Prokofy Neva’s Retributionary Abuse Report

Well, Prokofy has ‘responded’ to my last post in stereotypical passive-aggressive bullying fashion.

I will spare you the trauma of visiting Prok’s site. Please see below:

“Wow Marx, what in the world were you thinking, attempting to sell a 96m2 parcel for $50,000? You terrible land extortionist!”

Something’s missing here. Something that Prokofy conveniently left out, because if she had included it, it would tell a much different story. So what did Prokofy choose to leave out of this picture?

The “About Land” description.

Permit me to correct this oversight by sharing it with you:

There is a memorial to Garth Fairchang (the stool and tree that you can see in the first screenshot), which sat back from the sidewalk, surrounded by private land, in between my plot and Prokofy’s plot to the left. I decided to contact Pituca Fairchang to see if she would like to trade her 32m2 parcel for one with an unobstructed view of the sidewalk. She agreed, and we made an even trade. It seemed a very nice thing to do.

At the time, I did not yet own a vendor stall in Brown, and I wanted one. I decided that I would cut the 96m “panhandle” that I had now, after the plot transfer, and offer it to someone in exchange for a vendor stall. I set the land at L$50,000 because I didn’t want to sell it outright – of course, L$50,000 is an outrageous sum and nobody would pay that. But it did put it up on the map as land for sale, with the hopes that someone might see it, read the parcel description and make an offer to trade.

I’ve since obtained a stall from Linden Lab that belonged to someone whose account was no longer active, and purchased a second. So why is it still set to L$50,000? Quite simple, actually. I forgot.

So Prokofy filed a childish, passive-aggressive, retributionary Abuse Report against me simply because I dared to speak out about her abusive behavior. It’s a predictable tactic that she employs to bully her critics into silence.

For the record, I did not file an abuse report for the behavior mentioned in the previous entry. I figured I’d have my say on the blog and be done with it.

Prokofy has persuaded me to change my mind.

PS: “Hippo Land Holdings” owns a 96m2 parcel in the Brown vendor market and has it for sale for L$999,999.

It just doesn’t happen to be land that Prokofy wants, apparently.

If You Can’t Say Something Nice … You’re Probably Prokofy Neva

I recently purchased land in the historic Brown sim – something that I know a lot of seasoned residents will not do, precisely for the reason that I am about to explain.

I logged in today to find one of my two rental stalls full of objects for sale by someone renting land from Ravenglass – Prokofy Neva’s rental group. As I know Prokofy has stalls on offer to her renters, I presumed that the person had not checked the land ownership before rezzing objects. Also, it was my fault for not setting the land permissions after taking possession of the stall from Linden Lab. I sent a polite IM to the person, explaining why the objects were returned and to contact Ravenglass to locate the stalls which are reserved for Prokofy’s tenants.

Additionally, there was a new Ravenglass tenant who had built what I can only describe as a great big stone box. Looking at the profile, I noticed the tenant was only a little over a month old. Not wanting to AR someone, but aware that this build was clearly twice the allowed height limit for Brown and also was not in keeping with the planned community guidelines, I decided to make Prokofy aware of it.

I wrote the following in a notecard, sending it no-copy as I do with all of my notecards to anyone, as I’m well aware of how a full-perm notecard can be abused – Gywneth Llewellyn had a particularly bad experience with this. I did not do this specifically because it was Prokofy, as anyone who has ever received a notecard from me can confirm. Of course, Prokofy does have a history of abusing full-perm items – but that wasn’t my intention.

Dear Prokofy,

I returned some objects that were set for sale in my stall in Brown that were placed there by one of your tenants. Apparently when Linden Lab set the parcel for sale to me, I neglected to check the parcel permissions. They are set now, so that this shouldn’t be a recurring issue. I sent a very polite and pleasant note to your tenant, explaining why the objects were returned and to contact you for information on using the stalls which are owned by Ravenglass.

