Caledon Oxbridge Q&A for 2014-05-04

15:01	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Only two deans it seems, but we may be 4thed to proceed. Tis time.
15:01	Tali Rosca	Greetings and felinecitations. Welcome to another installment of the weekly questions-and-answer session.
15:01	zsazsy	lol
15:02	Tali Rosca	As most of you - if not all - already know, this is a free-form questions-and-answers sessions where the deans of Oxbridge will answer questions to the best of their abilities and responsibilities.
15:02	Tali Rosca	Our areas of expertise are here: http://www.caledonoxbridge.org/qna_index.php
15:03	Tali Rosca	So, let us set to it. Who has the first question?
15:03	Red Quixote	we seem to be short a Dean or two :)
15:04	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Well, at least the deans present aren't terribly short.
15:04	Red Quixote	aye
15:04	Tali Rosca	I can switch into a micro form if needed.
15:05	zsazsy	errr text is fine
15:05	Stitches (angrynoob)	Um well.. I might have one that's not particularly demanding of all of those minds at once.
15:05	Tali Rosca	I don't have an ASCII art avatar, though.
15:06	Tali Rosca	Yes?
15:06	Wordsmith Jarvinen	I don't think Dean Tali was contemplating a shift into micro-film, just micro-form.
15:07	Stitches (angrynoob)	In regards to the local rulebook of sorts.. I must wonder is it still considered a weapon if the handler is only a danger to themself?
15:07	Stitches (angrynoob)	This could be on a technical or philosophical level.
15:08	Tali Rosca	The core reason is: We do not want to give newbies the impression that SL is a place where you need to be armed.
15:08	Stitches (angrynoob)	Oh that much is obvious.
15:08	Tali Rosca	That is why we don't want weapons in Oxbridge.
15:09	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Or that Oxbridge is a place where you are going to be armed.
15:09	Red Quixote whispers	there's our short Dean :)
15:09	Red Quixote	there's our short Dean :)
15:09	Larkylouz	I would gues that at least 75% of the people I ask to put their weapons away are harmless. But the image of weapons is against COU philosophy, in my book.
15:09	Wordsmith Jarvinen	A safe sanctuary for all forms of newbies.
15:09		Martini Discovolante waves
15:09	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Not to mention weget enough SMG-toting newbies as it is...
15:10	Tali Rosca	So it's not so much a matter of defining the technicalities about what a weapon can and can't do in SL terms, but about the impression it gives when people see it.
15:10	zsazsy	where does one stop on the question of giving impressions?
15:10	Larkylouz	I find the sports cars more dangerous, myself!
15:10	Stitches (angrynoob)	Oh yes, again, that much is already known, but one wonders the grey area if they make a fool of themselves in the process of those.. impressions.
15:10	Wordsmith Jarvinen	We do allow rapier wits, Miss Larky, so not to worry.
15:10	Tali Rosca	That is, indeed, why we don't want vehicles either. Otherwise, it quickly degenerates into everybody showing off their coolest vehicle and - more or less accidentally - running newbies over.
15:10	Larkylouz	heeee
15:11	Martini Discovolante	this is a g-rated region, and a [lace of learning.
15:11	Martini Discovolante	we set parameters with that in mind.
15:11	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Not to mention occasional script load..
15:11	Stitches (angrynoob)	Then one could assume that accidental suicide is not G-Rated.
15:11	Tali Rosca	If there *is* a grey area, it is likely to be misinterpreted by the average newbie coming in from another MMO, so we err on the side of caution there.
15:12	Tali Rosca	Obviously, we can't give hard rules for everything people can come up with in SL.
15:12	Martini Discovolante	we ask, we explain.
15:13	Martini Discovolante	but we will not debate.
15:13	Stitches (angrynoob)	But it would certainly be an interesting challenge to see what you could come up with for a list.. Hehe.
15:13		zsazsy looks around and tallies the number of 'g-rated' fashions
15:13	Tali Rosca	But if it is likely to lead others to show off their latest acquired cool weapons effect... then go to a weapons sandbox to test it.
