Tari Landar

bwaaahaaaaa the cow thing... omg I know, how could they not announce this on the MOTD Come on lindens, ya gotta keep up with these things, sheesh *stuffs a bag of wet marshmallows in the gun...waves her hands all weird like...and says....."you didnt see anythiiiiiiing"*

Well, call me abnormal......."hi abnormal".....but yes I refuse to wear fake feet, lol. I have a pair of heels that have them built in, if I absolutely must wear them, I will. I haven't worn them in a very, very long time though. A couple years, at least. Normally, or abnormally as it seems the case truly is, I am as barefoot as the day the lindens made me. Then again, I also rarely leave home and also rarely wear clothes. I wander around in a bra and panties and barefooted just about everywhere. I consider that dressed. I think the few people who ever see me, are convinced it's a bikini...but it's not. Ok, if I DO have to wear clothes, I throw my smiley boxers and a tank top on. I still go barefoot though. I really don't wear shoes often at all. I don't care how fugly my av feet are, and all av feet really are fugly.... they are MY fuglies, and I love them.

Off topic? Yes Totally Necessary? Yes :D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Hug_Day

Greenie Lane wrote: I will not force any people to get a pay account but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get access to marketplace for free, any one that want try to setup a business must be willing to bring some investments to , there are times you need LL helps and than its easier to have pay account anyways, and IM not go discuss the way helps works LOL there more topics about that, but if u see it as a game stick to the game and play the game, if u want try to get a business maybe act like a business owner than and be willing to invest in that . I'm going to guess this is just a language barrier issue. As this, the bolded, is absolutely terrible advice, as it is stated there. You might want to rethink that approach, after taking a good long look at some of the long standing merchants and land owners in SL. You don't need to be premium to invest. You don't need to be premium to have a business. Thousands upon thousands of people invest in Sl, without ever having a premium account, both merchants and non-merchants alike. You can bring rl money into sl without having a premium account. All you need is payment info on file. Thousands upon thousands of merchants, really great ones, are not premium members. I don't see making anyone premium to use marketplace, or have a store, as any sort of solution that would ever be viable for SL. Not when it's been the way it is for so very long, and LL offers very little perks when it comes to being premium. Being able to use marketplace alone, is not going to be enough of a perk. Even when added in with the other "benefits'(and I use that term loosely) LL says premium comes with. The entire concept of premium and everything it entails would need an overhaul, a serious one-on top of a general overhaul of Sl, before something like that becomes a viable option.

