Too Soon?

[PheebyKatz]

It's been a long time since I (for reasons of decency and taste) stopped publicly sharing my Soviet surplus combat RP gear. In the meantime, I've perfected my RPG-7, made what is arguably the finest AKMS in all of SL, and have even made progress towards completing my "Скад" (Scud) missile project. Without openly discussing any actual world politics (because yeah), might I get an opinion or two on whether it's too soon to re-list these sort of items, seeing as people are not quite as sensitive about it anymore?

It's artistic reproductions of things from a period in history when a regime that couldn't figure out how to grow food, and ultimately collapsed, was also at the cutting edge of technology and the sciences, and it's a pretty important part of my own history, as well.

What do you guys think? Is it safe to share my love of Eastern Blok kitsch again yet, or would everybody hate me for it?

I mean, I've made explodable tanks, and everything.

^-^;

[Love Zhaoying]

Can you add features to the tanks so that they automatically break down, lose parts while driving, switch from the Russian to Ukrainian flag, etc.?

 

[Rick Nightingale]

Difficult one IMO... personally I cannot see anything relating to that country (the one I won't even spell with a capital r any more) without feeling utter disgust. And probably never will again. A bit like the big N word from the last decade might have been while that was going on. Right now a lot of my little income gets sent to certain funds and has since the first weeks; as much as I really can spare. It's why I'm still using a ten year old PC. There hasn't been a day gone by, since about three months before it started (and I predicted the exact day 4 weeks in advance) that I haven't checked every news source going.

That said, the other side uses largely the same hardware as does a lot of the rest of the world; it was sold all over the place after all. I think it would be any insignia or obvious reference that would trigger a negative response in me.

Still, your choice and my feelings are just that; mine. I'm not going to hold it against you if you sell your stuff (if that even matters, lol).

Edited June 3 by Rick Nightingale

[Thecla]

I personally don't think it's a difficult decision at all. Re-list it. You're a creator, not a politician and and it's not like you're promoting either side of the conflict by making Soviet-era weapons.

Then again, I'm surprised you got flak to begin with. I would think having some perspective on the matter was a pretty simple cognitive task but I guess for some people it's not.

[PheebyKatz]

35 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Can you add features to the tanks so that they automatically break down, lose parts while driving, switch from the Russian to Ukrainian flag, etc.?

 

The only flag I use is the old Soviet victory flag from when they whooped the bad guys in WW2, but yeah, parts fall off. It's Soviet surplus stuff. Of course parts fall off. Even in my HowTo guides I tell people "actual quality may vary".

[Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia]

32 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

It's been a long time since I (for reasons of decency and taste) stopped publicly sharing my Soviet surplus combat RP gear. In the meantime, I've perfected my RPG-7, made what is arguably the finest AKMS in all of SL, and have even made progress towards completing my "Скад" (Scud) missile project. Without openly discussing any actual world politics (because yeah), might I get an opinion or two on whether it's too soon to re-list these sort of items, seeing as people are not quite as sensitive about it anymore?

It's artistic reproductions of things from a period in history when a regime that couldn't figure out how to grow food, and ultimately collapsed, was also at the cutting edge of technology and the sciences, and it's a pretty important part of my own history, as well.

What do you guys think? Is it safe to share my love of Eastern Blok kitsch again yet, or would everybody hate me for it?

I mean, I've made explodable tanks, and everything.

^-^;

I say do it.  I don't think it should be a difficult decision at all.  We have all kinds of weapons in SL, many are replicas of weapons used by countries that have done worse than Russia.  I'm really not trying to get political, so I won't make a list of countries most people think are worse than Russia, but just to illustrate what I mean... I count 111 results for Panzer vehicles on the MP.  I don't think anybody thinks Russia is more evil than the people who made and used the Panzer, but nobody is freaking out about the Panzers.

So yeah, I say do it.  I don't think anybody will complain.  AFAIK, it's not against TOS to have Russian things in SL.  Especially Soviet Russian things.  The USSR hasn't invaded anybody since, what?  1989?  Did they leave Afghanistan or Checkoslovakia first?  I don't remember.

If anybody complains about that, then you should point out the Union Jacks in SL, and ask how many places they invaded.  If we can forgive the English, then we should certainly forgive the Soviet Union, which doesn't even exist any more.

[PheebyKatz]

10 minutes ago, Thecla said:

I personally don't think it's a difficult decision at all. Re-list it. You're a creator, not a politician and and it's not like you're promoting either side of the conflict by making Soviet-era weapons.

Then again, I'm surprised you got flak to begin with. I would think having some perspective on the matter was a pretty simple cognitive task but I guess for some people it's not.

Nobody ever openly complained to me, and I even go so far as to keep all of my combat play and reenactment stuff (with zombies, of course) out of public view. I took it all down so as not to offend people at the time, because I figured they had enough triggers at the moment, and I didn't feel like adding to anyone's bad feelings in that moment, if you get me.

The few people who've seen my Soviet Victory Zombies have actually gotten the humor and I've let them shoot some with me on occasion.

