“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” ~ Winston Churchill

Thank you, Blizzard and baby jeebus.

While I’m sure many things in Cataclysm will lull me back for something more than the occasional raid heal run and dailies, the fact that Azeroth will no longer be land-based is fantabulous news.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s cute that the horde are getting greenskin gnomes goblins and the alliances are adding furries worgen, but I’m all for anything that retools the lameness that is most starting zones. Besides, I really want STV to be half-destroyed so I can run laughing through the ruins screaming “Take that you stupid gorilla bastards and stealthy panters!”

Yes, I’m still that bitter. I want STV to hurt, suffer, and die.

I’m also glad they’re not raising the level cap more than 5 levels this time (wish they’d been doing that for the previous two expansions) and will squee happily if the new BGs are at all interesting (shut it — I can dream!).

Now, just give us a fucking AH in whatever new duel-faction city we’ll be making our home base in and buff priests and I’ll forget that whole Aion love affair I had going on.

“I like you guys the way you are — cartoon characters who let me feel a sense of achievement in an imaginary world.” ~ Amy Okuda as “Tink”, The Guild (via Felicia Day)

Two things:

1. This would be funnier if the majority of the people in the video weren’t as attractive as they are; let’s face it, Felicia Day’s avatar isn’t anywhere near as hot as she is IRL;
2. In what MMO does priest gear look as nummy as what Felicia Day is wearing and rogue ranged DPS gear (good catch, CC!) look as icky as what Amy Okuda is wearing? Costume department: fail.

Other than that, it’s lulz.

Hat tip: Zen

“Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.” ~ Richard Bach

I got an offline from a pal recently and thought it was worth blogging.

HopelessRomantic: What the hell is the rationale for making clothing that’s copy/no transfer? How is that useful? How is a guy supposed to surprise his gf with a present when he can’t give it to her if he buys it?
HopelessRomantic: That just pisses me off to no end.

Okay, so he’s sounding off, but my buddy is a particularly nice guy who is smitten with his girl and he’s been around the grid a while. If he’s got questions, odds are, he’s not alone, so let me babble about what I believe is pretty damn close to the mark of why stuff in SL tends to be copy/no trans. I’ll break this post into two basic sections: Why and What To Do About It.

Don’t misunderstand me — when the copy/no trans movement first started in SL, I wasn’t a fan either (mostly because of the way it was being rolled out and by whom) and I’m sure Linden Lifestyles still has some rants in there about how it pissed me off, too, but the way the grid has evolved, it has become necessary and I think once you see why and have options to work around it, you’ll feel better about it, too.

I. Why Are So Many Products in SL Sold Copy/No Transfer?

A. Consumers Are Often New And/Or Stupid – As a store owner in SL, things would be a lot easier if you could set perms to “you must have an average IQ to purchase this item and have been in SL for at least a month.” Alas, it is not the case, and many of the consumers in SL are among the “special people” who circle toward the low end of the gene pool. They can also be fairly intelligent, but not necessarily SL or computer savvy. Copy/No Trans necessity pops into a content producer’s survival vocabulary somewhere around the 2000th time you get an IM that reads, “Hi, I’m really sorry, but I screwed up the texture on the skirt I bought at your store – can I return it for a new one so that I don’t have to buy it again?”
B. SL Can Sux – Thanks to the “maybe it works today, maybe it doesn’t” nature of our virtual playground, sometimes things just muck up. Maybe XStreet had a hiccup and didn’t deliver the item. Maybe the consumer got disconnected just before an in-world purchase could be completed. Maybe they attempted to rez the item and nothing happened. If an item is transfer and a consumer says they didn’t get it (or it mysteriously disappeared), you have to pass judgement on whether they’re telling the truth or if they’re just trying to scam a free second copy. With a copy/no transfer item, the consumer gains no benefit from multiple copies, so content producers can streamline their customer service; these days, shoppers can even avail themselves of the automated redeliver options provided by XStreet and certain in-world vendors.
C. Versatility (Mod) – When playing virtual paperdolls in SL, it may have come to your attention that a lot of us like to color outside the lines. We mix and match outfits. We custom fit things to our avatars. We tinker with the original product. The majority of consumers prefer “copy/no transfer” options because it means they can store the same item in different folders with different outfits in different states of modification. I can have a hair lily tinted pink in a folder with my bikini as part of a tropical beach outfit, then have the same lily tinted red and reattached/adjusted to a different slot so that it appears tucked into a French twist to wear with a formal gown, or rez it in-world floating in a small bowl of water to decorate my vanity. My world, my stuff, my way.
D. Griefing/Asshattery – Back in the day there would be lots of “yard sales” all over the grid where people might have taken a transfer freebie item, loaded it with griefing scripts, and set it out for newbies to get ambushed with. Or, someone may have purchased an item, modded it and ruined it and then tried to pass off the ruined version to someone else to scam their money back. When stuff like this happens, the only recourse people have to seek help is whomever is listed as the creator on the item. Which means a lot of content creators can get slammed with angry IMs about stuff that’s been handed off third person, even though they have no part in the exchange. No-transfer means none of that noise.

