Oh dear frakking God LiLa, what have you gone and done
this time?!
I attended an emergency town
meeting in Caledon Oxbridge tonight, led by the Guvnah, Desmond Shang. He was not the only themed community leader in attendance however, as Mr NeoBokrug Elytis of the Wastelands was present, as well as many other concerned community leaders such as Miss Serra Anansi of Winterfell and other major estate managers. The issue? Linden Labs has
changed their pricing for openspace void sim regions, effective January 1, citing "overload issues." Why is this a problem? We are talking about a
66% increase in the monthly fee for owners. You can read Tateru Nino's article about it
HERE.
"Well, I'm not an openspace or void sim owner, why the hell should I care?" Well, you
should. For example, Caledon consists of 20 void sims and 23 full sims. The Guvnah would not be able to continue to charge his current price but for so much longer before having to soon pass the costs onto the void sim owners. If the owners are unable or unwilling to pay more, and someone else does not assume it, then the cost will pass back to the Guvnah. The very nature of a community that you enjoy could be changed dramatically. It is not just big communities like Caledon that could be affected...we are talking about Antiquity, Winterfell, Wyre, Brythony, Lovelace, New Babbage, the Wastelands and many more. For smaller openspace sim owners, this increase could be even more devastating. Across the grid, there could be losses and perhaps a backfiring blow (yet again) to SL's economy across the grid.
Reacting in a knee-jerk "SCREW SL!" way isn't the answer right now. Be angry, fine and yes, but as we have seen in the past, our being ticked off at something they've done (gambling ban, SL5B, trademarks, land devaluation) hasn't made a damn difference, now has it? Things I think about it...call it "Elle's LiLa Conspiracy Theories" if you wish, whatever...
1. The "See, We Listen!": They usually create a $hit$torm and in the face of our going nuts in return, sometimes backpedal to what they wanted in the first place
2. The "Give Us What We Want": Tired of private estate owners charging out the wazoo for land? Here's newly released land and openspace sims just for you! Oh, don't worry about the fact that your land's not worth anything near what you paid for it now! Look! We have land!
3. The "Victims of Their Own Success": We released openspace sims just for you, but look at how much you all really
really liked them! So much so that you're not buying regular sims or the spanking brand new land we created! And oh my...that's not quite what we intended them to be used for!
4. The "It's Not Me, It's You": Interesting how when things seem to go wrong, suddenly its the servers and the users that are overloading the system and are the problem. Like Oscar Rogers, the "financial analyst" on
SNL, don't blame us...
FIX IT!
The way I figure it, in the end we hate these kind of policies, but we really do
like being here despite it all. Oh, my Las Olas home is a rental on an openspace sim. Am I screwed? Yup, probably, maybe. It's been quiet and wonderful and a perfect place for me in here. I love every moment I spend there inworld. I had no idea about the overload issue. I guess I'd better enjoy it while I can as either my tier will be increased (which I went through at my old land as a direct result of theory #3) or my estate manager's going to be like "No way!" I really hope LiLa comes up with a solution that takes its citizens into account. In the meantime, I'll wait and see. A
lot can happen in two months.
I donned my mourning veil and ventured out...
I braved the flames of Caledon and Lovelace sims lit on fire in protest of the openspace policy...
Not to mention the sacrificial altar of my Steelhead next door neighbor...
And a mild case of poisoning in Winterfell! I suppose that will teach me to drink from bottles with a skull and crossbones on it!
I stopped through the Wind Blue sim there and picked up some freebies nicely put out by Misstress Suspiria (thanks!) and of course, found my way to a sandbox. Although tempted to start building right then and there, I thought I should look a bit more like myself...
Openlife is still rough, and reminds me of the old days. Economy's still in development, crashing still happens out of the blue, but you know what? Sims are cheap, it pretty much works the same and thing is, with the influx of creators (like me) and others with the know-how, this has great possibilities! Especially if its creators listen and allow it to be improved. Call me optimistic, but this is going to be interesting to see...
Call it "Builder's Woe", but I found a past conversation with Lunar that I couldn't stop laughing about. I'm sure any builder of structures and other large builds can relate...
Oh dear frakking God LiLa, what have you gone and done this time?!
Her handcrafted polyhedra are really lovely and I went over to Rezzable Visions to see more...
Including the beautiful virtual model of Garrett Lisi's E8 polytope. Why is this so fascinating to me? Besides my love of quantum and theoretical physics, it could be the answer to everything...
But I "accidentally" set the speed setting to "Insane"...
Somehow he was brave enough to go on another with me and opted for the more sedate pumpkin twirler ride...
Then we found the entrance to AlohaLani Heron's Tiny Freakshow! Somebody get that clown a bandage!
Which was really very well-done presentation-wise, not to mention absolutely hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing and had a great time. My fave were the Siamese Siamese kitties...
...and I said "Yes." I scrambled to whip up a dress for the day...
I really thought about this and a lot of things regarding my life inworld. SL should be a place of peace and happiness while here and he helps to make it so for me in that grey clouds gone kind of way. He is a great guy and likes everything about me, even my "ferretty" ways--which is good, as he's the squirrel of my SL. Thank you Phin for making this such a wonderfully happy day! Here's to many, many more...
p.s.: Dia--there are your pics!
And Colton's fishing one...
And I thought you'd like a better look at Coco's...wow...I can't stop laughing...
These are the SL5B and a Halloween one from '06. I'll probably just keep adding to this list...
Afterwards, we went to Raglan, where you can see they are gearing up for Halloween...
And if you need further incentive, let me say this...out of all of the 19th c. sims, and I've visited or been involved in all of them at this point, I chose Steelhead to be my 19th c. home. Why? The friendly, laid-back neighbors, the weekly town meetings that not only bring us all together but keep us well-informed, the quick response of management, the acceptance and welcome of everyone no matter what or who they are...there is a sense of community there. You can't beat that. Here I am watching the koi at Steelhead Gardens. Did I mention that it is beautiful there too?
Um...little did I know that he meant THAT one!
installation: "Fish Out of Water" by Khloe Carter
I've been following its progress since the beginning, but held off on publishing photos until now:
I stopped by a very unusual exhibit today called "You Are What You Eat" by Antoine Lancaster and curated by Arkady Shatzin. For an entire year, Lancaster took pictures everyday of what he ate. At first, I was like "What the...??" but I ended up being fascinated, if anything, by the variety. Made me kind of hungry after a while. You can see it for yourself HERE.
