SECOND LIFE BUYING OR SELLING LAND

IF YOU BUY LAND,
You then can shop for and purchase a house, store or whatever it is you would like to place on the land.  If  you are ambitious and creative, you may also make your house or store as many citizens enjoy doing after experimenting with making objects with the basic free prims available.

Below are pics of houses and an Art Gallery I placed on land which I purchased for the purpose of living there, having friends over to party as well as to exhibit and sell my sculptures and framed photographs. 

• The top 2 pics are Steampunk Style Home and of a large sculpture I made of a Steampunk Boy and Girl encased in a large enclosure which I had would sell as a single piece.
• the center 3 pics are in and on top of Italian Villas and the
• last pic is on a Spanish Villa I placed in the sky for more privacy.

PURCHASING SECOND LIFE LAND

Remember: when buying and selling land for profit, take tier fees into account.  You can easily make Lindens in the land business while losing US dollars.

If you are buying land on a Private Estate, you will be paying tier to the owner of that estate. He or she will be paying Linden Lab.

Tier on private estates often varies from what is charged for Mainland lands, depending on the business model of the Estate developer.

A few things to be aware of regarding tier and Private Estates (islands):

1) Tier paid to Estate owners is separate from tier paid to Linden Lab. You can't add them together if you own land on both an estate and the Mainland.  You pay both, separately.

2) You do not need a premium account to buy land on a private estate.

3) The 512 free tier from a Premium account is only good on Linden Lab managed Mainland.

4) Some Private Estate owners will accept payment in L$ rather than by credit card or Paypal.

5) The details of Private Estate tier should be made clear in the Covenant for that land.

Tier can be expensive, but LL makes much of their money off of your tier payments--either directly on the mainland or indirectly on a Private Estate. Without tier, we wouldn't have a SL to play in.

HOW TO BUY LAND

To buy a piece of land, just go to the plot of land you want to buy.

Right click on the ground (it has to be the ground--not a building or a landscaping prim on the ground) to bring up a pie-shaped menu.

If the land is for sale, you can select "Buy Land" from that menu--or go through the "About Land" window.

 (If you are going to buy the land for a group, you will need to go through the "About Land" window.)

If you do that, you will get an "About Land" box. At the bottom of "About Land" box there is a "Buy Land" button.

If the button is bright blue, that land's for sale to you for the price listed by the "For Sale" field.

"About Land" and "Buy Land" are also in the World menu. This can be handy for buying a plot where you can't see the ground to click on (if the ground has been covered with prims, for example).

Take a close look at this slide. It shows the window that you now get when you hit "Buy Land".

This window tells you how the land you are about to purchase will impact to your account.

But--and I cannot stress this strongly enough--if you press "Purchase" SL will AUTOMATICALLY make those changes to your account, which will usually include charges to your credit card of US$

This example is based on NCI's own Carl Metropolitan, who originally taught this class.

If he had bought the land listed when he  took this snapshot, it would have raised his monthly tier to $125 US and it would have gone out on the Lindex and bought the additional money needed to buy the land  (In this case, about $14.70 US); So Mmake sure to look at the "Buy Land" window very carefully before you buy anything.

Let me use Dennis as a quick example of tier rates…Carl normally pays $40US per month in tier; buying a huge 15,000 m2 plot would have kicked him up two notches to half a sim level (125US).

YOU CAN ALSO BUY LAND FOR A GROUP.

To do that, click the "Buy for Group" button instead of the "Buy Land" button on the "About Land" window.  You MUST have the group you are buying land for active to buy land for it. "Active" means that the group title is above your head.  Be VERY careful here. You don't want to accidentally buy the land for the wrong group!

If you buy land for a group--then that group owns the land. Unless you control that group (are the Group Owner), you can't get that land back unless the Group Owner allows it.  Buying land for a group brings its own set of complications--which could be a class in and of  itself.

SELLING LAND

When you sell land, you can either set the land to sell to anyone, or set it to sell to a specific buyer. When you set land for sale, you will get a confirmation window asking if you really want to set the land for sale at this price.

PAY ATTENTION TO IT. It is easy to make a typo and set land out for sale a much less than you intended. If you are giving someone a "sweetheart" deal on that land (a very low price), ALWAYS make sure to set the land to specifically sell to that person, BEFORE you set it For Sale; otherwise, anyone can come by and buy the land.  This happens regularly and Linden Labs will not do anything about it.  Having land set to 0L$ or 1L$ (or any very low price) for just a minute is not safe!  Some land traders use customized clients developed off the Open Sourced Second Life client program, as Land Purchasing Bots because of this; you have to be VERY careful when selling land.  If you set land to "sell to anyone" for a below market price--it WILL be bought almost immediately by a landbot.

Linden Lab has recently throttled how often you can search for land, but this only slows down-- but does not eliminate--landbots.