Also, there is a parcel being built at Brown 106,236 which is far higher than the height limitations for Brown. It has no windows, no entry ways, and as you can see from the photo, dwarfs the neighbor (one of your renters) next door to it. It is approximately 30 meters high, twice as large as the limit set by Linden Lab for Brown. As you probably do not get over here often, I thought I would bring it to your attention so you could bring it to your renter’s attention. I see that he is a relatively new resident, and I wouldn’t ever want to discourage someone who is inclined toward building. However, the rules in Brown are much different than the rest of the mainland and it is in violation.

Thank you,
Marx

Despite any dislike for Prokofy as a person, I see no point in being disrespectful in professional matters. Especially when it involves a sim on which we share space.

Here was the response I received, again verbatim:

As per usual, you’re a perfect asshole. Who takes the trouble to put a *notecard* on non-transfer, among other features of your annoying message.

Um, without any need for you (I police my properties and my tenants also get in touch) The tenant with the non-regulation build — both for my rules and for Brown — has already been sent a notice. If they don’t conform within 24 hours (and that’s nearly elapsed) it will be removed. You don’t need to get involved.

I don’t know why any of my tenants would be setting anything for sale in Brown. I currently don’t have any tenant who is using those stalls. Since the group is open, anyone can join and they may abuse the privilege. So…return the prims? And don’t make a federal case of it.

Once again: you are an asshole. I’ve been in Brown for seven years.

Prokofy

A businessperson should be able to comport themselves civilly, even with someone they have a dislike for. This is precisely what I did. Apparently, Prokofy is unable to respond in kind – which is one of the reasons why I do not recommend Ravenglass as a rental agency.

Prokofy says, “I’ve been in Brown for seven years”. Certainly, but the sim is the property of Linden Lab, and seniority does not give Prokofy the freedom to disregard the stated building restrictions for the sim – restrictions which are provided in multiple, well-marked spaces throughout the Brown sim. As for “making a Federal case out of it” – if sending a respectful notecard indicates ‘flying off the handle’ in Prokofy’s world, then I feel really, really sorry for anyone who has had a legitimate tenant complaint with her.

As for “not getting involved” … well, if there’s an issue, I’m going to speak up – it doesn’t matter who the tenant is. Prokofy does not own Brown, no matter how much she feels her ‘seniority’ gives her the right to boss other residents around. I’ll (respectfully) point out violations where I see them.

If that makes me a “perfect asshole”, then I wear the title with pride.

Creative Writing: The New “Freebie Culture”?

As any writer knows, there is no substantial money to be made in works-for-hire in the “real world” anymore. You have web portals everywhere, paying starvation rates to writers who are desperate for work, to write articles on subjects for which they likely have no passion whatsoever and likely serve no other purpose than to drive traffic to advertising.

Linden Lab is a consistently profitable internet company, despite what every lazy journalist says to the contrary. Over the course of almost nine years, membership and tier rates have remained static despite steadily declining costs for hosting, racks, and bandwidth. And yet, the cost of maintaining an estate sim is still $3612 per year – $3540 in monthly sim fees, and $72 for the annual fee required to own an estate – and even more if you have to pay VAT. Multiply that by the number of estate sims, and it’s easy to see that, despite some attrition, Second Life remains a very profitable business.

Now, consider that Linden Lab is asking members of their own customer base to write what will essentially be “official” articles for their website – articles intended to promote and attract attention to their core product. Linden Lab knows that there is no advertising agency that can write about Second Life as effectively as their own passionate userbase. The purpose, clearly, is to draw in new residents and to engage fledgling newbies who are still getting their feet wet – promotional literature, with an eye toward upselling goods and services which will increase their profitability as a company.

So ponder for a moment that the invitation is for writers who use SL to write promotional articles about Second Life. Further, this will be content exclusively for the use of Linden Lab, and which Linden Lab reserves the sole right to edit as it sees fit prior to publication.

