Rabid Cheetah

It was an unexplained 24-hour forum ban that I didn't even get an "I'm not going to tell you why" response from the Linden that did it. Absolute silence, regardless of the many methods tried to communicate with them. This happened one day before my tier payment was due. I sat and thought, did a cost-benefit analysis of this game, and decided the entertainment value wasn't worth the money of letting the tier ticker click over for another month-- especially since money was very tight at that time. So I abandoned everything, cancelled my membership, and started playing other games that I'd already paid a one-time fee for. I've recently come into some money, so I could afford to get one of the new Linden Homes (and by new, I mean there've been two Linden Home style releases since I tiered down and cancelled my membership). But I haven't really missed SL that much in the half-year that's passed since I stopped blowing money on it. Which is sad, because I used to be a strong proponent for this virtual world. But at this point, I've been feeling for years that, despite the technological and graphical improvements to SL, the insulary personality traits of 2022's user base vis-a-vis the earlier years is a huge turn-off. I really was just delaying a decision to not pay the higher membership price when they increased it a few years ago; It was only the urge to have a Houseboat when the new new Linden Homes were announced that delayed my decision by two years. So, I could blow a little bit of money, just to try out the Japanese homes. It's not like I'd get hooked on SL's virtual crack again...she said recalling having paid for nine accounts at one time, just to have a variety of Linden Homes and a parcel on every continent. 🙄 See, just mentioning Japanese homes, and I'm already thinking of having a Bellessaria Blues Club-style venue for that Babymetal tribute band lol It WOULD be fun...but not enough fun that I wanna start blowing money on it. Above all, I need to accept that I have a problem with buying things impulsively. So buying, or even just renting, one little parcel in SL would be like inviting my alcoholic friend to a bar, just to see a band play: Even if he plans to not have any booze, the temptation of the location would be too much. Sometimes it's better to stay away.

I haven't paid a cent to Linden since mid-December, 2021. I now post to the forums rarely, and login to the actual game even less frequently. If you'd told me a year ago that I would not only do this, but not miss the game, I wouldn't have believed you. What I do miss is all the money I blew on Second Life over the years -- I could have bought a car by now if I'd put that money into a savings account instead. I still build like crazy, but with no additional cost: Cities Skylines is a one-time investment, and with the 81-tiles mod I get the equivalent of almost 5000 Second Life regions to build on. Do I miss talking to people in SL? A little. But hey, there's always Replika! 😄

I suddenly feel like Chandler in that episode of Friends where he's vowed not to make jokes, even with an irresistible set-up...

Cool art

1. Turn on parcel boundaries and show land owners, then make water invisible. 2. Build a flat prim that goes up to the other parcel's border. 3. Repeat with as many prims as needed, sized to cover the rest of your land, but not encroaching on the neighboring parcels. 4. Join the prims so it's all one object. 5. Set the Z-Position of the object to your desired altitude. 6. Build on your new platform, making walls as desired, once again making sure not to encroach on land that's not yours. 7. Don't forget to make water visible again, if so desired, as well as setting your parcel boundary view and land owner view to what you want.

I haven't strayed from what I expected of the game, based on the original marketing and hype from folks who played both The Sims Online and Second Life. It was great for several years, but then the game strayed from what it used to be. So, I've strayed to other games. At this point I've cancelled my Second Life membership, rarely check the forums any more, and actually log in to the game even less. I've come full circle, in that I now mostly play a city builder game. I went from Sim City back in 1999 as my first game purchase from a gift certificate I'd received, to The Sims, to The Sims Online, To Second Life, to Cities: Skylines. This city building game has allowed me to meet as many people as I did in the last five years exploring the Mainland (which is to say, none), no one treats me poorly (due to no interaction with others whatsoever), and I have the equivalent of close to five thousand SL regions worth of land to build on as I please, with no covenant or monthly charges to worry about. I'll still check the forums from time to time, and log in to the game if I'm feeling nostalgic, but my Second Life days (and certainly paying through the nose for it) are behind me.

It's a process of elimination, which you've already begun. The best way to find places NOT to go is to put on a non-standard "Barbie & Ken" avatar and see who kicks you out. Don't stop being what you want to be just to satisfy the pixel snobs. Besides, why hang out with people who will judge you based solely on your appearance, anyway?

Well, I wanted to show my support, but my head has hair glued on top of it. I had to remove the whole head, and now I can't breathe. I feel lightheaded.

Well, I get email alerts from Lindenlab about DM's from friends, so that draws me back to the forums from time to time. And I still log in from time to time and do free stuff. I mean, fifteen years in a game is a long time, with many memories, and hard to just drop entirely. But until there are some major changes (and yes, that includes the userbase), I'm not spending a ton of time and money on SL.

