diamond Marchant
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Posts posted by diamond Marchant
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Whatever problems Broadacre was intended to address, virtual worlds in general and Bellisseria in particular do not have.
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1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:
I suppose that would make inworld purchases subject to the Apple tax? Would MP purchases then be exempt?
MP or anything else done via a website is out of Apple's domain, so yes, exempt.
If you are inworld via an app on an iOs device (e.g. the new Mobile viewer on an iPad), then Apple requires a 30% cut of any in world (in game) purchase of a digital asset. This will be the case for the mobile viewer unless Brad negotiates to reduce or eliminate the 30%. (If this happened, it would be jaw dropping)
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2 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:
This is considering that a L$ purchase option is even available through the IOS Mobile viewer. Nothing says there needs to be. If one has a device capable of running the viewer, one can access the website and buy Lindens through it where it is not subject to the asset tax as it should only be levied through the IOS viewer.
Two points.
1. An obvious way to get around the Apple tax is to put a button in your app that takes you to a website. Unfortunately, Apple figured this one out. You can have the website but not the button.
2. /me and, I think, others enjoy shopping at inworld events and stores. The merchants require payment... which to Apple is called an in-app or in-game purchase. Apple insists upon a cut. See Epic Games v. Apple for an example of how this is working out.
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3 hours ago, TheGreatWolfFenrir said:
I was looking for a previous conversation, but I didn't realize that for personal "Preferences," the option to save local chat needed to be checked in the "Privacy" tab.
You are correct.. Preferences>Privacy>Logs & Transcripts>Save nearby chat transcript
Note that ithis feature has nothing to do with parcels. This logs nearby chat based on your current location.
I suspect that if logs of all chat on a parcel were being automatically saved, people would lose their minds.
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One thing that I don't recall "the owner of Linden" fleshing out for us is how creators, residents and investors are going to survive the financial impact of the Apple 30% tax. Zali got into this a bit yesterday.
22 hours ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:LL could take your $100 Linden buy, and only give you $70 worth, watch the SL economy collapse and SL die.
LL could take your $100 Linden buy, give you $100 worth, and take the $30 hit them selves, stop making a profit, and watch SL die.
LL could take your $100 Linden buy, give you $100 worth, and pass the $30 hit onto the land barons and store owners trying to sell their Lindens for $, and watch the SL economy collapse, and SL die.
(BTW, those who discount Zali's huge amount of knowledge and insight are missing out).
So here is the dealeo as I understand it. For almost all creators, Apple skims 30% on purchases of digital assets. Only companies like Amazon get special deals on some things. And everything bought and sold via Second Life is a digital asset.
Linden (as Linden Research is now called by Brad) is private and we do not know any financials. Are we to believe that Zali's option 2 is a possibility?
Perhaps they think everyone will wind up like /me, that is, only using Mobile as an occasional convenience like I do with Speedlight.
Restated, given the Apple tax, how do the actual owners (the investor group) get ROI on Second Life under various growth/scenarios for Mobile?
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47 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:
I wore this yesterday. In an adult region. The dress actually alphas out all hint of breasts so I was flat chested. Am I concerned? Nope. Did I get tossed out of the club? Nope. Was I talking in local or IM in a way that LL.could construe as AP? Hell no.
Nice. Getting a Wednesday Addams vibe.
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1 hour ago, Jaylinbridges said:
They also used a private audio streaming service, normally rented by DJ's and landowners. in SL.
They were trying to use the parcel media stream on a url that looked "official" but it did not work and they had to go to plan B at the last minute. That is what it seemed like. On a related note, the region I was in booted me about 2 min before the start.
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diamond reported: The overall message (this is a quote), "We are on your side"
6 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:is it
allwedallowed to have a laugh?... i would like to ask ; since when?This is their story and they are sticking to it
All we can do is wait and watch.
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I listened to the whole thing. After some stalling, Oberwulf fessed up to the obvious.... the TOS changes are in response to real world requirements, in particular, Apple policies. Overall, this was a very good meeting. The overall message (this is a quote), "We are on your side".