That’s perfectly okay, but expecting it for free seems … fine, if Linden Lab were a non-profit organization. Don’t get me wrong, if the Lab can find people willing to write for free, more power to everyone involved. I do believe, though, that you often get what exactly you pay for. It’s not unreasonable to ask Linden Lab, upon acceptance of an article, to pay the L$ equivalent of a dollar or two – that’s what inworld publications have done for years. To accuse a writer of being greedy because they want to be compensated for their work is ludicrous. You may as well heckle shopkeepers for charging money for the fruit of their labor, or DJs or singers or musicians for having tip jars. Second Life is a micro-economy. The money that most of us earn inworld goes right back into the SL economy – whether it’s clothes, or rentals, or land tier, or premium fees.

Let’s not forget that Linden Lab bought out Xstreet SL, then bought OnRez – Xstreet’s only true competitor – and shut it down, then set about to implement a plan to charge a L$99 per month fee per freebie item offered by content creators using Xstreet. For a particularly generous designer who made and offered, say, 100 items for free on Xstreet, had it been implemented it would cost that creator USD40 per month to give things away for free on Xstreet. Ultimately, Linden Lab didn’t follow through on that “Roadmap”, in large part due to shopkeeper backlash. However, it’s safe to say that Linden Lab can afford to pay for things when it wants to (anyone remember Avatars United?), and it will certainly collect money when it sees an opportunity to do so.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that when the company reaches out for exclusive, original content from residents, that the talented writers of Second Life would anticipate some sort of compensation for their work – especially if they lose final creative control of that work once it becomes the property of Linden Lab.

As with any decision that Linden Lab makes, of course there are going to be some who are against it, no matter what it is. But disagreement is not necessarily a bad thing. Neither is the occasional altruism. However, let’s not kid ourselves – there is plenty of altruism in Second Life. Love it or hate it, the “freebie culture” is quite often a shining example of altruism on the grid. It all comes down to who truly needs the generosity the most.

If you want to donate free articles to Linden Lab, then do. But don’t insult those who might feel their talents are worth a dollar or two each from a corporation that can not only afford it, but is able to pay them with virtual currency that they create out of thin air.

And for the love of God, don’t tell them to “leave if you don’t like it here”. If Second Life were nothing more than a cult of like-minded people who agreed about everything, it would be a hideously boring experience.

Thank goodness it’s not.

Guest Editorial: “Who is Broken?” by Mera Kranfel

(A little while ago, I invited Mera Kranfel of Eternal Sunshine of the Metaverse to write a guest editorial response to my blog post, “No, Second Life is Not Closing in 2012.” Mera has been very patient with me, and I appreciate that patience.)

I (Mera) got several interesting comments on my post last time that I feel I have to answer more thoroughly. Marx Dudek started this topic and its very interesting.

Again we are talking about “broken people” and the definition of that. Who is broken, and who decides that?

I like to build in 3-D and to create worlds and communities in VR (virtual reality). Does that make me broken? Or is it just a hobby? What’s the difference between building 3-D houses in cardboard, collecting stamps and whatever, compared to creating in a computer environment? The stamp collector is maybe broken, too, as he has a hobby that interests him a lot and he spends time with his stamps.

Most people have no hobby. They work, eat dinner and… WATCH TV ALL EVENING. Are they more sane than the poor stamp collector or “broken” Mera who is building her ridiculous stuff and chatting with friends in a VR?

My not-so-scientific analysis of this debate is that most people have troubles getting used to the computer environment. VR and its technique is not old enough to feel comfy as the television. Its not accepted enough in the broad populace. Therefore, its easy to feel like a freak when you use it.

Even if those who criticize or question our participation in VR have an avatar themselves, Im sure they feel alienated by the environment somehow. Maybe someone hurt them, or they have been so unfortunate to have the “wrong” kind of friends – ones who create drama.

