Whimsy Covenant (Beta Version)

Written 14 March, 2008

Whimsy Covenant (Beta Version)

Here's the in-progress version of Whimsy's covenant. I would very much appreciate any suggestions you might have. :)

WELCOME TO WHIMSY

Date of Covenant: 1 April, 2008.

This covenant is subject to change.

Sim Managers: Cheyenne Palisades and Sweetie

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Whimsy is an independent nation-state operated independently of Linden Labs’ mainland. You don’t need to be a paid member of Second Life to rent or purchase land or here. We’re on a SUPER-FAST Class V server with dual Holley 4-barrel carbs and work hard to keep the land lag-free. More than half of Whimsy is dedicated to public parks, cultural affairs, and entertainment. We’re not about profit; we’re about enhancing your and our Second Lives while making our tier payment.
Nice folks, nice prices, beautiful spaces, cultural events. Welcome to your new home!

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Notice: The island of Whimsy was formed by volcanic eruption on the first of April, 2008 and is under construction. We’re open and welcome visitors while we build. We’ll try not to drop a house or sculpted megaprim rock on you! Please take and wear a free hard hat in case of construction accident.

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Aloha, and welcome to beautiful and peaceful (when the volcano Pele isn’t erupting!) Whimsy. We strive to make our sim peaceful, picturesque, entertaining, free from lag, and more than a bit silly.

Whimsy is, among other things, the home of Cheyenne Palisades and Sweetie. We’re interested in building family in Second Life. We welcome avatars of all types. Whether you’re a visitor, a guest, or a resident, we want you to feel comfortable and at home here. We ask for your help to make Whimsy a better place.

Much of Whimsy is public land, designed for the enjoyment of residents and the general public. We’re part of the Virtual Parks and Recreation network. Feel free to explore the natural features and wildlife, the poseballs, the public transportation system, the guided tour, and the canoe and hang glider rezzers. In the sky at 1500 meters you’ll find Cheyenne Palisades’ Flights of Fancy store, with fine jewelry, toys, and an assortment of beautiful and sometimes purposefully ugly builds for home and garden.

Whimsy is set to mature content, but is not an adult-themed sim. We have cuddles and kisses all over the land, but nudity and intimate sexual acts are to be confined to private property or specially designated public areas in the sky. We ask you to respect private property and locked doors and otherwise be on your good behavior.

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WHIMSICAL LIVING

Whimsy features houses for rent and land for purchase. IM or drop a notecard on Cheyenne Palisades’ profile to determine availability. Chey can be e-mailed at CheyennePal@yahoo.com.

We’ve done our utmost to make a space that appeals to writers, artists, musicians, storytellers, content developers, activists for social justice, eccentrics, and just plain folks with a sense of humor.

Skip to the end of this covenant for the boring technical stuff about property.

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THEME AND HISTORY

Whimsy is a tropical volcanic island, formed from lava and coral. The original inhabitants departed after the volcano goddess Pele lost her temper; a cataclysmic explosion split the volcano’s classical conical caldera asunder, sending ash and molten lava onto the land below and creating a permanent lava flow. The islanders immediately departed in search of a more boring simulator. So, too, did Japanese and Chinese merchants who had long engaged in trade here. Remnants of all three cultures are evident in the form of tikis, garden structures, and houses.

Whimsy was rediscovered by Cheyenne and Exuberance when they found themselves on its shores after a freak “routine downtime” Second Life accident. Fascinated by the Paleolithic drinking bird they found on the shores, they claimed the land and declared Whimsy an independent nation-state.

Lower elevations (sand terrain) are tropical. Higher elevations (grass terrain and rock) is temperate, with deciduous or evergreen plants. Appropriate builds include tiki huts and houses, Asian buildings and garden structures, docks, gardens, beach camps, and pirate and other sailing ships. Colonial and Victorian houses are permitted, and so are steampunk builds, within reason. Explicitly NOT fitting the theme are castles, Mcmansions, log cabins, modern yachts, and beach houses with all-glass walls. Whimsical builds like lighthouses, houseboats, steamships, Quonset huts, and gypsy wagons are appropriate. Builds that deviate from theme may or may not be allowed; check with sim management before placing them. Clothing need not be in theme; all manners of dress are appropriate.

We encourage creativity and a spirit of yes, we will say it, whimsy on the land. A sense of humor is an asset here!

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COMPORTMENT

First, let us say we are reasonable people. We strive to be fair and nonjudgmental. Sometimes we will fail at this, and so we are open to input and negotiation if you find yourself in violation of one of the following rules. We hate to make regulations, but sometimes they’re just necessary. The following rules apply to everyone on the island:

NO drama. We all get upset from time to time, but you will be expected to manage your anger and hurt feelings in a mature way.

