them there will be a PART 2 post due to the limit of only being able to post 30 photos per post. Which this would easily contain way more due to the content and going into detail with each Linden Home type.

Before I begin!

Since the website is a direct reflection of where you can obtain one of these Linden homes, the screen for people who are already Premium Members is fine but check this out, please view the photo below.

Second Life's advertising is starting to slack and it is quite disappointing. They put real objects, instead of having an avatar and virtual pet from JIAN or something for the icon. I don't know why this bothered me but it really did. Maybe it's because I notice little details but this really got me, does this bother anyone else or is it just me? Also a real chair and plant? Why not ask a really good furniture maker if they can use their furniture as an icon on the website and provide Lindens or something? Anyway please continue with the post below.

Log Home:

For those who have been around Second Life since Premium Membership and Linden Housing first became a thing. I'm sure you remember the previous build model of the Aspen and Log Homes which can be seen here.

These are just a few but there are a few more that were created for the region of Tahoe which is an older Linden Home sim. Keep in mind they are still offering these, but as consumers are seeing more and more of their favorite areas being recreated and different neighborhoods that weren't presented in the past being offered. More individuals are switching to the Bellisseria Continent for their choice of Linden Home and community. To be fair Bellisseria now has the Log Homes which is the equivalent to the Tahoe Region. These can be seen below.

Now as you can see they updated them quite a bit and provided other options along the way. The specs for these homes can be seen below.

Specs:

Includes 4 layout/home styles (as seen above)

Customize the home inside and out with the housing customization on the inside of the home.

A rural region that reminds you of the mountains or being out in a forest.

Railway Accessible, with a rezz station to rezz trains and more.

Various community areas, such as picnic tables, statues, water fountains, sitting areas, tubes to go down rivers on, etc. The community areas have a very similar vibe to the Camper's that were created. This region is very similar in theme.

With this in mind, it is important to note the new amount of land a Premium Member can have is 1024 sqm minimum. So these Linden Homes are on a 1024 sqm plot of land instead of its original counterpart which is on 512 sqm of land. Do keep in mind that the new standard of prims for the Linden Homes is 351 prims. This is more than enough since mesh takes fewer prims than actual prim objects. Now the cool part of these new homes is you can visit ahead of time to test out the homes and see which area fits your style more. I went ahead and did this so I could check out some of the community areas and post some pictures below for viewing.

The sim itself is gorgeous! However, upon further evaluation, I noticed that the homes are a lot closer to one another. There are more homes trying to fit in one area. I probably wasn't supposed to be in this area either as it was marked in red with no one living here, however, I ended up here. So it is what it is, sorry Lindens. But as you can see this community is for the rural more active lifestyle, you know horses, outdoor hiking vibes, small sailboats, railroads, etc. This provides it all. There are also small lakes here and there for swimming with little benches. I didn't get a photo of those but you get the idea.

Needless to say, this was a cool area to explore, however, it definitely is not the vibe for me when it comes to living in a Linden Home community. I'm not the most outdoorsy person in RL so why would SL be much different? Ha-ha.

Fantasy Home:

Back in the day when I first had a Linden Home, I thought those were the coolest things since sliced bread and I'm talking about the old prim ones like you saw with the Log Homes above. For the longest time I had a "Fantasy Home" I had the "Wizard's Retreat" which is the Older Linden Home version of what the "Fantasy Homes" are now.

Had this home easily for 3 years before switching to Meadowbrook which was a more suburban community which we will talk about here soon. You can also reference my Newbrooke post which was typed just before this one. Above are pictures of what I used to live in.

Luckily they finally upgraded the old Linden Homes to a newer model which they put the most boring unoriginal name ever, the "Fantasy Home."

Older Fantasy Homes:

Taking a photo of them through the webpage was just a lot easier than each one individually like I did for the Log Homes, also a lot quicker so this is probably what will be done for the rest of the post so I can get this posting out at an adequate time.

Newer Fantasy Homes:

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the newer "Fantasy Homes" I truly feel that the older ones looked a lot better and had more creativity and soul put into the creation of them. Granted these are just a few of the Fantasy ones but when I was going through the demo version on the "Welcome Land" I couldn't find one close to the "Wizard Lair" that one was my all-time favorite and I would still live in it today even if it is prim and not mesh. I felt with the "Fantasy Homes" there were a lot of missed opportunities due to the lack of creativity. However, not to say they're horrible. This is still a very nice neighborhood, and the weeping willow trees are my kryptonite in this area. There are mushrooms and it looks like a fairy-tale forest, think "Into the Woods" musical type of vibes or storybook cottage core vibes. That is the style you will find here.

