Wanting to Even the Playing Field?

ROFL. We can only hope that Trotsky's nostrum about being unable to form "socialism in one country" will continue to remain in effect!

I'm not going to bother to respond to any of the personal attacks and rants, Chip. Let's try to focus on what you don't get, or disagree with:

a) not charging for their services and goods
b) charging extortionist amounts for their services and goods
c) not providing customer service and treating the customer with respect

You seem to think this is a feverish nutty internally contradictory statement. But it's not.

a) Loads of geeky types make free stuff and put it into the world free. Like vehicles. Or vending systems. Or door scripts. Or whatever. They never charged. They were subsidized by the Lindens, given all the prims and paid stipends and event gifts in the world, and they flourished and made free stuff and gave it away. But now...that stands as an obstacle to freeing up the economy and making it work with normal triggers and prompts and checks and balances. Imagine a world where the people who made paper clips, kleenexes, bic pens, and fast food burgers just put all the stuff in the world for free. In fact, the very reason I call them generically bic, or kleenex, or xerox is because those brand names put time, treasure, and talent into making those goods and being paid for them, they didn't leave them in the world for free.

b) other content barons saw an opportunity in a controlled socialist economy facing real or imagined shortages and charged an arm and a leg for things people really needed, whether it is a skin or a rentomatic or a radio. They should be compensated for their work. But since they lived off event grants and stipend ratings and free land from charter memberships or incubator schemes, they are what I'd call an oligarch in the Russian sense of having used socialism to make a profit for themselves and exploit others. Sooner or later, they will face competition which will drive down their prices but only if the markets can have free information -- meaning free press, but also free advertising capacity currently missing from the game.

c) not providing customer service. I've had the experience of things breaking down and not being able to find the makers on line ever, and I see others posting about that as well. It is a problem. People who entered the world all enthusiastic and got subsidized and feted in all kinds of way made stuff, put it out for free or for sale, but then got jaded and bored and left. So there it is. In the real world, there'd be no free land or free paid-up tier or free stipends pouring in for ratings gotten years ago -- these are all artificial virtual concepts put in the world that create false scarcity. Many have taken advantage of them to get rich or important or get on the leader boards. So it's time now to undo some of that, now that the world has gotten going.

Irate clubgoers waving banners saying 'give me free money' does not a riot make.

In fact, unless everyone is willing to contribute by making a point of setting all their objects to physical and 'allow anyone to move' I see a riot of any kind falling rather flat.

Without this there would be no incentive for people to innovate. Everyone would just recreate the same things ad nauseum. The fact that there is plenty of quality content in the world that's free serves two very important functions... first, it gives people who can't afford to pay anything beyond the one time $9.95 things to do, see, and play with which in turn gives them a reason to stick around, tell their friends about SL, and perhaps one day tier up to a monthly account. Second, it drives innovation. People aren't going to pay for (or even want for free) things that have already been done in several thousand variations that don't improve on the original concept.



No one actually needs anything here. Partly because there's lots of quality free items and services around, and partly because it's quite possible to have a lot of fun in SL without buying anything... and since you're so hell bent on pushing the point that content creators are an unnecessary evil then doesn't that also mean that the content they create is completely unnecessary? Your point of view is ill served by your complete ignorance of how things used to be. It is actually far easier to get started and build yourself up now than it ever was in the past. If only we had a time machine. I'd love to see how you'd handle the outrageous taxation we used to have to deal with. I highly doubt, had you lived through it, that you'd be claiming it was somehow a free ride.



Why do you need customer service for content that's so completely irrelevant? If you rely on a rental system that breaks down and your inability to receive timely customer service on it is a hinderance to your business then that would imply that your business in some way depends on someone else's content! Contradictions abound! If the scarcity of a good dependable rental system is artificial, why don't you just code your own? *chuckle*

If you created SL I can just picture what it would be like... Come to ProkofyLand, where we all rent our empty content-free land to each other... oh wait, we wouldn't need to. I guess we could all just stand around on our free empty plots.

Being an old tymer has nothing to do with lots of ratings..

I have been around for 1 1/2 yrs and have less than alot of players and i am not alone.
They usually come with going to clubs and events constantly and being on so much they just accumulated alot. It was always and expected thing...I rate you, you rate me back so we both get a higher stipend.
Not for the actual reasons they should have been given...just think back to any event when it was 1$ and i bet you received 10x the ratings you will now.
I have seen people who have never built a cube in thier life with a build rating double of some of the most talented builders in SL.

RATINGS mean squat. They should reset them, or get rid of them and replace with a new system where everyone gets a chance return the 1$ per given so everyone can decide if others deserve it. Cause they do affect stipend and if your going to use "older players deserve it". Perhaps you should see that some of the highest rated players arent that old at all.

I agree with Tipsy. Get rid of the fuckin' ratings. they mean nothing. Money should not be tied to them at all.

Prokofy, let me give you a concrete example.
Chip Midnight has spent many hours investigating the best way to make clothes in SL.
Sure, he runs a very successful business. He's old, inner and feted.
According to your conspiracy theory, this means that he has an active interest in preventing noobies from reaching his status.
Look at this thread:
/109/ec/22502/1.html
I happen to believe that Chip Midnight's vastly improved templates single-handedly revolutionized the SL clothing industry and greatly diminished the barrier to entry by newbies into this business.
I've seen a lot more people getting into it and producing items of superior quality.

Camille, Tipsy I echo both Sentiments...

