Codex Alpha

LuvlyDay wrote: Im all in for Upgrading and Improving. But obviously, this New Marketplace isnt going well for most of us. Newbies have no idea what thier doing and how to fill the searches. They dont even know how to type demo...to get a demo. They are simple people, they want easy, they dont want complicated crap. Who has time for this? When i type in a name a big list appears which is crap i dont want, a huge distraction. Most people that have been hear for years have had a HUGE DROP in sales. If we dont make money, Second Life doesnt make money. As a merchant that has been here for 8 years, at the moment just happy to get someone to buy a demo. I just don't see what the matter is. I'm finding anything I want. Try entering these search terms; "Diamond Wedding Ring" "Medieval Fruit Stand" "Red Polka Dot Dress" "Chain Link Fence" As I type, the Marketplace suggest several items that use the keywords I typed in their product listing titles. I would prefer it also seeks the actual keyword list (at product listing time), but since that is rampantly abused - I'm fine with the MP searching titles instead. If the product is not accurately described in it's title, then it shouldn't be considered. I had no problem finding a 'demo' item in the search... "demo green striped leather jacket" still turned up a result, and that result is relevant to what I'm looking for. Anyways, all these searches turn up RELEVANT products to what a use would type in - working as intended. Now, if you're a older-generation merchant looking to game the system, and now can't be found, once again I suggest that the merchants concerned should go back to their stores and revamp their listings to accomodate this. "Green Striped Leather Jacket with Gold Tassels and Silver Buttons" would be highly preferred item to search than a bloated and frequently abused keyword lists that describes the same item as; "green, leather, jacket,gold, silver, platinum,blue, banana, discount,sale,[brand name],jacket,coat,oranges, fishing,medieval,pockets,stitching,tassel,pom-pom,uniform,officers,etc" Merchants need to upgrade their thinking, product listings, products, keywords and product listings away from 90's-style spammy SEO crap tactics, into content-based, descriptive and accurate titles and keywords. Most of the posters here complaining so far have numerous examples on their product pages that are pretty much straight up abuse and spam of the MP listing guidelines - they should correct their practices first and then see what the results they get. Then we can continue the discussion whether the MP search is broken or not, because for me, it is not. Related Resources: The key to effective keywording is to use all the terms – and only the terms – that are clearly conveyed by the content and context of the image.- iStockPhoto Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it. - Google Webmaster Guidelines The written words in your shop can make it easier for shoppers and search engines to find your items. - Etsy Sellers Handbook Appeal to humans, not search engines. Be descriptive. Including relevant common phrases in your listing will increase its visibility. - SL Guidelines For Creating Search Listings

Wrong, I was searching for 'home bars, pubs" and such and your Galleria Bar came up in the searches Working as intended. Were you expecting to be number 1 in the search for some reason?

Sally Audebarn wrote: Your intention is good, but the fact remains that the search engine is broken. It simply is and no matter how many "work arounds" you suggest (whether they be effective or not), the aforementoned fact will not be altered. Something must be done by LL to facilitate the Marketplace's much needed repair. All the blame cannot be thrown at us merchants and doing so is blatantly unfair. I wasn't arguing whether the search engine is broken or not. In my opinion, it is working as intended (and demonstrated how it does) in some areas, and in others I agreed there is something to look at. In the meantime, fix your listings to adhere to the Marketplace Listing Guidelines (and everyone else who is currently complaining) so that we can get an accurate picture of what is really going on. They're not 'workarounds', they're requirements of you as a merchant to assist in the Marketplace working correctly. I hope you and the others who quickly want to find fault in my argument realize this and act likewise. Accept responsibility for how you list your items, and the effect it would have if and when the Marketplace were truly optimized. I only suggested why you and others WOULD NOT BE FOUND if the Marketplace WORKED AS I WAS SUPPOSED TO, and why you may not be found currently and in future searches. Caren Jewell wrote: I read this Infos and thank you all for spending much time to clear out what happen and how can change something better What I don't understand is that LL change the MP but take never a look back to change older Issues too. How long must I look at my old Items I delete 7 years ago and have them just right in my List again and again .. to sort this out make sense but it should be a big problem to fix old Issues. I have in my List tons of old Items that I delete tons of years ago - and at last, I can understand the new changes but I have problems with new changes if LL don't spend one minute to think about the consequences for all and changes on ways like "eat or die" I be willing to change my title and keywords - no problem - it will need tons of time for me, no problem. But only IF I know that LL comes not in short time and changes things again or fix or have new "nice" Ideas It might just be a simple case of - it's not their priority. If a merchant doesn't like the results, they can always pack up their shop and leave...

