Colonial Vipers & Raptor

For a long time I said I wouldn't build any colonial ships from Battlestar Galactica but..... I did. It started many months ago actually and took quit a long time to finish. But as my skills in sculpting increased so did the changes I felt were needed on the builds. So here they are.... the Viper MK-II, MK-VII and Raptor.

The Assault Raptor is done and looks really good but I'm tinkering with the missile scripts right now. The original ships were all PCS & CCC combat eneabled but recently simplified and converted to VICE.

My best friends Freyakc, Hadley and Stacia have been helping me beta test the combat system with dog fights on our sim. My favorite part is what happens when you get a kill. I rigged it so they literally explode in a giant flash with debris flying everywhere. SO FUN!

As always I set it up so everyone gets updates as I make changes. Hope you like'em :)

Jealousy?

One of the behaviors that I have noticed for a long time in SecondLife is..... jealousy. This emotion is often triggered by envy, insecurity or bitterness and often leads people to make rash and irrational decisions.

But why am I bringing this up?....... Well recently I was targeted by a group from BSG-47 and banned me from their sim. Their reason?.... stealing. Apparently someone on that sim after over two years on the market AND on sale at the mall space I rented from them decided to accuse me of stealing something and I don't even know what it is. They say it's something to do with my Cylon Centurion Elite Edition forearm weapon. So let's discuss shall we? :)

My centurion was created over 2 years ago and was heavily used on the BSG-47 sim. For the short time I was a member there my centurion had several updates in shape, textures and so on. But what remained constant were the FREE open source LoLSBS gun scripts that I modified for my use and installed in my centurions arm. For the record.... and easily verifiable.... I contacted Auron Prefect who is the creator of the gun scripts to help me with the gun. He showed me how the scripts worked, how to get the bullets working and more. My gun was up and running.... no problem. A few months after the centurion was released Dollwife Pink told me they were making a few changes to the meter they use on the sim and that she'll be giving me scripts so my gun will work with their new setup...... full perm of course.... AND agreed upon that the scripts would be sold as part of my entire centurion package. Seems simple right?..... verbal agreements and all..... that's what I thought too.

Well not long after I left the sim I made another BIG change to my centurion which included going back to my original gun scripts. This came shortly after BSG-47 stopped using my centurions for their RP.... but... I still rented mall space from them and continued to do so up until they closed the sim down for a massive makeover. When they re-opened the sim I went back looking for the mall so I can rent a spot but couldn't find it. I had to be shown where it was by a kind person who happened to ask me if I needed any help. When I finally got there I noticed they lowered the prims and raised the price. I decided I wasn't going to rent there anymore because to be honest.... sales in the old "good spot" were slim and the new location... in my opinion... was too hidden. I was contacted about 2 weeks later by Lillystar Parx who apparently took over their mall. She asked me if I would be renting again and I told her no and why. I thought everything was fine..... I was so wrong. A week later I find myself banned from the sim. When I asked Lillystar she said that I was using one of THEIR player created weapons in my cylons. When I asked for a name so I could confront this misinformed person (aka: liar) I was told that this person had already contacted me and that I should know who it is already....... ummmm.... that never happened. No one has ever contacted me that I can recall. I again asked her in IM's for more info so I can confront this person..... and I have been ignored ever since.

For a while I have kept the peace between me and the folks at BSG-47. I don't blame them all... that would be silly. But the powers that be have a tendency to twist the truth to suit their own personal needs. While I was renting from them they had no problems with my centurion.... but as soon as I stop renting from them... PRESTO..... slapped with a ban and a "thief" sticker on my file. What a load of CRAP!

So why do I say the word jealousy? Well..... why else would they be messing with me and my centurion? I mean... I was the VERY first in SL to accurately recreate the Cylon Centurion MK-II and continued to update it over the years. I was the VERY first to make the Re-imagined Razor series version of the Model 0005 Centurion in SL..... will that be targeted next? What's surprising to me is that Darsh... the sims main creators at BSG-47 is a far better builder and scriptor then I am. He has no reason to be jealous or threatened by me at all. In fact I admire his amazing skills..... even though he and I don't like each other, it doesn't mean I won't give him his props as a creator.

So who is this "creator" who is accusing me of stealing and why oh why are they hiding behind the cowardly shield of anonymity? Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the irrational behavior of some people in SL. All I can do is keep building.... keep having fun with my friends... and pay them no mind. The truth... in the end.... is always revealed.

I for one would like to know where the miscommunication happened so this can be resolved. But how can anything be resolved if the accusing party won't talk to you? yeah..... I know... I was thinking that too *winks*

Tol Daeannon in Sharindlar

Well as you know I love to explore and whenever I find a sim that keeps me coming back I tend to want to share my joy. My sisters of the Amazon Celt Clan and I go exploring via horseback and on one of those journeys we happened to wander into Tol Daeannon in Sharindlar.

First let me say that the landscaping is breath taking to say the least. I found myself just aimlessly walking the sims and exploring the many beauties it contained. The poeple of Sharindlar are equaly beautiful in their friendliness to strangers as well as their strong commitment and love for each other.

