How to collaborate in SL for SL?

[Kayaker Magic]

The Internet is full of articles gushing about collaboration in SL, but this is always about using SL to work on things outside SL. I'm trying to grow a business inside SL and having trouble collaborating with people over SL issues.

For example, I can't hire someone else to manage my in-world store because the permission bits won't let her stuff products in my vending machines. I tried giving the vending machines to her so she could stuff them and arrange them, but then they paid her instead of me. I could give products and vendors to her, have her stuff them and give them back, rez them and finally have her arrange them in the store. But I end up having to give her “full perm” on stuff, then having to take it away when it comes back. This is as much work as just doing it myself! My business cannot grow if I have to spend all my time managing the store and never have time to create products any more. There must be a better way!

I've also had trouble collaborating with people on building things in SL. Objects built with prims, sculpts, textures, animations, scripts and sounds from different people create lots of permission hassles. I can end up building things that I cannot sell to others. I have objects that I have full perm on but cannot back up because of the LL rules designed to prevent copyboting. The only solution I have found so far is to email all the parts to each other outside of SL so we can each pay to upload them again and acquire true ownership.

Is there some way of using group ownership to solve these problems? I wondered if we should have one alternate avatar that owns everything that belongs to the business. We each log in to this one avatar to do final builds, stuff vending machines, arrange the store, etc. How do other businesses in SL deal with these issues?

 

[Sassy Romano]

I've reflected on the same.  SL is a very very POOR platform for collaboration due to the single use permissions.

Our vending system is custom so that my partner and I may sell our own products via a brand but other vending systems can achieve the same.

One way to do this is by using an update system such that your parnter owns the product and puts the actual product in their update server.

You then have the boxed item that you "sell" and in that box is an update script such that when the box is rezzed, the script contacts the update server and requests the newer version, or in this case, just the correct item.

I'm using the term "update server" because this is an off the shelf solution, you can achieve the same with some scripts that perform similar functions.

As for collaborative building, it is pretty unworkable, particulary as soon as you get to things like embedded objects and scripts.  The security model just hasn't matured at all.

 

[Mickey Vandeverre]

Hi Kayaker - I had asked this question a while back in the old forum, and got a ton of good info and workarounds - it was great thread, discussing every angle, complication, (yes, lots of complications) and suggestions.

I did try some of the suggestions, but in the end, it was just too tricky to pull off on daily basis, productively.

There is also a huge risk factor, because some of the angles require giving over a LOT of opportunity with your builds to others.  I was confident that I had the right people, make sure you do, as well.

I'm not sure how to find that thread, but the information was very good.  I'll try today, to locate it in the archives.

[Kenbro Utu]

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Mickey Vandeverre wrote:

There is also a huge risk factor, because some of the angles require giving over a LOT of opportunity with your builds to others.  I was confident that I had the right people, make sure you do, as well.

---

The only real way to be confident, and have recourse if somethings goes sour, is to obtain real signatures on a real paper contract.  

[Mickey Vandeverre]

at the time I was working that - a while back - I had to do that all dang day long in physical world.  was not about to drag that in here.      here, is joy  (most days)

Do you know how to get to the old, old, old forum archives?  Can't find those.

 

[namssab1nad Piers]

there are vendors where you can do a split on commissions ... no big deal... and if its anything but scripts and clothing, there are holovendors that will do the same thing.... there is another solution though... give your SL business partner(s) land rights through a group which you own.  They put down their own vendor that can do a split commission with their products.  You do the same.  When someone buys something from whichever vendor, you are automatically paid your commission.  That way, you set it once and done.  Once the "Partnership" ends, you kick them out of the kick group and return their vendor.  Simple solution.

[Kayaker Magic]

   When LL released the first version of the Marketplace (after xStreet) it had a button for managing assistant accounts. Anybody besided me remember that? I thought WAHOO! at least I can turn managment of my Marketplace store over to someone else. But if you clidked on the button it said "not implimented yet" and after a while it dissapeared completely.

  My workaround is to give my password to somone. Yes, it is the same password to my avatar, my main account, yes the money is all there also. Yes, I am sure I have the right person.

 

[Princess Verwood]

I actually think that nambssab1 had a good idea above with the split commission vendors. Also on the Marketplace you can in fact split commission. Its at the bottom of the edit page and it says "Revenue Distributions: Specify co-creators of this product and allocate a portion of their revenue." You can click on a button next to it that says "Add distribution".

[Alisha Matova]

The trick to building collaboratively inside SL is using the group "share" button. And keeping everything full perms until the final version. This solves inworld perms issues but can be a little dangerous(anyone in the group can mess with shared objects).

You may be able to use group "share" to assist your store managers too. Test it carefully first though.

 

As far as outside file sharing goes, I suggest a private forum, both for planning and file storage/backup.

 

Personaly, I think collaborative building in sl is really fun and rewarding, despite the issues. Leaning on each others strengths makes really awesome products. And it's kinda what sl is all about. =D

[Poenald Palen]

I have one sentence, which is my own. And one link, which has many many words NOT my own.

The sentence: "Trust, asign/delegate, practice quality control, have the trust be built outside SL and consider NON sl sources for some parts to be held off SL in databases to test on beta gridaditit OR your very own opensim that is private."

For more info on how a larger company in SL worked as a team (they where in a nationwide or international magazine...uh, like Fortune or whatever the other ones are called...they made a million in sales, work as a small team and SL was serious business to them.

You can download the mp3 right here: http://archive.nmc.org/2010-slpro/stiletto-moody-keynote