Tick..tock..tick..tock..

And a new day dawns and still the powers to be, in this case Jack Linden, remain silent.
Sitting back and watching the in-fighting..wringing their greedy little hands together, laughing merrily as yet another scam is about to work out!.
They planned this by pointing to the open sim owner, myself one of them, by mentioning words like "abuse" "strain" "drain"..others then had a scapegoat..this wasn't the mean nasty money grabbing Lindens trying to swindle more and more money out of its members..NO..this was nasty,mean sim owners who were ruining the whole wonderful Disney like world for everyone!.

As they sit and watch their bank account they really don't care that probably 25% will walk away from their sims..that some of the most beautiful parts of SL will be gone - they care only that their new mainland project was funded by those Abusers of Sims and now the heat will be off them in a few days - giving them time to come up with the next round of devious plans to milk more and more money from people while giving them less and less in return.

Jack, have just one shred of common decency, as I believe every human being does, and go back to those that helped you to come to this decision and tell them this..

okay..we got away with it - mainland project was paid for by these trusting folks and now..what the hell - lets throw them a bone - grandfather the existing open sims in - perhaps do a revamp of the system for Levelled Open Sims - what the heck guys - it will make you look like heroes - straight out of a Hallmark Moment or Disney flick..

*just shaking my head and watching it all unfold*

Couple of thoughts on this....

1. We really don't know that Jack is anything more than the messenger. From what I have seen he really is putting some effort into understanding the points of view of those affected. Realistically he heard all the stories the first night....repeatedly. He also heard MOST of suggestions within 24 hours. Weather he is a messenger or a mover and shaker it will take time to get with the bean counters, the bosses, the technical people and figure out what is or is not possible and feasible.

2. It IS the weekend. I wouldn't count on hearing much of anything before Monday. I hope I am wrong but I don't think I am.

3. WARNING UGLY TRUTH PART: They don't OWE any of the OS owners anything. They are perfectly within their rights to raise prices to whatever they wish. By the Same token you are within your rights to choose not to pay them and take whatever consequences stem from that.

The fact that Jack is even talking to folks and trying to understand the problem is a bonus. That he seems to be actively working to find a compromise is a bigger one. But the constant attacks on him are misplaced. I don't think alienating the one guy that's trying in some way to help is a great plan of action.

If Jack Linden or any other Linden really wanted to help the OS owners then they shouldn't be talking about abusers or warning people to atake down SOS flags from their sims or sending me an IM warning me not to post links to outside business's.

Far from helping anyone. LL intends to get it's way as it has always done. And yes, they have that right but in the desperation to silence the decent they sure don't have the right to start pushing people about and abusing them with warnings.

You are damn right they are listening and all our cards are marked, "Troublemakers"

He is the messenger..correct..and therefore I feel within my rights to voice my opinions, whatever they may be, in his general direction.

As for it being the weekend? He had plenty of time to post something yesterday but he decided against it..

As for what he owes the OS owners..well now we see things differently on that score too..but isn't it great to have a place such as SL where we can just agree to disagree

I'd rather they took thier time and thought this out than try and rush any kind of solution.

Well Dark you seem to be in the minority in thinking that Jack has the right to do what he did. You say we should just suck it up and deal with it.If I had known that this big increase was in the works I would not have invested in the OS.Where else in the consumer world do you purchase something then 3/4 months down the road the seller you dealt with comes to you and says oh Hey I made a mistake I really wanted more money for that so pay up? NOWHERE.
So what I am thinking is that you work for LL. And want us to believe that switch and bait is acceptable. It may be to you but like I said at the very start Dark you are in the minority

I think you will find there are many sim owners who just bought their sims and are not having to abandon them as there is no market for resell. So don't blow that trumpet here! I just lost two sims ... three months after buying them. BIG hole in my pocket now and unlikely to financially survive the loss.

Anyone can say they are listening, by nodding their heads in agreement.

Listening is very different in that the listener plays an active role by taking action in response to what was said.

If anyone at LL, even Jack whoever/whatever he is, is truly listening, by now there would have been feedback from LL. It wouldn't matter if it was as simple as an apology for causing so much grief in their customer base. Doesn't take much to keep me happy. They act like we are disgruntled about a price increase.

NO, THIS WHOLE DISCUSSION IN THE FORUMS AND IN BLOGS IS NOT ABOUT A PRICE INCREASE.

It is about their, LL's, failure to understand the needs of their payor source - the customer.

I have seen people insulted up one side and down the other, but walk away happy. You can sell anything to anybody. This all works when you know the needs of your client.

LL does not know how to listen, or how to relate to their clients. This is evidenced by the continuous anger of the posts here. 95% of the anger could have been avoided had LL taken into account that their customers are real people who have real needs - one of those needs is respect. [5% will always be angry about something.]

LL can do what they want and will, and they won't get an argument from me. What I have a serious problem with is their approach to me which demonstrates a total lack or respect. The pablum from their few posts and meetings is a reiteration of their original post. There is no substance showing an understanding of the underlying problem.

So, don't tell me LL is listening. They aren't, and they will never address my feelings, or how others feel, because they will continue on the focus of the price increase to divert our attention away from their dysfunctional corporate culture.

LL is small potatoes in the corporate world, and it will never succeed until it can truly dialogue with the purchasers of their products.

Folks if you search back all my posts through this and through other situations you will see I am NOT a LL kiss *ss. I HAVE gone after them in my time. And yes my partner and I have lost ALOT of money from LL screw ups over the years.

My Point is Jack personally is not the problem.

I have said over and over. LL's method of handing down this ruling sucked big time. It IS ham-handed and draconian.

But if you were Jack who would you work harder with to find a compromise. Someone that is being reasonable and working with you or someone that is ranting and attacking you personally?

What may or may not have happened during the week is not the point. It IS now the weekend. Historically LL does not do anything on the weekends. That is a statement of fact.

As I see things folks have a couple of choices. Keep on attacking and maybe alienate the one person who is in your corner or start working with him to find a solution. Keep your OS sims under whatever terms finally come out of all this or abandon and eat the cost. Stay in SL or go.

As for me working for LL...there was a time when SL was new when I would have said "DAMN I wish". Now I am SOOOOO not interested in going there. I havent bought the Tao of Linden for a very long time.

The thing is LL is a business. In the long run 1 user or 10,000 users dont mean that much anymore. Haven't for a very long time as is obvious from the way they handle things.

My family and I are staying in SL. We have tiered everything down to a point now where if we lose everything we can stand to eat the cost. We did that BECAUSE of similar decisions on the part of LL.

If you guys want to continue the yelling, screaming, protesting, attacking each other, attacking Jack, please go right ahead. Then you can live with whatever comes out of it.

On the other hand if you band together and present a well reasoned agreed upon by all parties (or as many as possible) and most important reasonable compromise. I suspect you will get alot farther with you actual goals.

edit*
As for me being in the minority I usually am. That does not disturb me in the least. I knew when I made the first post I would be pounced on. Fact is the laws of action/reaction are as true in business as they are in physics. LL made and action and you all are reacting. The thing is unlike physics where reactions tend to be predictable, you guys have a CHOICE in how to react. I am NOT saying DON'T react.

However LL chooses in the end to react to all your actions in the end will tell you and the rest of SL what to expect going forward. And your personal decisions need to be based on that.

My name is Mickey McLuhan and I approve of that post.

Well put, Darkness.