Avatar on the Grid: Ludo Merit and SL as "Playground, Not Game"

Here's a series I hope to do from time to time like a "man in the street" interview only "avatar on the grid".

I constantly meet interesting people in SL and people who aren't the usual visible SL types who form the media stereotype or participate in the blog dramas. I want to work at getting more of a sense of what goes on in SL and what it means to people.

I was flying around this morning looking at the abandoned land in Grote and seeing I could now buy a parcel because I sold another parcel underwater in Duck. And I saw that a long-time neighbour had her land up for sale for only $1.5/m  in this gorgeous area that formerly sold for even $10 or even $20 a meter in the old days, on a little Linden pond and creek with an old-style waterfall.

The owner turned out to be Ludo Merit, and I recalled hearing her name and read her profile and saw all the interesting groups she belonged to like the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Avatar Repertory Theater along with Builder's Brewery and Kalway Order of Jedi Apprentices. She writes:

I came here to develop Hero Walk, a role playing game (see picks). I'm finally getting a web site and holding regular meetings. Unfortunately, I'm getting sicker all the time. 

If I am set busy it often means I am afk and won't be back for hours. If you IM me, I'll see it when I get back unless my IMs get capped. If you send me anything it will go in my trash. If you send a notecard or object, send an IM saying that you sent it so I can dig it out of trash. 

Thanks for understanding, Ludo

Interests
improv acting Interplay playwright Society for creative anachronism (sca)

Second Life Birthdate

April 27, 2006

Real World Biography

East Coast US. Age 71 F. Interests: Interplay, SCA, Campbell Foundation, church, RP, improv acting, playwright, writing, life coaching, game design, SF/fantasy, myth, serious discussion, more. Married 49 yrs. Housebound. 
"Hey, I learned something."

Here's our conversation -- which repeats and rambles mainly due to my fault in lagging, having work messages blinking urgently in the other windows, and needing to get the hang again of the SL spliced chat conversation where you are really talking to the other person's every other line. (I also need to turn off that damn date-stamp on viewer 3!)

But rather than take a lot of time to edit this now, and delay it indefinitely, I want you to learn about this fascinating person in SL! This is "as is," although without the chat of her game cards so as not to have a "spoiler" -- it's really better to go and experience it yourself.

Prokofy: Hello, I see you are my neighbour in Grote and you have an interesting biography. I wonder if you would be interested in doing an interview for my blog about your SL work and interests.
[07:59] Ludo Merit: Ludo Merit (busy response): People are my highest priority, but my health should be. I go into busy mode when I am afk, and sometimes fall asleep afk. If I'm not back in 15 min, send me a notecard. My IMs get capped. Please don't try to talk to me after 5 pm. Thanks, Ludo
[08:00] Ludo Merit: Hi, maybe. You sound like the interesting one, eight year-old
[08:00] Prokofy Neva: Yes I am eight just recently
[08:00] Ludo Merit: I'm trying to sell the grote land.
[08:00] Prokofy Neva: it could be short and be almost just your existing profile, not to take up your time
[08:00] Prokofy Neva: yes I saw
[08:00] Prokofy Neva: I don't have the tier for it right now or I'd get it but I may be able to
[08:00] Prokofy Neva: I have to get another one across the river
[08:01] Ludo Merit: I have two waterfront parcels that I have to sell before the end of the month. Let me look at your blog.
[08:01] Prokofy Neva: I want to have a series called "avatar on the grid" which is like "man on the street" interviews that seek out different experiences in SL that go beyond the usual round of characters
[08:02] Prokofy Neva: and you are perfect!
[08:02] Prokofy Neva: http://secondthoughts.typepad.com
[08:02] Ludo Merit: Thank you, I agree!
[08:02] Ludo Merit: I wrote a song with that title
[08:02] Prokofy Neva: really!
[08:02] Prokofy Neva: why are you selling your land?
[08:04] Ludo Merit: Because I found a better parcel for my purposes and can't afford to keep it all.
[08:04] Ludo Merit: sure, I'll give you an interview.
[08:04] Prokofy Neva: ok, I wondered if you were one of those folks going to Open Sim
[08:04] Prokofy Neva: well we have already started it! And five more minutes and we could be done right now : )
[08:05] Prokofy Neva: I saw you were developing a game. Have you found the new Pathfinding tool relevant?
[08:05] Ludo Merit: Aw, don't you want to come over and see the Hero Walk?
[08:06] Ludo Merit: No, because it's not that kind of a game. It's most like live action rp and doesn't require SL to play, and can be played in conjunction with other games and other rule sets
[08:06] Prokofy Neva: Is it a unique game you invented?
[08:06] Ludo Merit: The time was not my concern,. Your name reminded me of someone else that starts with P. You probably know who that is.
[08:06] Ludo Merit: Yes.
[08:06] Prokofy Neva: Someone else with a P?
[08:07] Prokofy Neva: Did you chose your name in SL as a reference to the idea of "ludic" or play, homo ludens?
[08:07] Ludo Merit: Yes, I think of him as Provocateur because he was one.
[08:07] Prokofy Neva: oh but that's probably me : )
[08:07] Prokofy Neva: I'm infamous : )
[08:07] Ludo Merit: Yes, because I came here to develop that game. Ah, it is you! That site doesn't seem too horrid, though. Want a tp to the Hero display?
[08:07] Prokofy Neva: Is the sim with the game already open to visit?
[08:08] Prokofy Neva: ok
[08:08] Prokofy Neva: You are in SL after all these years. Do you find it frustrating at all?
[08:08] Ludo Merit: Who can afford a sim? The display has been evolving for six years.
[08:08]

