Dissention and you

i understand the whole MJW issue is beleaguring to many, but maybe it's not meant as a platform for the "haves".. what if it really as they say? what if it's a group of people who, due to their individual actions, are rather visable residents.. and in so being, they have a strong voice when joined as one.

now add to that what Anshe had mentioned in a different thread.. when talking about "tourists, players, etc.", i don't know if it was meant as against anyone at all. more of.. those who come to SL to just play.. well, all this high-falootin' stuff is just white noise to the casual SLer. it really won't affect those SLers either way when it comes down to it.. and if it does, and if it's handled right, then they just may benefit.

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but more importantly.. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!? i mean really. we're a community (or set of communities) who are involved in shaping and creating a new country, a new world. overall, we've done a fairly decent job.

i still believe LL is a good entity in this world, they're not out to slight anyone. Philip knows full well what imagination and passion are worth.. that's what lead to SL in the first place.

if there's a group trying to bring some fairplay to the world and you're afraid of what they might enact.. then go join them! it's an open group and a young one at that. get in there! make a difference! your voice counts as well.. if you're concerned enough to make your voice heard, then YOU are one of the people with investment. some people just don't invest as much as others.. but that doesn't mean by any one set of criteria. it's simply.. take the person who has one Basic account and signs into SL to play with friends and go to events and shop, etc.. while SL is a special place to them, it's not as deep-rooted as to someone who has a more emotional/financial/etc connection.. someone who's commonly building, making products, helping others, event planning, buying/selling land, etc..

i'm not saying anyone is more important than anyone else, and either is MJW either i believe, but rather that some people are more apt to get involved in a movement like this. heck, Ulrika started her own governmental society for her ideals..

don't sit there and bitch about "oh my gosh, i can't believe there's a secret society and not everyone is getting heard". you have a voice too.. try using it constructively instead. get in that group.. make some waves. speak for your fellow "casual" gamer or even just for yourself. this world is a miasma of all of our ideas and our ideals.. not just one group and it never will fall under the control of one group.

i respect and believe in everyone here and in-world as well. sure, there are the griefers, but really.. how bad are they compared to a year ago or longer? how many amazing things have happened during the growth of SL? how many have you had a part of or supported or were just happy to see happen? how many dreams for SL do you have?

we can work together.. through all the strife, we always really have, too. i expect this to smooth out just fine and end up being a positive thing for the world of SL at large.. in one way or another. because if it harms SL, then there will always be a voice to shout reason upon the ears of LL.

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my hats off to SL.. we're a special breed who's beauty and wonder will always shine through. no matter what drahma may rear it's head.


and a side note.. you can apply this viewpoint to just about any form of, or reason for, dissention at any given point in time. in SL we are not "haves" and "have nots", we are SLers. each one of us adding to the perpetual butterfly effect within our world.

*k, i'm done thinking now*
End Of Line_

There are many who'd rather not see politics as a fact of life in SL.

All it will end up being is a pile of human blithering so unintelligible that nothing will actually get done. Eventually it'll only serve to piss everyone off -- then once all the political bs has driven all but the most insane away, everyone that's left will just remember the good ol' days when it wasn't about...

drumroll

politics.

So go take the bright-eyed idealist enthusiasm somewhere else. Politics have brought other virtual worlds down to their knees.

If there's a fast way to kill SL, it's a bunch of people in a bunch of groups bickering over what's better for SL.

I say nothing is better cause nobody is right. Nobody has a handle on the entire thing... and since we all participate when we're here and we give to be here -- why give to have it taken away.

Screw lobbyists, screw bickering over this policy and that when at the end of the day, most people don't want to hear it.

This is a very important distinction to make, as fuzzy as it can seem, but I think you hit the nail on the head with your phrase of "more apt", as regardless of "worth", some people will just not show interest! Like the way you can fly around inworld and scream out "SNOW CRASH!" and get varied reactions to gauge who's come into SL with that sort of background. (For the record, I was familiar with Snow Crash before joining SL but didn't read it until some months after, which deepened my understanding.)



One thing that's disappointed me is how while I see a lot of criticism for features and what Lindens are changing, when things are done right, I don't see an equal amount of praise. My view is skewed because of who I am and maybe it won't happen, but like, with the recent TP smoothness, I want to let Lindens clearly know, with my voice, how much I appreciate it. And what they're doing right, to HOPE THEY DO MORE OF IT. So there's more of a balance and such. We get a lot of "fear of the unknown"... well, I'd like to see more "fear of the known" (disgust with the predictable and to be enthused about progress) and I also wanna see more aftermath tales like, "Hey, I thought this was gonna blow chunks, but it isn't so bad after all."

