Codex Alpha

Post unneeded as the person who it was made to decided to laugh at it instead of making a coherent response. Therefore removing this post eliminates anyone else other than the person this was intended to, to comment on it.

This post is no longer needed, as other forum members have 'documented' it on my behalf, and they feel that once I hit enter, I should not be able to edit it, as I may be 'doing it for nefarious reasons' which is a common accusation of others who try to participate in the forums here, and always the basis to call for greater restrictions against SL users.

I might be able to even sum it up thusly; Just by being active anywhere you risk a ban. Welcome to 2022.

Anytime I've been 'pinged', I know exactly why. Sometimes it's my fault, sometimes I react to someone pushing buttons, or posting controversial responses myself that are hot buttons, and the moderators don't want the discussion to get worse after that. It's okay to say "Yeah my bad, shouldn't have posted that" or "Thanks, that post got taken the wrong way and it all went to hell after" or "Yeah I went over the line, thanks for the heads up". People 'not knowing' what they did, come on. People know when they push the line, or skirt so near the rules that others pick up on it too, especially if it's in a string of posts with the same intent. Usually if one sticks to debating the argument/position someone made, and refrain from personal attacks, or casting aspersions as to their intent, their thoughts, w/e you can have some spirited discussions that everyone can learn from. However if people want to 'win' and not understand the other side, there are more chances of everyone involved to get more militant or lose their temper. When dog piling occurs, the fight can get pretty real and the drama intensifies. Hence best to remove hot topics from the forums, that should be dedicated to Second Life themes anyway. Plenty of websites, forums and social media to wage a social or political war already - which in the end is a waste of time as both sides eventually create their own bubbles (eg Gab and Twitter) and the minority opinion on both sides get cancelled (which defeats the purpose of trying come to solutions). In general, it is safest to respond to what the OP posted, and perhaps come back later and add new thoughts as others offer theirs, and it's not hard to stay on topic. I've also ran and been a member of many forums over the years, and going off-topic can become quite an issue if not moderated strongly. Some topics would go off topic by 3 responses in at the earliest and many times at the next page.

There's a meowing cat nearby, and cats are cute but zomg... I keep hearing the cat meowing. How do I find it lol and derender/mute gahhhhh Update: Figured it out. Unfortunately the developers decided to put cat meowing, bird chirping and 100 sounds of the jungle into the "Sound Effects" panel, instead of a more appropriate "Ambient" Channel. Would be nice if sounds were alloted where they belonged; eg. "Wind, Rain, Gentle Breeze, Distant Traffic, Dungeon Sound" etc are in "Ambient" Sound effects reserved for inworld event sounds like footsteps, door openings, object sounds, etc. Now I can't hear any effects in Belissaria because the meowing and repeated chirping drove me nuts.

Discrimination will always happen, because all of us are discriminating. It's all discrimination, but depending on the popular culture's opinion of the day, one thing is discrimination, but another is not. Best to take it in stride and welcome the day where you can find a group with like-minded individuals and friends.

Rather than cast aspersions or make accusations to an individual's behaviour just be informed that the post applies not only to SL but every other online platform, virtual or not - where this is now my personal policy trying to survive in a changed world of 2022. And yes, I'm sure I'll offend someone again, and that's okay ::wink:: That's the risk of conversing and discussing ideas with other people - to accept that you will offend people, and that you will be offended.

It has been Meta's aim and goal from the beginning to be THE Metaverse, and in their own words "to discourage competition and if possible make sure they don't even get started", and their words back up their actions so far, so not a surprise. Meta is not our friend, nor anyone's friend. What Zuckerberg wants is everyone on his version 'working, living, and playing' there. Yuck. Also, they are drawing attention from the FTC now.

