SKYBEAM ANSWERS
(Under Construction)

Before You Buy

Mainland vs Estate: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (updated to include Linden Homes)
The Almighty Prim - What you need to know about prims before you get your first land.
Scripts & Lag - What's behind the scripts.

SkyBeam Estates FAQ

How do I buy land?
Do I really own teh land or is it just rented?
Do I need a premium account to own land on SkyBeam Estates?
How do I know which parcel is best for me?
Can I buy land for a group?
How do I deed land to my group?
I need to change groups or have the name back in my name. How do I change this?
What is a Prim? How many prims do I need?
What is "double prim" or other object bonus?
What is a covenant? Is it important?
Can I share prims between parcels?
I like this parcel but really want it and the one next to it joined together, can I do that?
Will I be able to watch videos/TV/Movies and change my music?
What is the difference between parcel, region, sim, and estate?
I need more prims, what are my options?
Can my friend set home here? Can they place prims?
I found another parcel that fits my needs better, what do I do?
What happens if I don't want to keep the land any longer?
Can I sell my land to someone else?
How do I divde or join land parcels?
I can't get music or video working? What's wrong?
Can I have a security system? What do I need to know?


How do I buy land?
At the parcel, right click the ground and select 'BUY LAND' from the menu.
You will get a big window with three green checkmarks down the left-hand side.
On the right-hand side will be the SkyBeam Estates covenant and a small checkbox below it to accept the covenant terms.
Click this checkbox.
Click the 'PURCHASE' button.
The parcel will now be in your name and you will have full land rights to the parcel.
You may now deed the parcel to group, set the music stream and other things.

Please contact Charlene Trudeau or Nevar Lobo for group invite and to be certain we credit your first two weekly tier payments to the tier payment board.
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Do I really own the land or is it just rented?
All land in SL is leased. Even as an Estate Owner, I only lease the regions I am re-leasing to you at a parcel level.

When you 'buy' the land (SL has this term hard coded into the system), this transfers the property into your name so that you will have full rights to the land, including such things as changing the name of the land, planting trees, banning people, changing media/sound URLs and more. This ownership level is equivalent to the standard ownership for mainland parcels and is less restrictive than the ownership level enjoyed for a Linden Home.

Some About Land settings are prohibited by the SkyBeam Estates covenant, specifically including but not exclusive to ban lines.
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Do I need a premium account to own land on a SkyBeam Estates?
No. You do not need a premium account to own on SkyBeam Estates. You may want one for the additional support services provided by Linden Lab, but for most issues related to land, your home and basic questions, I am always happy to assist in any way possible.
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How do I know which parcel is best for me?
Answer the following questions, and you will be well on your way to determining the basic parameters you need to move forward with your land acquisition.

• How may prims do you need?
• What land size do you need?
• Do you need residential only, commercial only or land with the ability to have both a home and a business in one place?
• How much would you like to spend per week or per month?

The SkyBeam Estates ownership and management are happy to help discuss these questions with you personally to help you fine tune your needs and from there personally help you find the right parcel to fit those needs.
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Can I buy land for a group?
Yes. You may buy land for group or deed it to group after purchase, whichever is easiest for you. Please know that per covenant, the resident that pays the payment board is the resident owner and retains the lease rights in the event of a group being disbanded.
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How do I deed land to my group?
When you want to give to more then one owner land rights, including setting home, then deeding land to a group is the perfect solution.

Via the group roles you can define what each group member can do on the land or give them rights to change land options and ban users when needed. How to deed the land:

• Right click on the land to open the 'general tab' in the about land window.
• Set the land to your group by clicking on the SET button
• Enable the "Allow Deed to Group" option
• Click on the DEED button.

PS: The option "Owner Makes Contribution With Deed" has no use for private estates.
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I need to change groups or have the name back in my name. How do I change this?
If you want to undeed group owned land then you can sell the land back to your self for 0L$. You need to be one of the owners of the group to be able to do this. If you are NOT one of the owners of the group, please contact the SkyBeam Estates management team for assistance. We can easily reclaim the parcel and set it for sale to you for 0L$. Note that you must be the avatar paying the tier board or have the authorization of that entity.

How to set land for sale ?

• Right click on the ground and open the 'about land' options.
• Click on the SELL LAND button.
• Enter the price and to who you want to sell to.
• Click on the SET LAND FOR SALE button.