[08:08] Ludo Merit: Of course it's frustrating. So's life.
[08:08] Prokofy Neva: True that
[08:09] Prokofy Neva: I noticed you said you were 71 on your profile. I thought I was an oldster at 56. Do you find young people today outrageous?
[08:09] Prokofy Neva: or do you feel the social life of SL is not for you?
[08:09] Ludo Merit: This display is an interactive illustration of Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey.
[08:10] Ludo Merit: I find young people stimulating, and I love to dance. However, I have this need to create and that takes a lot of time.
[08:10] Prokofy Neva: Is this the Enneagram?
[08:10] Ludo Merit: No, the Hero Journey has twelve steps.
[08:10] Ludo Merit: If you start at brown and go around to blue you experience the life of a hero
[08:11] Ludo Merit: By touching the pictures and reading the chat and answering the questions for yourself
[08:11] Prokofy Neva: It seems similar in some of its ideas
[08:11] Ludo Merit: If you have time I'll touch them so we both see the chat. The owner can do that.
[08:11] Prokofy Neva: I think I'll head to the Provocateur spot : )
[08:12] Prokofy Neva: Fascinating
[08:12] Ludo Merit: You don't get to be a provocateur until you've paid your dues as an elder
[08:12] Prokofy Neva: Is this your art work too?
[08:12] Prokofy Neva: Ah, I see!
[08:12] Prokofy Neva: can I take a screenshot?
[08:12] Ludo Merit: Most of it is Jesz Murakami, also old and weird. Four are Sky Carson, and one is Bau Ur.
[08:12] Ludo Merit: Sure.
[08:13] Ludo Merit: But of course, Prokofy, you've paid your dues as an elder irl.
[08:13] Prokofy Neva: well that I have
[08:13] Ludo Merit: I like provocateurs. I am a less intense one than many.
[08:14] Prokofy Neva: Bau Ur I recognize
[08:14] Ludo Merit: Yes, I really like her. She helped me design one of the most artistic hero walks. This design has been evolving.
[08:15] Ludo Merit: Jesz has art on the NE corner of this sim, in a castle that I think is still purple
[08:15] Prokofy Neva: Ok
[08:15] Prokofy Neva: Do you get many people coming to the sim?
[08:16] Ludo Merit: This display is a tool in the game, something like dice. I just own this corner of it, and there are hero walks on other sims as well.
[08:16] Prokofy Neva: I will have to come and take some time to walk through it
[08:16] Ludo Merit: The heroes meet Tuesday at noon. We took a flyabout to Gianfar Peaks last Tuesday.
[08:16] Prokofy Neva: Are you affiliated with the Campbell Foundation?
[08:17] Ludo Merit: Yes, I believe you'd enjoy it. I'm a member but not an active one, and I'm trying to find SL Campbellians to help me found a Campbell Round Table here. I have the group name, but not the experience.
[08:17] Prokofy Neva: I'm not that familiar with Joseph Campbell but I will read up on it, it looks interesting.
[08:18] Prokofy Neva: What were the challenges you faced and overcame to make this RP sim?
[08:18] Ludo Merit: I keep getting distracted by other things, but I've finally got regular hero meetings going.
[08:18] Prokofy Neva: and is this a grandfathered sim?
[08:18] Ludo Merit: It's not my sim, I rent the SW corner
[08:19] Prokofy Neva: Okay, well it makes sense to share with the cost of tier.
[08:19] Ludo Merit: And there are a lot of interesting people here. For your interviews, I recommend Marly Milena
[08:19] Prokofy Neva: Do you prefer mainland or islands?
[08:19] Ludo Merit: I prefer estates if I own the sim, otherwise mainland is lower tier. I don't trust anyone but me to run a sim that has low lag.
[08:20] Prokofy Neva: Yes I hear you
[08:20] Prokofy Neva: Did I ask you and not see in the chat, is your name based on the word "Ludic" or as in "homo ludens"
[08:20] Prokofy Neva: I will follow up with Marly
[08:21] Ludo Merit: Yes, I chose Ludo because it means "I play" and I came here to develop this game so it seemed appropriate.
[08:21] Prokofy Neva: I love the term "Flyabout"
[08:21] Ludo Merit: She's a character and she does really great playshops - she's an art therapist irl.
[08:22] Ludo Merit: well, we heroes are going through the hero walk and as you can see from the prims, we're all on gray or purple now. And purple is the time of the flyabout, just as in Australia teens do a walkabout.
[08:22] Prokofy Neva: Interesting, yes I see the connection.
[08:23] Prokofy Neva: I see you are in the repertory theater, have you acted in SL?
[08:23] Ludo Merit: But we haven't been able to do the walkabout in the traditional manner, alone. So we're doing it together.
[08:23] Ludo Merit: More fun that way.
[08:23] Ludo Merit: Yes, I was with SLSC back when it was legal to name it that.
[08:23] Ludo Merit: And I've done a few other plays and movies.
[08:24] Prokofy Neva: let's see what did SLSC stand for?
[08:24] Ludo Merit: But I don't have as much time to act as I'd like. I'm really more of a playwright than an actor.
[08:24] Prokofy Neva: It seems terribly hard to put on a play in SL
[08:24] Ludo Merit: Second Life Shakespeare Company, the one with four sims with a Globe theater on them

