solstyse

Land and tier basically works on a "pyramid" basis. The truth is that most large land owners aren't paying the full cost of their sim. And if they had to, they wouldn't own it. The truth is that the rl servers take rl money to run. The rl technicians take rl money to pay. And LL is a real business, with real overhead, and real stockholders to pay. I personally have no idea what percentage of the land tier cost is to cover overhead, or what percentage of it is pure profit. I am certain that LL has some kind of accounting team thinking about this though. As it is with a rl business, when you agree to LL's high tier prices, you need to think of how to cover your costs. In a way, all the high tier does is force creativity. You get the appropriate sized parcel for the risk you want to take, make it appealing, then rent off leftover prims. When your costs are covered, or better than covered, you can move on to larger plots, and start looking for more renters. In that way, land keeps getting subdivided until it's affordable. We will always wish for lower costs, and bigger pieces of land for our money. But in truth, I think the expectation is that once your costs get high, you will find a way to lower their rl impact. I think for any of us to get our wish of tier being lowered, the whole system would have to crumble. In the meantime, if you want mroe land, you need to find more renters to share your costs.

Actually, there are a few more reasons than hardware. I love mesh, for things like buildings, scenery, and furniture. When I see something I like, whether or not it's mesh isn't usually evena factor. But for clothes.... Mesh isn't resizable by the end user. Neither is system clothes, realy, but when you buy non mesh, it's guaranteed to fit. Mesh requires a bit more thinking and planning of the buyer. Also, there are several non-standard shaped avatars out there who mesh may not look the best on. Girls who are either larger or smaller breasted than average, for example. Fat avatars. Extremely tall or short avatars.... If your size is close to one of the standard sizes, mesh does look better though. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding mesh fashion. The system clothes have been around forever, and mesh is just another option. And system clothes will be around for a long time to come. Why? Because for how short of a lifespan mesh and rigged mesh has had, There is alrady talk of changes that'll make current mesh clothing obsolete. I think the deformer is going to be the best thing that has ever happened to mesh, but at the same time, it makes me feel that right now is NOT the time to buy.Mesh clothes that automatically fit, that I don't have to wear a demo and cam all over myself? Yeah, I'll wait for that and stick to system clothes until it comes out. That actually would do away with the one and only disadvantage Mesh has. But then, by the time I'm ready to buy, is there going to be something better that makes THAT obsolete? And some people haven't tried the newest mesh enabled viewers. Performance seemed to drop on the first ones that saw mesh. Things are better now, but I get the impression that some people are still waiting because it left a bad first impression.

Solar Legion wrote "I am well aware of the particulars of tis bug. I simply don't care about your sob stories or your excuses. When you are on a data limited plan, you watch your data like a hawk, there is no excuse to do otherwise. Find a bug in a service that puts you over? Report the bug to the service, pay your overage fee, let others know about the bug and then wait for it to be fixed." So I feel inclined to ask, are you also aware that this thread was started for just that purpose, and that it's people like you using it as your own personal podium to talk down to people that has caused it to deviate from its original purpose? And if you're so uncaring, why do you keep posting? These people are here to discuss a technical/customer service issue. not your personal opinion of them, or of anyone else. Look, typing over an over, "It's your own fault for not watching your bandwidth usage every single second." will do nothing more to help or appease these people than their own complaining will. Nor will arguing about the exact dictionary definition of the word bandwidth. The people who were affected by this spike in bandwidth which happened with no expectation, no warning, and no reason to believe it would happen came here for useful advice. They are not here to be ridiculed, or talked down to, or to make those who genuinely have nothing to complain about (those of us with unlimited internet) feel better about ourselves. It's sad that people who have experienced a technical issue are forced to deal with people who just want to try to make themselves out to be superior in a forum. As for the finger pointing. 1. If they have not caught the issue, have they all figured out it's from SL? Probably not. Checking how much data you transferred is different than checking where all of it came from. many providers do not monitor sources without a legal subpoena because they feel that their customers value their privacy. You would have to watch from within SL yourself, or you'd be baffled about where all the data is coming from. 2. If they have not caught the issue, then they will be left with either no internet service, which some of them need for other things, or with a high bill. Pointing out their responsibilities does not undo what was done. Figuring out the cause, and spreading the word may at least prevent others from suffering the same. 3. If they HAVE caught the issue before that, then what of the membership they pay for? And what of the land they rent or own? They are forced to either stay away from something they pay for, or to accept the issue and ignore it, leading to the same consequences as if they hadn't noticed. 4. This is a definite customer service issue, since customer service isn't all about strictly what is legal. It is also about making the product appeal to the customer, and avoiding customer complaints. Unhappy customers do not only go away. They also cost you future sales. Often, appeasing a customer is much, much less costly to the company than just "letting them go." 5. Most people can predict, or project their usage of any service after using it for a given amount of time. How many people constantly monitor their electricity, or water, or heat for a sudden spike? When usage spikes to the extreme that it has in SL for some of these people, then checking once a week or so may not have caught it ON TIME, even if they did catch it. It sucks when that happens, just like it sucks when ANY service you use goes outside of your own personal norm.

