Howdy.
I just tested the "deny no payment info on file" option in about land -> ban, by using an alt to bump into ban lines generated when one is denied due to account status.
The error generated was (roughly) "wrong access level", and it only stayed in the bottom right hand corner of my screen for a short time.
I was wondering if there are any plans to :
1) change this error message into something more helpful, such as the following in areas which ban *only* those with no payment info on file :
"Only verified residents may enter this area. To get verified, visit secondlife.com/account and put payment information on file with Linden Labs. Doing this is free, and takes only a few minitues."
I realise that you want to have one generic error message for each of the account statuses as this is easier than writing 5-6 different error messages. Please improve the message anyway, though, as I suspect that improving it will help confused unverifieds a lot (who otherwise might not realise why they cannot access an area). This will help LL convert unverifieds into verifieds, which is a good thing.
Also, a sample error for sites which ban everyone but those with payment info used :
"Sorry, only those whose payment information has been used by Linden Lab may enter this area. The quickest way to get verified is to buy L$ on the Lindex at http://secondlife.com/currency or use http://secondlife.com/account to upgrade to a premium account."
Out of the 8 possible messages for 'deny to' statuses NNN to YYY,
A* 2 are covered above (YNN, YYN).
B* 1 never generates an error (NNN, as it allows everyone, by not denying anyone).
C* 1 should never be used (YYY, better to use 'allow by avatar list')
D* 4 others will probably be rarely used (NYN, YNN, YNY, YYN).
For A, I'd suggest replacing the error messages with more helpful ones.
For B, no error message is needed as no error can be generated.
For C, setting this should be impossible, and generate an error such as "if you wish to deny *everyone* but yourself access to your land, use the "access" tab in about land for your parcel, or the "estate" tab in World->Region/Estate for your estate."
For D, a generic : "Sorry, the land owner of this area has opted to exclude accounts with the payment/verification status '__________'." error would probably be enough.
How about doing that, to help residents understand why the ban lines are there?
2) Could you please make these messages come up as a dialog box that residents must click 'ok' to dismiss? Residents need time to read these messages, and the popups at the bottom right of the screen disappear far too quickly.
I'd put this on the FVT, but :
1) it seems like it is one of those issues nobody cares about enough to vote for, yet would make a big difference to newbies if put in place.
2) it seems to be easy to do (add a few conditionals, and a few different error messages depending on the results of those conditionals).
3) the people who are most effected by this (the newbie unverifieds) often do not know how to campaign for changes like this - they're just as likely to shrug their shoulders and logoff or go off elsewhere as they are to ask why it happens. So due to the fact that they often don't know how to ask, and it would be difficult for them to mobilise in sufficient numbers to get a FVT prop passed on the subject.... I'll ask on their behalf, here.