I've been enjoying my trips over there---some lag issues, but not too bad. From what I read on the Forums, though, lag has been really awful for many. Of course I haven't tried going to the musical/speechifying events, so that may be why I haven't had as many difficulties.
I'm wondering to what extent the word has gotten out about this to actual Burning Man attendees---is there something at the event itself, in Nevada, that tells people that Second Life has its own version?
I'd think that people who have already been there would have the deepest emotional response to the SL version.(Of course BM attendees are probably split between those who are more prosperous than the average person, and those who decline to participate in Society, and thus are much LESS prosperous than the average person. And that last group wouldn't necessarily be online...)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
More on the shamelessness
I got another IM from the person tonight, making a lowball offer for another parcel I own.
I would guess that this person might have seen me lower the prices on the parcels in the first sim the other day, and might have formed the assumption that I might have tier coming due, and thus be desperate for cash.
Probably there are people who do that on a regular basis. The routine would be to notice an owner dropping a price, then IM them offering an even lower price. And probably this does pay off, for some percentage of those IMs---sometimes a lowered price IS a sign of someone desperate for cash.
I don't find such a pursuit exactly admirable, but at least it's not dishonest. It's not what you'd call noble, but on the other hand it's not unethical.
It's the fake 'oh, this would mean so much sentimentally to me, because of my dead acquaintance'----a claim which is proven false by the existence of other parcels for sale in the same location----that I find to be tacky as heck.
I would guess that this person might have seen me lower the prices on the parcels in the first sim the other day, and might have formed the assumption that I might have tier coming due, and thus be desperate for cash.
Probably there are people who do that on a regular basis. The routine would be to notice an owner dropping a price, then IM them offering an even lower price. And probably this does pay off, for some percentage of those IMs---sometimes a lowered price IS a sign of someone desperate for cash.
I don't find such a pursuit exactly admirable, but at least it's not dishonest. It's not what you'd call noble, but on the other hand it's not unethical.
It's the fake 'oh, this would mean so much sentimentally to me, because of my dead acquaintance'----a claim which is proven false by the existence of other parcels for sale in the same location----that I find to be tacky as heck.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Shamelessness
The other day I got an IM, inworld, asking if I'd drop my price for a large parcel (above 18,000m).
I replied that I'd just dropped the price the night before, and would give it a try at that price (or give them a try--it's divided into several smaller parcels) for a few weeks. Which has the virtue of being the literal truth, on all counts.
So in a while the person sent me a second IM, telling me that the reason they wanted my parcel was that the sim just to the north---a Protected ocean sim---had a name that was the same as a deceased person they'd been close to.
...........................Gosh, well, in that case, of course I'll sell it to you below my cost!!!!
...
Of course my response was 'I'm sorry for your loss', but-----no price drop.
Because: THERE ARE SEVERAL PARCELS UP FOR SALE THAT ADJOIN THE PROTECTED SIM IN QUESTION.
So, no: it's not the case that *sob* the only way this person could honor the deceased would be *sob* if they could buy my parcel.
Honestly.
...
I gather, from song and story, that people who do this sort of thing have no qualms of conscience whatsoever---if you can fleece the rubes, you've WON WON WON!!! That's the way they think.
May their karma come upon them!
I replied that I'd just dropped the price the night before, and would give it a try at that price (or give them a try--it's divided into several smaller parcels) for a few weeks. Which has the virtue of being the literal truth, on all counts.
So in a while the person sent me a second IM, telling me that the reason they wanted my parcel was that the sim just to the north---a Protected ocean sim---had a name that was the same as a deceased person they'd been close to.
...........................Gosh, well, in that case, of course I'll sell it to you below my cost!!!!
...
Of course my response was 'I'm sorry for your loss', but-----no price drop.
Because: THERE ARE SEVERAL PARCELS UP FOR SALE THAT ADJOIN THE PROTECTED SIM IN QUESTION.
So, no: it's not the case that *sob* the only way this person could honor the deceased would be *sob* if they could buy my parcel.
Honestly.
...
I gather, from song and story, that people who do this sort of thing have no qualms of conscience whatsoever---if you can fleece the rubes, you've WON WON WON!!! That's the way they think.
May their karma come upon them!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Marble Floors of Bay City
Actually I don't know that they have marble floors in Bay City. But the surprise of seeing people bidding L$75/meter and up for a small parcel that's up for auction today, induced me to dream about the place.
In this dream, a woman posting on the Second Life Forums wrote that she was going to 'go for it' by bidding in the auction, because of the fact that Bay City houses have marble floors that are unique in NOT being textures, yet not counting against your prim count. In the post she described how beautiful these floors are, and how they are made up of individual prims that you can copy and use for other things.
