Recent Comments:
Stay Positive ... or NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Second Life Insider
Sep 20th 2006 3:05PM It's about cash flow, not depressing. Some people manage to have entire careers where they spoend all day deeling with caustic negative people. Why the hell do you think we lawyers charge so much.
Administering the forums is entirely doable, it just takes some serious commitment, and moderators that are not percieved to have thier own agenda. The forums could have been culled of much of the surious negatively, by simply deleting offensive posts and telliing people why the post was offensive and why people were banned.
The problem is that LL does not have the resources to do it, and it means enforcement is inconsistent. In consistent enforcement was a huge problem as that creates the sense that some people are favored, and others not.
Phillip Linden has said over and over that LL are not meant to be administrators, but innovators. This is a fair role for a compnay, they should concentrate on what they like to do.
But that does not take us away from the power vacuum created by thier abdication of administrative responsibility. Most every problem in SL could be solved with agressive enforcement and a larger customer service staff. Of course at the Rate SL is growing, the scalability is very difficult.
SL would also benefit hugely from seeting out a format for dispute resolution, and having the decrees and awards of the mediators enforceable with IP bans. But even having a mediator means having a mvery large body of standards to draw from.
Griefing is going to be a central issue in SL, but without transparency there is no deterrent. There are no cops, so griefing will flourish, particularly the sort of griefing that focuses on one person. A grid wide takedown gets you banned, but ongoing harassment of a resident is fine.
Frankly I think LL wants to spin off SL as concept to a company who will take up the reins of adminitration. LL wants an AOL type entity to come in and administer, retianing LL to act as the primary technology developer for the platform. Resident governemnt is an impractival pipe dream, as most residents don't want it.
Closing the forums likely has little to do with linden moral, and a lot to do with potential investor or buyer relations. Who would be interested in administering an online community where the residents gripe about things that need fixing.
SL is like a used car, you put on a coat of polish and redo the paint and interior and hope the buyers never look under the hood.
Casualty of War - Torrid Midnight
Second Life Insider
Sep 11th 2006 7:19PM Well, unfortunately the issue of copyright protection in SL is very complicated, and there is no mechanism in world for resolving these disputes. It is a shame, but i fear that SL will lose many of its very tatlented creators in disputes like this. Spending all this time worrying about the value of the linden, so as to encourage content creation, does not mean shit when that content is protected.
I feel for Torrid, and I wish her the best. Taking a Break from SL is a good thing. I my self count down the days until October, when Never Winter Nights 2 is released. Still, I cannot help thining that SL would be a beter place if people stayed and stuck to thier principles rather than let themselves be run off by the drama mongers. At the very least I would hope enough noise would come of it so that LL seriously made an effort at improving the texture layers on the avatars.
SL Fashion, Personal Modifications, and Of Course, Drama.
Second Life Insider
Sep 8th 2006 6:51PM This is a mess. Ultimately things in SL are not just like things in RL from a copyright perspective. Thus you may not have the right just to do what ever you want with virtual property, just because you can do it with real property. Ther is also the question of ownership of the original image from whihc the skin was taken, and of course, trade mark issues should the skin be sold or transferred.
Fortunately for skins there is a pretty good technical fix: more skin layers. this would allow people to superimpose tyhier modifications over an existing skin, with out ripping an modding it.
SL is not quite RL and its hight ime we stopped pretending it is. SL is a virtual world and in virtual worlds, preperty is intellectual and not tangible. While it is true that ther ehas not been a test case regarding copyright in SL, my guess is that the courts will take a conservative approach at interpreting the law, and thus I would err on the side of treating things inSL as art, not goods.
Fair use is very specifically defined and it does not mean that you can simply take someone's ip and do what you will with it. Usually when you deal with IP, even video rentals, you are getting a license, not the item. In SL this has never been made clear. We think if we buy somethijng we are owning all the rights, but that is not the case, we may simple have a license to use that object in the form presented. Ih has not yet come down to each creator having a license agreement for every purchase..but it may come down to that.
I would treat every purchased object as unmodifiable (except maybe as pertaining to fit)just to be safe. I do hope LL recognizes that thjis sort of fight could be fixed with a few extra texture layers on the skin.
