Dane Zander Working With Linden Lab to Fully Restore Lost Gardens of Apollo in Second Life

Dane Zander was surprised to find out Dane Zander's Lost Gardens of Apollo had suddenly reappeared in Second Life after a five year absence, but fortunately Dane Zander (that's him above in SL and IRL) stopped by New World Notes to provide more context and clarification:

First of all, I have the very best relationship with Linden Labs, and always did. I always received exceptional service, be it for any matter, big or small. That is since 2004, since my first 512 square meter lot on the Mainland. I do not hold any grudges, nor do I feel badly treated in any way. On the contrary!
My reasons for shutting down the sim were personal, financial, but in no way whatsoever did it have anything to do with being treated poorly by Linden Lab. Please understand this.

He is saying this in response to some SLers suggesting otherwise -- and also said this, against criticisms that Linden Lab didn't seek his permission for restoring the Gardens:

Yes, I was surprised when "my" old sim was suddenly back online. I wasn't prepared for that, and given the time difference (I live in Denmark, Europe) and the sudden barrage of emails/IM's I received, I was stunned, to say the least. Clueless. I was having my morning coffee when everything started dinging and donging and bleeping and bonging. I wasn't really expecting that!

But I was also elated, when I got in-world and could once again fly around "my" sim. It was an emotional moment for me, and I felt a true Nerd's gratitude. Oh man!

I IM'ed Mogura Linden (listed as the new sim's owner) and as per usual, I have received a gracious reply and am in talks with Linden Lab as we speak.

I have offered my unconditional help and any item I had removed just prior to shutdown. I am confident we will work everything out - including getting scripts and music running again so you all can once again enjoy "my" old sim whenever you feel like it.

I am humbled, honored and very thankful for your attention and loyalty. Totally unprepared. Still, thank you!

So good news all around, looks like, and as usual, very different from the dark anti-Linden conspiracies which usually emerge around stories like this.

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Comments

[Cyberserenity]

I do not understand why Linden lab havent done this before? In this game it is all about content. And nice to see that the old SL saying "keep your drama for your lama" for once work.

[JohnC]

“I do not understand why Linden lab haven't done this before?” 
You mean re open other peoples sims without their permission?
This is such an obviously bad case to demonstrate the dreadful nature of the premise.
But hands up anyone who really believes that it is all fine and dandy for LL to re use anything they find on their servers without the permission of it's original creator.
Ok, I know that Dane Zandor could not be more overwhelmed and ecstatically pleased that this LL have bestowed this honor upon his sim. This is great for him, could not be better.
Can we now then assume though that this is it.
They did this one time only, because they had a sneaking feeling that the creator would be over the moon with the decision they had made without his consent.
And can we rest easy knowing that, should he have objected, the sim would have been immediately closed down again.

[Aliasi Stonebender]

Do note the Terms of Service allow LL a license to use anything any user makes at any time. You agreed to them when you sign up, and you keep clicking 'agree' when the periodic changes crop. (It's also self-evidently a necessary one, too, since admins need to be able to use admin tools; 'things people make' include spam stuff and griefing items, after all.)

Why, over on the test grid I've seen brief glimpses of the Suffigium sim *I* used to help run brought up for one reason or another. At no time did it bother me because apparently, unlike many SL users, I understood the above.

[BavidD]

Well I understood the TOS too, but didn't have a lot of options when they were amended to allow this sort of thing. I could have bailed out and lost my time/sweat/love investment, true. I chose not to, but don't have to like it.

I just made a quick tour of the revived sim. I noticed
a) sim is owned by Dane Zander
b) every object I checked was owned by Dane also
c) the shops that I recall have been striped out
d) the donate bowl has a floating text, saying it used to be donations bowl.

It was empty apart from myself, it was odd to be alone in Apollo Gardens.

[Cathartes Aura]

The more I read about this the funnier it gets. For the sycophants - Is there any amount of water you won't carry for LL? LMAO!!!

So, a badly run company that has consistently made one bad decision after another over the last 10 years has come up with a yet another terrible idea.

For all the braindeads - this is a trial balloon. They are floating the idea that LL has the right to seize your property or assets anytime it wants without compensating you.

LL and their sycophants argue that they have the right to take your land, avatar, and entire inventory for themselves without paying you.

For example, they argue that they can seize a build you payed for yourself out of your own pocket and use it to benefit themselves.

And they are absolutely right about that. According to the TOS they can do exactly that. But the question that is hanging out there is - Should LL be doing this?

For a badly run company that is bleeding profusely from self-inflicted wounds, this is one more example of their extreme arrogance and hubris.

How does this help retain those residents still active in SL, and still spending real money, if they know anything they do here can be seized and used by LL or their competitors.

Back in the high flying days, when they were the only "game" in town they might have gotten away with this.

Nowadays this is seen for what it is - one more insane and desperate move by a company that seems determined to put itself out of business.

Keep up the good work, Mitch Kapor! LMAO!!!

And the Turkey Buzzard goes... Hiss. ;)

[Misty]

Aliasi Wrote:Do note the Terms of Service allow LL a license to use anything any user makes at any time. You agreed to them when you sign up,

My Reply:This is how years of all my hardwork was stolen being put on the marketplace.! the private region I owned was locked down from day one..no one ever seen my creations with zero chance they could be stolen "Wrong I was" In august all my work was flooded onto the marketplace as gatchas with even slick advertisement from another resident going so far as creating an entire store with 'my stuff'
so how did this happen one might ponder..well I closed my region a year ago then sometimes afterwards the lindens decided to put it up in the beta grid were copybotters lurk ready to steal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'Thanks Linden Lab and no matter what you say...I own my creations..PERIOD!

[JohnC]

As I understood it that huge TOS change was imposed for legal reasons, LL could make sure they were not sued to death at some future point. Now I don't blame them for that at all, I don't like it, but I can understand it in a way. However, I never thought that they would ever actually consider treating my stuff as theirs. Funny thing, yesterday I was looking at a brand new build on the what's hot now list, and there is this big container ship sticking right out front of it, a ship that I built way back in 2006 which was ripped off from my sim, of course it no longer has my name as creator, but it says it comes from a freebe store. I was invited to SL back in 2005 by someone who wanted to show me that one of the top Animation sellers in SL had built their whole sim with textures taken from a Unreal game level I had built, every texture was there. And of course back then this sim was being hailed as a top design. I have always know that my stuff was going to be stolen all the way down the line, it is the culture of SL. but it is another thing completely when the owners join in.