Czari Zenovka

Nuhai Ling wrote: There was no formal announcement but the organizers of the CL conventions have discontinued them. There were many factors such as a drop in interest because of the mass exodus of educators and non-profits last winter, but mostly it was due to Linden Lab no longer assisting or willing to show up. This is in line with the lab's recent change of priorities away from SL and to their new app projects. ....and closing down the jiras to public view, and not participating in their own birthday party this year, and no longer posting quarterly economic and statistical reports....I think we're seeing a trend here.

nuria Augapfel wrote: Marcus Hancroft wrote: Perhaps, Miss Pamela, but why would a merchant want to show, even in a thread on a forum such as this (comprised of other merchants who are potential customers) that he or she is a royal PITA to deal with and is disrespectful to potential customers? In MY book, the loss of even ONE customer is unacceptable. ESPECIALLY since the loss is based, not on the quality of my products, but how I treat those who buy from me (or who potentially will). All what you said would have some sense if Xavier would had been disrespectful, rude, accusatory..blah blah (wich has not been, at least in this forum). Then you and I are reading completely different posts. It has already been shown by several people who can express it better than I where the disrespectful, rude, accusatory tone was taken. Xavier then responds to those posts in what I consider a belligerent manner, thereby escalating the issue and confirming to some of us that he is a bit of a loose cannon. My opinon only of course.

Innula Zenovka wrote: All, to my mind, that needed saying was, "if you've bought any of the following animations, you should be aware that they're the subject of a DMCA takedown request I've submitted to LL, so it would be risky to use them in any of your builds, pending the outcome, since LL is likely to remove them shortly". <snip> I'm not unfamiliar with this sort of situation, from both sides, since my business partner is an animator and I script for a lot of builders who use animations in their furniture, so I know how animators normally handle circumstances when they know -- rather than merely suspect -- that people are using animations they shouldn't that they have apparently bought in good faith, and all I can say is that I'm astonished at how badly Xavier has handled it. In my experience, most people in SL are pretty honest and keen to help creators who find their content ripped, but most people also get understandably upset, and considerably less cooperative, when they feel they're being falsely accused. I have a very small business compared to some and years ago it was even smaller. One of the first items I put out for sale was a Celtic trunk with an opening lid, when this was still somewhat unique. I had learned how to build the trunk in a class hosted by a well-respected SL school. An item was provided by the instructor for this build with the caveat that it was full perm and permissible to use in our own builds to sell. (I have since learned that sometimes well-meaning instructors offer full perm items to students that, unbeknownst to them, have been stolen somewhere down the line but have become so prevelant that they join the ranks of full perms and to trace the items back to the original creator can be a nightmare. I've tried to do that with some scripts. But I didn't know all that back then in my budding building days.) The full perm piece was the "hinge" that allowed the trunk lid to open and shut. Now this can be done with a single lean script. So I textured the trunk to give it the Celtic look and set it out for sale for some whopping amount like 25L in my first teeny store. (Knowing how to price items is still a major learning process for me.) Maybe a week later I received a notecard from a woman I'd never met. The note was friendly, kind, and courteous; it stated that she was interested in my Celtic trunk but, upon inspecting it, found that one part of it was created by someone else and wanted to make sure I was not illegally using another's work before she purchased it. Even though the note was friendly, being relatively new to SL and brand new to building/marketing, I was unsettled to say the least. I responded immediately to her with the info above, that I learned this build in a class and the piece in question was provided within the class as ok to use in builds, but that I would contact the creator of the piece and update her when I received an answer. I pulled the trunk off the floor and sent a note explaining all the above to the person listed as the creator and asked if I had permission to use this item and, if so, could I please get that in writing. The creator replied immediately, said he had put the kit together for builders and also provided it to that school for use in their classes. (The kit was a prim, a script, and how to use them in builds.) He said I was most welcome to use it in builds to sell, etc. and to consider his response as the legal permission. I forwarded this info to the person who had questioned my build. She thanked me for being so quick to respond to her intial query and for being so thorough in my investigation. She said many merchants never responded to her and she was aware of content theft being fairly common (or words to that effect). I'm not in world to check the notecard exchange but, iirc, she mentioned that she was vigilant to check all parts of a build prior to purchase and I *think* she mentioned being part of a group...but again...this was back in early 2008 so I will need to refer to my notes when I go in world. My main point with this is the way she contacted me - non-threatening, pleasant, but with a bonafide concerne with a product I was selling. I ran into her later that year at class on Gimp. During our introductions on the first day, this woman added after introducing herself that she had past interaction with me and my shop and knew me to be an honest merchant. That was totally unsolicited on my part and suprised me that she mentioned it, pleasantly so. An interesting "footnote" to this experience was when I heard about the free scripting library and headed there to see if I could use any of the scripts. Lo and behold, one called something like "barn door" was the IDENTICAL kit I received in class for the trunk, BUT with an entirely different creator name than the person I contacted for permission. So it's a mystery - who created it?

