So I'm chiseling away at the many prims and scripts on a low rent sim packed with tenants, and I get interrupted by this missive from a dubious fellow whose feed is filled with complaints about his bilking rental customers and whose MP store has products all low-rated because they apparently don't work.
What behooves people to go around with this kind of "improvement" mission? Sweep around your own door, jackass.
Here we go. The group in question is the Mainland Appreciation Society which provides hangouts that are quite nice -- the HQ is a place from which you can sail to Linden hangouts like the Pyri Fun Fair and of course Bellisseria, which is right nearby now; one of the areas is by the artists' galleries in Corsica South Coast and is a rental to support that project; yet another is on a beautiful mountain top by a castle with 3 bars, and with neighbours with an amazing beach and sailing sim. It has two rentals that only somewhat offset the tier. I provide group gifts and free gatchas at my own expense. I change the content regularly. A few people contribute some gatchas or content but most just enjoy what it is that is offered. Very occasionally some members might sign a petition or weigh in on some issue with SL. It's not really a lobbying group because people in SL are too passive, preoccupied, or suspicious to join together with others in a common cause.
So what the hell???
[17:30] Pine Martinek: (Saved Thu Feb 24 19:39:05 2022)Why does it cost 5L to join your group?
[17:32] Prokofy Neva: Because all of the groups have expenses and this small fee helps offset it somewhat. Why does it bother you?
[17:54] Pine Martinek: the mainland group seems like a good cause, you would get more members without the token fee
[17:55] Prokofy Neva: You have GOT to be kidding me. $5??? In a world where people spend $5000 on heads and at least 10 times that on Fifth Linden Friday? Not when I have search fees for the land, the tier, the content, the free gifts. And why on earth does this bother you?
[17:56] Prokofy Neva: It makes no difference whatsoever as I used to have no fee and there's this: start your own group without a fee then? And see how you do. Your feed is not a good advertisement for you
[17:58] Pine Martinek: it bothers me because the group is not a land or commercial group, but a lobby group
[17:58] Prokofy Neva: All the more reason to charge for the costs involved
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: And are you in charge of group policy??? No one requires you to pay this fee. I have had many people happily pay it and approve of it and no one ever complain, especially not somebody in SL business
[17:59] Pine Martinek: what costs are involved in a lobby group?
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: I just listed them for you
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: Search ads for the land hangouts
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: tier
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: group gifts
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: content which is changed regularly
[17:59] Prokofy Neva: rentals do not offset it sufficiently, there's only one
[18:00] Prokofy Neva: "Ronaldo", could it be that you are merely a nutsack?
[18:00] Pine Martinek: that group doesn't need to have any expenses
[18:00] Prokofy Neva: But it does, it has hangouts and gifts in order for people to sail etc and have some place to go
[18:00] Prokofy Neva: make your own group, SL is free in that way
[18:01] Pine Martinek: Mainland Appreciation Society is the group i am talking about
[18:03] Pine Martinek: with 14 sims you are just a leach on low income citizens
[18:03] Pine Martinek: bye
[18:03] Prokofy Neva: Are you out of your *fucking* mind? My rent in some of the areas is half of what I personally have to pay in tier
[18:04] Prokofy Neva: and that's the group I'm talking about too
[18:04] Prokofy Neva: I think I can happily go on appreciating the Mainland without you "Ronaldo". Why not work on fixing your broken products?
I have to say the LEAST effective remark by this asswipe is his claim that I'm a "leach on low income citizens". In fact, I'm a boon to said low income citizens who rent my rentals for a fraction of the price of other people's. I have the land preserve for which I use the proceeds of the rentals, and the tips and tier donations there help, but hardly cover the costs.
If I didn't also have some very nice thank you notes lately from tenants and users of the land preserve, an intervention from an idiot like this out of the blue might get me down. But I've also long since learned that in SL, you have to walk around the robots. There are always people like this who gratuitiously swipe at you because they see something they wish they had done, or think they can do better, and imagine if they harangue you, you will buckle.
I call such people on Twitter "ankle-biters." You are out on a ledge, you are trying to do some public project or take a public stand, and some anonymous jerk tries to bite your ankles.
Kick them away, I say!