A lot of the uncertainty about "the rules" is that they want wiggle room.
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Only guessing, M will be split into more precise ratings, perhaps similar to movie ratings.
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So... to say again what all this TOS stuff is all about is.... the Apple app store
Birdie Linden (new to me) recently informed those Premium Plus members doing the mobile alpha that SOON they will start public beta, which means apple app store requirements need to be addressed.
QuoteWe are planning the exciting transition of the Second Life mobile app from Private Alpha to Public Beta in the near future. Expanding the audience for the app means that we must comply with app store requirements, including limits on the types of content that can be displayed in apps.
In order to move forward, we will soon be removing access to Adult-rated regions on the mobile app. In the longer term, we are working on finer-grained controls for content maturity in order to allow maximum freedom while complying with app store requirements. For now, you will see this message when attempting to visit an Adult region:
The location you selected exceeds the content maturity limit on this device. App stores restrict the type of content that can be displayed in apps.
If you encounter this message at login, you can use the start location dropdown menu to choose from one of the locations in our Mobile showcase.
After you are logged in, you can also browse the Destination Guide (Main menu > Places > Destination Guide) to find interesting General and Moderate locations to visit.
We’re excited by this next step in bringing Second Life to a wider mobile audience and look forward to your feedback as testing continues!
Because Second Life hosts user-generated content, they have to meet the requirements which include...
Quote- A method for filtering objectionable material from being posted to the app
- A mechanism to report offensive content and timely responses to concerns
- The ability to block abusive users from the service
- Published contact information so users can easily reach you
- Apps with user-generated content or services that end up being used primarily for pornographic content, Chatroulette-style experiences, objectification of real people (e.g. “hot-or-not” voting), making physical threats, or bullying do not belong on the App Store and may be removed without notice. If your app includes user-generated content from a web-based service, it may display incidental mature “NSFW” content, provided that the content is hidden by default and only displayed when the user turns it on via your website.
Objectionable material includes...
Quote1.1.4 Overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined as “explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” This includes “hookup” apps and other apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution, or human trafficking and exploitation.
The task at hand is twofold.
First, wall off adult areas so that, by default, app users are restricted to non-adult content. Later, the app user can opt-in to adult content.
Second, sanitize the non-adult area. What we are experiencing now is the beginning of this sanitization.
A key component of acceptance by Apple is moderation. This may be problematic as Governance, by observation, is understaffed. At the moment, rule making may be the best they can do. It remains to be seen how the rules will be enforced.
The prize is acceptance in the app store... that will drive what they do.
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On 5/9/2024 at 1:19 AM, BilliJo Aldrin said:
We all know of the new war on child avatars, but any avatar under 18 will eventually be included,
from the TOS:
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Q: How do you define a child avatar?
A: We are relying on the community to use their best judgment to determine if they are using a child avatar or not. Creating a list of specifications for something like this can be a slippery slope, and we certainly don’t want to give out directions on how to circumvent any policies. If a reasonable person would look at the features of your avatar and consider it underage, we would recommend not engaging in adult activities on that account. Apart from considering the avatar's appearance, the team considers various other factors, such as the purpose for which the avatar is being used.
As mentioned in other Q&As, general physical characteristics that apply to adults as well as children such as avatar height, being of slim or petite build, gender identity (such as non-binary or gender non-conforming), or ethnicity are not sole or intrinsic qualities that might qualify an avatar as a child avatar.
I am concerned with this sentence: " If a reasonable person would look at the features of your avatar and consider it underage, we would recommend not engaging in adult activities on that account."
My concern is that this borders upon the absurd.
With respect to humans, we can categorize both RL people and avatars into three sets... those clearly over 18, those clearly under 18 and those not in the first two sets. For real life humans, government-issued credentials are typically required to establish age. This is because humans cannot accurately guess the age of those in the third set, in spite of the fact that our human brains are highly evolved to assess attributes of other humans. However, "trips around the sun" is not an attribute we accurately sense. Imagine an experiment of 100 humans, aged 16-19... do you think you could do better than random at sorting them into a 16-17 group and an 18-19 group?