Ciaran Laval wrote: Tari Landar wrote: Marketplace is not the first of it's kind. It was SLex long before it was Xstreet. It was Xstreet long before it was Marketplace. Neither of those previous two killed off inworld shopping the way people are claiming Marketplace is. That's because SLex and XStreet did not have the reach of the SL Marketplace whereby LL can email virtually everyone with offers, it wasn't part of the official website, you needed different logins and balances weren't merged. The Marketplace has undoubtedly hit inworld shopping and the knock on effect of hitting roleplaying, entertainment and arts sims who used to offset costs by having rentals. As someone else above said, if your model is shop rentals, then you're on the rocky road to ruin, that's where we're at but the rise of the Marketplace has certainly played a large part in this changing face of shopping. And some merchants refuse to see this. They refuse to adapt where possible. Some refuse to even try. Like I said, there is a lot wrong with marketplace. But there is an awful lot more wrong with inworld shopping than just marketplace being what it is. Merchants have a lot more ability to optimize than they seem to realize, or care. I honestly don't know. I sure as heck don't optimize the way I could, or used to, if I wanted to, lol.(but I don't have a need, or desire to right at the moment, I don't mind if MP makes the bulk of my sales for now-and I have my reasons). I understand why some merchants don't want MP to be the bulk of their sales. I do understand the decline we have seen. I just happen to think merchants aren't doing nearly enough for themselves as they could be. The same applies to other sim owners. Mall rentals, shopping centers, clubs that rely on store rentals, roleplay sims, etc... Many, many of them could be doing more, and they're choosing not to, or don't know how/what to do. Instead, they're choosing to compain about MP left and right and put blame anywhere but on themselves-I believe they hold responsibility for their businesses as well. Of course some of the complaints are valid, but if that's all they're going to do, and not even make an attempt at making things better for themselves, I can't have much sympathy. Well, I won't. If I were complaining about my inworld sales lacking, the first place I'd look, is myself. In fact, it was myself, back when I had a much larger store and it wasn't doing so hot. Which was long before Marketplace. I'm the one responsible for making certain I can make a profit, no one else. If LL wants to stick their hand in my cookie jar, and I know they do, I need to make sure they can't take out more than I can. They may do things to make it more difficult for me, but it's not their job to make certain I can profit. It would be nice if they did, but it's not realistic. The same concepts can be, and are, applied to rl business. Brick and mortar locations vs online ones. It's a challenge sometimes. It's not always easy. A merchant can be hit pretty hard-and in rl we have a lot more to contend with. But it's not an impossible task. It just might take a little creativity. Like I said before, I've visited several merchants over the last year who've decided to revamp(mostly places I stopped going to because the experience got to be overwhelmingly annoying), and make things easier on their customers. They're no longer hurting because of MP. I'd say they've got a pretty good handle on things. As do other merchants and sim owners who, despite what MP offers, are still well off with inworld sales/traffic/business. There are plenty of them around. You won't likely hear from as many because that's not how things work. Complaints are always louder than compliments. We know LL isn't going to likely listen(doesn't mean we should stop asking, far from it, we should keep on them about things) so we should start looking at ways we can help ourselves. If it was impossible, no one would manage. It IS possible, though.

Amethyst Jetaime wrote: The bigger question in my mind is why would you want to undercut the creator to begin with? That could result in them not making any of there work available full perm or stop making it available at all and you would lose a resource. Seems to me you are cutting off your nose to spite your face. I wanted to answer this part here, because I know what you're getting at and can actually answer it, lol. A lot of people who sell things, such as animations, sell them at reasonable prices but not necessarily low cost. They sell them primarily for other creators to use in builds. Which is usually why they cost what they do, for full perms(or even copy/trans). I've bought numerous scripts, animations, textures, etc... over the years. So I'll give an example. Let's say I buy a specific animation for, $800L. Now that might seem a little high(again, I'm just using an example), but my intent is to put this animation in a product I've created. I know that over time, I'm going to recoup what I've paid out-making the cost worth it. But I don't want to do so on the first initial purchase. In other words I don't want to charge $800L for my item(even if it may be worth that). I could have any number of reasons for my decision(I don't judge people's pricing, or try not to anyway). So I decide I'm going to charge $100L for this item I've created. Over time I make back my $800L, and then some. Awesome. Now I know if I need such products again, I've likely found a good place to get them. I'm probably going to be a repeat customer of this merchant. Hence, keeping us both in business(or at least helping). If the merchant I bought that $800L animation from had such a license agreement, I wouldn't be purchasing it from him/her. In fact, I wouldn't purchase anything from him/her. Not that one lost customer is any big deal, I'm quite sure. But it's just my own choice. I don't like to support people that try to limit my pricing, it's just not my bag. I don't support it in rl either. So I go find someone else who has it. If I can't find someone else, I can make it myself, have someone else make it, or scrap it and move on to something else. All three are better solutions, for me, than supporting the merchant's decision to try and limit my pricing. Now they've lost business. I may not be alone in my decision, either. In fact, it's highly likely, I'm not. I don't consider selling my product for $100L as cutting off my own nose. I don't consider it undercutting either. I don't consider it harmful to the animation creator at all. Nor do I consider it harmful when people use things I've created and sell them at a lower cost than I sold it to them. That merchant made their money off me. In the case of my customers, I've made my money off them. If the product is any good, they'll likely make more money off me, or I off my customers. That should be the end of their involvement in my sales/creations(barring any other user agreement I may have with them by purchasing/using their stuff of course). I consider my sales to people as my final involvement in their creations. I don't believe I should get a say in what they charge. The people I buy from should not be able to dictate what I can sell things for, either. That's my own personal point of view of course and does not reflect any other's.