I like looking back a lot, and seeing how things have panned out. I do my RRL thing every now and then and I think some of the frustration chalks up to when peeps feel like they're not being listened to. Oz Spade made a very good point in another thread about perhaps Lindens should give more feedback on bug reports. So! That'd be one step to positively engage communication and pingpong back and forth.



O I have a lot of dreams here, I'm hoping this is just the beginning. I have made so many great friends, fallen in love, I even came back! I've had discussions about how one bad piece of trauma, like a sliver, can really wedge into you and you attempt to pull it out and it hurts so badly, but once it's out, the healing can begin. So I've been greefed before, I laugh it off, less power to 'em. Sometimes it's just a misunderstanding too, and there's comedy goldmine like Three's Company in that.



Yesyes! CHEERZ! Tides are rockin' this boat, I think it's important to bring up sandpapery things because that's when the hidden merits come out, like you know when someone is forced to survive they might become courageous, or when someone's desperate and about to die but they have last words, they blurt them out so they aren't lost. It's not quite that extreme on here (although there are some which have certainly been through experiences like that, changed ultimately for the better) but changes, progression, we keep on rolling.



Remind me to look this up in a year! 2086! (Internal marker, hehe.)



I'm not big into yinyangs like some of my ancestral forefathers but I really like what you said about the "perpetual butterfly effect", and it's better to be hopeful than stagnant.

I do think SL requires a certain mindset—not to exclude anyone, but I can see how change is unsettling for certain individuals. Including myself when I was younger. Being autistic with Asperger's Syndrome often means being locked in routines and being obsessed (which I still am), isolated (which I am not on here), and a poor multitasker (getting better). With all the schtuff that's been thrown my way on here, I've learned a lot.

So in a way even with the great fun I've had on here, I've had a lot of wonderful personal growth and I'm careful to follow up my posts with if I'm joking, and o yes if anyone ever has a question about a post of mine feel free to ask... miscommunication is a bane of mine and I'd like to work together to clarify and expand on any points, as unorthodox and chaotic as I may be at times.

And speaking of chaos, it's one of the great paradoxes: the more control we have here over our virtual-but-affecting-the-real environment, the more chaotic it gets.

Very wellsaid, Cybin! ^_^


P.S. On a tangenttrain I don't really get politics and altho there are politicians I admire it's not something I terribly relate to. Kind of like making a dog eat a lot of chocolate.

Icon, i know my "bright-eyed idealist enthusiasm" seems a bit.. blind, but it's not. we have been through times like this before.. there will always be some sort of politics involved, whihc i agree is a bummer.

i'm not big into politics either. as a matter of fact, i have no intention of getting involved with any of this.. except for laying out my opinion and viewpoints on these matters.
..i'm much more interested in fostering my groups, once i get the time to actually nurture them. they'll be another group of high-profile names, but not exclusove either. i want to join together the intellectuals and the artists into two groups that can be a repository of information for each other and for those in need.

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Torley, thank you for your insight and compliments. you were quite insightful about the whole "more apt" thing.. that's exactly why i had worded it as such. i think the use of "worth" was simply a poor choice of words that came across the wrong way.

and agreed.. it's always about the future. especially within SL where every day is full of surprise and change. our world is dynamic.. and in more than one sense of the word. if there were ever a place where "now" didn't exist, it's SL.

waves of change will always ripple through SL, but it's up to each one of us to affect the orientation of those ripples. with the right mindset, we can create positive currents that flow towards a "bright-eyed idealist" version of our future.. it doesn't have to be a pipe dream. WE can make it happen. that's the nature of SL. WE made many things happen in the time that i've been here. our voices have not fallen on deaf ears.. time and time again, it's been proven and you're right, Torley.. the outpouring of appreciation is hideously outweighed by the shouts of criticism.

It's nothing personal.

Just an opinion and a stance.

absolutely, Icon. i would never wish anything else. how could we progress if we just white-washed everything we say? i'm with you on that.. always feel free to tell me exactly what's on your mind when responding to me.

it's not that i disagre with you, heck.. as a matter of fact, i agree with alot of what you said. politics DO corrupt and DO tend to make things worse. (just look at RL!) however, if groups wish to form to present a coherent message to LL from a large amount of like-minded individuals.. so be it.

it would be great to see a lobby group against this very thing! i know that's all very Dada-ish, but it could work. if LL is going to listen to each group that is created in this vein, then why not make one gathering those who oppose such regulations?

i'm not saying for you to do it personally, nor shall i (not my bag), but someone could and i imagine they will. and more power to them..

if MJW has something to suggest to LL, i imagine they wouldn't go implementing anything without a decent amount of forethought. just like many decisions before now have seen light.. it's always through the LL filter, which in my opinion, is rather adept at knowing what to add and what to subtract.

heck, LL even admits mistakes and tries to correct them sometimes as well.