15:13	Wordsmith Jarvinen	And LL, for instance, doesn't help in providing vehicle avatars, which we can't particularly toss out without reason.
15:14	Martini Discovolante	access to Oxbridge is a privilege, not a right.
15:14	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Not to mention offensive spell and power effects. Even if they don't cause damage here.
15:14	Tali Rosca	Those *in particular* tend to trigger a cascade.
15:14	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Yup
15:15	Stitches (angrynoob)	Assuming by the responses thus far.. this issue is brought up extremely often, yes?
15:15	Wordsmith Jarvinen	If they disrupt classes or tutorial access, then that is harm.
15:15	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Once a month in my watch...
15:16	Tali Rosca	Fairly often, yes. Usually with some variation of "but I am not actually using it/causing damage/causing permanent harm".
15:16	Very old leather fireside chair DINKIE whispers	(⇞PgUp or ⇟ PgDn ) change your pose. Touch for menu.
15:17	Stitches (angrynoob)	It makes me wonder why people have such a draw towards weapons, destruction and such. I suppose being that SL is a reflection of humans, it shows through in all ways.
15:17	Stitches (angrynoob)	Even when it's dissuaded so often. Or, attempts, anyway.
15:17	Martini Discovolante	they are welcome to exercise that proclivity at any number of places in SL< but not here.
15:18	Tali Rosca	One reason the spell effects tend to cause a cascade is that they are specifically scripted to look impressive, so once one is seen, everybody wants to one-up that and show off their favorite.
15:18	Carl Metropolitan	Many people come to SL from MMORPGs. Weapons are vital to those games.
15:18	zsazsy	weapons are not necessarily synonymous with destruction
15:19	Stitches (angrynoob)	Habit, then?
15:19	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Weapons cannot be used to brush one's teeth...
15:19	Meora (menchor)	when the first thing a newbie asks is how to level up you have to do sopme orientation
15:19	Carl Metropolitan	Since Linden Lab does none at all :)
15:19	zsazsy	weapons can also correlate to peace keeping
15:19	Larkylouz	In RL, even toy pistols have caused tragedy. I assume they are generally destructive.
15:19	Wordsmith Jarvinen	I suppose one could use a weapon for creative art, but it would be a stretch.
15:20	Tali Rosca	I'll generally avoid turning it into a philosophical discussion about the morals of weapons. As I said, the rule is primarily in place to avoid chaos and misunderstanding of what SL is about.
15:20	Stitches (angrynoob)	Actually, I recently saw a man firing a pistol with a toothbrush taped to it.. And the kickback was brushing his teeth..
15:20	zsazsy	lol
15:20	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	:-P
15:20	Carl Metropolitan	That's not safe.
15:20	Carl Metropolitan	At all.
15:21	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	And unlikely.
15:21	Carl Metropolitan	Hopefuly an idiot with a gun will kill only himself.
15:21	Josain Zsun	It's all for effect, when one lacks ability to impress in more accepted and productive ways.
15:21	Stitches (angrynoob)	Hence my original theory of "only a danger to themself". But then, that's impossible, in a way.
15:22	zsazsy	they come in handy when one is approached by a carnivorous beast
15:22	Martini Discovolante	is this discussion going anywhere?
15:22	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	No.
15:22	Martini Discovolante	then lets move on.
15:22	Wordsmith Jarvinen	It is very hard to control perception of danger if the potential exists. Particularly with those too new to assess it.
15:22	zsazsy	yes
15:23	Tali Rosca	Just as a side note, this is also the reason why the "no weapons" rules is stricter when you have an active faculty tag.
15:23	Red Quixote	philosphical lines of discussion rarely get resolved... they do not fit this forum
15:23	zsazsy	lol joke, right red? :)
15:24	zsazsy	i mean tali?
15:24	Tali Rosca	It is "no wielded weapons" for visitors, but sheathed decorations are ok. For staff, it is no weapons at all, so as not to give the impression that you need to be armed in SL.