To set land for sale to a specific person, click the "Set" button in the "For Sale" section of the "About Land" window, which will take you to a window where you can select the person who you will allow to buy the land--the "Choose Person" window; you will then, get a dialog box asking you if you want to sell the land to that person at that price. Read it carefully to make sure you have set it correctly.

LAND AUCTIONS

Linden Labs will often auction land. Sometimes they will auction it in US dollars, sometimes in L$; normally, larger areas of land (4096m2 and up) are US dollar auctions, this land will be purple on the Map.  Such land is either currently up for auction, or slated for auction in the future.  The only way to tell which is what is to look at the SL web site or the "Find/Land Sales" window.  The Auction page on the SL website is at: http://secondlife.com/auctions/

Also--if you select "About Land" for a plot of land up for auction--or slated for auction in the future--you will see that it has been assigned an auction ID number.  Your bids in these auctions are binding. LL now charges a 100US$ fee if you cancel after winning an US$ auction--or 8000L$ for a L$ auction.  People had been abusing the easier cancellation terms that used to be offered.

If you are buying full sims, you need more information than I can teach you.  IM Carl Metropolitan though, and he can put you in touch with NCI members who do buy and sell (or rent) land in full sim quantities or to Shippou Oud, who teaches advanced land class.  

You can also go to the pull down menu (just under the "Classifieds" tab, and select "Auction" and hit "Search."  NOTE* That will display only ongoing L$ auctions; there are occasionally auctions for smaller plots.  Most non-full sim parcels of land that come up for auction are plots that have been abandoned by SL residents.  They either left the game, or expressly selected "Abandon Land" to get rid of it for zero L$.People usually "Abandon Land" so they don't have to pay another month's Tier on it--when they cannot sell it.

*For more information on land auctions, check out the "Auction FAQ" at: http://secondlife.com/auctions/faq.php

L$ land auctions can be a good way of picking up some land at under the market value--bids open at 1L$/m2--but you need to know what you are doing and be aware of the market values.

LAND VALUATION

You all have heard the expression "Location, Location, Location"? That applies to SL, too.  Before we go any further, please note that the advice on Land Valuation in this section mostly applies to MAINLAND land--not land purchased on private islands.  At one time, one of the biggest factors affecting land value was whether the sim was zoned "Mature" or "PG". Normally PG land sold for about 25% less than similar Mature land.  That is no longer the case.  Now both sell for about the same.  To digress a moment--a sim is a region of land in SL--a square 256m x 256m generated by one server.  A sim contains 65,536 square meters of land, and can support up to 15,000 prims.  Low end land went for 5-6L$/m2 in the fall of 2006.  At that time Linden Lab followed a policy designed to keep the average price of land in that range. That's an AVERAGE, mind you.  Mainland prices got out of control, with the low end of the market rising up to 20L$/m2 in January 2007; this happened because LL was dealing with a massive backlog of private island orders. That surge in sim orders kept them from rolling out many mainland sims--driving up mainland prices.  The quantity of land that is available in a sim is a significant factor in assessing land value there.   

You can only share prims between land plots in the same sim.  So if you are trying to get extra prims, land in the next sim over does you no good.  Thus,  if lots of land is available in a sim, that tends to make the land there less expensive--but if very little land is available, then that causes the price to go up.

Land on water is much more valuable than land that's not on water. Note I said "Land on Water" not "Land under Water." Land by the sea or bay or river is one thing; land under the sea is worthless.  In general, a lot on a shore is worth between 30% and 50% more than a land locked lot.  Islands in sims (not private islands) are even pricier.  Land next to a road (or a train track) is worth a bit more, too. This is mostly a function of perceived value.   Almost no one drives on roads here, but people still perceive a roadside as a good place to be--so the value of such land is higher.  Roads are also an example of what is called "Linden Protected Land." We will cover that in a moment.  Land near a popular club or mall can be more valuable--but where there is more traffic, there is more lag--an important factor to consider. Constant lag can significantly reduce the value of your land.   Hang out on land near a large source of lag for a while before you decide to buy it.  *Textures and scripts all contribute to lag--but the single largest lag source in SL is an avatar--you and I.

ZONED SIMS

Linden Labs has a few mainland zoned sims from early experiments that was not followed up on, including: Boardman, Brown, and De Haro. Land on those sims is quite expensive.  Don't expect to see much Mainland zoning in the future.  Zoning takes Linden Labs time to enforce.  They don't really have the manpower to do much beyond the PG/Mature/Adult zoning; speaking of early experiments that were not followed up on, there are 4 dual-prim sims--Miramare, Barcola, Grignano, and Sistiana; these sims have twice the normal allocation of prims. (But no terraforming is allowed)  Land in those sims almost never is (seriously) for sale. When it is--it is VERY expensive.  These sims are often referred to as the "Nova Albion" sims.  There is also a set of older sims that are "Fully Terraformable;" that means that you can adjust the level of your land by up to plus or minus 40 meters. Most sims only allow you to adjust by plus or minus 4 meters.  Land in sims zoned for PvP (Player versus Player) combat--like Jesse--is also sold at a premium.  Land on the top of a hill or ridge is usually moderately more expensive,not up to the level of shore land, more in the range of roadside land.  Conversely, land on the side of a hill, is worth less than normal.  Finally--land adjoining a stretch of "Linden Protected" land is more valuable than normal.  Linden Protected land is land that the Lindens have set aside for maintenance or for future roads.  Land near Linden Protected Land has a higher value because the buyer can (usually) count on nothing being built nearby.

