Persephone Emerald

Oh that's what we want, random people teleporting to us while we're dressing, building or visiting with our sweetie. There is already an ability to teleoport people to you when you want them to come to you. We don't need them popping in on us whenever they feel like it.

That was funny, but in a dark, kind of morbid way. Fantastic scenery & videography.

Thanks for your feedback, Pixie. I'm not a newbie to magic, but I haven't been fully trained in one tradition either. I understand what you're saying about the fluffiness & beginner stuff. That's part of the problem I'm finding in SL. There are nice places in SL for people who are interested in witchcraft (especially Wicca) on a beginner's level. But I'm not Wiccan & I'd like to get past the basic classes on Wicca, the "law of three" & all that. In my practical experience, spells cast in SL can affect results in SL, but seem to have little if any effect in physical reality. When I cast money spells in RL, I get money in RL. When I cast them in SL, I get lindens in SL, usually from someone buying something I made or land I was trying to sell. In the tradition I've been taught, everything is considered to be natural, so thinking of plastic or computers as unnatural & therefore not suited to magic is a false belief. If one believes something won't work, then it probably won't work for them. But if one believes that magic is not limited by rigid rules, then they can probably use it in many ways (much as a chaos magician might). Imagine using a piece of paper & a pencil to write out a spell & then burning it in the flame of a candle. The paper, pencil & candle you used were all man-made & were thus not natural in the purest sense of the word. On the other hand, the human ingenuity used to make all those items is natural, so all those things are natural too. A plastic toy or a computer program are a few more steps away from their natural components, but they are still man-made things made by human ingenuity. Another example is the use of rum or Florida Water as offerings in some traditions, both of which are manufactured products. If we look at a computer program as being analogous to a book, both are the symbolic writing of a person that conveys ideas & instructions. If a physical book could have a spirit bound to it, then couldn't a program have a spirit bound to it too? Spirits are not limited to manifesting in only their native realms, If they can manifest in a physical or dream realm, couldn't they manifest in a virtual world as well? (Edit to add) I suspect another problem with witchy groups in SL is the territorial nature of people & groups. I like the group at witchfest, but they're bound to be directed by a sort of group-think that favors traditional Wicca. I heard one well-established member say there that he walked out on a witchcraft lesson in RL in which the teacher didn't cast a circle first before doing her spell. The problem with that kind of rigidity is that many traditions don't believe casting a circle before doing spellwork is necessary. It isn't done in many forms of traditional witchcraft, it isn't done in hoodoo & it isn't always done in Feri.

I would love to find people who play in SL & have a serious understanding of metaphysics, spirits & magic. I want to discuss ideas with others who can think outside of normal thought boxes without totally losing rational thought. Does anyone here know of groups in SL that actually have in-depth discussions of metaphysics, spirits or witchcraft, particularity as they relate to Second Life? Some examples for discussion topics: How do you use magic in SL? What places in SL feel magical to you? What kind of spirits would be attracted to a computer generated virtual world? That last question is one I've been thinking about lately. Witches who don't play in SL seem to think such ideas are too far out even for them, yet we can extrapolate from principles we know into new areas of thought. For instance, spirits can manifest in all kinds of realms, both physical & non-physical. Take the example of the dream plane as a non-physical dimension in which spirits of dreamers, spirits of the dead, angels, demons & deities call all manifest at times. If people can create places on the dream plane & non-human spirits can manifest there, then couldn't they also manifest in a computer generated virtual world? What kinds of spirits would be attracted to SL? Well, Like calls to Like & spirits feed on emotional energy. So if people in a virtual world generate creative energy, enthusiasm, affection, lust, fear & addiction, all of those energies could draw the attention of "like-minded" spirits. Some deities would also be more likely to be attracted to a virtual world, such as Crossroad deities & those of technology, creativity or communication. If they could manifest, how would they be likely to do so? Would they be limited to a region or a server? If they were tied to a virtual object (which is really just a program that appears to be an object), what would happen to the spirit when that object is taken into inventory? or if it crosses a region border? I want to have serious discussions that blend knowledge of Second Life with Science Fiction & Metaphysics, so really far outside of normal thought boxes.

@ Melita, Thanks. :smileyhappy:

I know of an analogous situation. I purchased a non-copyable item that comes with an agreement that if it is modified or copied in anyway, either the physical shape or the scripting, the original will be deleted. The agreement came with the item & allowed the owner to return it within 48 hours if they didn't agree to the terms. I think there are a few items in SL, particularity those that can be updated, in which it is possible for the creator to delete them from a buyer's inventory at will. (Edit to add) I think that in the case of the product's TOS being updated to allow the creator to delete said product, the customers should be given the option to get their money back if they do not want to agree to the new product TOS. (Note I have no idea what game or product this discussion is about. I'm only discussing the situation hypothetically.)