Specs:

There are 8 home layouts/styles of homes to choose from

Just like the "Log Homes" it does have the inside and outside customization.

There are seasonal color changes

Lots of waterways that can be sailed with small boats and structures.

It's a bioluminescent region that is activated with the day/night cycle which is super cool, I think it's the best perk of these houses is the region and creativity of the surroundings and not so much the homes.

The community areas are spread out and there aren't too many of them, I was able to cross by three out of all the sims I visited that are in this theme and I think I went to almost all of them, that was a little shocking and a bit disappointing honestly. I was hoping there would be more community areas for people to enjoy.

It's important to note that you quickly find out which Linden Homes are going quickly now, they can be seen from the website when you're picking out houses. Needless to say, these Fantasy ones aren't going very quickly with that information as you may. I'm a little biased though when it comes to this one, so take what I say with a grain of salt with this one. I'm just salty they didn't recreate the "Wizard's Retreat" that's all.

Campers:

I'm not going to lie, again I'm a bit biased. When the Camper's first came out the first thing I did was get one. I abandoned my previous land to pick one up. My main dream for some odd reason in RL is to buy a tiny home, deck it out from the early rococo Victorian times on the inside travel the United States and beyond, and just keep moving. Can you tell I'm a very adventurous but introverted spirit? Needless to say, things worked out a bit differently for me. That didn't mean that in SL I couldn't still live this dream. How unoriginal the name is "Camper" but that's okay because aside from various campers and trailers there in fact are two kinds of tiny home layouts which I loved!

Camper Examples:

These are just some of them, the "tiny home" I had was gorgeous similar to picture #2 but WAY nicer. So definitely check out the demo if you get the chance over at the "Welcome Center" in Bellisseria.

However, the region and community areas are a bit underwhelming in my opinion. I feel there could've been more community areas for a "tiny home" like community. Especially since in RL in "tiny home" communities, there are a ton of amenities like pools, a cafeteria area, a clubhouse, etc. So I guess I just expected more and didn't find it. However, one of the really cool things when it comes to the community areas is I did find a picnic area in my sim, a few sims over there was a gigantic lazy river with inner tubes that could be used, and there were a few rezzers here and there for horses, cars, bikes, etc. So it had a nice amount of areas and things to do, very outdoorsy and very similar vibes to the "Log Homes" but, again I feel in a sense this was a little bit of a missed opportunity. I loved this theme though because it hasn't been made previously. This is specific to the new Linden Home era. I thought adding "tiny homes" to the mix is great because some people even in SL want to have that small footprint and enjoy their time exploring SL and getting to know their neighbors and community. This can be exceptionally true if they live in a tiny home in RL and recreate how they live in both worlds and believe it or not, there are players like that. When I first tried out the "Camper" Linden Homes, I was still living at home so I also thought this was my only option as a Millennial struggling with all the other Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha to have some sort of good living.

Specs of These Tiny Homes Include:

8 layout or home styles to choose from

Ability to fully customize the inside and outside of the home like the other mesh homes.

Each has an open floor plan

The parcel size is small it is a 512 sqm parcel which means it doesn't use all of your 1024 sqm. This also means if you wanted you could buy a 512 sqm plot on the mainland to have for yourself at no extra cost so you would have two places that would be yours. However, the thing with buying the mainland is your bidding for it and it's luck of the draw. If someone outbids you you're not getting it and you do need to shell out money upfront to get the land and then it's nothing afterward. That's just a little explanation of how that works.

Access to community areas, a lot of this was explained above.

Secluded rural area

I like how far apart these homes are from each other, there's a decent amount of space and it doesn't feel like everyone is on top of each other. You actually have space to decorate your outside as you wish. That's the beauty of these "Camper" style homes. It's a small inside but the outside is where the magic happens with these!

Chalet:

Ooo fancy schmancy! A chalet, this a very Tudor-style neighborhood. The style is very similar to the "Fantasy" homes so I'm not going to go into too much detail here as it's almost exactly the same. It's so similar that not even the website provides a lot of details to make people want to move there. At the time of this post, there is an availability of 2,564 available. However, it's important to note, that I love Tudor-style homes, They remind me of Old France, sometimes Germany, and just little peaceful places you know? I associate Tudor homes with peace.