If you right-click and select "About Land" Linden Protected Land usually says "Protected Land" in the "Name" field.  One last location note,  Snow land is less popular and less valuable than other types of land. Linden Labs overbuilt on snow land in 2004.

RENTING VERSUS OWNING

The pic below is of 2 different rooms which I set up  as rentals.

The rest of the house is not shown.

Second Life has a very active rental market.  As with any transaction, there are advantages and disadvantages to renting; carefully weigh these before deciding to rent.  One thing to keep in mind--because of Linden Labs tier (land use fee) system--essentially ALL land in Second Life is leased.  Whether you buy land from LL, or rent it from a landlord, ultimately, you are paying a recurring fee for the rights to various levels of control over that land (i.e., allotment of LL server resources).

POSITIVES OF RENTING

No Binding Lease. Your landlord can kick you off rented land for any reason--at any time.  If they do, you have no recourse.

LL will not get involved in resident-to-resident business dealings. A smart (or ethical) landlord will not do that but it can and does happen; furthermore, if the person you are renting from sells the land, the new owner is under no obligation to let you stay--even if you have paid rent in advance.

Have a problem?  Take it up with your old landlord. Most will be reasonable.  The lack of a binding lease (and enforcement mechanisms) is usually not a problem.  Most landlords want to keep their tenants happy--and avoid generating negative word-of-mouth.  

LAND USE RESTRICTIONS

Most rented land comes with some land use restrictions.  At a bare minimum, you will be limited in the number of prims that you can use.  Do not complain, this is a reasonable and rational restriction.  The landlord only can use a set number of prims (based on how much land they own in that sim).  If you go over your prim limit, you are keeping your neighbors from being able to use their share or taking prims from common areas or landscaping. Many landlords will also have various aesthetic and/or zoning-type restrictions on their properties.  For example, you may not be able to open a store in a residential development, or you may not be allowed to build out up to the property line; these are also usually reasonable restrictions.  Most good landlords want to maximize the value of their property to their tenants.  Keeping the property from looking bad helps do that.  If you rent in a PG sim, you must abide by that rating.  Persistent griefing will get usually get you evicted.

Examples of griefing: attacking or insulting people, using push weapons, excessive shouting or playing of annoying sound clips, and overuse of lag-creating scripts and particles.

GROUP REQUIREMENTS

To rent land, you normally must be a member of a land leasing group created by your landlord.  Any objects you rez must be set to that group, or they will be auto-returned--including your house, shop, or furniture.  Landlords require this so that they can remove prim litter--prims that people leave lying around--will be automatically returned to the person who left it there; this keeps the prims associated with the land available for the landlord and tenants.

LIMITS TO CHANGING LAND SETTINGS

 These settings include: land description, streaming media, bans, access restrictions, terraforming, or inclusion in the "Find/Places" list.  Landlords will often give you powers to change some or all of these settings as part of membership in their land group. Most landlords are quite reasonable about making changes--or allowing their tenants to make them, so long as those changes don't create a hardship for their other tenants  or make the land look bad.

POSITIVES OF RENTING LAND

Renting land is available to all Basic (Free Account) Members. Only Second Life residents on premium (i.e., paid) accounts are allowed to buy land (at least on the mainland).  If you are on a account, you can only rent; this is a significant plus for renting; the majority of SL residents are on Basic accounts. Rent Paid in L$.  Tier (land use) fees must be paid to Linden Labs in US dollars. Rent can almost always be paid in L$.  Paying your rent in L$ can be very nice, especially if you would really rather not bother with Tier, Lindex, conversion rates, etc.  It is a very useful feature for people that approach SL primarily as a social game.

Land Restrictions:  Yes, this was one of the disadvantages of renting--but it is also one of the greatest advantages.  In larger, well-managed properties, your landlord can help minimize the ugliness and griefing that characterizes parts of the mainland.  Do not underestimate the value of this.  Nno Up-Front Purchase Cost is a huge plus because you can easily spend the real world equivalent of twenty to a hundred US dollars buying a small to mid-sized plot of land.  It is easy to move when you rent.  Tired of where you are?  Want to move to another mall?  No problem, just pack up and leave.  There is no land to sell, no tiers to juggle; since SL leases are rarely for more than a month and often week to week, you lose little money.

