~Accusations, Designs and Customer Relations...Oh my~

Lately the forums has become a frenzy of: She/He stole my design, Where is my prim Baby?, and I got screwed out of Land.

Just a few things...

We're not supposed to mention names of people or the business in question in the forums if we have complaint, which I think is wrong. I personally want to know where NOT to go as much as where to go to purchase items. I think we should have a forum for this purpose. If something happens between a buyer and a seller that can't be settled between those parties then everyone needs to know about it. We should be able to hear both sides and make our own decisions from that information. I do not want to be supporting businesses/designers that cannot work respectably with their customers. If people want business then they need to deal with their customers in a timely and respectable manner. I really think an SL BBB is in order. I think the only people who will have issues with this are the the businesses who already have spots on their virtual selling record. In a 'world' where $L can be turned into rl $ this is something that needs to be implemented. I don't wanna waste my $ on places irl that don't do what they are supposed to, why should we do it here? Maybe a business/designer rating sytem is in order.


In the past I have really wanted to get into designing clothes because I am an artist irl and I think I could do a pretty good job. The only thing holding me back then was I don't have any fancy programs to do this. To be quite honest I will probably never do this because lord forbid I make something that is similar to something someone has already made and I get chewed up and spit out. I have thought up some things that I end up seeing something very similar put up for sale, but I never posted and said 'OMGZ I thought up that 2 months ago, you stole my design.' It's kind of ironic now with all the Christmasy Santa, Elf, etc clothes that are being set for sale now...there are quite a few that look similar with the red and white and white poofy things. I am surprised I haven't heard anyone cry foul on those yet. I could fully understand if someone posted a new ad of an exact or very close replication of something by Pixel Dolls, for an example of what I think is truly original, but seeing people bicker over a poofy jacket or some shoes that have a similar base is getting old. How many damn different stilletto bases could there be? How many different variations to a plain white tank top or a pair of plain jeans can there be? Totally stealing someones obvious original design is bad but a lot of the things I see are people just being petty.

I understand that some designers who have been creating awhile come up with very unique things, but I'm sure a new designer may come out with things that have been seen previously before they get into their own design niche. So lets say Sally Newbie (not a real person) decides to get into making clothes, she has her product she has been working on for a few weeks and is very proud of herself. Lets say she doesn't read the forums and a friend says 'Hey you really should put that in the forums so people can see' So Sally posts her happy outfit and then logs off. Later that nite Sally logs into the forums excited to see if anyone looked at what she made and lo and behold someone has called her a theif because she made something that was similar to something that was made before. The thread will follow with other people saying the same thing and then of course an old thread will be linked for further proof of said thievery.

My views have changed as far as supposed thievery goes. I used to get in on these threads and stick up for the designers because I really do think stealing is wrong. The thing that has kept me from that lately is that unless something looks like an obvious replica of an original design such as Pixel Dolls, then it's just something the person made. Sometimes when I see this kind of bickering going on it makes me wonder if we should just all go back to newbie attire. That way no one can try to reinvent the wheel with their own design on things...

GIMP is free and works super well. Don't be discouraged by forum silliness. It's fun to make stuff.

I'm back and forth on the BBB issue here. On the one hand, it would help buyers beware of certain less-than-stellar sellers. On the other, one person with a grudge and a lot of friends could totally destroy a new or even established seller.

My way to deal with getting a bad return on something is to consider it a learning experience. I learn where not to shop, what not to buy, where to tell my friends NOT to go, what unfilled market niche is there because of poor quality design or service, and someday if I have enough motivation to start a business I have that experience to reference back to. I do share what I've learned from shopping with friends or sometimes acquaintances or with confused men in women's clothing stores who need help buying gifts (another unfilled niche: PERSONAL SHOPPERS!! for clueless boyfriends!!)

I do have the fancy programs and have been learning very slowly how to make the kind of clothing I like to wear irl, so I'm going to make my clothes and wear them and not sell them.

There are niches of clothing design that have not been met. It would be nice to make money filling those niches, but for me the bother isn't worth it, both in terms of not wanting to be accused of anything untoward and also because I suck at customer service stuff

Sometimes reading those forum threads where so and so accuses a designer/seller of something wrong are just tedius to read, so I generally skip them. Even if names are included or whatever, it's just painful to watch people get slandered and others responding by criticizing them for the slandering or for their writing skills or what have you.

Sorry I have never heard of that but I can check it out.

For me tho I would just be making stuff for me and friends as sometimes the forums scare me lol. I am not interested in making tons of money or anything. Right now I do landscaping for a neighbor who owns a lot of land in different sims that he puts apartments on for people. He doesn't even do it to make a big profit, but to give newer people a nice place to live. I love to landscape and make nice pretty areas for these people. It makes me feel good to beautify SL one parcel at a time

I will advocate GIMP. Excellent program.

I also like BLENDER 3D for advanced 3d work.