My 1st avatar is pretty much an extension of my RL self, just a bit thinner & younger looking. I use her for social networking, for building & selling stuff in SL, & for visiting with my RL boyfriend when we're miles away from each other in RL. Persephone basically is me in SL. I created my 1st alt, Tasha, when I wanted to play in SL without being bothered by my friends or judged by my boyfriend for being in SL too much. Since I named her after a pet wolf-dog I had in RL, I decided to give her a wolf avatar. I haven't used her much. Currently I see her as a shape-shifter, but aside from her being antisocial & not liking humans much, she hasn't developed much of her own personality or interests. My 2nd alt, Alycia, is a different story. I created her initially to be a character in a Halloween haunted house in SL. I wrote up a backstory for her in which her first boyfriend died tragically & her second boyfriend turned out to be a psychopath she had to kill to escape. After I took down the haunted house, I decided to keep her as a my emo, psycho, goth girl alt who thinks SL is real & doesn't understand the world outside of SL. I see her now as a sort of alter ego representing my emotionally messed-up side. Because she's a character, she can say & do things I wouldn't do in real life. As Persephone, I have to be polite, diplomatic & seemingly sane. But as Alycia, I can be odd, morose & casually mention killing people now & then. None of my alts were created to deceive anyone (except for a week when I didn't tell my boyfriend about Tasha). When I play in SL as them, however, I play them in character. They both talk about Persephone & what she told them, rather than just saying what I did or think. Having a bit of a backstory for them gives me a way to imagine how each of them would think & speak, which is different than how I would. So, even though I'd told my boyfriend that Tasha was my alt, the first time he met her in-world he wasn't sure if she was me or another person. For a long time after meeting Alycia, she freaked him out a bit too, because she's so convincingly just on the edge of being psychotic. My alts give me a way to play in SL without having to be my normal self & without being bothered by people I know. I also like that they each have their own styles & interests. Alycia prefers wearing gothic clothes, so I collect free goth outfits for her. She does 7Seas fishing & gives Persephone some of the outfits she fishes up. Because each avatar has her own style(s), I can select fewer outfits & items for each of them. As Persephone, I have over 22,000 inventory items, which is a big headache. But Tasha & Alycia each have only around 5000 items, which is much easier to manage.

More great ideas, Penny! You've shown that there are many ways to increase the value of a Premium account without impacting the revenue Linden Lab recieves from users. They need to think like a resident to see these things, but I doubt the marketing people ever spend much time in SL or on these forums.

We all want more perks & cheaper tier, but here are some suggestions that won't cost Linden Lab much money. 1, Provide Moderate/Mature sandboxes for premium members. These sandboxes are being aimed at new Premium members, many of whom have Linden Homes with such a small prim limit that they can barely rez some low-prim furniture & a few packages they just bought. Since the Linden Homes are on Moderate/Mature land, their sandboxes should be too. 2. Develop some of the abandoned land to make it more usable to all residents. Widen the public road parcels, so vehicles don't get stuck on the boarders so easily. Reclaim water land so boats can sail & coastlines aren't blocked by ugly malls sitting on top of water. Make sure all abandoned land is set to auto-return objects left on it after no longer than 10 minutes. Drop some Linden plants on the abandoned land to make it look nicer. Developing some of this abandoned land will make mainland more appealing to Premium members. Taking some of it off the market will drive up the value of available mainland parcels, which would in turn stimulate the SL economy. 3.. Increase the "free" tier to 1024m. Currently there are vast areas of unused mainland from which Linden Lab is not getting any money. 512m lots are hard to use effectively, especially for newbies who don't know how to get the best look for their prims. If they could have a 1024 m lot instead of a 512m lot, they could have a little space around their house, furniture inside & maybe some plants outside. The resulting lots would look nicer & improve the look of the mainland. For those who are already paying tier for more than 1024 m, they can buy up small parcels to add to their current holdings. 4. Don't offer any freebies directly to residents. There are enough freebies in SL. Instead offer a small increase to the current stipend. If the lowest stipend given to new Premium members is $L 200/ week, bump it up to $L 300/ week. ( I don't know what the current stipend is, but I get $L 300, & I don't think it's fair for new Premium members to get any less than that.) Increasing the stipend will stimulate the SL economy, which will in turn keep merchants & landlords paying more tier to LL. 5. Maybe have a Premium members tech support forum & put some of the tech support people on it to answer questions. We all know people ask the same questions over & over again, but they also don't like looking for answers on a FAQs page. If they see the question they have has recently been answered in a thread, they may not bother the tech support person with it. When one person asks a question, a couple others may join the existing thread to say "me too", so the tech guy can answer all of them at once. (I don't know if this idea would work or not, but I'm thowing it out here as an example.) 6. Offer some RL gifts to Premium members who pay annually. For instance, when someone pays for an annual membership, send them a bumper sticker that says "My other life is in Second Life". When they renew for a second year, maybe offer them a T-shirt, cap or coffee much that also advertises SL. When they renew for a 3rd year, maybe offer them a toy chew-toy that looks like a generic noob or a small Torley plushy toy. Users who stay in SL year after year are you biggest asset because they love SL & want to bring more people in with them. Give them some tools to help them advertise for you.

