Finding someone on a map

Sometimes for quirky reasons friends appear listed as online but are actually not, I had a odd experience where I logged on and it showed someone as being online that I can see on map, and so I tp to the destination, but the avatar was not there because they were offline. Any help explaining why this happened, thank you.

The friends list is one of those bits of SL that has odd glitches, it just can't be relied on as being completely accurate.

But what I dont understand is on the profile and it says find person on map, I was able to do that and tp.

Were they on shortly before? It could be one of those long log-outs where you still register as inworld after you've gone - I had one that still showed me online when my pc had been turned off for several hours.

It was about hour and half to two hours later as it turns out

It's possible then, but unlikely, that it was a long log-out - unlikely only because they usually take a few minutes, although as I said I had one that took 7-8 hours. That one had to be fixed by support.

It has to be in some way that SL isn't registering when your friend logs off, but the cause is probably one of those things we'll never know and just have to live with.

Ok thank you, I suppose iIwas hoping that someone else had experienced this, or might have an idea why such a thing happens.

Think of it as a database error. The individual logged out, but due to a software glitch, the software failed to check the box indicating the avatar was logged out, so even though they are gone, the "friends" list still shows them logged in and the map responds accordingly reporting their last location.

I had a case last night where a friend crashed. My avi detector, the SL Friends Monitor program and the SL Friends website all showed him gone almost instantly, and his green dot disappeared from the map a few seconds after that. However, the inworld Friends list continued to show him logged in - I even closed and reopened the window a few times. He didn't actually get logged back in for about 25 minutes, but the Friends list continued to show him online that entire time.

Could someone explain please? What is an AVI detector?

It looks to me as though SL tries to offer an expectation of privacy, accomplished mainly by unticking the box by the friend's name you'd prefer not know you're in-world. But this door has no lock. Someone can send an IM and immediately determine the recipient's online status. Why not fix it?

Seems like loose thinking to me.

people can also use scripts to know when someone is on

It is not just the sending of IMs. If you and the other person both belong to the same group, one can easily see if the other is online by just pulling up group info.

An avi detector is an object that has a script running in it to tell you when a person is online or not. Similar to the things you see in stores that tell you whether or not the store owner is online or not at any given time. They can be worn, HUD attached, or rezzed inworld depending on how they are made.

Thank for the replies, I hope these help the person involved, who cannot understand how I found them after they were logged off,