Cabinhead Closure

On again off again I think..

Personally I've never had a problem, but then again I'm not a 'power player' either... I can see how it could make a huge difference to someone investing in multiple sims.

Siggy.

Yup. I of course don't agree that one person should receive preferential treatment over another, but it stands to reason that the more land you have, the more problems you are likely to have. Larger land owners are likely to need more time from LL, but still not as much as an equivalent area owned by many people.

A. $0L $0 USD
B. $ 0 USD
C. Irrelevant. I knew going in I would have expenses. I am not trying to recoup them.

Schwanson - I'm sorry this project has not worked out!

Thank you for your efforts and your leadership regarding this vision. When I attended the first organizational meeting back when, I remember the strong feeling of unity, good will, and trust. I was grateful to be involved with truly wonderful people giving of their talents, energy and skills. I felt grateful to be a part of this shared vision and to be able to add some small contribution to help make SL even better and know your efforts have not been in vain.

When I first heard of the Cabinhead project I was concerned something like this might happen. If the land isn't controlled by LL there is always a chance it will fold up and go away. This is why I decided to keep my small project on my land, at least I have control of it, and as long as I pay my tier it will remain.

The idea someone angry at LL for issues unrelated to the actual project might take their ball and go home should be a warning to those who invest countless hours and resources in such a project.

Well I'm sorry to hear about its closing. I was looking forward to it.

Thanks for the info, Siggy. I was wondering what change had occurred in the 2 months since the Cabinhead project began. Schwanson is a seasoned player so I am assuming the service was not objectionable at the time. As other posters who have had more experience with customer support than myself have pointed out, it would have been naive to undertake this commitment if it wasn't. So what changes to the system have occurred?

How exactly is any of this your business?

I'm directing my question to you, Cris, because I think I'm most likely to get a civil response from you. My question pertains to the whole thread, not your specific comment here. Why is there such a defensive attitude toward every comment that doesn't fall under the "I understand, Schwan." category? There has been no name calling, posters have in fact added that it's certainly his right to do whatever he pleases with his holdings. It's as if this was intended to be a notice only but if that is the case, why post it to the general forum? Individuals involved with the project could have been informed that activity has been suspended in other ways. Doesn't posting here suggest that a discussion is expected?

While I do notice that your question was directed to Cristiano, I'll throw my 2-cents in anyway. (Surprise!)

I think some of the defensiveness comes from experience with these forums. There are always some looking to create drama where none is needed, or looking to somehow paint a foul portrait of others, or looking to simply be disagreeable by whatever means neccessary.

Schwan wanted to do a nice thing. He didn't scam anyone, he didn't use anyone, and he didn't mislead anyone. Unfortunately, through his latest dealings with LL, he came to the conclusion that this was an effort he no longer felt worthy of his time, money, and/or commitment. I don't personally see why this is an issue worth bringing his personal character and motivations into play, though obviously others do.

Seeing others strung up for wanting to do something good was bad enough, (and if you were paying attention to the original thread regarding Cabinhead, you'd know exactly what I was talking about) so seeing him also questioned and put under the slide for announcing that it was a no-go just compounds the theory that, "No good deed goes unpunished."

If some responses seem to be met with a defensive attitude, it's because some posters have a long history of only being contrary and, quite frankly, shitty.

Margaret,

Jonquille very eloquently summarizes my feelings about this in her response to you. Certainly discussion is allowed, it's a public forum. That goes in both directions. I am not defensive about Schwanson, he can stand up for himself. Certainly, as a friend of his, and someone who was very interested in the project, I am frustrated that Schwanson was once again treated the way he has been by support, which contributed to his decision. What I bristled at was Blaze's assertions that it is not support's responsibility to basically do anything. That is just plain silly. I have been on the receiving end of LL's customer service myself, and have found it severely lacking.

I also was taken aback by Hiro's question, because truly, it is absolutely none of his business. If I decide to shut down Snapzilla at some point (I have no plans to, this is just an example), which is a non-profit venture, I certainly would not have to answer to anyone about what my expenses were, what donations I received, or any profits I made. Schwanson also owes no explanation to anyone - he is footing the bill for the sim.

If you are spending $9.95 a month or $9,000 a month, you still expect a certain level of support and assistance when needed. I have rarely ever contacted them - only in situations that I truly needed help, and each time I was left frustrated, and honestly, did not receive assistance. One support call actually resulted in me hanging up on the person I was speaking with because they were so condescending and unhelpful, and it honestly takes a tremendous amount to drive me to that point. Interestingly, others I have spoken with have had the same experience with this support person and often will refuse to deal with him, yet he remains.

This project was maligned from the start - so if there is any defensiveness about it now, it's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing.

Some of the changes that have occured would be the complete alteration of the auction land market, and the approximately 33% price increase in the cost of purchasing islands. The volatility of the land market, which is now coming to a head as prices plunge and a huge glut of land is available, combined with uncertainty over Philip's comments regarding tier discount removal has created a lot of instability in the land market. He entered into the Cabinhead project with a clear plan of how to help support it financially through other ventures - with that uncertainty in place, combined with another bad experience in dealing with LL, I imagine that is what has changed.

Who is the customer support farmed out to?

coco

It isn't farmed out - it is inhouse.

That would certainly explain why he wouldn't want to post here. Why did questions about the current state of support relative to its past performance and the effect on LL and the newbs get over looked in favor of objections to word usage? I am interested in this and these issues effect the community at large and that discussion is generated by but not isolated to this situation. It went pretty much undiscussed and the message seemed to me to be don't post anything other than your condolenses or you will be considered anti Schwanson if not a troll.

That was certainly not my message, and didn't notice that from anyone else either. I am not sure where you are getting that from. Admittedly, I am not sure exactly what you are asking - what word usage are you referring to?

Thank you for your informative response. It seems more about LL policies than customer support; I guess that's the "another bad experience" part.

Btw, I never would have asked Schwanson what was up with this as it is his business. But if it's brought to the forum, I felt it was open for discussion.

I don't think it is necessarily more about their policies - I think it is a combination. One sort of feeds into the other I suppose. If you are already uneasy about something, having the company then treat you like crap generally doesn't instill confidence either.

If the customer support is in house, then apparently they need to hire another person to work it full time.

coco

Schwanson, best of luck, I understand the concerns. Was nice idea while it lasted anyway. I'll continue to create my learning materials/tools anyway, free for any instructor to use and give out as examples in classes.

I also have been following the island / support issue, as some here may know (Is important to know what one is getting into, if wanting to invest with no monetary profit goal). Even today, I have concerns, but am still going forward in taking stewardship of an island anyway.

The issue with support is a valid one. The recent issue with my home sim (Tavarua) was fixed with relatively little fuss from my perspective, and that support instance may want to be used as a model internally of how to deal with customers.

I don't normally worry about it taking too long (say 24 hours) for stuff like that. But what was discussed in the first post is not related to existing sim support, its the LL purchasing support. And that's *not* the first bad instance Schwan had with them (In fact Tavarua was I think, over seven months ago now). If that's still the case today, yeah I'd want to sit back and wait too.