Thing is, I want to share my stuff with anyone who might like it, but I'm also autistic, and I realize I do not have quite the same sense of appropriateness as others. So I figure hey, ask you guys. I mean, I have enough empathy that I took the stuff down on my own when I did, but I don't have quite enough to trust my own judgement on when it might be safe to put the stuff back up.

I mean, I'm the kid who made sharpened stakes for people to impale themselves on as furniture.

So yeah, you guys' opinions are important to me here, and I appreciate every one of them I can get.

[Rick Nightingale]

Having thought further and clarified my thoughts... for me, as long as you aren't making it blatantly pro-r which I guess you aren't, I see nothing inappropriate in what you're suggesting.

Obviously I have very strong feelings on the current issue, which I usually try to avoid bringing here.

[Love Zhaoying]

11 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

I mean, I'm the kid who made sharpened stakes for people to impale themselves on as furniture.

Can you teach the other kids to be "a little bit more ebil", but "not TOO ebil"?

11 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

So yeah, you guys' opinions are important to me here, and I appreciate every one of them I can get.

* blush *

[Love Zhaoying]

22 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

59 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Can you add features to the tanks so that they automatically break down, lose parts while driving, switch from the Russian to Ukrainian flag, etc.?

 

The only flag I use is the old Soviet victory flag from when they whooped the bad guys in WW2, but yeah, parts fall off. It's Soviet surplus stuff. Of course parts fall off. Even in my HowTo guides I tell people "actual quality may vary".

The reason I asked the specific questions I did is, because in the current "climate" it would be nice to use the tanks to roleplay having the tanks captured and used by the 'other guys', blown up, breaking down, etc.

 

[Rick Nightingale]

Bites tongue... very hard...

Edited June 3 by Rick Nightingale

[BilliJo Aldrin]

14 minutes ago, Rick Nightingale said:

Bites tongue... very hard...

if they delete my post, they better delete yours too

in fact im gonna flag every post in this thread that makes any reference to anything outside of SL

Edited June 3 by BilliJo Aldrin
added a line

[BilliJo Aldrin]

50 minutes ago, Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia said:

 

So yeah, I say do it.  I don't think anybody will complain.  AFAIK, it's not against TOS to have Russian things in SL.  Especially Soviet Russian things.  

LOL, anything pro communist is totally acceptable to LL

*considers making an “I survived the Soviet Gulag and all I got was a crummy shirt” t shirt*

[PheebyKatz]

To paraphrase myself, can we discuss this without actually discussing current world political events? It's verboten, I mean, forbidden.

Fun Fact: Kazakhstan was the last country to leave the Soviet Union. When they heard that it had collapsed, they thought it was a trick, and that the regime was testing their loyalty. So, for a while there, the Soviet Union was just Kazakhstan.

"Very nice!"

My friend Arik is fond of history, and his answer to it all (people getting offended by real history) is that he does alternate timeline fictional history instead. Like, instead of WW2, everyone had to unite against global threats, and they ended up making a better and cooler world.

I like that.

Anyway, yeah. And capturable tanks are a neat idea, I just don't know how often that actually happens. Even in cowboy movies they can be almost out of bullets, and there are guns all over the ground, and they just run along and never pick any of them up. Then they run out of bullets, because their six-shooter only held 19 rounds. Never made any sense to me. Pick them up and use them, you know? But yeah, I think they've always just blown them up, it's probably in the rules.

[discussionbot]

33 minutes ago, BilliJo Aldrin said:

there are NO good guys and bad guys in that conflict. if you think otherwise you have been deceived.

But on balance, id back russia

Who asked?

Anyway, OP it'd be a shame not to publish them. I love old Soviet stuff and all the historical gear sounds great. Would be a shame not to, keep up the good work.

Edited June 3 by discussionbot

[PheebyKatz]

11 minutes ago, BilliJo Aldrin said:

*considers making an “I survived the Soviet Gulag and all I got was a crummy shirt” t shirt*

If Great-Grandpa had survived, I'd have gotten him that shirt. But yeah, this thread is about SL and the opinions I seek are whether people who post here, whose opinions I can generally trust as an indicator of public opinion in SL, feel that I would be better off leaving certain MP items unlisted, or whether I might not worry so much about hurting people's feelings by re-listing them.

Save for historicity, it has nothing to do with any of the realities of RL today, but I do care about how what I might regard as fun play toy things might be seen by others as hurtful, which is something I would prefer to avoid. I know better than to worry about what over-sensitive people or those looking for something to be offended by might think, but it's still important enough to me that I'm asking.

I welcome anyone's opinion on this, I just ask that when we weigh in, we consider others' feelings as well as our own. I'm thankful that I've gotten this much feedback so far, it really does help.

Edited June 3 by PheebyKatz

[Love Zhaoying]

27 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

Anyway, yeah. And capturable tanks are a neat idea, I just don't know how often that actually happens.

Sorry, I didn't know how to bring that up without the "current climate" reference!

