Bring back Ratings!! - A Proposal

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Orwar said:

   People not using local chat isn't an SL exclusive 'issue', a lot of MMORPGs have had an ever-expanding world and a dwindling userbase which often means you can go through entire zones without seeing another person if you treck back to earlier game content. People in most if not all MMORPGs use third party communication platforms such as Discord or Teamspeak for guilds/clans and even entire realms - it simply isn't 2004 anymore, the way people interact with each other online is radically different to what it once was; that doesn't mean that 'people today are less social' or 'people today don't know how to communicate', if anything it's the people crying doom about people not talking in local who simply haven't kept up with the rest of the world. 

   And even in Discord, if there's more than a few people involved in a conversation and some of the participants wants to talk about something different, instead of trying to mash several conversations into a single box we change channel, make new group chats and send PMs. There's just no benefit whatsoever for 20 people to talk over each other when two people want to discuss how great Tamagotchis were and three people want to discuss the weather and two other people want to discuss their weekend plans and one person trying to get a conversation on Pokémon going without anyone bothering to address them because they're too busy discussing the bestest anime waifus and they feel it's going to be awkward when they declare their all-time virtual waifu dream always was Eevee whilst another is just flooding the chat with gesturbation and clicking on every spanker and head-patter they can find whilst someone's pregnant belly is blurting out that 'ermigerwd it kicked!' - what the Hell is the appeal of trying to muddle through all of that? This suggestion is not in any way going to increase the quality of conversation people have, if anything it's just going to spread the disease that is local chat to more places. Personally I'd much rather just converse with the people I find interesting or entertaining and pretend like the riffraff that happens to be in my proximity at any given time aren't even there.

   Some MMORPGs have tried to remedy the silence by creating global chats, and whenever anyone I know makes a new character in any of the games that have them, turning that off is the first thing they do, as it is without fail, regardless of the game, a cesspool of such magnitude that it would make even the worst Twatter trolls blush. Last time I swung by a 'hangout' in SL the tone was of exactly of the same nature; some kid screaming the n-word repeatedly on voice whilst another was telling a trans-person that they should go off themselves.

   The way people communicate online has changed, it changing in SL is not a sign of SL dying, if anything it just shows that much of the userbase are adapted to it. We don't 'need' people to talk in local any more than we 'need' people to stand around in sandboxes building 2,000-prim spaceships just because 'that's what people did in the golden year of '04 when champagne ran in the rivers of the mainland'. Whether the changes has been for the better, well, that's debatable - but trying to socially engineer SL based off of a rose-tinted goggle view of how everything was better in the past certainly isn't going to be conducive for user retention - we should be moving forwards, not backwards.

   Just let people communicate in whatever manner they see fit, and try to move along with the times. 

   Goes back to watching 1930's infomercials about the history of the tobacco pipe and it's 'modern' production methods.

/me puts you down as a "Maybe".

But seriously, great job describing local chat! I could almost smell the stench of the unwashed masses!

[Silent Mistwalker]

I think Orwar, inadvertently, has brought us back to the age-old problem of what inevitably happens to women in "private" conversations.

For me, it's still no, thank you. If you have something to say to me that can't be said in local, you don't need to be saying it to me in private. I've been down that road too many times and it always ends the same. It's not my problem if a guy can't handle being told no. Try making it my problem and you'll wish you had never tried to hit on me.

[CaithLynnSayes]

@Coffee Pancake Hold the phone for just a hot second here. I'm a bit confused. Wasn't it you who was very loud and animated about a couple of bots that read profiles and publicized them? If i'm not mistaken you've even started a thread about it yourself. I'm so confused because in your OP you said this:

On 2/6/2023 at 2:24 AM, Coffee Pancake said:

invariably involved a lot of profile reading

So... What is it, do you want profiles to be read or not? I'm sorry, i'm confused here.