[08:24] Prokofy Neva: I recently caught sight of a product on the Marketplace that looked like it might make it easier called Prop Drop
[08:24] Ludo Merit: Yes, it is.
[08:24] Prokofy Neva: or something like that, it drops prims from a HUD
[08:25] Prokofy Neva: Oh right. Well what really happened with that theater? It seemed like a terrible drama partly self-inflicted.
[08:25] Ludo Merit: Most companies set up the sets and drop them all at once.
[08:25] Ludo Merit: But I'll check out prop drop.
[08:25] Prokofy Neva: I'll have to get the precise name, I think it's meant for a sort of holodeck thing, but it might work for plays
[08:25] Ludo Merit: We couldn't get people to pay enough for performances to pay the tier and the actors.
[08:26] Prokofy Neva: What I wonder about performances in SL is what it means if you have an avatar merely click on a lot of animations
[08:26] Ludo Merit: Please do give me the name when you get it.
[08:26] Prokofy Neva: that was what was done for the Machinima "Bells and Spurs", did you ever see that? Made by Eric Linden
[08:26] Prokofy Neva: If you click 10 times through a series of anims, are you acting?
[08:26] Ludo Merit: I have a Huddles Deluxe that allows me to click through the animations.
[08:27] Prokofy Neva: Yes I totally hear you about getting money for performances in SL, it's a fool's errand
[08:27] Ludo Merit: Acting in SL is mostly voiice and timing. THe rest is tech.
[08:27] Prokofy Neva: or trying to put up pay walls on the land
[08:27] Prokofy Neva: just a non-starter
[08:28] Prokofy Neva: Have you ever thought to move to Open Sim due to the cost?
[08:28] Prokofy Neva: of tier?
[08:29] Ludo Merit: I do Kate's soliloquoy from Taming of the "Shrew, with appropriate gestures. It took me a long time to work out the gestures and set up the hud, and there's skill involved in clicking the right anim at the right time, but as I said, in SL you get the audience to suspend disbelief with your voice.
[08:29] Ludo Merit: I was about to check out OSgrid, but I am here for the people and activities. I build and script, but that's not why I'm here.
[08:30] Ludo Merit: Can you see you? You're a cloud to me.
[08:30] Prokofy Neva: Here's that product Drop 'N Prop
[08:30] Prokofy Neva: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Virtual-Props-Drop-N-Prop-Prop-Rezzer-PROMO/3500215
[08:30] Prokofy Neva: You know I can see myself but I often wander lonely as a cloud on viewer 3
[08:31] Ludo Merit: Unless someone tells me I don't know.
[08:31] Prokofy Neva: I don't know whether that item is any different or better than your Huddles, haven't tried it but hope to
[08:31] Prokofy Neva: You're right that there's skill in the puppetry of anims, I almost never put them on
[08:32] Prokofy Neva: especially now that laugh isn't near to hand
[08:32] Prokofy Neva: But does the voice disrupt the immersion do you think?
[08:33] Ludo Merit: I think a good voice actor uses voice to get the immersion. I'm in VAI so when I perform solo I put the text in chat and use voice.
[08:34] Prokofy Neva: what's VAI?
[08:34] Prokofy Neva: what viewer do you like to use
[08:34] Ludo Merit: So everyone can 'hear.' Virtual Ability Incorporated.
[08:34] Prokofy Neva: Is that Gentle Heron's group?
[08:35] Ludo Merit: I went to V2 when it first came out and immediately liked it better. I see no sense in using a third party viewer that is constantly having to catch up with LL's changes.
[08:35] Ludo Merit: Yes, it's Gentle's group.
[08:35] Prokofy Neva: That's interesting that you liked viewer 2 -- there was such a firestorm of criticism
[08:35] Prokofy Neva: what did you like better about it?
[08:35] Ludo Merit: I've liked it all along.
