Is there any point in trying to help ?

Is there any point trying to get a problem sorted out or help people in SL ?

Tonight I was at one of my favourite places in sl , abbootts aerodrome. Someone had left a griefing device nearby which was -it seemed amusing at first- filling the air with literally hundreds of images of a teenage mutant ninja turtle.

The staff for abbots who were there seemed quite rightly alarmed and annoyed by events and at a loss what to do. I hated seeing such a fantastic place under threat.

I tired to contact inworld and outworld help and was told to fill in abuse reports.

The situation was already affecting performance at Abbots and at least one neigbouring region and - not being a tech - I assumed this was pretty serious - these things seemed self replicating... the sky was FULLof them.

In the end I tried to leave but more fool me got frozen at abbots..my internet connection locked to.

I dont blame the staff at I spoke to theres only so much they can do and I know only too well that the people on the frontline' who take the brunt of stupid policies dumped on them by people 'higher up' who dont come anywhere near their customers.

Im sure many people know how useless abuse reports are. Ive filed several and never got even the most basic of replies to acknowledge them, let alone progress reports or results.

Its time those in charge of lindens got and listened to their customers.

I also think that its time for a 'rapid response team' to deal with these attacks. Im no tech but one day one of these events might bring Lindens crashing down like a stack of cards. What will we do then fill in more abuse reports ?

That is a pretty common attack by griefers who want to crash a sim.

As for the unanswered ARs, are you sure you have filled them out completely, entering ALL the information asked for? They really won't respond if you don't.

One thought on such a sim attack - if someone with land powers could turn off scripts for people not in group on the sim, that might stop the griefing objects. Just a thought.

I forgot to add I also tried to contact the owners of the land the problem semed to be coming from...they were all off line.

As for filling in the abuse forms in the past I was very precise reporting the incidents using the system as they happened.

Abbott's is a pain becuase there are sandboxes all around it. I'm always getting attacked flying around there

I don't get it. I was at a newbie friendly hangout last night. Fairly new guy pops in and we have a quick chat in which I offer any help he might need. I see that he types in 'boom' in a private channel just before he says bye and poofs. The asshole had left 75 prims of God knows what behind. Didn't even bother contacting Lindens as there's no way they'll do anything, so just sent his prims back to him.

Few points I'd like to comment here. Keep in mind I am only speaking for myself, having been in SL for over two years and having done in-world secuirty for over a year now.

1) LL does look at ARs. They can be handled quickly, or take weeks to handle. What prioity system LL uses is beyond me, but seems to have relevance to the type of AR (Exploits, then Harressment, etc etc, down to person-to-person disputes of objects on land) and on how many ARs come in and how fast they come in on a single account/object.

2) LL can not put in place a "rapid response" team. The logistics of such an undertaking have grown beyond what is possible witht he expansion of the grid. The number of employees LL would need to do such, would drive tier so far up to pay for it all, that most wouldn't be able to afford to be in SL anymore. LL can not ask Residents to be a "police force". If they did, griefers would just apply for being on the "police" and make things 100 times worse.

3) Any land owner with a club/store/etc can easily protect agasint griefing. In any form short of IM harrassment of individuals (which is up tot he individual to AR and Mute). LL's land tools are complete on this. Diversity in the handling of such can be down with Group Land and numerous devices for sale buy a large number of very talented scriptors.

I'll close by saying that griefers are just sad. They lack the skills to be in SL, so choose to lash out like a child. They can not learn social skills, their building skills are average at best, and their scripting ability is reminicent of BASIC programming. They crave attention. It's why they attack newbies. a) they're easy targets as they do not know the SL system yet, and b) by doing so they gain the attention of Residents and LL alike. Want to hurt a griefer in the worst way? Ignore them. If they bother, then simply Ban/Mute clean up and go on. Hard to do at times due to frustration, I know, but any reaction of yours just eggs their pitiful egos on.

~Jessy

Just curious - how did you know what he typed in a private channel?

Prolly had a bunch of scripts scanning a grillion channels and lagging the sim

Although, the griefers are so sad that they probably only use one or two default channels for their script-kiddie stuff.



This thing about land tools being enough to deal with most griefing:
Yes if you happen to be on your land 24/7, or can arrange for friends/employees to work rolling shifts to cover 24 hours.
Otherwise, you either block all access to the land when you're no inworld, or batten down everything so that nobody can do anything but wander around, look and put up with any text/voice griefing from others.
If people on your land can't AR a griefer, and have that dealt with, then that's really sad.