A VR is what we make of it. You choose what to do and who will become your friend. It’s like in RL (real world).

Of course, some people abuse VR, misuse it and becomes addicted to it in a bad way. But you can actually be addicted to anything. Though if you get addicted, it’s in your genes – you have inherited it from your parents, probably.

Some people are born prone to be addicted to something. Not everyone becomes addicted to cigarettes, liquor, sugar or even VR. Only some people. And if they didnt have VR to get addicted to, they would probably get addicted to something else (maybe even worse).

And last, VR is not for everybody. You may need imagination above average for example to fully appreciate the environment. But in the (maybe near) future, I’m sure the common populace also will use VR without even thinking about it, for casual meetings and likewise. To have an avatar will become “normal” – I’m pretty sure of that.

(Thank you so much, Mera!)

Age Verification on the Honor System?

Linden Lab has never had a good record when it comes to verifying that those who are in Second Life are old enough to be in Second Life. For years, the account signup process has been an open door, requiring no real-life identification to establish an account.

Following the creation of Zindra and the push to move all mainland adult content to this new restricted space, Second Life put into place a third-party system that required input of some form of personal identification. This didn’t work very well, particularly outside of the United States and required many international users to work harder to age-verify their accounts. However, Linden Lab was able to say they were doing due diligence to keep children out of particularly the adult areas of Second Life.

So fast forward to this evening as I’m finally remembering to log in an alt that I created over a year ago. Going to the age-verification page, I encounter this:

I entered my legitimate birthdate, clicked the “I’m honestly not lying about my age” box, pressed “Submit” and then attempted to teleport to a sim in Zindra. I received the warning that my settings needed to be adjusted in the viewer, so Icorrected it and tried again. And this avatar, with no information on file with LL other than a Gmail address, was age-verified.

So Second Life is back where it started, an open door with no security whatsoever.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all deluded into thinking that Second Life hasn’t always had minors sneaking into the Main Grid. What’s different now is that we have a grid that is entirely devoted to explicitly-adult content. Further, a minor is not considered by the legal system to be competent to sign any legal document attesting to anything. So faking an over-18 birthday carries no consequences for them if they’re caught, other than losing their account.

For all of the freakouts people had over the migration of 16 and 17-year-olds to General regions of the main grid, I’m amazed that nothing’s being said about this. This negates the entire reason for creating Zindra in the first place, if the only thing keeping children from adult content is a sign that essentially says, “Cross your heart that you’re not lying.”

Even the wording seems to dare teenagers to lie about their age:

By checking this box, you’re confirming that the date of birth entered above is true and accurate. Adult content in Second Life is just that — for adults only. We’ll spell it out for you: If you are under 18 years of age, do not check this box! If you are at least 18, check it and off you go!

GAH.

So as adult content has begun to seep back into Moderate sims, and there’s really not even a speedbump to keep minors from entering Moderate and Adult-rated regions, it seems that all of the upheaval that took place in 2009 was ultimately for naught.

I can’t help but wonder why this change took place, and with no notice to owners of adult businesses and/or creators of adult content. I mean, I’m happy that SL seems to have shifted their policy on promoting adult content – but I can’t say that anyone operating an adult business in SL can feel good about this.

So if you choose to frolic in adult sims, please keep in mind that there is presently no genuinely “adults-only” part of Second Life.

The Killer App

Rodvik has announced that Linden Lab™ is working on new products “in addition to” Second Life™. While this is terrific and has the potential to bring additional income (and solvency) to the company (and our grid), there is something directly related to Second Life that I feel LL should be addressing, and addressing quickly.

Linden Lab should be working on creating an app for Android and iPhone that will provide as much of the functionality of the viewer as is possible, given the limitations inherent in these devices. While apps do exist that will allow a resident to connect to the grid in this manner, they are frustratingly limited in what they can actually do.