Marketplace is not the first of it's kind. It was SLex long before it was Xstreet. It was Xstreet long before it was Marketplace. Neither of those previous two killed off inworld shopping the way people are claiming Marketplace is. I think you should be looking at what has been done inworld to kill off inworld shopping. It's not Marketplace that's magically changed the way people shop. Though Marketplace is convenient and there are more people that use it now than ever used SLex or Xstreet. There has got to be a reason other than the fact that Marketplace exists, at the root base. There are, in fact, multiple reasons. My guess is it has more to do with inworld issues than anything else. In fact, for me it IS because of inworld issues. Just reading these forums will tell you, the same applies to many other residents. Between merchants not making user friendly locations and linden labs messing up inworld search, it's enough to make me not want to shop at most places. Especially malls or locations with multiple stores. I do shop inworld, but primarily at places I already know how to navigate, or take me directly to the product from their Marketplace listing. I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with merchants who don't know how, or don't care to, maximize their own potential. I have even less time for people who own malls/shopping centers that know even less about optimizing. Even if I am on a system that generally rezzes quickly. It's annoying as all get out to land somewhere and have no clue where to go, even worse to be nowhere near the actual store because of forced landing point. Or to land somewhere and be script lagged to death. Or to land somewhere and be bombarded with lms, blue menus, greetings and all kinds of other mumbo jumbo when my first goal is to get off the landing point so I don't disturb others' shopping experience. Quickest way to get rid of me is to annoy me at landing. I'm generally pretty patient, but if you make no effort, don't blame me when I walk away, lol. So, if you're really worried about the inworld shopping experience being killed off, stop focusing on the out of world shopping experience. It won't help you whatsoever. Marketplace is not going anywhere. It's been around for years and years, in some form or another. It's not a new concept by any definition when it comes to Sl. The reason it's being more widely used has little to do with the fact that it's there, and a lot to do with the fact that it's a better overall experience for the people utilizing it.(most of them). Figure out WHY it's a better experience, fix the inworld experience, and you'll not see such an issue anymore. Don't look to the lab to fix the issues, because it's not likely they will. Though we all wish they'd fix what they've flubbed, it's apparent they rarely listen. It's up to the merchants to do the best they can to make inworld shopping a better experience. It's not always going to be easy. But I can tell you some merchants are grabbing that proverbial bull by the horns. I've been to some in the last year I would have never shopped at before because of how crappy the experience was when I initially tried. They've chosen to make their inworld experience better than the Marketplace counterpart for their stores. They're not lacking inworld sales anymore. Why not learn from them? The Marketplace has it's issues too. It's far from perfect. It definitely needs a lot of work too. But it is NOT the reason inworld shopping has gone to crap. For many merchants, they've done that to themselves, along with linden labs and their inability, or rather unwillingness to not only understand both their product and customer, but move forward in the right directions. Some merchants have that same inability and unwillingness to learn...and they pass it on to their customers. Which is why they lack them these days. *Note that some, actually means some, many, actually means many, and nothing will always apply to all. There are always exceptions.*

Drake1 Nightfire wrote: Just cuz i am a brat,... Your son started first grade at 3? lol Not a brat. But no, he's advanced in Math and Science.