Economies of Scale: Finally, renting allows you to take advantage of some of the economies of scales available to large landowners on a smaller plot.  The more land you own, the less you pay in tier per meter squared.  Because of this, you can often rent land for less than you would pay in Tier per month each month to Linden Labs. You get to take advantage of the landlord's lower per meter Tier rate.  Many landlords also provide public spaces such as parks or event venues for their tenants use.  If you are renting space in a mall, there is also the possibility of cooperative advertising based around the mall.

CONCLUSION--WHY OWN LAND?

If you have read many of the proliferation of help note cards aimed at new residents, you've probably been told "you don't have to own land to have fun".  While that's certainly true, it leaves out something quite important -- owning land is fun.  Even if you never open a shop, or rent or sell land, or even make some sort of impressive build, your plot of land gives you a place to call home in world, a retreat from the public spaces of Second Life. A little bit of this virtual world that you can make uniquely yours.

I hope this helps you as you decide if and how to buy or rent, and also helps you start thinking about becoming the next Land Baron in Second Life.

Second Life Vampire:Bloodlines Player

Meet my Second Life avatar named, UnScene Tomorrow. She was a Bloodlines Player.  When I first became a member of Second Life, I did not have any idea what to do, so I logged out and did not return again until a year later. I knew that the first name I had created as my original SL name was UnScene but I couldn't remember the surname, so the 2nd year upon returning, I created another avatar named UnScene and the surname  selected was Bluebird but for some reason, I had a difficult time activating that account.  I noticed that I had a very old message from Second Life in my mail and when I read it, was then able to retrieve the name of my original avatar instead of using it, I remained with this one, UnScene Tomorrow.

Unlike the first time I landed into Second Life, it wasn't long before I began receiving instant messages by a nice female avatar who wore a back pack and offered to help me out.   She teleported me to many places, taught me how to move around with the use of my arrow keys, gave me skins, hair and a shape.   Nysek also taught me where I could shop for free clothing, open my packages, look through my inventory and even how I was to attach the purchased pieces onto my avatar; all the while she would warn me to stay away from the vampires in Second Life.   Pandora's box was just waiting to be opened after so many alerts, so I followed in Pandora and Eve's foot steps and did become a Bloodlines player.  During my first 2 or 3 weeks as a member of the Blood Rayne Clan, I accumulated at least 15 members in my friends list!  Attending functions in packs was great, we went to clubs, parties and hunts together  and I was gifted many humorous gesture sounds which I learned to use quickly.   When I sent a text message to my first SL friend  to inform her that I had turned and belonged to a clan, she did not take the news well, told me that she would be deleting me from her friends list and I never saw her again.  Pfft!  You'd would think that I was really a vampire!

I remained an active  Bloodlines player for almost 2 years, accumulated blood tanks, a soul reaper, a spike, the infinity amulet and 14 souls before I tired and sold everything to another Bloodlines player I met at Liquid East.

Sometimes I like to be bad

 My SL Brother, Raig changes his appearance all the time.  Vampires can do that you know but then again, so can any Second Life member! Below are 2 of Raig's avatar image appearances.

I later learned that this is a very dangerous game to play.  It is just what the Illuminati wants for us to do.  If you decide not to heed my warning, you shall eventually see what I mean.

Scary Stuff

Are you sure you want to be a Bloodlines Vampire?

Greetings and Welcome.

I use to be a player in the Bloodlines Game in Second Life and this is the note card I would give to those who asked me to turn them into a vamp.

If you have received this card, it is because you have asked me to turn you.   The following information  will give you a good understanding of what being a vampire is about.  I wish you good luck in your endeavors in Second Life and and do hope that you will be dedicated to playing this wonderful role playing game before making your decision for me to turn you. 

Being a vampire is for those who enjoy pursuing and collecting, for those who like to fight to reach a status and for those who are high achievers. It is not a game for those who like enjoy dressing in Gothic or Vampire clothing.

V^^V    <---fangs

To play the game you must own a Bloodlines Hud. This is available for $599 Lindens at the Bloodlines Main Store and many other shops that carry Mars Bracken vending machines and kiosks.  All vampires must own the hud in order to play the game.  If you have been bitten previously , you may require the use of one of the available potions before wearing the hud for the first time. Ask you Liege or person who is to turn you into a vampire, to explain what is needed and the proper order to do everything in. Please pay attention to this, as the order everything is done is very important.

You can also find information on what to do, potions and your status as a Bloodlines Vampire or Lycan at the following web link.

  http://www.slbloodlines.com/  

  

  This site is very informative and one which  I always use it to see my standing as a vamp.

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The Blodlines Vampire HUD -

The Thirst: Bloodlines Edition is a fully-featured Vampire system that provides a rich array of basic Vampire functions and integration with The Thirst: Bloodlines web-based multi-player game. This system includes fang effects, particle effects, emotes, animations, you can disappear and re-appear again and a scanner that will sense other avatars and tell you whether they are other Vampires or potential victims. 