But even during Cold War days, it would be nice to have the Soviet tanks "break down", blow up for no reason, etc. 🙂

 

[Love Zhaoying]

21 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

I just ask that when we weigh in, we consider others' feelings as well as our own.

As you can see, that will be an uphill battle (so to speak, not making an intentional pun).

[Love Zhaoying]

37 minutes ago, BilliJo Aldrin said:

51 minutes ago, Rick Nightingale said:

Bites tongue... very hard...

if they delete my post, they better delete yours too

in fact im gonna flag every post in this thread that makes any reference to anything outside of SL

You..you NAZI!!

[PheebyKatz]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

As you can see, that will be an uphill battle (so to speak, not making an intentional pun).

In the Motherland, hills go uphill both ways! I believe it is side effect of The Zone. Shortest path is not the safest, The Zone will punish you!

I think it can be done. If not, I'll simply consider that my answer. Then I will decide if I agree with it.

One more Stalker reference:

May everything come true. May they believe. And may they laugh at their passions. For what they call passion is not really the energy of the soul, but merely friction between the soul and the outside world. But, above all, may they believe in themselves and become as helpless as children. For softness is great and strength is worthless. When a man is born, he is soft and pliable. When he dies, he is strong and hard. When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life. That which has become hard shall not triumph.

[BillFletcher]

Hey an AK-47 will work as well in the Zombie Apocalypse as an M-16 list them, we need them.

[Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia]

1 hour ago, PheebyKatz said:

Anyway, yeah. And capturable tanks are a neat idea, I just don't know how often that actually happens.

From what I understand, tanks are dangerous at a certain range, but close up they are sitting ducks, which is why they need foot soldiers running next to the tank to protect it from attacks from enemy soldiers rushing the tank.  A tank without soldiers walking next to it is like a medieval spear man without a shield man to protect him from being rushed.  You can run up to the tank, spike the canon, put a grenade in the wheels to break the tracks, or climb on it, and do whatever it takes to get that hatch open.  If the tank is trapped, and the unit was destroyed or moved on, sometimes you have all day long to do it, with maybe an acetylene torch or whatever you have on hand.  You can drop a frag grenade in it to destroy it, or use a gas grenade, or just shoot the tankers like fish in a barrel, and then you got yourself a slightly stained tank!  At least, that's how I understand capturing tanks works.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, PheebyKatz said:

It's been a long time since I (for reasons of decency and taste) stopped publicly sharing my Soviet surplus combat RP gear. In the meantime, I've perfected my RPG-7, made what is arguably the finest AKMS in all of SL, and have even made progress towards completing my "Скад" (Scud) missile project. Without openly discussing any actual world politics (because yeah), might I get an opinion or two on whether it's too soon to re-list these sort of items, seeing as people are not quite as sensitive about it anymore?

It's artistic reproductions of things from a period in history when a regime that couldn't figure out how to grow food, and ultimately collapsed, was also at the cutting edge of technology and the sciences, and it's a pretty important part of my own history, as well.

What do you guys think? Is it safe to share my love of Eastern Blok kitsch again yet, or would everybody hate me for it?

I mean, I've made explodable tanks, and everything.

^-^;

I have an apartment (still) in a region modeled after a Soviet Bloc city of the 70s/80s era.

I have, in a sense, "repurposed" it by filling it with Ukrainian memorabilia: Ukrainian folk art, posters (from the 70s), books, and photos of Ukrainian intellectuals.

And, of course, it's entirely historically accurate -- although such decor would have been severely frowned upon by "authorities" in that era.

Couldn't you do the same with at least some of your Russian stuff?

[PheebyKatz]

39 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I have an apartment (still) in a region modeled after a Soviet Bloc city of the 70s/80s era.

I have, in a sense, "repurposed" it by filling it with Ukrainian memorabilia: Ukrainian folk art, posters (from the 70s), books, and photos of Ukrainian intellectuals.

And, of course, it's entirely historically accurate -- although such decor would have been severely frowned upon by "authorities" in that era.

Couldn't you do the same with at least some of your Russian stuff?

I sometimes build a cottage house sort of outpost in the middle of nowhere, and park the truck out back and bust out the Pasha eggs and everything. Then I slay hordes of zombies. Not everyone can experience that with me though, as it's always a temp build, and I wouldn't feel right leaving it up over my home sim, as it's so completely off theme. I have inoperable decor versions of some of it in my freeby store inworld, but am not vending that stuff, it's just sort of the museum display of my work.

I'm thinking maybe just list all of it but include a disclaimer explaining how it's not a political statement or anything, and it's not meant to trivialize anything, it's just art from out of someone's history. Not everyone out there can be expected to know where I'm coming from, so maybe just a blurb letting people know I'm not vending such items for unconscionable reasons would be enough. It'd make me feel better, at least.

[Sorciaa]

i am guessing the items you are wanting to sell are Soviet era stuff? the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation are not one and the same even though they occupied the same region.

 

go right ahead and sell!