Undercover linden investigations...

You know, it would be awesome if the lindens could go "in cognito" and experience various ongoing problems first-hand, from a resident's perspective. Imagine if they loaded up a new account, sundered over to each of the clubs, and made sure no shenanigans were going on? If there were... well...

"Alright, folks, this is an undercover Linden raid, you are all abusing dwell. Enjoy your 3 day suspension".

It might force more people to be a bit more civil towards everyone else.

Big Brother Philip is watching...

LF

I suggest that you're not paranoid enough. I sell tinfoil hats at excellent prices! But seriously, Linden involvement is responsive, not proactive, right? That's meant to cut down random inspection, eliminating time watching the world except for the Ahern start area and an occasional public event.

Also, I think you meant "sauntered over."

Also, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE.

A N D
S T O P
R E A D I N G
M Y

I M ' S ! ! !


(ha all caps take that vbul)

The other night at a public event we kept seeing the effects of one of the Linden's touching an object. It was quite funny, but strangely this particular Linden never actually fessed up to being there -- this Linden was completely invisible to us -- but not the object this Linden kept touching.

Ah, so, anyway, they don't need to go in undercover... they can go in completely invisible. Reminds me a mud when you could go wizinvis as an imp and play with the poor mortals.

Lindens vs Residents is a lot like Wizards vs Players on MUDs/MUSHes, and I have no doubt that they subscribe to the same basic rules of behaviour that evolved to guide MUD Wizards over time.

However, I also have no doubt that Lindens already have non-Linden alts that they use from time to time - not to police or spy, but to play. Many Lindens were residents before becoming Lindens, and who's to say they don't still play under those resident names?

Wherever I've been a Wizard on a MUSH I have always had a non-wizard character as well - for roleplaying, for testing, just for socializing.

The thought that Lindens are out there doesn't make me the least bit paranoid. In fact, I expect it. Still trying to work out who Jill was before being Lindenized, though...

Jill Extraordinaire of course. All the best Lindens were Extraordinaires. It's part of the Extraordinaire blood. ^_^

Except that Jeff guy. He's not quite right in the head.

I'll be looking for Psyra Linden soon, then!

Actually, considering the fact that they recruit from amongst us, I'd venture to say that the Lindens are the alts, and their non-Linden persona is the primary, in most cases at least.

They dont need an alt account. But, there is a good chance this already happens frequently.

From the Terms of Service...
8.2 Linden Observation. You acknowledge and agree that Linden, in its sole discretion, may track, record, observe or follow any and all of your interactions within the Service.

A funnier thought to me is a player telling their friends, family, or employers about who they are in SL. And, these people sign up and drop in to see what they are up too. Imagine the unsuspecting escort having cybersex with thier boss or brother, lol.

It's pretty easy to tell who is a linden, if you check the linden rules posted in the police blotter section you will see that no linden lab employe can be a group officer in any non linden accounts. Soooo.... when they joined LL they had to step down from being an officer of the groups they were in. It could be fun to make a big brother map for where the lindens are.

As per the ToS in their present form, Lindens have the right and power to spy on you without any special reason. They can see your chat text no matter where you are, and also your IMs. Everything is logged, and it can be inspected when investigating abuse reports and stuff.
Don't you guys get it, this is a game. We are the game. They are the players

One would hope that the logs are not reviewed or listened to except during official investigations. (like data-mining or simple eavesdropping). Otherwise, there is no privacy at all. Not that we were expecting any!

That's why I've been frantically adding everyone's contacts to my buddy list. This way I can pursue my plans of world domination away from linden eyes!

Probably, at some point in SL's future there will be a need to define private means of communication in-world. That would include chat, IMs and even visual appearance of objects. I still think of SL as a demonstration of the possibilities rather than a real tool. While I hate calling SL a "game" it is almost exclusively being used for recreational purposes at the moment. One of these days we might use SL (or something like it) to negotiate the buying or selling of a car, home, or consulting services having nothing to do with 3D objects, textures or avatar clothing. Being spied on by other users, or even Lindens will, in such an environment be unacceptable and we as users will need assurances, and proof that such is not happening.

Until that general purpose version of SL is perfected a certain amount of spying is probably necessary to prevent users from "gaming" the system. It's a good thing (tm). At least for the time being.

ah-HA! Eggy finally admits that SL IS A GAME!

*dies a happy man*



LF

Apparently, Psyra is already toting around "Notta Linden"

*coughs*

How do you know they don't do this already?

Why, I could be a Linden. Or Eggy. Or... PHILIP! Oh, wait, he is.

Erm. Yeah.

Seriously, I am kidding. I don't think they do this already. They're too busy with the current patches.

I didn't say SL, I said "this". This process, of people coming and going, the "emergent behavior", it's undoubtedly a game to them. They can introduce new features and watch us playing with them. They can introduce a reward (dwell) and watch the amorphous blob of people stretch its tentacles in its direction. I think LL is having way too much fun with their project, and ultimately its this enthusiasm that will decide whether or not they succeed. LL is very different from normal, faceless, companies.

Ok, I am most likely wrong about this, but come on. The lindens have so much power over the World of SL. They a like gods to it and can do what ever they want. If they want Hamster turds to fall from the sky, they just have to have it programmed in.

As far as I understand it, the Lindens can be inworld if they want to, and be totally invisible. They could be standing right next to you and you wouldn't know it.

So, yeah, if you're playing with the monkey keep that in mind...

I assume you mean the SL monkey and not the RL monkey? j/k

*coughs*

It'd be freaky to think Lindens could be invisible next to us at our computers.


*looks around, flees*