Don’t forget if you’re interested in becoming an affiliate vendor that the vendors are still available on Xstreet SL until the new policy on freebies is brought in.
After that they will only be available inworld at my shop.
There’s more information here.
This is a cleanup of a post I made on SLU. For those of you who are moving or have moved it might help.
The Basics
1. This isn’t coming in for another 60-90 days and we still don’t know exactly what it will look like.
2. There’s going to be at least 2 weeks notice before it is implemented
3. It’s only going to apply to active listings – not deactivated ones.
4. once an item is deleted it can’t be relisted.
So if you’ve already taken your items down:
- Those who really are using freebies as marketing have effectively deprived themselves of 2-3 months advertising
- Those who actually give them to benefit the community have deprived the community of 2-3 months worth of availability
those two alone make it a bad choice at the moment. Then of course we come to the side effect of giving LL what they wanted – which is their cost saving on those items and the cleaning up of search.
Take a more staged approach rather than just ripping them down.
A more cool headed approach to the listings should be taken by those who really want to protest about this.
1. keep all your listings active and update each listing to say it will be removed when charging comes in but will still be available inworld. Not everyone is aware of the change yet and so this serves both telling those who don’t know and allowing continued availability (and advertising of course). Also encourage people to favourite it so they will be able to find you once it’s delisted.
2. When the charges come in, before deactivating the listing change the item name (not description) to something like “item name: only available inworld, click for slurl”
when an item is delisted it is still shown in people’s favourites and purchase listings.. As I discovered when I delisted a couple of items last month people do check their lists and will click on the listing for more information.
When they do they see this layout:
https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.ph…ItemID=1325134 (this is one of my delisted items)
you’ll notice the picture, primcount, slurl link and price are still there. So despite the listing being inactive, those who have previously bought or favourited it can still find it. Which allows for word of mouth to still occur and for people to find it more easily than trying to slog through inworld search.
… and of course LL are still paying data storage costs and providing free (if limited) advertising for you..
The magic box can be deleted without problem and if at any time you want to relist the item then you are allowed to within the ToS. All it requires is to re-rez the box and put the item back in it.. then choose to activate the listing and the old listing description will pop back to life.
This is all based on my knowledge of the XSL functionality and the basic belief they’ll do as little as possible to make this change happen.
My advice to anyone who has already deleted their magic box but hasn’t deleted the web page listing is to fish the box out of trash and update your listings along the lines suggested. Then you can delist and delete the box. NEVER delete your listing – once it’s gone you cannot relist that item again and at the moment we don’t know what is actually going to be put in place.
What really saddens me is that there hasn’t be a concurrent rise in listings on the other sites. part of it will be that people don’t know, part will be because the sites are a bit rocky with all the new eyeballs but a lot of it is that people don’t want to relist somewhere else because of the effort needed. 30+k of delisitings and the other sites have probably seen a growth of around 10% of that – and I bet most of it has come from merchants who are already there and are just expanding their listings.
I know it’s a pain listing on other sites. Both MVX and Slapt.me have only a limited selection of my range because of the time that it takes to list them. It does need to be done though otherwise LL gets to say that it has been a repository of junk that people don’t really believe in and that the talk of making freebies available to the masses was just that – talk.
What I hope not to see is lots of screaming and howling and the populace (yet again) does nothing more. I’ve got to say that I can understand why LL despise us and ignore us on the whole. Who wouldn’t when you see this behaviour time and time again?
The latest upgrades are to the Bondage Pavilions and the Hut. They’ve got new scripts, more features and new animations.
you can read about them in the product catalogue:
http://satiateddesiresproducts.wordpress.com/bondage-items/bondage-hut-v2/
http://satiateddesiresproducts.wordpress.com/bondage-items/bondage-pavilion-captive-v2/
http://satiateddesiresproducts.wordpress.com/bondage-items/bondage-pavilion-deluxe-v2/
or buy inworld or through Apez or Xstreet SL: Hut – Deluxe, Pavilion – Deluxe and Pavilion – Captive
I thought I’d use a bit of beefcake this time for the pics
A modern item designed to display your possession attractively. Highly visual, even slightly theatric it will draw all eyes.
