Sometimes I just want to smack the oldbie crank commenters on NWN.

Really. @#$# oldbie cranks with axes to grind! What's funny is that I'm one of them too!

NWN Deathwatch post on Firefly RP sim

RP sim's aren't viable long term, no, not even with cheaper tier some of the oldbie cranks go on about, because when they lose their "funding angel" they go down it's that simple. They simply DO NOT PAY FOR THEMSELVES RP groups really ought to start charging fees to enter their land and fees to support their groups, donations aren't going to cut it if the "funding angel" has a bad year and needs to cut back or gets bored with SL, or annoyed with the Drama of RP groups. The tools do support access fees you know.

Let me quote Iggy here:

It's one sim. But that is how it starts. If LL loses its RPers, its over. They've already lost the business world. The educators and nonprofits are seeping away.

Oh Iggy, the hardcore RP community in SL is miniscule. the clubgoing howlzers outnumber them 10 to 1 at least, even in the old days hardcore RP was a niche.

For all the fashionista angst over mesh doo-dads and the right eyeshadow, I'd wager that there's not enough XXX and play-Barbie customer base out there to keep the Lab open.

Oh Iggy, you're like those Slashdotters that think everyone thinks like them and wants to spend lots of time tweaking/building and messing with computers rather than just buying something that works without fiddling. You know the ones, who t hink that because their nerd games like Eve Online are 90% male, that SL is as well. They're the ones who keep that "there are no women on the internet" meme going.

But, Iggy, The Barbie girls...they outnumber you and the people like you by a HUGE margin. Haven't you SEEN the HUGE number of SL fashion blogs? Do you not realize that avatar appearance enhancements, drive the SL economy? In other words, the Fashionistas basically run SL behind the scenes. They have for quite a while now. They're the ones spending the money. Skin Fair? Hair Fair? Sin Fair? Fashion for Life? Vintage Fair? Fantasy Fair?

There's tons of old fashionista centric regions STILL going strong. Because unlike college students popping into SL for a class project, or Open source obsessed nerds who buy their furry avatar to make a statement against the "Barbies" (and also say how they didn't have to pay for their furry form on opensim because it was "free") and then spend the rest of the time building Battlemechs or starfighters in sandboxes, fashionfolk spend money. A LOT of money. Look, Iggy, read these posts by Salome Strangelove, that'll help you understand I think:

Post about being a girloholic

about misogyny and denigration of fashion play

The real reason some of the cranks exist is...the hardcore builder/scripter nerds aren't the center of SL anymore, LL doesn't need to cater to them like it used to. I'm lucky, while I'm a nerd, being a fashionista means that I don't feel as alienated from modern SL culture as folks like Orca Flotta or Shockwave Yareach or foneco Zuzu seem to be. Once there were quick build contests, and everyone driving around in vehicles, and hanging out in the nerdy places the "builder/scripter" crowd enjoyed. But not anymore. Now there's voice, not just text and there's a horde of 25-45 year old women going around SL, and they tend to not go to Aerodromes or space museums.

I think that folks like Orca, Shockwave, etc, kind of feel betrayed, like SL turned it's back on them...they helped build it, they were the pioneers and now it's "fine fine, you helped kickstart SL, but we don't need you so much anymore, now shut up about sim crossings, only the cult of the vehicle and a few steamlanders really care about that, everyone else TP's everywhere so it's not our #1 priority so just be quiet and go back to fiddling with your vehicles in your vanity sims that you basically use as sandboxes." You can see it in how Orca and the others talk about "The masses" and how they feel ignored. They don't want new users...they want to go back the way it was, when people like them were a larger portion of the SL userbase.

But deep down they know SL needs new users and they resent it, and it makes them oldbie cranks...grid love em. Now they spend a lot of time bragging up opensim...which is nerd centric like the old SL...not very many Barbies at all there. But what they don't understand is that the most important part of SL isn't the prims or the scripting or all the things the builder/scripter crowd holds up as the greatest things in the universe....it's the people. And opensim is going nowhere without people. Sure the nerds love it, but it's not going to grow beyond them, and the educators who want a cheap region to bring a few students in, without the Barbies those people dislike. No currency, no shoes, no people, it's that simple. And while there are some opensim based worlds that DO have currency, why would I go to one of those Tiny little markets when SL is so HUGE. Those places are just SL...without the community. They're going nowhere, because ultimately, they depend so much on SL that they ARE SL, under different names. They're SL for people who want to say "Fuck You" to LL for various reasons (too many barbies, region pricing, ignoring sim crossings), without actually giving up SL.

So there you have it, a rant from an oldbie crank...ME, about OTHER oldbie cranks. I understand "why" they write what they do, and I feel for them, even if I don't agree with them.

By the way, Pussycat Catnap is easily the most commonsensical voice of reason commenter on NWN these days. Well worth reading.