Charlotte Bartlett
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Posts posted by Charlotte Bartlett
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Now I am all nostalgic.... some old prim things I made!
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Just now, LittleMe Jewell said:
Is your CC the registered payment method here or is it used via PayPal?
Also which bank... ❤️
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1 hour ago, DellaLaBella said:
Sadly, the credit card company would not refund the fees. They did warn me, however, that interest on cash advance transactions is charged from day one...live and learn as they say...hopefully my work-around will work!
Oh that sucks, sorry to hear that. At least we know now that MSB to MSB will be a cash advance for credit cards.
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On 7/15/2020 at 6:09 PM, Profaitchikenz Haiku said:
I doubt that snippet would have helped since it isn't actually setting a sit target, just counting how many have been set in the link set, but in the particular problem it was a one-prim multi-sit issue, and (as usual) nothing to do with the script but everything to do with encroaching physics shapes. Just as fish (apparently) do not see the water in which they swim and we do not see the air in which we move, when your house is within the physics shape of a giant skybox you don't see it.
Apologies - my error, I thought they were having the issue with Mesh where it doesn't count properly - just realized it's a different one. Please ignore my post!
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1 hour ago, animats said:
Probably. But I suspect this is going to settle out as "charge cash advance for anything that looks like a medium of exchange".
(The backstory here is that the cryptocurrency people have been pushing the limits of what you can do in this area, and now the banks and regulators are pushing back. Until recently, private money-like things were mostly convenience features for selling something else. Like Itunes credits, which are mostly converted into music downloads. Then came Bitcoin. Enough people bought Bitcoin with credit cards, lost money, and couldn't cover their losses, that banks cracked down on that. Also see utility token vs investment token, the Howey test, and the SEC crackdown on initial coin offerings. Also see Decentraland, a virtual world where few people go in world but many speculate on the cryptocurrency and land.)
So, don't buy Linden dollars with a credit card for now.
If only we could buy with Bitcoin 👋
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48 minutes ago, Moira Timmerman said:
I had a transaction mid-June that went against a Capital One CC, and I did not receive a cash advance fee nor was charged any interest at the cash advance rate. It was a partial amount for land tier, but the PayPal category was "Money Transfer" the same category as on other transactions where I had purchased lindens (but those had been covered in full by my PayPal cash balance, so didn't involve a credit card). So I don't know if I was just lucky, or if there was something else about the transaction that I can't see which influenced Capital One or perhaps Capital One is not (or has not yet) decided to take advantage of the new fee ability.
I think it is likely that the decision whether to charge a cash advance fee or not will be made by the bank who issued the credit card.
Agree as the banks will decide. And most will move to charging...
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51 minutes ago, animats said:
Monthly billing for tier is not getting hit with cash advance charges. Users would be screaming if it was. Not sure about paying for "premium". Because that comes with a "stipend" in Linden dollars, it could be interpreted as a cash advance, but probably isn't.
But what I'm hearing is that if you buy Linden dollars with a credit card, you will be hit with cash advance fees. Correct?
Only if via PayPal - (as far as we know per posts here) . Also it's only some banks "taking advantage" of the new classifications for payments so far, so it may be less widespread (to start with). Personally if I am paying anything via Tilia using Credit Cards (even if PP not is in the middle) I would be checking the transactions very carefully.
Banks I know who are charging - Bank of AmericaBanks so far that may not be charging (yet) - Citibank and Chase
The real question will be is how Tilia code those direct transactions as if transfer, the banks can charge.....
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1 hour ago, animats said:
Will you be charged for a cash advance on that if you buy Lindens?
You can have different payment methods for buying Linden dollars and paying Second Life fees. Linden Lab distinguishes between those uses. So it looks like you may need to put in a credit card for paying Linden Lab fees, and a debit card for buying Linden dollars.
You can't just turn off "Buying L$ in Second Life Viewer" in that checkbox to prevent being hit with a "cash advance" fee if you buy L$ the easy way. You can try, and it looks like it works, but the next time you look at the checkbox, it's still checked. Unclear whether that's a bug or a dark pattern.
I suspect that Tilia powers that transaction (credit card versus PayPal too). So the Credit Card company will levy the fees regardless (I wouldn't risk it but somebody could test it I guess!). Would be good to know if the bank /credit card company directly recognizes Tilia as a MSB and can categorize the payment correctly as a purchase.
The 10 USD fee has been a common complaint @DellaLaBella - there is actually a New York Times piece on how Venmo users got hit with the same fees after things changed in April of this year. Tilia has a responsibility to warn you of fees (imho) - not sure if their screen does. You may be able to get your credit card company to refund you - furnish them a copy of the Tilia TOS (available on their website) and state you were making a purchase for game tokens to use (so not a cash instrument nor a transfer - it was a purchase). The card company may relent and refund you on the first occasion. Also pay that card off as the interest is always terrible on cash advances and credit card companies place any payment below the full statement amount to that "last". They are very crafty....