15:24	zsazsy	*lag
15:25	zsazsy	sometimes looks alone might give a person an impression of violence
15:25	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	She won't get it. Let's move on.
15:26	zsazsy	i know why i first came to sl tough looking avatars scared me. lol
15:26	zsazsy	*when not why
15:27		Sauce Sorrowman welcomes Dean Kondor
15:27	Steadman Kondor	thank you mr sauce
15:27	Tali Rosca	And move on to other topics.
15:27	Tali Rosca	But yes, let us round this off by saying that the core philosophy is keep the peace and not escalate any situations.
15:27	Wordsmith Jarvinen	As we increment deans....
15:27	Steadman Kondor	just sneaking in a bit late to the office
15:27	Sauce Sorrowman	still short a Ravelli though
15:28	Red Quixote	no more short jokes please
15:28	Carl Metropolitan	I have a suggestion for Dean Kondor. Consider adding information on how to become a sponsor to the Sponsors page on the caledonoxbridge.org website.
15:28	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Yes, we are unfortunately unRavelli-ing a bit.
15:28		Martini Discovolante koffs
15:28	Larkylouz	That's a tall order, Professor Quixote.
15:29	Steadman Kondor	yes mr metropolitan, that is a good idea. I will review the wording and provide to the rest of the faculty
15:29	Red Quixote	:P
15:29	Wordsmith Jarvinen	There is a mention on the sponsors page to contact dean Kondor.
15:29	Sauce Sorrowman	oh, just spotted the timetable with class descriptions on the site. nice.
15:29	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Right now, just underneath the list of sponsors.
15:29	Carl Metropolitan	I know from my experience in marketing that if you want to sell something, its' best to make it easy for the customer to buy it.
15:30	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Yes, I'll move that up top.
15:30	Wordsmith Jarvinen	and add a bit of info on the purpose.
15:31	Carl Metropolitan	At least consider linking his email to that name, too.
15:31	Sauce Sorrowman	a section on the sponsorship rates and terms probably wouldn't be unreasonable either.
15:32	Wordsmith Jarvinen whispers	Nods on Prof Sorroman's suggestion.
15:33	Tali Rosca	I'd generally let Steadman answer, but I am not sure he's entirely here yet.
15:33	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Dean Kondor, what about the email?
15:33	Steadman Kondor	that is welcome, i do not mind my email on there
15:33	Tali Rosca	We'll point him to the transcripts.
15:33	Sauce Sorrowman	I reckon Steadman may be in a text viewer.
15:33	Steadman Kondor	yes that is true, mr sauce
15:33	Wordsmith Jarvinen	(I can do things to make it effective but not as easy to mine)
15:35	Tali Rosca	Any other questions?
15:36	Sauce Sorrowman	how about some unsolicited answers?
15:36	Red Quixote	42 comes to mind
15:36	Tali Rosca	Then we will ask the questions.
15:36	Meora (menchor)	Ha ha ha hahahaaa
15:37	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Materials are not immaterial to our interests.
15:38	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	"we have ways to make you... ask questions..."
15:38	Meora (menchor)	uhoh
15:39	Tali Rosca	Any news worth bringing up from the last week?
15:39	Wordsmith Jarvinen	And things we don't necessarily talk about.
15:40	Sauce Sorrowman	are the trees to the left of the lecture hall not rezzing for anyone else? I see them as crazy exploded shapes and have done for the last few weeks.
15:40	Carl Metropolitan	I have a new blog post on SL user retention: http://jcarlhenders.tumblr.com/post/84695828159/second-life-new-resident-retention-i-fantasy-wish
15:41	Phrynne	They have looked a bit odd to me when I sail past.
15:41	Carl Metropolitan	They are sculpty based
15:41	Carl Metropolitan	We should probably replace them with mesh trees which rez faster
15:41	Meora (menchor)	right click on it
15:41	Wordsmith Jarvinen	They look normal to me.
15:41	Tali Rosca	They look fine to me. I have heard more chatter than usual about graphics glitches. It seems to largely be on ATI cards.
