Why Bother paying to use SL classifieds..just use/abuse the events list!

Why worry about classified ads in SL...just use (or abuse,) the events list.

Each day as I look at the events list, I am struck by how much this list resembles the free penny shoppers paper that my parents receive at tbe beach. It's a fun list of classified ads for stores and business advertising their wares and regular business activitites on the small island community where they are located.

But..I would not classify these regular, repeating business activities as events. They are advertisements,

Here are some of my favorite advertisements disguised as events from the morning portion of the SL events list for December 15:
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BODY'S N FACES BY CRESTA PRESENTS THE COMPLETE AVATAR PACKAGES,SKIN, SHAPES AND EYES ARE ALL INCLUDED.
I'VE JUST ADDED 7 MORE AVATARS FOR THE HOLIDAYS, MY CHRISTMAS PLAYBOY BUNNIES AND ONE VERY SEXY PLAYGIRL HUNK.
COME SEE WHAT EVERYONES TALKING ABOUT, THESE STUNNING AVATARS ARE SELLING FOR A MERE 250L.
I ALSO DO CUSTOM BODY SHAPES FOR 500L.IM ME FOR DETAILS.
WHILE SHOPPING FOR YOUR NEW AVATAR BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY NEWEST STORE, " NEW DESIGN CONCEPTS" ON THE SECOND FLOOR AND MY MINI YARD SALE ON THE THIRD.
ALSO BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS BY TAYLAA IN THE STORE DIRECTLY BEHIND BODY'S N FACES FOR SOME
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PASSION PLAZA SHOPPING CENTER
Do you have something to sell? Are you the next top fashion designer?? Are you the next hottest skin desinger....... or do you make custom furniture...well come on down to Passion Plaza and set up your vendor space and sell sell sell!
Merchant sites are now renting at SL's premire shopping mall.
Whatever it is you would like to turn into cash come set up in a lovely Unit rent starts at 100/week and all units are quite spacious and attractive. With a total of 108 complete rental sites and new merchants coming in everyday the time to pick your site is now.
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We pay up to $50L every 12 minutes on our camping money chairs! Come to Walcott's, at Daikoku (166,239,30).
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Come have fun at Quki Casino at Enyo! about 1/10 spins gets a $1 increase in pay rates! Super spin has a 2/3 chance, and also has the posibility of getting a $2 increase!! That's right, in 1 spin you can get a $2 increase!
There are also various money orb games that can increase your pay rate!!
$40 max rate! $3 minimum!! FREE MONEY!!
And guess what? There is no set time to reset the chairs! Instead, the chair itself will reset after you sit in it for 24 hours! So no worries about when the owner will reset the chairs! You can type /50 timeleft to check your remaining time.
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10 Days left!!!! WE ARE THE BIGGEST CHRISTMAS LOT IN SL...WE HAVE THE MOST TREES, LITES, STOCKING, SIGNS, SNOW, AND LAWN ITEMS. We lowered the prices on a lot of stuff. All lites and signs are mod to make your lot LOOK GREAT. We have AMIMATED X-mas Trees (OVER 50), X-mas Lights (OVER 40), Snow emitters (OVER 80 TYPES), Stockings (OVER 45), angels, lawn objects and a lot of other stuff to see, and you will go nuts for them all. Have a tree? We have bulbs, bells, balls and lights and THE NEW 3D stuff so you can make it your own. Try and Click on some of the items, they will SING for you, the cats rule. Come down and see why JPBEST BOFFIN makes the best Christmas stuff in all of Second Life... Some is copy but if you want any item COPY, ask for price.. And willing to help pass as a gift : )
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WE HAVE GESTURES ONLY 50L, MUSIC CD'S, POSTERS,ARTWORK, GIFT CERTIFICATES, AS WELL AS FREEBIES FOR EVERYONE!! GRAB A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM US WHILE YOUR THERE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR A SPECIAL REQUEST, PLEASE MESSAGE SONOMA BOYOMA WITH IT , HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
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REE XXX movies and clips to view in the lower level VIP room/theater! Sex toys for sale, BDSM torture furniture, animated beds, genitals, good prices on bulk packs! BOTTOM LEVEL OF SEX CLUB use lower front door or take green TP. You can also ask a sexy DS stripper to show you around
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Thrones with animations $200L, Sex anims from $65L-$350L, Genitals and panty-addons for detail, sexy sound clips, porno mags $20L, adult videos $250L, Massage anim $350L, sexy furnitures $75L
CASH! free money tree and camping chairs, come make money any time 24/7
Your secret is safe with us here at Dark Secrets Be sure to take the green teleports to the dungeon. Bring a date, and find all the special nooks Bored? Try the 1-person Bingo, Dog Races, Video Poker, Slots, or other casino games! Shopping specials going on now and new yard sale goodies set out.
DARK SECRETS offers:
*Yard Sale Tables with new items daily!
*Super-Sexy Dungeon and erotic art
*XXX Theater with full length adult movies
*Raffles 24/
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-=YADNI S JUNKYARD-NEW RELEASE=- A NEW BOXES RELEASE AT THE JUNKYARD WITH 550 NEW FREEBIES TO PLAY WITH, EDIT AND LEARN FROM. FIND MENU/ALL/YADNI/JUNKYARD/TELEPORT
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Yard Sale--A Fake One
That's right... come on down to "Linda's Resale and Eternal Indoor Yard Sale" for a 100% fake yard sale. This isn't a yard sale; it's a business--just like all those other fake yard sales that are really businesses.
So why choose my fake yard sale over all those others?
1) High-quality second hand furniture from some of SL's top designers,
2) Lower than new (and better than most yard sale) prices,
3) A real building; well-organized and easy to shop in,
4) A mini-store inside my store for Carl Metropolitan Designs with tons of cool stuff, and
5) Most inportantly--I'm an honest fake.
And, there are more, much more of the same posted for the remainder of the day. In fact, most of these so called "events" run every day. 24/7, and are posted every day in the events list.
Once again we have ineffective and sporadic enforcement of the rules in SL. That is, if there are any rules for event posting at this point. It seems all one has to do is post an event stating "come look at my build and shop at my store" and thats good enough!
So dont waste your money in the latest Linden contrived pissing match advertising competition called Classifieds...Just use, abuse, the events list!
Come on down and compare--you will be impressed. And that's not fake.
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FREE MONEY - Camping chairs, and money ball 24/7. Come spend some time with a friend ot come meet a new one. Come early for the best chairs, and stay late for the best pay off. See you there !
Located in Passion Plaza shopping mall, with some of the best and most unique shopping in SL. Many one of a kind shops found here. SL Exchange SLX, NetBlood 21 Cards, Camping chairs and money Ball 24/7, home of Rug Ratz, SL?s largest open-air display of full mod/copy floor coverings.
Club Passion, great music, dancing, and entertainment all the time. Where your most forbidden passions are our reality. VIP rooms available.
WITH IT , HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

