Defining the FIC (Seriously)

Damn it's gettin almost weepy philosophical in this here environs!




I like it!!

Maybe Cory, maybe.. I now people that play for popularity.. I just do my own thing and be happy with me..

There are a LOT of things I've done in SL that folks will probably never realise I was associated with.. I don't care - I do them for me.

Any mention or pat on the back is good.. but its not for me.

Of course step one in doing something getting recognised is to do something that may get noticed.

DOING - for whatever motivation is key... Not doing and blaming others or a mythical popular crowd (of people who do things) is futile and silly.

Heres a SL case:

About 3 weeks ago I was cruising Yardsales for my ripoff campaign and met a new player - Avery Webb.

She was about to buy a hottub when I stopped her and gave her the original free version and hooked her up where to buy some clothes for a better price.

I got an IM from them last night - they've got land, made a store and having a grand opening on Saturday to display their first line of clothing and furniture.

They're making a go of it - they're doing what they like and giving it a shot.

There are already clothes makers in SL.
There are already furniture makers in SL.
There are already stores and malls in SL.

They don't care - they're doing what they want - and hopefully they'll succeed.

The FIC isn't so much Emmanuel Goldstien...

It's Big Brother.

The undefeatable overlord - so you may as well just settle into your miserable existance and leave him his place.

Emmanuel Goldstein would be the 'hero' fighting to bring down the state in this case.

And just like this case - its invented.. only its invented by the party themselves to keep themselves in shackles.

The rest of us are the proles... we do as we please and endulge and live - and although the party looks down at us - they envy us too. We don't acknowledge the constructs of The Party. We see if for the lunacy it is and we get on with living.

If anyone can save us - it's the Proles.

Roads are built to carry traffic. What is Second Life built to do?

Just to be an experiment? Maybe. But I'd hope that, the effect it has on people's real lives would be a factor in its purpose.

You're asking the wrong questions.. what are YOU made for?

For an example look back over ths thread.. you want me to answer questions about you.. and I don't know you...

You're looking at an 'FIC' to see if its holding you down.

You're looking at Second Life and seeing if it's demotivating you.

You're looking in the wrong direction.

My happiness, my creativity, my ideas come from ME - not from anywhere else. I have things that do well because I make what *I* think are cool for *ME* and lo and behold, maybe some people out there think that too.

But I make things because I want to - because they please me - not giving a thought if they have been done before - or how others receive them.

All these things you're looking at - using as excuses as to why you don't do things.. that's your FIC.

Don't ask why - just do... it looks like you're looking for excuses to do nothing, and then blaming everything else for your own inactivity.

Well, no. What I'm saying is, let's look at Second Life and see if it's demotivating people, and if that could be the reason why the FIC theories had so much momentum. If it's really true, as people have said here, that there is nothing like a FIC at all then for such a negative meme to have spread so far in a world that ought to be designed to be the very opposite is really strange.



Oh, not really: if I can't do stuff it's usually because I can't convert the idea of what I want to do into specific buttons to click (and no that's not just a matter of knowing what a tortured prim looks like) and then I do kinda miss any help with that.

Well the answer is no.. its not. I meet people every day like Avery starting out positive and doing.

My own wife Jonquille started in 1.3 and through work built a successful clothing biz.

I've started and ended 3 seperate buisnesses - with long extended play breaks in between.. each successful in its own right and stopped when it's not fun to do anymore.

It isn't prevelant - its simply more vocal. Because thats their 'content' - negativity.

The people out there doing stuff - well they're too busy DOING stuff to bitch about it.. they don't have people to blame for whatever - because they are making - doing - advancing. A lot of them are positive and hard working.

It's not thier job to pep-talk the naysayers and the folks on their arses whining that everyone else is treated special.. They are busy BEING special in their own way.

What you have is a loud negative MINORITY... and whats more the REALLY active folks don't have time for the forums.. I usually only post from work (as I am now).

So a small group of folks sit around and squander time and energy making up theories why they're not making it like the rest - and the truth is if they spent half that energy doing.. they'd be on their way.

As for 'not knowing what buttons to hit' - fuck dude - you think (for instance) Fallingwater Cellardoor popped outta forehead of a linden with superprim torture powers?

NO

I was here on her first day (shit I think I was one of the first people she met!) - she worked and learned and thrived.

Hell I didn't start scripting till I'd been here several months.. I sat on 48m of land (yes thats right less than a newb plot) and built things till I ran outta L$ to rez prims - then I'd hit up a show n tell and trivia and try and build some more.

