If you've been to the Desperation Isle Estates recently you may have noticed that the scenery has changed. The central land mass, Desperation Isle, has actually moved one map slot to the East and a brand new island has moved into its old location. Work has begun on the new island, cunningly dubbed New Desperation Isle, and we are on track to open by Monday, October 8. We are going to great lengths (and expense) to ensure that the transition goes smoothly for visitors, residents, and mall renters. Please read on to learn what to expect in the coming weeks.
General questions
Is Desperation Isle going away?
The island you currently know as Desperation Isle will indeed be shutting down, but this is not going to happen until New Desperation Isle is completely up and running. Eventually "Desperation Isle" will become a yet-unannounced special island that I'm sure regular visitors will be quite pleased with.
How long until New Desperation Isle is ready?
We are tentatively planning to open New Desperation Isle on Monday, October 8.
Will we be able to visit New Desperation Isle while it's under construction?
The island will be restricted to members of the group Mistress Wildefire's Sub-space (which includes mall renters and tenants of Desperation Isle Estates). The general public will not have access until we're about ready for the grand opening.
What's going to be different about the new island?
While we're keeping some of our plans secret, you can expect more dynamic terrain and plenty of hidden gems to uncover. We know our audience, and I promise you that all of the popular items and areas on the old Desperation Isle will be represented on the new island in one way or another.
Why build a whole new island?
I had already been planning to add a new island to Desperation Isle Estates, and decided to take the opportunity to completely rethink Desperation Isle and produce something that more closely met my vision for a dark and intimate adult gathering place. Rather than simply shut down the old island and rebuild, I decided to take my time building New Desperation Isle from scratch while leaving the old island open for my visitors and mall renters. The way I've chosen to do things is actually costing me a fair amount of extra money, but I wanted the transition to proceed as painlessly as possible for everyone involved.
Is the new island going to lag like Desperation Isle has for the past couple of months?
Probably not. While we're ultimately at the mercy of Linden Lab, we are making certain design decisions specifically with lag reduction in mind. We hope to deliver a bigger, better Desperation Isle for you with performance that rivals or exceeds how the island used to perform before the mysterious lag issues that popped up in June. (By the way, performance on the old Desperation Isle has improved recently due to some changes that both I and Linden Lab have made.)
How do I find the new island?
At the time of this writing, the world map still hasn't updated so you can't get there by mapping it. You have a few other options, though:
- In Search > Places, look for: New Desperation Isle and click the Teleport button.
- Open my profile and look at my Picks. I have a Pick for New Desperation Isle with a working teleport link.
- Just go to the old Desperation Isle and fly West. The mall is at the highest point in the New Desperation Isle sim, in the NW corner. The teleport location is on the second floor between the two signboards.
You must belong to the Mistress Wildefire's Sub-space group. This is the same group that vendors use on the old Desperation Isle. The group is invite-only. Just contact me and I'll add you as soon as I can.
Mall-specific questions
How will this affect mall renters?
The old Desperation Isle still exists, and is still listed in Classifieds and Places Search, so you will continue to get business there until (and probably a few days after) the transition. During the transition to the new mall, you will NOT be expected to pay double-rent. Beginning on Tuesday, October 2, existing vendors are now invited to set up shop at New Desperation Isle. Claim a spot by paying your new rent box only. Any time left on your old rent box on Desperation Isle will be refunded to you (and I will take your old rent box offline so you no longer get notifications from it), and you may keep selling your items on the old island until it shuts down.
Will mall rent remain the same on the new island?
We will have a new rent pricing structure, and the result will actually mean a reduction in rent for many vendors. Our base rent price is dropping from L$200/week to L$100/week, for a reduced number of prims. The rent boxes all default to L$200/week. I will make adjustments and refunds based on your prim usage once you're set up. Here's the pricing breakdown:
- 1 to 10 prims: L$100/week
- 11 to 15 prims: L$150/week
- 16 to 20 prims: L$200/week
- 21 to 25 prims: L$250/week
- 26 to 30 prims: L$285/week (5% discount)
- 31 to 35 prims: L$333/week (5% discount)
- 36 to 40 prims: L$360/week (10% discount)
- 41 to 45 prims: L$405/week (10% discount)
- 46 to 50 prims: L$425/week (15% discount)
- Over 50 prims: Let's talk. =)
While I prefer a flat rental rate, if you'd like to set up a profit sharing system to cover your rental, this is a possibility. There are several requirements:
- You must use a vendor that supports profit sharing.
