[Wedding Gifts]

Depending on the relationship I have with someone, these are some of my favorite things to gift...(and obviously they will also depend on the person you are gifting,their likes and dislikes, available prims(lol) and such)

My first and foremost favorite thing to do, is create something. It could be anything from a gorgeous potted plant, to a simple card with a heartfelt message. This is always my first option. But on the occasions I've bought things, this is what I go for..

For someone with a home-furniture, decor(wall art,statues, knick knacks and such), if they're into the more adult side of sl-furniture/decor appropriate for them, a game(sl has tons), a well made and heartfelt card they can display, a mud pit or some other sort of fun "gag" gift or other juvenile thing we've enjoyed-or I know they enjoy, other sim decor, builder's things, heck I bought a friend a house she'd had her eye on once.

For someone without a home-gift cards, straight lindens(if I know they need it, lol), jewelry, a well made and heartfelt card, a nice night at some romantic getaway for the couple somewhere in sl(loads of great places), builder's packs(for friends that build anyway)

Unlike rl, kitchenware isn't gifted nearly as often, or linens. But you might even find a nifty gadget somewhere in sl this person could use greatly. There is a nice couple's thing rendezvous has(couples animator) that I like a lot.(lets us walk hand in hand, fly, he carries me piggy back style, etc..). We use ours all the time, it makes it easier when my system is being stupid, then I don't have to walk It's not x rated, no worries. Stuff like that can be lots of fun.

[Market Street]

It's most likely on your end(connection/router/modem/ISP/etc..). I haven't had any interruptions or any loading issues with marketplace at all lately.

[Are Blue Eyes the Most Popular?]

Blue eyes are pretty popular in sl, I've noticed. But they're pretty popular in rl too.

Mine have been two different colors, brown and cerulean. Right now, they're a light brown, until I finish making my new eyes which are only not finished because I'm being lazy. They'll be a darker shade of brown, a near identical replica of my rl eyes, when I finish, though.

The cerulean eyes I used to wear, I also made, but they weren't/aren't very good quality, I was pretty novice at making just about anything (couldn't even make a house back then, lol). Cerulean is my rl fav. color though-which is why I went for that one. It complimented my skin well-and vice versa, back then. Now I don't even remember what I named them, funny yet sad at the same time.

[What do you love about autumn?]

This is another of my fav Autumn things.. Halloween.. and Harvest time

(one of my kiddos, with the pumpkins he grew himself, a few years ago)

[What do you love about autumn?]

We don't have AC here either, sucks when the weather jumps over 90 degrees, or the humidity decides to rear it's ugly head, lol. I very much welcome the cooler air of the Spring and Fall(well in the case of Spring, warmer than Winter air, lol)

[What do you love about autumn?]

Autumn in rl(well end of Summer into Autumn) means back to school time, which means box day(supplies come) for us since we homeschool. Those are always great fun. As is lessons outside, instead of inside, lots of nature walks and fun exploration. Less humidity and less 90+ degree days, nothing compared to others living in hotter climates, but hot enough for me that's for sure. Cool breezes in the evenings with that crisp air smell all around mixed with the smell of the foliage changing. People always tell me I'm weird for that one, but I can tell the difference in the air. We live right on the lake too, so the air changes because of that.

One thing I really don't like about it is the mosquitos come out full force, earlier and earlier.

 

Autumn in SL means pretty much everything everyone else already said, lol. Sales pick back up, the Autumn stuff becomes desired, Halloween supplies go out and start selling more and more. I don't change my sim for Autumn though, I like it the way it is. But I do change the store decor-what little I put out, up a bit.

[Linden Dollar days?]

