THE traffic use and alt use survey

Inspiration to poll the electorate has returned...... how should traffic and alts be dealt with in SL - there are six options...

Why did you vote the way you did?

.....but please keep it brief and ABSOLUTELY NO FLAMING PLEASE !

What survey?

LOL - I had to type in the questions first - damn you were quick off the mark!

Voting is open now !

I was kind of torn between two answers. One thing I dont mind is the free alts, some use quite a few alts for legit reasons, me included when I feel like visiting one of the new areas and trying the 'new' start up process. I wouldnt do it if it wasnt free though. You learn something new every time....so I think the free alts arent the issue.

The issue is traffic in its current form. I suppose have it set to unique visitors is still open to being gammed, with those with a million alts all logging in once a day (or per 72 hours in this surveys rule). Can traffic and unique visitors be traced by IP? I wonder how that might work. Even at that though, the drain on resources and the amount of people on at any given time would have a large drop, which would be good.

More than likely, sooner or later, traffic will be gotten rid of all together. Its just a matter of time I guess. All those alts for trafficbotting are going to be dropped fast at that point. Replaced by green discs on the roof to make it look like you have people there

How about requiring all AV's to be tied to a CC or pay pal account, limit alts to 5 or 10, and change traffic to unique visitors in 24 hours?

Just curious, why 72 hours as the measuring period for unique avatars?

You forgot pie, so I didn't vote.

Seriously, my preferred option isn't on the survey. I would:

1. Eliminate free accounts, save for a free 30 day trial period.
2. Limit alt creation to no more than five per registered user. You could charge $10 per alt or keep it free, I don't care.
3. Keep traffic as a search factor, but seriously de-weight it.

and, while we're about it,

4. Delete any account that's been inactive for a year or more.

Not that LL is likely to do any of that any time soon. Their registered user numbers and concurrency figures would take MAJOR hits. (But they would be a heck of a lot more accurate.)

None of the above. Remove traffic, yes, and make all accounts tracable to a real, identified person. Alts can still be free, but MUST be linked to a real person, so LL knows which accounts belong to which users. And that way any person abusing alts can have all their alts banned by LL at once.

1. It dilutes the effect of bot use.

2. It increases the spread of count figures (of real visitors) to make the ranking easier to manage or be a reliable indicator of popularity.

My option isn't there either. Mine is similar to what Chris said. All avs should either have to be premium or at least have payment info on file and all alts must be linked that that primary av with a limit of 5 alts max.

I'm ambivalent on traffic as I don't own a business and as far as search goes, I ignore the traffic numbers anyway, so whatever system works best and most fairly is fine. As far as alts go, Free accounts don't bother me. All alts should be linked to a main account at LL. perhaps a limit on free alts, then additionals can be paid for. You could even give Premium Accounts more Free alts than Free Accounts as an incentive to go Premium. I do believe that if SL wants to be more than a closed game, and wants to be the new internet, than it is in it's interests to allow some sort of free access, if not a full featured one.

only residents add to traffic (you know those people that pay the $9 per month) and people who own land/a SIM.

This is their double edged sword because this is what they want, to be the future of the internet, but it's not going to happen as long as traffic is gamed and griefers are out of control. How do they do that without restricting access too much? Until that solution is found, I don't think they will ever be taken seriously by major corporations.

Tying alts to a Main account would be a start. Some of the griefing will be eliminated if you do away with disposable alts. Then there is always beheading.

Residents without payment info on file do not have access to the forums, so any poll (or indeed discussion) here will be systematically biased against that demographic.

Free alts are not the issue, anonymous alts are. Would be hard to enforce linking all of a person's alts to one account (multiple CCs or Paypal accounts; more than one account sometimes paid for by one CC in a family, etc.), but easy as pie to go back to linking all to payment info - which can then be used to cut down on abuse.

As for traffic, I never found it much use as a consumer; haven't consulted it in ages. No matter what you search for, seems the top spots are all SEXZ!! CLUBZ!!! or godawful malls. I'd rather go shopping on SLX or follow word-of-mouth. But I think LL is not going to take big hits on its population "metrics," so am only expecting tweaks to traffic, not an end to it.

Very true! With 37 votes cast, the majority - 61 per cent - reckon that free alts should stay, although with some restrictions (according to the comments).

if you remove traffic , who cares how many alts people have?

griefing.

Here are the results of this survey... (from 53 cast votes)

TRAFFIC
- 10 per cent want the traffic counting system to remain as it is
- 90 per cent want traffic removed/changed (50 per cent for removal, 40 per cent for visitor counting)
- Note: Many posters pointed out that if you got rid of traffic, the number of alts would not matter
- Note: Some posters felt that the the alt issue and the traffic issue should be decoupled

ALTS
- 58 per cent were happy for alt accounts to remain free
- Note: Some posters wanted controls on alts - they could be free, but linked to premium accounts, etc
- Note: The pool of voters (being on the forums) only includes residents with paid info on file or paid info used