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Codex Alpha

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Everything posted by Codex Alpha

  1. It's sad that OP has to put big long disclaimers on his listings still at this point and time, but I feel for the same situation. Once I figured out SL's classic SPC/GLS system, and made the appropriate maps in all the right places and alpha channels, etc, all I got were complaints from those products and low ratings - because people still didn't have their Advanced Lighting Model on, so the textures will appear flat and dead to them. When you explain to them they need ALM, they might go fix it, but their 1 star rating remains, and you no longer sell a single item of that product ever again. This is when I realized most creators were baking lights and environments into their products and many times even foregoing using Normal maps too (from inworld research of many products). If it is done right, baked lighting can certainly trick the eye into thinking the product has more detail and may help to minimize texture load impact. I do like the PBR ease of upload, and not having to create a whole new workflow to get PBR projects into SPC/GLS format as of old, but I suspect the same result can happen "This doesn't look as good inworld as it does in the photos! Looks terrible! 1-star!" can still happen, or even from users who don't know how to set up PBR environment on their own land, etc.
  2. The first answer to why they can continue to list and sell on SL, even though they may clearly represent a brand and design from RL, and sometime obviously - is because unless the copyright holder files a complaint to SL management - they can get away with it. It is very risky for all parties involved, as a copyright holder can simply do an investigation taking a year or more - and calculate damages from that and sue for that amount. It rarely happens though, since SL is not really big enough or even considered at all by a corporation. However, some corporations are more nasty than others about this, and will aggressively pursue any creator (or SL as the platform) they become aware of. The second answer is more related to ethics and what kind of creator do you want to be? An ethical creator who uses RL designs as 'inspiration' for your own designs, and build your brand that way? Or just be another unethical creator who wants to 'replicate the designs of a RL designer/company, and slap my own logo on it and call it my own work AND sell the resulting items for my own profit'. That's the decision many creators have to make at some point. Believe me, copycat stuff sells more than original stuff, and always does no matter what platform the 'replicated designs' are sold on. It DOES pay to upload copyrighted content, or 'replicated designs', as long as the creator can get away with it. It's more of an ethical choice than a legal one. Most likely you can get away with the legal issues (mostly), but it's your integrity and character (and the satisfaction you get) from your activities that you alone can decide.
  3. Just to be clear, and publicly, I do not read into your intent in doing so, but I'm glad it happened to demonstrate my position in this thread, and any personal reference to that is not intended
  4. And conversely this thread is all the evidence needed as to why it would be a good idea to allow posters with good intent (my default view of others) to be able to edit their posts. Except I supported my statement with reasons, while you did not. An unqualified and unsupported view means nothing without you expanding on it as to why you hold that position... and not to be vague about it.
  5. And such a prime example given in this very thread of how a post 'quoting' can be manipulative..
  6. Instead of the person I responded to expanding on their statement they decided to laugh at it instead. Therefore being able to edit this post after the fact, and to discourage further commenting by others for whom it was never intended is attained.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. I might be able to even sum it up thusly; Just by being active anywhere you risk a ban. Welcome to 2022.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. I value above all else fellow Creators who share their knowledge, insight, workflow and other helpful tips.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
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