My comment on developer elitism on IMVU.com

L/P Herridge — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:18:00 +0000

In todays podcast I discuss something of concern to me. Elitism within IMVU.com. For those of you unsure what IMVU is, it is basically a detailed virtual world, where people can create a virtual persona. They can dress up, have an apartment or portray themselves however they wish. There are group spaces, and user ran chat environments. 99.9 percent of the content (rooms, skins, clothing and other items) is contributed by developers. IE: users who buy the right to create content for other users to "buy". Items are bought Using either free credits, (given when you join, awarded for viewing new products, Playing a game called "free spin", or filing in web offers and surveys) most users buy credits with real currency. It is also possible to have an adult pass, and a vip account. Users may also buy their nickname. (Thus removing the guest prefix on your nick) All these account types are bought with real money. for sometime now, I have seen a disgusting amount of elitism on IMVU as a whole. Basically, those who cannot afford accounts or to buy their nicknames are treated quite badly by the more active members of the IMVU community. The system itself allows for you to set your whole chat experience to ignore guest members, for a start! Please understand that some guests are annoying pervs and increasingly we have been seeing porn bots, but they are easy to spot and even more easily with by blocking or flagging. However, some people cannot afford fully fledged accounts. So, they stick with a guest nickname and buy credits when they can. Increasingly, guest users are treated as second class citizens. Surprisingly, this treatment is more often than not doled out by developers. Numerous times I have seen developers name calling against guest users. Perhaps at this stage I should explain a bit about how guest credits are handled by I M V U. When a guest uses free credits to buy an item in the I M V U catalogue, the developer only gets a token, worth very little. The profit margin is much smaller than that for paying members. Perhaps this is partly to blame for the differing attitudes. I understand that many folks make a living developing for sites but is THEIR choice. If IMVU gives them a raw deal, it is not the fault of the average user. STOP giving us attitude! Where I see the most elitism, is in regard to the thorny issue of product rights. Some IMVU users want to see the introduction of a trading system, allowing them to trade items no longer want. Developers are horrified by this idea, saying it would lose them sales. They claim that as their items never age, degrade or get dirty, then they should not be made available for trade. Their fear seems to be, if trade is implemented then nobody will buy the items new. They also claim that the any item bought by an IMVU member, is not in fact there property, but effectively a licence to allow their avatar to wear said item. Understandably, most users including me, think this is an utterly ridiculous concept. When you buy an item in a shop, it is yours. You are then entitled to sell it or give it away as you wish. Why is IMVU not viewed in the same way? These developers expect the average user to swallow the idea that their hard earned cash only entitles them to effectively hire the clothing that there avatar wears!! Imagine if this was so in real life. We would all be running around like Mr. Benn! Some devs (not all, I stress) seem to assume that it must be guest users who want free trade, seeing as "they want everything free" How dare they! To say such things is just barefaced snobbery. After all, not everyone takes IMVU as seriously as others. IMVU is a fun site, not a real world. Just because some folks dip in and out of IMVU for dress up fun or a quick chat. Doesn't make them less important in the IMVU community.

Christmas on a small budget

L/P Herridge — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:46:00 +0000

Just my simple guide to Christmas with no money! Let's face it, we are a lot of poor right now. I hope my basic hints and tips are useful.

A little about me.

L/P Herridge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Just a introduction. About me, my home life and what I hope to gain from this. I repeat myself a little, but only because I didn't prepare for the pod! In future I shall prepare better.

Being The Dandy Stranger

My comment on developer elitism on IMVU.com

Christmas on a small budget

A little about me.