This is also timed where Tilia started to power things... so your credit card company/PayPal see it as money from one MSB (them) to another MSB (Tilia) - I suspect that is why purchases are now looking more like "transfers" which attract the credit card cash advance red carpet treatment from banks.
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On 7/16/2020 at 8:52 AM, Melancholy said:
Investigating some service charges on my credit card, my bank informed me that Tilia purcchases of L$ were charged to PayPal as a cash advance. This doesn't seem correct. It's a purchase of virtual goods. Has anyone else run into this? Is this an issue of how Tilia codes the transaction? Or is it something in the PayPal black box?
Coming back to the OP:
1. Back in approx April 2020 the banking industry did a few "changes" with how they treat Money Service Businesses (MSBs) like PayPal. Basically it opened the door to allowing them to treat charges to your credit card from those MSB as a cash advance, basically so they can start charging you interest right off the bat on a credit card.
2. PayPal was forced to comply with the industry change and they re-coded transaction types. Some banks can even tag on a fee as well as calculation of earlier interest.
3. That being said, this only applies if the transaction shows as a transfer versus a purchase.
4. The bad news is if you have a recurring payments approved within PayPal for Tilia/LL - it may treat it as a transfer not a purchase.
I think you will have to do two things:
A - Contact PayPal to clarify if point 4 was how this specific transaction was coded for you so you know if you are dealing with a transfer versus purchase. Then you probably need to contact Tilia to see how they are coding the debit they are making so see which one is thinking it's a transfer versus purchase.
B - Once you have that clarified if they treated as a purchase and NOT a transfer you can then contact your bank to dispute the fees. I think sadly it's going to be a transfer based on the PayPal TOS (last change was June 2020) and with the industry change above., Your bank is one of the ones now charging the fees/interest. I would remove that Credit Card from PayPal and link to a debit card or bank account to avoid more fees. Bank of America are one of the banks charging as a fyi. Note I would still dispute the fees/interest regardless as unless you re-read the PayPal TOS in great detail it would have been impossible for you to know this if a previously set up reoccurring payment. I think Tilia personally should be doing a warning (like Venmo and PayPal do when using their apps) around the potential for fees and charges (if they don't already - I don't buy LDollars). Tilia's TOS doesn't clarify how they are coding transactions, they need to expand on their TOS in fairness to make this clear to consumers.
As a follow up if you have the ability and don't carry a balance on that card I would immediately make a payment to clear it to zero to cut off further interest charges.
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45 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:
While Linden Dollars are certainly --according to the TOS -- a "game currency" they are certainly convertible for anyone willing to go through the steps to process their USD balance to Paypal. If linden dollars weren't "convertible" we wouldn't have the creators we have now. So maybe I am misunderstanding your comment? None of this is new. The CHARGE is apparently new.
True, but that doesn’t meet the definition of a convertible currency (Tilia make sure they stay on the right side of that particular regulation as a MSB). You are simply trading your tokens with other players for USD.
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28 minutes ago, animats said:
Which is a real issue. As a general rule, you can't buy money with a credit card. That's considered a cash advance. Whether or not Linden dollars are "money" for that purpose is complicated. Most of the major US banks do not allow buying Bitcoin with a credit card. That may have filtered down to Linden Dollars. Linden Dollars can be bought, sold and transferred, and which gives them some of the characteristics of a currency.
This is complicated and much discussed in the cryptocurrency community. It's a big issue for "initial coin offerings". Banks may just take the safe position that, if you can cash it out and transfer it, buying it is treated as a cash advance.
Linden Dollars are not a convertible currency - you are buying game tokens. So this is not covered by the same exclusions as Bitcoin etc.
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Who remembers this thread - it was from 2018 asking for a survey from LL for merchants to be able to articulate at a wide community level on what better e-commerce solutions we needed. It went off the rails a bit - but the genuine ask was for LL to conduct a survey online so merchants could provide their needs so LL could use the intel to shape benefits for us.
I am bumping this, because LL had said during a meeting we attended earlier this year, that once the "cloud" work was completed for sims - things would open back up on development for things like e-commerce (Marketplace). Well, as that was (still is?) slated by end of this year - surely now would be a good time (with the potential sale etc) to have a good handle on what merchants need.
We did get store managers (and I think if we ban somebody in-world they can't purchase - not sure I don't have anybody banned!) and I think some Gacha stuff - but never got our survey.
