The Lab's Land Use Strategy

When The Lab introduced gifts and sandboxes for Premium subscribers (Web) it was a no-brainer that a whole region would be set aside for the latter benefit.

The Premium Sandboxes are really nice and some have Premium Gift Kiosks

What surprised me is that there are more sandboxes than the 16 shown in the Destination Guide as extra regions have been added to some of the sandboxes for vehicle testing (see pic above). But it makes sense that the gift kiosks would be located in the sandboxes. I mean, who would waste a whole region just for such a limited use.

The Lab, apparently. Atroth, Nysray, Unttan, and Saminekim are in a four-region cluster and each has some nice landscaping with a gift kiosk each, but nothing else. I haven't checked all of the gift sites listed in the Destination Guide, but seeing these four regions was enough to make me ask "Why?" That seems rather wasteful to me. A whole server (four regions to a server, I understand) for just the gifts?

Premium Zone: Nysray (SLurl)

The idea of empty regions for little purpose is not new to The Lab. It has four regions landscaped in the Elderglen theme (Elderglen Party 1 at SLurl, for example) that were used for one Linden-sponsored party. A few Lindens had planned regular events and even had set out a fine selection of Linden bears for explorers to find. There is no public access at this time, but for some time after those staffers left The Lab anyone could roam freely.

Hover your mouse over the Cornfield Noobs at the fire for a laugh.

The four Cornfields are still accessible (SLurl). There was a time that misbehaving Residents would be banished to the Cornfield with no teleport, script, or build rights until their "sentences" were served. A few years ago the Cornfields were decorated and used for an official Halloween celebration. I seem to recall the fun Lindens behind the Elderglen party were the same ones behind the Halloween fun (you are missed, Mia and Molly!).

Then there is Space Base Mos Ainsley (SLurl), an example of one of the several Themed private islands you can buy from The Lab (Web). This isn't the one set up as an sample (SLurl) for prospective buyers, but one that is just sitting about and empty except when I or someone I know goes there (Web).

Island Examples from Linden Estate Services (SLurl).
For a laugh, check out the movie posters in the Theater region (SLurl).

I suppose the island examples make economic sense. You want someone to buy an island then you should be prepared to show them one. That's a lot of money ($1,029 USD setup; $295USD/Month) to give up sight unseen. But what about all the other under-utilized land that The Lab has laying about for no purpose? You'd think they could lend it out for large community events such as Burn2.