JD Hansen wrote: This is what I am referring to : Load main page: Click on Avatar Accessories then click Jewelry & Watches and then click Rings. For 10 years we were listed in the first ten pages of Relevancy. Now I don't see JCNY on the first or second pages of Relevant in association with Rings Catagory. Ok, personally I don't search that way. Let's entertain this process though.. technically by selecting Category->Jewelry->Rings, you haven't entered any keywords or searches this way... your search would default to [empty string], or at the possible default "Rings" which it does. The marketplace listings search should then find all listings closest to match "Rings". Now you have to compete with every product with 'ring' or 'rings' in the title/keywords. If the search is in fact defaulting to "Rings", then it should a random assortment of items it thinks is relevant to "Rings". The key word here being "Relevant". As in relevant to your search terms, not your popularity or amount of sales. This makes sense to me. If LL has improved the search engine, this is how I would expect it to operate. If there was a subcategory of Rings->Wedding Rings, you would be more relevant, and even more so if subcategory Rings->Wedding Rings -> Diamond was available. By that logic, I could assume that your rings will show up under "Best Selling" option though, which you do, with multiple listings showing up on the first page of results (my filter is always 96 items). Best Selling has nothing to do with Relevance, in a search, it is a filter applied to the final result of the search JD Hansen wrote: Also the MP spam is not totally fixed. When I search "Wedding Rings" I still get a bunch of Earthstones necklaces in the first five pages. Many of which have no association with wedding rings. MP search still needs tuning it seems. JD Thats because the merchants are spamming their item listings and keywords with irrelevant words to capture traffic they don't deserve, and don't accurately describe their product. I see it with every search I make. If it's a single seller ruining a search about owl products... I look at their keyword list and there is 'owl', right next to "traffic, stop, light, owl, road, 2048, chocolate, cheese" or whatever theyr'e trying to capture that has nothing to do with what they have listed.. PS. You are correct though, The search seems to read the store name as well, and include it in relevant searches. The listings showing up have "Wedding Rings" in their store names, whether they are selling wedding rings or not.

I search "Athena Ring" specifically in the MP and get you as #1 and first choice. Seems pretty 'Relevant' to the search I made. Would I be looking for an Athena Ring specifically? Probably not. My search might be more like "platinum wedding rings" maybe, in which case, your product is not coming up in 'relevant' searches, even if you have similar characteristics or options. Your keywords are; diamond, wedding rings, wedding ring, engagement ring, bridal, groom, marriage, proposal, gem, platinum, gold, silver, ruby, celtic, bling, engaged, JCNY, hyper-gems, free wedding ceremony Red = not related to advertised product (wedding or engagement ring? ceremony?proposal?) Orange = questionable, but may be acceptable. If it's a wedding ring set, why use engagement, proposal. Sounds like you're trying to snatch search traffic you dont deserve. Also, by my example search "Platinum Wedding Rings", you shouldn't be relevant, because your advertised product and image says "Diamond Wedding Ring" (though I see the options) Green = accurate, describes the actual product and images being advertised. Your strategy has been about branding and initials and collections, so you will not be found in a simple search Like I would have made. You may have more luck being more specific in your title to be found. Diamond Wedding Ring Set - ATHENA ICONOCLAST diamond, wedding, ring, set, celtic, athena, iconoclast, JCNY

