I discovered last night just how shady people can be on Second Life – especially if they feel in the slightest bit betrayed because things didn’t go their way and they don’t get what they want and think that they deserve. I apologize in advance for the long, drama-filled post.

Jolly Farm is surrounded by clubs right now.

It’s much to my displeasure but hey, I’ve had crazy neighbors before that I’ve lived through and I have no doubt I’ll get through living with the ones I have now. Strangely enough, I have lived through having a club behind Jolly Farm and in front of it for about a month – maybe less now. Neither location has had an event and I’m honestly not sure what on earth they pay tier for… but to each their own. And I love my spot on Lionheart Scar too much to ever move. I just dig my heels in harder and cling to my land.

But then comes this “club” next door.

I say it like that because at first it was basically 4 walls, a dance floor and some stripper poles. It was for lack of kinder words, really noob looking. To each their own. I mean yeah.. if we had some sort of Landowner’s association that went around and determined which buildings were hideous, in need of help and were dragging down the value of other surrounding businesses… this building would get a citation. But I sucked it up and I dealed.

Then the shouting started… ya know, the literal “Jane Doe shouts: Blah Blah Blah” which is against the Lionheart Estate Covenant rules technically – particularly if it’s disturbing the peace. And since they were shouting obscenities (the songs in particular were quite raunchy and the DJ was shouting the names)…

I had no problem reporting it.

If it was bothering me, it was likely bothering someone else. And then of course you had strippers shouting some things that not everyone wanted to hear. It was a big problem for those of us who operate PG businesses.

It should come as no surprise that the next day when one of the owners contacted me to apologize and told me that they were interested in moving but saw no parcel available that suited their needs (they needed something much larger), I quickly took them to see The Nook parcel. I went through all of the work of helping the guy understand the covenant rules – even allowed him to rez out a ship that covered a 7600 sq.m. plot in length so he could be sure that his new vision would fit on the land. He was very interested in renting it from Xavion and I… but I wasn’t keen on the idea.

Tier was due on The Nook on June 14th (today!) and I knew I didn’t have it. Xavion and I had already agreed that we weren’t going to keep the parcel and so I did everything that I possibly could in order to put it in anyone’s hands but Dirk’s. I really felt I owed it to him to put another tenant in that spot. But this guy couldn’t pay until the 16th and I wasn’t prepared to do any business favors for a man I didn’t even know – even if he did seem nice. I had plans to discuss it with Xavion – it was his land too and I figured there was potential for him to feel differently. He has a way of showing me the shiny side of the coin at times and so I told this guy I would get back to him after I’d spoken with Xavion.

I left the parcel open for sale.

I wasn’t about to take it off the market – especially in case this guy didn’t come through. It was too risky. And so of course, someone bought the parcel. I’m delighted that they did and on top of it, they already put about 2 weeks of tier down. I feel better and I feel I returned to Dirk what he had. Xavion and I got back some of the money we put into the business and with my share, I put another week of tier on Jolly Farm, bought another box of breeding food for my bunnies and put my share of a week of tier on The Cottage. And I feel good about that.

But I did feel bad that the guy next door to me didn’t get the parcel. He was obviously excited about having it and I felt that I owed him an apology. I messaged him as soon as I realized the parcel was no longer contracted to The Nook Land Trust and he seemed a bit agitated but accepted my apology.

Fast forward to late last night / early this morning, Xavion tells me that he’s afraid to tell me something and informs me that there has been a complaint about my bunnies. At this point, Xavion has no idea who it is I spoke to about renting The Nook parcel as I’d only been able to mention it to him in passing before finding out someone had purchased the land. So he shows me a conversation in which… oh yes, you guessed it…

The guy I tried to help, was complaining about my bunnies.

He claimed I was lagging him out with my bunnies all of a sudden. My first reaction was “He can kiss my ass”. If you know me at all, I’m constantly worried about the lag at Jolly Farm – so much that I watch the statistics myself daily. I have more live bunnies than usual right now and I have more nests too. But that sim is still running quite nicely and I only feel lag when they are having an event next door. I’ve run some of the largest clubs on Second Life… I’m all too aware of the lag that a room full of moving avatars heavy with scripts and attachments can create – especially when they are colliding with one another. My static bunnies aren’t doing anything in comparison.

Did this guy think I would never find out?

I mean yes… there is a level of privacy to be had. But I made this man aware of my partner being an Estate Manager prior to this. I would expect to be told when someone makes a complaint about my business.. in fact I welcome them to tell me. It doesn’t mean I can’t brush myself off and act in a civil manner towards this guy. It does mean, however, that I will be keeping a close eye on him. He clearly had a vendetta against me since he didn’t get his way.

This all has solidified my decision to buy another parcel. That probably sounds crazy right after dropping The Nook, but then again, the parcel next to me doesn’t cost nearly 5k a week either. It’ll mean losing a day of traffic and losing a day of being in the search when the parcel’s are merged… but that’s okay. This guy next door is likely leaving and when he does, I’ll take his damn parcel too. Problem solved… for now at least.