Sim expansion overview

[Sudane Erato]

The issue came up at the last meeting of the New Guild regarding expanding into new sims, and how we will apply our masterplan to such expansion. I volunteered to have a peek at the Land Store and see what sims around us, *at our current location*, are available.

Well, as suspected, the Land Store is useless for us. Most importantly, we are in a "non-reservable" zone where the Land Store does not apply. However, we *can* buy adjacent sims to us via direct contact with the Linden office.

The Land Store also demonstrates its uselessness because the configuration of occupied sim spaces around us in the Land Store differs from what is indicated on the map. Considering this, I abandoned the Land Store completely and developed the following info from the in world map, which I feel is much more dependable.

Here is a map of our surrounding neighborhood. We are the three snow white sims in the lower center. Green indicates sim spaces which are certainly available. Pink indicates sim spaces which may or may not be available, depending on which LL policy statement you read. The FAQ for the Land Store indicates that sims which touch corners are *NOT* adjacent, and therefore can be purchased by different owners. However, clicking on a sim space touching another owned sim in this fashion does not allow you to buy it.

CDS Environs.jpg (79.36 KiB) Viewed 1900 times

I've numbered the sim spaces with my own numbering, so that we can more easily refer clearly to specific locations. This is *NOT* the way the spaces are numbered on the LL grid.

Please keep in mind that this is the state of the grid in our neighborhood at the current time. This could change. We also have the option of moving our three sims to another location entirely, where we might have the room to go in any direction. The price for moving sims is US$150/sim.

If anyone would like a copy of this map for their own planning which is fully visible, please let me know, and I can email it to you.

Sudane............................

[symokurka]

Hi Sudane two questions:

1) where can a citizen look at the general masterplan?
2) are there maps of the three existing CDS sims?

Thank you

[Sudane Erato]

Hi Sudane two questions:

1) where can a citizen look at the general masterplan?
2) are there maps of the three existing CDS sims?

Thank you

I'm not aware that we have all this information in a centralized location, and it would probably be a great idea if we did. Both the general masterplan maps, which were developed by Moon, and the three individual sim maps, which have happened at various times in our history (CN and AM I think were also mapped by Moon... NFS by Ulrika, although I think Moon did a version of that, too).

AM and the masterplan are linked someplace in this forum (I am terrible about finding things ... ). The CN map is located I think on the CN blog, which is linked at the top of this page. I have no clue where the NFS map is, except on my computer, in a horribly out of date form.

Volunteers for map organization???

Sudane....................

[Desmond Shang]

Under current policy (16 Jan 08) all eight surrounding gridspaces, including the 'diagonal' spots around a region, cannot be purchased without permission via the support ticket system from the region owner already there.

It wasn't always this way, but it's been that way for nearly a year now, I think.

Also, as I understand it, if you attempt to purchase a region and are blocked, you can get the remainder of the existing estate sims moved for free. For example, say you were blocked when trying to add region #4 - the net result would be that, via support tickets, you could have region #4 added where you want, but they would move regions 1, 2, and 3 somewhere else on the grid to accomplish it.

Another interesting note: the land store 'reservations' system is expired now, I do believe. You cannot reserve regions any more; it's been like that for over 90 days now.

What this means is that they have not been billing for land store reservations either, which (theoretically, at least) means that *any* reservation anywhere, unless off a region coastline as described above, is invalid and can be successfully challenged via support ticket.

* * * * *

Personal spin on things:

1. Stable location is important. People do use the maps, it is important (to some degree) who your neighbours are; it is 'lesser' to be waaay out in the boonies when it comes to the map. Subtle but real effect.

2. It's clearly good to control your area of the grid. This can be accomplished via friends, allied sims, and other means, now that the reservation system is defunct. If anyone deeply affiliated with the CDS is interested in how, well, they can IM me inworld - there are a few tricks I'm smart enough not to post on forums.

3. Once you have asserted control over an area, there is a powerful, powerful synergy effect if you link up with the right neighbours. It's like pie and ice cream - both good, but the combo is better, made all the better by highlighting your differences. Caledon is fairly sizeable in its own right, (33 regions, 2.1m sq. meters) but is enhanced sharply by its current geographic continuity with Winterfell and now Brythony Isle - making a 'world' of 53 regions (3.5m sq meters). Currently I plan to stop growing Caledon after another 5 regions, but the 'world' may continue to grow - well-chosen neighbours make that a sensible option.

Such a plan may be very useful for the CDS also, someday. Though I daresay it would be best if you had a dozen sims of your own first so your cultural identity wouldn't be under any threat (Caledon dual-citizens swarmed Brythony and booked it solid within hours of the linkup).

4. I'd love to see a strong CDS on the grid. Micronations are fun - and more fun, the more differences they have.

[Sonja Strom]

Has the CDS ever considered the possibility of making alliances with the other sims around it, in order to incorporate them into the master plan?

Perhaps the CDS could eventually even purchase these sims, if their current owners ever decided they wanted to sell them.

[Diderot Mirabeau]

Has the CDS ever considered the possibility of making alliances with the other sims around it, in order to incorporate them into the master plan?

Desmond's information and Sonja's suggestion in extension of it sounds like something that could inform the purpose of an actual foreign policy for the CDS. Combine that with my previous suggestion to attempt to extend democratic forms of governance throughout the metaverse by means of a 'technical assistance programme' (not unlike the Marshall aid but more focused on the tools necessary for democracy) and I think you have a pretty solid base on which to form a foreign policy that goes beyond roleplaying diplomacy.

[Sonja Strom]

Here are a few links to other threads that might be useful to refer to in this one.

1) An overall view of the planning up to now (with links to some good maps), and discusssion of why the RA has voted to grow the CDS based on an expansion of its already-existing themes:
http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1605

2) An effort to re-visit the CDS Master Plan: http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1652

3) Possible foreign policy and diplomatic relations for the CDS: http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=240