Sally Audebarn wrote: Hey there. First and foremost, I appreciate your imput. With that said, I took a look at your store and I realized that the items that pop up on your "most relevant" list are not even remotely the same as those that show up on your "best selling list," not to mention the huge different in the order in which they are sorted. In light of this, I find it difficult to believe that the search engine is not broken, irrespective of the good advice which you have given. Are we to believe that your sales have not taken a dive since the implementation of this new search engine? Quite frankly, I hightly doubt that's the case. The fact remains that the marketplace itself is broken. I am certain that there are merchants out there who have followed your guideline, yet still find themselves experiencing a decline in their sales. Well every merchant that posts here with some listing problem or search problem, I have found to have shortcomings in how they list, categorize and keyword their store items. Though I am no expert on the subject, and have no idea how LL has implemented their search engine, I prefer to eliminate other causes, and educate myself and others on proper listings before making judgements on MP searches. When I conduct the usual and anecdotal search for items, I find many unrelated items popping up. This is annoying to me, and unlike many other people, I will take extra steps to investigate before pointing fingers. What I have found in my experience, with further investigation, that the majority of unrelated listings coming up are due to exploiting of item listing titles, or the use of keyword list spam. The first 2 respondents to your OP both have listing guideline issues on their stores as well, as I had pointed out in my response. They were supporting you but have issues themselves that need to be addressed before considering MP search issues. Look, I can't change your 'beliefs' and your liberal use of the word 'fact' is not substantiated, and your appreciation of my input and advice is moot if you don't make the changes suggested. When there are so many merchants not listing things correctly, and abusing keywords - seriously, how can they say anything about bad MP searches when they knowingly contribute to it? This is like hearing someone online complain that the flouride in the water is killing them, or droplets from chemtrails in the air - then you find out they have 1) a bad diet 2) don't sleep much 3) smoke a pack of cigarettes a day 4) are sedentary. When I suggest that they should consider these 4 impacts on their health and to correct that first - they have the same response "Oh its not my bad diet, 4 hour sleeps, sedentary lifestyle and constant cigarette smoking.. the fact is that it is the flouride in the water and the barium from the chemtrails!' Then what can you say? Can't change what they want to believe...

Sorry , please specify what images you are having a problem with, so someone can help. profile images, images in-world? marketplace images?

I haven't been able to check out the sim yet, been a bit busy, but I'm glad you are working on this sort of thing - we need places, games and adventures in Second Life, rather than just some random scene with yet just another store waiting for us. Feel free to lead us to an inworld store at the end though These are my plans for the future as well, if/as I can accumulate $L to support such an effort myself. We do want games, i'm up for anything, but the majority still likes their 'popular' games - perhaps you can add a twist to them, a regular place to hang out and play them, and more visitors should happen.

Gah, wall of text, no kidding. Next time just post a link to the actual free script: How To Publish Your Own Books In Second Life (Outworldz.Com Free Script Library) Makes it much easier.

Marisa Paule wrote: People ask me why I just don't create a new avatar. I tell them that I should not have to give up my 8-year identity, my favorite sims, and the non-trasferrable portion of my 67,000-item inventory, when I did nothing wrong. Yes, but in many cases, both in SL and RL, drastic measures are to be taken to 'go dark' and get rid of exes, would-be stalkers and other problem people. The leaks could be on your blog, your Facebook, your website, especially in this day of social media, or even a so-called 'friend' is ratting you out. Perhaps, go and use an alt for an extended period of time instead, then you don' t have to trash your main. Without a regular target, a troll or stalker will simply go away on their own once they lose the trail. PinkWarded wrote: i had same issue with my very 1st , he turnd out to be a stalker, been stalking me for years, in all my alts, but thats because we had common friends, luckily i got rid of them coz they werent real, all were trolls who made me believe i could count on them, now i'm with few trusted friends.. no one bothers me :smileytongue: Also, Marisa, this is an important point Pink made that you should heed. Your 'friends' in RL can truly be traitorous at times; perhaps they don't like certain parts of your personality or other reasons, that will make them want to 'teach you a lesson' and expose you to your ex/stalker. Sometimes your very own, so-called 'friends' are the ones betraying you, or wanting to win favour with your stalker for some reason, so give up the goods on you, your location, your SL name, etc. In the end, regardless of LL's response, you're going to have to get to the bottom of this and make some serious decisions as how you are going to stop this action against you. Cutting off anyone related to this stalker in any way is a good start, perhaps go on an alt and introduce one friend at a time (and see if one is the snitch). As you can see, no one here really cares about your plight, and will tend to start pointing the finger in your direction instead, cuz that's what they like to do around here. Good luck!

Merylimperil wrote: OP sounds like a griefer looking for naive targets Alwin Alcott wrote: thats why i asked what he wants to test... but got very silent from that side Syo Emerald wrote: He either... ...wants to grief naive/inexperianced people ...wants to scam naive/inexperianced people ...want to exploit the naivity/inexperiance of new people by spamming them with advertisement Rhonda Huntress wrote: Just looking for new meat. Or you could just answer an OP's question for once; or don't. No need to hypothesize about an OP's intentions, you're just making the forums unfriendly with your baseless and unprovoked accusations.

