Codex Alpha

Much like in review sections in RL, on Yelp, Google or even a department store site, reviews don't really help anymore as they are mostly polarized. You'll have reviews with 5 stars heralding the product as the most amazing thing out there, and then there will be 1-star ratings claiming they are the worst thing ever, scam, ripoff, etc. This is why with reviews, it seems only the most happiest and the most angriest people leave a review. In SL, in general, people will buy your product and not leave a review because they are satisfied. It is very RARE to get any review nowadays - I notice that products from 10+ years ago have much more participation, but nowadays people don't bother for the most part. The reviews I get are of course polarized as well. Most, if not all of the 'negative' reviews I've gotten have mainly been user error, misunderstanding, or even now with PBR and even FULL SL Texture sets - get angry complaints because those users do not have ALM or ability to see PBR. The problem is, I and other creators will bend over backwards to make these customers happy, or to educate them... and our $40 cents of profit long out the window... will solve their issue, yet their INACCURATE review remains on your product. You can report it, and LL comes and sees and thinks "Well that's a legit review with concerns, why is he flagging this 1 star review?" Why? Because there is no option for us to have a 'customer problem resolved' on the product, even if the issues were legit and were fixed (with a product update). I've had several listings have low ratings due to ALM in the past that kept their low ratings even though I responded inworld and on the listing, AND YES THEIR SALES WENT DOWN - on perfectly good products! Reviews without context, reviews without ability to 'resolve' them if they are negative, and reviews that don't actually help improve the product, are no help at all - and could actually damage the listing and potential sales... "I would have given this 5 stars, but it didn't come in blue, the textures don't look inworld as do in pictures (Even though I take pictures in HIGH NOON ugliest light because if it looks good there, it will look good anywhere!), and it is nomod/copy, etc - so I gave it 1-3 stars..." The flag mechanism needs a "I believe this review is outdated/irrelevant/problem solved" or yes, some creators may be tempted to relist - and for LEGITIMATE (even if illegal to do). The result on some listings is I just remove them, and the experience(s) have a longer lasting impact that I am now discouraged from putting up more stuff (especially PBR) as I don't want to waste my time until it's guaranteed the product will be represented properly - OR having an option to remove 'reviews' that are just bug reports and complaints.

Well, after all the assumptions of bad faith and negative portrayals of creators who decide to use no-mod on some of their products, it's not like I or any other creators would want to really enter this convo. I've probably already stated my position this, but nothing ever changes in attitudes around here, and this topic pops up every 6 months or so. Here are some reasons I or others MAY decide to no-mod our products: 1) Because we reserve the right to set any permissions we want, and don't really owe anyone any explanation. I don't think it is very courteous or fair to demand things from creators, or shame them or portray them in a negative fashion, in some bid to influence how creators will behave or list items here. You are free to ignore the product and leave it at that, if it does not suit your needs. Now going one step further and saying "I will never buy anything from this creator because this product(s) are no-mod!" is in your power, but then you might miss out on other products you might actually like, and fit with your needs. This number one reason really is where any discussion can end, but I can give more reasons. 2) It protects the creation from getting broken The product might be a specialized machine, vehicle or composition that relies on all its parts working along with the scripts. This action might include the creator having a vision and usage and presentation for the product, and does not desire the product to be represented or used in any other way. Even if one made a 'creator has an ego/pride' argument, then so what? I take pride in things that I make, and I do them to the best of my ability. Yes, sometimes I don't want my baby bastardized, destroyed and meddled with - see #1. It may cut down on complaints and helping people figure out what they did to mess up the product, as a creator can carefully create an interface with the product to change anything that a user might need to, such as textures, colors, lights, etc 3) I only want you to have ONE instance of the item As relating to number 2, it may be a specialized product, robot, machine, vehicle or other that was not meant to be instanced 100 times, on perhaps multiple lands and on multiple users lands, and only to be used one time, in one instance with one user - the customer. I also have felt the same myself, when buying a no-mod product. I've never had such complaints, and of course I wished I could have multiples at times, but I worked with it. Like a certain inworld LSL book on programming with LSL, that you pulled out inworld and flipped through the pages. I can see that creator not wanting you to buy one book, then copying it to all your 33 friends for free. I also held that no-mod piece in high regard, yes due to the fear I would lose it, or leave it behind LOL, and in some people's minds, that creates a feeling of HIGH VALUE to this piece. This is a magical orb object, and must be looked after carefully :-D. No mod, countless copies has the opposite result: a possible perceived 'less value' of sorts, as it is not so precious and unique. 4) To protect IP or to discourage reverse engineering a product Yes, there are individuals out there who have a sole purpose to deconstruct your object for whatever nefarious purpose. This is not as much of a recent concern, but HAS been concerns by creators in the past. That being said, I do deconstruct things myself to learn from, in good faith and do not seek to reverse-engineer or 'copy' someone's product - and can learn a lot from and admire that person because I was able to do so. However, I don't complain if a creator doesn't want to share. Even if some here would like to portray creators as 'paranoid', see #1. They can be paranoid or not, they don't need a reason. That reason is their own. 5) The product is intended to be used as a composition, and not a building set. This is an interesting challenge for me, as I progress (on other 3d platforms) into more of a modular builder and tackling more architectural targets (finally). I must create, texture and optimize each piece, and build final products out of them from the same pieces. These pieces allow me to build several products in the same style and look, and could be sold as their composite products. Sometimes in SL, it is more efficient for Land Impact and LODS for pieces to be uploaded and the product built within SL (the LI impacts can be huge depending on the size of your uploaded piece). So here's the challenge. Do you sell a modular built house with mod or no-mod? If mod, the end user can deconstruct your house and use the pieces to build whatever they want. If it is a full modular set, they could do QUITE A LOT with that. With no-mod, they buy the house as is. Modifications to interior walls, window shades, door passwords, etc can all be provided with a creator made custom menu (like SL homes), so customization wouldn't be a problem. So then, we would need to price our products BY INTENDED END USE. An intact house would be one price. A house BUILDING SET would definitely be a different price, and most likely priced much higher - due to the options available. Also a creator could argue that the home itself is an advanced product, well-oiled crafted product that the creator doesn't want tampered with, relating to previous points... 6) No matter what, the customer is protected anyway, as the product can be redelivered at any time No-mod creations put no undue risk of loss to the customer, and if lost can always be redelivered at any time. EXPERIENCE: Oddly enough, as I am FOR giving the end user as much choice, re-usability and customization, in experience - it doesn't mean that the customer understands they can, want to , or even care. I've had just as many complaints for no-mod as mod items, and amazingly on the items that I spent EXTRA time to have features, customizations, etc - so quite odd. Other 3d asset platforms don't have all the choice that SL'ers too. The vast MAJORITY of users of 3d assets out there (if not game devs, etc) just take the item and plop it in their world and move on. Most are not looking at a dress and saying "I like that blue floral dress, but I'm going to buy it and make it green".

