Tired of vampire bites? Read this!

I really doubt that ARing the creator will have any effect.

But this whole thing is--by design--abusive.

So, imagine I script an attachment that spams everybody in sensor range with an offer to sell them a copy if they aren't already wearing one. They'll sell like hotcakes, the buyers desperate to not keep getting harassed by every wearer--and the more there are, the more harassing. Eventually everyone in SL will be compelled to own one.

But darn. That's obvious spam, and against the ToS. So what can I do to have the same effect, yet skirt the ToS?

I know: I'll put a user-activated trigger on it: now the wearer is "directing" the advertisement however minimally, so it's not pure enough spam to get my account closed.

And anyway, even if it is spam, now it looks like it's the wearer's fault. Cool.

Oh, but crap: Why would the wearers risk ARs, bans, and being thought a cretin by everyone they ever meet?

Hmmm... aha! I'll make it a competition! And I'll dress it up as some kind of RP. Let's see... what's a good viral cover for phony RP? Well, STDs won't be very appealing... Rabies only works with furries and maybe nekos...

VAMPIRES! That'll do it! Soon every sap in SL will be wearing a cape and dorky prim fangs. [Note to self: Sell cheap Goth crap.]

And thus is born another SL Marketing Miracle.

The creators of Bloodlines created a game where harassment of random people is rewarded rather than punished and stimulate it indirectly even if only by their inaction to prevent it when they're perfectly capable of it.

Yes their players are responsible for spamming others, but they're being enticed to spam and harassed by how the Bloodlines system was deliberately designed. You can get rid of 1,000 spampires and another 1,000 will just take their place, it's pointless to expect that AR'ing only the spammers is going to have any effect.

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Entirely similar example: A creates and sells a group-invite bot, B buys said bot and lets a few dozen of them wander around the grid as group-invite spamming bots .

You want to argue that B is completely innocent because it's the bots who are committing the actual offense . You AR the bot *and* you AR the bot owner. Just AR'ing the bots would be entirely pointless.

(And in this case A is not partly responsible since A has no control over what B gets up to with the bots. If B's bots were hosted by A and A just takes the money while knowing they're being used to spam then again, in my view A shares responsiblity for B's actions)

Sorry but .... no.

I've met and have several users of Bloodlines in my friends list. Guess what? They don't spam.

While I refuse to use Bloodlines for the times I decide to RP a vampire, I can say with certainty that it is NOT the more dedicated RPers spamming people: It's the newbies spamming people, plain and simple.

Once again, it is up to the USER to decide how to use an item.

Could Bloodlines have been implemented a bit better and in such a way as to prevent this? Yes. Is it the fault of the creator concerning how his creation is being used? No.

We'll just agree to disagree? Or we could be locked in a "yes, they are!" "no, they're not!" for a while .

Sounds good to me.

the system wasn`t designed for spammage?!?!?!

Bloodlines is not responsible for people who use their product in an annoying way, just as surely as Blizzard is not responsible for people who powergame or cheat on World of Warcraft. However, as the creators and operators of a gaming system, the current understanding of business ethics means Blizzard is obligated to deal with these people. It does so by making patches and introducing features which prevent powergaming or make it difficult, or otherwise reduce or eliminate the incentive to powergame.

The makers of Bloodlines have created a game that includes everyone, without their consent, and without providing them with any kind of TOS. In addition, the game (despite whatever its creators might say, or whatever signs they might put up) blatantly encourages the spamming behavior by virtue of the fact that such behavior is simply the hands-down quickest and most efficient way to play the game, and the fact that they have done nothing to correct this, nor provided any in-game penalties for engaging in such behavior. After receiving numerous complaints, their solution is to place the burden of fixing the problem on the complainants, explaining to them that in order to stop the harassment, they have to make their own effort to remove themselves from a game they never consented to join in the first place - otherwise, screw off. That's idiotic, and it's not right. Say all you want about how Bloodlines isn't responsible for its player base's actions. While technically true, it doesn't change the fact that Bloodlines is, from the ground up, a tarded system created and run by unaccountable dweebs, and that's what everybody's ticked off about.

complain to LL then and while you're at it, complain to them about all of the other opt out only systems and such that have been used in the past for various things. remember ESC's sellable items search? That was Opt-out only as well.