Artifacting can also be caused by; 1) Drivers that need to be updated 2) Overheating issues (either the card itself, or the case or other components like the CPU ) You can use GPU-Z to monitor your graphics card temperature, and CPU-Z for the cpu. 3) An old and failing (possibly wiggly) HDMI cable 4) Overtaxed, or old Power Supply Unit (especially if you noticed this after a component addition/upgrade) Even if it's none of the above and just an AMD thing, its always a good habit to rule out common causes before throwing more money at something.

greek Wingtips wrote: Does anyone have a good country music stream I can place in my land, preferable one that does not have to many ads Thousands Of Radio Stations You Can Stream Through Second Life. Country genre starts on page 4. OR Advanced Option: Have a favourite country station you want to stream? Perhaps you can find it's streaming address. Example: TME.FM Country Music. Some stations will have 'player' or 'media' links. You can follow this tutorial: "How To Get The URL of a Media Stream". That tutorial outlines several methods that you can extract the actual streaming url from the source. I used the 'Getting stream URL from metafile with text editor' method for this example. What I did was download the Winamp URL link, using right-click->"Save As Link", opened it up in Notepad, and observed the stream as; http://uk3.internet-radio.com:8077/ I put this in my About Land->Sound->Music URL field, and it works.  Have fun!

YourGoddessBri wrote: Is Second life still a thing??? In the context of it being the phenomena it once was... no. In the context of being a creative outlet and opportunity, and a place for people to recreate virtually... yes Despite the hype and mass gold rushes of long ago, SL is really mainly what you make of it. To me, SL is less of a social platform for me and more of a 3d environment for me to learn, test, create and share in. However, my opinion is that it is very mysterious and hostile to new visitors, and that's where LL needs to focus whether they launch the new Sansar, or stay with SL. YourGoddessBri wrote: I would love to spend more time in SL but I don't want to invest to much effort or money into it..If it's just dead. Help please? It depends what efforts you want to put into SL and what you want to get out of it.

rockinredhead700 wrote: I wanted to test something so can anyone tell me where new accounts hang out New accounts will default to many of the InfoHubs around, or in public sandboxes. Search for 'infohub' or 'sandbox' to find the many areas available.

Lahemic wrote: Is it possible to upload meshes with PAINTED textures? Yes. Lahemic wrote: I've made a few projects with Blender, merely scratching the surface of what I can do with a Mesh-Predicated modeling software. Infelicitously, I've found myself stumped as far as textures go. I have endeavored reading guides, visually examining youtube videos, etc, but most are archaic and provide little to no solution on how to congruously upload a standard texture. YouTube has many, many tutorials to follow that will help you, both for Blender's internal engine, and for Cycles. Use the right search terms to meet your goals and you will find plenty.

Trust / Marketplace Listing / Editing / Visiting Sims: Second Life Viewer Building / Texturing / Photography /Open Sim : FIrestorm Viewer Visiting Inworldz / OsGrid / Other (keeping cache seperate from SL): Singularity Viewer

Thanks for your supportive response. I had first posted a reply such as yours, pointing out the exact products that had multiple listings, with the same title. Other listings were actually duplicated in every way; same title, same image (with same product circled). I revised my response over and over as I found more issues on her store page. I then decided to NOT post the links, because she did not post under that merchant name so figured I could remove the links and pictures. So I am I allowed to post links like you did or what? I do things to help and as efficient as I can, but I get posts removed for doing the same response you just did. Thanks. NOTE: I think Gacha images are spam and don't like how they're listed on the MP, but that has nothing to do with someone who needed help, Gacha user or not.

Note to other repliers: Help the OP or don't post, what are you on my case about? Try checking the listing guidelines, see if you've done anything there with the listings. 1 You have 2 Gacha listing items with the same title. 2 Several of your gacha item listings use a ton of keywords, and they're all the same. You are using the same 30 keywords to describe at least 4 different listings... This spams the search engine on the MP. 3 Check that you dont use duplicate images I see this often, especially with 30 gacha listings that use the same image, even if the product is circled, mistakes can happen as a weary merchant makes the listings... 4. Multiple Listings of the Same Product? Were you lagging or something? You have identical products, images and listings IMPORTANT: You will have to go over your entire store, as it appears you have made multiple mistakes, so go over it and correct any slipups. Good luck!

Nothing kills convo, and a well thought out and researched response, other than clicking 'post', it appears to be in the conversation, but then is nowhere to be found. Can you check Merchants->MP Integrity topic, I should have reply there at the end. If not, there are forum posting issues currently. Thanks.

