What did I do wrong re: money tree?

I just joined a couple of weeks ago and have met a few nice people. I learned about the money trees which I thought was a really nice idea. I have played other games and it's always difficult to get started.

That brings me to what happened moments ago. I floated around a bit, saw a money tree and took some. I didn't see anybody around, but someone came up behind me and told me if I didn't leave I would be banned. I was confused and said I thought that was what it was there for. The person told me they were sick of people taking the money and not stopping. I tried to talk to them and they flew away.

I am all for meeting people here. That's why I joined. I even state in my profile that states I am always willing to chat. I didn't see anyone so how could I stop and talk to them?? Or is it that I am expected to stay in the area for a few minutes?

I wish someone would explain this to me because if I am doing something wrong I would like to know.

You didn't do a single thing wrong - whoever treated you that way doesn't understand that if you are going to act charitably, it should not be based upon receiving praise for how charitable you are. The person who did that was honestly just a jerk - don't let it phase you.

Shanna,

I make the Money Trees. All trees are individually owned and operated. You did absolutely nothing wrong. That owner should take down their tree if they have an issue with people picking from it.

Welcome to SL! As with any MMO, there are a few bad apples. Don't let it bother you.

You can click on the link in my signature for a thread with most of the money tree locations.

well said...

i can understand some people's frustrations around money trees -- there have been a number of posts about abuse and money tree farming... but you still deserved to be treated as an individual rather than the reincarnation of the money tree owner's frustration

I was running around to money trees last week as well and was told that i was taking too much without returning anything back. Right after i said i'm sorry, i was banned and eject from the person's land right away. I felt very badly that nite about even playing SL at that point. You're right that it's always hard to get started in a new game which is why people want to try to build up a savings to live off from until they understand the ingame economy.

Last nite i was at different money tree and i saw the owner come by and put some more donation into the tree, i spent a moment waiting for him to ban me as I wasn't sure what to do at that point. I finally said to him "Thank you for helping us new players get started, i know many of us appreciate it" and he said "np".

And I agree with Sapphire's comment about owners taking down the money trees if they are there for show. It took some ingame friends to talk to me that I shouldn't let it get to me and that the trees are for newbie charity.

Money tree owners should understand that the trees are a long term investment. Expecting new users to donate makes no sense. What you are hoping for (not demanding) is that a new user gets a good start from the funds they receive from money trees. Then, months later, that new user has enough funds to give back to a tree or two. I can't tell you how many people have donated back many times (L$1000s) what they originally picked when they were new. And all those donations go to help more new users and so on.

Once again, some owners probably just shouldn't own trees. But I think on the whole the trees are still providing mostly positive experiences.

Aww, that's really nice ^^