1 HUD 

1 Set of Fangs 

1 Stat Viewer 

1 Bite Marks 

1 Pose Stand - For editing your attached Fangs 

1 Set Instructions 

1 Bloodlines TOS Notecard 

1 Liquid designs Copyright & EULA Notecard 

1 LM to Bloodlines Main Store 

2: INSTRUCTIONS

The Thirst: Bloodlines contains 4 main components: The HUD, the Fangs, the Stat Viewer, and The Bite Marks. The two essential pieces to play the game and use the functions are the HUD and the Fangs. The Stat Viewer and the Bite Marks are just for fun. Each item is explained in detail below:

2a. The Bite Marks

The Bite Marks is an attachment to make you look like you just got bit by a ferocious Vampire. They will attach to your left ear by default. They are copy and transfer, which means you can copy them and give them away to all of your friends! The Bite Marks have 4 states: Fresh, Trickling, Scabbing, and Scarred. You can cycle through these states just by touching the bite marks. If you're bit by a Bloodlines Vampire while wearing them, they will squirt Blood! 

2b. The Stat Viewer

The Stat Viewer is an attachment that shows others your Bloodlines stats with text floating over your head. It displays the following information: Generation, Clan Name, Status, Amount of Humanity remaining (if greater than 0), Amount of Vital Blood Remaining, and number of collected souls. 

2c. The Fangs

The majority of the Thirst: Bloodlines functions are contained in the Fangs. You must be wearing your Fangs on your Mouth attachment point in order for them to work. If they are rezzed on the ground or are attached somewhere else, they won't work. 

2d. The HUD

The HUD contains 12 buttons:

Fang Extension (top left, round fang button) 

Fang Blood (bottom left, round bloody fang button) 

Blood Drip (top center, round blood drop) 

Bloody Mouth (bottom center, blood pool) 

Launch Profile (bottom rectangle blood droplet) 

Detector: Show All (left white spike) 

Detector: Victims Only (middle white spike) 

Detector: My Clan Only (right spike) 

Emotes (face) 

Smoke Screen (smoke) 

Settings (gear) 

Bite! (open mouth) 

Fang Extension: show or hide your fangs. 

Fang Blood: show blood on your fangs, or clean them 

Blood Drip: toggle blood drip on and off. 

Bloody Mouth: this button turns the blood in your mouth on and off. 

Launch Profile: This button launches your Bloodlines Web Profile. 

Detector: Show All: This button sets the detector list to show all avatars nearby. 

Detector: Victims Only: This button sets the detector to only show victims. All avatars not wearing a Bloodlines HUD will be identified as a victim. If you aren't wearing your Bloodlines HUD, you'll be detected as a victim by other Bloodlines HUDs, even if you're a registered member. 

Detector: My Clan Only: This button sets the detector to show only members of your own clan. 

Emotes: This button will give you a list of Emotes you can use with your Fangs. Just select an emote from the list, or select 'stop all' to stop emotes. 

Smoke Screen: This button will emit a smoke screen around your avatar that will conceal your appearance. TIP: use this right before you teleport away. 

Settings: The settings menu contains the following items: 

Mode: You can set your fangs to either 'Bloodlines' mode or 'Free' mode. When in Bloodlines mode, your actions will be recorded as part of the game, and in Free mode, you can use the functions of your fangs outside of the Bloodlines game. 

Set Liege: If you select this item, you'll be prompted to chat the name of an avatar on channel 666. This name must be an avatar that has purchased the Bloodlines System. It cannot be yourself, and it cannot be one of your own minions (someone who has already pledged allegiance to you).

 

Set Clan: If you select this item, you'll be prompted to chat the name of your clan on channel 999. This is the clan that will be set for those that pledge allegiance to you. The default clan is "Curse Clan". Be advised, if you pledge allegiance to someone, your clan and the clans of all of your minions will be changed to your Liege's clan. You cannot choose a clan name that someone else has already chosen, but anyone can rejoin the Curse Clan at any time. You clan name can only be letters, numbers, and spaces, must be less than 25 characters, and cannot be blank. 

Detector: This selection toggles the avatar detector on and off. 

Height: The height selection is used to adjust animations. If your avatar is taller than the average avatar, select 'Taller', if your avatar is shorter than the average avatar, select 'Shorter', and if you believe your avatar is of average height, select 'Same'. The right setting here will make your animations look better. 

Gender: Set your gender to 'male' or 'female'. This is only used for status names, such as setting either 'King', or 'Queen'. 

Animation: Your fangs come included with one animation: a simple vampire bite. You have the option of using additional animations by adding them to the contents of your fangs. You'll need two animations: one for the victim, one for the attacker. Your animations must be named with the following convention: name_attacker, and name_victim, and replace 'name' with what you want your animation to be called. For example "fierce_attacker', 'fierce_victim'. Then, when you select the 'animation' button under settings, you'll be able to select between the animations you've added and the default animation. 

