Arwen Serpente

Medhue, I've just read some info from a prefab sculpty/Mesh creator about Mesh. This pertains specifically to Mesh that will be worn by an avatar (clothing, jewelry, shoes, etc), not Mesh to be rezzed inworld like furniture or buildings. Here are a few highlights: 1) Mesh weighted clothing will move with the avatar, however, it cannot link anything to it (i.e., a weighted skirt cannot have floaty prims or sculpted waistband attached - they would have to attach to a different attach point). Further, the avatar cannot really modify it in any way because it is sized to a particular "skeleton" - the original Mesh creator's model, not the model shape of the clothing creator or the end customer, so if parts of the avatar show through, there's nothing they can do other than change their shape (meets with a lot of dislike among customers, totally understandable), or, wear an alpha (also meets with some dislike). 2) The creator name will be the name of the Mesh creator, not the avatar creating the final piece UNLESS the mesh file is purchased and then "re-uploaded" by the purchaser (and only then by an avatar with PIOF). So the cost skyrockets (first buying a full perm Mesh, then uploading it to have your name on it). Most sculptors right now sell their maps with no mod permissions - useable to build with inworld, but not saveable to computer. I suppose this could be worked around by buying the file the same way as buying a PSD file and downloading it, then uploading the final product to SL. The costs could potentially be huge, as right now, when a sculpty pack is purchased inworld, usually it includes multiple varieties of the same item (say shirt collars - you get dozens of options so you can switch between them depending on the build). 3) It wasn't clear if non-weighted Mesh that might be used for jewelry could be linked to other prims or sculpties. Assuming it can be, if an avatar does "stretch" a finished product (combination Mesh, sculpt, prim, say a necklace), then because the PE changes, that would potentially break a build if it reaches more than the allowed "linkable" 256 prims If that's all true, then Mesh is not just another building tool like sculpties and prims. It's really pretty different. Not sure now how I would use it in clothing creation since allowing customers to "mod" to fit is so very important, as well, as having the clothing/jewelry/shoe creator name on it rather than the Mesh maker. I also worry about the inflation of prices for end products using Mesh due to the complexity of working with it. It's really not a great time, economy wise, to be increasing prices. Wanted to check in here to see if you and the other Merchants understand this the same way. 

Not sure what that is. Just searched your store and nothing by that name or price shows up. Also searched that term, "horsecents", and nothing shows up. Maybe you resolved the issue since posting?

Wow, this is fabulous! Thank you so much for posting it - it works like a dream!

I must have misread the post wrt "qualifications", thank you for clarifying. With regard to the whole IP infringement issue, yes, I understand it is not a black and white situation. When I read the post, I kind of hoped it meant there was going to be a "tightening" up in the future to help protect honest creators.

Well, I'll dive in here. I'm excited to have new building tools in addition to our current prims and sculpties. More opportunity to express creativity after getting through a learning curve (like with learning how to use sculpties). What I find interesting about your post, Medhue, is the "qualification screener/questionnaire" to be able to upload them to the grid. I understand from a technical standpoint, LL wants to be sure the creators of mesh know what they are doing. What I don't understand is if a creator does NOT qualify due to past IP infrigements, why are they allowed to create anymore at all? Seriously, if someone infringed on another Creator's IP rights, they shouldn't be able to create with anything, they shouldn't even be in SL, period.

Just woke up to delivery failures. Everything was going just fine until yesterday (last nite when I logged off). Something's up.

I agree with you. This shouldn't be about honest reviews (good, bad, or inbetween). If, however, an avatar has griefed or copybotted (documentable through AR's and DMCAs) and they are not permitted at an inworld location, the Merchant should be able to decide if they are permitted access to the same store on the Marketplace.

Pamela, when I asked Dakota this question and she responded it was a TOS issue/change, she explained that "a users access to any portion of Second Life is subject to the Terms of Service". That does seem in conflict with our ability to ban from land inworld at the landowners discretion, however, that is the explanation I got. Perhaps she will pop up in this discussion to add to that explanation. But basically, if we want it changed, we have to create a JIRA to change TOS.

