how's this for change

Voting booths: Get rid of them completely.

Ratings bonus: Get rid of it completely as well. And while you're at it, get rid of the Ratings Leader Board. It causes more problems than it's worth, IMO.

Stipends: Set them at a flat amount per week, no matter how much money the person has or how much tax they have to pay.

So how in the bleep can we possibly survive if the above three changes are made? We'll have to actually WORK for it. Teach classes. Host events. Sell things. Don't want to teach or host or sell things? Fine -- just live within the base stipend.

I don't know how many people would go for it -- it'd be difficult for most people, but in the end, it'd save us a lot of disappointment and trouble.
So yeah, I agree with you. Scrapping the current model makes about as much sense as keeping it.

Catherine Omega
256,128 Shipley

Eh... sorry SheBang, I was to keep all that. 1000 a week is nothing, that means everybody would have a 3x3 chunk of land with a house. That would suck. I believe in a game like this you need standing, you need ppl with lots of cash to build huge things. I think if you would have any booths or stip, it would just turn boring.

Sorry ladies I respectfully disagree. While I DO agree that some unnecessary hardships seem to have resulted from the current system, I have to say that if they make the system difficult, the economy to much of a challene, it will seem more like a chore than a good time, you will be under the constant pressing thumb of going bankrupt, you will find yourself increasibly restricted when it comes to building what YOU want. In essence, it will be The Sims Online. More work than play. I like the democratic system, but acknowledge some things need tweaking.

Instead of binding our own hands to get at the perpetrators, why do we bind their hands by using the system for what it is for. You EARN you rating

Catherine you have a superb rating because you are friendly, helpful, considerate, and you DESERVE it. Don't look at it as necessarily a rating, but the fact that lots of people found you welcoming, just as I did and many do! Just as people can be rated positively, they can also be rated negatively. Fortunately I have not had to deal with such felonios behavior yet. But, if I am at an event and someone is repeatedly harrassing, or disturbing the mechanics of it with juvenile behavior, I will not hesitate to rate that individual Negatively under ::Behavior:: and if we all take that pledge we would find a great deal less incidence of them. It takes just using the system in place responsibly.

I was there and It was not fun. The only ones with money were Alpha's and Lindens. Fen, Charlie and I spent alot of time setting around doing nothing since are accounts were at 0. I owned like a 10 x 10 piece of land and the tax broke me on it.

I'm older than the voting booths too, X =)

I had fun. I didn't own land or a house of my own, but I paid rent to BBC which was more than the tax on the piece of land my tower is on (don't think I paid more than the tax on the land plus the tower and all its bit and pieces put together tho). I even loaned money to other people back then.

Nex, I didn't say the stipend should be only $1000 per week. $3000 per week seems more than fair to me.

If you want more (land and stuff) than you can purchase and cover the taxes on than $3000 per week allows, THEN you work for it, either by selling or teaching or hosting.