Bite: Use this button to bite a victim. Your victim must be within 20 meters of you. Once you select their name, they will be asked for permission. If they accept, the animation will play, and you'll bite them. If they're wearing their bite marks, the bite marks will squirt blood. If this is the first time they've been bitten, your fangs will vend them a copy of the bite marks to wear. The first time they wear their bite marks, they'll be given a landmark to the Bloodlines store. If they pick up a copy of the Thirst: Bloodlines, you will get their soul. 

3: BLOODLINES: HOW THE GAME WORKS

There are many objectives to pursue in The Thirst: Bloodlines, and you can focus on whichever one is your favorite. However, the one objective that can't be avoided is the Thirst for Blood. All players must keep their Vital Blood high to keep from being destroyed and losing their vampire status. All objectives and the associated rules are explained below.

Objective #1: Become a Vampire. 

There are two parts to becoming a vampire. First, you must have your humanity drained by others who have the Thirst. Blood is valuable, and the Thirst gives you the power to convert the humanity of your victims into precious vital Blood. Your humanity starts at 100%, and this can be converted into a total of 5 liters of vital blood for others. When your humanity reaches 0, you will be Cursed. Each avatar only has 5 liters of Vital blood to donate to the community, and once it's gone, it's gone forever. This is why new victims must constantly be sought out. The second part of becoming a vampire is to refill yourself to 5 Liters of Vital Blood. You can do this by biting others, draining them with the spike, or by drinking from blood containers. The first time you reach 5 Liters of vital blood after you are cursed, you will become embraced and will gain the status of Vampire. 

Objective #2: Increase your Status. 

Status is based on the number of total souls collected. You will get the soul of every vampire who you are the first to bite. If you are the first person to bite someone who hasn't purchased The Thirst, you will get their soul only when they purchase the system. Your total souls is the sum of the souls you have collected, and the souls collected by your minions. The more minions you have, and the more powerful they are, the higher your status will become. Be a good liege to your minions, because if they decide to pledge allegiance to someone else, you will lose their souls from your soul total. You might think of a soul as one vote in determining who the highest ranked vampire is. The more souls you collect, the more power you have in determining who is on top. 

Objective #3: Accumulate Blood Wealth

There is only so much blood to go around, so blood has value in the Thirst: Bloodlines RP world. You can accumulate blood wealth by storing Blood in Blood Casks and Tanks. You can purchase them full, or you can purchase them empty and fill them yourself with blood you collect. If you plan on accumulating Blood Wealth, it may be in your interest to pick up a Spike, which will allow you to convert the humanity of others into valuable vital blood in larger quantities. Everyone will know who the wealthiest Vampire is, and they may turn to you when they are desperate for blood. You can manage lists of the vampires that are allowed to drink from your casks and tanks. Blood is power! 

Objective #4: Win Honors

One way to show your prowess as a true Vampire is to win honors. If you can achieve 25, 50, 75, or 100 fresh bites in under 24 hours, you will win a medal of honor for going on a Feeding Frenzy. You can also win the coveted Berserk medal for achieving 10 bites in 10 minutes. If you win these honors, you'll get the medal on your profile on www.slbloodlines.com, and it will also display if you own "The Honors" to display on your avatar. 

Objective #5: Stay "Alive"

Every 24 hours, The Curse takes a toll of 0.25 Liters of vital blood from everyone. If you lose all of your vital blood, you lose all of your collected souls, unless you have protection from an Amulet. To do this, you must constantly seek out new victims as sources of vital blood.

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General Rules

The following general rules apply:

Vital Blood: You can never have more than 5 Liters of Vital Blood in your veins at any given time. 

Souls: Once you have become a Vampire, if you ever let your Vital Blood drop to zero, you will lose your collected souls and your status will drop to 'destroyed'. The possible ways to lose your Vital Blood is by the daily Curse, having it drank from your veins, draining it into a Cask or Tank, or by having it drained by a Spike. Depending on whether you have minions committed to you or not, you may drop in status and generation. It's in your interest to never let your Vital Blood drop to zero. 

Status: Your status is determined by the number of souls you and your minions collect. See the table below for more information on status. 

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Status Definitions

Badge Status Definition 

 Human Everyone with a humanity greater than 0% 

 Revenant Reached 0% Humanity. 

 Vampire Reached 0% Humanity and 5 Liters of Vital Blood. 

 Bloodletter Collected 10 souls. 

 Tormentor Collected 25 souls. 

 Hellion Collected 50 souls. 

 Impaler Collected 100 souls. 

 Deathmerchant Collected 150 souls. 

 Archfiend / Archfiendess Collected 200 souls. 

 Count / Countess Collected 250 souls. 

 Baron / Baroness Collected 300 souls. 

 Prince / Princess Collected 350 souls. 

 King / Queen Collected 400 souls. 