It has 30 menu driven solo shibari positions with expressions. It has a light that comes on when your beloved sits on the ball and turns off when they stand up and is designed to make sure everyone notices the beauty of your possession.
It comes with male and female position notecards and instructions how to set the initial positions and 2 sets of rippable, emoting cuffs & collar to enhance your pleasure.
Features
- It automatically turns off Zhao AOs when you sit on the balls, they will switch back on again when you stand up.
- The User Guide, FAQ and Product Licence are available through the Options menu.
- Anyone who is allowed access to the menus can restart the item when necessary.
- The balls are touch to sit rather than having to right click and select from the pie menu.
- It is 20 prims and has a footprint of 3.5 x 4 metres
It is designed for you to rez and use and it comes with full instructions for tailoring the menu to enhance your pleasure or adjusting the positions and has a FAQ for when things go wrong,
Cuff features
The cuffs are menu resizable, modifiable and are interactive. The chat emotes can be turned on or off without stopping the rip function.
This item is designed to minimise lag
- The platform will move into standby mode an hour after you stop using it.
- Using the stop button removes the balls which stops the scripts in the balls running.
More information is included in the User Guide.
You can purchase it inworld, through XStreet SL or Apez
Here are a few more pics to tempt you:
It has 11 solo bondage and display positions. When used with either LockGuard compatible cuffs & collar or the cuffs and collar included with the stand will generate these gorgeous particle chains from your sub to the stand.
They look fantastic and complete the scene beautifully.
To generate the chains, your sub needs to wear either the enclosed collar and cuffs set or any LockGuard v2 collar & cuffs. The collar and cuff set that comes with this product is menu resizable and they have a rip feature with emotes that can be turned on or off without affecting the rip function.
It allows Amethyst, Xcite, AEB’ies, Darien, M&S and Marines products to leash to the post ring. To leash, give the appropriate leashing command and touch the post ring (in whatever order your particular collar/other items requires). This leashing is independent of the positions in the item, so you can keep your captive leashed even if they are wandering around.
General Features
It is 12 prims and has a footprint of 1.5 x 1.5 metres
You can use it without generating the chains or by having your sub/s wear any combination of the collar and cuffs included. The item is also LockGuard v2 compatible.
It is designed for you to rez and use but it comes with full instructions for tailoring the menu to enhance your pleasure or adjusting the positions and has a comprehensive FAQ for when things go wrong,
- The User Guide, FAQ and Product Licence are available through the Options menu.
- Anyone who is allowed access to the menus can restart the item when necessary.
- The ball is touch to sit rather than having to right click and select from the pie menu.
- A new easier way to adjust positions by using the page up & page down keys
- The item now has an automatic standby mode that starts an hour after you stop using it. This can be disabled if you like to keep your possession tied for longer.
- It automatically turns off Zhao AOs when you sit on the balls, the AO will switch back on again when you stand up.
It comes with:
- 1 set of menu resizeable, transferable black rope cuffs and a collar that match the ropes generated.
- Full instructions.
Available inworld and through Xstreet SL and Apez
Another upgrade rolled out.
This now has 8 display positions. It’s Sensations and LockMeister cuffs compatible has 6 arousal and 2 pain positions (Tied, Chained). It also allows Amethyst, Xcite, AEB’ies, Dari’s Haus, M&S and Marines leashes to be leashed to it.
The cuff set that comes with this product is menu resizable and they have a rip feature with emotes that can be turned on or off without affecting the rip function.
Available inworld, through Xstreet SL and Apez
It is 9 prims and has a footprint of 1.5 x 1.75 metres and is designed for you to rez and use.