I still want a survey please (2 years later)..... is this just me ha! (it's ok if it is).... @Grumpity Linden
😂 please don't hate me for necro-posting and I hope this doesn't cause the OT stuff to come back apologies! ❤️-
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On 7/10/2020 at 4:35 PM, VirtualKitten said:
I know this is an old thread but did you get it fixed I have an identical message bugging me my script is multi sit and sets a new llSitTarget for each sitter my physics are here https://gyazo.com/b84b5f01e2377de0292e793125097a04 I dont use pose ballseither but am stuck with this silly message "No Room to it"
Are you using AV Sitter or similar? If so you may want to to put the below into a script and then add it to the item so it sets the Sit Target (not sure how you are setting them per your comment).
default
{
state_entry()
{
integer i;
integer s;
for (i = 1; i <= llGetNumberOfPrims(); ++i)
if (llList2Integer(llGetLinkPrimitiveParams(i, (list)PRIM_SIT_TARGET),0)) ++s;
llOwnerSay("Sit targets assigned: " + (string)s);
llRemoveInventory(llGetScriptName());
}
}
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53 minutes ago, OptimoMaximo said:
Perhaps the OP bought it from an external service or hired a freelancer on fiverr or freelancer.com. In RL collada is not used as it is obsolete (carrying its own set of issues) and the exchange formats commonly used are either obj or fbx.
I did think that at first, but the OP said on a other post here they paid somebody 15000 Linden to build it for them. So assumed, as they quoted in L dollars, it was a mesh created externally but with somebody versed in SL. If an external creator, yikes that may be painful to make SL compatible. I hope it works out for them!
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Why would a SL made model have been provided as OBJ instead of DAE - I would go back to your SL creator and ask
Please give me the file in proper DAE format (which is standard) plus LODs and physics file. Or have them upload it for you full perms already done and send to you. (I also hope it is UV unwrapped so you can texture!).-
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" recreate / build an own version inspired by the original build."
You can be inspired by anything, but if you recreate it (closely) you are creating a derivative work and would require the permission of the original creator (even if you do it from scratch). Copyright does not expire if the creator is no longer active on the platform, it remains valid. Do you have a link to the original build?
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Some advice if it helps
As Vicious Hollow says - invest into renting your own parcel where you can set your own landing point/landmark/SLURL. This way your customers can always find you easily. There are many commercial sims who offer plots starting at 1024 upwards. Buy a prefab for your store and decorate etc. Ensure you have a store on Marketplace with links to your store too and proper (appropriate keywords).
Then to drive customers it's about people knowing who you are. So doing your own Facebook Page etc and engaging with the community on social media gently to slowly gain followers, making friends etc will be your best bet. Plus combine thatwith taking part in Events (you can start out small) to start to build brand awareness to drive traffic.
I have had a store in SL for 14 years as a hobby and traffic will be something you can generate yourself (and it's the right sort of traffic i.e. customers who want to buy your products!). It takes some time, but there is a lot of fun to be had on the way!
Best of luck! -
1 hour ago, Nick0678 said:
Sure as long as you play by the book and tell them they can't have any kind of sexual activities in those parcels regardless if people see them or not, all their furniture should be cuddles only and their avatars should always be dressed properly otherwise they will get banned. Talked about G-rated not M-rated.
My sim is a retail sim (my store only) so no parcels, nor rentals. Your statement said if you make a business with houses/skyboxes.... feel free to take a look (it's been open since 2006).
My hobbyist business sells just those things (business can mean content creation, not just "land rentals").... Hope that clarifies and why content creation can remain profitable within Second Life in key sectors on G Rated Sims.-
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55 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:
Of course but back in the last days of 2010 when Teen Second Life grid was still active (went down January 2011) you still couldn't do much on an Iphone 3/3S so that wasn't the issue. (Just a facebook, viber, whatsapp can't even remember what other apps existed at that time.)
What actually saved Second Life was the introduction of mesh bodies that made it sort of realistic enough (if you have a wild imagination) for adult play. If you make a business with skyboxes/houses in a G-rated region well you are wasting your time and money, regardless how well made they are. The moment you change the region rating to A-rated the sales rise rapidly.
I would beg to differ on G-rated region sales ❤️
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I have one table like that called the Sunday Table in my main store - albeit I would suggest Apple Fall as most likely to have what you need!
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LL were very clear that multiple storefronts are not in their plans (at least for this year) and it won't happen...... so you'll always need to work around that one at the avatar level.
Also very clear on the fact until the cloud project is completed we shouldn't expect any major changes on things like Marketplace (which is in desperate need of upgrading into something that resembles an e-commerce site). Albeit be careful for what you wish for as fees will go up in line with that I am sure.....
Remember when we asked for color variants on listings for Marketplace.... in 2010 (before it was even launched!), 2011, 2014, 2018, 2020 - all via Jira. The 2014 one was accepted. And remains in..... "the never to do list" with no updates from LL.
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@Wulfie r
4 hours ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:You made me do it.
It's a little more nuanced than that.
