Village community: concept discussion

[Dot Matrix]

Recently there have been several threads here on the forum (e.g. Towns?) and inworld discussions about themed communities, and whether any exist within Kitely.

I know that there are worlds already on Kitely that people can rent shops or homes from (use the Public Worlds Search function), but I'm wondering whether it might be worthwhile exploring here a shared approach to developing a self-sustaining village-style community on a megaregion.

Initial design concept
Ground level based on British Arts and Crafts movement (c. 1860 to 1910), community of craftspeople; steampunk elements; rural setting; group of islands off the coast of Scotland, though maybe slightly warmer weather so that trees flourish; residential islands linked with bridges/tunnels/ferry surrounding a shared main island community centre; landscaping includes natural springs, pools, trees, shrubs; immersive soundscape; if possible, allow for seasons; regional day/night Windlight

A second, sky build allows for fantasy space builds; alien landscape; steampunk/tesla/modern meld; caverns; asteroids...

Possibly a shared sandbox area in the sky, though residents would probably use their own Kitely region for building

Buildings
Residential islands could each have one or two cottage+workshop+garden areas, set in woodlands

The central island could have: cafe/coffee shop; natural ampitheatre for events, meetings etc; art gallery/library with cosy fire and comfy chairs -- this could be developed as an info and teleport hub; maybe a village shop or shops (though the workshops might be suitable for that); chapel/quiet space; seasonal area

Rating
Preferably General

World size, spec and costings
"Full-fat" 2x2 or 3x3 megaregion, allowing for 100k prims and up to 100 avatars -- a 3x3 might give a better sense of space

Thinking of the possible future Kitely plan changes, if I set up the megaregion from the 20-region allowance associated with the Gold/Premium account, then residents could rent either using KC (does 3000 KC per month sound about right?) or be Gold/Premium account holders themselves, maybe helping share some of the cost of visitors

Alternatively, if enough people express a firm interest we might try for a 3x3 unlimited megaregion, which costs $80 per month, and share the cost between ourselves.

I'd see building this as a small group project, where we pool skills and resources.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

Intriguing.
I'd love to help a bit, but it's a difficult style for me to build in, and my tech would look out of place
Maybe that sky build, heh. I'm used to living at ground level.

Hey Ilan, here's a random idea... How easy would it be for you to allow multiple people to contribute to "large" rental costs - eg 3x3 unlimited at $80.

[Dot Matrix]

Intriguing.
I'd love to help a bit, but it's a difficult style for me to build in, and my tech would look out of place
Maybe that sky build, heh. I'm used to living at ground level.

Would you consider having a cottage at ground level possibly built by someone else at an equal level of skill (but different area), while using your own skills to contribute to another part of the project? That's partly what I mean by pooling skills and resources.

There's nothing stopping anyone from having a high level of technology at home. Maybe we could set up discreet offsim wave machines to generate necessary power.

[Sherrie Melody]

Hey Ilan, here's a random idea... How easy would it be for you to allow multiple people to contribute to "large" rental costs - eg 3x3 unlimited at $80.

Just remembered, Ilan said that group accounts were on their to-do list, it's just that there are a lot of other higher-priority items that need to be worked on first. He commented that "The current website design is for single user accounts. Adding support for group accounts in on our roadmap." toward the bottom on page 2 of this thread: http://www.kitely.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 0&start=10

[Deuce Halsey]

Hey Ilan, here's a random idea... How easy would it be for you to allow multiple people to contribute to "large" rental costs - eg 3x3 unlimited at $80.

Just remembered, Ilan said that group accounts were on their to-do list, it's just that there are a lot of other higher-priority items that need to be worked on first. He commented that "The current website design is for single user accounts. Adding support for group accounts in on our roadmap." toward the bottom on page 2 of this thread: http://www.kitely.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 0&start=10

I really like this entire concept. Ilan might well want to consider moving up group accounts on his roadmap so that they happen ASAP.

Until then I intend to proceed with my plan to create a sort of mini-village on the spare space around my major commercial world, Donnybrook Beach. The theme for this world is sort of mid-Atlantic beachfront resort from the east coast of the USA. (Although ironically the boardwalk/piers are on the oceanfront facing west, not east, due to the way the OAR I began with was laid out.)

My original plan for Donnybrook Beach was to rent out 1/4 region parcels along the far edges of the world, so that each rental parcel would be oceanfront as well. With the new Kitely plans coming, we'll have to see what pricing looks like. I might still want to rent out some bare parcels and let the tenants add their own builds (commercial and residential welcome) and landscaping. But I might also want to have at least one pre-built home with furniture and landscaping, call it a model home? I could later rent it out furnished once the other parcels/homes are rented. Another option could be to put up a small apartment building (oceanfront condos, anyone?) and rent out furnished or unfurnished apartments on one of the parcels.

Whatever I choose to do, the main idea is to create a small local community in my Donnybrook Beach world while making some rental income to offset at least some of costs of hosting the world. I believe that between World Owners doing that sort of thing and with shared communities like Dot envisions coming online down the road that Kitely could occupy a unique niche in the greater OpenSim community.

[Marstol Nitely]

Initial design concept
Ground level based on British Arts and Crafts movement (c. 1860 to 1910), community of craftspeople; steampunk elements; rural setting; group of islands off the coast of Scotland, though maybe slightly warmer weather so that trees flourish; residential islands linked with bridges/tunnels/ferry surrounding a shared main island community centre; landscaping includes natural springs, pools, trees, shrubs; immersive soundscape; if possible, allow for seasons; regional day/night Windlight

Sounds lovely Dot. Would I be out of line if I said the concept reminds me a bit of Caledon in SL? (That being a good thing, of course).

[Dot Matrix]

Thanks, all, for the comments and ideas so far. Do keep them coming -- they will help to refine the concept and define what finally happens.

Marstol, I too like Caledon and its neighbour, Winterfell. For quite a while, I had various plots in Winterfell, for example.

I would see the village idea here as more rural than Caledon, and not strictly set in the past. So it's not necessarily a pure role-playing area, but rather a stylish, immersive environment that people will enjoy both visiting and potentially making a home in, whether or not they see themselves as Victorian or modern, RPer or non-RPer.

One of the things the community will probably need to be careful about is respect for each other's preferences especially with regard to RP, which can at times be divisive. However, I'd argue that most individuals role-play in virtual worlds, whether they recognise it or not, simply by identifying with their avatar, and imagining themselves as really being there in the place depicted on the computer screen.

[Marstol Nitely]

Splitting costs isn't currently automated but you can already do so manually by gifting people KC inworld. Both you and the receiving party will see these transactions listed in your respective History pages. When you gift KC you can attach a comment and that comment is also shown in the History page when you click the name of the KC transfer event.

[Dot Matrix]

Is it possible to use KC to pay for unlimited time worlds? So a 3x3 would cost $80 x 300KC/$ = 24,000KC per month ?

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

Is it possible to use KC to pay for unlimited time worlds? So a 3x3 would cost $80 x 300KC/$ = 24,000KC per month ?

We accept KC for all the services we provide. You can therefore use them for paying for monthly plans and for unlimited free access worlds.

You can see details of your monthly charges (in KC or USD) in your account's Settings page (press the "Change payment method" link and then the click the Why link next to where it says Monthly payments): http://www.kitely.com/settings