The old last names were fun. Some of my friends got last names that matched those of other friends, got matching names for alts like siblings, or picked names that showed an interest. If Linden Lab wanted to discourage people from creating alts there are much simpler ways that wouldn't also discourage first time players or make most of the newbies look stupid for picking an unwieldy user name.

Did your miscommunication perhaps result from a lack of punctuation?

The General / PG regions are usually safe for even the most sensitive of people. The only exceptions I can think of for that rule would be inappropriate items left in abandoned lots or displays of nudity you might see over the border into a Moderate/ Mature region. People can be rude anywhere, but you can always ignore them, mute them, or teleport away from them. My advice would be to explore the regions advertised in the Showcase & if you see anything you don't like, leave & go somewhere else. If anyone asks to bite you or do anything you find inappropriate, say No, thank-you & then ignore them. Teleport away if you need to. No one can hurt you in SL, unless you allow them to hurt your feelings. No one can make you stay where you don't want to stay either. Just teleport Home or log out. I think you'll find that whatever tales you've heard of vice or violence in SL are greatly exaggerated. There are a few bad places or people, but there are also many beautiful places & very nice people.

Ya know, if Linden Lab wants to make some money, they could start selling off the names of old accounts that haven't been used in years. I bet there would be a good market for them.

I find this to be a safe page for reviewing third party viewers & trying their downloads. As an ex-Emerald fan myself, I'm partial to Phoenix, but I don't know which viewer will be best for you. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory

Yup. Go into SL & search on "hotel" & "motel" to see for yourself what's in-world. Some SL hotels are very nice & some are very nasty....just like in real life.

If this is true, that someone can get this information this way, this thread will probably be deleted as soon as a moderator sees it. I suspect there are holes in Linden Lab security that they don't want people to know about.

That's a good video to explain liabilities, Baloo. It's too bad Linden Lab still has the default for group liabilities set to all members. The default should really be set to just the owner(s).

Actually, the Emergence viewer was already in existence when the Emerald fiasco happened. The long story cut short version is that some of the more responsible Emerald developers joined together to create the Phoenix team, which then created the Phoenix viewer (Viewer 1.5 code) & Firestorm viewer (Viewer 2 code). Right now Firestorm is still in Beta, but it should be ready to run mesh in a week or two.

Check all the groups you belong to & make sure you are not incurring group liabities. Unfortunately some group owners think it's fair to spread their costs out to their group members. Since you said you can't put lindens in, I'm assuming you have a free account & don't hold land yourself. If you hold land, you could be paying a fee to have your land set to Show in Search. The positive side is that if your account is free, Linden Labs won't close it just for being in debt by $L10.

I really don't understand the value of taking away a feature that most older residents really like. Linden Labs still has to support last names because so many users have them, so it can't be easier for them to disallow new residents from having 2 names. The new naming convention not only looks stupid, but is a huge headache for club hosts & merchants who have to try to figure out how to address new residents. It looks & sounds stupid to address someone by a long name with a bunch of numbers after it, so reasonable people try to shorten the name. If you can see a display name, that might be easier, but you have to know the real name to set permissions in groups, for pets (friends of the pet), or for evicting & banning people.

I'm trying to help my roommate create an alt with a proper last name. Does anyone know which outside registration sites that use both a first & last name still work? Also, I thought we could check for availablenames by using the Search function in world, but the name she wanted doesn't come up on search, & yet the outside registration site still says it's not available.

9) Never wear a freenis. This should be #1. 2) Don't live project to project, live adventure to adventure. A project can be an adventure too. I'd rather say try to do something new each time you log in. 3) Be completely unhibited in chat regarding grammarr, spelling and syntax. Nobody cares about korrect speling. Use a viewer with spell check. You don't have to have perfect spelling & grammer, but try to post readable, sensible chat. 4) Be in love with someone else's wife your life. Love & respect yourself, no matter which life you're in. I would also add #12. Never spend more than 12 hours a day in SL. There's a reason it's called *Second* Life.

I second the 1024 m of free land idea. It's not fair that Linden Homes get 117 prims as well as the house & landscaping. Give people 1024 m & then they can actually have a livable space.

That sounds like they are primarily being marketed to the Linden Home owners then.

Hey, how about giving Premium members a Real Life gift that also advertises Second Life for you? Some of us residents have been suggesting ideas here: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/know-where-i-can-purchase-RL-second-life-items/m-p/1069567#M23134