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Robert Galland

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Everything posted by Robert Galland

  1. I believe they do not have a one strike and you are out rule, though they should. I have never seen a copybotter be banned after serving a dmca. Of course, we are not allowed to know what people who violate the terms of service receive as punishment because of the offender's "privacy interests."
  2. I try to be pretty clear in the marketplace and in notecards you can get at my store that my products are copy/mod, but the scripts in the product are no mod so the item will appear no mod to you. The package will appear no mod to you even after you buy it and have it in your inventory because of the scripts. You have to actually rezz one of the suckers in world to see that you can edit prims, but cannot edit the text of the scripts. Heck, the rezzing scripts I use are no mod to even me, but copy/tran and passed on to you. So, between those rezzing scripts and the house system scripts, the packaging, sign holding the pack, etc. will appear no mod. I applaud the idea of having a permission that recognizes modifiable prims with no mod scripts if that makes things easier for shoppers to understand. Merchants are stuck with the same permissions systems as buyers now though and I think it is one of those things where a shopper can learn more about how permissions and packaging work as they spend more time in SL and can also shop based on word of mouth and learning if a seller has a reputation for being honesty. I think most merchants try to do this right.
  3. Oh geez... Unfortunately, this is the default group setting and happens to people in the Everyone role as stated above. But, it is so easy to correct and well within the business owner's ability. Go to group and click the right box.
  4. I think having a business alt for this makes excellent sense and have been worried how this inventory devlivery was going to work. I might have more than one item packaged with the same title, but some refer to earlier versions. Am I supposed to delete my earlier versions? I do not think that is wise. Does delievery work off of UUID? I admit, I do not know all of the answers, but I am a little hesitant to just have the MP delivery system pluck things out of my inventory.
  5. I am sure they receive a lot of DMCA notices and I believe there are only two attorneys on staff. So, part of me sympathizes and I have to say in the one dealing I have had with LL's counsel, she was very professional and knowledgeable. As to confirmation of notices, I do think this should be improved upon. Unfortunately, I have to say that I did not receive responses for them until they started being sent by my attorney.
  6. For what time period do the stats apply? Views starting when? Sales from when? I have asked that LL allow us to see how many times these things occur on a daily basis. How many times was this product viewed on x day, searched for, sold, etc. The stats now mean nothing to me, except for sales of course.
  7. I have noticed this happening of late as well and have had to put a ntoe in my profile asking customers to send me notecards. I have been having to switch between Viewer 1.23 and Viewer 2 of late and noticed that this started happening then. I would be interested to hear if other's are having the same experience. It may be a coincidence and unrelated. I keep checking the communication tab in preferences to see that the box is checked.
  8. I have the same drop in sales in this week and was kind of thinking it was due to the changes in the Marketplace on Monday, but I only sell G rated items. I did notice that for some reason, I dropped in search relevancy when the changes took place and I had one of my best weeks ever on the Marketplace last week. So, more sales on the Marketplace should mean you inch up, right? I sure as heck did not. In world has been consistent for me, though Monday - Wednesday were down a bit. Hang in there everyone and good luck.
  9. Nice post, Luna. Phil, you were kind enough to share some advice with me about search last year. I have to echo Luna's advice in an attempt to return the favor. I also suggest you consider getting your items prepped for the Marketplace and get a presence there. Whether you agree with why we have to adapt or not, we have to or we face fading away. I did not put too much effort into Xstreet and had some less than professional looking pictures etc. I spent the bulk of my New Years weekend updating all of my imagery etc. on the MP and the results were immediate and have been worth it. Good luck.
  10. There are some great tutorials out there for beginners. Here are just a few. http://robynhuffaker.com/sculptblender/tutorial/ http://blog.machinimatrix.org/3d-creation/video-tutorials/ Sculpt away.
  11. I went to take a look and I did not see that prices had increased today. Perhaps the poster was referring to a previous increase. L$2899 for 1 month in the home page, right? That's still the price. Annnnd, what Porky said as to the effective reporting. Sorry Brooke! Not to be a bummer, but we need it.
  12. I do not think RZ is affecting this too much either. The drop in traffic and in-world sales coinciding with the rise of MP sales for me was very pronounced and starting right after Christmas. I tweeted last week to the effect that for the first time in 4 years, I had a day with more house sales occurring on the MP than in-world and was a large enough sample that it had meaning. Houses are something people usually want to walk through, right? The net result is I still had a good day and LL got a lttle commission. But, striving to be adaptable, the business plan now includes the possibility of selling one of my sims this year. People are undoubtedly changing their shopping habits, so I have to ask, can I present my products just as well and net more with MP sales while paying less tier to LL? So far, things are trending towards "yes."
