account suspended for a FREE money orb!!

LIVE CHAT, people. That seems to be the only way to get anything done. Yes, you can get to live chat if you are not concierge... keep telling it that the answer isn't good enough.

I don't think that's available to basic accounts - only premium & conceirge..

It is not available for basic accounts... and it does NOT solve all the problems, i've found my probs solved 80% via chat *but* they are more technical matters... a problem like this one will never been solved via chat and you'll be invited to open a ticket.
And about ticket... for those that say: it requires a couple of days.. well im waiting from a couple of weeks (with multiple ups as operator suggested.. and multiple live chats..) with the last one.
Tickets (i've used it 5 times if im not wrong) NEVER worked for me in a reliable time... the longer one required 1 month or so to be addressed.

hmmm...


So those chairs that give away stuff to "peoples who's name begins with W" are ok though?

lucky chairs, and yeppers, since you aren't "Paying for a chance" at something

The OP says that she was suspended for something that "paid out an amount between L$1 & 3 per 7 minutes to a randomly selected visitor WITHOUT ANYONE PAYING THE ORB!!"

Lucky Chairs seem to me to be in this same category. The only difference is that you actually have to sit in one to snag the prize.

What I wonder is who the heck was the nincompoop that AR'd a random money ball???

So..ummm...

What about an orb that gives out free stuffs to people who are within a certain distance of the orb? My understanding is that as long as the stuff being handed out can't be turned into real life money that it's ok.

I have a Linden friend I chat with now and then. I may ask her. Recently though she said that the U.S. government is looking into virtual worlds such as SL regarding income made from inworld sales, etc.

That's the problem. You can turn it into real money.

Not quite

As long as people don't have to pay it, its fine. Its only gambling if you pay it and have a chance to get something back, or nothing, or less than you piad, etc..

Essentially, if you have to pay something for a chance at something that isn't guaranteed, it's illegal

(Since vendors are technically a chance thing with lag and such I had to put in the guaranteed bit lol)

Not if the item being given away is non transferrable. Can't sell it if its no transfer.

IF you have to pay it, it IS illegal, if it just hands things out of its own accord it is NOT illegal

No wager... no gambling. Period! There was no wager. There was no risk at all. It was a gratis gift in the purest sense of the word. Because it gives out randomly does not make it gambling. People get so caught up in the random number generation thing that they forget that it is ultimately about risk. Here, nothing was at risk.

Not so in this case - go back and check out the OP..


The rule is against it paying, to quote Strife, "any real-world currency or thing of value."

Even if it's no-transfer, I'd say (guess) that it still has value and still illegal. (edit: _if_ it also meets the other pay-in/random part of the rules)

Hasn't strife also commented, and said OP should not have been banned? If so, then the owners of BareRose are screwed, as well as anyone who has campers, lucky chairs, and other such things

The US Govt already HAS this system. It's called the IRS. Since ANY income needs to be reported (and that includes cashing out L$ for USD), this has already been covered.

It's more if the US Govt tags the L$ as "having value" agaisnt the world curency exchange. Something not likely to happen as it has no backing. The L$ only has value as a collectable. Residents may pay for it, but LL will not. LL only acts as a middle man to ensure payments are rendered. The USD (or other currency) is collected from the Resident buying the L$, not from LLthemselves, nor from any financial institution. Hence, LL's continued statement that the L$ has no value.

For the US Govt to state the L$ is income, they'd have to say buying poker chips from WalMart is an income *smirks*

Unless the US Govt wants to recognise the Second Life platform as a soverign nation. *Grins* Then all those jokes of "King Philip" will become prophcies instead ROFL.

For the main topic here though, It's quite clear the Linden doing the suspension had no clue what they were doing, and did not look into the matter properly. Or all of the story is not being told (no offense intended, only pointing out the possibility).

So, either a Linden made a mistake (they are human), the Linden needs training, or there are things going on of which we are not aware.

However, I will state for all the Chicken Littles reading; The sky is NOT falling. ^.~

~Jessy

Sadly, Strife doesn't run the place.. Strife: Stage a coup!!

If LL didn't make a mistake in this case, you're absolutely right - lots of places will be in trouble.

I know he doesn't lol, but he seems to have a better understanding than most residents

And since so many lucky chairs, linden trees, and other things exist and no action has been taken, I believe it almost 100% had to be a mistake... otherwise..well..freebies are now illegal =/

live chat seems to be concierge only

....ahhhh....those were the days!!

No, live chat is available to all premium accounts.

You need to access it through the thing called "Solution Finder". At each step, just tell it your answer isn't there. Do the search they require, then tell it again that your answer isn't there. After about four or five steps of this, you will be given the link to live chat.

If it tells you they aren't available, just try again later. They are supposed to be staffed 24 hours a day.

Here are the step-by-step instructions. I'm not concierge, and it worked for me.

1) Log on to the support portal

2) Select the Solution Finder

3) Select a category (doesn't matter which)

4) Under "View Popular Topics", click "My answer is not here".

5) Under Search, enter a word and search it (like "stuff"

6) On the search results page, click "My answer is not here"

7) You will now be given the option to submit a ticket, or to use Live Chat. Select the live chat link for the appropriate option: billing, inworld, or outworld.

lovely - thanks for the great instructions there!

If nothing is wagered, then it is not gambling.

It is legal in SL to give away stuff/money randomly.

A member of LL staff made a mistake here ... even Lindens can err.

To complicate things even further, LL has NOT banished all gambling. Just gambling on games of chance or real life sporting events. If you find a skill game, you're allowed to gamble all you want. There's often a fine line between games of skill and games of chance, and some Lindens (or at least one Linden) are approving or disapproving some games on a case by case basis.

In the case of the OP, if it was truly a random money giver, then the Linden in question definately made a mistake. In cases like this it's really a shame that we can't find out the name of the person that filed the bogus AR and the Linden that unfairly suspended the OP.