Yet the keyword spam remains: doe,deer,buck,cervine,fur,furry,creature,satyr,baby,ungulate,carrier,pot,potty,pacifier,brood,half,mixed,monster,humanoid,brood,child,kid,fawn,mutant,composite being,composite,being,onesie,family,cute Most of these keywords are mostly redundant, not terms the average person would search for (eg. cervine, ungulate, 'composite being'), or not accurate at all. Many keywords would get hit from people looking for specific things, and your listing coming up would stop them from doing that. NOT A satyr: "A satyr is a mythological creature with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse or goat." NOT A furry (SL): "The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters." NOT A onesie: One piece garment for babies. What you are representing is a swaddle/swaddling NOT A doe (female deer), buck (male deer WITH antlers), fawn (actual baby deer). Hybrid, human, deer, baby is what you're representing. Most products can be described in 3-5 keywords, no more. You have already described it succinctly in the product title "Half Deer Baby", so why do you feel the need to add the rest? NOT A carrier, pot, potty, pacifier, family as relating to you listing a "Half Deer Baby" as the actual product. Use the description to further describe any accessories, bonuses and props that come along with it, and showcase THOSE as well in your images. That being said, almost every listing on Second Life MP would qualify for 'keyword spam' and in past days I'd report those myself, in the misguided effort to 'help clean up the MP', but if I were to do that for every listing I found, my finger would have broken off, and it would be an unpaid full-time job. So hopefully we can change your mind and others here to see the value of using less and more accurate keywords, if only to make your workload creating a listing even easier for you, more accurate, and gets you more customers who are ACTUALLY interested in your product.

It's sad that OP has to put big long disclaimers on his listings still at this point and time, but I feel for the same situation. Once I figured out SL's classic SPC/GLS system, and made the appropriate maps in all the right places and alpha channels, etc, all I got were complaints from those products and low ratings - because people still didn't have their Advanced Lighting Model on, so the textures will appear flat and dead to them. When you explain to them they need ALM, they might go fix it, but their 1 star rating remains, and you no longer sell a single item of that product ever again. This is when I realized most creators were baking lights and environments into their products and many times even foregoing using Normal maps too (from inworld research of many products). If it is done right, baked lighting can certainly trick the eye into thinking the product has more detail and may help to minimize texture load impact. I do like the PBR ease of upload, and not having to create a whole new workflow to get PBR projects into SPC/GLS format as of old, but I suspect the same result can happen "This doesn't look as good inworld as it does in the photos! Looks terrible! 1-star!" can still happen, or even from users who don't know how to set up PBR environment on their own land, etc.