Marcus Hancroft wrote: ImaTest wrote: <snip> ...I'd never purchase form Xavier based entirely on his words in this one thread. <snip> I agree completely, Ima, and I've added his name to my own list of "Don't Buy From These People" merchants. I'd be willing to bed that Emuna won't either. So now there's 3 customers he's lost. Too bad, Xavier. Make that 4. ETA: Darrius beat me! Ok, I think I'm now 5.

Couldbe Yue wrote: Second Inventory is the only thing I know of. It's a bit cumbersome to use but supposedly it works. ( I've only ever tried it to get my stuff out of avination and it failed spectacularly at that because of avination issues so I can't really say how well or not it works.) If paying LL to back up my inventory (are they the only company in the world who don't back up a key element of their offering? I'd say so) is the only way to preserve it then sadly I'm all for it. If Rod would like to offer that as a premium perk then I'm sure he'd find a sudden rush of new subscriptions. I've used Second Inventory, now called Stored Inventory due to the LL TPV changes a couple of years ago, and it worked well for me. It is listed on the approved LL TPV site. Many people I know back up their inventory with the Imprudence Viewer. I have never gotten that viewer to run very well on my PC, but others have had good luck with it. Those are the only two methods with which I'm familiar. ETA: Since the changes in TOS and TPV policies to which I referred above, the *only* parts of our inventories that can be backed up are what we 100% create ourselves. This means we cannot back up a build that contains full perm textures we purchased, for example. Prior to the change, our builds could be backed up including the full perm items that were incorporated into the build. That change is what prompted many merchants to quickly back up all their builds prior to the new policy going into effect and many merchants either leaving SL altogether or staying in SL but also setting up their businesses on other grids. The one with which I'm most familiar, iirc, still allows 100% upload of builds containing full perm items purchased for the builds.

Xavier Pomegranate wrote: If you end up selling stolen items then you are just as much subject to DCMA filings and lawsuits as the original thief. I was just giving her fair notice that other Merchants are watching just to be sure she is staying legitimate. To me this sounds very close to a threat. I can appreciate your frustration, Xavier, but perhaps the communication could have been better worded.

That would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad, not to mention messed up.

Phil Deakins wrote: From what I read in the Merchant forum, the marketplace is a real shambles. LL has made a real pig's ear of something that worked fine when they took it over. They tried to improve it but they made it much much worse. You listed it as a positive. I would list it as incompetence at LL. Furthermore, when they took it over, under a different name, they promoted it so unscrupulously that the promotions were literally intentional acts against their own paying customers. I won't get into details about it, but it's just one of the reasons why I dislike LL, the company, so very much, and I'll criticise LL when they do wrong things. I don't mean things that I don't like. I mean things that they do that are literally against their own paying customers. QFT! I was wondering if the OP has read the Merchant Forums recently. Even longtime, dedicated merchants who generally stood up against what the OP deems "bashing" are now utterly fed up. Two that I know of have closed their stores (one after losing her entire business inventory and got the "customer no-service" answer of, basically, "Too bad. Our TOS states we don't guarantee anything"). Merchants are having HUGE chunks of lindens taken from their accounts for listing enhancements they can't change. Customers are receiving merchandise from the MP and promptly being "refunded" for the purchase while the merchant never received the funds and status shows the purchase "stuck." And these have nothing to do with DD or MB. Oh, and the mixed listings are still plaguing the MP...since last March. You get the idea.... ETA: Ah, I see why the glowing MP statements by the OP. OP rents/sells land and MP listings are 0L descriptions. Quite a different thing from those merchants who sell products for a purchase price on the MP. OF COURSE *you* haven't had a problem.

