Yhishara Cerise

I don't think so. I looked into the avatar name in world and there are two of them - and one with numbers after the name. If I create an alt it's always with a name with no numbers. So I don't think that particular avatar is mine but it is concerning that it was my email address.

I don't often check the email associated with my SL account but today I did and found this... It's just so sad when even Linden Labs can't get ones name right - For the record - it's Y-HI-SHA-RA. Next year - I expect presents and something chocolate...

I don't expect anyone I message in the real world or in Second Life to respond back immediately. In Second Life, sure, the avatar might be right there in front of me but I don't see the person running the avatar. Same goes in the real world. I find it's only rude when I am actually standing with the physical person and I am talking to them and they aren't responding. It's all so randomized - I never know when someone is going to send me an IM so how can I plan to be at the keyboard to respond to it? So if I decide to leave my avatar on and go to the grocery store, play with the cat, take a nap, clean the kitchen or make a phone call during a quiet moment, people shouldn't get upset. It would be hypocritical of me to get upset at others for doing the same thing.

What if people only have the time to log in to Second Life on the one day they choose to do this? They have thousands of residents all logging in at times when they are able to because they already have full busy real life schedules. There are games that bring the servers down for maintenance and that sometimes means people have to reschedule their plans and that's okay once in a while. If it's a regular thing they will simply find something else to do for their personal downtime. I don't know though - I guess I just figure that companies like Linden Labs shouldn't be playing the role of counsellor, police, and moral compass for our real lives. When in world - sure they can govern things like our conduct but I think it crosses a line when they say "You can only be logged in for this long and then we are cutting you off out of concern for your well being." To me that just comes across as fake. They aren't really concerned about our mental or physical wellbeing. That concern is OUR responsibility not theirs.

Linden Labs sunsetting SL fills me with a cold dread. BUT it won't be the first time an online world I enjoyed being a part of folded and even though I have spent probably far more money than I should have - I enjoyed my time here. So that's what I have learned: even if it ends - i will have some good memories and that's probably all we really should try to hold onto.

Me too.

ANC was one gacha machine I wouldn't play. I was looking for one rare and the odds of getting it were ridiculous. After spending far more than the item was worth, I vowed never to play their machines again. That taught me a valuable lesson. I may really like gachas but sometimes playing them for the prizes that are in them just isn't worth the cost. I suppose the good thing is that I am probably not in danger of being addicted to gambling because I know when to just walk away lol

They wouldn't be tradeable. I would much rather buy from the creator too.

I agree with this. If the anti gacha laws started in - I want to say Belgium - but I could be wrong - then as a company that has an international reach then the legal team for Linden Labs should have been telling them, "We can't do that because we have an international base and in some places this is illegal and other countries are looking into the legalities of it as well." Then they could have banned them a long time ago. Or they could have taken a 'wait and see' approach to see how many companies were okay with it and then took it from there. But they let it go to far when they should have proceeded with caution and said no a long time ago. Then we wouldn't be dealing with this today.

I have to admit your post confuses me. When Purplemoon was open Poulet released fantasy items as well as regular releases and people raved about all of it. the same goes for Izzie's who released fun little items along with the skins, makeups and cosmetic enhancements. I guess it just confuses me that if someone likes a creators work and the creator wants to branch out a bit, I think their customers would look at it as a bit of fun and be into it. If they really don't like it they won't buy but that shouldn't stop a creator from building and releasing what they want. That's just sad. They have to have fun in SL too. I do agree with the sentiment about people putting things into gachas that shouldn't be gachas. I hated the hair ones. Or the ones where it was one item but 15 colors. Just release one item and have a texture change HUD. Or release items that go with that one item (like if it was a car release other stuff to go with it).

Very well thought out post but I disagree with the statement above: Just because you have a wait time rather than instant doesn't change that the outcome isn't known at the time of payment. You might have some idea (like looking at a gacha key) but it doesn't guarantee that's what you are going to get.

I asked the same question. If your question hasn't been answered yet, from what people told me here they now offer a preview so you can see the items included in the pack at the time of purchase.

Gachas to me were/are a bit different because of how they were introduced. The goal of it is to complete a themed collection. And people were willing to do that when it came to them (as evidenced by the amount selling "FULL PACK PLUS RARE!'s" on the Marketplace. So you're right - while people would balk at the price of a normal item being sold that way the items in gachas were viewed a bit differently because it was accepted that the full set would come at a higher price. And that's what this event would be based on: selling full sets of things. If a person hates fatpacks then this event probably wouldn't be for them but many might be interested. And as for return on investment, the people that would spend the money on gachas probably have a higher likelihood of going to this event as well. Unless of course it was just resellers. We have never had an event of this nature before and at worst it falls flat, at best it becomes a success for those that love gacha collections.