Exposed
Second Life Insider
Sep 8th 2006 6:35PM Glad I'm aimee weeblers Alt, noone messes with her. But seriously it does give pause. I know first hand how much of a pain a cyber stalker can be. It drive me out of everquest. Perhaps I should be thankful, in the long run, but it was expensive and scary.
Blame it on Aimee
Second Life Insider
Sep 6th 2006 10:55PM Ok there seems to be confusion here. My response above was aimed entirely at the pster of comment number 11. Who closed the post with the remark that at least aimee is concise. It should not be construed by anyone, especially not Aimee as aimed at her.
But now I am dragged in to explain myself. Clarity, and not necessarily brevity are to be aimed for in posting. I often find myself sitting on the fence between Aimee and Prokofy. Both of them have treated me with great respect and consideration. I also know there is genuine antithapy between them, and I try to stay out of it, avoiding taking sides. I find at times I agree with both of them, and neither of them.
About the AOL thing, I happen to disagree with Prokofy. Aimee is no more responsible for the influx of griefers than a tree is responsible for where its shade lands. In some ways LL is responsible because they removed the age verification. But ultimately, the decision to be a greifing ass hat is one that is made by the griefer themselves, and I blame them.
The trouble in SL is that in this new world, where justice is based on a groundswell of popular negative opinion, LL has refused to invest in enforcement, and frankly does not see itself in that role. The grid thus thrives on a state of anarchy. If I find fault, I fault LL for not picking up the sword of justice, while the land slides into ruin. In the case of LL, Arthur has lost the grail.
However, one thing I observed in the forums regarding prokofy is that the basic outcry against his posts was that they were too long. If people could find no other criticism of prokofy neva, they would invariable resort to "I won't read this, your posts are too long, go away." That is not something Aimee ever said, and was not the basis of the conflict between them. But for many others, such nonsense was and is the stuff of drama. It is a manifestation of ignorance, and thus it offends me; like jessica simpson and the chicken of the sea.
I disagreed with banning Prokofy, and I disagree with the way LL handles discipline, the Banning of cristiano and mulch ennui show further that there is no system of enforcement beyond the arbitrary need to quiet the rabble. LL never made the connection that clear standards and even enforcement would have kept the forums in line. I hope that other forums sort that out.
To Aimee I can only apologize for making you think I would chide you in that fashion. My regard and respect for you are much higher. I am sorry for the confusion of my post.
Aimee's Second Life Forum Review
Second Life Insider
Sep 6th 2006 8:42PM Well Ulrika, it is six chances to finally win one. But I thought your second place showing on the SL offical forums was brilliant. It was almost a winner.
Blame it on Aimee
Second Life Insider
Sep 6th 2006 8:37PM Well yes aimee is concise. But then sometimes concepts need expanding on. My feelings about Prok and Aimee are no secret and I am not taking sides now. But I am opposed to people whose only response to posts is "I won't read them, they are too long."
Learn to read faster. Or simply don't read the post and move on. But please don't contribute to the needless hostility by whinging on and on about how you can't read long posts.
Blame it on Aimee
Second Life Insider
Sep 1st 2006 3:14PM As high priest of aimee weebler, i blame aimee fo everything
Digg for Great Justice!!
Second Life Insider
Aug 22nd 2006 2:01PM I make no bones about it. Closing the forums is a bad idea, and not just because it shuts down Ask Jake Anything. I understand the business reason behind the closure..its dollars and cents, ultimately, but that is shortsighted.
The forums were the gateway to user comment..a speaker's corner, if you will. And yes, a lot of negative commentary about SL, and LL's policies and conduct was posted. The forums were the official voice of the community. At a time when SL needs to reach out to residents, closing the forum pushes the community away.
I am saddened also that no thought was ever given as to how to intergrate, or initiate forum type dialogue in world. The forums were our speaker's corner-a soapbox that anyone could get onto. It would have been nice to beable to do it in world as well.
Also, the forums allowed some of us to keep touch with the SL community when things Like RL keep us off the grid.
NOAA Comes to Second Life
Second Life Insider
Aug 22nd 2006 1:51PM Aimee is SL royalty? Did I miss a memo? I seem to have failed to kowtow and make proper sacrifices. Pity you missed the site being stunned by aimee, I am sure you would do her more honore by appreciating all her hard work and payiung attention to the build.
But hey what do I know? I'm no good at the SL royalty thing anyway.