PS: You can only sell the land for 0L$ if you enter the name of the buyer. If you want to sell land to anyone then the price has to be more then 0L$.
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What is a Prim? How many prims do I need?
A prim is the basic unit for building in SL, any object in SL consists of one or more prims. A standard prim size may vary from a very tiny size up to 10 x 10 x 10 (m) cubic, each prim has its own inventory, it may contain scripts, notecards ... or mostly anything that can be found in SL. More info can be found in this document:
The Almighty Prim
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What is "double prim" or other object bonus?
An object bonus in a region allows each parcel to have more prims than it normally would be allowed. Lets take a 1024m² parcel as an example. On a standard object bonus region, such as a mainland region, a 1024m² parcel will have 234 prims allowed. On a double prim region, such as SkyBeam Pastures, that same parcel will have 468 prims allowed. This gives you a great bonus.

But wait! isn't there an overall region-wide limit to the number of prims we can rez collectively? Won't we run out of prims? Yes there is but no we won't!

While each region has a fixed limit of 15,000 prims, SkyBeam Estates is carefully designed to have greater than 50% of its double prim regions (or a similar relative amount in case of a 1.5 bonus area) deeded to group land, allowing us to create landscaped open areas between parcels. This gives you a feeling of space between you and your neighbors and gives us the means of creating a beautiful permanent setting to nestle your home or business in.
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What is a covenant? Is it important?
Reading the covenant is very important step when you decide to buy land! The covenant sets out all the rules the Estate Owner has set for the land they are offering. The rules vary from estate to estate and are set by the Estate Owner and not Linden Lab, though their covenant cannot grant you any rights or allow any actions that are against the terms of service set forth by Linden Lab.

The SkyBeam Estates covenant is fair and complete. It is a long read because I have this incessant need to explain everything, including your rights as a resident. Please feel free to ask questions about any parts you do not understand or feel comfortable with.
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Can I share prims between parcels?
Yes... as long as the parcels are in the same region (also often referred to as sim) and are owned by the same owner or same group. If you have any doubts, please ask.
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I like this parcel but really want it and the one next to it joined together, can I do that?
In almost all cases, yes. There might be a few instances where we cannot recut the parcels together. Please contact us for evaluation of your particular situation.
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Will I be able to watch videos/TV/Movies and change my music?
Yes! You will have full media capabilities. For some assitance in troubleshooting any issues, please refer to this document:
SkyBeam Answers: Media Streaming
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What is the difference between parcel, region, sim, and estate?
Estate: An estate is a collection of regions owned by a single estate owner sharing the same covenant. In the case of SkyBeam Estates, we technically have several estates as each homestead has its own estate name for technical reasons. When I speak of SkyBeam Estates, however, I am referring to all regions owned by me (Charlene Trudeau). The same would apply to most other estates.

Region (Sim): A region is a 256m x 256m (65,536 m²) area of land. It is the basic building block of SL land masses as we know it. The term 'Sim' is also used synonymously with the term 'region'. I prefer the term region as sim is short for simulator and can also refer to other facets of simulations in Second Life.

Parcel: A parcel is a small cut of land on a region. The minimum size a parcel can be cut is 4m x 4m (16m²). All land parcels are cut using increments of 4m on a side. There are no diagonal or curved cuts possible.
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I need more prims, what are my options?
Since prims count is related to land area then the standard way to get more prims is by acquiring more land, either in the same region so that you can share prims, or moving to a new parcel entirely that is larger with more prims. Please feel free to contact Charlene Trudeau or Nevar Lobo for the best solution for your particular needs.
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Can my friend set home here? Can they place prims?
The answer to this is both simple and complex. In most cases, the best answer is 'yes, but only if you deed the land to group'. By deeding your land to a group that you own and can invite your friend(s) to join, you can create a set of roles which allow various people to each have different abilities on your land. The abilities that can be assigned to these roles vary from setting home, being able to return prims, kick or ban people, edit the terrain and more.
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I found another parcel that fits my needs better, what do I do?
Contact Charlene Trudeau or Nevar Lobo. In virtually all cases, we will transfer existing tier to the new parcel, prorated to the new rate if the new rate is different (higher or lower!). You do not have to wait for your current lease to expire.
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What happens if I don't want to keep the land any longer?
Go to About Land and hit the 'Abandon Land' button. If you have prepaid tier, please contact Charlene Trudeau or Nevar Lobo to inquire if a refund is possible.
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Can I sell my land to someone else?
Yes. You are permitted to sell the land when you are ready to move on. Please note, however, that SkyBeam Estates' 'sell' price is the first two weekly tier payments with no other up fronts. Anyone purchasing directly from you would not receive the two weeks credit to their payment box making it virtually impossible to compete with the estate.
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Can I have a security system? What do I need to know?
Yes. You may have a security system as per the covenant stipulations. There are a few select managers that need to be added to your system as authorized visitors. This is so that we can move about the estate freely in the course of our duties (like flying past to get somewhere else). We will not enter your home without invitation or a serious reason.
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