  13. That's true, Porky. A potential issue would then result, using your example, where several things were priced at L$11 and would show in search. So, I guess the issue is, where would there be a cutoff? Would it not need to be industry specific? What is the average price for a scripted motorcycle verus hot air balloons, houses, skins, etc? Is 150L$ ok for motorcycles or do they have to be L$500? I am not objecting to anything you said, just wondering how what might amount to two marketplaces, one for free or "low" priced stuff and one for "normal" prices. Maybe it would have to be as simple as you say, L$10 and under goes in a specific category and just leave it at that. Didn't they start, or were proposing charging for a listing under L$100 in an attempt to discourage freebies? I cannot tell someone that they cannot make something and give it away and I do not see anyone here attacking that principle. Some people see their creations as art that they want to distribute for no compensation. Shoppers are free to judge quality and determine value for themselves too. I honestly did not use to care too much about what was going on in Xstreet or XstreetSL as they were nice for free advertising, but 99% of my sales always came from in world. That was by virtue of the industry I am in for sure. I have noticed a huge swing since December and have no doubt that LL is successfully steering people to online shopping. So, I care now how the Marketplace is functioning and still think the biggest issue is the absolutely terrible search results.
  14. Right, you cannot stop people from paying for reviews, whether through a rWarder system or something that takes place behind the scenes. You can lower or eliminate to value of ratings in the search engine, though. This is why they took picks out of the equation in world. I know that they are already looking into the idea of making it easier for purchasers to give ratings. I have not received many ratings since the new MP went into effect, yet have received IM's from purchasers talking about how much they love the product they bought from me. If they took the time and initiative to IM me, I think they would take the time and initiative to write a review on the MP if they could find that easily. Right now, reviews are hard to find, there is no reminder to give reviews like there was in Xstreet, and I just do not think many people think about it. I hope they are considering doing away with the requirement that you have to give a written review as well as making the option easier to find. I do believe Brooke is open to listening to us and reads these forums. This is probably an issue that we should pursue through discourse with her.
  15. I think this has been answered, but I have played around with larger regular prims in the mesh beta grid and saw they still counted as one prim. The larger prim sizes used in conjunction with mesh and sculpted prims will give builders a variety of tools to advance architecture in Second Life. I am chomping at the bit myself.
  16. I don't think you are silly at all and agree with you.. I hope I was not misinterpreted and maybe your last post was not directed to me. Anyway, if you cannot pay for picks, or pay campers, then paying for reviews needs to be taken out of the mix too.
  17. Fornicula: You may not be surprised to hear I agree with you 100%. Good post.
  18. You mean you are not interested in seeing 50 different mentions on how to get hot linden dollars, Lasher?
  19. I do not believe listing enhancements are worth it over the long haul. Results may come initially, but then die off for me as well. I think Josh's point may have some merit. There are a lot of people buying them now and consequently a lot for someone to scroll through. I think a shopper is more likely to ignore them now because I believe from talking to people that they go to the marketplace to initiate a specific search. So, they type in "beach houses" or something and look to the general listings that appear. After wading through a few pages of adult animated rugs, etc. then they might actually see a few houses. And, this takes us back to the search issue.
  20. I use it from time to time and there are some things I like about it. The sidebar and the way things like contacts, inventory, etc. are separated makes sense to me. I think there is a lot of potential for making the viewer and web surfing more compatible as they are trying to do. However, and I cannot state this enough - it is terrible for building. I know some of this may sound like a dog not being willing to learn new tricks, but it is inefficient for building, I think the menu text is too small (even on a 23 inch monitor), and I do not find the camera controls as easy to use. I am not really sure what makes an executive think that a great idea for an existing product is to make its long time users have to relearn how to use it. Unfortunately, that's what Viewer 2 does. Things are so different that one can even spend a ridiculous amount of time learning just where the "you know what" you have to go to grant edit rights. When you are trying to build and service customers and have to jump through hoops after four years to accomplish simple tasks, it leaves you frustrated.
  21. Right, it is unfortunate if you end up paying LL double commission as failed transactions are not our fault. You are doing the right thing, though. Better to have a happy customer who may think well enough of how you handled it to tell their friends and might even come back.
  22. It may not be so dire, Larry. I do not have specifics, but at the last merchant's meeting with Brooke Linden, we were led to believe they are taking a hard look at the ratings system among other things. Search issues were discussed as well. I particularly like your first three suggestions.
  23. I am not certain just what Linden Lab means by promising more protection. I know they have to comply with the DMCA as LL is a U.S. based company and the DMCA is the relevant federal statue dealing with the online copyright infringement. I am sensitive to LL's need to protect itself from contributory copyright claims and the DMCA procedure is what allows them to do so. Whether dealing with LL or any U.S. based online service, the DMCA is the legal avenue available to alert an internet provider to IP theft AFTER it is known to have taken place. What is unfortunate is that LL has thus far limited their dealing with this pervasive issue to ONLY advising residents that they can serve DMCA notices. There is no reason in my mind why this should be the case, especially where LL has gained the success it has largely because of its decision to vest in its residents the right to retain ownership of their content. The content has built and driven the grid's success in many ways. As a resident and content creator, I think is unfortunate is LL has taken a stance akin to making Second Life the wild west by not being more proactive to limit theft in the first place. I admit I do not know the technical details, but they and others do, as evidenced by the post above mine. I am sure stopping all theft is impossible and I think we as creators need to recognize it has happened and will continue to happen. But, can it be limited? In the end, I guess what I want to know is LL promising to respond to DMCA notices and AR's for violating the permissions system more quickly and, in the case of the latter, more harshly? Or, are they also promising to take a look at the viewer situation and do something that is proactive?
  24. I cannot repeat enough what has already been said. Search is just not functional right now.
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