Not tons of scripts, just good ol' Force Prophesies

Sling, the whole idea of this hangout (set up by a forum regular) is that it's open to everyone, including newbies looking for help.

I could have AR'd this guy, but I haven't had a response from an AR once this year, so what's the point? You just have to deal with it and move on.

Oddly enough, Mr 'Boom' tried to get back onto the land several times last night, no doubt miffed at having his prims returned to him so quickly. It was fun watching him bounce in and out again, as he's been banned

The only truly private channel is IM.

Returned items that are COPY just get deleted, not returned. So griefers aren't spammed by their own junk. Sadly, that option of LL's only helps the griefers. *shrugs*

As for needing to be on the land 24/7 to deal with griefers using SL land tools,yes. Though that's where all those devices come into play to deal with such automatically. Then there are agencies that will help monitor your land(s), and you can always empower friends to do the same.

Very rarely are people with places that atract griefers not on for extended periods. If that is the case, then yes, the land needs to be "locked down" for these "vacations" when the landowner, or managers, are not going to be present for several days.

Same as RL. You don't go away and not lock your doors.

~Jessy

I think its a real shame because Abbots is one of the most impressive places to visit in SL.

yes it is..it's a wonderful build.

This might be tough for Abbott's.. people are always rezzing vehicles there.

Sorry, I meant only when being attacked by a sim-crasher - and only until the particle-generating objects have been disposed of. Sort of lock-down-and-find-the-intruder action, strictly temprorary.

I figured that's what you meant. If a sim was being crashed by a scripted object, and scripting was turned off, would the script in the object still run? I know that I can wear my AO into a no-script parcel, and it still works...

I know for a certainty worn objects will still work. Just don't know about a rogue object. Anybody more knowledgeabe about this? If not, might be worth a test with a (non-crashing, I hope) particle emitter.

M7y land is no script, except for group members, yet someone just crashed the sim by throwing a particle emitter onto the land. Couldn't AR him, as LL system was going down and refused 2 ARs. When sim was back up found his name no longer existed, and basically you can't file an AR without a name.

Getting bored with this.

Im sorry but I think the best solution would be a rapid call out unit with the power to tackle these things. They slow sl down and whether AR forms are read or not the process takes too long.

One day one of these things might just spread and spread that thing I saw at abbotts reminded me of locusts... I was simply in the end immobilized by them. Abbots was affected and so was at least one other sim. The best of it is I believe I found the source of the problem and think if someone with the power had been around deleted it immediately.

Youre telling me lindens cant set up a 'super squad ' of between five and ten people to sort these problems out ?

Of course they can.......though I think it would more in line of maybe 25 to 50 people. People always point out how huge the grid is but what are we talking about here? It's not like a continent in real life where it takes hours to cover end to end......it's more like seconds. We all know that everything that happens in SL is monitored and logged by LL's servers.....that's automatic with no human intervention unless there is a failure (which is also logged). With a little effort on LL's part there could be "trip wires" that trigger attention to a human.........someone who has a cush job of drinking coffee, eating donuts while playing in SL. Those folks don't even have to be at "the office"...........sitting in their personal living rooms on their own soft sofas snuggling their significant others. All it would take is for LL to do it..........because, no matter how many excuses people may toss out, it can be done. And I simply cannot believe the added cost of proper system monitoring would be substantial..........more in line (or even slightly below) entry level network maintenance pay.

It boils down to what is important to the company that has the problem........if they care enough to fix it.

Id have thought lindens would do well to listen to people in world who report these things we all know how destructive malicious hackers and the like can be. I dont know how much damage these things can do at present but surely best to nip em in the bud and come down hard on the people who use them.

Surely Lindens would be protecting their own interests as much as their customers pleasure and enjoyment of sl.

I sent an AR Friday (10/26) in regard to an idiot who was threatening me and challenging me on my "Fiancee's" land, which will soon be a partnership. He was also makking death threats to the President and claiming to be associated with Osama Bin Laden and declaring attacks to be conducted in the U.S. the following day.

I had no land controls just then, and could not locate anyone for SL "Police" or any security
at all. While I was throwing his childish Bulls*** back in his face, I sent a report to Linden via the AR system and got an immediate reply via E-mail.

It probably helps that I put in the AR that I work for the Department of Homeland Security in RL...<grin>...and can contact FBI and FCC very quickly.

was your reply a standard 'copied letter' or did it promise immediate action..and was immediate action taken? i just hope this chap didnt have a self replicating ninja or mario bomb on his person.....