An Open Letter To Linden Lab

A business man doesn't make excuses, he makes a profit.

Alrighty then.

Businessmen who proffer dogma are the one's I least heed advice from. Careful, Jamie may ask you on a date.



Edit: I do fit your definition, however. So does Weedy. So what is your point?

The world would shatter, communist that I am...

But seriously, I don't see either permutaion as a major problem, and I certainly don't think LL owes anyone for taking away business. If the swooping is a problem, then they should fix that too.

Now I just wonder how many people who got compensation for the telehub land, are going to bid on the info hub land up for auction.

My point is ultimately LL changed the business environment. It happens, people should deal. Noone is entitled to make money in SL. LL owes nothing to people whose business may be altered by features or changes in SL

Yeah, I agree with you for the most part, and of course it's not the end of the world, not to mention, Weedy is diversified and resourceful, as are most aptly business-minded SLers. I was just trying to explore the situation further, and point out related problems, and maybe a possible solution or two.

You're barking up the wrong tree if you think I am in favor of compensation or for them to roll it back.

You know, you're right! Come to think of it, they don't owe us ANYTHING! We can just continue to pay them for what they do owe us, which is obviously NOTHING!

If the Lindens hadn't made such a big deal about people starting businesses in SL, then maybe people wouldn't be so upset when their businesses get GOM'ed!

If the Lindens hadn't touted all over the place about "making money in SL," then maybe the residents wouldn't expect to be able to, without the Lindens co-opting that business and profit for themselves!

coco

The only thing that they do owe us is what is spelled out in the TOS. We are paying for a service. If you feel the service has no value, then quit paying for it. You actually can use SL without paying anything at all if you want. Thousands of people manage to make all kinds of money in SL day after day - you act like there is just this massive rampant problem of LL putting people out of business.

The term "GOMed" is as played out as the term FIC, honestly, if not more so. One major difference between Weedy and GOM btw is that Weedy is not rolling over and playing dead and falling on her sword like a drama queen. She is going to adapt her business to whatever new playing field is there, as unhappy as she may be about the changes. That is also what Francis/Rathe did with ROAM - they moved on and did other things, found other opportunities. GOM did not do this. Business conditions change all the time - you either adapt or you die. There is no guarantee that you will be able to continue to make money exactly the same way ad infinitum. That is just silly. Progress and change are inevitable.

At some point you decide things just aren't worth the hassle anymore.

Self-determination, in other words. Linden Lab did not end your business, you did. You chose to not compete, to not diversify, and then continue playing the role of perpetual martyr who was wronged and who takes a swipe at LL any chance they get. You had all kinds of loyal customers who would have stayed with you and would have preferred your service to LLs to this day. You ended it, you pulled the plug, and that is your responsibility alone.

what thread are you reading?

are you weedy's friend? friends don't humour each others delusions to "keep the peace."

I'm not humoring Weedy's delusions. She is pissed off about the change, which is understandable, but she is not ending her business, she will adapt and do whatever she needs to do.

You know what else it says in the TOS? It says they can terminate anyone - which means you, Cristiano, or me, for any and for NO reason. It also says somethng on the order of all your assets are belong to us. (In terms of what is owed should the service shut down.)

Does that mean it would be a good idea if they just started randomly picking people to ban because they could? Of course not. Or started taking people's junk? No.

So what does the TOS have to do with it? Speak to what *I* said - to Jake above. I'm not talking about the TOS. I'm talking about the wisdom of this:

"If the Lindens hadn't made such a big deal about people starting businesses in SL, then maybe people wouldn't be so upset when their businesses get GOM'ed!

"If the Lindens hadn't touted all over the place about "making money in SL," then maybe the residents wouldn't expect to be able to, without the Lindens co-opting that business and profit for themselves!"

Moreover, I'm still wrestling within myself about just which things constitute GOM'ing and which don't. To that end, the most interesting observation so far being that P2P does not profit the Lindens.

Those two issues: The disconnect between what is promised - not in the TOS, but in every single publication you want to drag out that the Lindens have participated in for publicity - and what happens. Secondly, the issue of when - if ever - GOM'ing businesses is all right.

Those two issues alone are plenty of grist for good discussion without just saying, "well, it's not in the TOS," or, "then why don't you go play something else."

"Perpetual martyr" has nothing to do with it.

coco

P.S. Think about it. If the Lindens keep ON saying this stuff about have your own business and make money, and ALSO keep on taking over these businesses for themselves, how good do you think that is going to look?