Links86 wrote: Well if the labs would take out tier fees and size land restricted they would lose so much company revenue for the labs because i would understand that and the maine reason i do because i got a because strong business sense here would be a simple solution to replace the loss of revenue when you create a new account they would charge a one time fee of $10 and that would be it and that would be the replacement for the loss of revenue of the tier fee revenue Ok, normally I'm a pretty nice person, and I really try very hard to see all perspectives, even if I don't agree. But frankly, I don't even think you're trying here. My 9 yr old could tell you that your math just doesn't add up, and he's only in 6th grade. A $10 one time fee when an account is created is NOT going to cover lost revenue from tier payments being removed. That's like trying to use one cheerio to feed a thousand men well for a day. It's just not going to happen. Tier payments are recurring, not one time fees. They are an ongoing expense to residents that provide monthly revenue for linden labs. They essentially keep sl going. Aside from that, the mere idea kills off your "free to play" idea. It's not entirely free if you charge a membership fee, which is what you'd be doing, no matter what you call it. Linden labs used to charge a fee. It didn't work out to their advantage. I don't think bringing back a mandatory fee is going to bring new people in to begin with. Many people sign up because its free. They justify it with the thought process that even if it isn't all it's cracked up to be, they won't be out anything. Even if $10 isn't a lot of money, it's enough to ward off potential residents, defeating the desire for growth. I agree wholeheartedly that tier fees are ridiculous, and if structured differently could benefit both linden labs and the residents(among many other things that could be changed). I also believe strongly that linden labs doesn't always understand what it's doing before it happens, let alone after it happens. I believe they need someone in there with not only actual business knowledge but also the ability to utilize Sl for maximum benefit to all. I think helping them come up with better ways to maintain a steady revenue without basically bending over their customers without so much as a dinner invite, is a good thing. I also believe ideas that help maintain consistant resident retention, without having a negative impact on linden labs or current residents, are invaluable. But half-cocked ideas that cause a loss in revenue, a loss in current residents and a future loss of potential residents, are most definitely not going to benefit anyone. I do know that many, many residents have great ideas that could be implemented. I also know linden labs has a tendency to not listen to us anyway, even when we do present good ideas.

Links86 wrote: LL could still make money off the Sims and buying and selling linden dollars also could charge a small sales commission fee on xstreet marketplace that's how they can still produce revenue for the Labs and if they would do that meaning lower cost to the game meaning more company profit and still allow SL players still make money off of every from land to the content people make that's how you can create a healthy environment for the player and the labs this is my point As I suspected, and stated, you know nothing of the Sl economy and how it works. Linden labs DOES already make some revenue from those sources. The bulk of it still comes from tier paying residents. Removing that, without providing something to continue bringing in revenue to replace it, would be completely and utterly stupid of them. They'd be chopping off their own hand to fix a papercut. So what do you propose they do, on top of what they already do, to replace the revenue lost if your idea is implemented. You need something that they don't already do, and you need something that will bring in a hefty profit-equal to or greater than what those lost tier payments give them. What do you propose is the solution? What you've suggested here in this quote, is not a solution, as it's already in place. Losing income, is not going to create a healthy space for anyone. If the lab ain't happy, we ain't happy. They lose revenue, we lose too. I don't know why you can't see that lol.

Links86 wrote: My point is that LL can create a new bussines model for Second Life players for exsample for a player who have the 4096 SQM deal lets say that person pays $45 USD a month pluse won't buy more land then he would have to pay more the $50 USD a month that would scare off most of the players of to days shakey real world economy if LL would take out the land size deal for the mainland and the monthly subscription and would find other area of Second Life to make money that would see a mayger population explosion of new and older player comeing back to Second Life This only makes sense if you can suggest WHERE LL is supposed to get their revenue. From the sounds of it, you have no idea how the economy in SL even works. Where do you propose LL get their profit from, if not tier? Because as it stands, that's the bulk of what keeps SL alive and running, people that pay tier. Yes they make profit off the marketplace and subscriptions-but it's meager compared to what they make off tier payments. So where do you believe they should make changes so they can increase revenue in that location, allowing them to decrease cost to mainland dwellers?(because that's what I am getting from your proposal.. all mainland be free...everything else not). It sounds like a nifty idea in your head(and yes I do understand the desire for free), but try putting in some real data, and it doesn't make a lick of sense. It especially makes absolutely no fiscal sense, from their point of view of course.