With respect to avatars, the situation is worse. Avatar variation is immense. Avatars are rendered. There is less information for making an age assessment compared to RL. For the third set of avatars, I do not think is reasonable to expect that "reasonable persons" can accurately assess avatar age.
What to do? I would simply remove the "reasonable person" sentence from the FAQ and rephrase to say that when an avatar is not obviously a child as judged by presentation, the primary determining factor is behavior.
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Trompe Loeil is offering the High Tides Cabin for L$50 today. This includes a 10LI kitchen that you can unlink and put in a Linden Home. Without the fridge it is 8LI. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trompe Loeil Mainstore/217/166/22
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16 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:
I read over it several times over the past few days and wouldn't say it wasn't worth the read but I do feel too many were missing the forest for the trees.
I agree that it was worth the read. I took it as a challenge. Here is my section-by-section synopsis...
Title is clickbait and perhaps a call to arms for SL apologists.
Illustrations add little to the piece.
First descriptions of SL are unrepresentative and negative (e.g glitchty landscapes and digital slumlords)
Some history is given (e.g. Second Life is not a game)
Comparisons are made to other competitors... some misinformation.
Insults are hurled (e.g. 3D graphics editor duct taped to social network)
Shift into theory (e.g. Bo Ruberg) and more misinformation.
Suspect conclusion offered... "a problematic platform that demands an extremely steep learning curve". Actually, I call it a "high barrier to entry" followed by a "gently sloping learning curve" that can go on for years.Then we get to the only thing that appears valid, but we already knew it... “In cultivating an alternative world, we could invent virtually anything— but we don’t stray far from what we already know.”
Duh! Fantasy is fun but living a Second Life that is materially better than your first life is more fun.
More head scratching stuff (e.g. "the option for players to “feel” any in-world 3D asset to display its entire transaction history, a kind of distributed ledger that presaged blockchain technologies by many years.")
More queer theory and antecdotes. Fine.
More misinformation (e.g. "avatars remain obscenely glitchy, with airbrushed faces and spooky, unblinking eyes")
More theory (e.g. Kara Stone stuff)
Misinformation about real estate (e.g. "everyone is either a landlord or renting from one")
Misinformation about privacy options (e.g. "they can peek into off-limit “drone zones,” typically private homes or virtual brothels, with ease")
Some comparisons of skyboxes to RL real estate that seem bogus.
More SL travel log suggesting that SL is frozen in time (e.g. "A TIME CAPSULE, NOT A TOMBSTONE")
More perplexing theory (e.g. "Perhaps that generosity of opacity— and the generative affect of existing in a world that feels forever out of joint—could offer us the perfect place to respawn, reimagine, and reworld our own.”)
More travel log, perhaps biased by their interests. No boat rides here.
More theory with references (e.g. "THE QUEER GAMIFICATION OF VIRTUAL WORLDS")
Concludes with opinion/speculation... "Perhaps as the software of Second Life continues to age and degrade, more pockets of resistance will form. Perhaps the platform may, ironically, feel more utopian, more like our own to choose, as First Life slides into an increasingly ghoulish metaverse and we reach peak “NPC syndrome,” overwhelmed with the sensation of being trapped inside a game where we don’t know the rules."
They see SL on a downward trajectory and speculate about what our behavior might be. Knock yourself out!
The only phrase that makes sense to me is "the sensation of being trapped inside a game where we don’t know the rules".
Based on the hundreds of pages of discussion about the TOS changes... THAT seems to be true.
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I am looking forward to the impending protected water (20m) connection between Bellisseria and Sansara. This happens when Urchin Sea is connected to Bleaberry Tarn by completing the northwest Ranch coast with 7 new regions.