A whole lot of typing and words displayed, but it really is quite simple. This is no different than many forums that only exist because they're meant to serve the discussion and promotion of the game/software/platform. . General Discussion areas are usually set for grab bag or garage sale or topics that people don't know where to post them, and some leeway is given in those areas. Having run forum of my own on a variety of game-related topics when hosting game servers and running resultant 'clans' and 'guilds', that was all the General was supposed to be. The thing here on SL was that the General Discussion wasn't really being used like that, and too many way non-SL related topics were appearing - and many of them political or social or real world issues that don't really belong here - nor is it LL's responsibility to give them a platform to their myriad numbers of users - especially if the internet is available and many other forums out there to express themselves already. For others, it's not why we come to Second Life forums, nor is it our goal to bring RL issues into SL, as it is meant to be something else. Whether or not I agree or understand to the issues people may post from time to time, it's not why I'm here, and I and others appreciate the move to keep it a bit more SL-centric. It also keeps a lot of divisive topics down, and subsequent AR's and discipline and possible bans for people who feel passionate one way or another and 'go too far' - which is an expected result from hot-button topics. So best to keep it to other places like Gab vs Twitter, etc - people can argue and debate and point fingers and make aspersions against one another all they want there. Here's too more on-topic and unifying discussions regarding SL and related virtual world discussions in the future, I for one welcome the new changes.

People can't get offended, get frustrated or angry or tattletale if they can't see or read or hear anything you say. It's the best policy moving forward

it used to be zero. Until 2022 when individuals on SL kept vocalizing that that is their preferred method to treat anyone they disagreed with.. so I initiated the "When In Rome" protocol and gave them exactly what they wanted - with them first on the list. Also extending it cross-platform to anyone who acts offended to anything I say, or has a tantrum or any other issue that would cause them to want to tattletale to the authorities. So not I block them so they never have to feel that ever again. Sad, but true. That is the way.

This is not really the best argument for anyone to make even if they did spend thousands of dollars. I know many gamers that spend hundreds and thousands over time just on cosmetic items, experience boosts, etc in their favourite FPS Shooter games, that they only played for 1-2 years. With micro transactions in every game nowadays, people are spending that normally. It's just that many SL creators are in the upper and older age bracket, with much time invested into SL, and are understandably concerned especially if they rely on it in full or part of income. However, everything progresses, and I too will get older and face the same issues - but I don't expect a company or anyone to be held back on my account... A move to a more modern system was admirable, and needed. One can only expand on an old SL so much until a complete rewrite is needed. For me, now spoiled by newer platforms like Sansar and others - along with the prevalence of accessible game engines like Unreal, Unity and Godot, it is becoming harder and harder to warrant continued investment of time and money into an old SL. If anything Sansar failed (in part) because they tried to attract the older crowd from SL and ignored the younger generations (graduating from Roblox and other younger audience platforms) into Sansar as the next step - almost seemingly not wanting them at all in their attitudes. Like any business, if you're not growing, you are stagnating.. and if you're stagnating you are dying. And with LL's observably glacial pace at doing anything who knows what the future brings for it - while all of us age out of the equation instead of packing up our tents and making camp on a new platform.

You're asking the people who rejected Sansar en masse if they would move to a newer platform instead of staying on SL. I welcome anything new. I'd be there, but the same people would NOT be.

Could Linden Lab even clean up Second Life if they wanted to? No, and either than dealing with illegal activity, why would they want to? Take a look around. The most successful online platforms, VR or otherwise, are those who offer the most freedom with the least limits possible, and other platforms who over-moderate, over-rule and micro-manage are very low number of users or completely empty.

Meta's sole purpose is to drive the population of the world to it's virtual universe and closed environment by any means possible. Discerning creators and participants may enjoy it as an escape, but as a way of life may not be so fun. "You will own nothing and be happy" is closely linked to such goals, a trojan horse of sorts, a dance with the devil - mind your toes because you might get burned.

I value above all else fellow Creators who share their knowledge, insight, workflow and other helpful tips.