Catriona Dagger wrote: Thank you for the info. I voted on it. But does anyone know if LL is bothering to actually try to fix it? Before the jiras were closed to public view, this particular issue was denoted as a "show stopper" but, as Rival said, basically not much was done about it that I can tell. In my case the original mixed listings went away, either removed by CTL, poofed on their own, or were pushed over by the current mixed listings that replaced the initial ones on my MP. Interestingly, the current ones have images for items created by someone I know. She and I recently chatted about this. She also has a lot of mixed listings on her MP but, unlike my situation, she has been able to correct many of them by deleting and reuploading the images. Her mixed listings (other merchant images with her product item/description) also actually open the item to purchase, which is really confusing for customers. In my case, I can't remove the wrong images because they don't show up on my edit listings; however, they also default to the MP home page and my items they are "paired" with are also listed correctly. So for me at this point, it's just a minor annoyance.

This is the original thread on the topic, begun back in March: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Merchants/ATTENTION-Listings-on-the-Marketplace-are-borked-Everyone-check/m-p/1457545/highlight/true#M18915 If you can see it, this is the jira for this mixed listing issue that quite a few of us have: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-4587? Welcome to the club. :matte-motes-dont-cry:

Toysoldier Thor wrote: A popular SL blogger Nalates Urriah posted a full blog on this thread and the growing issues that have been brought up in this thread. http://blog.nalates.net/2012/10/13/second-life-market-place/ You all might find it interesting reading. Great summation post of this thread by Nalates. Thank you for the link, Toy.

I finally convinced a friend of mine to come try SL. When I met him in world I noticed he had a very strange name (with the ubiquitous "Resident" surname). I mean stranger than most first names...lol. I asked him if it meant something and he said, "You mean that is SHOWING??? That is my SL pw!!!!!! What kind of a game displays people's passwords???? It said not to worry about my name as I could pick it once I got in world!!!" After I got him calmed down, I explained that somehow in the process he had put his pw in the name space; however this guy plays a lot of MMORPGs and is very tech savvy. Having not created an alt in a long time, I decided to see what the sign up procedure is now. Sure enough, the place to enter one's pw and one's name *is* a bit confusing due to the wording. I can see how one could make that mistake. Another example of, imo, a VERY bad decision to not continue with surnames. I have never run into anyone that said, "It took too long to choose a last name so I decided not to join SL," but I *have* run into people that really wish they had a last name.

Alicia Sautereau wrote: After all this time, my only answer can be that it is working as intended ROFL!!!!!! Love it!

Solaria Goldshark wrote: One time I found a couple had wandered into my home and decided to take a spin on my bed. I was in the next room and apparently they didn't notice I was there. I just let the interlude continue as I listened to them getting busy, and let it go on for quite a while. And right at the point it was getting really steamy for them, I ejected them both. (Emphasis mine) Priceless!!!! I recall reading a post on this topic years ago where the poster placed tip jars in strategic places around the house - I would imagine next to a sex bed would be one good location.

