Spicy Chick estates (help)

Yea, It was for anybody....Partly my fault. But this is still messed up.......

This is my first time purchasing land...Didn't even know that option existed........

There is a complain log online that says this owner does give it back..For free or for a price.....

They are not online yet......last time they were online is unknown..

When you set your land for sale to "anybody", "anybody", including people who aren't even in the sim at that exact instant, can TP in and buy it before you even know they are there. Most of the time, they are automated purchasing agents (or "bots", but humans also can do it.

This is my first time purchasing land...Didn't even know that option existed........

There is a complain log online that says this owner does give it back..For free or for a price.....

They are not online yet......last time they were online is unknown..

This is important. I think many new people understandable don't know about land bots and how the work, and think that if the coast is clear, they don't have anything to worry about. Again,, there needs to be a big Land Buying Tutorial that covers EVERYTHING somewhere accessable. Not on some Wiki, but preferably on the Official Website.

I'm not holding my breath, however.

Or they build in some sort of delay to land sales whereby the seller can pull out. For those who think they know what their doing and don't want the delay they could have an option for no delay on sales.

Don't need a landbot for this

They can't realize that anyone, even in an adjacent sim, could also just snap it right up?

I don't think it is landbots that are the issue, but lack of realization of the instantaneous nature of land sales, both in posting and purchasing.

Regardless, why wouldn't someone at least think about why there is an option to "sell to specific user: xxx" option in the dialog?

Anyway. I guess they really need to turn it into a wizard.

"It looks like you are trying to sell your land...

Do you want to:
1) Put it on the public market for sale to anyone?
2) Sell it only to someone specific?
3) Transfer it to a friend?
4) Change the group it is deeded under?

Note that all land sales are posted across the grid immediately, and land set for sale to anyone can be purchased by someone the moment you put it up for sale. Residents do not have to be present in your locale to purchase your land, and automated purchasing agents are in use by residents, which can purchase your land in an instant.

ALL LAND SALES ARE FINAL! As such, make sure you are doing it the right way. If you are unsure of what you want to do, please see the (Land KB link) for more information."

Still, at some point, it NEEDS to be chalked up to "a learning experience" when you screw up. There's only so much hand-holding that is feasible before it becomes insulting, and only so much layering of confirmation before it becomes inane and cumbersome.

Really, I think a simple warning/disclaimer combo notice would suffice:

"Land sales are FINAL. That means, if you make a mistake, you will most likely have to live with the consequences. Please take the time to educate yourself about your options and how to use the land sales/transfer dialog before doing so. Failure to properly use this function can result in the loss of your land! (links to Land KB)"

I mean, here's what you have (now):

1) How much do you want to sell it for?
2) Who do you want to sell it to? (ANYONE? leave blank; Specific User? Type name, pick from list)
3) Sell the objects on the land with the land or not?

Then, a confirmation box pops up, describing the action and asking you if that is REALLY what you wanna do.

Doesn't seem too technical to me. The disconnect is that people make a grossly incorrect assumption, which becomes a very expensive mistake. The problem isn't a technical one, but a social one.

For the most part, I don't have a huge amount of sympathy. It's not like there is NO information about the problem in the Knowledgebase, forums, Video tutorial, NCI and other newbie organizations in-world, and a wealth of residents who will gladly answer the question. All one has to do is spend a little time looking / asking questions. Time that is often far cheaper than the cost of the mistake.

The Wizard or at least a more verbose disclaimer would probably add a crucial bit of information for those that insist on acting on their ignorance, but still, would there be outraged blog entries and forum threads about "landbots stealing land from unususpecting newbies" with a Wizard like that in place? Probably so. At some point, though, I have to say to the "victim": "It's a hard lesson; learn it and be wise next time".

rub salt in the open wombs

Oooh, a land-selling wizard - yes, that sounds like a good idea.

I posted this on Y2P a few weeks ago in reference to another article over there:

I say I don't have a huge amount of sympathy, but I still do have some. Still, when you make a mistake, own up to your responsibility in making it, learn from it, try to fix it as best you can, then move on.

Oooh, a land-selling wizard - yes, that sounds like a good idea.

(And why do people trade land away at L$1 anyway? I'm pretty sure I'd just put L$0 if I didn't know any better which is a whole lot safer since the mistake is impossible to make then)

Spicy Chic Estates are known doing this to people. LL generally won't get involved, but if I were you I would still call them submit tickets live chat, or whatever. I think it's good that they hear of the people who are doing this to the community and the effect that them not getting involved has.

I've seen threads like this to many times, and the biggest thing that makes me sick to my stomach is the posters that step in to rub salt in the open wombs by calling them stupid. The fact of the matter is that most people have no idea that bots exist and can buy in less than a second. And why would they know if they don't read the forums on a regular basis. There's also several people in SL who don't speak English as a first language so might not understand warnings.

Error or not, it is not right for someone to take advantage of a mistake like that. It's just plain wrong. Someone should not be able to make (steal) hundreds of dollars from someone just because they are uneducated when it comes to bots or they make a simple easy to make error.

Something like this happened to me some time ago. I was making a straight trade of land with one of my neighbors. I had already sold my land to him but then I realized that my tier was still donated to my group and I was afraid if I bought his land for myself I would go over tier for the month so I asked him to wait while I researched what to do. But not knowing, as I did from reading about it, what could happen he impetuously set it to sale "to anyone" so that I could buy it straight to the group. Before he could even tell me what he had done three strangers appeared and the land had been bought by one of them.
He IM'd the owner of the group that had bought the land and, by nothing but good luck, it turned out to be a reputable land dealer, Skye Whitcroft. She first very kindly and patiently talked me throught the process of getting my tier back from my group and then sold me the land for the same $L1, bless her.
But I know it could just as easily have been someone who would have kept the land. (My neighbor was prepared to give me another, even better piece to make up for it so he would have been the loser.)
It seems to me that a general message when you first go in world would help: WARNING DO NOT ENGAGE IN LINDEN DOLLAR TRANSACTIONS OR LAND TRANSACTIONS WITHOUT CAREFUL RESEARCH. THERE ARE MANY WAYS YOU CAN BE CHEATED AND MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL TRY TO CHEAT YOU. LINDEN LABS ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY.
And why not make sell to a specific person the default and make it take an extra step to sell "to anyone" - with a warning.