Apparently I'm not allowed to post links to demonstrate examples of which I speak about, so you will have to use your imagination instead, or use the MP to search for the keywords I present to follow along. It seems copyright infringers are protected by the very system they are disregarding. Some big name merchants are involved in this reply, who frequently pay their mortgages and living expenses by profiting from copyright infringement. Keyword searches cannot determine whether a merchant has a valid copyright or license. How can a keyword search on [ SEARCH: 'Marshall Amps' ] determine this? All these products listed could be copyright infringement, and definitely breaking listing guidelines. Hundreds of items replicating the Marshall brand of guitar amps, many products sold by big name and established stores, that should know better. Can a keyword determine copyright infringement, when sometimes the listing is not using branded keywords in the title or its tags/keyword list? What about just a [ SEARCH: 'guitar amp' (non-brand generic search) ], Scroll down the page, and most are legit or knockoffs, but you will run into a couple who don't use the "Marshall" brand name in their keywords or title, but the texture on the model clearly does NOTE: I exclude knockoffs or inspired-by type models, since they do not use branding in keywords, text or images. Keyloggers use a lot of resources, both on the client and the server, since they are reading each and every character you type, and trying to update the search as you go. This could bog down performance on the SL Marketplace. Keyloggers are also regarded as malware - even though suddenly they are under massive use first with Chrome, now even in the Window 10 Operating System. In both of these cases, Linden Lab would also have to create, maintain and update a huge word database of every brand name, trademark, movie title, actor name, etc to check this against. This is simply not feasible, as the system cannot determine licensing just from word content. Therefore, unless a IP holder files a claim, Linden Lab would have to sift through thousands of listings, check their licenses and ownership, verify users are who they say they are, etc. An impossible and very expensive task. So Linden Lab should dedicate vast resources to chase down merchants who 1) upload copyrighted material 2) broke the Terms of Service immediately on doing so, just to make sure they're legit? Can't be done. We'd have to require an amazing surveillance and police system to do that - or many, many, many employees. AMC won't care about the occasional uploader that has a [ SEARCH: 'Breaking Bad' ] 'Heisenberg T-shirt, Disney won't spend time making a claim against some merchant who uploaded a [ SEARCH: 'Tie Fighter' ], nor will [ SEARCH: 'Nike' ].  Unfortunately, even with the mass and obvious IP infringement, a group of LL employees would have to painstakingly go through each and every listing and confirm the sellers have ownership or licenses.. but why should they have to? By agreeing to the Terms of Service, and passing the "Upload Mesh" test, the seller has affirmed multiple times that they own the item or have permission to sell it. Unless a copyright holder claims against it in opposition - we all have to assume these people are allowed. So, in the end... The integrity of the MP is really defined by the integrity of its merchants. As with many other commercial sites, selling popular works and brand names still remains profitable for many, and an unfair advantage - because people won't find your unique design through search - unless you use brand names yourself.

Amethyst Jetaime wrote: There really is no reason to be a premium member unless you own mainland or want a Linden home. Linden homes were not designed for luxury or as permanent homes. When LL first introduced them they said that the homes were meant to give people a taste of having a home with the thought they'd eventually want to have a better home and move on. It is therefore not surprising that LL has never upgraded them. LOL Amethyst, you're supposed to sell me on keeping it. Anyway, I do still use my Linden Home quite a bit; mainly as a starting base and 'lab' of sorts, where I may work on scripting, assembling prototypes and meshes, 'scenes' for product shots, fixups and improvements to existing products, listening to the music I want to, etc. I'm not a real estate or marketing mogul yet in Second Life, so the LH still has some good value in it. (but sucks if you want full household scene). I'm also cheap - I don't pay more for something than I have to, and only pay well for quality goods. Rufferta wrote: I pay a premium membership in Second Life for the same reason I pay my taxes in real life - it makes me feel as if I am supporting something in a small way, and I feel it gives me more right to complain. With each purchase you make, land rental, etc you're contributing anyway to Linden Labs, much like someone who may not vote, or extreme cases not pay income taxes - they still pay through usage fees and taxes - so always contribute anyway. Qie Niangao wrote: I have several Premium accounts myself, but only because they're old enough that their stipends (L$500 and in one case, L$400/wk) make an Annual membership ever so slightly profitable. If they were all L$300, I'd only have one and only because I still prefer owning Mainland to renting anywhere, and obviously YMMV. Yes, I get a $300L stipend or 'cash back' weekly, which pretty much amounts to money back (though the $L value is 12.5% lower than last year), which makes the Premium cheaper every month.