Is there any way possible to get rid of the posts in this thread that have no substance whatsoever? This seems like it started as a very useful thread about a serious technical issue, but then, what took 10 pages could have been three.... There is arguement about the meaning of a word, long after it has been clarified. There is a lot of personal back and forth bickering. Maelstrom, there is no doubt that from both a moral and customer satisfaction standpoint, LL should cut the tier cost of you and anyone in your situation, regardless of whether they are capped or not in bandwidth, as a show of "good faith" and as a method of lowering their total liability. From a legal standpoint, it's not so clear. I would guess it depends on where you are, since their service would need to follow all applicible laws, and how good your legal representation is. In the US, laws concerning liabilities of companies for consequential damages are kind of murky, unless clearly defined in a written "limited waranty." Without it, services and products default to an "implied waranty." So, I imagine how much responsibility they are legally liable for depends fully on how talented of a lawyer would bring a case against them. Odds are you would end up spending more on a lawyer than what you lost. Limitations of liability are usually ironclad. Also, legal liability aside, the message sent to customers by not giving warning sends a bad message. Any time that any problem exists with a product or service, the customers should be informed. The result of them sitting on their hands, I'm sure, is plenty of people with just as much anger as maelstrom has. Although I would bet the majority of them are going to go away mroe quietly. The proper thing would have been to warn people, so those of us who have unlimited bandwidth could just say, "Oh, so that's why the increase in lag." while those who are capped would know to watch. After years, or only just months people can predict their usage. And they assume that doing what they've always done will have the same result. I can tell the usage on my Android devices without looking. When speeds and thus total usage spike unexpectedly, it's very easy to blame the person it happened to. I'll say right now that on my WIFI, I am uncapped. So this issue does nothing to my bill. But for those who it does affect, some compassion should be shown. I have had spikes in the past, traced them, and fortunately it wasn't LL, so I WAS able to get cooperation from customer service. There have been times when my continuation of service depended heavily on the attitude of the CS workers. That, I think is more the point that Maelstrom is trying to make. This may not be a legal issue, but it certainly is a customer service issue. Not one that affects us all equally, but one that can really harm some people's ability to enjoy second life (and if you don't enjoy it, you may as well not be here.) and even has a heavy impact on some people's wallets. There should definitely been official notices from LL. And there should be something done for those most heavily affected.

Lowering Tier is something everyone would like. But what is LL's overhead on each parcel? When their total costs are divided by the number of sims they rent, how much of your tier goes to profit, and how much to overhead? I'm not asking hypothetically. I really don't know. I guess what I'm trying to ask is whether the strategy of trying to give more value for the space used is just the option they have chosen to take, or is it the ONLY thing they could do? Since "land" here is actually server load, and it seems like lately LL has been doing their best to decrease server load, is that an indication that they are running out of space? or that they will not be replacing aging hardware? In other words, we know that demand is limited due to high costs. But is supply just as limited? It seems to me like the best solution, after these questions are answered is to re-evalutate the way that land ownership works, and perhaps add to the variety of land "products" that LL offers. What if your ideal amount of space falls between two tiers? Then you are left wondering whether to cut down on your assets, or increase them, and make parts of your parcel rentable to be more in line with your budget. Even with rentals, more variety would allow more options for the amount of money you are willing to commit to try to cover your own costs within sl. This may challenge LL in terms of mapping (which seems broken anyway. when you zoom out on the world map everything seems to be very "fragmented") but in terms of storage space, and bandwidth, it seems very simple. I wonder why they aren't doing it. Is there something technical I'm not thinking of?