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1 hour ago, EmmaAsht0n said:
Have you seen the new Linden House? http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Red Slate Hill/202/22/22
Reported twice in a month and half and nothing has changed! Even if I'm not a fan, I recognize the work that has been done to complety transform the house but why is this tolerated? Does that mean we can all ignore the covenant from now on or LL just doesn't care anymore because they have other things to currently deal with?This is about as "slam dunk" as you can get for a covenant violation concerning building things on a Linden Home parcel. Unfortunately, the Governance dept is a black box to us except when they have meetings to tell us they are a black box and issue "rules" that result in hundreds of pages of forum comments. It is obvious (to me at least) that they are woefully understaffed. My speculation is that they have to prioritize, consequently, aesthetic violations take a long time to get resolved. This is not the only slam dunk violation in Bellisseria.
My hope is that residents will follow the covenant out of respect for their neighbors. In this particular case, it might be more useful if the neighbors politely asked the offender to relocate their lovely build to mainland.
from the Covenant...
*Objects that extend outside of your parcel can be returned without warning or notice.
*The exterior should always remain in theme out of consideration for your neighbors.
*Additions to Newbrooke houses must be in the Newbrooke style (flat roof shipping container homes) and blend in seamlessly with the neighborhood theme. Garage and room additions are permitted while maintaining architectural consistency with the theme (eg. roof line, colors, trim, etc).
*Newbrooke homes should not be modified architecturally with exterior add-ons, such as roof altering additions or changes that are out of theme. Items such as roof top gardens, decks, porch and overhang extensions are permitted.
It is likely that posts on this subject will get deleted due to the "no naming and shaming" rule. Also, this particular topic is for posting benign pleasant photos of Linden Homes, not expressing annoyance at Governance, even if justified.
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1 hour ago, ValKalAstra said:
I really don't think that she meant "decaying" in a negative way and more along the lines of a certain fascination for how game engines work and how Second Life is a bit of a technological portal into days gone.
Nice insight. This word choice did trigger me a bit. In this context I read “decay” as a synonym for “bitrot”, implying that the SL software ecosystem is not maintained and the bugs are piling up.
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A Victorian Doyle
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SSP?
in Linden Homes
The Ranch north coast railroad is fully operational to Urchin Sea. Here is the railroad bridge in Starboard Drift.
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4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:
If the price of a Big Mac changes will that be considered 'news'? lol
It recently happened. Saw this on the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
(not sure if Big Macs got cheaper)
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So I read the article a few times. One good thing... the author Alice Bucknell has 7,574 Insta followers, so maybe one or two will try out Second Life.
Lots of misinformation, which others have reported and commented on, so too bad about that.
Kind of a negative vibe... e.g. "decaying software and no-fun imperfections" Was that really necessary?
My actual criticism is that they seem oblivious to some very important aspects of Second Life. First, SL has a global map. You can travel from A to B using vehicles over significant distances, similar to the world in Ready Player One. I spent less than 10 minutes in Sansar because it has no global map. Alice seems to be a "TP into a hotspot" type of player. I view the problems related to vehicle travel as part of the fun.
Second, as I have mentioned before, the quality of the shopping experience and the sublime nature of some digital assets are very compelling. Shopping is important to me and without it, I would not be here.
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11 hours ago, BilliJo Aldrin said:
the only way prims can be shared is if the parcels are owned by the same person or deeded to the same group.
nvm (should not post when not yet awake)
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13 hours ago, Matthieu Quander said:
One benefit of the prolonged search is that I have added a few music streams to my collection
Are there additional parcel attributes that do not get reset to a default when a parcel is abandoned?
All we can do is wait and watch.
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SL should have object decay
in General Discussion Forum
Posted · Edited by diamond Marchant
IMHO... if someone is paying tier, ixnay on delete objectay, regardless of the last login time.
If someone is NOT paying tier, delete away. For grandfathered lifetime parcels that are tier-free, they should be converted back to tier-paying. Those deals should be considered annulled, as they were not proper to begin with (not saying illegal cause not a lawyer). I consider it almost predatory for any company to offer "lifetime" deals when they incur expenses in perpetuity to maintain the service.