Is it time to start planning again?

Claude Desmoulins · Post by **Claude Desmoulins** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:09 pm

The thought occurred to me: Is it time to start another cycle of expansion planning? Let me hasten to say that we should probably let CN fill and get it paid off before we expand again. However, our experience with CN suggests that going ahead and developing a plan :

1) minimizes the amount spent on tier during development
2) raises awareness of the new sim

Also, we have procured a sum in loans which is likely to exceed the financing requirements of CN. Is there a way we can make some productive use of these funds between now and when we pay back in April?

I see no reason why we shouldn't start talking about it, especially if CN reaches break even sooner rather than later.

Ashcroft Burnham · Post by **Ashcroft Burnham** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:05 pm

It is always better to plan too early than to plan too late.

First questions include: (1) should we expand Neufreistadt or Colonia Nova with a contiguous island; or (2) acquire a wholly new island; and (3), if acquire a wholly new island, what theme should it have?

Possible themes:

* Iron/bronze age settlement;
*Ancient Egyptian;
* Aztec;
* Inuit;
* Tudor England; or
* medeival/renaissance era Arabian.

Aliasi Stonebender · Post by **Aliasi Stonebender** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:05 pm

I agree. Granted, the new private island rates make it just a bit harder to go ahead as before, although buying out a mainland sim wouldn't be totally out of the question, I imagine. (I am, for the moment, putting aside franculate ideas and just going for similar inward-originating expansion.)

I've thought that one possible idea for a third sim would be, in lieu of the traditional government spaces, to provide an open sandbox. Combine with some commercial/residential space and we could quite possibily attract more artisians to the CDS.

Diderot Mirabeau · Post by **Diderot Mirabeau** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:27 pm

My personal opinion on this would be get a sim that conjoins Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova, make it unthemed and focused on supporting the needs of builders and other creative types.

But that's just an unqualified, intuitive blurb without any further thinking or supporting arguments to back it up - considering we are in "dreamland" on this issue and do not need to whack each other over the head with arguments about why this or that cannot be done.

The advantages of this approach would be:

- CDS would be territorially cohesive.
- The challenge of joining NFS and CN would make for some nice sloping territory that would be ideal for beautiful waterfalls and other kinds of waterways (a personal obsession of mine)
- An unthemed sim would complement the previous two in terms of catering to a different audience.

The disadvantages would be:
- Private islands very expensive
- Lack of theme may create weaker sense of belonging to a community

Beathan · Post by **Beathan** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:08 pm

How about an American Old West Sim? I have yet to see that theme done -- or at least done well -- in my exploration of SL.

Besides, we could then resolve contentious debates by gunfight at high noon.

Beathan

Justice Soothsayer · Post by **Justice Soothsayer** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:09 am

A third sim located between Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova could become a combination: the 1/3 closest to NFS could be German, the 1/3 closest to CN could be suburban Roman, and the 1/3 in the middle could be a sandbox (reserved for future use as a demilitarized zone?).

Ranma Tardis · Post by **Ranma Tardis** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:36 am

[quote="Justice Soothsayer":1v9w8xmp]A third sim located between Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova could become a combination: the 1/3 closest to NFS could be German, the 1/3 closest to CN could be suburban Roman, and the 1/3 in the middle could be a sandbox (reserved for future use as a demilitarized zone?).[/quote:1v9w8xmp]

This reply is for all, dont you think it would be better to wait and pay off CN first? There are still loans outstanding.

Diderot Mirabeau · Post by **Diderot Mirabeau** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:14 am

[quote="Ranma Tardis":2tfzctlo]This reply is for all, dont you think it would be better to wait and pay off CN first? There are still loans outstanding.[/quote:2tfzctlo]

I think everyone participating in this thread is in agreement with Claude's suggestion that while we're not discussing a specific timetable for implementation nothing prevents us from having constructive brainstorming about what a third sim might look like.

Without offering any backing arguments I like the idea of the themes flowing into each other and I also like the idea of a wild west theme, which I think might somehow tie in nicely with the idea of making this a sim to attract builders and creative types. Somehow showing the mainland SL community, who often pride themselves on being "the wild outback" that a wild outback can indeed be more gratifying.

This wild west theme could be emphasised in the middle of the sim ("Emancipation Valley" or something like that) with the northern and southern bands of the sim being a sort of surreal metamorphosis of medieval Germanic + Wild West and High Roman + Wild West respectively with waterfalls thrown in to decorate the cliffsides for good measure.

If you think this sounds like something taken out of a horribly misunderstood Conan fantasy world it's probably because I've been spending too much time spying on the Goreans!

Ranma Tardis · Post by **Ranma Tardis** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:31 am

I would favor a sim to bring neu and cn toughter. 1/3 neu 1/3 cn and a divide of some sort a mountain range?. This will allow us to have one community and be able to travel freely between them without having to TP.
About a western sim, well there are out there. Steelhead come to my mind first. Do we really need a different theme for each sim?

Diderot San, Do you have to bring up Goreans and other sick assholes? I would love to purge SL of theses sick criminals and free speech/expression does not cover criminal acts. Pretending to kidnap, torture. Kill or whatever is comparable to criminalâ€™s pretending to rob a store, bank or abducting someone.

Diderot Mirabeau · Post by **Diderot Mirabeau** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:53 am

Maybe we don't need to theme the third sim as such. I believe I actually came from that position when Beathan's proposal for a Western sim appealed to my labile self especially in conjunction with the vision of some sort of sandbox (some of which could be devoted to weapons or perhaps even to combat) in the middle of a valley with stretches of wind-swept dunes and a muddy watering hole called Dodge The Bullet City...

