I feel sorry for new players at times

I mean there are some real sharks in the game. I have my little parcel of first land and I just got an IM from a guy that reads (spelling/grammer not corrected):

"Wanted to know if you be interested in selling your land in "Bora" thats not in use[1]. it for 1024L if so > Right Click the lot and go to about land. Where says Sell to Set the name to <name redacted> then sell for 1024 and check sell for L$ box."

[1] I'm using all but about 20 of my prims, so I don't know where he got this idea.

I wonder how many new players fall for this? It seems like the lowest form of feeding off of people who don't fully understand the game yet.

Maybe the game should spit up a warning with a yes/no box when you try to sell your land for less than 3/4 of the asking price of equivelant land on the market? It might be possible to game a system like that, but it seems like a reasonable deterrant to bottom feeders like this. If there's anything that's likely to turn people off of the game quick, it's being cheated out of your first land before you realize what the going price for land is.

Sure you can argue that someone would have to be dumb to fall for this, but we were all dumb once. Everybody has to start somewhere.

Well I suppose it's possible that the person asking is ignorant of the real value also, but that's highly unlikely. Trying to prey on ignorance for profit is really low.

You are assuming that he wrote this card especially for you. Seems more likely that a previously generated notecard was used with only the name of the sim changed.

Unfortunately, this type of scam has been around for quite some time. I spend a lot of my time in SL in First Land regions, trying to warn people to watch out for these scams, but we really need to increase awareness of First Land scammers.

I'm torn on this. The practice is slimy, for sure, but I don't really think the guy is doing anything actionable. I also think that as adults, we should all have some idea that scammers exist and transactions, even in SL (or is that especially in SL), should be viewed with that in mind.

My brain is failing today and come up with this absurd notion: Instead of a popup, we devise some kind of test with a few q's on it to get a real estate "license". You just have to pop over to a TeleHub and fill it out, proving you've got a general idea of how things work. 2 minutes later you can go get scammed by whoever you want, but we can all be safe in the knowledge that you were warned.

That might not be a terrible idea. Sometimes it feels like you're thrown into Second Life with barely a primer on how to behave, what to do, or anything.

On the other hand, a box that reads:

"You are about to sell this land for considerably below market value, is this ok?" (yes/no)
[ ] Don't warn me again.

would be pretty simple and direct.

Yeah, if I remember right, this was brought up a few times in the Hotline forum, and under the ToS, there really isn't any rule being broken. However, like I said, we need to increase awareness that this goes on. It's still happening, therefore people are still falling victim to it. I've told a few new members on Help Island about these scams, but most SLers don't jump right in and become land owners, so there needs to be something warning people to watch out for scams when they start looking for First Land.

A real estate license would be cool, perhaps require it before one can sell land, but not before buying. Or, before the user's first land purchase, have a link to some real estate info on the SL website talking about scammers, land values, etc. Good idea, Gabe

I've sent you a copy of the Helping H.A.N.D. Manual in-world

I agree Felix! I expect scams in SL just like I expect them in email and websites I visit. So I love that there are people out there recognizing them and warning the public. So Thank you!

What is the Helping H.A.N.D. Manual?
If its about land then I wouldn't mind a copy of it.
I've been a basic member for 3 months now and have a fair market going by word of mouth and third party sites. But I will be looking into some land for a shop fairly soon.
That is after I read up from a reliable, and understandable, soruce of information.

I never trust much of anything in SL since I started playing so I am not worried about being scammed. I am, however, worried about setting the wrong options then watching my new land blow up. As cool as that would be I don't want it to happen. Not that it's possible.
I need info on the menu system mainly. Tricks and known problems for Land and Group menu to be exact.

I got this exact same message, except replace Bora with Yeppeun. And I have about 5 prims free, so the land's exactly not empty...

Sounds like we should begin to warn newbies in the Welcome Island not to sell off their first land right away to people who approach them with offers during their newbie days.

Teaching them to be careful and be able to evaluate their resources better is a responsibility.

You should just be grateful you even got first land before Coconut Cookke snapped it all up. New alt, new first land

You would think this person would at least proofread his "I would like to rip you off" script before using it hundreds of times.

It's a very handy guide to living in SL, put together by Brace Coral, I believe (well that's what my copy says). Regularly handed out to new arrivals on Help Island and I also give it to people who for one reason or another didn't have the benefit of that helpful place. One copy on its way to you and I'll send it to anyone else who IMs me.

Thr problem, though, is that the majority of people I've seen on Help Island aren't interested in land sales. They know they can own land, but it's not really a concern until after a couple weeks on the mainland, at which point they can't return to Help Island. So, I say we should step up the Mentor/Volunteer presence in First Land sims to help new members out

This alt is only a basic member, and thus has no rights to First Land.

As for the original statement of this thread title (and unrelated to the above) - I do, too, but for entirely different reasons.

coco

Being a relatively new players myself (just over a month) I was really excited when I bought my first land!

SL has had so much to offer me since I came, and I really enjoy finding new things, like the whole first land program. So it was with great joy and excitement that I went to Yeppeun with my friend and we bought two plots together, side by side

It was a couple days later that i first encountered the sleazy people who take advantage of new players when I saw all the for sale signs going up around us *sigh*

It makes me want to cry when idiots take advantage of people like me who just want to have fun and explore and experience things, rather than trying to "win" all the time.

When will people understand that MMOs are like life... there is no "winning" You just play.

To those of you who spend time in First Land regions helping people, you have my love and respect thank you!

This thread has made up my mind. Im going to start having a weekly
'New Land Owners Q&A' starting next monday. Ive been thinking about this for some time now and feel its very much needed.