- If your sales don't generate an amount of profit equivalent to my flat rates for rent, I may ask you to adjust my cut of the profits or move out if I get queries from vendors willing to pay the flat rate.
You can rent out more than one stall. If you rent out adjacent stalls, I can even remove dividing walls at your request. The price you'll pay for the additional stall will either be L$150/week or higher, if your overall prim usage exceeds what L$150 would cover. For example, if you rented out two stalls and used only 21 prims, you'd pay L$200 for the first stall (up to 20 prims) and L$150 of the second, even though you're only using 1 prim in that stall's allotment, for a total of L$350/week. If you had two stalls and used your full 40 prims, though, you'd pay L$400/week to cover your prims. This actually works out cheaper than the old mall for vendors with large items or boxes who simply need more room, and is the same price for vendors who just have a lot of prims.
All the rent boxes at the new mall are set to L$200/week but I'm going to use more (or fewer) prims than 20 prims. What do I do?
If you know you're going to use a different number of prims than the L$200/week will cover, pay the box at least L$200 to claim your spot and I will make adjustments later, based on the number of prims you're actually using. The rent box only accepts multiples of weekly amounts (for example, L$200, 300, etc.) until I adjust it. If you overpay to cover your first week's rent, I will refund the additional amount when I update your box.
I set up my stall on the new island, but I still have some rent left at the old mall. Can I apply that rent to the new mall?
Since the rent box can only be updated in multiples of weeks, I will simply refund you any remaining rent you have on your box at the old mall once you set up at the new one. I'll also remove your old rent box so it doesn't keep bugging you for payments.
How will the new mall be different from the old one?
I have redesigned the new mall to give merchants bigger stalls (both taller and deeper), provide a less cramped environment, with bigger walkways, and still provide high visibility to a number of vendor stalls when people visit the island. The teleport location is on the east side of the second floor of the mall (between the signboards), and the ground-level entrance is directly below, on the first floor. The new structure is similar in architecture to the existing mall, however it covers a larger area, and has much better-placed staircases that should drive more traffic between levels. It will also be equipped with simple teleporters for moving between the two levels.
Will I need to join a new vendor group?
If you are already in the Mistress Wildefire's Sub-space group you will not have to join any groups to be able to set up shop on the new island.
Can we see a preview of the new mall?
The mall is essentially complete, and is ready for vendors. You can find it in the Northwest corner of the island.
Will the rules for vendors at the new mall be any different?
I will be updating the guidelines for accuracy and readability, but I don't expect there to be any major changes to the rules. I will update the Desperation Isle Estates blog with the new rules when they're ready.
I currently have a free space at the old Desperation Isle mall. Will I still be able to set up shop for free at the new place?
I do not have plans to provide free mall space to anyone but members of my slave family at the new mall. While this was a tough decision, the increased price of the new island necessitated the change. Hopefully the new rental pricing structure will allow you to continue doing business with us. If you're a current vendor at Desperation Isle and you do not think you'll be able to afford staying with us if forced to pay our published rates, please discuss the matter with me.
Resident questions
I'm a resident of Desperation Isle Estates. How will this change affect me?
You'll now see a very different (and more scenic) island at the center of Desperation Isle Estates. This land mass connects all of the four rental islands, allowing visibility of the entire region from all sides. All residents who are members of the Mistress Wildefire's Sub-space group will be able to explore the new island while it's under construction. It is understandable that you may have some concerns about your view. Be assured that we're working hard to make New Desperation Isle both an attractive and fitting centerpiece to our growing estates.
Will the change affect performance on the existing residential islands?
We do not expect performance of the existing residential islands to be affected by this change, however residents of Desperation North and Desperation West should see an improvement in the speed and seamlessness of border crossings when moving between your home island and New Desperation Isle.
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