I Think I Just Got Scammed...

So I was wandering about the land trying to find ANY kind of advice, info, or classes on how to DJ in Second Life and having no luck at all. Finally I stumbled across a store selling all manner of tutorial guides building, skinning, and so on. My eyes lit up when I saw a guide to being a DJ in SL. FINALLY!!

I click the sign. L$400?!?!? For what I expect to be a frickin' note card?! Well the guy knows what he's doing. There is nowhere else to find any beginner's info on DJing in SL so if you want to be a DJ and don't even know where to start you'll pay that insane price. So I let out a sigh and clicked the pay button. Then I let out a groan when I saw it was in a box. - OT for a second I *HATE* that. It's stupid and pointless far as I can see the only thing it accomplishes is making me travel to another sim that allows building just so I can open the stupid box and get my stuff - OK back to the point I travel to an area that allows building so I can open my box and get my guide.

Inside the box is a bunch more boxes one labeled as the guide. So I open that box... another frickin' box and I'm starting to feel like a sucker. I go to open that box... empty. No notecards no nothing. I frantically check out the items to find a creator so I can contact him. I wasn't too surprised to find out that the creator line is <unknown> on all the items. So basically I just got scammed out of 400 Linden. If you walk in a store and see a bunch of "guides" textured to look like the RL "______ For Dummies" series then buyer beware. I paid 400 Linden for a bunch of boxes full of junk that I probably could've gotten free elsewhere.

With that said if there is ANYONE out there willing to help out a newb trying to get started as a DJ in Second Life, please send me an IM. I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can offer. I'm about ready to just say F it and give up.

Sorry this happened to you.

http://www.shoutcast.com/support/docs/

This is the best resource available for those who plan to DJ.

Sorry that happened to you Jayson, I would recommend you contact Cher Harrington, she is one of the best DJs in SL and she has mentored and taught many the ropes of being a SL DJ! Hope this helps!

Thanks for the tips, I checked out stuff on the SHOUTcast page and it has at least given me an idea of where to get started. I'll also try getting in contact with the person you mentioned Diana and see if she'd be willing to offer any more advice.

I'm still out L$400 but at least I feel better knowing I may be able to get some help with this Second Life DJing stuff anyway. Not that L$400 is all THAT much in SL, especially with MY taste in clothing. Still I could have bought a nice pair of shoes from Made Man or something.

Ask the store owner why they are selling empty boxes. Perhaps it was in error.

That was my first instinct, that's why I started checking all the items for a Creator the fact that none of them list a creator is what has me pretty convinced it's a scam. I did try to find the store again (remember I had to leave it because of the stupid box and no build rule forcing me to do so) but to no avail. If I ever manage to find the store again I'll definitely get in contact with the owner.

The fact that this item is the first one I've bought in game that DIDN'T include a TP link to the store with the item is yet another reason to believe it's a scam...

Still should I manage to find this store again and/or get in contact with the owner to get it figured out I will post an update in this thread.

I thought this would be a thread about going Premium...

Just see who you paid the L$400 to on the Transaction Page.

https://secure-web3.secondlife.com/account/transactions.php

I suspect the second "box" is actually a book. Try going in a sandbox that allows scripts to run, and click on the book. It should open, and you should be able to turn the pages and read the text/images included.

You hit the nail on the head. I decided to go back and play around with things a bit more. The thing was so small it looked like just another box. Just as I was about to give up I right clicked and noticed that the Touch icon was activated. I clicked and it opened. It was frickin' tiny and required extensive use of the camera zoom but at least I did actually receive what I paid for. The information would've been useful about an hour ago. It basically restates what is said in the link provided earlier.

Still it's not really a scam so I did feel the need to come back here and state that. Horrendously overpriced? Yes. Scam? No.

Overpriced at less than $US 2 ??? But I do sympathise, it takes a while to get used to this world. I remember buying some clothes and wearing a box on my head, which I promptly deleted and purged! We were all there once!

I hope you found you could zoom the camera by pressing the left alt key while dragging with the left mouse button pressed. You can change the viewing angle by pressing the left control key as well.

While it's not that expensive really, it contains the same info that can be found for free (and as an added slap in the face provides you with a link to the website that provides all the info you just paid L$400 for free at the end of the book) so I'd consider it overpriced yes. For a long time player 400 Linden may seem like nothing, for me that's still a pretty big chunk of change. Especially with no in-game job (hence my interest in DJing)

I'm not knocking the person doing it at all. Obviously people are buying it so more power to him/her. I was just saying that in my personal opinion it is VERY overpriced. Probably because, like I said, help getting started as a DJ in SL is scarce. Supply and demand.

Some books are made to be worn as HUDs - so if it's in your inventory you "wear" it.

I can help you to become a DJ in SL.
I have a DJ shop.. just search for "DJ Doubledown"

It's not a scam, but i hate to say it, it's a rip off.

The basics are quite simple... here's what he charged 400 for:

To DJ into SL... you need a "stream" also sometimes called:
"shoutcast stream"
"shoutcast server"
"broadcast stream"
"stream relay"
etc etc

basically.. you need a stream to DJ into SL. You can rent from me, or a bunch of other people in SL.

Anyway, you play music where you're at, your stream broadcasts the music, and then its now possible for a bunch of people in SL to hear.

It sounds overwhelming, but there's only a few steps:
set up your stream (usually when you rent one, it'll come with instructions)
put your stream link in the land
connect to your stream
play music

Hi, Jayson, I am sorry you feel you were scammed. I am an audio consultant in Second Life and work with Spinstream Media Services.

I personally train djs and offer support thereafter, anytime. Spinstream provides streams to use free of charge so we can test your mic, etc. and I can assist you with a variety of platforms for audio. I do job placement, advising and even provide a tip jar!

Please contact me in game, and I would be more than happy to help.

Cher Harrington
Audio Consultant

PS: Thank you so much, Diana, you rock too!

First, don't buy anything unless you can figure out who the creator is.

Second, to find the creator for an object, try right click and "rate creator". I've never seen that fail, though no doubt it can. In any case, it works in many cases where the other methods show nothing.

Third, when shopping and you can't rez a box, try simply wearing it. You can then right click and edit it to look inside. You may look like a newbie, but at least you don't have to leave the premises. ("Copy to inventory" might not appear, but at least you can get the contents listing, and I'm pretty sure you can still drag to inventory.)

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I mainly came to vent a bit but it's definitely nice getting this much support in response to it.

I'll definitely try to get in contact with both Doubledown and Cher when I get a chance. I did stop by your store Doubledown but you weren't on at the time, very nice place though.

The job placement help would definitely be a huge plus for me because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of demand for DJs specializing in Hip-Hop so it'd definitely be nice to have some help trying to find a place to DJ. I love rock music as well but my my CDs were stolen out of my car a couple months back leaving me in no position to try to have a steady stream of rock music unless someone's looking for a 24/7 Hider and Nickelback DJ.

I actually do have SAM Broadcaster because I was looking into running an internet radio station a while back. Then the RIAA started sticking their head into that too and I said screw it. Luckily I still have the program on my PC though. From what I understand that is the recommended program for SL DJs.

Anyway thanks again for the kind responses, I'll try to get in contact with the 2 folks that offered help.

PS: Thank you so much, Diana, you rock too![/QUOTE]

Thanks Cher ! I've told a couple people to give you a shout when they have questions or need help getting started!