NO public nudity. Nudity is allowed in designated areas or behind walls or closed doors on rented or purchased property.

NO publicly visible pornography (we make a distinction between erotica and pornography)

NO mimes (just kidding).

NO assault, harassment, bullying, griefing, name-calling, or other rude behavior

NO begging, soliciting, scamming, camping chairs, pyramid or ponzi schemes, or advertisements for such. Renters and property owners are allowed to place unobtrusive ads and signs.

NO prim littering. Pick up your prims when you are through with them.

NO slavery, no collars, no tags proclaiming ownership. Human slavery is egregious. If you choose to role play master-slave relationships, do so behind closed doors or on another sim.

NO sexual age-play. Harassment or ridicule of child avatars simply because they are child avatars is absolutely not permitted.
NO obnoxious lag-making, or sim-crashing scripts or builds.

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Whimsy is ABSOLUTELY SAFE SPACE for furries, tinies, dragons, vampires, mechanical avatars, and human avatars of all shapes, sizes, genders, sexual orientations, perceived avatar age, and lifestyle. If you are harassed, please contact sim management immediately.
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GETTING HELP

If you encounter problems or have suggestions about Whimsy, please contact Cheyenne Palisades or Sweetie in world or e-mail CheyennePal@yahoo.com. She will respond as promptly as is possible.

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And now for…

THE SMALL PRINT ABOUT THE LAND

TIER FEES FOR RENTALS AND PURCHASED PROPERTY

Tier Fees apply at time of purchase and at the beginning of each month thereafter. Tier is paid by the month. The first month’s tier is pro-rated from day of purchase.

You MUST pay your tier by the first of every month. Failure to pay tier fees on schedule will result in immediate reclamation of purchased land and ejection from rented land. We pay a large fee to Linden Lab for use of this land, and Linden Lab has absolutely no sense of humor about late payments. Neither, by necessity, do we.

TO PURCHASE AND PAY FOR LAND

Use land tools to purchase the land (right click About Land and select Buy Land). You must pay for land with Linden dollars.

Pay your tier fee immediately.

You have two options for paying monthly tier fees.

1. Pay the land box in Linden dollars.
2. Make your payment with US dollars, Euros, and several other currencies via PayPal to CheyennePal@yahoo.com. Paypal payments incur a surcharge of $1.00 U.S.; this offsets the fees PayPal charges us for your payment.

COSTS FOR PROPERTY AND TIER

- Rentals -

Rental category and price is determined by house size and number of prims. We provide the house, which you then furnish. The houses don’t count toward your prim allowance.

Small house, 100 prim allowance = $2000L/month

Large house, 200 prim allowance = $3500L/month

Renters can purchase additional prims at the rate of $1000L per 100 prims per month. Parcel owners can have double prims for double tier.

Please bear in mind that rental or land purchase makes you a citizen of the nation-state of Whimsy and entitles you to use of Whimsy’s many amenities (parks, dance floors, pose balls, beaches, and more). You’re not just getting a house or a parcel, you’re gaining a country!

- Purchases -

Tier fees for purchased land are $6.50 US or the equivalent amount in Lindens per 1024 square meters per month. Tier must be paid on the day or purchase and by the first of every month. Tier fee for the month of purchase is pro-rated from the date of purchase. There is a $1 U.S. surcharge for payment via Paypal

The following discounts apply to property owners in Whimsy Estates:

8192 sqm or more 5%
16384 sqm or more 10%
32768 sqm or more 15%
65536 sqm or more 20%
Purchased land is set to a prim rate of 1, which means you get 117 prims per 512 sq meters of land or 936 prims per 4096 parcel. Parcel owners can arrange for double or triple prims by contacting Cheyenne.
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ZONING RULES

o The Cheyenne plus two rule: What Cheyenne and two randomly selected Whimsy residents consider ugly or inappropriate must be changed. No arguing, no complaint, no drama.

o Land settings: You may set your purchased land to any audio or video URL. Build, Object Entry, Scripts, and Voice must remain enabled (you can set an object autoreturn time of 10 minutes or more). Damage must remain off. You may set your land to enable push. Access must remain open (no red fences), but see the section which follows.

o Open access: We understand and sympathize with the need for privacy in Second Life. Everybody sometimes wants to be undisturbed. We attempt to balance this need for privacy with convenience for everyone else. You may use one third-party security device per parcel at ground level and a second above 300 meters to maintain your most private spaces, but the devices must give those who wander into their perimeter at least 30 seconds to get away and must have a range of 20 meters or less. When you are not on your property, security devices must be turned off. You may ban any resident you wish, but you may not ban residents by class (for instance, on the basis of payment history). Sim management will ban from Whimsy any avatar who intentionally violates private space.

o Natural vegetation: Much of the charm of Whimsy is due to its vegetation of palm forest and jungle (low elevations) and meadows and forests (higher elevation). Every resident is required to keep sufficient natural vegetation on their property to preserve Whimsy’s look.

o Property owners are allowed one sky structure above 300 meters. Renters may not place sky structures without approval of sim management.