I like the 60L weekends group(else I wouldn't have been in it this long, lol). But I have noticed that some of the merchants have been using the same stuff, more than once(and I don't mean like in a row, or due to their absence or anything like that). Sometimes the packaging is changed, but the item(s) offered were already offered not very long ago. But that's primarily on the full perm stuff, which is what I focus on mainly in that group these days. It's likely easier to come up with new outfits, or new products than it is new builder supplies sometimes. I'd love to see even *more merchants be able to join the group to be honest. That group could continue to grow and grow and it would be the perfect group to start bringing in some of the lesser known merchants with quality products. Because it's well established, people enjoy it, and it's organized in a way you'd expect. I know both myself and the others I've brought into that group don't buy nearly as much as we used to though, because sometimes it grows stagnate. The diversity dies down after a while, it has it's peak times too though. It's not a bad group, by far, it's one of the best ones still left. But it's not a good representation of what most of those groups are like. Most are subpar compared to it.

Groups catered to builders would be a great idea....for anyone wanting to create one, lol. Something like that would definitely peak interest and grow quickly. It's not a "niche" area, but it's something that people all across the grid(newbies and oldbies alike) can greatly benefit from. I know some of the creators in the full perm area of 60L weekends make a pretty decent penny. The day that NC comes out-and even into Saturday, some of those places fill up quickly with folks trying to get those deals. I run into a lot of other creators that way, too(and then I profile perv them, find out if they have a store, check it out, and usually save the LM...I'm weird that way)

[Linden Dollar days?]

Not all of the arrogance is perceived, in fact many of those group owners are quite open about their arrogance. There is a huge difference between wanting quality(let us not forget diversity as well, even amongst a themed group) and simply being a jerk to others because you can. The latter is what happens more often than not. They also rarely ever follow up, or even look into non-compliance. The whole "it's my group and I'll do what I want" mentality is, well, running just as rampant in sl as it does rl I've been part of a great many of them for a long time now. I've seen many come and go as well. They're are very few out there that, to be honest, I would ever want to be part of as a creator as I feel they eventually do more harm than good. Far too many of them simply don't give off that feel many are looking for in that type of group. That's why more and more crop up every year.

There are plenty of groups that cater to established merchants and their audiences. Though not nearly as much "new" business will come from them over time, it does taper off. Eventually you'll find a lot of the business you get is actually from your current customers, and their alts or the few friends they can bring in every now and then. What that particular area of interest lacks most, is groups that cater to the lesser known creators, brands and even hole in the wall type places. If you own such a group, denying any and all access to merchants you "don't know" is *not a wise move. It's far more than claims of elitism. If you've been part of other groups beyond 60L weekends(I'm also part of that group, just not as a merchant, and I have been for quite some time as well), you'd understand exactly what's being said about the existing groups.

[Linden Dollar days?]

I used to participate, heavily, as a buyer in a great many of them. That was until I started seeing their policies(or lack of) for allowing other merchants in. Some like to come across as "exclusive" but really aren't.

I've been looking around at(and have participated in), quite a few and to be honest I'm not too keen on the themed ones. Those ones seem overly arrogant-and the few that aren't, rarely allow new merchants. The ones that don't cater to a specific need(like for instance there are several geared toward Gorean stuff only) are few and far between. I really like those ones, that have all sorts of neat stuff and don't limit it to a certain number of merchants and that's it. I thoroughly enjoy the ones that promote builder supplies too-those can be very helpful. But over the years those too have gone down the tubes. There's only one group I am in now that's not a themed group, and still does "ok", but it's also starting to follow that pattern of some of the merchants using the exact same stuff from a few months(if even) ago, just changing the packaging(or worse, not doing so). But there are still some really great gems here and there in that group. Which is why i never left it, lol.

I'd love to see more of the groups form, with decent management, room for improvement and ran by folks who don't turn their noses up at anyone and everyone else(and likewise with participants, especially merchants, who don't do this either). I was thinking about starting one for new creators, new merchants, people who are less known to the grid. Because I think these groups can be VERY valuable in getting "the little guy's" name out there. Very valuable service for any new creator if you ask me. Even if their stuff is so awesome it sells itself. But I'm not so sure I'm prepared for that sort of deal right this second. It's still on the backburner at the moment, but I revisit the idea quite often.