[08:36] Ludo Merit: I thought things were organized more sensibly.
[08:36] Ludo Merit: And I don't like pie menus. Why have just eight things on a menu and have to go through three to get all the options?
[08:36] Prokofy Neva: Interesting. I find that it horribly disrupts the workflow on land management, and viewer 3 is only slightly less worse
[08:36] Prokofy Neva: I take your point about the pies
[08:37] Prokofy Neva: Did the media on a prim impress you?
[08:37] Prokofy Neva: You said you build and script. Did you have any sort of computer or graphics training in RL? And have you graduated to working with sculpties and mesh?
[08:37] Ludo Merit: How does it disrupt land management? I'll grant that I'm so used to v3 that I don't see the disadvantages any more.
[08:38] Prokofy Neva: well I really need to make a post just on this subject of the annoyances, but it has to do with first, group management, and more clicks to getting to roles, changing them, adding people, etc. Then it has to do with the land menu, getting the list of prims, removing them -- more steps
[08:38] Ludo Merit: I have heard that media on a prim can be a griefer tool so I don['t watch it unless I have to. If I used it myself I'd not let the 'audience' change the web site.
[08:38] Prokofy Neva: when you do a lot of this all day, every extra click adds to the fatigue somehow
[08:39] Prokofy Neva: You know, there's the issue about media on a prim whether it captures people's IP addresses, and I don't know if the Lindens ever got that aspect blocked or not
[08:39] Ludo Merit: Yes, I'm sure it does. That's why I don't bother trying to make money in SL. It involves a lot of the sort of work I don't really like.
[08:39] Ludo Merit: Yes, that's what I'd like to know about media
[08:39] Prokofy Neva: Yes there is nothing magical or pixie dust about trying to do a RL sort of job in SL, I don't attempt it myself.
[08:40] Prokofy Neva: well we should ask about this, I heard that there was a TOS change due to the abuse of this issue by the product called Red Zone, the maker was banned -- it was outing outs by comparing and contrasting IP addresses.
[08:40] Prokofy Neva: What do you like best about Second Life?
[08:40] Prokofy Neva: also let me repeat this question, I'm lagging and maybe not seeing the chat:
[08:41] Ludo Merit: Yes, I heard about that product. It was quite popular while it lasted.
[08:41] Prokofy Neva: You said you build and script. Did you have any sort of computer or graphics training in RL? And have you graduated to working with sculpties and mesh?
[08:41] Ludo Merit: If you'd slow down I could get to all your questions before you have to repeat them.
[08:41] Prokofy Neva: sorry I'm used to typing mad fast because I do transcription and translation for a living lol
[08:41] Prokofy Neva: in fact I have to check a job, BRB, you can read my questions and answer : )
[08:43] Ludo Merit: I'll take the build and script first. I fooled with sculpt and Blender enough to know I don't want to  spend the time to learn to do it well. Mesh is also blender, so ditto. I was a computer programmer irl before I retired, but I've only picked up enough LSL to change scripts to what I want. I wouldn't build and script at all if I weren't so picky.
[08:44] Ludo Merit: What do I like best about SL? It is my only creative and social outlet since I'm housebound. I prefer rl but I've had to give up all my favorite rl things.
[08:45] Ludo Merit: SL is a playground, not a game. We bring our own toys and share them with each other. We get annoyed with the playground supervisors or the other kids and pick up our toys and go home. Just like a playgrounds.
[08:45] Prokofy Neva: Yes!
[08:45] Prokofy Neva: This is so well put. A playground, not a game.