I agree that we need to adapt to this change and not try to just recreate something that will only lead to the same problems. So perhaps we need a new event model instead. When I went to The Epiphany today there were several vendors that had an option to buy the fatpack of the gacha items and they included everything (including VIP rewards and exclusives). So what if a new event featured only full collections and nothing sold as individual items? People would know going in that it's going to be pricey but, to be fair, so are gacha events and people seem to flock to them. I know for myself if I like the collection or creator enough, the fatpack option is a great thing. If it was a gacha then I would play until I got all the pieces I wanted or the whole thing. And if it was a straight purchase having the option just saved me from having to choose which colour/items I wanted most - especially if i liked it all. I know some people would protest and say "But I don't want the whole thing!" But we run into that issue now as well so it wouldn't really change anything. The creators would have control over how many items they include in each pack as well: If they have a collection of 20 pieces they could break that down into smaller packs based on things like item type or colour or they could just set up the whole set as one purchase. The only stipulation for the event to qualify is that nothing can be sold as a single colour or item.

Beatrice Serendipity. She and Warm Clarity created the Ghee brand name some years ago but before that she was a very popular model. The amazing woman behind that avatar passed away a few weeks ago. https://www.facebook.com/bea.serendipity Before that it was Bitch2Hunt4. She worked for Carrie's Lingerie and was one of the sweetest people ever to log in to Second Life.

I have bought very few PowderPacks and that was a very long time ago. So I really have no idea what's on their Flickr or website as I never visit either one. I know they took a break and then started them up again. That's about all I know. But thank you for the information.

Sorry - I was being a bit facetious. I think that would more fall into a partnership type of deal. As in a blogger might agree to profile someone's work and get the items for free. Or if you were a business partner where you did behind the scenes work (setting up vendors, setting up notices, taking care of customer service requests etc).

Ah - I understand. Thanks Littleme.

I enjoyed gachas. I am okay with it going out of SL too. There are a few details that concern me that I hope get worked out. There were some creators that did amazing work on their gacha sets. I really hope they will still offer them as a straight purchase as it would just be sad if they weren't available in the future. But that is what is linked to my second concern and I have already mentioned it. There was a suggestion here that because the sets were only released as a gacha item, event agreements may have been written so that the original creators would be prohibited from selling their own creations even in light of this ruling, and that we could only get them from gacha resellers. Take out gacha, that's fine. Making it so that a creator can't even sell their work? That's not so fine. (And I am not even a creator).

I don't know if even that will be allowed because you don't know what you are getting really until the box goes live and get's delivered. All you know upon purchasing is that it's for a particular mesh head. I suppose they could give a preview when the announcement for the new pack is announced.

You mean like joining a group for $250 L with the promise of group gifts only to find the next group gift something you don't like or want? You might like every other gift except that one.

From what I have seen criticism really started in 2017. That's when Linden Labs should have given people a heads up that gacha's life span may be limited. So why is this happening 4 years later?

I always got the impression that most of the userbase for SL resided in North America. *shrugs* Who knew? I don't remember being asked as a resident of North America how I feel about gambling either. Just for the record - once in a long while I might buy a scratch and win. Even rarer still will I buy an actual lottery ticket. Once I went into a casino because I needed to talk to a friend who was in one. I've never played any of the games and I even worked at a place that had video lottery terminals (I never spent money in those either). The biggest reason is that I have never won anything and am not compensated in any way for my money. I find them a complete waste of my time. If they decided tomorrow to ditch any and all gambling I would have zero problem with it. I have never viewed gachas in SL the same way. I always got something for the money I put into them. It was always something for something. So why would I be against it here? Not only that but gachas were a very popular element in world for a long time. As soon as it started gaining popularity that's when Linden Labs should have put the kibosh on anything to do with it. And they NEVER should have allowed events to focus around them if they were considered gambling in parts of the world. I mean, it would be one thing if those laws had just gotten onto the books but this debate has been going on for a while.

I don't remember ever seeing a poll regarding how SL residents feel about Gachas. All I do know is that for events like the Arcade and The Epiphany it was incredibly rare and hard to get into those two events the first week their new rounds opened. And whenever I visit the marketplace there were always a few gacha prizes that came up whenever I was looking for something. And then there were the yard sale sims and gacha prize trading groups to help people get the prizes they wanted or get rid of prizes they didn't. Sounds to me that even if people said they loathed them, they still played them. But of course, I could be wrong.

That's true up to a point. If I look at the gacha key on the machine it gives me all the items that will possibly be given to me if I put my Lindens in to play it. So while yes, you don't know until you put those Lindens in what prize you will receive with that pull, you do already know the possibilities. If you don't like most of the possibilities it would be better to just not play the machine or be okay with what items you will receive - because you are guaranteed something. It's not like you are going to be playing a DRD gacha and a prize from Go! will pop out.