Drake1 Nightfire wrote: LL takes a cut of each sale.. There They are most definitely profiting from the sale of illegal goods. Just like if I sold knock off purses i bought from someone else, I could not claim "I didn't know they were illegal" I would still go to jail. Let's not criminalize Linden Labs for providing a hosting service and opportunity, in which participants agree to a TOS to even participate by stating legally they will only upload content they own or have the rights to. The responsibility for that sits squarely on the offending party, who has broken their contract with Linden Labs immediately on conducting such activity. There is no reasonable way Linden Labs can check each upload, or police each new listing, or to check copyright and license holders. The sheer number of merchant accounts does not allow that, and there is no automated system such as implemented by YouTube that would even apply to these kind of things. One could argue that YouTube is criminal too for 'allowing' copyright infringement to continue because they benefit financially as well - but they're not benefiting financially on purpose, nor in most cases even aware - so that is an important distinction to make. Don't let your frustrations at the eroding of the trust and integrity and value of the Marketplace be taken out on Linden Labs, as they have limited resources to process what might be hundreds of complaints daily. Linden Labs can't be aware of infringements unless they are reported. In order to have valid copyright infringement claims, and avoid abuse, they require the IP owner themselves to file for each infringement. They also can't be held responsible for accounts who break the TOS, or for the 5% commissions they make on each sale, since it is an automated system. The only time Linden Labs would get into any kind of trouble is if they are 'aware' of a IP-infringing listing, and do nothing about it. The flagging system has failed as well, as the sheer number of infractions must overwhelm Linden Labs, who probably have to check each and every complaint to ensure it is a valid one - or just ignore it. I know several merchants who I have flagged for various offenses - they are probably in the 100s now - their products remain unchanged. When a large number of users are simply unethical, and scumbaggery and dishonesty become the majority, there is nothing Linden Labs can really do at some point - they just don't have the resources to police anymore.

or Convince An Existing Premium Member to Continue Being A Premium Member Update: Consensus is no compelling reason to become or remain a Premium Member Hi, my premium account annual is coming due. However, since Linden Labs has done little to optimize or even improve their existing world, rationalizing a continued 'premium' account (which doesnt feel premium anymore), is suddenly on the table. I have the money to do it, it's just getting harder and harder every year to put it out, since nothing has changed. I use Second LIfe to; 1) Design and upload content for others to use in Second Life. 2) Explore cool sims other creators create. 3) Rent land from landowners for inworld stores, or creative photograph/machinima projects. The success of the Marketplace is eclipsing inworld purchases, so the need to have an inworld presence is minimal, if even needed at all, and public sandboxes fill in that gap. Premium is losing its lustre for me because; 1) Premium homes are getting old and outdated, and kinda ugly. Out of scale (I can fit an entire restaurant at scale in the living room), small allowance of LI, and no new designs/optimization is making my premium home boring. I've settled in them all at one point or another. 2) Premium sandboxes no longer needed if you rent land. They're nice and quiet, but with all the public sandboxes, why do we need them again? What's the benefit to a Premium member, if I can attend a much more active (and policed) public sandbox? 3) I don't buy or trade or sell Mainland. Never found a reason to. Seems landlords are renting out at the same prices they're putting in to pay the tier. Frankly, I've never understood how mainland owners even make money at it. 4) Premium account 'free monthly gifts" are not that good, or unrelated to my interests. 5) Live chat support has never been used, nor do I expect to use it anytime soon. 6) Already have attended vehicle, flying sims. Never anything new to keep my interests as a Premium member. This is probably just a symptom of Second LIfe getting a little long in the tooth, and there isn't much incentive for some of us to continue on - since nothing new and exciting has been added to Premium accounts - once you've visited all the Premium areas, what else is there other than just paying for the same old, same old? I believe there is a lot that can be done to improve the existing world of Second Life - most of which is creating engaging worlds and experiences, better UX/UI, better tutorials and "What Next?" or "What Do I Do Now" for new customers, optimizing texture use, scaling down stuff, etc, long before I don a 3d headset and swim around in Sansar. Thanks for your responses.

SOLUTION: Get payment information from any would-be marketplace merchant. They break the rules, get caught selling copyrighted or copybotted works? Ban the identifying information for life. Zero tolerance is the only way. Since Linden Labs actually requested and has my Government ID, they have more information on me than any other corporation I've dealt with - just for selling stuff on their Marketplace. So I'm sure it is in their power to investigate, require Government ID, for everyone who wants to be a merchant if they really wanted to. Charging innocent people more money won't do squat. Pamela Galli wrote: You have at least two kinds of sellers: those running a business and those role playing running a business. For the first group, twelve dollars is not a significant barrier, for the latter it is. Elitist statement, and does not address solutions.