Yhishara Cerise

Someone had suggested that because they were Gachas when originally released in world that the only people who should be able to sell them after the changes are implemented would be gacha resellers - that the original creators should be prohibited from selling them even as normal purchases. Someone else offered a possible excuse for that (when they were part of the event there might have been agreements that they would not sell the pieces as regular sales.) That does make a certain amount of sense but only under the present rules as it stands right now. Things are going to change drastically and I think gacha creators should be allowed to continue to sell their items and not be blocked from doing so. And it's rather ironic: because if I see a gacha reseller then it's a straight purchase even though they don't have creative rights over the item they're selling. And because they are only resellers there have been cases where the only thing being sold was an empty box as there were scam artists posing as legit resellers. I hope the creators will offer their old gacha sets for regular sale. It's their creation and they should be allowed to continue to earn Lindens from the sale of them. I also don't think that those with gacha related prizes should be prohibited from selling them.

Well, I am pretty sure that they probably didn't see this coming when gacha was first introduced. But the rules have changed now. And it should be up to the creators how they want to proceed. They should not be prohibited from putting those items on regular vendors for sale. Especially while others will still be able to resell the actual gacha items. I mean the people buying them from resellers aren't playing a gacha either they're doing a straight purchase of the item. To say yes to that and no to the person that actually created the item someone else is now profiting from the sale of is just wrong. I want to go to the actual creator and pay them for their time and creativity.

That's how I have seen most creators doing it. It may not show up at their stores right away and while the event is going on you know where to get it as you won't be able to buy it anywhere but at that event. But sooner or later it's offered at the creators main store. I have seen very few exceptions on this unless it was a one chance limited edition item (such as the items from the many Relay For Life events where you could only get them at that event). But even then - the creators would say they were a limited time item.

Right - and I have no problems with people selling their extras on the marketplace or at events created for that purpose either now or in the future. My issue was the people that are suggesting that the actual creator could not offer those items for even a normal sale after this change. If they were the ones that created it they absolutely should be able to do that.

I can understand this being a rule for while the event is going on - just like any other type of purchase where it's used as a draw to get people to come to the various events to get an exclusive item they can only get at one place. Once the event is over though, it should be up to the individual creators whether or not they want to offer the item for sale in their stores or on the marketplace.

The suggestion was that the original creator should not be allowed to offer what would have been gacha prizes for regular purchase in their stores once these changes go live. If you created something and then Linden Labs made a change that made it a gaming violation for you to sell your own creative work but gave other people the right to sell it and make a profit off it - wouldn't you have an issue with that?

Yes but that was under the old rules where the creator could put up the gacha machine in their main store after the event was over. I always preferred to pay the actual creator than a reseller. Taking that option away then it only profit resellers rather than the original creator. That isn't fair because they are profiting on someone else's creative work who, if some suggest here - would be blocked from offering it in their main stores even as a normal purchase after the event is over. That crosses a line and says "We can profit from your work but you can not."

So essentially a Lucky Board but one you pay when it gets to the prize you want?

I disagree. After the cut off date, the creator should have every right to put it for offer in their stores. It is their item that they created and they should have say in where it gets sold and who receives profit from it. It will be no different than now where places like Nutmeg offered the full set including exclusives or VIP rewards for sale as an alternative to playing the machine. I think your idea offers too much control to gacha resellers over distribution of an item that is not even theirs. It simply opens the door for people with the real life financial means to stockpile a huge amount of highly sought after gacha prizes and corner the market - taking the profit away from the person who should be getting the financial rewards for their time and creative talent.

This is exactly what I felt about them too. I knew if I paid my 50L or whatever the pull price was I would get an item pictured as being part of the set. If I go to the corner store though and buy a lottery scratcher for $2.00 I take my chances on getting nothing for the money spent as no cash prize is guaranteed.

Thank you to all the people that responded to my question. I appreciated all the responses. I have asked that the thread be locked now.

That's vile. Hope someone banned them.

Yes it is.

The question about the skin tone is for everyone to answer. I know that the skin quality over all has gotten better (and after 17 years I should hope so! lol) but has it gotten better for everyone?

Though you directed your question to me I have to say that I am not in the position to answer you. We are talking about racism and such a topic as "black fishing" falls into the same category as cultural appropriation. I am not the one that will be negatively affected by it since I am white both in world and in reality. In other words - I have no pony in this race like others do who are in a much better position to answer you on how they view it. Having said that I will try to clarify some of your other concerns. I am a staff writer for the Best of Second Life magazine. If you check out my in world profile (I use the same name there as here on the forums) you will find that my groups are not hidden, so you can confirm it if you like. The articles I do are either one-on-one interviews or on topics that require research from many different sources. For this particular article I wanted it from specifically a Second Life perspective because it is for an in-world publication. Real world racism happens - but many may think that being in a virtual setting such as Second Life people wouldn't have to deal with it. But they do my main goal is finding out in what ways it happens here. Since there is no resource to draw from except talking to Linden Labs directly - which will only yield limited information (if any, since they don't share AR report statistics) the only other alternative was to ask Second Life residents for their experiences. So I really am doing research for an article I am writing The questions I have asked are by no means exhaustive - think of them more as a starting off place - to get people thinking. I'm sure I will ask many more before I stop visiting this thread at the end of the month. I think you raised valid points about the black-fishing by the way. I hope others will chime in on that issue. I appreciate what everyone has shared so far. I put in a deadline because I need time to write it before my own deadline in mid July. And a week should be enough time for those interested to respond.