I believe a market exists for a full-featured app, even absent the immersive visual aspect of Second Life. Further, I believe Linden Lab needs to be at the forefront of development of such an app. Power users – sim owners, estate managers, shopkeepers and content creators – would especially benefit from such an application, and this is the “bread-and-butter” segment of our community that LL can always strive to better serve.

Additionally, this could prove to draw more residents to SL’s new social profiles and away from third-party social networking sites like Google+ and Facebook – sites that have been actively antagonistic toward pseudonymous users. With the proper interface, one that is – say it with me now, kids – ‘fast, easy and fun’ to use.

What would I like to see in a mobile client like the one I’m proposing? Here are a few necessities as I see them:

* Teleport, invite to teleport, accept teleport, teleport to an object or another nearby avatar, teleport to region by name, teleport via landmark in inventory.

* Inventory management, including the ability to give/accept inventory, upload/download textures, and read/create notecards.

* Rebaking, wearing/changing clothes, attaching/detaching worn items.

* Basic location of, and interaction with inworld objects (touch, sit, stand).

* The ability to touch a scripted object and access available menu options.

* The ability to reset scripts in a selected object (where allowed by permissions and ownership).

* The ability to play the stream on the parcel the avatar is on, either through the app or by exporting the URL to an external streaming media app.

* The ability to easily buy and sell L$, and to track buy/sell rates.

* Full group functionality, including creating/editing roles, inviting/ejecting members, reading/writing group notices, and moderating group chat.

* Integration with a mobile-optimized SL Marketplace. Make it easy for a seller to track sales on the road. Make it fun for someone to make an impulse purchase for a friend while on the go.

* The ability to edit the “About Land” attributes of any owned or managed parcel.

* As many region tools as possible, but particularly Top Scripts, Top Collisions, restart region, and ban from estate.

* And of course, local chat and IM.

(Have I missed any must-haves?)

Would it be a perk for premium members? A paid app? An app with a monthly surcharge? Personally, for something that could deliver all of these features, I’d be willing to pay a little bit more.

LL shouldn’t wait for someone else to do this. They should grab the reins and the market share, and get people used to using an official mobile SL-client.

I really think this is a “must-have” offering.

What do you think?

My Predictions for 2012

Happy New Year, everyone. I was nearly late in releasing these, but I was waiting for the update to my crystal ball. Here are my predictions for the coming year:

1. President uses NDAA to render terrorist suspects in virtual prisons; UN declares lag and rubberbanding to be torture. (We all agree.)
2. Code exploit makes ‘megamesh’ possible; LL does not patch the exploit as resulting Amazonian avatars now require a full sim per SL home.
3. Harold Camping sets up shop in Second Life, joins the ‘end-of-the-grid’ prophecy party.
4. New LL-scripted NPC bots programmed to generate drama, freeing flouncy residents to actually enjoy SL for a change.
5. Other 80s bands take Duran Duran’s lead, opening their semi-abandoned 2007-themed sims to the public as well.
6. Starving Meeroos go feral, attacking newbies at infohubs for sustenance; Bloodliners file ARs for unfair competition.
7. Photos of Newt Gingrich’s SL avatar at Sensual Stoneworks go viral, ending his presidential campaign for good.
8. Tea Party goes virtual, declaring life begins at emoting and demanding condom options be removed from prim genitals.
9. Second Thoughts transitions to a full-time photo blog as Prokofy finally exhausts every conceivable epithet in the English language.
10. Ann Otoole suspended for avicide after finally convincing AnnMarie Otoole to ride in one of her own vehicles.

No, Second Life is Not Closing in 2012

The end of the year is always accompanied by three things. First, an orgy of consumerism. Second, “best of” lists. Third, “predictions for the year to come”.

End-of-year predictions can be made in several ways. You can examine and track trends, you can gauge public opinion, and … you can pull them out of your ass. Needless to say, some methods provide better results than others.

