Selling the World... (for possible use in NWN!)

That's ok Hamlet. I don't care what others think about you. You're a-ok with me

Sorry, that made absolutely no sense. Hamlet wrote the article, he didn't deliver a message someone esle wrote.

Hamlet, are you emotionally destroyed by the fact I disagree with one of the many articles you wrote?

I'm guessing the answer is no.

Eggy, please, enough soundbites, ok? I think both Hamlet and NWN will survive my disagreement with last weeks series.

Aw, thanks, Julia!

Moleculor, all quotes are taken directly from chat logs
and IM transcripts. (Though of course, I clean them up
grammatically for publication.)

In the weeks after Fizik bought the island, the reaction
to it went from protest, to Forum flame wars, to a gradual
waning off of controversy, and for the most part, judging
by my visits to the island and conversations with residents
and the posts people made here, wary acceptance, for the
most part, or skeptical wait-and-see. (And to be sure, this
is only to count the people who take the time to register an
opinion, as opposed to the overwhelming majority of
residents who haven't expressed anything about the
island, one way or another.) So again, the intent wasn't
to end the story on a "positive spin", but rather, try and
capture the general sense of where we are, as I see it.

But again, that's why I'm leaving this forum open for folks
who have another point of view.

And no, Jellin, I wasn't emotionally destroyed by the
criticism. (Thanks to the drinking bouts and the primal
scream therapy.)

What Molecular said pretty well sums up the way I feel about the way the article was presented. A writer subtly affects the reader's feelings about a subject through the way he presents the "facts."

I'm sorry, Hamlet, if you take umbrage at me implying that you are simply following "party line" (i.e., saying what the Lindens might want you to say about all this). However, I believe that your "Linden" identity implies that you might be a bit biased from the get-go. IMHO, it might have been wiser of you to choose a non-Linden name for your SL persona since your aim is to report on the happenings here in a fair and unbiased manner.

I also know it sometimes sucks to be a reporter; I've worked at a daily paper and have seen and experienced the wrath of angry readers. I guess the main reason people get so passionate over these things is that the written word can wield a lot of power, and those of us on the receiving end of it fervently hope we are getting the real story.

Beryl, that's exactly why I'm inviting you and everyone
else to offer their own comments on the story here, for
possible excerpting in NWN. (Just like I asked in this very
topic, when I was preparing the series.) That offer still
stands, because I don't want New World Notes to be a
bottom-down medium like traditional newsprint.

Far as not having Linden for a surname, that was
considered right when I started this gig. I chose to
be a Linden, because after all, I am contractually a
Linden staffer, and it could be seen as misleading
not to state that up front, as it were. (Alternately,
that means I have to field a lot of IMs from people
who assume I'm Liasion; then again, that's a nice
way to meet new folks.)

Hamlet;

Poppycock; to optate and/or embrace certain quote and facts yet ignore or skim over others; does in fact influence readers opinions. Is not only terse but also superficial. If I were to be quoted complete quotes in the direct context in which they were made would have been pulchritudinous.

Yes I did say “cult” but in what context, and why? It was not “reported” but rather a momentary “blurb”. For what purpose other than to shock and incite insinuation and gossip? Reporting? Indeed.

I read all the articles regarding the island but more so; I was there the day the island was purchased. I did not read that the new owner was, accompanied by no less than 3 Lindens. Like I said Hamlet if your going to tell the story tell the whole story let people decide for themselves how they feel. I still feel your story was bias.

Here is some quotes for you; “I did not care what Hamlet wrote in an articles, that’s business. I still like him as a person, that’s personal.”

“I wish that any business who wants to own a Sim would go straight to the lindens“ I have met Finik and he is a decent fellow J”

“I know the Lindens have a business to run, and yes I still love them all , I KNOW they are doing their best and I support them 100% “

*Document was check for grammatical errors pfft

Cat Cotton

P.S.

With the launch of V 1.2, Second Life announced the Developer Incentives program - a US$ payout given to residents on the basis of their monthly Dwell numbers.

We recently paid January Developer Incentives to 25 Second Lifers and are marveling at the width and breadth of our residents' accomplishments. Some of the Dwell-producing activities created include:

- Activities such as Bingo
- Gaming at Casinos
- Popular clothing
</b>- Fizik's island and accompanying protests</b>
- Dark Life
- And, of course, the ever-popular adult clubs

So Finik is already making Developer bonuses on his first month. Interesting, very interesting. oh and BS.

There have been a few comparisons to the "Company Owned Small Town Newspaper" so far, and accusations of bais, but the nice thing about virtual small towns is that virtual newspapers are pretty cheap to publish. That means that there is plenty of room for another "news source" in SL. If you guys don't like Hamlet's presentation, write your own - there is certainly no worries that you will run out of things to say. I'm sure you have heard of the AlphaVille Herald - covering TSO news that maxis didn't really want getting out. Why not start something like that for SL?