There are a few real events tucked away in the calendar... like my Retro BBW/BHM party which starts in 10 minutes. Whether anyone will actually find there and come along it is another matter.

It has to be moderated. There is no other solution. Too many people are abusing this facility, so as it's proven that they can't be trusted to use it for its intended purpose, we will either all have to suffer, or see the facility removed altogether, which I feel would be a great shame.

Lewis

i miss the old days. you know, when the Events listings actually were events! even if it was Bingo, it was still something happening at a certain time with a host/ess and everything. and they were only posted a couple times per day, at most.

i miss when SL was mostly about the creative freedoms and challenges. the lure of flitting about to see what else was out there or to get inspired by what others were buildng/creating/scripting/etc..

SL has become so money-minded that it gets discouraging. then again, it's also inspiring.. it inspires me to work towards pure creativity and fun. i yearn for our population to rebound and start making the most of this world where we can accomplish so many wonderous things.

i don't see these Classifieds/Events normally.. i never look them up. i only read about them here on the fourms and when i do.. it saddens me. although, like i say, it also emboldens me to pursue fun, creativity, and helpful ventures.

someday i may set out to create a business where i'll make some profit, but it won't be to get that profit.. it would be because i'm having fun making things and offering them to others at reasonable prices. without the use of Events OR Classifieds. traffic would come in due time.. just like it always has.

Second Life, wherefore art thou?

It all fell apart when I stopped doing events

Which happened to coninside with event support being taken away.. The SL boutique events calender looks like it'll be good though..

I had 12 hours of real events once, one an hour! Show and tells, Sally Zapata did a gameshow! And I was only 4 months old! Ahh those were the days..

I personally think Live Helpers should have the power to remove listings that are not real events.

I remember your texture contests I used to go all the time I still have one of the couches I retextured for it

Yeah, but where would they draw the line at what constitutes an event. I totally agree that the events list is getting to the point where it's tough to weed through though.

Maybe they should introduce an advertising section with teleporting, reminder etc. functions for vendors that want to have sales and such.

I don't think this will work. I've seen people who moderate on other forums who are perfectly good at their work normally abuse this to misinterpret rules to 'get back at' people they dislike, and of course as long as they can justify their removal actions (because most of us will interpret the same thing a different way) nothing gets done.

Just have a look round the forums to see the various player v player/organisation feuds that go on to see how that isn't going to work.

A small group of, say, 5 people who have the power to approve or deny an event being added to the calendar, under at least one Linden, would solve 99% of this problem occuring.

It would also have the added benefit that people would have to actually plan ahead to make sure a quality event was being supplied, rather than putting up another sale that 'starts' in 10 minutes time.

So far I see no justification for 'non events' polluting the calendar. The guidelines are there and clear for everyone to accept before you post an event - yet they are abused and there is no enforcement of the rules. Might as well just forget putting the "I agree" button there in the first place.

Lewis

Yeah, but where would they draw the line at what constitutes an event. I totally agree that the events list is getting to the point where it's tough to weed through though.

Maybe they should introduce an advertising section with teleporting, reminder etc. functions for vendors that want to have sales and such.

Where would they draw the line?

Well, first by removing the ads specifically not allowed. Grand openings, special sales, rating parties, etc... That's a good start.

That's true. It would be a good start. Although.. I'm sure it'd be difficult to keep people from simply claiming an event is something it is not. (ex. A fashion show = clothing sale or Show and Tell = Show and Sell).

No.

Aaron is right, this is a no brainer.

- None of the "events" listed in the original post are anywhere near being actual events.
- You dont need a degree to see that and it isnt hard to differentiate at all.
- The guidelines are quite clear, and live helpers would be an easy choice.
- Live helpers would have a personal bias that would cause problems here? Not likely.

It's probably accurate to assume that if this was done events would then be posted that were not anythign like what you saw when you arrived at the location, but that would not last long in that it backfires on the event organiser. How many events would you go to at a club if when you went there it turned out you had been tricked into attending a sale?

The list of events in this thread clearly indicates that it has gone way past gaming the system to typical, and therefore accepted, usage of the events schedule. I've little doubt that new people placing these ads would be surprised at any suggestion of gaming the system. The more likely and quite understandable reaction would be, "Wtf? Everybody does this!"

I was actually enjoying reading this thread until I got to your post. My concentration just totally went. Have you got any idea what all those curves do to a guy's brain? It's so unfair.


I'll be back in 10 mins...

Good Point. I'm in.. Live Helpers Please.