SLEX Petition: Contract, ToS, Communication

Well said Cristiano. Although most of us do business with companies with spots on their record (most big companies have them), it is different when dealing with small companies in a tight community. In my case, I don't know Apoth, I don't know Merwan, and I don't know what really happened... so as I said... I'm withholding judgement for the time being even though i worry that leaving my stuff on SLE could expose me to anger from some in the community.

Forseti,

I don't think badly of a vendor who chooses to remain - it is up to each person to decide what their level of risk/value is. I do however have a problem with the same vendors bashing Ulrika for speaking out about this issue - I happen to agree with her, she is just more politically minded than I am and called for a boycott. Ulrika did not make this public, Apotheus did. The entire situation from start to finish has been about dishonesty, and so in this situation, I choose to not do business with the site. Ulrika took it a step further and took it upon herself to speak out and provide information about what was going on with the site - all the rhetoric aside, there are some established facts about what did happen, and those are what make me uncomfortable.

Ultimately it does come down to a he said/he said in a lot of ways. I have received private messages about my public support of Merwan on this issue, saying things are not as they appear - but what I have seen is consistency from Merwan, and stonewalling/contradiction/silence from Apotheus, which speaks volumes to me. In this entire debacle, I have seen nothing to support Apotheus actions,and so that is what I base my opinion on, combined with Merwan's reputation and his actions during this situation. In the end, it is all a complete shame, as SLExchange.com was a site with a lot of potential, and a groundbreaking one at that. It is a shame that people are often a victim of their own success, and their own worst enemies.

I dont bash her for speaking about that issue, i am not happy about her SPAMMING about it, creating several forum threads, sending me several notecards and continuing to beat the dead horse.
But this is far from being all. I kinda stayed out of the discussion as much as i could, but i don't accept her telling that "the most respected artisans of second life have nothing to do with SLex" because that is untrue and insulting towards the ones that decided to stay.
And her refusal to answer to this point makes it even worse.

It isn't so much "I'm going to make my money and I don't care what happened" as it is the fact that I don't know either of these people for one thing, I don't know first hand all the details, and from my experience shadey things go on not just in some bussinesses, but every bussiness unless it's a very small one (and I've never been involved in a tiny one).

Everywhere I've worked, from a grocery store to a restaurant, and now a hospital, there is always something shadey. There's stealing, sexual harrassment, affairs, lying, back stabbing, etc. It's usually being done by someone in a position of power. If I had to find a place to work where nothing bad ever happened, I'd be unemployed. It gets "even better" in healthcare where you not only see shadey bussiness, but bad patient care as well. As a good example, I've seen a young patient die while his surgeon stood 2 doors down and didn't care. I went to him and told him he was needed, and his response was "I'm busy talking right now!" He was talking about golf with one of his partners. The most I could do was tell my supervisor afterwards which resulted in said doctor being written up, and then this doctor harrassed me anytime I had to work with him from then on. Well swallow that kind of thing for a few years and then tell me you'll get worked up over two strangers online having a bussiness deal go sour, okay? I guess in that situation I could've taken Ulrika's stance.... quit the job, protested, and claimed that any ethical healthcare workers would not continue working there until the certain doctor was kicked out.

Yes this is somewhat off topic, but not entirely. It's about the real world. So is this all on a RL level of importance to all of you? If it's not, then why the hype? I think because it's simply fun and makes some people feel important. I'm sorry but I just can't help seeing it that way when making the above type comparison.

Yes, that's the only reason I've started to speak in this thread too. This is what has begun to piss me off.

I don't think Christiano was implying that you were bashing her though. I think I am the one who has bashed Ulrika.

Stormy,

It was not directed at you either - or Shiryu, both of whom I have respect for, and I think you have expressed yourselves well, even in disgreement with her. I am not going to point out any person directly anyway - it is a more general statement. I don't think any retailer who leaves or stays based on their own sense of right/wrong has anything to justify to anyone. Ulrika is just being Ulrika, and honestly the vehemence levelled at her sometimes, where people think they can just turn her into a punching bag and say whatever they please is what angers me - something you are not guilty of.

Np Christiano, I wasn't worried about it even if you were directing it at me. I know when I get started speaking my mind I say too much. It's why I've tried to keep my mouth shut and don't post much.

Ok, that I can agree with - moderation is not always one of Ulrika's strong suits, in her zeal for the issue at hand, she can be a smidge overbearing.

On the topic of "the most respected artisans...", perhaps she should have added the word some. I have to admit, seeing Nephilaine Protagonist, one SLExchange's strongest supporteers pull all of her items out was a pretty damning statement to me, given her propensity for avoiding drama and being fair minded. The same with Francis Chung and others - it spoke a lot about the situation to me. Ulrika's statement was not off base, it should just have been qualified a bit more to avoid implying that only those who remain are not respected vendors.

I totally agree with you, Cristiano, but her refusal to answer to that point and to correct her aim makes the thing kinda worse. About nephilaine or others, they have the freedom to list or unlist their products wherever they want, but this shouldnt be a base upon wich to mesaure how much a merchant is or has to be respected. That sentence was extremely biased and instrumental.

Oh, I get it. This is just a case of hurt feelings!

Because I said "the most respected artisans of second life have nothing to do with SLEX," he thought I was implying that there were no respected artisans left in SLEX. Ha ha. Wow. It takes a special combination of insecurity and creative application of semantics to twist that into an insult.

Nonetheless, now that I know what all the hubbub's about, I certainly can find it within me to apologize. Shiryu, I apologize for indirectly implying that no one left selling goods in SLEX is a respected artisan. In the future I will use "some of the most".

In return I ask that you use PMs to resolve this kind of off-topic confusion. It could have been taken care of immediately had you done so hours earlier.

~Ulrika~

Sounds like some of us could use a little EVS

* Installs the Panda Platinum Firewall to shield himself from your forum icon * BTW, is that anything like the Platinum Edition, um, c*ck that you can buy in SL? lol You know the one I mean - the ONE THAT HAS ITS OWN API.

Actually, Ully, I don't need your help to realize that Apo cannot be trusted. He was very effective in proving that all on his own.

She prefers ZugBug.