By the way, i think that hamlet's treatment of the whole island episode was fair. Of course, I might be biased .

bbc

I know of at least three people who have been banned from Avalon not including me. We all have no idea why we were banned. Just tellin ya and you may want to use it.

That's interesting, Bam, I'll look into it.

Those are good quotes, Catherine, but I'm fairly sure
the quotes that did end up in the 5 part series already
reflect those particular sentiments, more or less. I was
actually hoping to get a paragraph or two, say of 200-400
words, that makes a compelling case that the original NWN
series missed some very important elements of the story.
You say certain facts were skimmed over or ignored-- OK,
which ones? And why are they crucial, and do they reflect
a fairly common point of view of many residents? Please
tell us. If you'd like to e-mail me directly, I'd be happy to
work with you on writing something like that-- or post here,
is just as fine.

BBC's suggestion is a good one. Alternately-- and I might
as well announce this here-- we are planning to move NWN
into a true blog software format, hopefully next week. That
way, it'll be a lot easier for me to post entries on the very
day news happens. It'll also make it easier for me to post
reader and resident articles, editorials, reviews, etc. which
is also something I'd love to start doing. More info as
I get more info!

Hi, I really need to keep in better touch!! I just went through the "story" and some comments and want to put my 2 cents in,

First cent:
I never thought of SL as a game, I saw it as another level to real life. If we were to limit ( = censorship) what can be done in SL, I think we'd kill it! It's the possibilities that make SL so exciting.

Second cent:
I've said this before, but I guess I'll say it again. The only reason commercialism would come to SL is if it has an "audience” ( = residents). The last thing the Lindens would want is to ignore us. The most valuable commodity Second Life has is its residents. In fact, we are indeed so valuable; they’ve made it possible for people to become full members for free. If you are not interested in being a land owner, you don’t have to pay! (beyond a nominal entry fee, probably used to draw in more serious members and not get bogged down with “first time is the last time” fleeting members) Why do this? Because, the broader the audience, the more valuable SL is. Does this mean we’ll have billboards all over the place? I don’t think any more than are already out there. They’re probably not all that effective. It’d probably be much more effective for a commercial enterprise to come up with something so wonderful, you can’t help but be drawn in. That’s the way to do it. It also creates interest, innovation, and great content.

Ok, I said my fill. I’ll be here even if it becomes Time Square!! And I bet I’ll just love it too!!

Love Ingie

I read the series about buying the island because of the link from Terranova; I haven't played Second Life since the end of the beta. (Though I did enjoy it.)

I see that Hamlet wanted an explanation of how his article seeries seemed slanted. Here's my take.

The articles carried the overall impression to me of "there was a controversy, but it was because people misunderstood the players involved."

The article has certain telling details. It says that Fizik is an MMORPG player, a gamer who happens to be in branding, who's somewhat of a geek about the details of his work. His "not advertising, branding" bit comes off somewhat like a hacker defending the name (http://www.google.com/search?q=define:Hacker) from its more-current media definition. It's an interview that seems designed to make Fizik likeable to gamers and even general readers, because it slants him as a person who wants to do this because he likes the game and wants to integrate it into his life, to introduce it to his work buddies.

On the other hand the details about Obscuro lead me to infer far more sinister and unsavory things. Not once, but twice, is it mentioned that a companion asks his permission to depart. This along with the quote from Sukkubus and the bit about "medieval" gives me the distinct impression that Obscuro would have built an adult, maybe kinky type theme for his city. (What's the male version of a dominatrix...)

So on the one side you have an upbeat, cultural commercial-ish guy who would bring in his co-workers who happen to be artistic professionals to build something that yea, has some T'shirt ads but is overall a nice contribution to the Second Life world; and on the other a near miss of it being bought by a fellow who wants to make yet another medieval slave and master fantasyland. Which (as someone mentioned Alphaville) weren't all those in Sims Online already?

I'm certainly not claiming that's the accurate portrayal of what happened, and I'm not saying that Hamlet *wrote* the above interpretation into his piece, but that's the slant exaggerated by a few dozen zoom-in clicks. That's definitely a slant.

I don't think it's possible for a human to write anything that isn't slanted That's why we need more reporters out there to give different oppinions.....

Didn't someone start a magazine???

Well, time for another magazine start up group, hee hee

Ingie

I do think Carlisse is pointing out a very valid dillemma,
and one that journalists always have to deal with: the
selection of some quotes and not others is itself fraught
with the danger of bias. There are ways of avoiding that,
however: not to ask the subject leading questions, for
example, on topics they didn't bring up themselves,
and then use their quotes. That's "shaping" the interview.

So in this case, if I was to ask Fizik something like, "Do
you think residents would have a better opinion of you if
you were a gamer?", or Obscuro, "So I hear you guys are
into master/servant role playing-- how's that work?", that
would definitely be biased. In both cases, however,
these were topics the subjects brought up themselves.
(And in any event, Obscuro says he's neutral about the
ultimate nature of the island, commercial or otherwise;
I quoted his conversation with Sukkubus because that
is how they talk, and I thought it was an interesting
contrast in-world cultures-- which Catherine Cotton also
refers to, in a subsequent interview.)