If not you, it would be me or someone else. Can't please everyone, but at least the topics will return to Second Life only. All you have lost is a platform to spread non-Second-Life ideas. You've had a good run. You did your thing. You got a platform to say what you wanted for a long time. Now it's back to making Second Life Second Life again, sans the Real Life issues. You'll be alright.

That's because in general, in a civilized society, trespass is reserved for any entry uninvited, and in the context of a hostile or 'armed trespass', is what is usually addressed. Yes, entering anyone's land is technically trespass, but since we all live in a relatively open society, there is an expectation of ingress and egress from properties to people's doors, their mailboxes, to say 'Hello", without shots being automatically fired, and we also have 'reasonable force' laws that prohibit people from shooting other people dead because they dared to set foot on their driveway, or for those (like in SL) feel it is their right to 'shoot any planes flying overhead their home'. For those who want true 'private property' and with clear and distinct lines that it is, they usually have checkpoints, locked gates, fenced areas that clearly communicate "We do not want you approaching the house". Unfortunately in SL , as you can see people are going to act any way they want, they're not really participating in an open and relatively free society as in RL, so they're happy to set 0 second orbs, ban lines, or otherwise block other people's non-malicious enjoyment or exploration of "public lands" (not designed for 100% privacy - they have to and should pay for that). But trying to convince some of these people to engage in an open society, they're not interested in. Yes, it's their right, and they can do what they want with the "tools that LL have provided us" and the rest of us have to put up with it. If it becomes disruptive enough for some of us, we simply stop doing those activities in SL, our enjoyment and experience of SL gets soiled, and we simply answer by not paying our annual premium. the only way to affect change is to vote with your wallet.

Hawaiian shirts and tactical gear (used by police offers, undercover drug agents, plain-clothes agents, etc) are now 'clothing of hate'. . Ok, Second Life. LMAO.

It was called Sansar but was rejected by SL users. I and 5 other people in my network did not reject Sansar.

@Blaise Glendevon @Sukubia Scarmon Ok, now what about the rest of the post?

There are other options and much simpler. 1) Contraception 2) Abstinence 3) Having children only in a committed and stable relationship (and doing all the responsible pre-marriage work before you do) Most abortions are made for convenience, and the exceptions can be dealt with appeals or other measures and judges can allow certain situations that would cause high distress to the female in question. If anything, overturning Roe Vs Wade is simply making abortion less convenient for many, and those exceptions on the ends of the Bell Curve, who don't make up the majority and have special needs - will be accommodated one way or another. A lot of time in our world spent on arguing for the 'right' to destroy another living being, and not alot about taking responsibility for one's actions and use of our bodies.

Any monies I 'cash out' to RL platforms I consider 'income' and declare it as such at tax time. If you do this you shouldn't have any problem come tax time. Keep in mind if you spent money on anything to obtain that income, you may be able to write that off against the income earned.

It wouldn't hurt to show your art no matter where you are. After all if people can't see it, then no sales can happen. It would be irrelevant how successful you can be on Second Life, or if you posted on Zazzle or RedBubble. Consider it just another venue, and if you can afford it, why not? Starting a gallery AND shop mix would be a good start, and advertise it how you would anything else I guess. That being said, it most likely won't be a money maker on its own, but if it leads to real world work or commissions, or even used as PART of your entire art portfolio, then go for it. I would say though, that if you can somehow 3D your art ( like an extra value version made for virtual worlds), including 3d elements, and even animations, or making the art come alive (basically using what SL offers you) - it can seriously add to the value and enjoyment of the piece, and protect you from people who - even if they want the piece - won't just simply screen shot it game and you get nothing. Also think of ways where your art can be integrated into something else or even on products people wouldn't expect it. Do it!

I have avatar creation experience and some rigging for (basic) avatars and relating to Bansar. SL is a bit more involved, my energies would be better spent elsewhere when it comes to avatars in SL I guess. A bit late to that game anyway.