Shadow

I agree. They should be either left in place - ALL of them - or erased universally.

Ratings were never meant to be either ephemeral or tied to their tax value - at least they were never used that way by me or most of the people I know. I certainly never thought to myself "Gee. That deserves 3 bucks worth of points!"

I usually said "Wow! What a great building!" or "That was a nice thing to say."

I think it's cheapening to all the times I thought those things, when you fade them away like this.

Why? Why are the ratings being faded away? I seem to be missing an explanation that recognizes why MOST of us used - and paid taxes for - rating points.

I think because people feel that most people didn't use ratings the way they were intended and the vast majority of ratings given out were given as a kind of handshake. If they wiped the slate at this point (which I'd personally be fine with) it would put a big financial hit on newer people who are probably less able to easily deal with the change, so they're phasing them out in a less painful way and giving people more time to adjust. Hopefully in six months most of the ratings out there will be based on merit, the way they were originally intended, and the way a lot of us used them all along... but more people didn't.

One day we won't worry about who is a content creator and who isn't, or what someone else is doing or isn't doing. One day we will be distuinguished by who we are not what we do. One day we won't care about race, or sex, or sexual preference, or whether you're a content creator, or a land baron, or a scriptor, or you just like to hang out with your friends, or anything else. One day the importance of the kind of person you are, your attitudes, your feelings, who you are as a person, will become more important than what you do or do not do with your time.

Maybe then we can put all this talk of Feted Inner Elites and Elitist Content Creators and all that other BS behind us. Maybe then we can put all the talk of contributions, and who has done what for whom behind us.

Thats the kind of world I like to think Torley is from. It's nice (although maybe a bit naive) to hope that one day that will become a reality.

But, Chip, ALL of my points given were based on merit. And, since you know me, you'll believe me when I say that I believe most of my points received were based on merit as well. They sure weren’t because I’m just so damn sweet

I wouldn’t mind if they divorced bonuses from ratings. But my points are mostly from older players – back when I had a lot more time online – and earned from builds I no longer have up, and given to me by people I respect – and miss – and in circumstances that will likely never occur again.

Why do I lose all of that simply because a bunch of morons managed to find some other - more frivolous - purpose for ratings.

I very much agree, and very much think that by this 6 month erase, at least initially and for quite a few months ahead, they are punishing the older players who never rate-mined, and not the ones that really abused the system.

Either do away with the whole system, or wipe everyone to zero and start fresh!

I pretty much agree with you Kathy Just playing devil's advocate. This definitely stings the sentimental side of me a bit, but I'm happy to see the end of the rate miners. I'll definitely be by to pos rate you after the old ones are gone.

How about this? A good way to get rid of rate miners - AND the regressive tax on ratings - is to simply dump any connection to money.

Why is it more valuable to get a "attaboy" from someone who had to pay a dollr - or 25 dollars? It seems to imply that people are basically dishonest and would lie to you if we didn’t charge them a buck – or 25 bucks.

Look. If someone gives me a rating – positive or negative – even if it were free, I would believe them. I don’t need verification that it was worth a buck to them – or 25 bucks.

Like I said elsewhere. I’m going to start neg rating anyone who rates me from now on.

It won’t hurt the recipient, since the points only last a few months. And it’s apparently all the same to the Lindens, since it takes another 25 bucks out of the economy.

So, thanks for the offer to pos me, but I’ll have to warn you off

LOL. Don't make me organize a pos rate attack!

Heh... Oldies "worked" for there rating. What a laugh. *I* worked for my rating by never getting involved in such BS.

Sure, in a job if you expect the same respect as someone whos been working 10 years you'll get laughed at -- assuming you're both doing the same job.

The difference is that I'm better then that 10 year old employee in every respect, do a much better job then him and actually add to the company. He just sits on his ass and files papers. So GenericGuy Generic Last name has a better build rating? For what? Going to clubs and rating each other constantly. What has he ever did or made that was so impressive? Now, I can accept that any rating system will not be accurate. I'm not a very social person so by that account I will not get rated much to reflect my actual skill -- but to see people who are listed as better then me who don't even have less skill then me -- they have no skill. A lot of these people probably wouldn't even deny the fact they can't build.

Now, I've made a lot of fun of the Compact Exploder and how over priced and how ugly the model is(in my opinion) -- But where the hell is Francis Chung on the build leader board? Whos there -- a few people I've heard of, a lot of people I haven't and a few people I know don't belong there or even in the top one hundred. Now, it might because I don't follow all the popular residents, but I can't think of one person on that board that deserves to be there.

(disclaimer: Of course some people HAVE earned there ratings -- so don't go bitchin` about that)

I'm looking to hire a talented designer to help me create an in-world movie.
Please contact me ASAP for the details:
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That's what I think SL _is_, forums ranting to the contrary

LMAO one minute I am debating you the next Im wanting to hug you but this time I will say if I had a penny for every time I posted that exact statment I would be...well almost a half dollar richer..hehe.

Shadow

I think that means someone has been *thinking*.

One or the other. Hmmm. Maybe BOTH!

Notable exception: Sinatra Cartier

Notable omission: Jimmy Thomson (


Both of whose work I like very, very much.

it makes sense to get rid of the ratings because of all the abuse of the system. ive been rated numerous times by just walking into an event, by ppl that ive never met. these ratings are only on my profile because somebody (alot of somebodys) was padding his/her stipend. the ratings recieved that way are meaningless

All the welfare leeches will throw a shit fit, thats fer sure.