Links86 wrote: Because now these days pay to play games are becomeing out of date business modle more infavor of free to play games meaning LL should take the land size monthly subscription fees and turn the mainland free to play that how they can see a big population explosion of new and old player to come to Second Life and yet still make money some where easle Huh? Are you saying they should let people own land on mainland for free? I am guessing that's what you mean. Because you CAN "play" sl for free. Thousands upon thousands do it. You never have to bring one cent into second life to enjoy it. I guess I just don't understand what it is you're actually asking. Could you please clarify?

Starlorn wrote: There is a Sim called Remembering Our Friends - whose sole purpose is to provide any resident a space to put up a plaque or memorial stone to lost friends and/or relatives. I believe there are other similar sims which offer this service too. My question - open to all but directed to Linden Labs is this - since these sims are non-profit and the owners go out of their way to help others in their time of grief and beyond and largely pay for the sims out of their own pocket along with the monies paid by contributions - is it not a moral obligation of Linden Labs to let the owners rent at a reduced rate than normal? - these Memorials are open to any resident of SL to use and it does help grieving relatives and/or friends come to terms with their loss - they provide a public service to all residents of SL regardless of who they are. Suzi Starlorn Emphasis added is mine.. It is absolutely not their obligation, moral or otherwise. It is never your, my, or any other person's decision as to what morals another gets to have, much less what their moral obligations should be. LL is still very much a business, and as much as I may not agree with everything one does, I still stand behind the right that(for the most part) businesses should be able to charge what they see fit for things. We, as consumers can see fit to pay, or not. Now if you're asking if it would be a nice gesture, I will agree, wholeheartedly. It would be nice. However, sadly, I have come across more than one "memorial" type sim, that did not meet up with what I would consider worthy of such a discount, or anything like it. I'm not even going to go into details on that. But any Tom, Dick, or Harry could easily set up such a place, and have less than savory motives behind it. It's a sad reality when dealing with humans. Not everything is as the eye believes. It would be nice to see LL support more worthy causes, and they DO actually do so, despite what some might think(and no, I'm not some fangirl, far from it). But I don't think we should get to dictate which are, or are not, worthy. There are lots of sims out there for the public to use at their leisure, for all kinds of reasons. Everything from just general enjoyment to education, support and awareness to celebrations of life.. and so much more. Why are you only aksing that those who create memorials receive a discount? What about the rest of them? They all provide a great service, in some cases a very needed service-evidenced by how often they are used. See, it's a conundrum. So LL does what anyone else does, they pick and choose and support what they want to, when they want to. In some cases some of these sims, and I am using them ALL as an example not just memorial ones, DO make(in donations) more than their tier actually costs. Which they usually then put back into the sim. In some cases enough donations come in to help offset the cost. But in nearly all cases, the sims are created out of the love for whatever it is they are geared towards. I know it sounds heartless ot say "well they don't have to create the sims in the first place", but it IS honestly true. I support MANY of the sims, in all kinds of ways, so don't think I don't, please. I very much do. I am very grateful they exist. But I can't see it being fair to suggest they're more deserving of a discount than someone else, simply because of the nature of their sim. But then I don't personally think the discount for large land barons is always fair either. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Amie Kaestner wrote: My RL Christmas. Because I actually got to see my family in the flesh and not through a computer monitor. Sorry, but if you spent Christmas Day on SL exanging polygons with your avatars that's... kinda sad. Like, sadder than those homeless people who had to spend their Christmas in a Salvation Army shelter. What a terrible thing to say to people. Especially this time of year when so very many people either do not have family they can spend physical time with, or are not blessed with the opportunity to do so. The one time of year when people, at the very least, try to promote good will toward man. Or at least, we'd like them to. It's not as if it's a difficult task, though it should be a year round act. I spent time on Skype with some family members I couldn't be in person with. I also spent time on the phone with them as well. I don't find it sad at all. I'm pretty happy we got to connect at all. I know my children are doubly blessed because we have the opportunity to spend time with loved ones we wouldn't be able to without such technologies. What I find sad, is one person boasting about the physical time spent with family and in the same breath putting down anyone else who might not share that blessing. That's actually more than just sad, it's disheartening. Terrible example to set for others as well. Your little insult even seems aimed at people who don't have a home to share time with others in. That was really low. Yeah, they're not the sad ones, I can see that clearly. I, personally, am grateful for any time I get to spend with friends and family. Whether it's in person, on the phone, over the computer, or any other way possible. When so very few in this world have much to be grateful for to begin with, I can see my blessings and be very grateful for them. Rather than putting down others just because they too aren't blessed. I'm sorry you haven't ever had any kind of relationship with someone that put you in a position where spending time physically together wasn't always possible. I am sorry because you'll never understand what it can, and does, mean to those who have. You'll never understand the joy it can bring, either. I am however happy you also never have to experience the pain that some do, when they can't be physically near the ones they love. It can be a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone, at times. Millions of people the world over aren't able to be with the ones they love, whenever they want to, especially this time of year. I am grateful we have a means for them to spend what time they can, together. I am quite sure they don't find it sad. I know I don't.