If there are one star or low reviews due to delivery issues, file a support ticket to have them removed. That's what we've been told to do by the Commerce and Customer Service teams. I think this issue is broader than just the frustrations with regard to delivery issues causing the ratings problems. It's really about a Merchant being able to control their store on the Marketplace the same way they control it inworld, overall.

I understand your sentiment here. There are many reasons a Merchant might want to prevent someone from purchasing on the Marketplace when they have banned them from their inworld store. I recently posed this question to Dakota Linden who responded that we must create a JIRA to change TOS to prevent or ban someone from buying on the Market (even though we can control it inworld through land bans). Seeing your post here, I am curious how many others would be in favor of supporting this kind of JIRA to change TOS?

Bee, you made me smile . So well said, great advice. Only thing I would add to your quote: "may your deliveries never fail and only good reviews go unnoticed" and may the Force be with you!

As of right now, there is no notification of reviews from what I understand.

Hi there Robin I just wanted to add my thanks to you for your blog. I've been gimping for over 2 years now and I still discover new things everyday. Your blog is outstanding! Definately, a bookmark for any and all creators no matter level of expertise!

This happens to me every so often. A primset won't delete no matter what I do. Not sure which server I'm on (I'm not in world right now), but there was a nice trick that was posted here in the forums that worked for me, so maybe it will help you (I'm assuming these are copyable items that you already have in your inventory): Just click the item and select "wear" It will attach to your hand (default), appear in your inventory, and disappear from your land. Then you can detach and delete from inventory. That's been working for me. Had to do it today several times in the morning and those stubborn prims that wouldn't delete are all gone now.

Morgaine Christensen wrote: I use Photoshop so GIMP may have something similar. I have not read the posted tutorial so this may or may not work for you. I AM NOT a graphics artist but a fledgling in photoshop, but in PS you can create what is called a Group. It is like subfolder where you can move 1 or more layers into that folder. You can turn off all the layers in that folder group with one click. Depending on how the layers are laid out, it would make sense to divide up into group folders.. Or, you could move all your layers into a single folder except the one you want to work on. Gimp is probably the best free program out there (imo), but alas the "groups" that exist in Photoshop do not exist in Gimp. Basically, all the layers are there and it's up to the user to organize them and turn them on or off as necessary.

oh Josh, you make me chuckle with each response. Didn't add any more boxes, didn't change anything since I tried all the fixes last week and things still failed. Basically, just waited it out, kind of like one of those freak storms that hits and then the sky clears and is bright and sunny again.

laughs, yup, very wierd. as of last nite, the items started to deliver successfully as gifts again. go figure!

No correlation for me at all. Mine are all unscripted clothing items (except for the occasional resizer). Usually about 20-22 pieces per box. Price point is right in there with my average price point. I thought there was a correlation last week between this product and gifting (one person tried to gift it 5 times to the same recipient over a period of about 5 days and failed every time; when I gifted to my store alt it failed; and other gifts failed. BUT then there were one or two times when it was not a gift and it failed, or was successful. It looked consistent for a bit there, then broke the pattern). Now it has mysteriously started to deliver successfully again (so far no one has tried to gift it, these successes are only a buyer sending to themselves). As mentioned, up until this wierd period, it was delivering just fine.

that's what was plaguing me last week with one particular group of products. As noted above and in other posts in the forums, I tried everything to get them working again. finally in desperation, I put the note on the listing letting shoppers know there were issues with that item. so the sales basically stopped. I removed the note 2 days ago and now, suddenly, I've had 2 successful deliveries of the product (lol, not much, but headed in the right direction). No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Hi JenniferC, I'll try to help...not sure if I am answering your question or not.... When a shopper purchases something on the Marketplace, a confirmation email is sent to them automatically. I haven't seen any other kind of message/thank you sent (i.e., talking boxes inworld). For instance, I bought something the other day and got this message in my email: Dear Arwen Serpente, Thank you for your recent purchase. Please find your purchase details below: {followed by my transaction info} It's an automatic confirmation to the buyer, you don't have to do anything for it to be sent. If you shop on the Marketplace, you should have similar emails sent to you as the buyer. If you want your magic box to send you the seller messages everytime it delivers something, just click your magic box inworld and select notifications on. Just remember if you sell very high volume items, like free items, you could end up with lots of those emails. Sometimes a Merchant with freebies will separate them into their own magic box so that they can turn off notifications and keep them separate from their saleable goods. I hope that is the info you needed.