Chalet Examples:

Specs:

8 layout/housing styles

Full customization of the inside and outside

One word, MOUNTAINS, mountains everywhere!

Traditional and open floor plans depending on your needs and how you like to decorate.

Like I said there's not too much to report with these, I haven't ever thought about owning one, and they just don't WOW! me. It doesn't have that WOW! factor, which honestly that's okay not every Linden Home will be everyone's cup of tea and this one and the "Fantasy Homes" just aren't mine.

Final Thoughts on PART 1:

Due to the amount of images and content, I had to break this up into two different posts. Part 1 and Part 2. I go into very close detail and do the exploring to provide you the information to make informed decisions if your planning on getting the Premium Membership and obtaining a Linden Home of your own, or you're looking for a change and not sure which one to pick and move too that fits your style. I wanted to make sure I went in-depth with each and everyone, hence the content being on two different posts. This helps me too though because I haven't posted content yet this year except for my Newbrooke review which is where I currently live. Please go check out that post if you want to learn more about the Newbrooke homes and community. With that said, the ones I did cover were underwhelming such as the "Fantasy Home" and the "Chalet" I wish there were more to them and there just isn't I feel like even in some of the others I covered such as the "Campers" and the "Log Homes" there were a lot of missed opportunities to really sell the Premium Membership through the Linden Homes. However, I do love the "Campers" as I remember having one. So I'm a little biased, and in the past, I remember having a home in the Tahoe region originally and loving it, I like the new "Log Homes" there are just other Linden Homes I enjoy a little more. I feel each place has something to offer, and they're really branching out with styles. I feel Linden Lab is really providing a wide range of homes for all types of people from all walks of life, and that's how a business grows from its consumers. Diversity, providing what the users want, and various ways of style. Please stay tuned for Part 2 where I will be covering the rest of the homes seen here:

Sakura (1024 sqm)

Sakura (512 sqm)

Houseboat

Stilt Home on Land

Traditional

Victorian

The Newbrooke Homes can be seen in my review that was previously posted. Thank you for sticking around and Happy Linden Home Picking!

#virtual world #virtual worlds #gaming #sl #second life #linden lab #linden homes #linden labs #homes #virtual reality #virtual home design #virtual home decor #virtual home #second life home #land #mainland #virtual land

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evwuniverse · 3 months

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New Year = New Linden Home - Happy 2024!

Hey everyone! First here is to a late Happy New Year 2024! I know we're in February, but it's so crazy how 2024 started out in January. Imagine, natural disasters, the beginning of a World War, Great Depression 2.0 (because we have the internet), and let's add a possible Civil War into the mix. But with all the craziness happening in the world I find myself on Second Life a lot more than I was last year with how crazy my life was. As a lot of you know, I had a houseboat as a Linden Home, during this time apparently they added premium tiers that weren't there, changed the pricing, and added more types of Linden Homes. Talk about mind-blowing. Just like most who are neurodivergent and ADHD I like consistent change within environments in my games, I'm very nomadic in a sense with my virtual life, especially within virtual worlds. So to explore and have a new place to live, I tried out one of the new Linden Homes released (emphasis on new because they probably have been around for a bit but I've been so busy I didn't know they were added.) There were eight left of this specific type of home.

To see which one I got and where I now reside please click below to continue reading.

Newbrooke

For the sake of being able to have another idea for a new post, we're going to keep this one primarily about the Newbrooke community of Linden Homes in Second Life. And now you know! I live in Newbrooke, a very modern, quaint, housing community with a lot of amenities, community areas, and things to do. Not going to lie this area reminds me a lot of The Sims 4 for some odd reason. I love the modern design of the homes in the area, there is a 512 sqm version and a full 1,024 sqm version for those of you who don't have the Premium Plus version of Second Life Premium which I don't blame you at all for not moving up to the highest tier (more on that in my next post). I got super lucky with both the name of the sim as well as where my house Is actually located. For those who don't know, the name of the sim you're placed in and the location of your house are all randomized and based on which ones are available for inhabiting. When a home is not available it just won't show on the website when you choose a Linden Home.

Since my last interaction with my Linden Home, they have updated and upgraded them with a new in-house system allowing you to have full customization of your home inside and out. They are premade colors, but I'm sure there is at least one color that would tickle your fancy, if not then probably shouldn't have gotten the Newbrooke home style. It's important to note that every Linden Home has a different set of colors for the outside and the doors, as well as any metals or accessories on the outside of the home.