The first answer to why they can continue to list and sell on SL, even though they may clearly represent a brand and design from RL, and sometime obviously - is because unless the copyright holder files a complaint to SL management - they can get away with it. It is very risky for all parties involved, as a copyright holder can simply do an investigation taking a year or more - and calculate damages from that and sue for that amount. It rarely happens though, since SL is not really big enough or even considered at all by a corporation. However, some corporations are more nasty than others about this, and will aggressively pursue any creator (or SL as the platform) they become aware of. The second answer is more related to ethics and what kind of creator do you want to be? An ethical creator who uses RL designs as 'inspiration' for your own designs, and build your brand that way? Or just be another unethical creator who wants to 'replicate the designs of a RL designer/company, and slap my own logo on it and call it my own work AND sell the resulting items for my own profit'. That's the decision many creators have to make at some point. Believe me, copycat stuff sells more than original stuff, and always does no matter what platform the 'replicated designs' are sold on. It DOES pay to upload copyrighted content, or 'replicated designs', as long as the creator can get away with it. It's more of an ethical choice than a legal one. Most likely you can get away with the legal issues (mostly), but it's your integrity and character (and the satisfaction you get) from your activities that you alone can decide.

Yes, I will.

Just to be clear, and publicly, I do not read into your intent in doing so, but I'm glad it happened to demonstrate my position in this thread, and any personal reference to that is not intended

And conversely this thread is all the evidence needed as to why it would be a good idea to allow posters with good intent (my default view of others) to be able to edit their posts. Except I supported my statement with reasons, while you did not. An unqualified and unsupported view means nothing without you expanding on it as to why you hold that position... and not to be vague about it.

And such a prime example given in this very thread of how a post 'quoting' can be manipulative..

Instead of the person I responded to expanding on their statement they decided to laugh at it instead. Therefore being able to edit this post after the fact, and to discourage further commenting by others for whom it was never intended is attained.

Post unneeded as the person who it was made to decided to laugh at it instead of making a coherent response. Therefore removing this post eliminates anyone else other than the person this was intended to, to comment on it.

This post is no longer needed, as other forum members have 'documented' it on my behalf, and they feel that once I hit enter, I should not be able to edit it, as I may be 'doing it for nefarious reasons' which is a common accusation of others who try to participate in the forums here, and always the basis to call for greater restrictions against SL users.

I might be able to even sum it up thusly; Just by being active anywhere you risk a ban. Welcome to 2022.

Anytime I've been 'pinged', I know exactly why. Sometimes it's my fault, sometimes I react to someone pushing buttons, or posting controversial responses myself that are hot buttons, and the moderators don't want the discussion to get worse after that. It's okay to say "Yeah my bad, shouldn't have posted that" or "Thanks, that post got taken the wrong way and it all went to hell after" or "Yeah I went over the line, thanks for the heads up". People 'not knowing' what they did, come on. People know when they push the line, or skirt so near the rules that others pick up on it too, especially if it's in a string of posts with the same intent. Usually if one sticks to debating the argument/position someone made, and refrain from personal attacks, or casting aspersions as to their intent, their thoughts, w/e you can have some spirited discussions that everyone can learn from. However if people want to 'win' and not understand the other side, there are more chances of everyone involved to get more militant or lose their temper. When dog piling occurs, the fight can get pretty real and the drama intensifies. Hence best to remove hot topics from the forums, that should be dedicated to Second Life themes anyway. Plenty of websites, forums and social media to wage a social or political war already - which in the end is a waste of time as both sides eventually create their own bubbles (eg Gab and Twitter) and the minority opinion on both sides get cancelled (which defeats the purpose of trying come to solutions). In general, it is safest to respond to what the OP posted, and perhaps come back later and add new thoughts as others offer theirs, and it's not hard to stay on topic. I've also ran and been a member of many forums over the years, and going off-topic can become quite an issue if not moderated strongly. Some topics would go off topic by 3 responses in at the earliest and many times at the next page.

There's a meowing cat nearby, and cats are cute but zomg... I keep hearing the cat meowing. How do I find it lol and derender/mute gahhhhh Update: Figured it out. Unfortunately the developers decided to put cat meowing, bird chirping and 100 sounds of the jungle into the "Sound Effects" panel, instead of a more appropriate "Ambient" Channel. Would be nice if sounds were alloted where they belonged; eg. "Wind, Rain, Gentle Breeze, Distant Traffic, Dungeon Sound" etc are in "Ambient" Sound effects reserved for inworld event sounds like footsteps, door openings, object sounds, etc. Now I can't hear any effects in Belissaria because the meowing and repeated chirping drove me nuts.