The most amusing prediction that I’ve heard so far is the one made that “Second Life as we know it will end.” I’m amused because, while not one to make predictions, I did fret that 2010 or 2011 might bring about the demise of Second Life – or at the very least a purchase of Second Life by some third party (Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, or worst of all, AOL) with uncertain results. Further, the bungling of things during the leadership of Mark Kingdon gave many people the impression that the leadership did not understand the importance of user experience and feedback and didn’t care to understand. I created almost no new products in 2010 and 2011 because, frankly, I wasn’t confident that we would be around long enough for any of it to make a difference.

Looking toward 2012, my outlook has shifted completely. This is entirely subjective, but my optimism for the future (or at least the next few years) of Second Life has returned. Yes, the grid has suffered a lot of attrition – quite a few large businesses have closed up shop. I do think that the pessimism of the past two years, combined with the natural need to “move on” at some point, both contributed to the loss. Change is the only constant. Also, a lot of disgruntled residents left for alternative grids “for good” – but many of those people have since returned to the ‘Mother Grid’. Low priced sim tier is attractive, but it’s not enough. You need to have a comparable amount of quality end-user goods for people to buy in order to entice people to stay, and none of the third-party grids have even a fraction of what is available in Second Life. This is not to discount the market for SL-based third-party virtual worlds. But there just is nothing that comes close to doing what Second Life does, and has done for eight years.

Which brings us to the ‘McDonalds Factor’. Second Life is to virtual worlds what Google is to search engines. Nobody comes close. And for as much as we complain about graphics and performance, we can look at Blue Mars for an example of how having those things is simply not enough. Quite frankly, Second Life came into being in the waning years of the dot-com bubble, and I think that it will be quite a few years yet before we see the advances in technology and new ideas that could bring about another such ‘goldrush’, if ever. Second Life came along at just the right time. It doesn’t necessarily matter that it did not become the game-changing ‘killer app’ that many had hoped. So many have declared Second Life’s “failure” as the point in which corporate interest in creating virtual goods evaporated. This short-sighted analysis is still employed by lazy journalists at all levels. Second Life, for all it’s flaws, succeeds at doing something that nobody else has been able to achieve, even with breathtaking graphics and tight code.

The question that has been (in my opinion, incorrectly) asked over and over again is “Why won’t Second Life appeal to the masses?” Aside from the obvious steep learning curve, Second Life requires an investment of time, dedication, and most of all, imagination. While SL is certainly many things to many people, it has a particularly consistent core membership – people with a lot of free time on their hands, generally introverted, very creative, and considerably more open-minded than the general populace.

Also – and few people want to admit this publicly – Second Life attracts ‘broken’ people. I don’t mean this as an insult in any way, as I am absolutely one of the broken ones. Second Life gives many of us very crucial things which are lacking in our own lives. For some, it’s the ability to socialize in ways that are difficult or impossible in real life. For others, it provides a safe environment to explore facets of our inner selves. For others, it’s a canvas for the imagination. And yes, for many, it’s a way to engage in the safest form of consensual sexual expression. In Second Life, you can be anything that you want, and the vast majority of SL residents have shown that they want idealized manifestations of themselves – youthful and lively, attractive and successful. (Or furry and insatiable.)

Second Life is the ultimate collaborative sketchbook. This is what Second Life does best. It provides the canvas for our imaginations. Corporations don’t want us to be imaginative. They want us to all drink the same thing, wear the same clothes, drive the same cars, watch the same movies, and listen to the same music. From what any of us can observe in our own daily lives, that has become what the general public wants as well – to have their decisions made for them and to have their experiences mediated by someone else. It’s a little bit like having Abercrombie & Fitch renting vendor space at a comic-book convention – you don’t want to waste money marketing to the wrong audience. That’s precisely what Mark Kingdon tried to do when he took over the helm of Linden Lab, and in my humble opinion, that is precisely why things have felt so disturbingly wrong for the past couple of years. The active and evangelical core user base was quite literally ignored in the decision-making while an outsider with no real interest in the platform attempted to make SL attractive to the masses. (If I can give any advice to Rodvik and Company, it would be to adopt this slogan for Second Life in 2012: “Second Life™: It’s Not For Everyone, So It Might Be For You.”)