This is not the first thread where someone has brought up the skin tone issues. Has it gotten better? What ways could they improve it? I don't think it makes you racist to want darker skin tones. We all have visions for what we want our avatar to look like, and it is frustrating when you can't find what you want when it is a basic item such as a skin.

I once dealt with an extreme narcissist. Sometimes I wish he had just punched me - it would have hurt far less than the other abuses he put me through. I would also have recovered from them sooner.

That could be both good and bad though. I am white in reality and I play a pale skinned avatar. But if I did play a darker skinned avatar and was treated badly for it then it might give me an experience to draw from when talking to people that actually have experienced it in real life. And I have heard it explained that at the end of the day - it is offensive to some because if I did that, I could just go back to my pale skin look if it got too uncomfortable. Those in reality cant' do that. But I think the experience would be invaluable to understanding this issue from the "other side". Might open some eyes to the harsh reality of racism.

When people take part in a massive in world event (such as the SL Birthday event) where there are a huge number of stores, so a high number of avatars and they create mini stores with many items for sale in a wide variety of colors, and decorative items. To make it worse, the sim builders load it down with a huge amount of plants, trees, moving objects, water features. Each one on it's own doesn't add much - but taken all together it's a slideshow. I appreciate the work they do on these things - and I do enjoy going to them (even with the lag). So I don't want to come across as being unappreciative. I just don't appreciate the lag feature that is included with them lol

So I guess that's another question - were people hurt just as much dealing with racist residents here as they would be if the same thing happened to them in reality? I mean part of it may be physical in reality but emotional scars can be left behind that might be much harder to deal with.

Thank you so much to everyone that responded so far.

Thank you. No, not stories based on roleplay. I am looking specifically for people just randomly going about their day and getting into a situation with another resident that was racist towards them - completely out of character. In character racism (while I do have a problem with that) is mutual - both parties signed up for it and know what is going to happen in advance. They know what to expect and that is (for some reason) what they want to experience. This is for people that didn't expect it - it could be in a group when they are asking for help, experiences while shopping, rezzing into a sim and seeing racist items... things like that. These are the things they didn't sign up for. I will put the avatars you mentioned on my list of contacts. Thank you. I don't see the problem as non-existant. It is definitely there. Due to limited words, I am leaving my search specifically to Second Life and what it's residents have experience. But I will look into those sources as well.

I checked the community guidelines and there doesn't seem to be any rule against what I am about to ask. In reality we have so many examples and organizations we can draw on for information about this particular sensitive issue but in Second Life, there isn't a public record. All we can do is submit individual reports that something happened. We never know whether or not any action was taken. However, in order to fill out that report, we have to be there to witness it as incidences of it unfold. But once the moment is gone - it's gone. The issue I am talking about is racism in Second Life. With all the things that are happening in the real world, the conversation is a very relevant one and I know racist things have happened in world. I have done a bit of reading on it already here. There were past threads and posts that dated back several years. Recent threads and their responses are more dealing with real life events than things happening in Second Life itself. I am doing research on this because I want to write an article on it as it refers to the experience Second Life avatars have while logged in. If you would like to share your story, please send me an instant message here on these forums. There are a few ground rules though. 1) Please don't name names. Naming an avatar is against the forum guidelines. Naming a group or sim would be irrelevant and most have rules forbidding that kind of behaviour anyway (though it still happens). 2) I want this thread to be safe for people that want to share. Commentary on the posts aren't really necessary. If negative or opposing comments are made please follow the "be nice, be respectful" rule. Mostly I am looking for individual experiences of racism in Second Life towards darker skinned avatars and trying to find common experiences among them. The important things I want to know about are: What form did the racism take? Were the tools Linden Labs supplies to deal with incidents of this nature sufficient? Did you have support from other residents, sim owners/managers and group csr's? Did it only happen in Second Life or did it carry over onto your social media? What would you like to see done to support anti racist efforts in Second Life? If you have been a victim of racism in reality, were the feelings you experienced the same or different when you experienced in Second Life. The deadline is June 30, 2020. In advance, thank you to everyone that responds.

I think - at least I hope - that people are playing what avatars they want to play. So I don't think about it as there is no lack of choice in avatars. If people don't want to be human they can easily choose to play as something else. We are not forced to be (or stay) human avatars.

So would you say that classism (for lack of a better term) rather than racism is something we should be looking into?