You can sit there and say 'I can't'

But the I think its more true to say 'I won't'

No sympathy here - fuck SL 'empowering' people to change... change comes from within.. if I thought like you I'd still be in my first job - 500m underground in a hole with a jackhammer and light strapped to my head. Don't like things - change them.. Life pissing you off? Get angry back at it, kick it square in the nuts and get on with it - if it knocks you on your arse, you get back up. Coz if you sit there you're just taking up space while you wait to die.

You wanna change? - you wanna do something? - get up off your arse and stop bitching about it and fucking DO.... coz you've talked about it for months and I'm getting a lil sick of smoke blown up my arse.

That may sound harsh - but seriously - I'm not gonna sugar coat or coddle anyone..

addendum as I hit my dinner break

You wanna talk Demoralizing?

Jonquille Noir, my wife, one of her first plots of land and you wanna know who moved next door?

Starax.

And yet she happily sat next door in her build creating, learning, doing.

And he made some truely awesome sculptures around that sim - spiderman battling doctor octopus - a cat sitting on the side of the porch of his house....


And yet she didn't say 'oh man... I should just give up'

She's no Juro or Starax, but she builds and it gives her pleasure....

So I would say the Second Life being a source of demotivation is bullshit - totally and utterly , just based on that example alone.

Actually, you are a very talented creator. Sadly limited to one product though.

Imaginary hapless losers.

Having been involved in feminist organizations on the municipal, provincial, and national level, I'd say that feminist practice usually means hearing people out and recognizing that person's words or views as what they are: views of an individual. Sure some feminists have said things I've disagreed with, but I would not say that stifling discussions of feminism (applied or theoretical) could be good for the movement. I wouldn't take people who claim to be libertarians, socialists, etc, to be emblematic of an entire political philosophy or movement simply because they identify as libertarian or socialist.

Yay that you support feminism. Good on you, Nolan.

When you said you could have made the argument about any number of other identifiers, I thought immediately of Shania Twain. (Can we pretend she's American and not Canadian, maybe?) heh.

I don't think that saying most people like fair play is hyperbole. I understand that sometimes when someone says 'everyone' or 'most people' that person sends up hyperbole flags. Sometimes, a statement is so obviously true, however, that one can get away with generalizations. To say, for example, most people fear death and dislike bee stings is not hyperbole. This is why I asked if you were against fair play. It wasn't that I thought you were. It was that this is so obvious a truth that it seems odd to call it hyperbole.

As for the FIC issue, it seems likely that there are people with whom LL has formed comfortable working relationships. Is this unfair? I don't think that this, in and of itself, is unfair. I think LL should try to continue the good work they do as they seem quite fair-minded from my perspective and experiences. I would caution the company (as I would caution any company) to be sure to listen to the quiet users as much as the noisy ones by conducting continuous market research. Community decisions should be made after community consultations. In most respects that I've observed, LL has been extremely transparent and responsive. They tend to announce opportunities for involvement, discuss decisions in advance of them being made and to solicit feedback from community members before decisions are made. Mostly, anyway. This is good practice.

The funny thing is, although the OP has heard rumblings about FIC, I never do. Maybe none of my friends are all that ambitious. I agree with Nolan that unfounded speculation can be harmful, but in a free environment (and this one is relatively free) that harm is negated by the ability of others to dismiss the unproven with contrary proof.

Wait, Life has nuts? I thought it was just cornflakes and game pieces. Back to the drawing board. (or off to find some nuts to nurture. What, me, kick? Never.)

Normally the one making charges is called upon to provide proof.

The only times I have ever heard the FIC mentioned is in these forums, or people from these forums laughing about it.

Well some people are naturally nurturing types

Nurturing nuts can be a good thing too.

Much as you want to put it all down to people who can't or won't do anything, the fact is that either the opportunities are open to all or they are not.

I'm not talking about individual skill, talent, get-up-and-go, stick-to-it-ive-ness, patience, determination, ability to learn, ability to adapt, perserverance, enterprise, ability, desire, passion, curiosity, hard work, experience, imagination, or any other of the myriad number of things that define individual success.

I'm speaking of opportunities - whether offered to some or offered to all. When the Lindens have opportunities to offer, does everyone hear of them or not? Are they open to all? Do the Lindens choose from the full panoply of available talent? Or are these opportunities passed out to a known few?

Insofar as the former is the case, the Lindens and the residents benefit and prosper. Insofar as the latter is the case, both the Lindens and the residents are held back.

Too often in the past, the latter has been the case, and too often in the present it still is, though things are improving.

coco

No I only tell people how it is - unfortunately thats not always what they want to hear.

