Linden Houseboats - The Atoll

By now some of you know that Wednesday was "the day" for the 709 houseboat release at Bellisseria. Those of us that take part in the endless forum conversations were ready for the "feeding frenzy" (not my term but an apt one) that began around 10 am.

There had been some warning the day before as Patch Linden posted the 24 hour or so estimate for the conclusion of a month's work by Moles -- and Patch of course. 

Within 27 minutes all houseboats were taken.

I took part in the melee, via my building alt Lani.  Lani didn't want a houseboat but the typist wanted the EXPERIENCE of Houseboat Atoll day :D.  And it was that.

It was both wild and frenzied with the biggest hurdle being the endless error messages on the website.  I had been refreshing the page for a few minutes before the release, noted the houseboats appearing and tried to get one --- like 40 times! Each time there was a "error - please start over" message or now and then a "sorry we are out of what you wanted message".

I was not alone.

Eventually I switched to my notebook thinking that maybe a touch screen would be a bit faster when having to click on check boxes and buttons (IF one got that far of course). Amazingly my notebook garnered a houseboat. I doubt really that the notebook made the difference, more likely there were just fewer people trying to get a plot because they HAD theirs. That works too.

Lani turned in Houseboat one and tried for a better spot. Houseboat two was on the continent and not the atoll, and Lani gave that back too. It was never the plan to KEEP a plot, I just wanted to go through the process so that I could report in a first hand manner.

The new area is lovely even if I am a landlubber at heart.

Folks that missed out on this release can try again (maybe in a month, no official statement and likely there will be none until the regions appear magically from the mist). 

This is the latest official statement from Patch for those wondering -- and for historical purposes.

We know they will go very quickly, but as time goes on we will get more out, and hopefully faster.
Our next focus will be to bring more Traditional Homes plus more Houseboats in another smaller launch while working in parallel to a larger launch and an exciting new theme. As usual, stay tuned here for more updates! 

You can follow the Linden Homes update thread to keep informed on upcoming releases.