You have the option with the Newbrooke homes of choosing up to 8 layout versions, a few of these versions can be seen below. Ahead of time, these photos are from the Linden Lab website which they use as examples but I'm going to post them here for the sake of the post and for easier viewing.

Examples of Newbrooke Homes:

There are so many ways to customize these too, these are amazing compared to the old-style Linden Homes, this was the upgrade to the original homes found in Meadowbrook that are all 512 sqm. At the time 512 sqm was the most amount of land and Linden Home space you could have. Oh, how the times have changed! It's crazy to actually see the change from one form to another. Keep in mind the older homes in Meadowbrook are also Prim and not Mesh whereas the new Linden Homes found on the continent Belisseria are all Mesh.

Examples of the Meadowbrook Homes For Reference:

Now with these examples out of the way, let me show you my home and what I have done with it where I ended up being placed, and how close everything is. I'm not going to lie, I feel like I never have to leave my Linden Home community because everything to do now is pretty much right there, or at least all the things I enjoy going onto Second Life for.

My Newbrooke Home Placement & Experience:

This is the front of my Linden Home, I know super modern, brick, black, and light blue, I think it's gorgeous and really goes with who I am as an individual. I love it so far, but I also truly love the modern style of homes.

Below are pictures of the location and why I love it so much. To give reference to what you're looking at, I'm at the end of a col-de-sac and there is only one other house on the right-hand side of me. There is one on the left-hand side but they're a little further from me, so I don't count that. But right next to me there is no one, it is very private considering.

I was extremely excited and lucky of where I was placed, the sim name I have as well is called "Prince Charming" which I thought was really cute and fairy-tale themed, all the other sim names I haven't been too lucky with. I'm extremely thankful for all of it, and I honestly don't think I'll want to leave unless I decide to go up a Premium Tier which right now I just can't do for one of the new 2,048 sqm homes and parcels.

Why I Love This Area so Much:

Now is the why to enjoying this area so much, the name and the col-de-sac are great! But you see in the ariel view where the water is right behind my place, that's a rezzing dock for boats. It's a 20-second walk to rezz my boat and go sailing around Belesseria. I got the houseboat for the reason that I could rez my boat, keep it at the house and sail whenever I wish. The fact that I can pretty much do the same it's just not already at my house is amazing! Then not too far to the left of me where that road is, is also a rezz station for vehicles, horses, etc. This is so convenient and I haven't had both rezz stations so close to me before with a Linden Home, this is an amazing location. I'm so very fortunate for it. A long time ago I did a post on the positives and why you should get a Premium Membership and obtain a Linden Home I will be typing an updated post soon on that. However, for someone who has been a Premium Member of Second Life since the Premium Memberships even released, I can easily say Linden Lab is doing an amazing job with updating and keeping the excitement with why we should be members with amazing spaces and amenities like in Newbrook.

Final Thoughts On Newbrooke Linden Homes:

These homes are amazing if you like modern-styled neighborhoods and still want that suburb feel. If you're into the whole family RP on Second Life this would be a perfect place to have a family, it's also perfect for just living and experiencing a great amount of what Second Life has to offer in a secure, safe, area without having to travel to far off places in Second Life. This is however not to say that you shouldn't still go explore here and there. I feel Second Life is meant to be explored and experienced. But if you're new and need to learn the ropes and are nervous about being around a ton of people, or you're tenured and just want more of a private space and area that is less club, shopping, or non-trolling related. This is a great place to be! There's a lot you can do and since Newbrooke is a newer-made area other people who live in the houses around are typically there so it's not a dead sim where you're the only one there at all times.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I'm sorry it took me so long to post something. Between life getting in the way and MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK I took the longest writing hiatus ever. Please stay tuned for the following posts coming soon.

Updated Post on Premium Membership Tiers

Updated Post on Linden Homes as a Whole Including the New Website for Choosing Linden Homes

Avatars, Drugs, and Smoking - What is this?

Clubs - Why are so many popping up now, and what Is happening to other places to explore?

These are the upcoming posts, I look forward to seeing you in the next one.

#virtual world #virtual worlds #gaming #sl #second life #linden homes #linden labs #linden lab #virtual home #virtual home decor #virtual home design #sim #simulation

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