Sim Deathwatch: Second Life Shakespeare Globe Theatre Creator's Account in Jeopardy

Ina Centaur, avatar name for the ambitious multimedia artist who created a four sim-wide Globe Theater for her virtual live Shakespeare productions and financed them with some clever techniques is now in imminent jeopardy of having her SL account deleted due to over USD$3200 in unpaid fees. So while her sims "are prepaid six months in cash already", her avatar is the creator of thousands of items which exist in the Globe and elsewhere. "[M]uch of this content, being created for Second Life, can’t really be used elsewhere," she writes, "and if Ina Centaur has no future in Second Life, I guess the natural thing to do is to have her simply not be... in Second Life." So while other Second Life sims are in jeopardy due to failure to cover tier payments, in this case, it's the sim creator's account which hangs in the hazard. (And the sims would be difficult to sustain without her.) Go here to Ms. Centaur's blog to read more. Hat tip: Graham Mills.

Comments

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

I wish she could quickly export the builds to OpenSim...it seems wise to recall Antonio's words here from The Merchant of Venice:

"My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, nor to one place."

Fees are fees, but LL is about to lose a treasure :(

[Eddi Haskell]

I feel that lack of quality content in Second Life is what ultimately is holding growth back. Gorgeous creations such as the Nemo sims (it still hurts to see this gone), Julia Hathor's gorgeous Winter Sim at Creative Fantasies, and others are merely memories.

I have a proposal for Linden Labs. Every month, award one great build free rent forever. Do this on the basis of what the build contributes to Second Life. This will cost Linden Labs a pittance, but the rewards in terms of saving quality content will be enormous. Or, perhaps have an "emergency fund" of Lindens that can be applied to superior builds like this one.

I should hold my breath rather than wait for this to happen I think.

[nexus burbclave]

Linden Lab seems to think that Kafka's "The Trial" is a model for customer relations. The industry standard practice for billing disputes is to deactivate a user's accounts, not to delete a user's account and inventory. I can't think of a single other example of an MMO* that has a similar policy, and I have had experience with many MMO*s. Blizzard certainly doesn't do this because they want that user back once those payment issues have been resolved. Does Linden Lab not share this motivation?

Come to think of it, I can't think of a single Software as a Service company that deletes user account/information instead of deactivating an account? Would anyone from Linden Lab care to give some counter examples and/or take a stab at justifying their draconian policies?

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

/me highfives nexus for just the right literary reference.

Rod Humble reads this blog...how about playing the role of Henry VII instead of Richard III when it comes to customer service, sir?

[Vivienne Graves]

I find it hard to feel much sympathy here; the amount owed represents months of unpaid tier on multiple sims, and quite honestly the responsible thing to've done would have been to take all the content and give up the sims in the very first month one knew one couldn't make the tier payment. Instead of letting it go for three or four months, as appears to've been the case. (I have to admit I also can't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude; there's a delicious irony in an Ayn Rand admirer finding themselves in this situation. Cf. Atlas Shrugged and "parasites" who expect a free ride.)

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Vivienne, it's hilarious for me to defend one of Rand's acolytes (I did not know this of Ms. Centaur).

She needs to pay her money, but in several recent cases, there's no warning from the Lab when they suspend an account, no chance to make good with the creditor before Shylock gets his pound of flesh from the debtor.

[Saxon]

@Eddi

I like your idea. Granted, "free" and "forever" are pretty scary words to any corporate counsel, but the idea of some kind of discount for truly brilliant regions (which will attract traffic or be a true showpiece or have some overarching benefit to visitors), is an interesting one.

Something like a "genius grant" like the MacArthur Foundation, perhaps. Hmmmm... I seem to recall the Foundation used to regularly visit SL.

[Hanno Tietgens]

@ Eddi. Yes! A great idea – there is still so much amazing content in SL. Maybe this could be highlighted as "Destination of the Month", providing a continuous feed of PR and news material to promote the destination guide.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

I've seen rates on commercial grids as low as $25 a month for a full island/region. And I rather imagine some of the non-profit/educational grids would be thrilled to have a reasonably accurate reproduction of the Globe.

I still like Second Life as a resident, but from a business perspective, it's making less and less sense to invest in the land baron pyramid scheme.

[jo yardley]

It would be an eternal shame to see the Globe go.
SL should provide funding for those few sims that make SL more interesting, better and not look like all we care about is pixel hanky panky, shopping and chatting.
Or cut the tier in two, special rates for special sims.
The Globe is one of the sims that convinced me to stay in SL and that it is not all just perverts.

[Graham Mills]

All four sims are now listed on gridsurvey as departed as of yesterday. The map doesn't appear to have updated but Primtings is no longer accessible. Pity.

[ina]

thanks for the kind words... and the nice idea that LL would be able to forever-ize a sim. i think that's what i was trying to go for, but i suppose they simply have to charge for the sims. i just wish that they had a better method for transferring from invoicing to month-to-month, and that there's less admin hassle. if there's a way to get past this tangle of admin mess, then Primtings and Shakespeare would be around till August or longer at least, especially since they are prepaid.

http://blog.inacentaur.com/2011/06/19/shakespeare-and-primtings-deletion-due-to-an-admin-mess-but-what-can-we-do/

--

n.b., before amanda left, she said the shakespeare sims were saved re: LEA Grant... it was a small burst of hope for something i had thought hopeless. but then she left on wednesday, and i guess it's all hopeless now.