In actuality (as opposed to dreams), I doubt that everyone who buys a parcel in Bay City gets a house, let alone a marble floor. I've been over there only once. I guess the appeal is that you're not at the mercy of your neighbor's taste----no giant pink phallasus in your neighbors' yards, etc.
But as far as getting a house---it does make me wonder. If you buy a parcel there, are you then required to either have the building skills to make a house that fits the sims' restrictions, or to have the money to hire someone to build one for you?
Maybe I should go in and check. And look around for marble floors, of course.
In this dream, a woman posting on the Second Life Forums wrote that she was going to 'go for it' by bidding in the auction, because of the fact that Bay City houses have marble floors that are unique in NOT being textures, yet not counting against your prim count. In the post she described how beautiful these floors are, and how they are made up of individual prims that you can copy and use for other things.
In actuality (as opposed to dreams), I doubt that everyone who buys a parcel in Bay City gets a house, let alone a marble floor. I've been over there only once. I guess the appeal is that you're not at the mercy of your neighbor's taste----no giant pink phallasus in your neighbors' yards, etc.
But as far as getting a house---it does make me wonder. If you buy a parcel there, are you then required to either have the building skills to make a house that fits the sims' restrictions, or to have the money to hire someone to build one for you?
Maybe I should go in and check. And look around for marble floors, of course.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Weird Week
Among the things keeping me busy this week were some communications that might have been perfectly legitimate, or might have been 'people making a living' at fraud.
First was a request to hold some land I have up for sale. I've held land for a couple of days (by putting it up for sale to one avatar-name only). Because of a combination of unusual events, I agreed to hold a piece for two weeks. I'll never agree to that again, even if this works out well.
At any rate, the next day I got a very odd unsigned notecard asking me to buy land.
(And this, and all that follows, could be completely unrelated to the first thing. Or, it could be that the first thing told someone 'this is a potential sucker', and all that followed was authored by that same person, or members of that person's group.)
That's all I'll say now, as regardless of how it all turns out (and I have no money at risk, other than the potential represented by the two-week's hold on the sale of that one parcel)---it's got a lot of plot potential!
First was a request to hold some land I have up for sale. I've held land for a couple of days (by putting it up for sale to one avatar-name only). Because of a combination of unusual events, I agreed to hold a piece for two weeks. I'll never agree to that again, even if this works out well.
At any rate, the next day I got a very odd unsigned notecard asking me to buy land.
(And this, and all that follows, could be completely unrelated to the first thing. Or, it could be that the first thing told someone 'this is a potential sucker', and all that followed was authored by that same person, or members of that person's group.)
That's all I'll say now, as regardless of how it all turns out (and I have no money at risk, other than the potential represented by the two-week's hold on the sale of that one parcel)---it's got a lot of plot potential!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
A nice compliment
Last week I bought a hillside parcel, and decided to make a couple of 1024m's with flat areas at top and bottom--the idea being that buyers could have a house at the top and maybe a pool or garden or what-have-you at the bottom.
So, on the fly, I built a stairway of 'brown concrete' in a bracket shape, so that avatars could walk up and down between the levels. I made a 10m by 10m block at one of the corners, and put a free helicopter there, as I thought it fit in nicely with the 'living on a hilltop' theme.
Well, a few days after it sold, I was flattered to see that the new owner was keeping the stairway construct--though he or she had removed the copter and fenced around edges of the 10 x 10 area to be a sort of patio (which is logical).
Now I kind of wish I'd linked to prims and taken a copy (though of course it would need to be radically adjusted for each particular hilltop situation in each particular sim).
Fun to make something and have someone like it!
So, on the fly, I built a stairway of 'brown concrete' in a bracket shape, so that avatars could walk up and down between the levels. I made a 10m by 10m block at one of the corners, and put a free helicopter there, as I thought it fit in nicely with the 'living on a hilltop' theme.
Well, a few days after it sold, I was flattered to see that the new owner was keeping the stairway construct--though he or she had removed the copter and fenced around edges of the 10 x 10 area to be a sort of patio (which is logical).
Now I kind of wish I'd linked to prims and taken a copy (though of course it would need to be radically adjusted for each particular hilltop situation in each particular sim).
Fun to make something and have someone like it!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Up in Tier, Again
Yes I Did.
(If they [the Linden people] could bottle and broadcast the essence of what makes me do that....well, they'd be richer than they are now.)
^_^
(If they [the Linden people] could bottle and broadcast the essence of what makes me do that....well, they'd be richer than they are now.)
^_^
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