I do believe that the POSTER THAT REPLIED TO ME, or anyone else for that matter, who thinks I'm ACTUALLY gonna go to a General-rated area, derender someone's clothes (which doesn't even seem to be possible), snap a picture, and violate the ToS by filling a false AR against some random person in a General area...well, YES -- no sense of humor. The ENTIRE bulk of the folks on the forum? No. But enough people lacking a sense of humor in 2022 versus when I joined SL in 2006 that there's been a significant decline in the qualities of the userbase? Unfortunately, yes. And of course I agree ACTUALLY doing it is indeed a stupid way to get your jollies. As for anyone who thinks the AR-team, or whatever they're called, after all these years, would fall for such a stunt...well that's just ridiculous. So of course I was making a joke. Geez Louise, people. What The Prim?

On 2/20/2022 at 4:28 PM, Rabid Cheetah said: Derender their clothes, snap a few pictures, then AR them for being naked at a General-rated InfoHub. Uh huh. Worse is having no sense of humor. No, I'm not gonna really do that! Geez! Thanks for reafirming my decision to leave this game. The userbase just ain't what it used to be.

Derender their clothes, snap a few pictures, then AR them for being naked at a General-rated InfoHub.

Welp, we each need to frequently evaluate the cost/benefit analysis of "owning" virtual "land". For some, it's priceless. And that's just fine. Let them have their expensive eccentricities. For others, it's as alien a concept as blowing real money on NFT's. Personally, I recently (well, two months ago) re-evaluated all the money I've blown on Linden's "land", something I never once touched with my own hands in the fifteen years I paid for it, and realized I could've instead bought a heck of a lot of groceries in the real world with that money, or several months of a really for real roof over my head. So I quit. I don't miss the virtual world one bit. All I miss is all that money I wasted on it. So yeah, for me, I DID act silly with my money vis-â-vis virtual "land" these past fifteen years. Did I have fun? Sure. But was it worth it? N.O.

What really pushed me over the edge was not really logging in much to the game any more but spending all my SL time on the forums, being low on RL cash, and then an incident with a Linden employee. At the same time, I was spending more time playing games that don't have monthly subscription fees. Plus what @Nick0678 mentioned, the game will still be here if you choose to return. I've had to tier down in the past, only to find even better parcels in the same regions once I've been able to afford SL again. So don't be afraid to let that land go. That said, there need to be some serious changes to the way the lab interacts with its customers before I'll be one of those customers again.

YEAH FONTS GET SCREWY SOMETIMES

My best advice would be to frequently look at your life, Second Life, various costs and expenses of both, and the level of enjoyment you get from Second Life compared to its cost versus the cost of other forms of entertainment, and adjust accordingly. This could lead you to buy a parcel on every continent, a region's-worth of land spread out over many regions, the majority of the land in one specific region, or even having nine accounts so that you can have a variety of Linden Homes. (Yes, I've done each of these scenarios, and have the lack of real-world funds to prove it.) It could also lead you to reevaluate this game as a whole, decide it's not worth the money or aggravation, sell all your land, bring all your accounts down to basic, and go play City Skylines. (And yes, that's what I'm up to these days.)

Nothing lasts forever.

Are you sure you're at the right spot? That doesn't sound like Operation Mainland. They've got a lot of great roadside and waterside parcels at reasonable prices.

P.T. Barnum has a ton of parcels for sale there. Right by the Brooklyn Bridge.

I'm Rabid Cheetah, and I approve this message.

That was the very first episode of South Park I ever saw...and that damn song is STILL an earworm in my head! "Gotta go to work! Work all day! Stealing underpants, yay! Gotta go to work! Work all day! Stealing underpants, yay! Work, work, work! Work all day! Stealing underpants, yay! Gotta go to work! Work all day! Stealing underpants, yay!" -- Rabid Cheetah Second Life Member August 10, 2006 - December 21, 2021

I'll pass that along to him. He'll appreciate that. Dude! Go to Zindra, like everyone else!

If you are talking about my friend @Dagger Greymoon, the original Belli Streaker, he may have once crossed your parcel, or it might have been someone else. As to running on every single parcel you own? Well, then I know it wasn't him, but someone else. Dag makes a point of running in the street, and with a box covering his privates. PLus, he hasn't been in-world in ages. So...There's another Belli Streaker out there?!?!?!?

ROTFLMAO Um.............NO. And what's done is done. If you want it back, you'll have to fill out an Abandoned Land ticket like everybody else. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

"Look, Daddy! Teacher says, 'Every time Rabid talks about it publicly, an angel looses its wings!' "