Linden Lab continues to be profitable, but obviously no business can sustain and grow profitability without diversification. They clearly want and need a mass-appeal product, and Second Life has not been that. I firmly believe that they can develop and provide such a service without killing the goose that … well, that at least continues to pay the rent. That is precisely what I believe that Linden Lab seeks to accomplish. I believe that Second Life will persist for as long as there are people willing to use it. I believe the number of major upgrades to grid functionality and performance might diminish to a certain extent while new projects are under development, but they certainly won’t cease. I believe the outlook for either of two scenarios bodes well for Second Life – either a new product is released that achieves the mass-appeal that Second Life didn’t, and SL rides along this new wave of profitability, or it won’t succeed and Second Life will remain the fallback.

Where established content creators disappear, others will take their place. Let’s also not forget how many designers have “left” only to return to business under a new account. For those who truly grok Second Life, breaking up with it is hard to do. That’s why there’s so much reincarnation in our virtual world.

Unlike a few doomsayers out there, I contend that Second Life will survive 2012, and 2013, and even 2014. We have a CEO who likes and uses the product, who actually has been known to communicate directly with the user base, and seems to “get” Second Life. Let’s face it, Second Life has survived much of the time in spite of those running it. I think that, provided there’s a push to reconnect with the user base, Second Life can continue to survive and even thrive in the years to come. For example, Viewer 3 is actually both functional and pleasant to use. (See, Hamlet? It’s not simply our refusal to change with the times.) Nearly all third-party viewers have adopted mesh as well, and while implementation was not whisper-smooth and it still has a way to go – “mesh deformer” *cough cough* – it works.

Those who thrive on controversy and strife to keep the spotlight on themselves will do or say anything outlandish to maintain a sense of relevancy. “If it bleeds, it leads” is a sad fact. You don’t get people to visit your website by saying, “Concurrent logins will decrease by 1.8 percent.” You get them there by saying, “Second Life is dying and Linden Lab is going to screw everyone over.” So sorry, Catherine, but I’m not buying it. Harold Camping was proven wrong, the Mayans will be proven wrong, and you will be proven wrong.

And I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.

About That Tweet …

I offended a few friends today, but I blame Twitter.

No, not really.

Well, kinda.

Brevity may be the soul of wit, but it’s also often the nemesis of nuance. And in this case, I attempted to distill the Tea Party’s hypocrisy of merging a hands-off anti-government message with hard-line fundamentalist ideology into the space of a sentence. (This in itself provides another topic altogether, and is probably a good topic for a future blog post.)

What I posited was this: “Hey, Tea Party. Question. Isn’t religion just another form of government, intruding into your life, your income and your bedroom?”

What 140 characters did not give me the opportunity to say is that “Dear Tea Partier: You claim that government is bad, because it intrudes into people’s lives and liberties. And yet it seems like the religious influences behind a lot of the Tea Party ideology are based on telling people what they can and can’t do with their lives, and with their money, and in the privacy of their own homes. So many of the social positions taken by Tea Party politicians involve enacting into law some of the most authoritarian aspects of American Christian fundamentalism. Don’t you see even the slightest hint of hypocrisy in that? If ‘Government is Bad’, then how can theocracy enforced by law be any better?

I’m sure you can see the Herculean task of compressing that train of thought into 140 characters.

I certainly don’t believe that religion by itself is wrong, or bad, or anything like that. I believe that religion, like politics, can and is most certainly abused – but my point was not to bash religion. My point was that it’s absurd to have an inconsistent socio-political view. Religion in it’s purest form is ‘Love God, and love others as you do yourself.”