Rl Christmas is always tops for me. Sl has it's own advantages, and of course each has wonderful aspects. But in rl I get to watch the magic in my children's eyes and there is absolutely nothing that can compare to that, absolutely nothing. I don't usually get gifts either in rl, at least not tangible ones, although this year I did. I don't mind though. It's the intangibles that mean more to me. Presence means more than presents, for us. It's still awesome to watch the kiddos open theirs, lol. There was a time when I'd spend a lot more time with friends and family in sl during the holidays. Parties, relaxing, gift sharing, and such were all part of our holiday, back then. But most of them have since moved on, or at least things have changed in our lives that keep us from doing these things now. That's just how life goes. I do decorate the store, at least somewhat. My home however, is still a beautiful, warm, nature themed place-without snow. I have the snow and cold in rl, don't really need it in sl, lol. I do have people-both friends and family-I love in sl and absolutely love spending time with in sl. Still nothing will compare to being able to spend time with friends and family in rl. Just as I love spending time in sl with hubby, cuddled up, dancing, or doing whatever. Doing these things together in rl is still much better

Warnings like that pop up all the time, all over the place. I understand why you think it's unfair, but I really think you should take it with a grain of salt. I honestly don't think most people take those kinds of warnings seriously. To me, it comes across more as a vent from someone who's clearly had a bad experience at one point or another. I can't say I look at such warnings and think "Gee this merchant is trying to help people". No, I don't see that at all. Seeing it might make me think twice about buying from that particular merchant though. But that's just a personal thing. Sometimes the way people word things rubs me the wrong way, on any given day. I'm weird like that. I don't necessarily look at a merchant's age or whether or not they have an inwolrd store to determine their worth. Frankly anyone that thinks they can guarantee anything in sl, especally on those two things alone, is fooling themselves. Long term residents and merchants with both MP and inworld locations can be just as bad at being a merchant(or even worse, a scammer) as someone new. So I take a lot more than just those two aspects to heart, if I'm really worried about something. For the most part, I throw caution to the wind-unless I see a reason not to. I know that sounds careless, but if you understood that I rarely buy anything these days and certainly nothing expensive, it probably makes more sense, lol. I've a lot less to lose, in other words, should something go funky with a transaction or merchant.

Melita Magic wrote: Best present was being with loved ones and getting a phone call from a family member I had not spoken with in years. Had a nice conversation, too. As far as loot? Chocolates - a lot of them were flavors I don't like though. I loathe coffee flavor and I kept somehow biting into those. Yeah, too lazy to read the insert. Socks. I asked for them. Some games. A box of treats (apples, cheese, chili, etc.) I really didn't want a lot. I got myself a Kindle Fire and it's very nice. I spend too much money at Amazon already, but oh well. There is a lot of free stuff there too and it's a great way to get out of print books. Many are in digital format, even for free. Not sure if people know this by the way, but Kindle's computer app is free. So anyone with a computer can still get those Kindle free books, or order other Kindle books. I wish Ipad were as functional and easy to use and intuitive as Kindle Fire is. I would've never gotten one of those if I had known where they were made. Hearing about the suicides at the factory was horrific. We use the kindle pc thing, have for a while now, and even the kids love it. i have it installed on every pc we have, lol. Since we homeschool, it comes in handy more often than not. There really is a ton of free stuff out there for it, games, books, curriculum even. I love it

