Need Answers Re: Box Office Contest Feedback

Hi there. Some of you may have heard about the FFRC Best Box Office contest (March 26, current prize standing at $45,000L). While I have heard from some scripters that what we want seems to be easy enough, one raised some serious issues with the listed desired outcomes. The transition to a DI-less world requires the ability for events makers to create a friendly environment while enforcing paid only admittance. Can scripters out there respond to these issues and let us know what needs to happen to make the box office ideas work? Are upgrades to the world or changes in the TOS necessary to have a working box office? Let me know what you think.

Issues raised by Sera Cela:

The first is the quick pay window. the only way for a non-owner of an object to pay an object is to right click on the object and hit pay. you can't have a popup or anything
because that's the only way the right event can happen on the object.

The 2nd thing is your idea about moving a person to another area like a waiting room. That can't happen untill they add llTeleport(). The current teleporters are actually a hack of the sit function. It requires the user being teleported to right click and hit sit.

The last one is the auto bounce. Linden policy allows people to file abuse reports if a scripted object pushes them. The auto bounce would basically be a home security system that pushes instead of sends you back to your house, which is a no-no.

What we are asking for:

Suggestions for how the ideal box office entry would function:

The Box office would first be adjustable (a new note for that event's program) by the event host. It should allow the host also to adjust the time in which the visitor is bounced for non-payment.

It would give the note (program) to whomever came on property. Then it would pop up a "fast pay" window (amount determined by event hosts).

If the amount isn't paid within 3 (or however many) minutes, the visitor is notified by a "ticket checker" pop-up that he or she will soon be asked to leave if a ticket is not purchased.

One eventuality: The ticket purchaser is thanked in chat with a warm wish to enjoy his/her evening. The event host should have the option of giving the person an object at this point (such as a 3-D representation of the program with a complimentary gift enclosed).

Other eventuality: The event host is notified that a person hasn't paid his ticket and is about to be autobounced (an option that may be turned off if the event host doesn't want notification).

Autobouncer: may eject person from property (in a way that doesn't break the TOS and leaves the patron unscarred) OR may take the person to a 2nd location (perhaps another small parcel owned by the person or group who owns the land on which the event is being held. On the 2nd location would be a lobby or antechamber where the visitor would be sequestered until he or she decides to leave via teleportation or pay for a ticket.

Patron should have the option of paying for a ticket at any time during the event. A bonus would be if the ticket could be discounted for late arrivals (half off halfway through the scheduled event perhaps?)

Contest Entries must be built as well as scripted so that they can be tried out. Creators should consider how this would work on group owned land as well as individual owned land. An additional consideration may be the ability for the script to be adaptable to such needs as dividing the profits from the box office between various event hosts or between the host and the land owner.


Anyone have suggestions on how to make this workable with the given SL scripting capabilities and T.O.S.?

Some random thoughts...

You can't pop up an auto pay window automatically. But you could say (in chat or preferably IM) something like "Please right-click and Pay the box office to buy your ticket'. And the timeout for non-paying can be built into that, so the payment is not accepted after that time has passed.

I think there are 'cages' that people have made, where you basically rez a physical object around the person, and then use that to move them somewhere. I'm pretty sure that won't be fully within TOS. And the person could just sit down, or TP out, to break that.

A better solution for non-payers/party crashers might be to shame them The first idea I had was to have a scanner that checks who's there against who's paid, and if it finds non-payers, it warns them, and then does something like rez a big floating blinking sign that follows this person around which says 'so-and-so hasn't paid'. Could even send a particle chain to the av or something to really pinpoint who it is. Not sure how well that will sit with the TOS, but it doesn't violate any of the obvious ones I know (like push).

I tried to read through the post but I have a short attention span at times. If your just wanting a way for people to come onto a parcel for a limited amount of time I believe the land pass feature may be just up your alley.

With streaming video you can't see it unless your actually on the parcel.

Once the land pass expires I think it sends you home, or at least off the land.

I'm pretty sure you can script to add to land passes on payment, but not sure if you can set how long a land pass is in scripts.

Send me an IM if this sounds like what your looking for or I'll forget.

the only problem with using land passes is that it puts up an ugly red security gate look around the land. most people see that as some kind of security system and don't think of it as public land they can come to if they pay. We need a welcoming environment. IRL you go to a nice big lobby, get a program, get dressed up, maybe even get your car parked for you. You KNOW you are going to spend money, but you immediately get the sense of value for your money. In SL, right now, the land pass system looks like "forbidden zone, do not enter" until you get all the way there and then it says ok you can enter if you give me money. not welcoming at all. we want a box office as close to a rl system as possible.

TY for the responses so far folks. I appreciate it. Maybe there is a way to make the existing system more welcoming or a way to make the shaming the non-payer work.

It can't happen even after that: the specification for llTeleportAgent() indicates that it will ask permission before teleporting.

Linden Labs just turfed the basic stipend.

That's going to make it that much harder to convince 90% of the population to pay for events.

Hide the red bars with prims, and have a separate parcel that's NOT protected that acts as your lobby/parking lot/...?

Where did you read/hear that, Argent? Fact is, nomatter what, noone is going to work making events for a cost to themselves out of pocket. . . or not for long.

People who make 3-d content, like me, get paid for our efforts by people buying our stuff. It's also a great thrill to see the box come up that says someone is buying something. Lets me know people like what I do.

Unless there is something like that for attractions and events, why should anyone make 'em? Other than commercial events.

With the pay-for parcel and lobby, it would still take an usher to hand out programs, explain why it is worth it to pay whatever the charge is, and then to keep people from just using their cameras to angle in on the event, wouldn't it? I think the FFRC is looking for a device to keep all that staff cost down to a minimum.

Where did you see the thing about the stipend, Argent? Or was this said in a meeting?

They removed teh basic stipend from the web page and the footnotes. Now they claim it was an editing error.
I'm sorry, you seem to be reading a different message than the one I posted. I wasn't arguing that events shouldn't make money, I was just warning about a problem that I saw coming up for events. Luckily, it's a non-issue.
I have no idea. I guess that would depend on the nature of the event. I was just suggesting a way that the problem of having ugly red bars around the parcel could be addressed.

Because some people like the experience of getting to "role-play" a game show host, club manager, master riddler, dancer, etc.

Shame about the tier thing.

At the last FFRC meeting, we addressed the issue of potential limitations to the ability to script a box office. What folks came up with, even in that little bit of a meeting, seemed to suggest that there are workarounds. If the autobounce won't work, then perhaps something that indicates who paid and who didn't so that the event host can clearly see at a glance paying from nonpaying attendees, or perhaps using a discrete eject system such as currently exists with numerous security scripts (or so I am told).

We are relying on clever hacks to come up as people work around limitations on this. The $L prize has already gone up to $45,500 and we anticipate a significantly larger prize once the fundraisers are finished. If you have a workable box office system, or a plan for one, consider getting something demonstrateable together by March 26. You can do your pocketbook a service while making a serious contribution to Second Life.

llTeleportAgentHome solves your eject/TOS problems, as far as I can tell.