New World Notes

Miss Metaverse Manners' Favorite Post of 2013: How to Leave Meaningful Marketplace Reviews

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Miss Metaverse Manners wasn't as prevalent on NWN in 2013 as she was in 2012, but that doesn't mean she didn't have quite a few posts of sound virtual world etiquette and advice. My favorite of the lot, however, is some simple advice that anyone leaving reviews on the Second Life Marketplace (or elsewhere) should take to heart. It's not just Miss Metaverse Manners' best post of 2013-- It might be one of her most important posts ever.

It's appallingly common for customers to leave 1-star reviews on items because of things that are thoroughly beyond the creator's control. Failed deliveries, their own failure to read the item description, even plain old user error in operating whatever it is they've bought. Marketplace reviews are not a good way to contact a designer about a possible problem, and they're an even worse way to get that problem resolved. It seems simple enough, but even if you think your grievances are on point I have three key tips for all you would-be reviewers. Read them for yourself here.

The Return of Miss Metaverse Manners: How to Get a Stubborn Second Life Customer to Just Sit Down and Listen

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing take on etiquette & ethics in virtual spaces

Although the Miss Metaverse Manners feature isn't one I do regularly anymore, every now and then an issue comes up that simply needs to be addressed. I received a comment on one of my older MMM posts and, like a superhero emerging from the shadows when a citizen is in danger, I knew it was time for Miss Metaverse Manners to reappear and save the day.

Hi Iris, I have a question and would like your opinion on what to do. Hope it's ok to ask here, didn't find a ask page. So I sell some items that I custom color match to people's outfits. When they buy the item it gives them a simple form that explains how to show me the color they want, either take a pic or a link to something online and how to find their transaction info showing when they bought my item. Also, my profile asks for notecards cuz IM's almost always cap. So far no one has ever had a problem and even thanked me for the special custom color service. But there's this one customer that just will not read directions! IM'ing me like crazy (even when I ask to please send notecards) and sending random IM's asking for customizing more than matching the color, claiming to have bought the item when it was refunded 2 times, when it finally worked then losing the form 2 times (how do you lose a notecard form??). I keep trying to answer politely and resending forms, but it's been 5 days now and this customer just won't read any directions and we're getting nowhere! I don't know how much longer I can be polite anymore. Obviously all my polite words are just not getting through! There are so many rude words that pop into my head whenever I see this person's IM's pop up when I log on, I just want to bang my head on the keyboard and yell at this person to read the darn directions already! Please some advice on what to do? Anyone? At wits end here.

                                                        - Lorelei

Miss Metaverse Manners Redux: How To be The Most Well-Mannered Shopper at SL's Hair Fair 2013

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

One of Second Life's biggest annual fashion fundraising events, Hair Fair, opens its doors this Saturday July 13th. You'll be able to buy hundreds of brand new styles like the one above, Tootsie from Clawtooth. Of course I want you all to be on your best behavior at this event (especially since it's one of my personal favorites) so I'm donning my Miss Metaverse Manners hat once more to adress the best way to behave at big events like Hair Fair. For starters...

How to Leave Meaningful Marketplace Reviews (Or More Accurately: How to Avoid Looking Like an Ass in One)

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

The quick and dirty reviews availably on a lot of virtual shopping sites these days, including the SL Marketplace, can be a real gift for indecisive shoppers. At the same time, they can also be a curse for designers and vendors whose businesses can be jeopardized by one person with a less than thoughtful review.

Unfortunately there's no real guide on how to leave these kinds of reviews, so it's understandable that a lot of people get confused and make mistakes about what kind of information is useful and what kind is, well, garbage. So today I've got three easy tips that will hopefully shed a little more light on how to write a flawless product review on the SL Marketplace (or elsewhere), starting with...

PlurkSecret: Users Can Now Post Anonymously on SL's Favorite Social Network -- Cue Mega-Drama!