The New Testament in particular emphasizes to the follower of Jesus Christ that life in this world is temporary, is secular, and that they are strangers and travellers in it. That heaven is a place of final reward, but that it’s also present among believers. Nowhere in the New Testament are believers instructed to storm the halls of secular government by force and claim it for Christ, but are rather told to submit to the governing authorities, “for there is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1). As far as taxation is concerned, Jesus himself instructed his followers to, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars”. While Christian teaching certainly does not forbid or dissuade a believer from seeking public office, there is no commandment anywhere to “reclaim” government for God.

There is no theocracy in the New Testament except that which the writings state is in the afterlife. And yet, we have this odd menagerie of objectivist political philosophy intermingled with Christian “Reconstructionism” that threatens to set our civilization back decades, if not centuries. Seriously, if you think I’m kidding, read some of the writings of R. J. Rushdoony, father of the Christian Reconstructionist movement – which advocates Biblical Law in ways frighteningly similar to radical applications of Islamic Sharia Law.

Christianity teaches that the Old Testament Law exists to show that nobody can obtain perfection by attempting to obey it to the letter – falter at one point, and you’re guilty of transgressing all of it. That’s supposed to be the central message behind this holiday that I keep hearing that there’s a “war” being waged against – that Jesus came to do for mankind what it could not do for itself. Period. End of story. So trying to legislate morality, with some eye toward making America a ‘moral’ nation is ludicrous. According to the Christian Scriptures, no nation is moral and no nation can ever become moral. To attempt to insist otherwise is to eviscerate the Christian doctrine of its essential core.

So there you go. That’s what I was attempting to say.

“Alt” Lang Syne

2011 is nearing its end. I would say that it’s “virtually over”, but I’ll pretend that I’m above making such bad puns.

This year has been a blur for me. I’m a little upset with myself for not documenting events in 2011 a little more consistently, and I hope to break this habit in 2012. I suppose that SL has felt “blurry” because so much of my interaction with other residents has been on Twitter rather than on the grid.

Also, I’ve spent a considerable part of the past year feeling somewhat lost. I’ve been hesitant to delve into any major new projects, waiting and wondering along with some others as to the future of the grid. It’s also been difficult for me to immerse myself in SL this year: the desire to dive in and “be” has not been there for much of the year, not like it has been in previous years. While not exactly “burnout”, it’s fairly close. I’ve felt like I’ve lost my way, but I dearly want to find it again.

It warms my heart to see that “Your World, Your Imagination” has returned. (Now if we could just get Linden Lab to release their death grip on the Second Life name and logo, as well.) It doesn’t feel quite so much like Second Life is being polished for a possible acquisition. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised to see that Linden Lab is not quite as queasy as they’ve been in the past to acknowledge and promote the presence of mature and adult content on the grid, and the benefits of age verification. It feels a bit like Second Life is for grownups again. (Well, except for the seemingly never-ending marketing to fans of the “Twilight” franchise.)

Lazy reporting to the contrary, Second Life continues to be an online success story even as it continues to fumble to identify its core demographic. It seems to be getting closer to it, though. I still hold out my idea of “Second Life: It’s Not for Everyone, So It May Be for You” as a promotional tagline. I do think that is the key to SL’s continued success. There are many people who, like me, have absolutely no interest in online gaming. I was honestly surprised that I found myself eager to return again and again, but I was. Much of the time, I still am. There’s just nothing else like Second Life, and for all of its glitches and headaches, in my not so humble opinion it’s still one of the best things about the Internet.

Seriously, though – and if you’re reading this, Rodvik – please focus on fixing the basic functionality problems that we’ve been dealing with for years. Keep working on the new things, certainly, but don’t get so sidetracked by them that basic issues like chat lag, sim lag, texture loading, voice problems and teleporting don’t get sidelined.

I’m excited to see what 2012 brings us. I hope that you are, as well.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus, and a Wonderful New Year.

INWORLD

(Mostly) About Second Life™