I opened a small shop in their trading ship and was invited to group. Soon after I received a group message about a melee training class.... so I quickly TP'ed there and participated. Bimbofun or General Bim as they like to call her is the leader of the Kings Army and also an excellent teacher. She runs her classes in an orderly fashion and usually keeps the fun factor high.

My favorite thing about this sim is their constant training and battles. They plan and implement complex team strategies and create scenarios for their warriors to work with. Spell Fire scripted weapons are the norm here and THANK GOD!

So in essence I have found another sim to explore and have fun in. Two thumbs up!

Spell Fire Weapons & Amazon Celt

I have been making swords for a while now but stayed with DCS2 compatible weapons only. But as time went by I needed something different.... something that would work with targets that take damage. Enter the Spell Fire weapons and combat system.

Special is in the "bullet" class of weapons. Bullet meaning that it actually fires an invisibe bullet that hits or misses your intended target. This takes much more skill then the typical DCS2 key bashing fest that you see often. These bullets are also of various levels. For example: a single hand sword does less damage then a two handed but is faster.

I started crafting Spell Fire weapons as soon as I got the scripts and tested them. I am very pleased with the results and also with how effective they are in combat. Speaking of combat.... I recently joined the Amazon Celt clan as a Blacksmith and keep pretty busy forging various weapons for them. This is a wonderful sim of sisters who all love the amazon life style. Beautiful builds and landscaping make this a great place for roleplay, romance, battles, celebrations of just relaxing to take in the sites. I have found a new home!

So stop by the Amazon Celt sim and while you're there visit the market and look for my Brave New World weapons vendor. See you soon! *kisses*

Surf's Up SL

So I was out looking for some good surfing and discovered a fun place called " Action Extreme Zone". WOW what a fun place for anyone who likes surfing, jet skiing and more. My closest friends and I enjoyed the ultra realistic waves and FREE surf boards which are rezzed on the beach. Whoever designed this place really captured the essence of a tropical beach and surf spot. I know I'll be coming back many more times. Come see it located at: Action Extreme Zone (3, 123, 21)

Vampire Business?!?!?

That's right the title of this blog is "Vampire Business" and why? Because I recently experienced a person who embodies every single one of the qualities I described in my "Art of the Vampire" blog. You know the kind.... the ones that treat BloodLines like investment property. These used car salesman will lie, cheat and steel in order to get a soul and hold it ransom. I will tell the story but I can not reveal the names of the people involved as it is considered a ToS violation to do so.

The story starts with a friend of mine who was very nervous about joining bloodlines. He was spam bitten before and only started wanting to learn more when we started talking about the what makes bloodlines cool.... to me. I described to him the awesome role play possibilities if one searches for it and also warned him of the opportunistic con artists out there that will tell you anything to get your soul. He was very excited and after much thought decided he wanted me to rescue his soul and turn him to vampire. That was not so easy as I was right in the middle of moving an entire sim and our schedules were clashing a bit.

One day I get an IM from him saying that a woman "friend" of his rescued his soul but told him it wouldn't effect him coming to me. This "friend" talked (conned) him into drinking a Hemlock potion and being bitten by her. She told him that all this would do is take him out of the abyss but failed to mention that she now possesses his soul. I informed him of what it really meant and he was devastated..... but... was happy to learn that he can still liege to me. All was well as far as I was concerned but it bothered him that he was not told the truth. He started learning more and more about Bloodlines and his in his heart still felt like he was not "all mine" and wanted it to be fixed. I told him "Simply tell her there was a misunderstanding. I'm sure she'll have no problem with transferring your soul being as she got you on false pretenses." Well.... I was wrong.

When he contacted her she immediately un-friended him and placed him on ignore/mute. He was shocked and realized at that very moment that she was everything my blog described about the "soul whores" of bloodlines. But it gets better.....

I contacted her on his behalf and for a few minutes got no response. Finally she responded. Here's the conversation with names removed.

[19:46] Shayna Korobase: hello... XXX just told me that you are upset that he wants his soul to be with me. Can we talk?

[19:48] Shayna Korobase: hello?

[19:50] Shayna Korobase: so either you are ignoring me or you are the sort of vampire that deceives (even your friends) to get ahead in this game.... such a shame

[19:53] JG: im queen of ND

[19:53] JG: kinda busy

[19:53] JG: brb

[19:56] JG: whats in it for

[19:56] JG: me

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: what's "in it" for you?

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: I thought you and he were friends

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: am I wrong?

[19:56] JG: just doing business

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: business?

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: this is a game... not business

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: are you one of the poeple I wrote about in my blog?

[19:57] JG: well im a queen its business to me i paid for that soul

[19:57] JG: and he has not talked to me in a long time so i guess he is not that good of a friend

[19:58] Shayna Korobase: you told a friend "XXX" that there was nothing to worry about and that it wouldn't effect him coming to me

[19:58] JG: whatever

[19:59] Shayna Korobase: oh come on....

[19:59] Shayna Korobase: is that what you told him ?

[20:00] Shayna Korobase: are you one of the types of vampires that deceives even your friends just to get ahead in this GAME?

