Bourbon Beresford

welcome and congratulations i dont spend much time in SL anymore. a lot of my friends left to go to other worlds when they lost the shirt off their backs in the homestead sim restructure. they complained of having put their heart and hopes into a 5 year plan and then having it wiped out in 6 months without any compassion or compensation. other friends have left because they had a technical or account issue with LL and received no support. When you no longer have access to your avatar and its inventory because you chose to support LL by having a premium account and then letting it lapse because there was nothing premium about it and then you get locked out kinda makes a person think whether or not it is worth creating another avatar and starting again or just walking away. many walked away to other worlds that were less money orientated. other friends walked away because they had witnessed the callousness of LL. when you spend a bit of time with your avatar you somehow feel connected to it. and if the LL gods can be that cold and that controlling over a neighbours land or a neighbours avatar then it is just a matter of time before they do something to yours for the sake of money too. best to get out before someone hurts you. at least then you have some sense of power over the fates. if i walk away completely ... in truth ... it will be for a much more simpler reason. LAG. my computer is old. and i cannot afford a new one (or at least it is not a priority). i come in to SL to be a part of what could be a wonderful live music experience. and mostly i leave because i am surrounded by grey people and deformed blobs. gets to the point where i dont even bother. and tho i know it is silly ... gets to the point where i think LL is getting kickbacks from computer salesmen to force people into getting better and better graphics cards with every update. SL has become less popular because most people have other priorities and areas of expertise. its is these other interests that create an interesting and diverse world. it is these other interests that spark ideas and new connections to music, art, education, community etc but it seems that without the right technical knowledge and without the latest equipment no connection can be made. i guess it has always been so in the the computer world. those who know how take pride in their knowledge and it becomes a kind of club. and others cannot join the club unless they learn the right language. but there are so many more interesting things to learn and only so much time in one day. so the club becomes elitist. and then it becomes stagnant. and then it fades away. im not sure if SL is going to a part of my future. it has always been a fairly small part. between working full time as a registered nurse, being a friend and sister and daughter, and creating a home and garden my priorities are elsewhere. and tho facebook is no where near as entertaining or interactive, at least it enables me to communicate with friends from all over the world without it having to be another full time job just to keep up with technology. besides ... whats the point in building a family and an environment in SL if LLs can just take it away whenever they want.