***Reminder To Self *** Check and see if there is already an active JIRA to add an avatar name to the “aquired on” date of items in properties, in order to list not just the date an item came into inventory, but also from whom it was acquired in addition to content creator name.

II. What Can I Do About No-Transfer and Gift-Giving?

A. Gift Certificates – They may not feel as personal, but many stores have them and they’re fairly easy to use these days. Plus, if you’re a boy, you’re more likely to pick out something horrible we’ll just have to pretend to like. Go play with the ray guns in the corner and let mommy do the shopping.
B. XStreetSL.com – I know we all hate the craptastic lack of search sophistication, but XStreet is what we’ve got to work with and a lot of content creators in SL use it. Try searching by creator name for ease of use. If you’re pouty because you feel this ruins immersion, then just time presentation so that you hand your honey an in-world gift box at the same time that you click “send as gift” on XStreet’s page.
C. Seek Out Stores That Have Gift-Option Vendors – Several stores in SL will have “Purchase As Gift” buttons or options on their vendors, or a special area of the store set up as a gift area. Use them.
D. When All Else Fails, Ask – If you don’t see any other means, you can always drop a notecard on a store owner and ask them to deliver an item to a different avatar. When I do this, I always pay at the time I drop the notecard and simply ask that if they cannot deliver the item to a different avatar (for whatever reason) they simply refund me when they read the notecard. When doing things like this, be brief, be polite, and be reasonable. Do not babble about your personal reason for the purchase. Do not demand or make passive-aggressive snide remarks about their lack of options. Do not ask for some bend-over-backwards detail like having them put it in a special container or deliver it at exactly noon on the Tuesday after the next full moon. If you have any problem understanding what brief, polite, and reasonable means, here is a below example:

Hi Storeowner,

Transaction ID: 1234567890
Date: XX/YY/20ZZ 00:00:00
Object Sale
Description: ITEM
Region: PLACE
Destination: CONTENT CREATOR / STORE OWNER

Note that the name of the ITEM and the FRIEND AVATAR you want the item to be delivered to should be in caps to distinguish this information as vital. Also keep in mind that not everyone speaks the same language on the grid, so there might be more need for back and forth. Use common sense and remember that you are the one seeking something out of the norm for this particular seller.

I know most of these options don’t address the lack of spontaneity and/or break in immersion aspects of the situation, but it’s not a perfect world and it’s certainly not a perfect grid and as compromises go, this is one that has slipped into the “no way round it” drawer in my mental filing cabinet. If you can twirl around on repetitive animated looping dance balls and still enjoy time with your honey, then you can sort through this.

And seriously, if your sweetheart says “damn, you bought me something and didn’t surprise me — you jerk” feel free to send them to me for slapping. They obviously need it and you’re apparently doing it wrong.

Cheers.

“We go wherever we want to —
Do what we like to do;
We don’t have time to get restless,
There’s always something new.”
~ Theme from The Monkees, via Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart