Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Answers to Questions

This. from what I have seen, they are right now for people who like to get under the hood, tinker, do the work. Like Linux. But there are those of us who just want to turn it on and play, so SL is the thing, just like Windows.



In this case , it can be said the money doesn't even have to be chased. It's here already, but LL just doesn't like the source.

It also makes it very difficult to independently log and archive until transcripted. It also makes it impossible to text search and quote in the forum until transcripted.

Logging, independent verification, the ability to confirm, review and document are vital where the issue of trust is concerned.

The majority of the paying clients discussing this issue on this forum appear to have trust issues, regardless of their actual positions on the adult content matter. I submit the issue of maintaining the trust of paying clients takes precedence. Just because some people will not trust Linden no matter what action the company takes does NOT mean trust simply doesn't matter.

That would be true if there were only one of you answering questions. With 5 of you there, you can each answer one question in text each at the same time, meaning 5 x the questions answered. With voice, only one of you can speak at a time. That, coupled with the additional fact that voice is NOT 5x faster than text, you have actually answered less by using it.

You're really not very good at this, are you?

History. Back when the "Broadly Offensive" sermon came out, it's main focus was "Building Trust". But that has always been the problem with LL. They haven't once gone the extra mile, taken the more inconvenient for them route, done anything to earn the trust of their customers.

Off looking for a more viable virtual world run by real people with common sense and real integrity (not the fake "age verification system" kind).

But, please do go ahead and accelerate the process.. put the hammer down on the train engines. It will be a most spectacular wreck.

Yep, very true. Thing is, we have a bunch of neophytes at the train controls, and they think this is the best thing since sliced bread. Only after the train has wrecked will they finally perceive the extent of their hubris (yes, that means you, Blondin).

However, I guess if they are OK with shedding half their customer base (give or take 2-4%), there's not much else to be said.

It will be an incredible resume addition: "Cratered a promising, market-leading, cutting-edge virtual world via policy misadventure."

Please, you're making an assertion that isn't supported by the evidence. "It seems to me that Linden Labs believes the big money is to be found in convincing businesses to 'set up shop' on the Main Grid." might be better. There's no evidence that the demand exists, or that the porn is what's keeping the demand from existing, other than Nany Kuyo's claims.

I can only speak for myself, but while analizing the case as a 38 years old and academical triple graduated european citizen and - by the way - customer, I gave up to negotiate essentials with a wall - (not you is meant because you are only the messenger, but the Linden Lab management) - so the reason for me to stop comments, views and questions is:

I AM NOT AN IDIOT!

Much of us offered, since weeks... - angry or not, polite written or not - help and hints to LL, to find non-reactionary and non-repressive ways, to create - if really necessary (and we have doubts that it would be really necessary!) - kind of social biotopes on the grid.

I. e. - to create a pure PG area/continent, instead of trampling on our nervs, our dignity and on our pockets, was suggested many times and for logical reasons.

But to try to make a kind of LL-driven culture-politic on the grid is impossible in a way, wich creates positive discrimination for specific target groups and negative discriminations for other target groups.

So, LL's behavior is in conflict with ethical values, constitutional standards and customer-relationship standards - and service standards of people from all over the world.

We are many thousand customers, we are from many nations and different continents and time-zones, we pay LL millions of dollars monthly and per year, and we get ONE contact person in here? One? In only one language? With only 8 so called answers a day?

Instead of a professional, well briefed and available service-staff?

While 99% of all customers have so far no clue about what is going on in background?

And time is running...

And the most answers are just slaps, jabs and upper-cuts for the people who made SL famous and LL big and rich.

This is, sorry, absolute ridiculous.

LL provides no impression, that it will think and act new in this case - so it is worthless to type anything further.

Since ethical, logical, or any reasonable answers, suggestions and questions are wasted time, I gave a monetary answer. I gave a region away and play now free of fees until better alternatives - free ones, or for more reasonable prices - are somewhere established.

The web is on its way to create such.

End of signal.

Shadows? You can get shadows on SL too. That's just a matter of the client you're using... and doesn't work on most video cards.
Because with no users and no user content, you might as well just make your 3d models in a local rendering program on your PC and never publish them. It's like Windows vs Linux, with no Apple providing a middle ground. Windows might suck and Macs might be expensive, but if you need actual end-user applications you have to pay Microsoft or Apple one way or another. The applications are the content in SL created by the SL economy. Without them, why would anyone pay a penny for hosting their OpenSim?

People are giving up due to systematic problems in this entire process. Lack of proper moderation in the forum and lack of a FAQ to weed out misinformation and repeat questions build upon a general lack of confidence based on past mishandled situations.

Moderation is important to keep the posts relevant and to weed out some of the more extreme positions on either side (references to the UN charter, or Nazi's, or on the other side, Nany's posts).

A FAQ is important so that people know where LL currently stands and do not have to re-ask the same questions. If you are willing to give an answer in this forum, why is it 'not ready' to be part of a FAQ? The FAQ can have a disclaimer that the information is subject to change and is presented for discussion purposes.

It is also important not to simply delete the older FAQ's and/or threads, as the changes let people see that progress is being made.

You do not have to spill all the beans, but better communication *is* neccessary for you to even pretend there is anything resembling a fair process.

And after 9 days you get to pay tier on both parcels.

To be fair, just because you do not see any evidence does not mean it does not exist. LL may have studies leading them to believe it does. That does not mean they do have any such studies or that if they do, that those studies were not themselves flawed, but not believing something does not in and of itself make it untrue.

Not to mention that we only have the word of people at the meeting/who have heard the voice chat that the transcription is accurate. If everything was in text there would be multiple redundant transcripts in chat logs for everyone there who had logging enabled, making any changes obvious to anyone who compared the transcript to a chat log.

It depends on whether you use a community portal or not.

Well, I've been dealing with a medical emergency. Which is why I was up so late last night, I was online calming down after the trip to the emergency room.

That may be true. I'm not involved where I would know such. What remains would be for the presentation of evidence suitable to show where the money really is, and people tend to not do that sort of thing without being paid to do so.

No, but the preponderance of the evidence we DO have indicates that they DO NOT.

I mean, echoing someone else's previous comment, how do you determine an impact of 2-4% if you are still determining what IS actually, you know, "ADULT" content? If they HAD a working definition for that research, but now that definition is changing, wouldn't that pretty much invalidate the research?

The fact that they continually ignore ALL requests to present ANY of their supposed "research" for scrutiny pretty much tells me it was rather cursory and wouldn't stand up to even moderate scrutiny.

While it isn't a universal truth, it is very often a functional one: "Where there is smoke, there is fire."

Yeah, I got to do that last fall in association with my wife's open heart surgery. That sort of thing is not much fun. Blessed be.

if you read between the lines of the adult continent faq you'll see that there's a pecking order of where they think the money/credibility is. Business first, educators next and adult content creators last.

whatever proof they have or don't have for their decision is irrelevant. What is relevant is the policy they're going to implement. Knowing they "why" of course makes it easier but unfortunately if they want to say "because we say so" then that's just the way it is.

To me that FAQ is disingenuous, simply because this doesn't make it easier for adult content to be found - unless you're flying around Ursula. The problem with their search is that for each level up you go it widens the search results i.e. it's a pg and mature and adult rather than just being adult.

Like XSL this means that adult becomes everything so not only does it reduce the number of people who can see it, but clutters the results with so much irrelevancy that you still can't find what you're looking for anyway. those left behind will still use keyword spam and are unlikely to be picked up because it's just one or two words buried in their keywords while the parcel itself is wholesome.

Why does Linden Lab do things the hard way? Presuming we accept a new 'Xtreme' continent as a given, Linden Lab has to overcome two major problems: 1) getting people to move there and 2) defining 'Xtreme'.

Linden Lab approaches these two problems with brute force instead of wisdom. Didn't they read "Tom Sawyer" - the part where he gets his friends to paint the fence? I believe a better solution comes from combining them (points 2, 3, 4 and 5 above). It is impossible to define 'Xtreme' objectively. The only clear and objective definition of 'adult' throughout most of the world is legal age, usually 18+. All other definitions of 'adult' are subjective, arbitrary and problematic. This forum speaks for itself concerning the hornets' nest LL has stirred up by forcing relocation. While my solution is not perfect, I think it deserves consideration. I don't know why LL persists in banging its head against a wall. It's unprofessional.

Any company releasing any such reports is the exception. It is rare for a company to release the details of planning studies they have done.

I do agree that they should be more forthcoming about the basis for their 2-4% estimate, but mostly for purposes of discussing what should be considered adult and why.

If you rely on a company that produces a key part or provides a key service, you are running the risk that they may either stop providing that part or service. This is why you will occassionally see disclosure of such facts on some financial statements. The fact that the company you rely on also gets income back from you does not automaticly make it a bad business decision for them to change their service or product lines.

There is a lot we do not know that LL is not revealing, nor is likely to. It may be very risky for them to try to promote non-adult use of SL, but the fact is the majority of consumers spend little to nothing on said RL industry and therefore there is a large potential market out there. Does that mean LL can successfully tap into it? Uncertain, but there is certainly incentive to try.

If the majority were not mainstream, then what would be considered mainstream would be different.

LL seem to be trying to have their cake and eat it too (keep adult content, while aiming for more mature/PG involvement). It is ambitious and perhaps foolhardy, but nevertheless it is their company to direct.

Many have given up. Your replies have pretty consistently indicated you are NOT willing to listen to anything that is critical of your intended course of action, that you are NOT going to change anything, no matter what we say, except for the most minor points...

And on top of that, your responses to the most injurious and harmful aspects of this course amount to : "We will do nothing to help you. Too bad. You're screwed."

Clearly you've never tried moving anything larger than a starter home owned by one person. People who own huge tracts of land now need to go first, or you'll never fit them in where one tiny parcel has taken the prime spot in the center of the waterfront, or a spot in the center of the sim.

Less than HALF of SL residents are willing and able to use Voice. Why are the Lindens so in love with it?

Translation, "If you end up with 4 clubs in one sim, too bad. You'll have to sort it out on your own. If speculators own all the available land and price it at extortion levels, that's your problem, not ours. We get the same Tier either way, so why should LL care?"

9 days is in no way enough to move a complex build. I know you later said that you may consider longer times, but there really needs to be a statement that big or complex builds WILL get more time to move.

The biggest knife in the gut to most people who rent, when combined with your answer below. The speculators will jack prices sky high - worse than Bay City or Nautulus, and you don't care?

And who will be able to afford to establish new rental spaces there? The Mainland parcel owners forced to move, and who have adult-themed mall areas now, and who lose some of their non-adult vendors because they can't/won't relocate - they may have a FEW spaces open. But if speculators make land prices skyrocket, no one will be able to open NEW space for the disposessed renters.

All in all, whatever the WORST possible answer is to a question, that is what we can be assured you will pick, Blondin. It's almost as if your team was TRYING to cause the most pain possible. And you wonder why people are ceasing to comment?

Yep. What Ceera said above..

I don't know if I'd agree with that totally. Hardcore XX material, videos, toys whatever, sure. But sex is is at least an indirect motivator in much of our advertising and in what we buy, from clothing and appearance, to what car we buy. Everybody, almost everybody, has sex, and spends money in the pursuit of it. hat's where LL's 2-4% number come up short. A lot of people do it, or want to do it, but don't want to admit it. And many do it in SL because they can't do what they want in RL.

Okay. Let us say that I'm a user who spends money for SL and not for RL products (which is, of course, impossible.) Suppose companies flock to SL once again and try to make money in SL.

What could I possibly want to buy from a RL company that isn't here already, and built by someone who gives a dang about SL and enjoying time here instead of only chasing a buck? What could I buy in SL that I cannot or will not buy in RL? What would I purchase that would be of RL use to me in a SL company? Stock tips? A new computer? A car? Do you really expect any of us to lose so much money through your Lindex while purchasing something as expensive as a computer inworld?

While SL can offer incredible opportunities for interactive advertising, sponsorships of fun things to do and discount coupons that can be used on their websites, if anybody thinks I'm going to buy 1200$ worth of lindens to buy a 1000$ computer, they have another thing coming. SL would be excellent advertising for a companies products, and the sponsorship route would work just as well as it does for TV. But I'm not going to fork over 1200L so I can get a tube of Crest in the mail a week from now. No.