[20:01] Shayna Korobase: listen...... I don't care about soul counts and all that silliness.... I just want XXX to be happy

[20:01] Shayna Korobase: so you are ignoring me now?

[20:03] Shayna Korobase: you may want to read this http://shaynakorobase.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-of-vampire.html

One of JG's friends asked her on our behalf and she responded with "fuck them and the horse they rode in on"

My vampire friends..... if Bloodlines is a "business" to you then you are an INSULT to vampire lovers everywhere and have no "business" being involved in this game we love. You are the type that buy souls and walk around saying "I am Queen of blah blah blah" yet you have absolutely NO role play. Bloodlines is so much more satisfying when you actually RP and play with honor and dignity. True vampires don't suffer from burnout. The true vamps don't eventually "walk into the sun" like the business vamps.

So when you crash and burn we'll be there to scatter your ashes, gather up your orphaned minions and teach them the TRUE path of the vampire.

Dealing with Griefers

Griefers are a major pain in the ass. They TP into sims and rez annoying objects or orbit anyone not seated. They are really good at turning people away from popular sims..... and that's what they want.

Griefers are mostly only interested in hurting a sim they were ejected from. They are angry little children most of the time (not necessarily in age) who decide to cause trouble when they don't get their way. They are usually good at griefing using alternate avatars known as ALTS and banning them is nearly impossible if they really want to keep annoying you.

So how do you handle a griefer who has targeted your favorite sim? read on.....

Usually a sim/land owner has security officers that can eject or ban unwanted griefers. But when a griefer constantly changes to a new ALT the security team basically is rendered useless.... but only if they rely soley on ejects and bans.

One way to stop griefers before they can grief is to turn off objects on your land. If a griefer can't rez then they can't lay down their annoying objects or shoot orbit cages. This is a great way of dealing with what I call "Rez Griefers". Turning off scripts is also a way to stop them. Griefer weapons are scripted and scripts need to be allowed to work, so shutting off scripts works..... most of the time.

Some times however a griefer doesn't rez anything. They TP in to harass people verbally (using chat) or visually wearing outrageous outfits. To stop them you can place them in MUTE by clicking their profile and selecting the mute button. You'll no longer see what they type nor will you see what they are wearing as they turn gray. But in typical griefer fashion they will leave and come back with another ALT.

So what do you do when you have a griefer in your midst and there is no security around or if the griefer keeps coming back with ALTS? Please read this carefully..... this works much better then bitching which many would rather do. FILE ABUSE REPORTS WITH LINDEN LABS!!!!!!!!!!! The trick to this however is in numbers. A single AR sent to the Lindens wont get a lot of attention right away. But a bunch of AR's filed by multiple people will. Please note: make sure YOU only send one.

If you are in a group of people getting griefed then ask all of them to send an AR at the same time. If you are alone then start IM'ing people to come assist you in filing AR's. Five or more AR's from the same place at the same time has a much higher chance of being seen by the Lindens and acted upon. As my good friend Jeadeen Niles of The Green Lantern Core and a Justice League Unlimited recruit told me "If there is anyone around when he griefs, everyone there should file an AR. Only one per person present though." On the subject of ALT's Jeadeen had this to say: "If you can make a connection between the alts, then you can put it into the AR sent to the Lindens. Gives LL a reason to investigate how he logs in. If they find common indications between the Alts and his transgression are severe enough, then it could end up in the griefer being permabanned."

Before closing I'd like to add that dealing with griefers should be done the "Legal" way according to Linden Labs Terms of Service (ToS). If you attack a griefer there is a chance they will report you instead. Now don't get me wrong, I have personally obliterated griefers in the past who have tried griefing me on my own land...... but always followed up with an AR to LL for record purposes.

So to all of you in SecondLife I wish you the very best and stay safe out there!

After writing this blog I had a long conversation with Jeadeen and what he had to say was so important I asked permission to include the conversation here. Enjoy...

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Griefers are normally just people that want to mess with others. Most do not have a specific motive.

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: ok... tell me what you think the motives of griefers are so I can add it to the blog :)

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: some times I over simplify

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Most just find it fun to gross out and annoy others.

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Sometimes they are lashing back out for a perceived wrong.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: It also depends on where the griefing occurs.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: In sandboxes it is almost always just people who take some sort of perverse enjoyment out of annoying others.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: can I quote you on that?

[13:40] Jeadeen Niles: Sure.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: awesome :)

[13:41] Jeadeen Niles: But I would also state that griefing comes in many forms and anyone could be a griefer.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Although, one has to be careful with labeling a griefer. Some griefers are getting smart enough to give other noobie residents "presents" which are really griefing tools disguised.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Once this "present" starts replicating across a SIM, it is the noobie that looks like the griefer but the real griefer is standing around laughing.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: Now the noobie gets the AR bombardment and potential for action from LL.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: That is why I always offer to the owner of a griefing object to let them clean it up in case they didn't know what it was.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: I judge my need to AR on their response to my question.

[13:46] Shayna Korobase: WOW that is great stuff as always .... Thank you very much!

[13:46] Jeadeen Niles: You are welcome.