Ahhhh the memories! Nice boots btw

Qie Niangao wrote: (In the interest of full disclosure: I had a role in scripting the changing rooms. I'd do it differently today, to leverage changes in land settings and in the scripting language. Anyway, that's all to say that I do see some role for privacy in SL--but it's much more subtle than who's paying and who's not.) Ah-HA! I should have known you were the genius behind those amazing changing room doors that automatically closed when a person entered and could not then be opened from the outside. Brilliant!!!! I always thought those rooms would make really cute skyboxes.

Melita Magic wrote: JeanneAnne wrote: revel in all your stuff .. & dont complain when i laugh at you for being silly to have spent a single cent of real money on cartoons that you can thrill to call mine Mine MINE Jeanne I know this wasn't to me but, you often say something similar to that, to various people. You always say you have never spent a cent in Second Life and are prouid of it. But you mention a Zooby baby. Aren't those expensive? Who paid for that? It seems like it's the people who refuse to spend any money at all in Second Life who are always saying everyone should let them use whatever they want. That they can go into houses, use anything anywhere. Well that's easy to say when it's someone else's space, time, energy, money spent putting that space together, isn't it? It's easy to 'share' if only one person is ponying up. Easy to come out ahead if you've not put in a cent yourself. Not sure how that is equitable. I'd say you can decide to share if it's yours, but otherwise, that's just plain taking. Not stepping back into the public/private land debate since it's been pretty much addressed but, seeing Melita's post here, I do want to say that Melita is one of the most generous people one will ever meet in SL. For at least three years, possibly longer, Melita created, then offered to the public, the most amazing area geared toward new SL residents who didn't have a place to set home or a private place to try on clothes; however, she welcomed anyone to this land and only asked a few simple, courteous things not be done....common sense things like the SL equivalent of not shouting "FIRE" in a crowded movie house. But Melita didn't stop with just providing a safe landing spot and private dressing rooms, each one beautifully decorated in different themes - that alone would have been most generous and kind of her, but she took it farther. There was a gorgeous pavilion where anyone was welcome to come, sit, relax, chat. It included a jukebox that played a wide variety of music. During Christmas Melita placed tons of free gifts in the pavilion for anyone who came by. The gifts were donated, to the best of my knowledge, by thoughtful merchants. I just love this photo taken one Christmas: But that wasn't all! At one time there was a "spa" on the sim for anyone to enjoy, complete with cushy loungers and white folded towels with a lovely soothing pond in the center. Another area was an amusement park and still another was a beach area for sunbathers and merfolk. Melita's sim was truly a labor of love. Some people may think, "Well, once it's all built (no small feat in itself) it will just run on its own - no management needed." Unfortunately, there are people who choose to run roughshod over a kind gift such as this (and I'm not referring to you, Jeanne ) - people who are like spoiled children or schoolyard bullies who ruined things for those who truly appreciated this effort. Sadly, this place no longer exists. In this discussion where words like selfish, greedy, paranoid, etc. are being thrown around - I had to step in to at least acknowledge someone who is the antithesis of all this, and to give Melita a heartfelt thank you for an area that I enjoyed visiting and to say that throughout SL there are other "Melita's" who give to others for the sheer joy of giving.

