Today's thread on bots

So you are saying that it strengthens the economy, rather than makes LL income? If you are, the effect of taking away camping would be negligible. And, I expect in the absence of traffic, other avenues would open up to strengthen the economy.

Phil seems rather unsettled!!

Sure I know the real world isn't perfect and neither is this one. In the real world one gets streetwise to sniff out the cheaters or our leaders (lol) legislate.

Here the cheaters and parasites move in and try to do the same thing, that is inevitable. It is also inevitable that people here will get streetwise and most likely demand legislation. Of course legislation in that sense won't happen, but I hope and pray that they, the Lindens, do take action against the selfish actions of a few who, with eyes only on their own interests, exploit the rest of us.

I beg to differ with you Phil. It's not just here at the forums wherein the crap lies. This bot issue is starting to crop up everywhere. Blogs are mentioning them, the SL Herald is taking notice, there are Jira's on the sl website....it won't be long now before people start creating BOT ANNIHILATION SCRIPTS! People are pissed. People are sick of gamers like you and if LL doesn't do something about it, the war will be on and many bots will suffer the death they so deserve.

Signed,
Nutters

No I actually can find them. If you weren't so busy spinning things you'd even realize you had suggested it on numerous occasions.

I mean think about it, what would your advice be to someone starting business upset that they don't show up on the places search?

Since you spend time till your blue in the face defending the use of Trafficbots .. it seems pretty clear what it would be - even if you hadn't been more specific.

oh certainly.

i was offered L$250 per day to put someones' place in my picks. there are certainly other markets with potential to game the system, but the revenue will still always find its way back to LL ultimately.

sure, it's a small income, but it counts as income until it either stops coming, or starts costing LL. until either of those two things happen, i don't predict a change in traffic counts importance will be forthcoming.

Hmmmm I don't recall anyone being scammed, swindled or grifted, overpaying for shoddy goods, had land pulled out from under them, had their identity compromised, cheated on, or otherwise had their quality of life infringed on IN the Forum. It must have happened the week I was on vacation.

But it's still not an income for LL; campers just change the direction of flow of very small amount (in the grand scheme of things) of L$.

In what way?

LMAO

i see 3-4 people consistently debating morals.

some people find an activity repulsive, while others find it wonderful.

BSDM
adult-child porn
gambling
bot traffic

you are never ever going to agree. your points have been made, your stances have been established. let it go. it's going nowhere and you are all beginning to sound childish. ALL of you.

Sorry mom.

If someone wants to know how to improve their Places rankings, I'll tell them, but that's not what you said. If you can't find quotes to substantiate what you said, then shut up, and stop waffling.

what about those days when an owner did not make enough income to cover costs? now they are buying L$ to tide them over.

I think there's been a subtle change of subject here.

I wonder if the people who use traffic bots would place a nice large sign at the front of their stores. A sign that says something like this:
"Greetings, you my have come to my store thinking I had a traffic flow of xxxx customers per day. But I actually run xx bots on a platform 500m above the store. So my traffic count really reflects my bots not actual customers."

If not, why not? Because they can't spare 1 prim? They want to hide their dishonest dealings?

Give us some answers. Put up the sign and then tell us how it affects your business.

If someone is unable to cover the costs of paying campers, then they would be very stupid to not either consider ceasing trading, or taking a serious look at their business model/products. I'm sure there are instances where someone buys L$ to pay campers, but I bet it's a small percentage of the whole - after all, using campers is intended to boost profits via the higher exposure their business gains.

See post above.

i have a great deal of respect for Phils business sense and willingness to share "secrets of success" with no expectations in return.

do you each really want to go toe to toe in a debate that will never have a conclusion?

what's your goal?

Phil, no one is going to agree with your stance. i will publicly announced that while overuse of bots is desctructive, i feel "some" use of bots should be accepted. if that helps end this arguement, i will post it here.

this is mostly meant for Phil. Phil, you are creative and learned and generally kind. i think you should care "a little" about such a reputation falling to the wayside and being replaced with one that simply leads people to believe you must always be right... everyone is right a little. and everyone is wrong a little. let it go.

you too Chip. you surprise me. Collette, it's a waste of breath. you ethically disagree with someone. there will be no resolution. someone please take the high road and be the first to stop replying.

at the minimum, breaking even (at worst) allows a landowner to continue trying to make $ in 2L, and tier is a beautiful thing if you are a Linden stock holder.

i have seen signs that say "teleport to camping", so you know there is bots or campers, but you don't have to look at them or be 'too' affected by their presence. i appreciate that owners are at least trying to appease potential customers.

There is always someone willing to buy the land and take on that tier; if there wasn't, land prices would be next to 0L.

My goal is to discourage people from engaging in dishonest and unethical business practices, and to elucidate why they're dishonest and unethical. There can be no definitive conclusion because it will always be an ongoing problem until the system changes. That makes it all the more important for people to speak out on the issue, and hopefully influence the tide of public opinion against those who engage in this practice to the point where public distaste for trafficbots negates any advantage gained by a higher search ranking. I certainly won't be patting Phil on the back, nor will I ever knowingly patronize the business of anyone who games their search ranking to the detriment of thier more honest competitors, and if I can influence even one other person to do the same then my breath and my time have not been wasted.

I would like to talk about the bots that LL (PU) has out there...

But first, I have to take you back, way back to the era when the US government was experimenting in AI. Yeah...a self aware program. I had the privilege of knowing one of the team members of several teams (companies) hired by Uncle Sam to produce a self aware program. Well back in the 1980's it actually happened. This person, along with a group of nearly 20 others produced a self aware program. They announced it to the government who hired them, and within 2 days they found themselves in an empty lab, and canceled contract with Uncle. The equipment and documentation had all been confiscated.
Since then and even from before those days, we have been under a constant barrage of desensitizing propaganda from the media concerning AI. Many of the movies we watch are chocked full of the gospel or the apocalypses of AI.

What if. And I say this without wearing a tinfoil hat. There already is a form of AI out there?
What if it could be walking beside you in (PU) and you don't even know it? To hell with the bots that vendors use, what about the bots that LL (I mean PU) use? What form of intelligence is behind some (if not all) of them?

Now this may seem far fetched to many of you... (So was the theory that the Earth is round) but what if it is an actual fact today?

true dat