That is a bad, bad proposal, for several reasons. 1. There is a known differentiation between in character (IC) and out of character (OOC) in most roleplay sims. A TOS ban would impose a limit on IC responses and attitudes, leading to a far less colorful landscape. Often, two people who seem extremely hateful toward eachother in local are actually being very cordial and friendly to eachother in their private IM boxes. Being someone who roleplays as an "indiginous" person I often deal with this. And in my experience, the people who are doing it are often people who know that I can seperate IC from OOC. If someone is personally attacking the person behind the keyboard instead of just the character for their ethnicity, then there are plenty of avenues you can take. You can mute the person or do an abuse report for harrassment. There is no need for a TOS ban. 2. How clearly do you think you can possibly define "obscene, hateful, or objectionable"? And no offense, but why should everyone on the whole grid care what someone else finds objectionable? What if a devout christian is offended by mention of Mohammad or Allah? What if an aethiest thinks something looks too much like a manger? What about furries and vampiers? Both of those groups have plenty of people who don't like them. Should they be banned? There's more than enough land in sl for anyone who dislikes what they see to go somewhere else. If you're offended, you're on the wrong sim. Simple as that. There is no reason in sl or in rl for something to be banned just because someone doesn't like it. In fact, the kind of censorship you are suggesting is something I find condescending and objectionable. Under your proposal, your own post to make the ban would be banned. 3. have you looked at the SL marketplace? While I don't participate in it, sl sex "slex" is big business. And businesses don't exist without buyers. There are plenty of people who are here just for that purpose. Plenty of sims just for it too. Which means plenty of people who wouldn't be on sl, paying linden labs for server rental if they weren't allowed to be obscene. SL provides a rating system. I suggest you keep off of adult sims, and stick to just moderate and general. Meanwhile, leave the people who aren't affecting you in the slightest way (because you wisely decided to spend your time on a sim that is more fitting to what you want) do what they do out of your sight, and out of your mind. Then we can ALL be happy.

Can someone explain how mesh is all the same as everything old, if it requires a new viewer, or a patch to an old one to see it? The difference may be slight, but there has to be a difference if an update of any kind is needed to see it. And, hardware isn't the issue. I've tried multiple viewers, and on some, it's absolutely horrid. On either Neiran's or the latest Firestorm, it actually loads, rezzes, and looks so good that I actually forget I'm looking at mesh. And i forget to look for mesh in the describtion. My first mesh purchases were actually by accident. And like the old fashioned way, quality depends on the creator. It's still best to try demos or buy from reputable sources. Mesh is still relatively new, and it'll take time for it to be perfected. For static objects, like furniture, it's already proven itself better. It allows builders to place more, using less prims. Clothing, hair, and other avatar attachments still have plenty of drawbacks. Of course, this only helps the original poster if his/her machine can run the newer viewers, and i assume it can't. If upgrading isn't affordable, what about overclocking? Or killing un-needed processes? There's a lot within the operating system of the computer that takes more resources than it should. Turning off themes, cursor animations, and such will free up some ram. So will cleaning up your start folder. Do a google search for tricks to speed up your operating system. If you don't mind learning something new, try running linux instead of windows. Ubuntu can be ran from a cd rom drive. Of course, you'll have to actually install it if you want to download programs for it, but that gives you an idea of just how compact it is. When the OS uses less resources, more is available for the programs that are running. That might help for now. But the person who said that as time goes on, SL will keep taking better and better hardware for all it's features to work is right.