It's going to look like false advertising.

Having a business doesn't guarantee you will make money, for one thing. The promise of making money and the ability to do so are two very different things. Again, you make it sound like LL is running around gobbling up people's businesses. The reality is that often times the needs of many outweigh the immediate needs of a few. That is unavoidable sometimes.

The times that LL has stepped in that everyone cries "OMG GOMED!" over (including GOM itself) have been cases of needing to move SL the platform and service forward. Our economy and the ability to trade money and make money, that fundamental thing you keep mentioning, should not be solely in the hands of third parties - it is too important. P2P was a dramatic improvement to the accessibility of SL, but people cried foul then too.There are going to be circumstances when people develop something to fill a void - that void has never been promised to remain permanently unfilled. Siggy's swim attachment is a great example (and one of my favorite items). Should LL never put in the ability to swim because one person made an attachment that allows this? It's a difficult question of balancing progress and personal needs. Just saying that something is being GOMed is way too easy - nothing is that black and white.

LL can change or impliment whatever they want, despite who they step on and call it a feature.

In my case, they didn't develop a feature, other than to nerf a feature, which never adversly affected the growth and success of Second Life. It's not to say that they won't impliment a feature in the future, but they went off half-cocked on this one.

Despite some suggestions and comments, I am still unclear as to the direction this will go.

To me, uncertainty is alot more unhealthy than the effect of a nerf.

i bet if you post your wonderful story 10 more times in this thread, it will become an objective truth rather than your own self centred view.

i took exception for this particular gomed gomed blah thread because it is a perfect example of the self-centered short sighted whine cry circle jerk of detractors that at times hold SL back and also ruins my immersion. this is a paid beta for a 3d game toolset (and perhaps an internet platform) packaged as a "virtual" world" game. read the mission statement. here is a reality check - we are not residents, LL is not a government.

hold back how? because a senior architect of this game/platform has to do public relation posts for an hour ever day to fend off people who are trying to make a career out of gaming the secondlife.

land scanning has nothing to do with helping anyone but oneself. i can not even comprehend why you are getting any sympathy from anyone on this forum for losing an exploit. you can script? then make a cool script everyone can use. sell that. scripters are the high priests of sl. start a religion. offer a service.

This is where we agree to disagree. Your assertion does not make it fact.

You have no idea what my business involved as some of the "far reaching" implications are concerned. Nor do care to even listen to them, but would rather hurl insults and demonize other residents who express opinions..

That is much worse for the health of SL.

They don't owe us anything beyond the right to log in and collect the agreed upon stipend and use the land we pay for. They owe us nothing else. They certainly don't owe us the right to make a living at thier expense. If you get GOM'ed, as you put it, well the tim honored legal doctorine of tough shit applies. There is no protection in this simulated economy, it is a free market and some people like that. Of course when they get GOM'ed they like it less, but those are the breaks. LL does not owe you the right to make a living any more than they owe me the right to have fun-it is what you make of it.

Just don't expect me to feel sorry when your hard earned business gets under cut by shifting winds at LL. I have known for a while SL is a game.

It's a free marked vis a vis the residents versus each other, but it is not a free market vis a vis the residents versus the Big Kahuna.

What makes you think we have any right to collect the agreed-upon stipend? They can cut that (and have, I believe) whenever they want to, can't they?

coco

if i don't have any idea, give me an idea. you have yet to state a single benefit your "business" supplies to other users. and wait - buying 16m square plots from the ban-bush-dude don't count!

i am not questioning whether you are a gentlemanly scanner. i'm sure you are. that does not exempt you from the criticism that you have not yet constructed any solid arguement that differentiates "scanners" from "swoopers," nor have you shown that either of them are any more or less beneficial to me in my life than an ambulance chaser

"Your assertion does not make it fact."
we can just throw that back at each other for another 1000 posts.

I have made numerous posts, based on my experiences whether you read them or not, I have no idea.

If you did and don't accept them, that's your right.

I will touch on scanners and swoopers, because you have obvioulsy missed the point, which has been alluded to several times in this thread.

As a "scanner", I never took land from someone who made errors. A "swooper" is someone who constantly refreshes the search button to grab and retain land where people made mistakes in pricing, ie forgetting a 0, neglecting to set to a specific person, ie setting land for sale for 1 dollar. In fact, they are just opening the door wider to this behavior by offering land at 1/sq.

Bump