Is it really "just a game"?

Canada
July 3, 2010 10:56am CST
I have a job that I do within SecondLife and I also run a small business that is finally starting to gain a little momentum. I don't make a lot of money at it but I do ok and, mainly, I really enjoy the time I spend in-world. Yesterday, I was unexpectedly IM'd by a gentleman that I didn't know who proceeded to do the online equivalent of screaming at me for having the nerve to visit his SIM and spam my advertising. I had NO clue what he was talking about. I came to find out that a former employee of mine had modified an in-world notecard to create advertising for a business of hers. She then spammed this notecard all over SL. The problem is I was originally the creator of that notecard :( Just her modifying it did not make it hers. So everyone she spammed will potentially think I'm the source of the spam. I've been in SL for years, have a good reputation and I'd never do something that so blatantly violates TOS. I submitted a report and hope the notecard can be pulled from the asset server it sits on but, in the meantime, who knows how many more people will be angry with me for something I didn't do and knew nothing about :( This girl who created the problem for me is pleading ignorance ... "I didn't do it intentionally"... "I thought that was how you use notecards"... and she can't comprehend why I'm upset. I know everyone has a learning curve but why do people insist on using websites that they know nothing about, without making ANY effort to learn the rules first? She doesn't think I should take the situation so seriously. Anything that has a connection to real-life money is serious to me. Do you view the potential to make money in a virtual world as a "real job" or is it all "just a game" no matter what?
1 response
Canellita
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
4 Jul 10
That woman is an idiot. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying too get over and it backfired. She wanted to play and now she has to pay for not following the rules. Is there a way you can follow the path she used to send the note cards and let people know it was not you? I would tell her she needed to send out an apology to everyone that was misled into thinking the card was from you. Incidentally, what is secondlife and how do note cards work?
1 person likes this
thinkingoutloud
@thinkingoutloud (6127)
• Canada
4 Jul 10
I agree... I suspect she is not nearly as "uninformed" as she is pretending to be. She got lazy and it backfired on her. Unfortunately, she went to in-world events, where there were many people in attendance, and just sent them this notecard. She wouldn't know who they were or how to contact them or even how many she gave out. It's definitely spamming. The man that got so mad at me, he was hosting a grand opening party for his in-world agency, and had probably 40 people at his event. I'm sure they all got one too. Once someone spams in such a ridiculous way, it's really hard to get it fixed... hence my anger at being implicated that way :( SecondLife is a virtual world. You create an avatar that becomes your representation of yourself (or whomever you want to be) and you can do all kinds of things. Think of a game like the Sims, if you know it, but add SO much more. In SecondLife, you can build and create (anything from architecture to clothing to vehicles to accessories to food ... there is no limit except for your imagination and talents). You can have a home, a job, shop, go to social events and clubs, your avatar can dance, hear live music (real-life singers, bands, solo musicians stream their performances in-world)... basically anything you do in your real world, you can do in SecondLife and add in a whole lot of fun and making more friends from all over the world. Notecards are a means of transmitting information. There is a limit on the number of offline instant messages that can be sent to your avatar... so, for example, someone can write all of their message to you on a notecard and drop it to a spot on your profile. Then you receive it and read it when you are next online. I use notecards for creating training materials at my in-world job and one of those is what the person modified and which caused all my trouble. If you are ever interested in such a place, have a look at their website - it's fascinating (at least to me LOL): http://secondlife.com/
Canellita
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
6 Jul 10
OMG, I'm scared to even think about doing that! Just what my life needs-- yet another distraction, lol! Thanks for the BR!
1 person likes this