Czari Zenovka wrote: The wrong listings in my store are: 1. Merchant - Snooki Rage Image - mine Description (wrong) Note: upon further checking this person does not have a current MP store nor can she be found in SL People Search 2. Merchant - Colleen Later Image - mine Description - Dark Red Eyes Price - 10L Note: When I go to this merchant's MP store and look up "Dark Red Eyes" that is indeed what the image is, BUT the description is "Baggy Camouflage green white with Top" by another merchant, IsabellaSarah Skytower. When I went to IsabellaSarah's site and looked up the "Baggy Camouflage, etc." it is all correct on her MP site. This would likely be a case where she has no idea her listing is showing under "Dark Red Eyes" at Colleen's store. The above mixed listings are now gone, to be replaced by the following: 1. Merchant - P4 Designs Image - P4 ~Mischa~ Salmon Sculpted Pumps Description - Heart Candle Classic - Scripted (Mine) 2. Merchant - P4 Designs Image - P4 ~Mischa~ Cranberry Sculpted Pumps Description - Tiny Hearts Candle - Scripted (Mine) 3. Merchant - P4 Designs Image - P4 ~Mischa~ Olive Green Sculpted Pumps Description - Heart Candle Woven Base - Scripted (Mine) These mixed listings are a bit different than the former ones: *My product items (Heart Candles) that have the wrong merchant/images are not replaced this time by the wrong listing. The correct listings for these 3 items are *also* listed in my MP store. *The 3 mixed listings do not open but default to the MP home page Note: I found the designer of the mixed listings images within the MP and, looking through her store, saw quite a few mixed listings that were comprised of her description and info - by clicking on the product the purchase page opened, BUT contained incorrect images. So not all mixed listings are defaulting to the MP home page and may still be creating customer confusion. I added my new mixed listings to the jira last summer when they first occurred. In compliance with one of the CTL posts to let them know of any errors within our listings I submitted a ticket and was told to open a jira. I let the one already posted stand.

Deja Letov wrote: I'd love to get the name of the creator as well so I can avoid the problem too. I buy a lot of animations. Ditto ^^ (Please)

JeanneAnne wrote: <snip> .. i keep it @ 600 m & would prolly put it up higher cept it takes longer to fly up to it if its higher .. Jeanne If you set your Home position inside your house, it doesn't matter how high it is. Open world map and at the top right it says something like "Go Home" or "Home." Click that and voila! You're back home - in my case over 3000m up. :matte-motes-big-grin: You're right...I'd get tired flying up that high!! I've fallen off my building platform a few times without my Mystitool on (has a built in flight assist) and takes forever just to fall that distance....lol.

Heart Brimmer wrote: Thanks Czari, look forward to finding out what does happen when a bite request is sent to someone who has worn the necklace. :-) Ok, as promised I conducted live "field research" and have a definite answer. I asked my friend who is in Bloodlines to come to my house, wear the Bloodlines HUD and send a bite request to me. (I had worn the garlic necklace about 3 years ago, clicked it as per instructions, and now have it archived in my inventory.) After my friend attached the Bloodlines HUD, my name showed up indicating next to it that I had worn the necklace and the message "Do not disturb this person" or something similar; I was more interested in what would happen if that message was disregarded. Next my friend "ignored" the do not disturb me message on the HUD and attempted to bite me anyway. I saw nothing, no drop down bite request, nothing in chat; HOWEVER my friend got this message: [2012/10/10 13:42] <Friend>: [13:41:33] Fangs [Thirst::Bloodlines] 3.5: Czari Zenovka has activated the garlic necklace, and cannot be bitten. Therefore, if one puts on the garlic necklace and clicks it - they will never again see another bite request.

JeanneAnne wrote: ban lines may be allowed by the ToS but that doesnt keep them from causing others grief .. so i have no qualms about considering ppl who put them up being "griefers" .. not everything that is allowed or 'legal' is right my skyhouse is @ 600m & iv never seen anyone around it or trying to get into it .. maybe they do when im not there but since they cant take anything or mess anything up why should i care? Jeanne I can see your point on banlines "causing" grief - for one thing they're ugly (well the red ones I still see are :matte-motes-tongue:) but then the viewers, or at least Phoenix, added the option to turn ban lines off. That helps with the viewing blight but doesn't do anything for people trying to manuever around them. (I commend you for trying your hand at sailing. I'm absolutely the worst trying to navigate any type of vehicle. I rezzed a motorcycle at a private sandbox years ago for members of Isle of Wyrms. A whole bunch of dragons were not happy campers when I plowed into them due to my lack of being able to "drive" well...or at all. Yeah, never did that again...lol.) I'm a proponent of security orbs if one wishes to secure their land. The newer ones (at least the one I bought a few years ago) have warning times up to 60 secs. - MUCH better than 10 secs. which I do think is not enough time to even read the warning sign. As for flybys - I'm wondering if there are less of them now. Another thread awhile back was talking about some high tech form of griefing I'd never head of while, back when I started SL, flying monkey head particles, being orbited or caged were the main griefing tools. Flying around someone's home in the sky may not be the in thing now. As I said, I haven't experienced it in the last couple of years myself, but thought it was due to being higher up.