This is a gilt and wooden bondage candelabra with 10 solo bondage and display positions.
It looks as good in your dungeon as it will in your skybox. It has particle rope chains and particle flames and comes with two sets of rippable rope cuffs and a collar.
This has been completely updated with a selection of my current favourite new animations and has new scripts and new features.
For more information, see the product catalogue or you can see it inworld or buy through Xstreet SL or Apez
As you may be aware, there was a box of stolen content handed out at Burning Life. The box contained stolen items from many of the larger creators in Second Life. This box was eventually passed to Stroker Serpentine who began to document what he found. As there was so much content he started a thread on SLU to pass the word around and to get creators to come forward to identify their items.
In the initial post an allegation was made against the creator of the box. Stroker has since retracted the allegation and updated the post. This being the internet though mud sticks so I’m posting the update to help ensure that people are aware of it.
The object was *CREATED* by Damen Hax. I have grown to hate that last name. His profile shows he has PIOF and is in many “Hacker”/”Open Source” groups. I AM naming names here. You’re innocent until proven guilty, however, I have already made my judgement. I have all the proof I need. Sue me!
**EDIT: ” I have contacted Damen Hax to apologize for the characterization that I included in this post. From all of the assurances and responses that have been made I have come to the conclusion that Damen was indeed framed for being the creator of the object full of stolen content. Apparently Damen contributes considerably to the welfare and user experience of Second Life. I make no excuses for posting names however. The associated comments concerning Damen’s groups and payment information were unnecessary. It was a very emotional and disturbing scenario . This was the largest single compilation I have seen to date. Content theft and the deliberate actions of these imbeciles has a rippling effect that impacts innocent people as collateral damage. Unfortunately I have become very adept at identifying content theft over the years and I should have investigated Damen’s endeavors before attributing any impassioned comments. It is very unlikely I will ever post these finds again. If Linden Lab continues their obvious ambivilence there will be no need to, as they will become commonplace.” END EDIT**
Ambivalence is not a strong enough term. Obstruction is closer to the mark. Despite their claims they’re making it easier to remove content they’re not.
In this case only the box has been marked, so it won’t rez inworld. The items inside it haven’t been so any that were extracted from the box will be handed around. LL didn’t provide a list of the items in the box so not all creators are aware of the fact they have stolen content and LL, despite it being a relatively trivial job to identify those who received a copy of the box have made no attempt to remove the stolen items from the inventories of those people who have opened it and copied it into their inventories.
They won’t do that unless the creator files a formal notice requesting it and can provide the names of the people who they know have the content. Unfortunately the only people who have that information is the person who owned the box when it was given out and LL and neither are telling.
LL have effectively done the absolute minimum they could get away with. Until I see one of their lawyers make a statement saying that they could not take any further action because it was not legally allowed I assume that LL do not take content theft seriously, despite their mewling protestation otherwise.
Their actions in this case have done so little to stop the disbursement of those stolen items across the grid that even the word token is ascribing a level of commitment that they don’t demonstrate.
If you’re a consumer in Second Life then just remember that if it’s free or cheap and is great quality then it’s probably stolen. It’s your choice whether you support content theft or buy from a creator.
Linden Research have been spending most of this year positioning themselves in the media as a cleaned up, business friendly environment. It will culminate in the official release of their new offering of a stand alone corporate “behind the firewall” application to business on November 4th.
In tandem with this LL have been slowly beginning the marketing push to make Second Life attractive as an entertainment option. One of the latest was an article in the New York Times lauding how you can live the high life in SL without breaking the bank. To those of us inworld it can’t come too soon. User numbers and spending have dropped and despite the massaging of the numbers released a few months back the overall health of SL isn’t what you’d call robust.