BUILDING CODE

o No malls or store rentals except in designated commercial areas.
o No major clubs, no listing of parcels as gathering places.
o No flying structures below 300m altitude.
o No obstructive signs, billboards or large rotating prims
o No temp or holo rezzers, as these consume system resources and contribute to lag.
o No high-rise structures. Maximum building height is two times the distance of the build from the parcel border. This means that 2 meters from the border of your land you can build 4 meters high; 5 meters from the border you can build 10 meters high; 10 meters from the border you can build 20 meters high. With permission of a neighboring landowner, you can deviate from this rule, but re-purchase of the neighboring lot will require re-negotiation.
o Except where precluded by terrain or arrangement with a neighbor, buildings must maintain an adequate distance from parcel border.
o You may resell your land, but land speculation and subleasing are absolutely not allowed.
o No eyesores. A small amount of blight—for instance, a dilapidated garage, a car on blocks or a barrel of industrial waste-- is permitted, but we would frown upon, say, a junkyard or nuclear plant.
o To preserve a consistent landscape, terraforming is limited. Waterways and shorelines must remain intact.
o Parcels may be joined. They may not be subdivided without prior approval of sim management.
o Be considerate with your builds-in-progress. No one minds looking at an unfinished plywood wall for a few hours, but no one wants to see it over a period of days. Finish your projects quickly or move them above 500 meters (a handy trick is to place them where you want them and raise them exactly 500 meters). Temporary working platforms above 500 meters are acceptable, but please delete them when you are not actively working.

OBJECT CODE

o No high lag scripts. Sim management will tell you if you have a laggy script. If you don’t fix or remove it, it will be returned to you by sim management.
o Scripts that spy on other residents, record or transmit chat, or spy on avatar movement and activities are not allowed.
o No scripts that transmit data directly or indirectly to external databases except in vendor area or when explicitly permitted by sim management
o We reserve the right to limit the number of active scripts residents use on their land. We will do this only if performance of sim becomes low.

CONDUCT

o No harassment or stalking
o No sexual harassment
o No nonconsensual player vs. player combat
o No littering of objects on other residents’ land
o No circumvention of locked doors

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FAQ

o What if I break the rules?

We understand that people sometimes unintentionally and innocently break rules. In most cases, you’ll receive one or more polite warnings. If your infraction is particular egregious, you may be immediately ejected or banned. Bans may be appealed to sim management, but Cheyenne is the final arbiter of who is and is not allowed on the land. She will do her best to use her ban powers wisely.

o I have unused land tier on the mainland? Can I use it here?

If you have unused tier from Linden Lab you can use it only on the mainland.

o Can I buy land in this sim?

You can purchase deeds for land in this sim without being a paid member of Second Life. Purchase gives you control of your land, such as changing the name of the land, planting trees, setting teleport point, banning individuals, and changing audio and media URLs. You will have limited terraforming rights and must keep land settings as specified above.

o Are vehicles allowed?

Yes, in the sky and on the ground, but don’t make a nuisance with them. Quiet, lighter-than-air vehicles and gliders are preferred over noisy jet-powered aircraft or spaceships. Whimsy has no roads, so scooters and bicycles are more practical than automobiles and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

o What happens if I fail to pay my tier fees?

Exactly what would happen in real life, but faster. We will send you two notices before the first of the month, 24 hours apart. If you haven’t paid by the first, your prims will be returned and your land made available to others. We will hold your purchased land for 48 hours after reclamation to allow for emergencies and illness. If you don’t resolve the matter by the end of this period, your land will be permanently lost, with no refund. Repeated lateness will reclamation and resale of your land.

o Why can’t I build a huge gothic castle on my land?

We strive to create a consistent, themed area. This gives residents comfort because they can expect a consistent, themed visual experience. Gothic castles are fine, just not here.

o Do you give refunds?

You’re kidding, right? Caveat Emptor. That said, we are fair and reasonable people. We are not about ripping you off or giving you a bad Second Life experience.

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LIABILITY

Land is provided as is. We try our best to provide a pleasant experience that is in line with the expectations of our residents and builders. However, we, like you, are at the mercy of Linden Labs and the vagaries of Second Life. Therefore we make no guarantees about downtime, simulator performance, or the performance of your client software. We will, of course, do all we can to make your experience pleasant and consistent.