 DESTROYED -  When your vital blood drops to 0 and your souls are taken by the Curse. 

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   -  POTIONS  -  

There are 3 potions: Hemlock to rescue a soul from the Abyss, Wormwood to rescue a soul from Limbo, or Nightshade to cure Vampirism.

********************  Each potion can only be used once, so use it wisely. ******************

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO YOU BY THE PERSON THAT IS GOING TO TURN YOU TO THE LETTER.

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The Wormwood Potion

 

The Wormwood Potion can be used to rescue a soul from Limbo. An avatar's soul will be in Limbo if they have been bitten, but have not joined Bloodlines. Once they drink the Wormwood Potion, their soul will be rescued from Limbo, and will be promised to the next person to bite them. The soul will be delivered once they register for Bloodlines.

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The Nightshade Potion

 

This potion can be used to cure vampirism. If you drink this potion, the following will happen: your vital blood will be transformed into an equal amount of humanity (1L vital blood = 20% Humanity), your curse and embrace will be undone, you will become human again, you will no longer suffer the curse, you will lose all of your souls, and souls from your minions will no longer total upwards.

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The Hemlock Potion

 

This potion can be used to rescue a soul from the Abyss. A soul is in the Abyss if it was collected by someone who was subsequently destroyed. After a the avatar whose soul is in the Abyss drinks the Hemlock, their soul will go to the next person to bite them.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I joined bloodlines, and my soul went to the first person who bit me, and I don't know them. I wanted to give it to my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend, and my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend is upset that someone else has my soul. Can you fix this? 

Unfortunately, we can't undo a bite. Once you're bitten by someone, it's permanent. If you were attacked by a vampire in real life, there would be no way to undo it. However, just because someone else has your soul doesn't mean that you're linked to them, you can still pledge allegiance to anyone or join any clan. 

All of my souls are gone! I'm sure I had some. What happened? 

If your status is also destroyed, than it means your souls were lost because of your loss of blood. Every night, the Curse takes 0.25L of blood from everyone, and if your vital blood drops to 0, you will lose all of your collected souls and your status will become destroyed. Once you've been cursed, always make sure you have at least 0.25L of vital blood! 

Someone took my soul, and I wanted to give it to someone else. How do I reset and start over? 

There are some things that we've set up in the game to be permanent to make it more realistic. The first person to bite you gets your soul, and there's no way to reverse this. You won't be connected to them forever, and the souls you collect won't go to them. The souls you collect get added to your Liege's total, and you can pledge allegiance to whomever you want. 

I've lost all my blood and become destroyed, how do I get back to my previous status? 

All you should have to do is drink some blood, and you'll come back. 

I'm getting an error with my HUD, fangs, or stat viewer. What should I do? 

The easiest way to fix an error is to re-rez your crate and get a new copy out of it. Also, make sure you have the latest version. If you attach your HUD and you're not auto-delivered a new crate, then you have the latest version. You can also get the latest version in the bloodlines store at the update kiosk. 

How are the generations determined? 

The number of available spots in each generation increases exponentially in powers of 2. There is 1 available spot in generation 1, 2 in generation 2, 4 in generation 3, 8 in generation 4, 16 in generation 5, and so on. Players are placed into these spots based on the number of total souls they have collected. This is the sum of all the souls collected by themselves and their minions. There can be ties for each available spot, which means there may be more vampires than the number of available spots in each generation. As players gain souls, ties will be broken, and the true Bloodline will be revealed. 

When I click the bite button on my HUD, nothing happens. What should I do? 

Make sure you are wearing your fangs, and that they are attached to your Mouth attachment point. Bites won't work unless your fangs are attached, and your fangs won't work unless they are attached to your mouth. Next, make sure you're on a parcel that allows scripts. 

My fangs are attached, but the bite still isn't working. What should I do? 

Make sure you're on a parcel that allows scripts. If you're sure you're on a parcel where you can run scripts, try getting a new copy of your fangs and HUD out of your Thirst: Bloodlines crate. If it still isn't working, send an IM to Curse Aszkenaze. 

My gender isn't set correctly, how do I change it? 

You can change your gender any time by clicking on the 'settings' button on your HUD. The settings button is the button with the little gear on it. You should get a blue menu with many options. Select 'gender', and then you'll be able to select 'male', or 'female'. This is only used to make status distinctions, such as 'King' vs. 'Queen'. 

'm getting a message that says "Error retrieving member data, please try again." What's going on? 

This happens sometimes when your Second Life Viewer is still loading your member data. It has to fully load before Bloodlines functions will work. 

What if I want to use the fangs, but I don't want to play the Bloodlines game? 

Your fangs have two settings "Free Mode", or "Bloodlines Mode". In Free Mode, you can use all of the functions of the fangs without interacting with the Bloodlines Server. In Bloodlines Mode, your actions will be subject to the rules of the Bloodlines game and will affect the information on your profile. In Free Mode, you are still subject to the daily Curse. To set the mode of your fangs, click the settings button on your HUD (the button with the gear on it), then select "Mode", then select "Free". 

