How about a deposit?

How would people feel if registration to SL required a deposit? When you sign up, your credit card gets charged some amount (say 100 dollars). You get that money back any time you cancel your account or go inactive. If your account gets suspended for griefing, you lose the deposit. This could hopefully encourage innocent users to be more careful when scripting their innocuous "Griferspheres" and make actual greifing a bit lamer ("dude, you spent 100 bucks to make a linden to press the reset button on a server? Was that like, satisfying?"

I assume this idea will be as popular as new coke but maybe some good variations are out there? Discuss.

maybe amending TOS to include a charge for disruption of services...

but at this point, I'm not sure LLs arbitrary "anything, anytime we feel like" TOS would lend itself to that, as I for one wouldnt trust them if they are low on cash to invent charges

and that is sad, I had high hopes for this platform

No offence, but that's a ridiculous idea. I don't know anyone that'd do that, I was loathe to pay the $10 when I signed up, not knowing if I was gonna like SL or not.

If it was returned after a short period it's do nothing to stop griefers, if it was a long period it'd put people off. Afraid I can't see any way of it working; LL got rid of the fee for basic accounts to get more people to join up, this would be going back a step.

Unfortunatly, for SL to be what it is and not something more limited the system needs to allow actions that would cause upset to other users. As far as I can see, the only thing that can be done to stop things like this happening again is server code that detects and stops runaway scripts. And I'm guessing that's actually pretty hard to do.

Oh, threats of legal action against peeps that knock the grid out or similar would probably work but I don't know how that'd sit with LL's PR department.

Bad idea. Why would a newbie want to sign up for a game with a $100 damage deposit? And if this deposit were retroactive I predict a mass exodus of current users, with myself at the head of the line.

Ya, saw that reaction coming

Yeah, it's an unworkable idea, but I kind of agree with the user that talked about "disruption of service". Once such disruption was determined, that user could then be immediately billed for such actions.

As it stands though, there ARE things that can be done just by calling the local FBI office and filing computer vandalism charges (that is, if it has been determined this was an act of intentional "griefing".

People conduct business here. They have social lives here. For many people, SL is more their RL thatn RL itself. Anyone who intentionally attacks those activities with harm in mind commits a criminal act, just that simple. Linden Lab needs to realize that intentional griefing is an act of criminal computer harassment/ vandalism-- and handle it as such.

Well if past dispensation of justice is any indication, someone might actually garner a banning while the pandagriefers continue to be suspended for being shot at and the forums will be policed and warnings issued for improper use of the 17th definition of the intransitive verb sometimes synonymous with "move".

Very Bad idea.

I am not sure how effective a charge against the card for damage would be, as I would imagine many of these types of griefers use stolen credit cards. Damages should be put into the TOS though, I agree. I don't think a deposit would help though, it would be too much of a deterrent to anyone using SL. It's hard enough to get people to try it

i just have to say, and no disrespect intended, but this is a preposterous conclusion...

this cat has been around causing problems for awhile (or should I say getting the reaction he so desires). I can say all kinds of negative things about the W-Hat group, but c'mon, calling them credit card thieves, a fairly substantial allegation, is a bit much.

you might as well say they all prolly kill babies, conspired to blow up the WTC, and are right now putting razor blades in candy for halloween

the behavior of this one guy today is debatably criminal, but I have been around boys (bachlor party last night) and this is fraternity, locker room, testosterone juvenile behavior

a credit card thief is making money, not "griefing" people in SL (which can trace IPs )

that is just ridiculous

Actually, I would almost bet that if correlation stats were run... that an abnormally large proportion of people who belong to griefer groups are also credit card thieves. Doesn't sound preposterous to me at all. It doesn't mean they all are by any means. But the same mental attitude that disrespects people... also disrepects law.

Uh, no. Probably the worst idea I have ever heard for one simple reason - it allows someone else to make money off my money in return for no benefit to me. That is, as you have proposed, the charge is made BEFORE I screw up - ergo, my money is sitting around in LL's bank account drawing interest. If I don't do anything wrong and then leave after a year, I get my money back alright, but LL has just made a year's worth of interest off of me and what did I get in return?:

I got piss-poor customer service, bad frame rates, inaccessible areas, lied to by the corporation that has my money (it's not our problem, it must be your machine), griefed with no recourse, and what has, at times, been a completely non-functional product.

And you really want me to allow them to have an interest free loan from my bank account?

On second thought, this was the most ironically funny idea I have heard from anyone in these forums.

I'm not in favor of it!

ahaha aimee you're not tuned into the group think here, what's going on

Yup. This one is going down in my "bad ideas" book. Still wasn't as bad as New Coke though.

AHAHAHAHAH "NEW COKE" now that was bad

You know, I would have to guess that COKE just never heard the old addage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

One of the problems with a lot of people.. they mistakenly think they have to be #1.

It doesn't really matter whether Pepsi or Coke is better. They both rule the market and they both can buy the biggest steak they can eat. I mean, what is this, an ego thing? LOL They can't enjoy their success for battling with each other all the time.

Why in the hell would someone pay a deposit to be a resident in SL? Seriously. Even with free accounts most people aren't hanging around.


How about a decent client with some safeguards instead of blaming the idiots. Sure stores press charges when people steal, but most of them have security guards, security cameras, etc. We can't even get a decent permissions system in SL.

Ah, but now you can introduce your true idea and everyone will think it's great because of this.

You were the New Coke person?

Pass on taking MY money. I think griefers should get three strikes and be sent to a penal SIM. (Which would be the FUNNEST SIM EVER!!!) There they could lament with a bunch of other jerks and try to find a way out! >

How about you all send me your CC numbers and I will fine you (by way of personal shopping sprees at Lee's Discount Liquors) for each stupid idea or comment?

*fines herself a 12er of Newcastle*

D'oh!

Ya know... now that I think about it... Aimee's idea isn't that bad if tweaked a bit. Let's face it, the reason there are a lot of security holes and that it is fairly easy to crash a sim and/or the grid is that there is a scripting language open for anyone to use (or abuse).

Perhaps requiring some sort of cash deposit before allowing access to the scripting language isn't entirely a bad idea. Then when someone programs a griefer tool, there can be restitution.

I don't know how much a potential "scripters deposit" would stifle creativity, and I'm not sure I even support the idea. But its would definitely provide a set of consequences for asshats who think its super cool to use a scripting language to crash servers.

Regards,

-Flip

Heh, take it a step further and let the greifers stay, ding em $100 each time a script is used for greifing on a case by case - script by script-object by object basis as there are genuine mess ups and accidents. Imagine $100 per script per script per greif sphere that was in-world at the time of grid crash, now tally up the total charges, talk about setting an example.... Allow those that geniunely mess up via a miscalculation or mis-understanding of the LSL and physics engine a few strikes then ding em on a case by case basis. There are security measures on CC's that can help identify that the card is in fact in the holder's hands like the CCV number which from my understanding is unique to that particular card/account#. Which would be needed to verify that the card billed is a legit card or the system would be moot.

I'd be more than happy to pay a deposit. Only on the condition that LLabs also pays me for every time I have to put up with an outage that could have been avoided if they had done a better job anticipating what frequently are blindingly obvious issues.


- Newfie