It's simple: take the steps to opt out of the system ... or don't and deal with it.

The fact of the mater is that, for the database to work with minimal effort, everyone in SL had to be included. don't like it? go and opt out.

they should add a page with all active players so that we can build a vampire ban link...

That's wrong. As in not-right. Ethically, at the very least.



So they're lazy unaccountable dweebs. It shows. They have a product that any lazy unaccountable dweeb would be proud to be associated with.

Well, put it that way, I suppose ARs against the creator *would* be the most effective way to complain to LL about it. And (!) I should hope to think that nobody at this late date would be daft enough to hold up the loathed sheepbot PR disaster as justification for the acceptability of opt-out.

Wasn't there already an opt out? Just click "Decline" when offered the bite.

The DMCA thread actually made me think of it as a good example.

Is LL responsible/liable for copyright infringement done by its residents?

No, as long as they comply with DMCAs in a good faith effort.

If they just shrug and bin every DMCA as it arrives they are responsible even though they themselves didn't actually infringe on anything.

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And no the two don't compare that well, but life is full of examples where a creator/supplier is held - in part - responsible through their inaction.

i refuse to buy something for stopping harassment..i have a garlic mute button and an AR steak button that works much better and they are free.

And? How 'ethical' is it to rip graphics from a commercial website to use them in second Life - as is done all the time?



Nope, they just did not feel like polling the entire growing database of users nor waiting for a purchase of the system to add them to the database.

Again: It is the way the system was made. An Opt-out was added in.

Reasonable complaints at this time? None.

How about going off to complain about the presence of campers or other such things where the only opt-out is to move instead of a system where only the truly brainless are causing the problems being complained about?

I just got the necklace, and the necklace vendor for my shop. It was free, cost me nothing, required me to simply wear the necklace, and 2 mouse clicks later, I'm removed from their database and attempts to bite me will be ignored. Seems an easy, quick thing to be rid of this. I don't want to ban any potential customers from my shops, I just want them to not solicit my customers to be added to their trophy list.

When I used to play WoW an oft made suggestion in the forums to deal with Gold Farmers and those delivering Gold was to stop the 10 day free trial, this would make it more difficult for these people to ply their trade as they'd have to keep paying to setup new accounts.

Have Blizzard done that yet?

Plus, as it turns out, it's really easy to get yourself removed from their database. It would appear I will never get to use my dagger on a vampire for biting me. Waa.

They keep scanning me and seeing "this person is not a part of bloodlines and wishes to be left alone".

Shhhh y'all keep mentioning Bxxxxxxx and Wxx you will summon she of the green hair.

LMFAO! Behave or I'll start singing rawhide!

What you said. Easy enough to toss on the necklace and activate.

I'd never once been asked to be bit, so this is more a preventative measure f'r me.

Lol, as much chance of that happening as SL limiting/removing free accounts and infinate alts

I don't understand why you're asking - firstly because the answer is obvious, and secondly because whatever the answer is, it really is not germaine this particular discussion.



Because they're lazy.



Well, it has to do with the law of unintended consequences. Since we are all by necessity included in this system's database, like it or not, that makes us all users of the system. As such, we have every right to complain about any aspect of the system we do not like, just as much as someone who actually pays for a HUD. So, I will complain, because I think the developers of this system have made numerous errors which they have not fixed to my personal satisfaction as a user of their system. Your permission is not required.

If you insist upon commenting, though, perhaps you can start by explaining why "what everybody ELSE does" should matter, or count as an effective counterargument to a complaint about Bloodlines specifically.

My solution to this problem? In the event that somebody offers me a vampire bite, I just simply decline the offer and move on. Something like that rarely happens to me, and the same holds true for my sister Pyrite.

Same with me. Very rarely happens to me, but I've had more exposure to such individuals since I have been in SL for almost a year now. You've only been into SL for barely over 2 months now, from what I remember.

I did have my share of harassment back in the spring when someone was sending me a "surprise" and it told me to wear it. I wore it, and my hair got replaced with a rocket and blasted me up into the sky. That individual denied such action and was caught and banned from the club for good as a consequence.