Interesting

Uh.....


Touché?

I realised somehow you wouldn't figure that out and added a little something in the way of explanation.

I gotta give you credit, Blaze, every so often you say something very cool

OOOH. see you keep changing your posts! And I never know which rev to reply to!

No, saying that everybody believes me was not intended to defeat you logically. It's a reminder that it doesn't matter to anybody what you conclude.

**EDIT Oh. Except Cristiano.

You know, Aimee, I don't even have to reply. I can just quote you.

Oh, I just liked how he served it back to you with a side of fries.

LOL.

Ok Blaze wins.

Which, really, isn't the point at all, which has obviously been completely lost on both you and Chip, and probably anyone else who bothers to wade through this thread.

Best post of the week.

My sincere apologies for outing the fact that you are the founder of the Liaisons group. I thought, from your original post that your quoting the policy on Linden Alt-Accounts wildly out of context that you must surely be joking. For those who do not wish to read, the out of context quote was:while the post that you drew that from regarded Linden Alt-Accounts - that is Linden Lab employees playing the game as regular players. It had absolutely nothing to do with whether a Linden could be a member of a group.

If you are maintaining that you were serious, you are petty, fradulent, tiresome, idiotic, a troll, or some combination thereof.

Ick.

As far as I can tell, blaze is the only one who knows who is FIC, and what the FIC is involved in, what they do, what they think, etc. It would seem to be a brilliant ploy by someone high up in a secret organization to try to discredit it by openly mocking it and casting doubt upon the very existance of it. Therefore I must conclude that blaze is head of the FIC. Do I get a tshirt?

No, but we have some McDonald's coupons around here for you somewhere.

Yes, Malachi, which is why I re-editted my original post.

No need to get so prosaic, malachi. If you're going to insult me, I think you could be a bit more clever than that.

Still, the conclusion is sound. The FIC exist. We all have to come to grips with that, FIC and non FIC alike.

The question is where do we go from here?

For some of you, it will be continual denial. For others it will be continual protest.

For me though, I wonder how it is we can (as a community) leverage the FIC without the inevitable abuses.

I must have missed something. What was the "interesting" part?

I can promise you one thing though, our anus is absolutely not the right way to go about it.

Conversing with yourself?

Are you conversing with yourself?

So, since there was a reasonable explanation provided, what was the point of this thread?

I'm not the one quoting myself and then making replies.

Enabran, can I quote you? It seems all the rage these days!

Are you trying to say that I don't have undue influence over Linden Lab? This is a travesty! Something must be done! Down with the FIC!

Well I would not say Down with the FIC, just that the FIC exists. Certainly if there is a perception the FIC exists that is every bit as dangerous as if it were actively manipulating the world.


I mean think about regular frequency with which certain images are shown, or certain contracts given to certain players. Look at the list of the most popular brands, or the biggest land barons. Can you not imagine that it is easy for a new player to come in and assume everything has been done.? to Identify and worship the cool kids? The flat out denial of the FIC smaks of too much protest, especially to people who see the group dynamic. I love Aimee so much I woulg give her my toaster, my duck and my eggo. I make no secret that I think she is hugely talented and super cool, and I will shameless plug PREEN and her achievements whenever I can, But you would have to be blind to show up at the website and not think she is somethign special to the lindens.

To me the whole FIC debate has ben rooted in the Yes it does/not it doesn't debate. When really the discussion should center around 1. what are the things that are done to create the perception of an FIC and is this a positive, negative or neutral thing for SL; and 2 if there is an FIC what role does it in fact play in SL. I have always thought it was a collection of deadicated and talented people whome the lindens naturally use for support, because they trust them based on time in game and observable accomplishments.

the question is does the perception that "I cannot be aimee weber, i could never come up with preen, she is special and the Lindens love her" Have a chilling or intimidation effect on new users.

As a new community member, I agree with what Jake is saying, to a large extent.

Many assumptions have been made about older, more visible SLers. Who is to say that those individuals want that attention? Frankly, I would not want my SL to be put under a microscope. Nor would I wish to be judged solely on my presence in the forums.

(You might notice that I post at the dying of a flame-war because I have no business in the thick of it. This is the way that more experienced voices marginalize newer voices. This is the way it should be)

A little Linden TLC? I would call that "lagniappe" and let it go. Who cares? The same thing happens in-world, in the forums, in First Life. Not part of the club? Suck it up. Do what you do. Have fun anyway. That'll show them.

There are celebrities in everything. It's the way human society works, and it's really impossible to overcome. If you'd like to have a discussion about what creates celebrities, feel free. But it's not really a discussion which I'd find interesting and it's certainly not relevant to bring up in every single thread. Nor is it appropriate to argue that these people are talentless hacks who have used subterfuge and manipulation to achieve their fame, nor is it kosher to portray them as people who actively conspire against new players. That's really absurd, insulting, and paranoid. Unfortunately, that's what the FIC was to its creator. He villified our famous citizens and attempted to portray himself as the hero come to save everyone from their treachery. That's why you find so much hostility when people attempt to discuss the FIC. It was such a gallingly transparent act that it irritated most intelligent people.

Ultimately, the FIC can be explained by one simple fact: Fame is a positive feedback loop. In any social network involving humans, the fame of an individual results in further gains in fame. Unless you periodically exile people who become too famous (which is a ridiculous proposition) then those who are famous will generally become more famous as time goes on. Of course, there's also a limit on how famous any particular individual can become. It's a charisma-dependent carrying capacity. The point, though, is that this fame-infamy cycle is present in all societies, and really can't (nor shouldn't be) overcome.

I really can't stand this defeatist attitude.

Having Aimee Webers, Cubey Terras and Francis Chungs to look up to when I was a newbie was empowering to me. It gave me an ideal to shoot for. I am better for having role models like these in SL: They showed me what was possible and what I could achieve if I didn't mind doing some work. I am where I am today thanks to the positive examples shown by some of SL's highest achievers. There's nothing wrong with that.