Another ad farm rant....

Aren't you the guy who was selling a whole bunch of those ad farms on ebay for more than the price of 2 private islands?

Last time I checked, they had no bids, so.....I'd say, it looks like the market is deciding, in that case.

No, I have never chopped land smaller than 460 m2, and that was because my hand is not the best. I have never sold anything on Ebay.

And yes, it does seem the market is deciding, as it should, if what you say is true.

OK, sorry for thinking you were "that guy" if you aren't.

They aren't ad farms. They are a bunch of 16m2 plots located in unique sims (ie. generally one 16m2 plot per sim) and it is my understanding that they were being used as scanners to assist with a University research project. I'm fairly sure they were never used for ads and were barely noticeable - usually containing an invisible scripted prim and a tree.

The ebay listing states: Numerous roadside and/or highly visible plots for advertising or vendor placement.

This might be pretty weird for people just flying (driving, walking, pogoing, whatevering) around exploring - they'd see stuff pop in and out of the world as they cross parcel lines.

Maybe having some tax on the ratio of m2 owned to number of parcels owned would help the problem? Have a threshold that makes it increasingly expensive to own lots of small parcels but keeps everybody else at the rate they're at now. Of course, the arbor project and others will have puppies over this idea but if such a thing eliminated ad farms, they could do a lot of tiering down..

Not a well thought-out idea.. I'm sure somebody will post good reasons why this is just silly.

post a link to this ebay item please

Advertising is one *suggested* use of the land by the seller, but further research confirms those plots were *not* used for advertising (as I thought), and that they're priced in a range where advertisers would not be interested.

http://forums.secondcitizen.com/showthread.php?p=288683&highlight=weedy#post288683

I understood an 'ad farm' to be a bunch of 16m2 plots in the same sim. Is that wrong? That's why I thought this auction of land could in no way be considered an 'ad farm' auction. Ie. Each plot is in a different sim. They were neither bought nor utilized for advertising purposes anyway.

The link was too big for the board

ebay item 290123296336

They are selling them with a suggested use of advertising.

"Numerous roadside and/or highly visible plots for advertising or vendor placement" is listed as a *selling point*. Therefore, to me that equals future ad spam.

Your mileage may vary.

I don't think any of us would object to judicious placement of occasional advertising. It is the mass use of 16m plots in a small area used for multiple advertising spinning boxes that we all object to.

why don't they just zone land residential/commercial and reclaim residential land used for ad farms (oops you f'd up)?

Then you can buy what ya want. See ad spam only when out shopping. Present ad spam only to shoppers.

Seems win/win to me.

I think that people also individually object to the "judicious occasional" placement of these plots when they are cut out of aforementioned people's land or bordering it, and especially when set for sale at extortionist prices.

Speaking of judiciousness, who is to be the judge?

There fixed that for you. Your use of the word "all" implied you were speaking for me. While I don't like ad farms, I find land restrictions to be much more offensive.

Great ideas, hope to implement..

Visual Object muting would be a good idea, it would be a Pain in the ass to bump into 'invisible' walls though, and if they made it so that you could walk through them then that could be abused easily.

Well you're also a Land baron, are you not?

No, just a devoted fan of liberty and freedom.

Something else to consider. If you own land next to it and it is cut without anything on it yet, put up your No Entry Walls and make it a hassle for them to place ad and raise it.

To be sure of avoiding ad farms, live on one of the Azure Island or Dreamland sims.

The other approach is to consider them a form of griefing, which is the same thing as having a form of zoning against it on the mainland.

If ever there was a broadly offensive item the community really opposes, it's ad farms.

For the hardcore libertarians out there: how would you feel if, in RL, your neighbor destroyed the resale value of your home by putting up a huge porno billboard facing it? You'd have grounds to sue, wouldn't you? That is, if a city ordinance didn't lead to its being taken down right away. It's a form of harm. This principle would not be any different in the virtual.

This only leaves us with the question of fair enforcement. I favor something automated, as nothing else is effective right now with the Lindens as busy as they are. Saying "the Lindens won't like it" just makes me want to put my hands over my ears and say, "I'm not listening," as they have a real stake in an attractive mainland they can sell newbies on, not to mention investors and the press who go off a wandering.

I would NOT favor a solution that negatively affects people who use 16's for sensors, prim land or a form of hyper cheap newbie housing, except in the form of a mild increase in costs. The solution has to aim either directly at cutting or at ad farms themselves.

Seems to me there is no need to stand around like the princesses in the latest Shrek movie waiting to be rescued by LL. I don't think LL is going to do anything: "We do not get involved in Resident disputes." Nor should they; they should be fixing the grid. And nasty as ad farms are, they are unlikely to drive anybody to quit SL or not join in the first place, nor are they violating any RL laws - these being the main reasons LL imposes regulations as far as I can see.

Looks to me this is a case where Residents can take matters in their own hands. The answer being screens. This is a use for huge prims, which are available now in a lot of shapes and sizes suitable for this purpose, and will minimize the damage done to your prim budget.. Block out the offending ads, and put pleasing textures and colors on your side - matching the local sky is one suggestion I rather like.

If the ad farmer builds his ads higher, above your screen, you can match him easily - and at some height you can simply place a prim at an angle or horizontally far above you, so it will block your view from your ground or building of his ads no matter how high he builds. Colored like the sky, remember.

I think there are a lot of things Residents can do to solve their own problems in SL, if they apply a little ingenuity. This looks like a good case in point.

If ad farms were in danger of disappearing comlpetely from SL, people would be setting up conservation groups to preserve the last few as part of SL heritage!

Huge prims make me nervous... I use a building where there is one for the floor, and it does very odd things to physics and trying to rezz furniture on it. Are they allowed now on the mainland? If so, I may try this.

That's what I do Seems to work pretty good and making those other 16 sq m ads worthless.