15:41	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	They do seem to load slowly.
15:41	Red Quixote	they look fine to me as well
15:42	Sauce Sorrowman	right clicking doesn't do anything for me
15:42	Georgehp	Yo veo todo bien
15:42	Georgehp Resident	I see all good
15:42	Red Quixote	it's the rest of you that look bizarre ;P
15:43	Tali Rosca	Do we have any Caledonian creators at the Fantasy Faire?
15:44	Martini Discovolante	i am there , with some raglan folks.
15:44	zsazsy	the fantasy faire takes me so long to rez that i cant go there
15:44	Tali Rosca	It is pretty hard on the texture download.
15:44	Tali Rosca	Keep your draw distance low, and you may be able to make it.
15:45	zsazsy	ok, ty.
15:45	Steadman Kondor	cutea benelli is at the faire
15:45	Wordsmith Jarvinen	And yourself simple.
15:45	Steadman Kondor	and amarynthus the jewellery store...
15:45	Steadman Kondor	Miss Benelli is one of our esteemed class sponsors for this quarter.
15:47	Wordsmith Jarvinen	The presence of which as a group (esteemed sponsors) we can attribute to Dean Kondors development efforts.
15:48	Tali Rosca	Any other questions or topics?
15:48	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Which support both Oxbridge's tier (aka existence) and a very modest stipend to those teaching.
15:50	Tali Rosca	Should we adjourn a little early, then, if we have no more topics?
15:51		Gronk Seriman raises a hand
15:51	Tali Rosca	Yes?
15:52	Gronk Seriman	The new Lecture hall seems to be oh-so-close to being finished. When will the ribbon cutting likely be?
15:53	Sauce Sorrowman	when it's done. :)
15:53	Tali Rosca	Good question. Sauce, I think of the people here, you're the one most up to date on that?
15:53	Sauce Sorrowman	yep
15:53	Sauce Sorrowman	Rav uploaded another revision today that has some more tweaks, but he's still not fully satisfied with a few bits and pieces.
15:54	Tali Rosca	I think Rav is still pondering some detail work with windows.
15:54	Sauce Sorrowman	I think most of the actual meshwork is done
15:54	Steadman Kondor	the new hall seems to be both portable and reasonably primmed
15:54	Sauce Sorrowman	and it has some fun bits
15:54	Sauce Sorrowman	:)
15:54	Steadman Kondor	i wonder if we should consider using it in village for events we know will exceed 20 avatar limit
15:55	Steadman Kondor	as a temporary rez
15:55	Steadman Kondor	like the photo salon
15:55	Carl Metropolitan	My trivia games seem to be holding at about 15 people tops for the most part.
15:55	Larkylouz	Is there room in the village?
15:55	Steadman Kondor	there is the space where the building contest was. in any case, this is for the duration of the event...
15:55	Sauce Sorrowman	would it be worth considering putting the lecture hall where the village chat circle is instead of the uni prim?
15:55	Sauce Sorrowman	"uni sim
15:55	Steadman Kondor	the trivia might hold more if we have capacity? perhaps
15:56	Tali Rosca	Remember, though, that we don't really control the Village.
15:56	Sauce Sorrowman	that way classes wouldn't be impacted by the avatars doing the tutorial.
15:56	Martini Discovolante	we are in the Village as a gift from the Guv.
15:56	Martini Discovolante	we cannot hold classes there
15:56	Steadman Kondor	do we have a prim limit there?
15:56		Sauce Sorrowman nods
15:56	Sauce Sorrowman	fair enough
15:56	Tali Rosca	In turn, the people who actually rent in the Village would be impacted by us.
15:57	Martini Discovolante	i can see the Trivia being there, but not the lecture hall.
15:57	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	THe building contest events seemed to had an impact in sim performance as well.
15:57	Carl Metropolitan	So far Trivia isn't filling the sim yet
15:57	Tali Rosca	We simply have to accept that we only have the capacity we can pay for.