[How To Stop A video From Being Played In My Club]

If I were you I'd remove the TV permanently. It's really not wise to have a product that any and all residents can "play with" that can and will control the media for any other resident who allows it. Many residents(mostly our of ignorance, because they really don't understand it) have media enabled by default. That means if media is playing on a parcel, and they land...it's auto-playing for them. Clubs can have their own lag issues(which I'm sure you're well aware of, I can't imagine anyone running one isn't) you don't want even more reasons for people to not like a club. I would eliminate anything that has the potential to cause even more lag-even if it is only client side. The tv continually plays it most likely because no one ever changes it. So the media just continues to play whatever was last played, over and over and over.

Aside from that, you should probably thank your lucky stars this person isn't watching porn on your tv, or at least no one has been caught doing it, if they already do. Simply having a tv others can control leaves you open to that-and that alone can get you all kinds of trouble if you're not on an sim set with that rating. I know that from experience of sharing a parcel with someone who for whatever reason decided it would be wise to watch some hot n heavy action even though the parcel wasn't set to that maturity rating,and despite being asked to either change it after it was watched or, better yet, not watch it there. Nearly got myself shut down for good and lost quite a bit of money because of complaints and it wasn't even me that did it

(my mistake was sharing the parcel.. will never make that again)

[Mesh is here!!!!]

Don't much care about mesh, yet, to be honest.Grand that we'll have it(do have it, that is), but, eh, not a big deal to me personally.

It's still way too new and frankly, I prefer sculpties(for now). I'll stick with what I know, as well as what I know the majority of the grid knows, and is comfortable with, as well. Mesh won't be stable for a good long while to come(stable as in widely used and accepted, grid-wide, and on all TPVs-which are used more than LL's own viewers are these days).

I AM happy to see the prim size limit raised though. That one's been a long time coming and makes me quite happy. I was never fond of the limitation to begin with. I think that will have a much larger impact on the grid, and creators, than mesh will(for a while anyway)

[A folder for every item in the new Direct Delivery System for Marketplace ????]

The assumption that boxed items equates with laziness on the part of the merchant is a pretty poor argument and isn't going to win you any cookies, that's for sufe.

Kids learn cursive, how to read a clock, how to tie their shoes, and a myriad of other things because at some point it's a skill they will need. So no, those aren't valid arguments for *not* learning these skills. While they may rarely run into those instances wherein those skills are required, they *will* run into them, period. They won't go their entire lives without needing to read cursive-even if they never need to use it themselves. They won't go their entire lives without having to read a clock-even if they never own one themselves. I'm guessing you likely don't have children, or else it would be a no brainer why those skills while not of the absolute greatest importance, are still important and necessary.

The same goes for learning how to open boxes in sl. It's not "old fashioned"(come on now, really? old fashioned? Geeze louise it's not like Sl is decades old here). It's something a resident will likely have to do at some point. Learning how to open boxes is, while not of greatest importance ever in sl, still important. It's something we all run into. It's important residents know how to do it. I don't consider a merchant who delivers items via a package, rather than folder, as lazy. In fact, I find that pretty insulting to the grid's worth of merchants who do exactly that(or even opt for both methods). Of course that sort of comment will get a bee in the bonnet of other merchants. You're outright calling them lazy. What do you expect? Personally I don't much care what other merchants call me, nor do I care how other merchants deliver their merchandise. All I care about, is that they do. We've all sorts of method of delivery in sl...packaged items we need to right click, open and copy to inventory, packaged items with an unpacker-on-rez script, packaged items with an unpacker-on-touch script, items that come directly to us via folder-foregoing the packaged part, etc... I can't say I see any of them as right, wrong, easy, hard, lazy, or whatever. They are all just different options we have available to us.