One point I do acknowledge as possibly leading is my
mentioning that Fizik worked on the *LOTR* ad campaign.
On the one hand, he *did* work on the *LOTR* ad
campaign. On the other, it's something I brought up
in conversation, not him. I thought about this, as I wrote
it, and it was basically a judgement call, because I do
think it's worth mentioning how *Lord of the Rings* is
embraced by even the most anti-corporate geeks, even
though it's a Time-Warner-New Line product. But as
Bill Clinton used to say, Reasonable people can disagree
about this.

I have a thought, Hamlet, since you are monitoring this thread, maybe you can pass it along. I think one of the things that was upsetting, is that a corporation/or group of people, were bidding against SL residents, and that feels unfair?? Perhaps the bidding should only be Rich in LD residents against resident, or Rich in RL residents against resident, hee hee, being facetious, but you know what I mean.

What if commercial sims would be available to purchase outright, depending on the cost of setting it up (getting a new computer and putting it online) and monthly fees. This way, the corporate interests and buying power, won't interfere with “the people”

That way everyone would win. Advertisers can advertise and create a different kind of content, which residents can enjoy, while not being in competition with them. And Linden Labs can profit by, and keep this virtual world spinn’in ‘round!

As I’ve said before, I don’t want Utopia, Utopia is different for everyone, I want a fully engaging, totally free to do as you dream, and hopefully interactive with RL creation. You see Lily Tomlin advertising Web meetings… but simple meetings, face to face over the internet is so limited.

How about presenting your Architectural project to a client, half way around the world, in 3d? Complete with walk-through, and the ability to make suggested changes for the client right then and there when they ask, “gee but what if you had done this?” And you say, “Hey, good idea, lets try it out” and you DO! Right then and there!

Show off your new sleek shoe design, your dental implant technique …. Your movie ideas! Anything you want to make in your RL can be sold in your SL.

(ranting, with wide crazy eyes)
Don’t you people see it? Are you blind? Why can’t I convince you??????????

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
Whack!
(snapping outta it)

Thank you, thank you very much

Love Ingie

This thread has bounced through several subjects, and I would like to sum up to best of my understanding. The original starting thread was about Fizik Baskerville and Avalon. Throughout this thread it appears that most are wary, but there is only a very small percentile that outright opposes his plans. Most of us agree that in the long run, it will improve our user experience. I agree with Ingie's main point in the last entry, but honestly, there's no way to monitor companies "invading" SL. Anyone can join without giving away that they are part of a company. In fact, it is a testiment to Fizik that he has come forward with his plans.

Second subject this thread seems to have hit is whether or not New World Notes and Hamlet Landen are properly reporting on SecondLife? Come on guys! Hamlet has allowed me more comprehension and awareness than any of the other Lindens have about our world! And yes if you don't like it, start your own paper. Freedom of speech works here too!

Third subject was whether or not this particluar set of articles was biased. Ok everyone knows first of all that we are talking about the media. They are taught to bring interesting news. When you turn on your local news, or cnn, or whatever, you don't think you are honestly getting the real news? No single person has the whole story. Ask any polceman in the world, and they will tell you that the eyewitness story is 90% untrue. It's the coroborating witnesses that you acquire the complete story from. If people are taking Hamlet's words without gaining their own information, it is their own foolishness that leads them to ignorance. Give them another option!

Fourth subject was an apparent distaste for BDSM in-world. Whatever your preference be, what Sukkubus and Obscuro do is their business and shame on you for criticizing them openly! I came to SL to have freedom and so did they!

All of that being said, I would like to add my 2 cents about all of the above. If you don't know who I am, I am the proprietor of the SL Parks & Recreation Service. I now have a group that consists of 23 people; from dedicated scripters & builders to people who donate money to our cause. This is what I spend almost every cent and second on that I have in-world. This is how I enjoy my experience. I have known Obscuro Valkyrie since before he became that AV, and he helped me to learn and grow in here. Only being selfish when it came to his personal time. I also have had the pleasure of meeting a very down-to-earth Fizik Baskerville, and am proud to say that I will be working on a project for him. It will be a forest where you can relax, chat, follow a story, get lost, and hopefully a lot more! And guess what? He wants it to be on Avalon! Our project will be created 100% for SL users.

And frankly, that was this all comes down to:

Without users, coporations have no reason to be here. If they destroy our world and our experience, they destroy themselves and their experience. Doesn't sound like a very good idea to me. And I'll bet they have someone on their development team that's even more cognizant than I about such things. Regardless of all of this, Fizik and Obs have their own land. You don't have to let them onto your land, and you don't have to go to theirs. If you do, you must accept the consequences of trying new things.

yah, right, um... What Higbee said, you know, up there

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Say, are we related? My usual name is IngieBee, hee hee hee ;P