Around half of the people who come into SL in any given month do not even spend 1L. Some of these will be alts that are used for role play or testing content or any one of many different reasons. A large proportion of them are just people who come in to enjoy themselves without spending money. It’s easy enough to do, the number and quality of freebies available these days is just staggering. The problem is that some of those freebies aren’t – they’ve been illegally copied and are being sold cheaply or given away.
Combat HUDs, furniture, clothing and hair from some of the biggest and best known designers were the latest target of these thieves. The thieves are so blatant now they were handing out the box containing these items at the latest Linden sponsored event. Not that any LL employee noticed of course. The result has been that LL has blacklisted the box so when it is rezzed inworld it will vanish. It’s a small victory against those who steal but doesn’t solve the problem. LL is downright unhelpful in aiding creators have their items removed, they’ve set up the process in such a way that it is almost impossible to get even a fraction of them removed because the only people who know who actually has the stolen items is LL and they refuse to give the information to the creators – yet tell the creators that they must file a formal request naming names. It’s a catch 22 that is insurmountable.
It’s unfathomable why people would go to the trouble to steal content to give it away but they do. For those who receive it they get great items full perms that they can do with as they want but it’s at the expense of the creators. For a lot of people selling their items are they way they pay their way in second life, some even use it to support their families in real life. Each time someone doesn’t spend money because they’ve received a stolen item then that’s another creator that is going to find it just a little bit harder to meet their monthly bills.
Every time stolen content is identified the creators have to spend a lot of time and effort tracking down the thief before they can file a request with LL to have the content removed. As I understand it some of the larger creators have people working on this pretty well full time. That’s how widespread the problem is. This isn’t a few people stealing, it’s widespread enough that some content creators are beginning to think it’s time to pack up, others who were considering opening up shops are saying they have no desire to put their items up for sale and others are losing the interest to create.
The permissions that are on any item you receive is the way that the creator tells you what licencing you have within Second Life. Unless explicitly stated in a notecard when you buy the item the creator does not give you permission to download the item to your hard drive or do anything else to it that is designed to get around the permissions they give you. As a consumer your choice is to accept the permissions or not buy the item. If you take any other steps to overcome those permissions then you are breaching the terms of sale and the licence for use the creator assigned to you when you bought it. Downloading your hair and uploading again to get the perms you want and then giving a copy to a friend is exactly the same as those who stole all those items and gave them out at Burning Life – the only difference is degree.
If it’s free or cheap and is full perms then the chances are it’s stolen. It’s your choice what you do with the item but just remember that the original creator is losing sales, is probably spending more time tracking these stolen items down than they are creating new items and are probably considering giving it all up.
The worst case is that eventually the major merchants will either leave or stop creating new items and SL will be filled with freebies and ripped content. It’s not an exaggeration, on top of declining numbers and spending in here (don’t believe the LL hype those figures are so rubbery they’d bounce if you dropped them) the effort required to try to keep their ripped items from the grid is getting to the stage where it does not make this profitable or fun anymore.
The irony of the NYTs article appears to be lost on Linden Lab. Living the high life on the back of ripped content isn’t a good way to publicise your platform but that’s the way they choose to run it. The blog posts are just PR, there’s nothing substantial in either the content management roadmap or the post on third party viewer use. The third party viewer blogpost is a perfect example of how disconnected the LL publicity machine is from the inworld reality. They want to set up a register of viewers that can be used on the grid. Looks great until you realise that they’re fully aware that the content ripping viewers that are used to steal content are easily able to spoof whatever viewer they choose. The post can only be viewed as PR to assure their corporate customers and the general media that they are doing something, even though they’re not actually doing anything at all.
In the absence of any will on the part of LL to actually help fix the problem (it can never be eliminated, no matter how much we wish it) only consumers can reduce the scale of the theft. As a consumer, the choice is yours. You can spend the dollar on a fabulous outfit or hair or you can grab a ripped copy. The outcome is either the vibrancy of SL continues because the creators will stay or it will turn into a wasteland where everyone is wearing the same ripped outfits.
Your choice.