Let's say you're trying to render a scene with a simple cube in it. 6 sides, 2 triangles per side, 12 triangles. Let's ignore the texture on it.
Rendering one on the screen is fine. Creating 300'000 copies of that cube would mean that your computer would have to sort 3.6 million triangles* (to determine which ones are facing the camera, or behind other triangles) and then put pixels on the screen one by one. Depending how the code is written, the same pixel might be drawn-over multiple times.
Infinite memory still means your computer has to spend time doing many more calculations before generating an image. This is what causes your framerate to drop. It simply takes longer to render a single frame on the screen because there are more things to take into account (mesh, textures, everything). That's why additional copies of the mesh still causes lower framerates, why heavy mesh is Bad, and why "just buy more RAM" isn't a solution after a certain point.
Larger textures can also take longer to draw onto the screen, but I don't know if that's the case with SL. (It depends entirely on how the code is written.)
When you start running out of memory, the problems just get worse because now instead of just "drawing an image," your computer has to spend time figuring out which textures it can discard, and possibly load new ones from the (relatively much slower, even SSD) hard drive.
VRAM stands for "video memory," or "Video Random Access Memory" if you really wanna spell it out. It's the amount of memory needed specifically from the graphics card, not just the regular RAM that your processor uses. When you create copies of an object, it needs to be stored somewhere so information about it can be tracked (location, scale, rotation, etc) and sent to the graphics card. So for every copy of an object, there is some memory cost even if the mesh and textures were "100% all shared." Otherwise you'd only render one thing, or all of the things identically on the same place.
* 3.6 million triangles is not hard to reach, considering how Bad most mesh content is (especially as attachments). Your naked mesh body alone can put you halfway to your first million, or more. (Looking at you Legacy...) It has become more and more commonplace to see a single avatar reach the million-mark, I would even call it the norm.
So if I am understanding this, the 22 lamps, in my fun example - are technically only "from a texture" standpoint impacting me "once". But the mesh rendering is well all that stuff above (ha) thank you for putting all the info it does help!
It's a little confusing because the VRAM on Firestorm shows 22 instances too. So it's hard to tell what the total VRAM is with a static screen at any moment. Based on if calculations are then happening to negate instances of the same textures. They even showed up on the VRAM when they were not in my direct camera vision (confusing me further).
I did think (and I could be wrong) that unless the items are linked/joined as one mesh item it actually treated them as separate. I remember one thread discussing this (I can't find it now) i.e. if the same texture is used twice on one mesh item - it counted as one but if different mesh instances (same texture) it counted as separate so both used VRAM.
I am not that au fait with the viewer side of things.... so have probably confused myself even further now!!
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The moles part of the build seems fairly ok. The lag is there for sure, but it's from the stores who have decorated their booths imho. I went to Gilded today.
I took this screenshot and blurred names, but one store had used a lamp 22 times in their small store space.
Each lamp shows 25885 VRAM. There are FIVE x 1024 textures on each of those lamps (they did luckily also use 2 x 32 textures ha). The lamp is tiny and could have been done with 1 x 512 texture for the whole thing.
The individual who used it probably doesn't realize what a terrible lamp it is sadly - but also they didn't need it 22 times in their store too.
I think it was clear there were no parameters for stores in terms of best practice. In fairness the only best practice creators have had is what we have individually gleaned from learning from forums, other creators and those who kindly share their knowledge on what "good" looks like. Personally I am a mile away from good myself (I still learn by the day!). However, I do feel that for large corporate led events like these, having a moderator for content quality and proper event guide on things like texture sizes, what contributes to lag, complexity etc would help everybody including those who enjoy visiting the events.
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14 hours ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:
This probably doesn't help but since you have a perfectly good looking plank texture and you are already repeating it... why are you baking it?
I mean... at equal resolution you'll always get more detail out of a repeating texture than from a baked texture.
I think it's more about the theory so they can apply to what models come next. That approach works for the model he/she has, but when they get into more complex stuff they will need to know the basic steps.
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L$ Tilia purchases charged as PayPal Cash Advance
in General Discussion Forum
Posted
Not sure how that would help at all....somebody somewhere in that supply chain is classifying transactions from Tilia - > PayPal - > Credit Card as a Cash Advance. Resetting PayPal does nothing at all. I suspect it's PayPal based on the information Tilia is providing and perhaps how PayPal is classifying Tilia as a MSB (like those Venmo examples in the New York Time's piece).
Here is an example of a bank credit card agreement... I checked mine
"A cash advance
is a charge to get cash or cash equivalents,
including travelers cheques, gift cheques, foreign currency, money orders, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar offline and online betting transactions. "
Linden Dollars are not any of those, unless banks are now actually saying Casino Gaming Chips are Linden Dollars (if so, that's a whole different ballgame - no pun intended). Linden Dollars have never been a cash equivalent...