[08:45] Ludo Merit: And I play with the kids I like and ignore the ones I don't like.
[08:46] Prokofy Neva: I've often made the point that SL, and in fact, most online games or worlds, are about Playing War, Playing House, or Playing Store.
[08:46] Ludo Merit: I'd love to play with you.
[08:46] Prokofy Neva: LOL
[08:46] Prokofy Neva: Well I personally like Playing Store. It's satisfying to make a service or product and sell it and have someone like it and develop a customer relationship, but it's a kind of game.
[08:46] Ludo Merit: Well, for me, SL is about playing with who we really are. I'm quoting a friend who said that about the Society for Creative Anachronism.
[08:46] Prokofy Neva: I think I might turn into one of the kids you don't like rather soon but thanks for the offer : )
[08:47] Ludo Merit: Hero Walk is for playing with who we really are.
[08:47] Prokofy Neva: Tell me more about the Society for Creative Anarchronism
[08:47] Prokofy Neva: I've always heard about it but don't know anything.
[08:47] Ludo Merit: The world needs provocateurs.
[08:48] Ludo Merit: "We re-create the middle ages as they should have been" Alura Twinborn, at your service, m'lord. I come from the Kingdom of Atlantia, the Barony of Windmaster's Hill, the Shire of Elvegast.
[08:49] Ludo Merit: I haven't been in SCA for years. We choose our kings by single combat.
[08:49] Ludo Merit: We fight with rattan swords and have rules about the swords and armor to prevent injury.
[08:50] Ludo Merit: I never had the reflexes to fight, but there are other things to do. I earned honors for heraldry, costuming and the like.
[08:50] Ludo Merit: Above all  we value our cooks, for every event is a feast and cooks are essential.
[08:50] Ludo Merit: Poul Anderson and his friends founded the organization.
[08:52] Ludo Merit: Dancing. I taught medieval dance. Acting. I directed medieval plays in SCA.
[08:52] Prokofy Neva: All so fascinating! and this SCA is in real life, doing real life play, right?
[08:52] Ludo Merit: We have a lot of our events at camps and I soon became too unhealthy for that.
[08:52] Ludo Merit: Right.
[08:53] Ludo Merit: Though there's an SCA group here. You have to be SCA irl to join it.
[08:53] Prokofy Neva: So they have a presence here?
[08:53] Prokofy Neva: Oh, now that's interesting, the opposite of so much else in SL.
[08:53] Ludo Merit: I'm out of touch. I think they still do.
[08:53] Prokofy Neva: I have a Viking NPC following me around all the time now on one of my sims where my tenant is experimenting with Pathfinding
[08:54] Prokofy Neva: Now I wanted to ask you what you think about the development of SL over the years. There have been so many milestones and issues and of course the relations with the Lindens. Do you get involved in any of this? Did you follow the JIRA ?
[08:54] Ludo Merit: I took the NCI pathfinding class but haven't used it yet.
[08:54] Prokofy Neva: well you know those characters are in boxes, and they are actually pretty nimble, they don't collide as much as I had feared
[08:55] Prokofy Neva: However I did find that their performance was worse than my much-maligned sion Chickens that Falcon Linden calls "nonperformant".
[08:55] Prokofy Neva: *Fumes*
[08:56] Ludo Merit: Well, the Lindens say they have improved bug reporting, by not letting us see the reports any more. So many things don't scale. The Lindens have to keep taking things away as SL gets bigger. Sad.
[08:56] Prokofy Neva: So you think the closure of the view of the JIRA was merely a scaling issue?
[08:56] Ludo Merit: I was into sion chickens once. They were horrid for lag.
[08:56] Prokofy Neva: well version 2 of the chickens reduced a lot of lag. and the key to running them is to not put them in cages but let them have free range