These aren't from this winter, they're just a couple of my favs from a previous winter This is what happens to the tree down by the road out in front of the house, anytime we get ice or snow. This isn't a weeping willow, but it usually looks like one year round now, because of this particular ice storm. What fun is snow if you're not going to play in it? Yes, he's trying to ride his bike in the snow. No, I didn't stop him. Yes, he did bury himself. Yes, I did laugh my ass off at him, before helping him up and out of the snow. This snow is a lot deeper than it looks. It's just heavy snow, and they're lightweight so they didn't sink too much at first. Eventually they both ended up stuck, lol.

Fusionbolt2000 wrote: Nah, but my computer is pretty weak, and it's also Windows Xp. Win XP has very little, if nothing at all, to do with which viewer you can use. The system I'm sitting at right now can run just about all the viewers, to some degree, more or less. It uses XP. I'd probably try another viewer considering you're having other issues as well in other threads. I suspect your viewer may have something to do with at least some of your problems.

Difficult to take a picture of my fav. gift, and share it, this is as close as it gets My favorite gift of all isn't something many consider a gift at all, or so often forget it IS one, but I always remember. This is a gift I am blessed with everyday. The world sought fit to bless me with not just one, but three little beings that I get the privilege of raising. Three little beings who depend on me to provide them with the world and all it entails, good, bad, and ugly. Three little beings I am responsible for molding into amazing adults who will someday take over where I will leave off. They're intelligent, polite, loving, forgiving, friendly, well behaved, adorable, hilarious, grateful and so very much more. They teach me far more than I could ever teach them about the world around us. I couldn't possibly ever ask for, or receive a gift, better than them. The only thing that could possibly come in second, would be my hubby. But even he knows, they will forever sit in that number one spot in my heart. I posted it in the other thread too, and I'll post it here as well. For me, and them, presence means so much more than presents. Of course we love presents too, and tangible things are awesome. I'm not knocking tangible things by any stretch. They just happen to be my favorite gift of all time, and will always be

Maybe it's just me but I find it more than a little sad that presents means more than presence to so many people these days, the world over. This time of year tends to drag the "real" for lack of better term, out of people. Some people show their true colors, and it can be more than just a little disheartening to see, when it doesn't paint them in a very positive light. I'm talking about all around the grid, and the world, in general. I watched some family members and friends of mine be very ungrateful for what they recieved and all I can think about is the fact that they could have got nothing at all. They could be one of the millions mourning the newly fresh loss of a loved one. They could have been spending the recent past or present burying a parent, or child. They could be one of the millions without anyone at all in their lives. They could be one of the millions struggling to feed themselves even one meal a day. They could be one of the millions without a roof over their heads. They could be one of the millions without employment. They could be one of the millions living in very unsafe conditions fearing for their life every single minute of every single day. They have so much to be thankful for, yet they focus on something they got and didn't like Maybe I'm just a weird sap, but even if I got something I didn't like, that something is something to be grateful for. Or maybe I just have weird priorities, lol. I especially hate to see such ungrateful behavior in children. Normally one could chalk such things up to innocence and immaturity, but sometimes you can tell it's a learned behavior and you can see right where it comes from. It makes me sad, very sad. My kids got to watch children act like little ungrateful brats today, and they were family. My kids didn't understand it anymore than I do. My son, being the sound mind he is, suggested to them if they didn't like what they got, they could always donate it to the kids at(our local children's hospital, where my daughter spent most of her first 6 years) because they would love it. The response, "I'd rather throw it away".