waves to Josh I'm a box farmer (lol, great term). I've got 12 boxes for 375 items. I still have failures every so often. Last week was bad with regard to one particular line of products. I even singled them out into their own box (a whopping 12 items, only 9 of which are actually listed), did all the things I'm supposed to (reboxed them, renamed them, placed them in a new magic box, placed dual boxes on separate sims, resynced, reset, etc), and still had failures. The failures finally stopped when I added a message on the listings saying basically the delivery for that item was unreliable for reasons unknown, and, well, it solved the problem --> killed the sales on that product 100%. Dakota has tried to help me, people here in the forums have all tried to help, but it's still a mystery as to why that particular line of products was having so many problems all of a sudden (they were delivering just fine up til a week ago). Sadly, they were a very strong seller for me. Not any more. They don't sell now, so they don't fail to deliver now

I'll second that, Sassy. Every time I have a problem and submit a ticket, thank you Dakota for responding so fast. Even if things can't be fixed right away, it's clear that you are there and trying to help. It does make a difference, thank you.

Hi Dakota, as you know, I'm having quite a few troublesome issues with one magic box in particular. When you say: "One is a failed order. This is where the order itself shows that delivery of the product failed and the buyer is refunded. In those cases it us usually because there was an issue with the web site communicating with the sellers Magic Box. The Magic Box could not be contacted, so the web site failed the product sale. This can also be caused by the Magic Box not being able to locate the receiver in world, so it reports back to the web site that it could not deliver the product." This is what I 've experienced and documented for the Commerce team. Originally, I have failed deliveries from a couple of magic boxes when sent as gifts; then it morphed into just one magic box failing to deliver one particular line of products (all the other "lines" of products in that box delivered successfully). Then, when I separated out products and left only that one line in its own box (12 items, only 9 active), I still have delivery failures. I placed duplicates on different sims and still had failures. Then suddenly, it worked for two sales, and then stopped working again. In particular, the deliveries fail to my store alt and one particular giftor/giftee combo (he's tried to give the same gift 5 times now with failure everytime). WHAT I DON'T understand is why the Marketplace is singling out/failing to communicate with one magic box? I have 11 other magic boxes sitting right next to it and delivering products successfully. If the Marketplace communication is breaking down, why would it single out one lonely little box and not fail to communicate with its neighbors as well?

I honestly can't figure out what's going on. I was having the delivery failures to giftors (originally), then it morphed into giftors and self-buyers of just a certain line of products, and then last night, I had two sales of the items that kept failing - one as a gift and one as purchase to self - and both succeeded (yes, I am delighted they succeeded after a week of failures). I'm watching very closely and keeping a spreadsheet of what's happening to share in the JIRAs and with the Commerce team. Maybe they can figure out the commonality.

It's now June 17 and the delivery failures continue. Now it seems they are focused on one line of products and failing when sent as gifts or when sent to self. The following steps have been taken: 1) Reboxed all items 2) Bought a new Magic Box 3) Deleted existing Magic Boxes that contained this line of items 4) Placed the newly boxed items in the new Magic Box (only these items; there are 12, but only 9 have ever been listed - I did not change that) 5) Unlisted, then relisted on Marketplace (did not create new listings, just went to manage inventory and checked them, unlisted, then rechecked them and listed. They are NOT being listed as "new") 6) Resynced Marketplace 7) Tested sending to my store alt ArwensCreations Resident: Still failed My other boxes and clothing lines continue to sell and to deliver to customers. I don't know what else to do, but it seems that there something preventing the Marketplace from communicating with whatever Magic Box I use, containing this particular line of items. I welcome any advice the group can provide! There is also a JIRA for this kind of issue: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-3126?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:all-tabpanel Please add your comments and experiences if this is affecting you!