[08:57] Ludo Merit: I wouldn't venture to guess. I found them laggy even when I didn't let them bump into prims.
[08:57] Prokofy Neva: Well, they're ugly, but not really laggy : )
[08:58] Prokofy Neva: but did you think the JIRA closure was merely about not being able to answer comments and scaling?
[08:58] Ludo Merit: I don't know all the reasons that they cut down like that. Perhaps part of it was a reaction to various provocateurs that used the JIRA, eh?
[08:58] Prokofy Neva: It's interesting that hardly any one is squawking about it now, and that a small select group is back allowed to view it again. The scripting FIC.
[08:59] Prokofy Neva: Oh, I myself am banned from the JIRA of course over my insistence that the "share" bug was  a bug not a feature request
[08:59] Ludo Merit: They were twice as laggy as the horses last I checked. The scripting FIC?
[08:59] Prokofy Neva: well I originated the theory of the Feted Inner Core, perhaps you have heard of it, about a privileged bunch in SL that the Lindens favour in various ways
[08:59] Ludo Merit: "Share" bug? See why I want to get to know you? I like to know what's going on.
[08:59] Prokofy Neva: The FIC is now completely institutionalized with the Atlas program and other things
[09:00] Prokofy Neva: well the share bug is no longer news I suppose, except to me, as I keep getting griefed on it
[09:00] Prokofy Neva: If you have assigned roles with powers in a group
[09:00] Ludo MeritLudo Merit listens
[09:00] Prokofy Neva: and among the powers not handed out to open members, and given only to paying members, is "return group set prims"
[09:00] Prokofy Neva: then your expectation is
[09:00] Prokofy Neva: that people cannot return group-set prims from the sim
[09:01] Prokofy Neva: However, if an object is checked off in "share," anyone can, even the open members
[09:01] Prokofy Neva: so that causes havoc in rentals
[09:01] Prokofy Neva: newbies especially are confused about "set" and "share" and put all their stuff in "share"
[09:01] Prokofy Neva: griefers come and stretch things to grotesque proportions once they get at the prim, or return it from the sim and it destroys or gets lost sometimes
[09:02] Prokofy Neva: so I got all kinds of brains, IBM coders, scripters, powers that be in SL to come and witness this and document it
[09:02] Prokofy Neva: replicate it whatever
[09:02] Prokofy Neva: but basically, Soft Linden likes to be able to return other people's prims in group builds, he thinks it's a great "collaborative" feature and he sees no reason why group rules should trump object settings
[09:02] Ludo Merit: When something is deeded to group, can a group member with the power uncheck 'share'?
[09:02] Prokofy Neva: and we get the same thing with their view on "no build" that is trumped now by griefers
[09:03] Prokofy Neva: if you set that power to them in the group, they can move or sell to themselves that object to undeed it
[09:03] Prokofy Neva: would have to check on the "uncheck share" issue
[09:04] Ludo Merit: If they can't uncheck share on group owned objects, that's a problem.
[09:04] Ludo Merit: Soft Linden hasn't run a sim with ignorant renters then.
[09:04] Ludo Merit: What's the deal on no build?
[09:04] Ludo Merit: I thought that worked.
[09:06] Prokofy Neva: No it is now able to be circumvented by griefers
[09:06] Ludo Merit: I used to own this sim, and it attracts mostly people who did not come here to learn to build and script. So they're ignorant and have to have their hands held, and what's more, they're art-psych cats, and running this sim is like herding cats.
[09:06] Prokofy Neva: even if you uncheck "everyone" and "group" for build and  insert objects, they can still put them out