[Rowan Amore]

37 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

@Coffee Pancake Hold the phone for just a hot second here. I'm a bit confused. Wasn't it you who was very loud and animated about a couple of bots that read profiles and publicized them? If i'm not mistaken you've even started a thread about it yourself. I'm so confused because in your OP you said this:

So... What is it, do you want profiles to be read or not? I'm sorry, i'm confused here.

Profiles being read was never at issue.  Profiles being POSTED offsite for anyone and their brother to read was the.problem.  Two separate things.

[Love Zhaoying]

6 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Profiles being read was never at issue.  Profiles being POSTED offsite for anyone and their brother to read was the.problem.  Two separate things.

I don't even want those dirty, filthy bots READING my profile!  Just thinking about it gives me the heebie-jeebies! And not the good kind!

[CaithLynnSayes]

8 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Profiles being read was never at issue.  Profiles being POSTED offsite for anyone and their brother to read was the.problem.  Two separate things.

I still don't see the problem with that but NO! I won't start this here again. 

/me grabs @Love Zhaoying's hand. Let's go to another thread  

Edited February 10, 2023 by CaithLynnSayes

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I don't even want those dirty, filthy bots READING my profile!  Just thinking about it gives me the heebie-jeebies! And not the good kind!

Personally, i.couldn't care less who reads.it nor where they read it.  Just a non issue for me.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Love Zhaoying]

20 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

I still don't see the problem with that but NO! I won't start this here again. 

/me grabs @Love Zhaoying's hand. Let's go to another thread  

/me is dragged off, feigning protest while grinning!

[LexyMarie]

People are way too sensative these days for this kind of thing.

I just got Perma banned from Reddit because I made fun of someone saying they didnt feel safe on the Secondlife SubReddit.

Secondlife is the most welcoming diverse space ive ever come across on the internet.

Just no,people would be reporting everyone for discrimination & if (Insert Minority) person didnt get enough points that proves everyone involved is a bigot yada yada yada,you know how it goes.

 

 

 

[CaithLynnSayes]

12 hours ago, LexyMarie said:

People are way too sensative these days for this kind of thing.

I just got Perma banned from Reddit because I made fun of someone saying they didnt feel safe on the Secondlife SubReddit.

Secondlife is the most welcoming diverse space ive ever come across on the internet.

Just no,people would be reporting everyone for discrimination & if (Insert Minority) person didnt get enough points that proves everyone involved is a bigot yada yada yada,you know how it goes.

 

 

 

Are you surprised at this? Is this your first day on the internet?

[Love Zhaoying]

12 hours ago, LexyMarie said:

People are way too sensative these days for this kind of thing.

I just got Perma banned from Reddit because I made fun of someone saying they didnt feel safe on the Secondlife SubReddit.

Secondlife is the most welcoming diverse space ive ever come across on the internet.

Just no,people would be reporting everyone for discrimination & if (Insert Minority) person didnt get enough points that proves everyone involved is a bigot yada yada yada,you know how it goes.

 

 

 

Did you learn your lesson?

[Qie Niangao]

On 2/9/2023 at 9:23 PM, Orwar said:

 People not using local chat isn't an SL exclusive 'issue', a lot of MMORPGs have had an ever-expanding world and a dwindling userbase which often means you can go through entire zones without seeing another person if you treck back to earlier game content. People in most if not all MMORPGs use third party communication platforms such as Discord or Teamspeak for guilds/clans and even entire realms - it simply isn't 2004 anymore, the way people interact with each other online is radically different to what it once was; that doesn't mean that 'people today are less social' or 'people today don't know how to communicate', if anything it's the people crying doom about people not talking in local who simply haven't kept up with the rest of the world.  

[...]

Just let people communicate in whatever manner they see fit, and try to move along with the times. 

That's nice, but does it work in SL? Really?

I've seen a number of groups in SL try to get something going on Discord with perfectly pitiful results. I mean, it makes a serviceable async customer support channel, or a supplementary exchange of multimedia meme content, but I've not seen anyone actually succeed with it as an alternate social medium for SL. 