15:58	Sauce Sorrowman	I received no complaints about the building contest from Village residents.
15:58	Tali Rosca	No, but that was cleared well in advance.
15:58		Sauce Sorrowman nods
15:58	Martini Discovolante	it has no impact.
15:59	Carl Metropolitan	I will continue my guerrilla social media efforts into shaming LL into providing discounts to places like Oxbridge :)
15:59	Steadman Kondor	we are not limited to the village, if we are open to exploring the boundaries. i could donate land and primmage from caledon Mayfair, for instance, where i have substantial surplus
15:59	Steadman Kondor	the point is, there are alternatives to being restricted by the 20 avatar limit
16:00	Sauce Sorrowman	Rav will probably shoot me for saying this, but I anticipate the new lecture hall being done by the end of June.
16:00	Sauce Sorrowman	or at least v 1.0 :)
16:00	Tali Rosca	We can likely use the Village for one-time events which are somehow more general to Caledon as a whole, like the building contest
16:00	Sauce Sorrowman	(which reminds me, I intend to run the contest in June again)
16:00	Wordsmith Jarvinen	There are alternatives ... but often they come at the cost of moving to a moderate rather than a G sim.
16:01	Tali Rosca	Realistically, how often do we reach the limit?
16:01	zsazsy	how is that a factor, mr jarvinen?
16:01	Tali Rosca	I've seen it happen, but it's not a regular occurence.
16:01	Steadman Kondor	i have seen the limit reached at the photo salon, and earlier at the trivia
16:01	Sauce Sorrowman	you're probably the one with the hard figures, Tali :)
16:01	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Regular Lindal crowds
16:02	Steadman Kondor	we do want our classes to be successful and exceed the 20 avatar limit, without cost to other avatars comign through for the walk through tutorials
16:02	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Those at least used to be common during the Avatar Safety Class
16:02	Martini Discovolante	thing is. we pay our own tier, from advertisign and donations
16:02	Martini Discovolante	a homestead is 1/3 the cost of a fukll sim , roughly
16:02	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Miss Zsazsy, not all of our visitors are 18 or over.
16:03	zsazsy	oh. i thot the age factor only applied to the adult places
16:03	Martini Discovolante	or have chosen to limit themselves ot g-rated areas.
16:03	Tali Rosca	If we had a "spillover area" for large crowds, we could possibly coordinate the M and G rated to move to the right area... but that would likely take the first 15 minutes of any event to herd *those* cats.
16:04	Martini Discovolante	a g-rating ensures that we Aare open to everyone
16:04	Tali Rosca	Anyway, we are running over time now, so I think we should round this off.
16:04	Steadman Kondor	so a spillover area might be the boundary where the village circle is?
16:04	zsazsy	thats a good point, martini discovolante
16:04	Tali Rosca	...if we pay for that spillover area.
16:05	Steadman Kondor	i am prepared to sponsor the spillover area directly,
16:05	Tali Rosca	Again: We can't rely on simply squatting on a free piece of land.
16:05	Carl Metropolitan	I have to go afk. See you all later.
16:05	Steadman Kondor	if there are no other sponsors
16:05	Sauce Sorrowman	bye Carl
16:05	Wordsmith Jarvinen	ty Carl.
16:05	Steadman Kondor	if the faculty decides to review the spillover option, i'm happy to continue the discussion
16:06	zsazsy	ty everyone tc
16:06	Tali Rosca	Let us put our heads together and do the math.
16:06	Steadman Kondor	i have asked the guv to let me know if any vacant lots come up in village
16:06	Tali Rosca	For now, let us end this session.
16:06	Steadman Kondor	in anticipation of such useful options..
16:06	Wordsmith Jarvinen	Thanks you all.
16:06	Steadman Kondor	thank you :)
16:06	Gronk Seriman	Thank you, Deans!
16:06	Georgehp	ty
16:06	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	BEdtime for me.
16:06	Phrynne	Thank you, Deans!
16:06	Martini Discovolante	thank you all.