A little while ago, as part of the Open Space sim debacle, I wrote a piece on Trust: the Lindens and the Residents, discussing the loss of trust inherent in that whole sorry process and, as the increased January tier kicks in, it’s about to get worse. I attended a couple of the Princeton Void concerts yesterday and watched afterwards as Scope Cleaver’s Ludovico’s Lament (created with AldoManutio Abruzzo & Poid Mahovlich) on Princeton East was destroyed. It’s a theme that Crap Mariner discussed in his article in the latest issue of Prim Perfect, and other commentators have explored it too.
But an event like the current row over the Open Source Grid Legend City Online (LCO) puts this whole thing into an even more alarming context.
I’m not proposing to get into the ins and outs of that argument here. Those who wish to, or who need to find out the full story can read accounts on Second Thoughts (where Prokofy Nerva broke the story), in the SLUniverse forums and on Prad Prithivi’s blog, Metaversally Speaking.
But in the flurry of comments, one key point emerges.
New Grids need to build Trust.
Most new grids are small, start-up operations. But still, there are practical ways to build trust, and there are business models too. Here are just some of my thoughts.
For the grid owner:
1) Have a proper business structure. Have real life people behind the grid, not just your avatars’ names – although the reputation that your avatars have built within other virtual worlds will be important, so use those too. But don’t just rely on a website with your avatars beaming proudly to suggest there is a decent company structure in place. Make sure you have the real thing.
2) Having reputable real world backers gives a certain confidence. Having virtual world backers is slightly more risky – but when they have shiny reputations, they can be golden. If you do deals with them, cherish those deals. There’s a balance to be struck when dealing with creatives between exploiting them and letting them exploit you. It’s called mutual benefit. Find a balance that suits both of you, and then get it in writing. And send them a copy. And get their written agreement that that is the deal.
3) Be professional. If you’re being attacked, don’t get down and dirty. Be dignified even when you are itching to slam back or to get out the facts that have been ignored. Even if you win a mud-hurling contest, you still end up covered in mud. Don’t. Go. There.
People will pull up and gawp if there’s a train wreck. They’ll drive on more swiftly if the rescue services are doing their job efficiently. Be polite. Be courteous. That’s part of professionalism too.
4) Set out your Terms of Service to be transparent. Invite questions on an open forum. Answer them so that things continue to be transparent and that after-whinges are clearly unjustified. If people don’t like the way you are proposing to do things, they won’t come, and that’s fine. If no-one comes, perhaps you need to change your ToS.
5) Make sure you have people working with you who can say, “No” to you in a sensible, constructive way. Listen to those people.
6) Listen to advice, wherever it comes from – and act on it if it is sensible.
7) Learn from the Lab. Learn what to do – and what not to do. Being different to the Lab in all ways is not offering a plausible alternative. One thing the current ongoing row shows abundantly – the Lab do get many things right.
And content creators, battered and bruised by copybots, IP theft, the Open Space debacle … and longing for fresh green fields to do it all again …
For the content creator approaching Open Grids:
1) Grid owners will need your credibility to launch their worlds. Bestow it carefully.
2) Look for the real life company behind the virtual facade.
3) If you do deals with Open Grids, remember that there’s a balance to be struck when dealing with these small business owners between exploiting them and letting them exploit you. It’s called mutual benefit. Find a balance that suits both of you, and then get it in writing. And send them a copy. And get their written agreement that that is the deal.
4) Make sure the Terms of Service protect you. Go through it with a lawyer. Make sure that you have a means of protection even if the Terms of Service get changed.
5) Remember that you are dealing with a Mom and Pop store here, after you’ve been shopping at whatever your local equivalent of Debenhams is (respectable, middle of the road department store). Be tolerant – you’ll both be on a learning curve.
6) Be professional. If you are wronged, deal with it professionally. Do not retreat to hysterical rants on blogs. Do not encourage your friends or supporters to do that either. A brief, “We are aware that there is a problem and we are addressing it. Thank you for your concern.” will cover most things, especially if you later provide an update, explaining a resolution has been reached or explaining that it was found impossible to reach a resolution and you will no longer be involved in that particular grid. That will speak more than all the baring of breasts and screaming of your wrongs to the salivating world.
If there were any points gained for the participants in the LCO mess, they went to the person who remembered this.
Anyone getting the sense here that we try to run Prim Perfect, Meta Makeover and The Primgraph as drama-free enterprises?
We will be going into Open Grids as magazines and TV programmes. We’ll be supplying coverage that I hope will be as clear-eyed and unbiased as we can make it. And we will be doing our level best to uphold these principles ourselves.
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The Open Grid photos were taken on Avatar Hangout, an Open Grid that I have visited a couple of times, and found to be courteous in dealing with issues. I have heard no complaints about their operation.
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