That said the whole DD thing still greatly confuses me at this point. While I'd prefer to not speculate on how it will work, it's hard not to. Having to unbox everything I create, place it in folders, and place those folders into another folder...seems like an extreme waste of time, lol. It doesn't make me lazy to say that either. It would make me lazy(perhaps) to not actually do it simply to avoid the worlk involved, but I've never said I wouldn't do it. I won't pretend I'd enjoy doing it. I have a huge lot of products that I will be adding very soon and to be honest the thought of having to unbox to a folder(adding even more content to my inventory) and then place those folders in another folder...blah, it doesn't sound appealing. I'll do it if necessary, but I won't enjoy doing so. I like boxing my items. Some of my stuff comes in a specific kind of package, for good reason. Some of it doesn't too. I like the methods I use because they work for me. I presume most other merchants feel the same way. I can sympathize for merchants who are against this whole "everything in a folder, unboxed" idea(even if it's not how it will really work), especially those who sell hundreds if not thousands of products and have more than just one component to their products. Eeep that's a lot of work, not to mention a HUGE amount of content that will be added to people's inventories as they switch over.

I'd prefer if LL actually explained things, correctly, without all the smoke and mirrors and confusion, but it's something I've gotten used to over the years. They rarely every explain things thoroughly. Part of the reason why i find the "let's dumb things down for people as much as possible, and make things easier on folks who don't know" argument laughable. LL has *never* made things easier for those who don't know, lol. Why on earth would they start now?

[Pre-paid debit cards, do they still work?]

I know Walmart has a greendot card, but Greendot can be found in lots of places, most of which have nothing at all to do with any company(ie, Walmart). You can get a free Greendot card online.

I have one myself, it's not a Walmart one though. Actually none of the Greendot cards I have had have been Walmart ones.

They all used to work with Sl too, but now they don't(except the Walmart ones, and even that I'm not sure it's consistent as I've seen folks say even those aren't working for them)

[Pre-paid debit cards, do they still work?]

A lot of them no longer work. People have been complaining about that particular thing for the better part of the last year(at least). But there are some that still work. Greendot cards for instance, many can get the Walmart ones to work fine, but not others. Guess it's a bit of a crap shoot at the moment. I haven't seen anything "official" ever said on the matter though. Just a lot of angry people no longer able to use their prepaids. (a google search will likely find you those discussions)

[What are you Listening to?]

At the moment listening to this because it's the episode my kids are watching.

(they have them all on dvd)

[Can someone help me understan Meeroos]

Well since no one else is answering with the right info, I'll bite

 

When you first get a roo you need to make sure you have a home, hud, and food for it. If your roo is in a nest, you can click the nest to see the information about the roo on your hud. This also tells you which food your roo will eat. Make sure you only buy that food, you can't exchange if you make a wrong purchase.(all foods cost the same, they're just for different types of roos, no worries).

Now you've got your roo (nest or live, doesn't matter), your roo home, your hud and your food. Wear your hud. Then rez your roo home(they come in three styles currently, a tree stump, a stack of rock and a statue). Now rez your roo food, near your roo home. Your setup is ready for your roo. If your roo is in a nest, rez your roo nest near your roo home and click the nest. You'll see a few options. You want to click "coax", this causes the counter to begin and in 120 seconds you'll have a baby roo-just wait. If your roo is already live and out of a nest, just rez him or her by the home and wait. When your new little baby is first put out by it's home(either via being coaxed, or simply rezzed by you) you will note that it's text may turn a cyan color. This is a-ok. This is just an indicator telling you that the roo has not attached itself to a home yet. Give it a moment or two and you will see the roo hop happily to it's new home. The home will then show the roo's name(or number if you have not yet named your roo) in hovertext above it. That hovertext won't stay there, no worries.

Now you can name your roo, through the hud. Click your roo, click the status tab and you'll see a few options. One of them is name(local chat will tell you what to do from there). There is also the pet option. Roos can be pet once an hour(by anyone with a hud). They earn 10 regard points once an hour(or each time they're petted if it's been more than an hour since the last time). I suggest playing around with the buttons on your hud to familiarize yourself with them. Just don't play with the release button. Thankfully there is a failsafe, that requires you to type RELEASE into chat. But the release button does exactly what it sounds like-sends the roo back to the wild.