[quote="Ranma Tardis":3q6o5y4l]Diderot San, Do you have to bring up Goreans and other sick assholes? I would love to purge SL of theses sick criminals and free speech/expression does not cover criminal acts. Pretending to kidnap, torture. Kill or whatever is comparable to criminalâ€™s pretending to rob a store, bank or abducting someone.[/quote:3q6o5y4l]

Not at all. The reference was uncalled for and only a product of my own sick imagination, which tried to elevate itself in a vain attempt at humour at other people's expense. I cannot promise not to repeat myself though as I am only a weak human (avatar) and ehm .. well ..

Ranma Tardis · Post by **Ranma Tardis** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:37 am

Did not mean to pull your chain Diderot San. I was just putting it on the record my dislike and disgust for everything they stand for and yes this includes slaves, masters, doms and subs. It goes against everything in the constitution and as Desmond says there is a sim for that sort of stuff but not here. If you want to be a she/he dom gorean furry bitch/stud, there is a place for you somewhere in Second Life but the CDS is not one of them!
About the next sim, we need something to bring the residents tougher and not further split and divide us. I really like a 3rd sim to bring us tougher and unite the community.

Patroklus Murakami · Post by **Patroklus Murakami** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:23 pm

Let's continue to brainstorm ideas, there have been some good ones come up so far.

I'd like to see a contiguous continent begin to form. One way we could do that in the immediate future would be to purchase a set of void sims to fill in the gap between Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova and provide some wilderness areas around them and between them and other future cities/settlements.

Other ideas:
[list:1e62114n]*[b:1e62114n][i:1e62114n]Hi-Tech Space City[/i:1e62114n][/b:1e62114n] like the planet Coruscant in 'Star Wars'
*[b:1e62114n][i:1e62114n]Native American settlement[/i:1e62114n][/b:1e62114n]. (I've spending lots of time playing World of Warcraft recently and the Tauren settlements are clearly modelled on aspects of Native American culture. It would be interesting to develop a sim along these lines).
*[b:1e62114n][i:1e62114n]Feudal Japanese[/i:1e62114n][/b:1e62114n]. There are some lovely recreations of Edo-period structures in Second Life, I really like the Japanese Dreamland sims. Lots of potential there.
*[b:1e62114n][i:1e62114n]Fishing Village[/i:1e62114n][/b:1e62114n]. I was really taken with Puerto de Mogan in the Canary Islands when I was there earlier this year, a beautiful fishing village with white-walled, flower-covered homes on the bay and built up into the hills.
*[b:1e62114n][i:1e62114n]Gethenian/Winter settlement[/i:1e62114n].[/b:1e62114n] (From the book 'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula Le Guin). We could have our very own snow sim, recreate huge palace complexes, and wear (fake, virtual) fur! No need to insist on hermaphroditism (though, strangely enough, that aspect of the book would work really well in SL )[/list:u:1e62114n]
Just a few ideas, keep em coming!

Gxeremio Dimsum · Post by **Gxeremio Dimsum** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:17 pm

I like what I'm reading so far and would willingly visit and spend time in most any of those sims. A few more ideas:
International sim - with a section for each continent and rotating displays of wonders of the world
Swiss canton - a celebration of a multilingual, mountainous, democratic stronghold
Sky City - One tall building with all the happenings surrounded by green space.
Cities of the world not yet represented in SL (as far as I know) - Tokyo, Paris, Washington DC, Moscow, Beijing, Mexico City, Cairo
Capital City - Designed to be capital of CDS in ultramodern style. I also picture lots of art and public space in this sim. Maybe streets named after artists?

Chicago Kipling · Post by **Chicago Kipling** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:15 pm

Since I expect our eventual aim is to create a sim that draws in a crop of completely new owners (increasing diversity; increasing SL influence; increasing traffic across all sims) it would seem prudent to select a theme that is:

- relatively undone or underdone in SL
- naturally lending of itself to activity in both the economic sense and perhaps the "gamer" sense (currently something our sims lack)
- innovative in approach to builds so that all corners of the sim are prone to be explored (would maximize potential vending spaces unlike some mainland sims that have shops at the end of dead-ends
- gives people a place to feel at home and a reason to stay there

It would also make some sense to consider if we want to retain geographical continuity. So far, we've generally held to a German location, regardless of theme I believe. Could a Germany of the future or of another era prove to be that?

Or we could choose to simply shoot for immersive themes as many seem to suggest above. For marketing purposes, it will be easier if there is a thread of continuity between all three sims beyond governance.

Of course, I'm a newbie here so take that all for what it's worth.

Diderot Mirabeau · Post by **Diderot Mirabeau** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:03 am

I really like the idea of acquiring void sims around our current sims. It would make our community a haven for exploration of natural beauty. Considering thar we already have talented landscaping designers in our midst and that in my view we have a weakness in not being able to offer much in the way of watersports (the Colonia Nova proposal remedied this ever so slightly on the recommendation of myself and others) I think there are many good arguments for acquiring void sims.

Does anyone know how much they cost and if they are subject to the same price hike as other private islands have recently experienced?

P. S.: Ranma-san no offense taken .. I was merely in a light-headed moment and didn't mean to sound offended .. as much as I'd like someone to pull my chain