I have a sincere question about in world groups…. Group slots have generally always been an issue in SL.  When they raised the limit of groups from 15 to 25 (yes, omg can you believe it when I joined it was only 15 I think) people thought their problems were over.  They have yet again raised the limit to 42 with the caveat that they may reduce that count IF lag and/or other issues becomes too much of a problem with people having that many groups.  With the problems of keeping groups between rentals, vip groups, friends, family, land… you get the idea, the update subscribe list became mine and most merchants friend.

With the limit raised I have been considering giving the in world group a few more benefits assuming that folks may be more willing to keep a store in a slot.

Fast forward to now… you have a choice, what kind of group do you think is most appealing?

Option 1: The group is open enrollment, kept that way in general.  Group discounts may be applied, the odd freebie every once in awhile or perhaps group only type announcement or benefit is thrown out there… if a special group only event occurs it may be closed during to make it more ‘special’.

Option 2: The group has a nominal fee to join, say… 200-500L but you are guaranteed some special compensation for paying into the group.  Special freebies available only to groupies, sales, and other things on a rather regular basis… this group could also on occasion be closed during more special offer event type deals if they occur.

Option 3: Closed group by invitation only.  Can only join if given an invitation, also has guaranteed specials, sales, and events announced available only to them.

I have seen all three options used… because I know group space is generally dear and hard to come by along with the fact most people really –don’t- need extra spam I am wanting to ask you folks what do you think works best or would draw your attention from a consumers point of view and give you the most benefit.

Now with all that said… I GREATLY appreciate feedback on all levels, good… bad… or indifferent, so to prove that I’m willing to send a gift to everyone who responds either in world on a notecard to me, Searlait Nitschke, (please title it something like… “Data Mining for Roawenwood [date here]” or commenting here on the blog.  Please let me know your SL name if you comment here and it is not the same as in world.  Thanks very much, till next time!

One noted change is that Gor/Gorean are considered a mature word and unless you click the little box on the page that says you want to look at mature items you won’t get anything back that has that used as a keyword… including things as simple as a Gorean vegetable garden.  I know, I know…. it’s not mature or adult but we roll with it and adapt.

Marketplaces changes blog post:  http://blogs.secondlife.com/message/592342

Copy of the email:

Important Maturity Changes in SL Marketplace

As you know, the Teen Grid officially closed last Friday, January 21st and teens are now allowed to join the main Second Life Grid. To ensure that the Marketplace is safe for all Residents, we’ve rolled out some changes to the Marketplace to better align the maturity settings in Marketplace with the rest of Second Life.

Recommended Actions to Listings from 1/27 – 2/1 Today, Thursday, January 27th, the Marketplace has begun to use the same maturity ratings that are used in Viewer and inworld — General, Moderate, and Adult. Your listings have been automatically updated with new maturity ratings, based on keywords and other algorithms. Note that this automated update is currently a work in progress. If you’re unable to find one or more of your listings in search or have additional questions, read the Marketplace/ Sellers FAQ.

Please follow these steps to ensure that your listings have been accurately rated:

* Review New Listing Guidelines: Use these guidelines to update the maturity level on listings that may be incorrectly ranked.
* Adjust Maturity Ranking of Items by 2/1: Use the new maturity level selector, on your Manage Inventory page, to adjust the maturity rating of each item. Please complete any necessary ranking adjustments, by Tuesday, February 1st.
* Refrain from Flagging Items Until 2/1: As a courtesy to your fellow Merchants, please do not flag other Merchants’ items until February 1st, giving them a chance to update their own listings.

Before the end of February, the Marketplace will be updated to allow setting maturity level preferences at a more granular level than is currently supported, such as allowing Residents to view moderate content without adult content included.

Thank you for helping us support the migration of teens into Second Life and if you should have any additional questions, please see this forum post.

Regards,
Brooke Linden
Sr. Product Manager, Marketplace

Andddddddddd a link to the marketplace guidelines for General, Moderate, Adult and Banned items:  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/listing_guidelines#adult-guidelines

Have fun, good luck, and now I’m grumbling as I sift through the task of going through my listings again.

Personally I think this is the time when LL -really REALLY- should release their list of words that are flagged, my rug beating chore is labeled as adult… while my beating the furs chore is not, basically the exact same ad.  It boggles the mind.  Take care!

This is at least the third sim that I’ve run across with this type of thing in the last week or so.  Role-play areas being built, set up, and then opened up with tons of stolen content as if somehow they are not going to be caught or the items recognized.  They even have rentals; market stalls trying to bring in the very creators they are stealing from to help support their sim!  It astounds me beyond all measure that folks really don’t think that it will be seen or is it that they -know- that it will be seen… they just don’t care.

I’m not angry, not outright… I know there are a lot of people who think this is just a game.  I know there are a lot of people who will get whatever they can from others without giving anything back.  I know that people see the price tag on a build and try to find ways to cheat the system.

But knowing it, and seeing it over and over kind of takes something from you.  I’m not angry… I’m very sad, and frustrated.  I keep hearing how freebies are killing our markets but at least freebies… honest to goodness decent freebies are someones creation, someone’s work.  It isn’t like there isn’t a whole lot of really good things to use on a tight budget but it takes some effort.  I am instead watching over the course of a couple of weeks the disheartening wearing down of a creator who I think is very talented.  I love what is put out and look forward to seeing where they will go with things…. but I’m watching him lose that spark.  The spark that I used to see coming from him when he talked about a new build, or a new creation being replaced by a bitter outlook along with the feeling that sooner or later… what’s the point.  To be a creator you have to have a certain level of creativity but also a desire to put yourself out there.  To extend yourself and let other people see into you a little bit.  At least some of us do.

I’m watching that spark die in someone and it saddens me more than I can get across to all of you.  This is the real casualty in content theft.  The money and all… you hate to lose it, you hate to feel robbed but the thing that tears at me the most is seeing a part of someone I care for die slowly and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

It might just be prims.

But there’s a hell of a lot more to it than that.

In my frustration I know that those who understand what I’m saying would be the last ones to take that from us… I know that the people who need to understand it never will.  I feel quite powerless at the moment and rather disheartened myself.

I started typing a plea… to think about what you might be doing to someone elses SL experience before doing something like this but I know that those people don’t care and only worry about their own.  To spend hours or days on creations, working on things, trying to come up with new things, trying to come up with exciting ways to get them out there… so other people can enjoy themselves… these are things that I found exciting and is what made my SL enjoyable.

But you begin to question why….  I don’t want the spark that I have to die.  I am trying to jealously guard it and keep it safe.

Copiers need to be held accountable.  Thieves need to be held responsible.

Please.

Copying, copybot type of stuff.  There has been a rash recently even worse than before that has been copying illegally items made by content creators and people are not only scared but infuriated by it.  So what do we do?  We try our best to protect ourselves I suppose but something has to be done.

Read this stuff:

Step up (article and links): Unique Needs

http://primperfectblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/i-say-enough/

http://primperfectblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/step-up/

Get involved here:

Step up!  Be Heard

Step up! Blog

I was sort of new, wanting to create and bought a splash animation.  You know… kicked back in the water where your arm swept around splashing.  You see it a lot, it’s pretty common.  I had gotten it from a yard sale for like 50L.  I thought it was a great deal, it was no mod though… and I was really new, didn’t know much about things at the time… so I contacted the animator (which most people know this guy.. Craig Altman, awesome stuff… love the slow dances at Bits and Bobs, not to mention some of the other ones!) to talk about it.  We chatted for quite awhile.  He asked me to send him a copy and when he replied he told me I had basically gotten an illegal copy, he also told me how frustrating it was for him… and he told me about another lady, Nytemyst Grace, who basically was having even more problems.  How her business was really really being effected because most of her poses were full permission while he only kept a few that way.  I remember this conversation with a great bit of clarity, I also recall that even though the copy of the animation I had was illegal… Craig gave me a full permission modifiable version and he didn’t ask for me to pay for it.  He just handed it to me, said he wished people wouldn’t resell his stuff without his authorization and was going to end it there.

You know even then I was floored because… really… his stuff was being ripped off, people were abusing the rights that he gave them with it, and still he gave me a copy to fix the problem I was having.  I hadn’t even bought it from him.

I sent him the money for it right then.  At the time it seemed like a lot, and now it doesn’t so much.  1000L, not really much at all for an animation… maybe it wasn’t much but I told him how I appreciated the work he put in and that it was the least that I could do.  Also said that I understood that without him or people like him willing to put themselves out there at risk of having their things abused then people like me, who couldn’t animate themselves if they tried, would be royally screwed over.

This place is a community, we work together… whether we wish to or not we pool our resources, knowledge, and ideas to try to better each others work and fantasies.  I bristle whenever I see in a few of the learning groups people asking for animations to just be passed out… or textures.  “hey does anyone have a float animation…” or whatever else they are begging for and then the inevitable parade of people all asking for free copies of someone elses hard work.

There is a list of animations right now that is going around, most of them are basically free now because a few people sold them full permission without the right or authority to do so.  I know I have some of them, I don’t really use them.  I joined the groups for Nytemyst’s animations so if I wanted one I could go pick em up (and really she sells them for hardly anything… why not) and I pick up things when I can at different stores where I have been given the privilege to buy and then sell in my creations.  It isn’t easy, I wish I could spend all the money I wanted to get all of them at once so I don’t have to worry about them being gone tomorrow since things change so quickly in SL but I can’t.

There’s a designer who has turned off their vendors because of the content theft.  Going to everyone’s stores in their group looking for people who may be selling pirated animations or thieves.  Sadly I’m sitting there scared that I will be tossed from their group because I actually went to Bits and Bobs, bought most of those couples sets that are now on the pirated lists and the sit poses… and due to the few people who decided to be idiots I wonder if I will be painted with the same broad strokes as those people, kicked out of the group and unable to continue purchasing what I really work hard to get.

It’s sad… it bothers me a lot.  I wish there was more that I could do besides a few posters in my place, and not breaking the TOS for them.  I know that it is not easy to make it in SL, and I know that people will take short cuts because it is so competitive… so difficult to get ahead.  I just hope that in the process the people who try to stay legitimate don’t end up getting caught in the crossfire along with them while creators protect their work.

How can I tell pirated animations? <this post has a small list of animations that are going around… most of them CAN be purchased legally if you go to places like Bits and Bobs or Nytemyst Isle.  Please support Content Creators in Second Life!

Animations: Which are public domain, which are not?