Your roo home has settings, all of the roo's settings that is, contained within it. You can set the range, the activity level, the volume of their noises, etc.. Play with those buttons too and get to know them. I suggest you read the manual thoroughly, if you don't have one you can send me an IM in world and I'll send you one. Or just join the 'The wonderful World Of Meeroos" group in world and ask there. Someone will send you one. It's long, but worth the read.

Mee-pet transformation is $999L. A home is $250L. In essence you *could get a pet meeroo that requires no food for a price pretty comparible to many other non breeding animals on the grid. They  do offer free honey for the meepets to eat, but you don't necessarily *need* it. (a meepet will not run away, will not get sick, etc...only roos that have not been turned into pets can run away from starvation).

Umm, not sure what else to add, any questions feel free to find me in-world(if I'm afk sorry, it happens, drop me a nc and I'll answer as soon as I can). No, I don't work for them, lol, just happen to participate and quite enjoy them.

[Why is marketplace delivery so slow lately??]

In sl, I don't consider ten minutes a long time to wait for delivery, lol.

But the Marketplace does that all the time. There are times when it delivers near instant, and others when it doesn't. I doubt very much direct delivery will fix any of this as sometimes we get the same slower delivery in-world when someone hands us something. Nature of the beast I suppose. Not so sure they'll ever do anything to fix it, but it's definitely not a new issue. Maybe you just never noticed it before.

[Should models in stores greet the customers?]

Now THOSE I like

Some merchants have those built into their stores too. You click it and it lets you say your message in chat and it sends it in IM to the creator. Or if they are online it  tells the creator that a customer needs assistance. I've seen quite a few variants of this. I really like them. Knowing you can get help if you need it, is a wonderful tool. Being slammed with messages on landing is what I don't like. Or worse being hit with them as I wander, lol. (some places use the blue menu greeter type deals and those, specifically, annoy the bejeebus out of me, sure way to get me to not return at all)

[The Second Life Mafia]

Hmm, played TSO for years(and yes I know, tragic they shut it down, Aug 2008, sigh...) But I have never even heard of you, lol. Lots of other mafias, and families, but not that one.

 

Best of luck to you. I'm sure there are loads of people in sl interested in something like this. You may need to find ways in-world to find people though. Only a teeny tiny population of Sl ever actually reads these forums/blogs. Shame, could be a more valuable tool, but, I digress..

[Should models in stores greet the customers?]

9 times out of 10 having them greet is annoying. Because they *usually do it when you first land. In some cases they spam their "help" more than once. Once is sufficient, imo.

I don't like sales people to ask me if I need help-unless I somehow "look" like I need it. Models are not usually salespeople though. They're usually just someone posing for money while their rl self isn't even at the computer.

It's nice to ask someone if they need help, in *some instances, don't get me wrong. But someone just coming up to you, or even worse right on landing, asking if you need help can be a pita sometimes too. I'm always polite in return but usually don't go back to that location again.

 

[The Second Life Mafia]

First and foremost, I wanna know which mafia you ran in TSO...and also EAL or TC3 (both perhaps?) and which houses.

 

[Would like to open a small Freebie shop on my land and I need...]

I'd be more than happy to create some things, or hand you some things that you can give out as freebies. Send me a NC in world so I don't forget though.

[Reviewing your items!]

Eh, good idea in theory, but not so much in practice.

Personally I'd rather get reviews from actual customers who *wanted to buy my stuff, were looking for my stuff, or had a general need for my stuff. Not someone just looking for something to do. But if I can't have that-which we all know reviews are pretty scarce these days, I'd opt for no reviews at all before I'd pay for them. Others may not feel the same, but I do.