I'm getting a message that says "The Bloodlines Server is down for maintenance." What's going on? 

If there is a problem or an error with the Bloodlines system, the game may be temporarily taken down for maintenance. In this case, you can still use your Bloodlines system in Free Mode. To put your fangs in free mode, select your settings button on your HUD, then select 'Mode', then select 'Free'. This will allow you to bite victims without interacting with the Bloodlines system. Check the homepage of this website for important system status information. 

I've pledged allegiance to someone, or someone has pledged allegiance to me, but our soul totals don't seem to have updated. What should I do? 

Soul totals and status updates are committed every night at midnight, when the Curse takes effect. This is because we must rebuild the tree of allegiances, and all pledged souls travel upwards to the top lieges. 

How do I increase my status? 

Status is based on the number of souls you've collected. You get one soul for each registered Bloodlines player that you get the first bite on. So, if you're the first to bite someone that isn't registered, you'll only get their soul if they later purchase the bloodlines system. The souls that your minions collect also add to your total souls. The more souls your minions collect, the higher your status will be, and the more souls you collect, the higher your own status and the status of your liege will be. But remember, be a good liege to your minions. If they move their allegiance to someone else, you lose their collected souls. If your vital blood ever drops to zero and you become destroyed, you lose the souls you have collected, but you retain the souls pledged to you by your minions. 

How do I turn off the detector on the HUD? 

The detector can be turned off through the settings menu. Click the settings button on your HUD (the button with the little gear on it), then select 'Detector'. This will toggle the detector on and off. You may get better performance on crowded sims by turning off the detector. 

When does the Curse take effect? 

The Curse is enacted every night at midnight, SL time. At this time, everyone gets -0.25 L Vital Blood (unless your vital blood is already 0, or unless you have amulet protection), and all amulets are reduced by one day. All unprotected Vampires must make sure they have more than 0.25 Liters of Vital Blood before Midnight to avoid destruction! 

Sometimes the detector on the HUD doesn't show the game info on others. Why not? 

The detector will only show information on others that are wearing their HUDs. If a player isn't wearing their HUD, it may show them as a victim. When the detector senses more than 10 people in the immediate vicinity, it will go into a faster mode where it only displays names and not extended game stats on nearby avatars. If someone is wearing their HUD and it still shows them as a victim, the detector may be running slowly. 

How do I know if I'm on a parcel that allows scripts? 

In the menu bar of your Second Life Viewer, there are a couple of little symbols to the right of your 'Advanced' menu. If you see a little symbol with a couple of little gears and then a 'no' sign, then the parcel you are on does not allow scripts. Alternatively, you can click on the parcel name in the menu bar to bring up the 'About Land' dialog. Select the 'options' tab. If the box next to 'All Residents' next to 'Run Scripts' is not checked, then this parcel does not allow scripts. 

All I got out of the vendor was a box, where is the product I purchased? 

Your product will come in a Crate that you'll have to open, that's what the box is. To open your crate, you'll have to rez it on the ground somewhere where you have rez permission. You can rez your crate in the Bloodlines store, but be advised that there is a 2-minute object return. Once you've rezzed your crate, right click it and select 'Open'. This will bring up the contents of the crate in a window. You can then select the button at the bottom that says 'copy to inventory'. You will receive the contents of the crate in your inventory. Pick up your crate again by right-clicking it and selecting 'Take'. Save this crate in case you lose your objects. If the items inside allow copy permission, you'll be able to take as many copies as you like out of the crate. 

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Glossary

Blood Wealth: The sum of all of the Vital Blood you own, in containers and in your veins. 

Curse: The Curse is the dark force that takes a toll of 0.25 Liters Vital Blood every 24 hours. You begin to suffer the Curse once your humanity has dropped to 0. 

Embrace: The first time your Vital Blood reaches 5 Liters after you become cursed, you will become Embraced. Only after this will you be considered a Vampire and can ascend in ranking. 

Generation: Generation is determined based on number of total souls. Your total souls is the sum of the souls you have collected, and the sum of the collected souls of all minions who have pledged allegiance to you. 

HUD: Heads-Up-Display. The Bloodlines HUD is the main control panel for the game. 

Humanity: Everyone starts as a human, with 100% humanity. The more you are bitten, the more of your humanity you lose, until you die and become a revenant. 

Stat Viewer: The Stat Viewer is an avatar attachment that comes in the main Thirst package that allows you to view your main statistics as floating text over your avatar's head. 

Status: Vampire societal status. This is determined by the number of souls you have collected. 

Soul Rank: Your overall ranking in the game based on number of collected souls. 

Vital Blood: Blood of others that you have drank. 

Happy Hunting. 

Do not say I did not warn you about the dangers of this game.

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