If someone is saying 'woah is me SL is demotivating and this is why I don't do anything' I'l turn and tell them - "No - you are the reason you don't do anything.. many many many people start, learn and enjoy... your problem is you and the sooner you look in the mirror and stop pointing the finger - the happier you'll be"


And I think the lindens choose from a pool of people they have noticed that best get the job done with the skillset they need.. this pool expands as the population does and they notice more and more people.

Yes indeed they have, and yes indeed they do.

But that system is inadequate, and unfair to residents. I realize it is late, and thus I'm going to make really bad analogies (as opposed to the somewhat bad analogies I make earlier in the day), but consider this:

The U.S. government has a certain amount of money to pass out to students. So they kind of look around and decide which students look worthy. OR - they put into place a system designed to allow all students to apply for their worthiness.

Or a university has a certain amount of grant and fellowship money to dole out. Naturally, they want the best graduate students. So they look around and find some, maybe someone they've met before. OR - they make it so anyone can apply. THEN they choose who is best for the job. They get better choices, and all students have equal opportunity to shine.

I understand that you are trying to counter any self-defeating notions, and I applaud that. Where I get off your train is where you define everyone who thinks the processes should be transparent and equally available to all residents as simply needing the same motivational speech.

coco

Again, where its feasible, LL puts out open calls to everyone. The instructor builds, or the info hubs, or the train stations, are three recent examples. Anyone could apply. These were projects where the client was LL themselves, taking open bids from the entire pool of residents.

To expect them to do the same when the client is an outside organization is time-consuming - who judges the builds? LL? The client doesn't want an open call, and they don't have the inworld experience to make a decision on who is going to be the best provider for their needs. Also, many times projects goals are kept quiet to the general public until final release or open presentation, if they're ever released at all. How is an open call going to match those requirements?

I think you're mistaking the concept of "equal opportunity" for "equal access". There's a huge difference. The opportunities are there, but a job contract isn't the public library - you aren't guaranteed access to it. LL's obligation as a business to other businesses is to provide them with information and recommendations to the inworld businesses that can best meet the needs of the project. No other business acts upon the concept of equal access unless it best suits the needs of themselves, their business partners and the bottom line.

As much as you might like to think of LL as a government, to the rest of the world they're just another business, and to expect them to shoot themselves in the foot and piss off what outside companies *are* interested in developing in SL to make the entire resident base feel better about themselves is simply ridiculous.

Ah no - Yumi is going on and on with the usual eeyore shit again..

And I don't think the system should be transparent..

if the company needs the job done, they should hire who they think will get the job done - and it should be between those people and LL and nothing to do with us.

I have a seperate speach for that case - it's the 'it's none of our goddamn business' speech.

I don't beleive in the FIC notion.. I beleive they have the right to hire whoever the hell they like. Honestly I'd hate to see what would happen if they drew names outta a hat - it would be the biggest go-nowhere shitfight from arsehole to breakfast time.

That is why the Developer Directory is a good thing.

coco

P.S. Siggy, who said anything about pulling names out of a hat?

The FIC are responsidle for all the missing prim babies that people say never get delivered.
They sacrafice them to a great idol, resembling an owl in the woods, which in actuality represents Philip Linden.
And people say theyre beta members, this is not true, they are alpha members, and being such, cannot be seen, unless you use highlight transparent, and squint at the monitor.
Excuse me, I have to go, my fillings are picking up NSA radio signals again.
Now where did i put my tinfoil hat.

Seems to me the only 'fair' way that noone would say was 'rigged'

No matter how you do it - someone will bitch - the only bonus is the job probably won't get done.

What if some investors in a new wing of the University wanted it built top quality, professionally, and ASAP, and the Dean happened to know of an architecture firm that exactly fit that description? Should the University try and put the investors off until they had a chance to maybe make a contest out of it, or to interview every architecture firm in their area?

No. It's business. They should do whatever they need to do to get the job done quickly and professionally.

For what little it may matter,
I came into SL knowing full well that this "FIC" crap, or whatever people want to call it, happens in any social enviorment.
Social groups form everywhere there is people. And people do not need to branch out from a group they are comfortable with. That is a simple fact that nothing with change short of forcing people against their will.

Obviously this is just human nature like some said. Everything from judges in a contests (the Olympic games) down to LL staff could , and probably will, be effected at some point in time.

If people don't believe this exist in SL or RL then they are blind to the world(s) that most of us live in. And that's ok.

But my point is this: (well actually it's a question) Why is this a big topic? Is there an extream case of group-abuse going on in SL? Did something happen? Is it still happening?
I haven't payed attention cause I like to weave my way around and stay neutral to those groups/subjects. Unless it's about a subject or innocent group of people that nobody else will take a stand for.
But just curious.