Mystery shopping is more effective in real life than it is in an online world, but even in real life it's not as effective as it should be. I'm not so sure someone who is being paid to review *can actually be 100% objective at all times. Not to mention LL gets enough of my money, lol. If you review my stuff, and then want repayment, I still lose whatever commission I paid to LL. I don't consider that a necessary cost of business in sl.

When I had a business years ago(rl), I actually did have mystery shoppers. To be honest they weren't nearly as effective as I would have liked. More times than not, they are either overly glowing reviews, or overly doom and gloom ones(and the people that do that, were almost always looking for more compensation in one form or another for their "bad experience" above and beyond what they were paid for the shopping trip). It's an idea that sounds much better on paper than it usually ends up being. That's why mystery shoppers in general(in the real world) have diminished greatly. They were simply not an effective tool.

If I have to ask for reviews, how can I attach any worth to them? Yes I love them as much as the next merchant but I want them to come unsolicited not because I'm paying someone for them. Not to mention if you want to review a no copy item and I don't sell that item as no copy, I'd have to make a new listing for it or simply allow you to keep it. One could certainly get a lot of free stuff that way, if they wanted to. I don't mind sharing free stuff with folks, in fact I do it quite frequently. But I can see how other merchants may not want to travel down that road.

[YOu have no recourse if you get ripped off?]

Thats a good question Josh. I have products with 5k+ sales and not a single review. So I've honestly got no clue. I have some items that have only sold a few times, with more reviews than products that have sold more(granted some of them  were reviews originally on xstreet, not marketplace, so now they're just stars)

I don't think products in general get reviewed all that often, anyway. So I understand exactly why some folks might wonder why a product got a few(or more) in a relatively short time frame.

[YOu have no recourse if you get ripped off?]

Tilting at a windmill? I thought it was just a discussion. I didn't say it was "bad" to have facts or information about a specific issue. I said that *I* am not the type to go looking for it. And yes it does make me wonder about folks who do, and folks who suggest others go google. Does that mean they're bad people? No, and nowhere in any of my posts did I say that they were. Past experiences lead me to believe more often than not, those who "search out" others like that, aren't always doing it for the right reasons, and aren't all that helpful with the issue at hand, either. I didn't say that was the case here, though. For this specific topic, *I* don't need to see the exact incident. It is a huge problem, that expands beyond just this one person and this one incident. It's a big problem actually, that affects a lot of people.

And no, it didn't throw a completely different light on the topic, for *me*. Someone actually send me a stupid link yesterday in world to this product and the review the OP made. To try and show me "proof" that the OP was bashing the merchant up one side and down the other. I find it rather fishy myself too that two really great reviews came directly after this person's bad review. Yet before his review not a single one for quite some time. Does that mean the creator did in fact find a way to get those good reviews by shady means? No, it doesn't. But it does leave room for for people to be suspicious. If folks are free to be suspicious of the OP and lay claim that this person is indeed wrong from the get go, I ought to be able to be suspicious of a merchant for the very same reason. That's why I looked at the actual problem (the title says it all) and not just this one incident. I was discussing the problem of people having no recourse when they get ripped off. I don't particularly care about the one incident the OP was discussing.

Though, truth be told, I can't help but feel a bit of empathy as I've been through a very similar incident not too long ago. Even right down to the product getting, oddly, two glowing reviews after a negative one was left by me(including follow up comments). Especially on a product that I *know does not sell that often as I was told it doesn't. It only takes two reviews to push one off the first page. For a lot of people, they'll never go to the next page(s) of reviews, so they won't even see what you have to say. It sucks when others try to make it seem like your claims are completely out of left field or you are 100% wrong no matter what and the merchant just HAS to be right. Even folks who go and look for the review have no more to go on other than the review itself. So they didn't even get all the facts, nor the merchant's side either. They still have just as much info about the one incident as anyone else who reads the OP and/or the review. That's why I was discussing the actual problem as a whole and not a singular incident. Unless the merchant comes in here with their side, none of us has anymore info than anyone else, lol.