[09:06] Prokofy Neva: lol art-psych cats!
[09:06] Ludo Merit: How can I protect against that.
[09:07] Prokofy Neva: they can put them out if they join an open group
[09:07] Prokofy Neva: so the only workaround is to adjust the roles
[09:07] Prokofy Neva: and uncheck "always rez" etc on that one box so that if there is open membership, people can't rez IF the land has rez turned off
[09:07] Prokofy Neva: I simply won't go that route except temporarily on some parcels
[09:08] Prokofy Neva: well you can fix it into the role, make the role have the ability to build if the estate manager or group officer toggles it
[09:08] Ludo Merit: I love her, she's an old friend, and I love her workshops.
[09:08] Prokofy Neva: I will have to look her up. I feel as if I have discovered a whole world!
[09:08] Ludo Merit: I"ll have to look at group roles and powers to understand that.
[09:09] Ludo Merit: This sim is a collection of very interesting people.
[09:09] Ludo Merit: We recruit by word of mouth, and the sim is presently full.
[09:10] Prokofy Neva: well I will come back and study it some more
[09:10] Prokofy Neva: In the mean time I've take up your time and I will have to go attend to a RL job
[09:10] Prokofy Neva: so do you have any other thoughts on SL that you would like to share?
[09:11] Ludo Merit: The building to the east might interest you too. I'll take a break and if you want to talk more later, you know where to find me.
[09:11] Prokofy Neva: ok
[09:11] Ludo Merit: Well, the usual, SL is real. What I accomplish here is real, the people I deal with are real people.
[09:11] Ludo Merit: And mostly well worth knowing.
[09:12] Prokofy Neva: I'm glad you said that, it's refreshing to hear. And I'm so glad I found you! I'm sorry you're moving out of the neighbourhood.
[09:12] Ludo Merit: Transcribe colorfully!
[09:13] Prokofy Neva: But anybody is only a TP away in SL
[09:13] Ludo Merit: Hey, come visit here! Come to the Tuesday noon and Friday noon meetings, if you'd like
[09:13] Prokofy Neva: I would love to. It's hard for me to keep appointments in SL because I'm on a marathon job right now in RL for the next few months. But I will try.
[09:13] Prokofy Neva: I'm so glad I found you : )
[09:14] Prokofy Neva: I'm off, and I will publish your interview, I think readers will be interested.
[09:14] Ludo Merit: Well, may I friend you, if you're so glad?
[09:14] Ludo Merit: let me know when it's published and remind me of the url.
[09:14] Prokofy Neva: of course
[09:14] You have offered friendship to Ludo Merit
[09:14] Ludo Merit: Ludo Merit (busy response): People are my highest priority, but my health should be. I go into busy mode when I am afk, and sometimes fall asleep afk. If I'm not back in 15 min, send me a notecard. My IMs get capped. Please don't try to talk to me after 5 pm. Thanks, Ludo
[09:15]

[09:15] Friendship offer accepted.
[09:15] Prokofy Neva: There, thanks a lot!
[09:15] Prokofy Neva: and I hope to see you again soon : )
[09:15] Ludo Merit: I hope the same.
[09:15] Prokofy Neva: Bye for now!
[09:15] Ludo Merit: Tell me how you react to the hero walk when you walk it.
[09:19] Prokofy Neva: ok will do

Comments

[Ludo Merit]

Oh, your poor readers. You inflicted that whole shuffled conversation on them without rearranging it at all. I could hardly follow it and I was half of it!

Boy, talking to a provocateur makes me into one. I don't usually express my opinions quite so freely. Ludo

[Corcosman Voom]

The flow of the conversation made sense to me. Maybe because I hunt and peck rather than touch type, so I often do not see the other person's Chat before hitting Enter and end up with a slightly asynchronous conversation like this one.