Bandaid

I am sure that WAS the case, unfortunately mr H@x tried a major power grab this week with the sims coming up for auction and severely tipped the balance to where the Lindens have realized that business has to be done by all parties not just the ad-farmers.. This has been on the radar a long time as you well know, I am not sad to watch this bubble pop.

I think it was the case as well, but still; Who's gonna pick up all that tier?

I DO look at the ads. then I put them on my "NEVER EVER PATRONIZE" list.

The ads, as anooying as they are are useful in identifying businesses whose owners are so disagreeable to me that I will not do business withthem under any circumstances.

Sooz

"All this tier"? One friggin' group-deeded bonus 512 can spam out 35 sims. The biggest adfarmers only own a few sims worth of tier--totally negligible compared to the lost tier of folks who just leave SL out of disgust or frustration with adfarms. The whole landscamming "industry" is predicated on *tiny* amounts of land having hugely disproportionate effects. And advertising? The most (only?) effective in-world advertising pays no tier at all.

I really do wonder what the fraction is??? Say, 1/128th? Maybe 3/128th of the mainland? On the same token I wonder what percentage of people leave due, solely, to Adfarms? It is all speculation without having the hard facts.

probably trying to survive the initial wave of enforcement

In my opinion, LL will make back that tier in about 3 minutes because of the myriad of people like me who are suddenly thrilled about expanding and looking at land again.

The tier that never was incurred before today because land ownership sucked far FAR outweighs the piddly amount LL is going to lose over this most welcome action.

Furthermore, the neighbors and former victims of the extortion are going to gladly pick up the tier.

This is a drop in the ocean compared to the tier lost from the gambling ban, and the dumping of land after VAT. I think it's a non-issue.

One thing to note is that land is going to have more value in a lot of areas now once some cleanup happens. I believe LL will counter rising prices with an increase in sims to auction. So far the ones they have dropped have not caused prices to drop. So I think they will keep releasing new sims at a steady, prudent pace. That means more tier for LL, not less.

I have to say that whenever someone is talking about preserving freedoms and speaking of Second Life in the same sentence, I tend to glaze over. Linden Lab is a company plain and simple. It is not a democracy. They are in the business of making money. If they truly believed it was more profitable and a better business advantage to continue with the ad farming the way it was then they would have done so.

Any further decisions they make will also be based on profit. Some of those will be good some will be bad. It is likely going to require a balance of decisions to be made to ensure the maximum number of customers are happy, but it will not, and I repeat, will not, have anything to do with freedoms.

It takes a very humble person to admit how humble they are.

I would expect that the large amount of abandoned land that we can expect to see coming up (and yes, unfortunately probably leaving signs behind), that LL will hopefully be more proactive in reclaiming it.

If that's the case, there will be plenty of people more than happy to pick up those little pieces lying around.

I also wonder, where does the threshold lie? How can people follow such vague rules? Will this spill over into other sectors? For instance... Billy says..."Oh can you believe Suzy thinks that house actually looks good? ITS CRAP! I heard she wants 50,000 L for it and it's only on a 512. She's getting AR'd!" Now how is Big Brother LLabs gonna break the news to poor Suzy when, she thought she had a gem of a build on her hands and, she just paid up tier? It is well known that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. LL, please look to the future and set precedence with the future in mind.

I know zoning must seem like a lot of work up front but it is (as far as I'm concerned) the only way to democratically do this while insuring things don't get out of hand with AR's for ugly builds and legit adverts. Who's to say a beautiful build set for a ridiculous price is not also considered extortion? Seems to me any size lot, set to any price, with anything on it; Could be considered extortion.

owe....Ya got me

Ohhhh yes, the more LL put out exact rules on how it can happen, the more the schemers and the scammers can find ways around them and say they were within the rules.

Right now it's very clear - they are going to look at the intent of what is done and act on that. That, in my opinion, is THE best way to clean things up.

SL is going to be a better place for this, and if some people are disappointed because they came into SL expecting to make money and now can't, I would advise them to get some career counseling from the ex-casino owners who came into SL with the same expectation.

ETA:
How do you follow the rules? Simple. Don't buy a small lot with the objective of trying to harrass people into spending more than the land would otherwise be worth to get rid of your eyesore. How difficult is that?

If you read the blog, it's not about aesthetics. It's about adverting plots placed for sale at extortion prices. It's pretty clear.

OMG Look who's hoping to extort LL! An (allegedly reformed) adfarmer!

Let me revise my above comment:

OMFGLMFAOWTFLOLBBQROFLCOPTER.

/me gets down on the floor and pounds it repeatedly laughing uncontrollably.

The only way this would be better is if it were Um___ Hax under his own avatar posting this.

The first of the gaming/ageplay/banking protest threads defending adfarming. And almost certainly not the most amusing.

QFT



Maybe they can ask the ex casino owners to pick them up an application during their next shift at McDonalds.

Har Fairweather, Your reaction to my query was extreemely slanderous. That is a very serious claim you just made about me. I am reporting you for making it.

lol - Har. I hadn't noticed this before.

The thing is, the slippery slope argument doesn't work as well if LL is looking at intent. If you have an ugly build, and ugly avatar, or whatever, as long as the purpose isn't to harass your neighbors into paying an outlandish price for your land, you're fine. Beautiful build at a premium price? Not an issue. Eyesore advertisments, particle spammers, enough spinning crap to cause an epileptic seizure and land set for sale at 200L/m2? You're screwed. Serves your sorry ass right.

The answer isn't zoning, the answer is for ad farmers to stop being douchebags. The burden is on them, not us and not LL. It's up to them to figure out how to stop being total douches and start being respectable human beings. When they figure that out and start acting accordingly, they'll stop having problems. In fact, that's not a bad lesson in life. Treat others well and you might be a happier person.

I just have no sympathy whatsoever for the ad farmers. Zero.

Would love to see that court case for slander

Um Judge the defendant said "OMFGLMFAOWTFLOLBBQROFLCOPTER"

About me, and not in a good way.

OMFGLMFAOLOLROFL!

no it wasn't the "OMFGLMFAOWTFLOLBBQROFLCOPTER" part. And in no way did i mention "legal" action so I don't know where a judge comes into this. Keep reaching though.

LL have given you all the "leadership" you need and all you're going to get. (I'm using "you" in the plural to mean all the people that have done this sort of thing.)

The message couldn't be clearer - YOU decide how to clean up your act. What are you really trying to do by doing this sort of thing? Are you really trying to make money at whatever cost to other residents? Or do you really feel that you are providing some sort of service other than your insatiable greed and possible joy at making someone else's life miserable?

If you feel you are providing a service, then let's hear it. THEN find a way to provide that service without harassing other SL residents. Seems quite simple to me.

The Judge is necessary for the Joke,

Ask Joe and Suzy.

Perhaps he means where I said "allegedly reformed?" After all, he says he does still have some of those parcels around...

/me innocent look