Another adult merchant gives up...

Today I tried to get a few things at Friday's Adult Shop. It's gone - the parcel in Sistiana has been vacated, the classified ads removed, and the founder simply has a note in their profile saying "Yeah, I'm done.".

That business has been around for as long as I have been in SL - over three years. Nothing extreme, just decent prim and panty layer genitalia.

How many more SL adult merchants does LL have to destroy before they will be happy?

Well.. all?

Now, now, now, Ceera, LL doesn't want adult content to go away, they just want it off to one side - albeit far off to one side.

Think Disneyland!

I know I totally shelved my plans to reopen my adult businesses thanks to all this crap. I am not surprised others are saying enough is enough. I just cant help but feel like this is a FIRST step and that more draconian measure are yet to come.

Bow to our new overlord!

One for each time people can ignore the clear indication that government regulation is driving this ... and ignore that in favor of blaming a company with investors to please.

What difference does that make to the results?

Two years ago LL first blogged about this, this move has sweet FA to do with that government proposal.

I'm going to wait until it actually happens before getting worked up about it.

Merchants come and go all the time. Whether this one left for the assumed reasons, I don't know. But I do know that the human drive is high, and adult activities would be excised from SL kicking and screaming until the bitter end.

It makes a huge difference. The Lindens aren't destroying anyone ... the federal government is regulating them ... and us, you and I. We are in this together.

Darien knew this best. She tried to tell you that the Lindens were doing us a favor letting us know anything at all. Of course she was shouted down ... she didn't tell people what they wanted to hear.

I can't say for sure what this merchant's reason was. But they were in business for over three years, and as recently as a month ago had several parcels in that sim and a thriving business. This wasn't some "tried it for a month and sank" newbie. It was a well-established merchant with an inventory of hundreds of products.

LL is stupid.
It takes a LOT of work to move a sim-wide store to another sim - adult island.
ALL the traffic will be gone, EVERYTHING needs to be rezzed again, and the owner has to set everything up himself ( dont think M Linden comes over to help an owner, oh no).

So yea, most owners will just ''leave'' their business and either leave SL or go in excile.
This is the masterplan of LL, they KNEW almost nobody would move but leave.
Step one has been made of LL's masterplan.

There's no doubt that the adult rule changes will affect existing creators in different ways. I personally think that anybody acting at this stage is jumping the gun. The new rules are not in place, we haven't seen the consequences yet, and there are certainly no legitimate teens mingling in the mainland yet.

LL might make it stupidly inconvenient, but that won't thwart an entire subculture within SL.

FINALLY! Somebody said it. We have no idea what exactly is going to happen. I'm sure many of you will say that you know, but if you're not a Linden then it's all guesswork.

I understand the concern, but to bail out based on how this all will work out seems foolish to me. What's wrong with waiting awhile to see what happens to sales, etc.

What difference does that make to the results?

True. But Ll has shown through this affair to be pretty much incompetent/untrustworthy. I can't blame people for getting frustrated and deciding that LL is not worth doing business with. They are on one hand telling business owners that their ads will be censored and filtered, yet they won't give a listing of what terms are to be censored and filtered. How can you advertise effectively under those circumstances.?

It's also not in place yet. I understand a desire to plan ahead, but as we are all aware, it's going to be a mad scramble when LL turns it on weeks before it's really ready. It's a bump in the road - not a brick wall. At least, until proven otherwise.

And the good news about LL being incompetent/untrustworthy is, whatever their agenda is, and to whom, they'll fuck it up. Whatever their goals are, they'll likely fail. So yay for us, the little people who just want to do our adult thing!

Oh, and pssst! I'm totally naked in my forum avatar! And LL hasn't even managed to warn me.

Adapt, or die. That is the only way to do business in SL. Some get tired of adapting, and I can understand that. Some days I want to throw in the towel too. But then they win, and I really don't want that. Someday I may leave SL, but I want to do it at the top of my game, or because something better came along, not because I couldn't hack it.

These coming days will show who is truly determined and serious, and who isn't. Some titans will fall...but perhaps they weren't such titans after all. New and promising upstarts will move into their place - and the grid will perhaps be better for it.

No offense intended, and I honestly mean this, but can I ask you a quick question?

Have you noticed that since this information about investigations and the glancing eye of Congress has been brought forward, with a firm reporting deadline for later this year ... that even the heavy detractors of the Linden plan that live in the United States have backed off some of their over-the-edge criticism?

Again, not trying to be in your face here ... not at all. Go look for yourself on that other thread. You will notice quite a change in level of attacks from some posters, since this information was presented.

I'm not American bashing, and I am an American ... but as an American I can say that right now, at this point in history our government is capable of anything ... A N Y T H I N G.

Even if there is nothing set in stone, no law passed, no sanctions released ... it has to at lease be said that the Lindens might be scared, and reacting. They might be scared as a company that doesn't have the money to fight against this, and doesn't want to be left without a chair when the music stops playing.

Respectfully submitted ...

I love this post.

I'd imagine for some, it doesn't matter if it's in place or not. They may just be saying "FU LL and your SL" you just aren't worth it. Whatever plan they put in place, they are just as likely to have another idiotic scheme in a few months and start the dance all over again.

Reading "Yeah, I'm done" in the profile could be that they left for a number of reasons. I would not assume it is about the adult policy changes. Examples of other reasons:

a) The drama/hassles are getting too much.
b) It was interesting to do this for a while but now I want to do something else.
c) Getting harder and harder to meet tier *and* make a profit, this is too much work for not even McDonalds level wages especially if it does not even pay for itself.
d) Other technical problems with SL.
e) Found out that their work is being ripped off and being sold cheaper.

The list could go on...

I would not assume to know the reasons personally.

And a lot of good that will do you.


Seems Darien closed up shop and walked away. Are you implying we should all follow her example?


The guesswork is important given that a good many non-Linden people invest both their time as well as their money in this experiment - and you know what they say about time?


I don't think a mad scramble is good enough - even for lab rats.


Sounds like a manifesto. Is it the Lindens' prescription? If so I wish they'd put it in the TOS so I could have made my decision a year ago.

Oh silly me! That is the TOS, isn't it?

Which brings me back to Love's first post: I guess I should have gotten all worked up about it nigh on two years ago when I first scanned the TOS, a précis of which could easily be managed in the admonition that "there'll be tears before bedtime".

Indeed, because 'for the children' makes a good sound bite with those that forget that as a parent it is their responsibility to keep the kids out of places they shouldn't be.