Darrius, I have no clue what you're saying half the time when you go into techie talk...lol. :matte-motes-tongue: My situation with the above posted inventory loss may not be the same as Faye's, but...my inventory literally poofed - one day it was there, next day it wasn't. I was not deleting anything (certainly not any of those prized outfits, many of whom were created by designers no longer in SL) or emptying trash - just logged in one day, proceeded to change clothes and...HEY!!!!! Where did that dress go....WHOA!!!! Where did the entire folder go????? So my inventory was just...gone.

Toysoldier Thor wrote: What still boggles my mind and is simply not registering with my comprehension of the how instant and absolute your loss could be and LL had absolutely ZERO CAPABILITY to recover these specific lost assets??? I might ask Sassy as I bet she would know the details as to why but havent seen much of her - so Darrius or someone else in this forum with some stronger understanding of LL's SL architecture - can you explain to me how this scenario Faye is describing could be surgical in nature and so utterly absolute to the point that LL had NO ABILITY to restore/recover? I don't know how it's possible, Toy, but apparently it can happen. I posted above about losing my clothing folder of Victorian dresses. I'm trying to recreate the scenario from the support tickets - I *think* I could see my dresses on Aditi because I submitted the name of each lost item. After all the typical responses from support on how to recover lost inventory (which I had already done), someone named Izzy Linden took over. I received this response: Case: 01105502 Avatar: Czari Zenovka Type: Inventory (un-rezzed) Issues Status: Waiting for Customer Acceptance Hello Czari, Thank you for submitting your support request. I have run a fix on your inventory that will require you to please log in using one of our SL viewers, then clear cache and relog. Then leave your avatar in a mainland region like Welsh or Pooley for at least 20 minutes. Have a wonderful day, Izzy Linden I was very hopeful after this support response as I had never had support go to this step with any previous missing inventory. However, when that step did not work I received: Case: 01105502 Avatar: Czari Zenovka Type: Inventory (un-rezzed) Issues Status: Waiting for Customer Acceptance Hello Czari, I understand your concern and frustration over your recent inventory loss. We have attempted every available recovery method to restore your missing items. At this point, any items that have not been returned to you are unrecoverable and permanently lost. There is nothing more that we can do to assist in this matter. Linden Lab typically does not offer restitution or compensation to residents for reported inventory loss. However, I am granting a courtesy one time grant of 2000 L$ to assist in recovery of your lost items. I would suggest contacting vendors and seeing if they would be willing to replace lost items first. I apologize for the inconvenience. Rest assured that we will continue to identify and resolve the causes of inventory loss in Second Life. Thank you, Izzy Linden So apparently inventory can be "unrecoverable and permanently lost." I was blown away with the 2000L which didn't come close to the cost of my lost inventory, but providing that went a long way toward good customer relations. (Wonder if Izzy Linden is still with the company?)

Couldbe Yue wrote: The sad bit of this is that the people LL drive away (and people are driven away - Faye's story is more common than it should be, as we know) were committed to SL and it's success. They were the ones who spent so much of their time creating items that add depth and interest to this world for others to enjoy and a lot of them would only usually break even or like Faye, would end up paying LL for the "privilege" of making this world of ours a better place. That kind of committment to a company should be respected as it's very rare anywhere else but in SL, yet LL goes out of it's way to avoid even acknowledging the effort those creators put in, let alone trying to help them stay by fixing the issues that eventually become insurmountable hurdles. There's not really much more to say. (Emphasis mine) ....and yet Rod's goal appears to attract new and possibly younger "players" to his "game" that don't have the commitment to SL that many older resident/content creators do and who are known to flit from game to game in search of the next cool thing.