I got the pure joy and pleasure of being able to spend the day with my family. Something some people in this world didn't get to have. The family I wasn't able to be with physically, I spoke to on the phone or skype. That in and of itself, is the greatest gift of all, my family. Even though my son and I are really sick right now, it was a fantastic day. I also got the joy of watching my kiddos open their gifts, completely and utterly grateful for everything they received. Not a complaint from anyone was ever uttered (not surprising, it's not in their nature to be ungrateful). A blessing I sometimes forget I have. I also got my littlest niece to take her very first steps alone today, right to me. That was pretty exciting too. As for tangibles, I got a stand mixer which I badly needed from my mother. My kiddos made me a huge lot of handmade gifts. I admit they're my favorite kind. They also gave me a calendar, votive holder, new incense, a candle, and some bath products(all vanilla, one of my fav scents). All paid for with money they earned doing odd jobs for grandma Yes I boast, I'm quite proud of my lil lot, they're pretty amazing kids.

I can count on one hand the number of 3 star and under reviews I've made in the last 4 years. The rest have all been 4 or 5 stars-usually 5. A 3 would be mediocre product that I also had a problem fixing because a merchant wouldn't help me-also usually not left until I had no other recourse, usually weeks after I purchased because I give benefit of the doubt to most. So leaving a one star review is a pretty serious thing for me too. I had the same problem you're having now with one not too long ago though. The seller refused to work with me in-world. He downright refused to answer me, despite multiple messages and notecards being sent. It wasn't until I wrote a review that he finally contacted me. After leaving a reply to my review of course. My review was not mean spirited, didn't include foul language and discussed both the product and how he was handling the issue. It was really straightforward. I even offered a suggestion on how to make the product function the way he says it should. Since it was a hud that emoted from time to time, grammatical errors and poor context made it seem like it was created by someone who didn't really care to put much effort into it. I thought my review got removed too when I went back to add an additional reply after he finally refunded me the money. But I couldn't, because my review wasn't there. I rechecked the listing through my transactions and lo and behold, he had relisted it. He's done it twice since, too. Because I saw another less than stellar review left recently that's also no longer there. I tried to report it, but LL doesn't seem to care. So you can try reporting the new listing, but it won't likely do you any good. LL probably won't remove the listing. I agree it's not fair that merchants are able to basically stifle any customer they want to whenever they want to. I wouldn't dream of doing it myself. I guess it's just something we have to put up with. I personally think the whole review system is crappy at best and I can't even say what it is at worst. I wish they'd give it an overhaul.

Surprisingly, no, my sales haven't dropped. But you'd think they wouldn't since I sell seasonal stuff. That's not actually the stuff that's selling the most though, lol. My inworld sales have been iffy for a while-I don't put a whole ton of faith into them, I mostly keep that for the people who DO want to shop inworld and the various groups I'm in. My mp went down for a bit, came back up, went down a little again, and seems to be steady now. So far the patterns I see every year seem to be repeating themselves this year though. That said, if you don't sell seasonal stuff at all, or very little, it's not surprising to see a dip, even a drastic one, as people are stocking up on that sort of stuff. That's exactly why I sell them myself, lol. I don't really think the hurricane had anything to do with sales. Well, I can't think of why it would. Although a lot of people were hit hard and aren't likely spending extra cash, they'd have to be your main source of income for it to have that big of an impact on you. I am guessing the areas, and people, hit hardest aren't the majority of your customers. Of course I could be wrong too, maybe they are. That all said, I'm not a high volume seller, of anything. My store's pretty small, I still have a bunch of stuff I need to add, list, and finish building. I've just been busy rl, and not had a spare few mins to get it all done. I might see bigger changes(better or worse) if I had a bigger store and product selection. Those who normally sell higher volume are more likely to notice the change than someone like me who is used to dips up and down. As long as my store pays for itself, I'm golden. Anything beyond that, is awesome. Most sellers call people like me hobbyist merchants

There's a really pretty set of sims called End of Time. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Crow/180/172/33 I recommend checking them out. You can visit anytime. They're so very beautiful, peaceful, quiet and for the most part, empty(or virtually so). I've seen them in and out and I still go visit just for fun. Hubby and I have sat and watched many a sunset here You can always set your sun to sunset, fly up and find the best vantage point. But, there really are a lot here. Depending on what you're looking for.