For a while, Twitter was kind of relevant, but Elmo gave the place cooties. Maybe the most active alternative social channel I know for SL is Flickr, of all places, but that's not exactly a local chat substitute in this brave new MMORPG world of Second Life.

Or could it be the problem is us Second Life fogeys who just won't "move alone with the times" and embrace the social medium du jour, stuck communicating in the obsolete manner we see fit? 

[LexyMarie]

11 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Did you learn your lesson?

Well I learnt a lesson,not sure if it was the one I was supposed to learn but yeah I learnt a lesson

[LexyMarie]

11 hours ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

Are you surprised at this? Is this your first day on the internet?

From a Secondlife perspective yes Im suprised because in 13 years Ive never saw Secondlife as a place where people get easily offended & ive always thought of it as one of the most welcoming diverse spaces on the internet,hearing someome say they didnt feel safe sort of offended me if Im honest & I think I took it to heart.

[Orwar]

12 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

That's nice, but does it work in SL? Really?

   Define "work". Yeah, Discord certainly can substitute and/or add to communication within SL communities; if you've got a role playing group with 20 members who are all spread out over different time zones that are able to get a majority of their people together in-world every other weekend, it's an excellent way to socialise at everyone's own paces and form long-lasting friendships that still revolve around SL.

   Discord groups for public venues such as clubs basically only amplify people's ability to be obnoxiously loud without ever uttering a single interesting word, replacing gesturbation with memes, gifs, and videos - does it "work"? I guess, but personally I feel no need to put myself within 'hearing range' of such communities at all.

12 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

I've seen a number of groups in SL try to get something going on Discord with perfectly pitiful results. I mean, it makes a serviceable async customer support channel, or a supplementary exchange of multimedia meme content, but I've not seen anyone actually succeed with it as an alternate social medium for SL. 

   How many clubs fail in SL? Do they fail because 'clubs can't be successful in SL' or because 'people have no idea what they're doing and so it's going to be a frustrating struggle until they give up'? There are successful clubs, so I wouldn't lean towards the first option - maintaining any kind of order in any setting where a number of people are at liberty to input communication takes work, moderation, and that moderation needs to know what it's doing. Discord has plenty of moderation tools that accommodates for a relatively small moderator team to maintain order of a sizeable community - if they know what they're doing.

12 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

For a while, Twitter was kind of relevant, but Elmo gave the place cooties. Maybe the most active alternative social channel I know for SL is Flickr, of all places, but that's not exactly a local chat substitute in this brave new MMORPG world of Second Life.

   I don't know how "relevant" Twitter ever was for SL in the grand scheme of things, I certainly saw more people talking in local about how they'd never want to be a part of Twitter (even before Elmo) than I've seen people putting Twitter links on their profiles. It did however seem like a fair few people had an SL Facebook at one point or another, the interaction with the brand I worked for the other year had a very active community there. Flickr just isn't built to be used as a means of direct communication, so the SL community trying to use it as such seems like an awkward idea.

12 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

Or could it be the problem is us Second Life fogeys who just won't "move alone with the times" and embrace the social medium du jour, stuck communicating in the obsolete manner we see fit? 

   Pretty much, yeah.

   I love letters. You know, the kind you get in an envelope, written by hand, a nice stamp picturing some curio on it; it's simple, straight-forward, and certainly gives you such an amazing width with which you can express both your personality and your sentiments for the receiver - dab a few drops of sandalwood oil on there and the ladies will know you mean business. There's times I lament that no one ever sends letters anymore, but I'm not so behind that I'm incapable of comprehending just how superior email is in terms of usability and accessibility. I mean I could of course sign off of my email and declare that any further communications with myself must be carried out via letter or carrier pigeon - but you know, I rather expect I might experience, how should one put it, that 'nobody's really communicating with me anymore', hm? 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

 

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

 

😋

 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

It's the best meme

[Silent Mistwalker]

5 hours ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

It's the best meme

Nah. The best was the "Buy Ingrid's Prefabs!" meme. 🤭

[So Whimsy]

On 2/10/2023 at 3:23 AM, Orwar said:

 People in most if not all MMORPGs use third party communication platforms such as Discord or Teamspeak for guilds/clans and even entire realms

I hate this with a passion. I'm fine with using Discord to co-ordinate guild events and the likes but anything beyond that is just horribad. Why would I tab out of a game, stop playing said game, participate in a conversation that might as well be had in guild chat instead and then tab back into the game to continue playing? Repeat ad nauseum. I actually want to...you know..play the game.