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Recently Plurk, a social network similar to Twitter heavily used by the Second Life community, rolled out a controversial new feature. Users can now make posts anonymously using the "whispers" tag that will be seen on their friends' timelines, but will not have their username or any other identifying marks attached to it. While the feature seems like it's intended to be a sort of like a PostSecret that you can send to only the people you know, it's caused a huge fuss since it debuted... But not for the reasons you might expect.

Miss Metaverse Manners Rants: How to Contact a Second Life Content Creator (Without Being a Jerk)

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

So you just bought a fabulous new pair of Second Life shoes... But the left one is the wrong color. WTF. Thankfully it's easy to contact a content creator in SL: Just open an IM window and MESSAGE THEM IN ALL CAPS, right?

That might sound crazy, but a lot of content creators tell me that's exactly how a lot of people contact them, and they've shared horror stories about rude or oblivious customers with me for years. There's a lot of unspoken etiquette that goes along with contacting anyone in SL -- ignorance of this etiquette is a huge grind on a virtual economy where content creators often make just a few pennies on each sale, causing them to wonder if all this rudeness from entitled customers (which I've covered before) is worth their time. So let's limit future damage with a few questions to ask yourself before you hit 'Send':

Iris Rants: My Simple Advice for SL Fundraiser Naysayers

 

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Together For Sway is one of the top shopping events in Second Life right now, with its wintery theme and a great personal cause, but there have been some negative voices among the crowd. If you're not familiar with the shopping event scene in Second Life that may be surprising news; after all, who could be against raising money to support someone in need? Sadly, for those of us who are used to the highs and lows of these kinds of events, this is nothing new.

While I support Together for Sway wholeheartedly, I have some straightforward advice for those who don't:

Second Life Etiquette Tips on Love, Learning & Linden Dollars for New Users -- and Oldbies Who Deal With Them

Iris Ophelia's ongoing take on etiquette & ethics in virtual spaces  

We were all new to Second Life at one point or another, and it probably wasn't a very glamourous period for anyone (for example, check out the above pic of my 4-month old avatar posted by Hamlet in 2006). Second Life is not the most user-friendly virtual world to learn, both socially and technically. Experienced users can be pretty intolerant of newbies even though we've all made the same silly mistakes, so I have a few tips for newbies and oldbies alike-- not questions and answers, but points that will hopefully help everyone understand each other a little better. Let's talk about three key Ls: Love, Learning, and Linden Dollars:

Miss Metaverse Manners: Surviving Survival Mode with Friends and More Minecraft Etiquette Questions!

Iris Ophelia's ongoing take on etiquette & ethics in virtual spaces   

Like any virtual space, minding your manners in Minecraft's multiplayer worlds can be a tricky (yet very important) issue. Luckily, Miss Metaverse Manners has a few tips on how to keep your Minecraft relationships from ending up as creeper bait.

How do I tell my friends that its not funny when they explode/burn/ruin my builds in Minecraft without being a naggy friend?

- Anonymous

Just tell them! There are so many cases in the etiquette world where polite silence is the absolute worst thing you can do, and this is one of those cases. Your friends can't read your mind, so let them know! Of course, demolition in Minecraft can be very fun too, so if your friends have an explosive streak, why not work together on building some structures for the sole purpose of blowing them to bits? What about a sand tower with a TNT foundation, or a wooden water tower? Set aside an area of your map just for you and your friends to mess up with these projects-- you'll probably enjoy it!

Got an Etiquette or Ethics Question About Minecraft? Ask Miss Metaverse Manners!

She's given advice about etiquette and ethics involving Second Life and MMOs for over two years, and this week, Iris "Miss Metaverse Manners" Ophelia turns her attention to another favorite world of hers: Minecraft! Maybe you're having drama on your favorite Minecraft server, and you're not sure what to do; maybe you think a friend's favorite new Minecraft skin looks a touch out of date, and you're wondering how to say that, when she asks. Miss Metaverse Manners to the rescue:

Anonymously post your touchy etiquette and ethics questions around templates on Iris' Formspring account by Thursday morning. (Or you can post them anonymously in Comments below, as long as they're civil.)