 I don't understand what people are thinking. I'm probably getting old and cranky but meh, left a couple of those kind of guilds until I settled in one that uses Discord as an an enhancement tool while using the guild chat for what it was made for; to chat among the guild while at the same time being able to play without endlessly going back and forth breaking up the gaming flow.

Sorry, just had to rant, you hit my biggest pet peeve there as far as gaming is concerned.

[Qie Niangao]

What was supposed to happen was that local text chat would diminish as new arrivals used voice for all in-world communications.

This fantasy infected more than the games industry: Apparently the voice assistants—Alexa, Siri, Google's, Cortana, Bixby, etc.—failed to meet their (unrealistic) expectations.

I think if our hands were permanently attached to pewpew game controllers, we'd all be using voice all the time as intended (in-world Vivox, Teamspeak, whatever) for all communications synchronous and ephemeral, and then Discord would be fine for everything less synchronous and less ephemeral.

Otherwise, though… I mean, who talks on the phone now, when texting is available? I mean, what's the demographic to whom voice appeals, vs text?

[Sukubia Scarmon]

1 hour ago, So Whimsy said:

I hate this with a passion. I'm fine with using Discord to co-ordinate guild events and the likes but anything beyond that is just horribad. Why would I tab out of a game, stop playing said game, participate in a conversation that might as well be had in guild chat instead and then tab back into the game to continue playing? Repeat ad nauseum. I actually want to...you know..play the game.

 I don't understand what people are thinking. I'm probably getting old and cranky but meh, left a couple of those kind of guilds until I settled in one that uses Discord as an an enhancement tool while using the guild chat for what it was made for; to chat among the guild while at the same time being able to play without endlessly going back and forth breaking up the gaming flow.

Sorry, just had to rant, you hit my biggest pet peeve there as far as gaming is concerned.

Oh man, I hate that so much as well. It feels... disruptive, having to tab out of whatever I am doing. Funny thing is - I do have two monitors, and even then it feels disruptive for me in 99% of the time. It's a big reason why I very rarely chat in discord - most of the time I am already doing something else and don't want to tab around. For me, the main use of discord is voicing with others, and that's mostly because SL voice hates my setup and will absolutely pick up any and all background-noise no matter the settings, discord will not. 

[EliseAnne85]

On 2/11/2023 at 2:28 PM, Orwar said:

 I love letters. You know, the kind you get in an envelope, written by hand, a nice stamp picturing some curio on it; it's simple, straight-forward, and certainly gives you such an amazing width with which you can express both your personality and your sentiments for the receiver - dab a few drops of sandalwood oil on there and the ladies will know you mean business. There's times I lament that no one ever sends letters anymore

This reminds me of yesterday when I got a bunch of stupid Valentine conversation hearts that said "text me" instead of "kiss me" like in the olden days.  So, I knew what I had to do, I texted him "kiss me".  haha

[Love Zhaoying]

Lately every time I see the topic "Bring Back Ratings", my first thought is that I'm afraid they (whoever "they" are), are going to "Rate" me as ugly, old, and dumb!

[Kavarek]

Exploited system and options won't return and they are cracking down on other types. 

 

Creating a division in equal users is also something frowned on, especially with the changes in company ownership. Those trying to be more then what they are, another user in main aspects is generally not liked, even when they think it is themselves. Linden needs to raise users and the interest. 

In the forums helping people is an act of compassion and community freely done by all who wish too. 

 

In the original days of Linden Worlds Project we had such a thing and it had to be curved befiore the larger public release as Secondlife. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Kavarek