A couple of weeks ago, pictures of Tya Fallingbridge’s T Town was previewed all over Flickr and Plurk, so I thought I would go check it out today. To my surprise, I am banned from the region! I mentioned this to my friend, who went to make sure the sim was not just closed to the public.
I received a notecard from Pixel Mode’s subscriber thing on April 2nd — so about a month ago. Since I’m banned, I cannot visit, shop, or teleport there to remove myself from the subscriber.
I’ve blogged Pixel Mode in the past, and not always favorably but it was never rude or deserving of a ban! Anyway, sim owners can do what they want on their own sim, and ban whoever they want to, but I guess I’m trying to figure out the reason I was banned.
So I’ve made a list of possible reasons why I’m banned from the Pixel Mode sim:
I made a comment on someone’s Plurk showing preview pictures of the T Town sim. – May 1st, 2012
“i kind of dont like the name, it sounds like it should be urban or something”
“Tyaville would have been cuter”
Shoe HUDs – May 18th, 2011
A proper review comparing the Pixel Mode shoe HUD with several other brands in SL. All I ever said about this HUD was that it was challenging, but with some effort, I was able to get a nice match. Tya responded with..
“Apparently clicking a few buttons is a challenge for some or even reading a notecard”
Hawaiian Girl – May 17th, 2011
I blogged the Pixel Mode Fae Wedge, and mentioned that “The PM HUD is so challenging..” (but overall a nice review) and Tya Fallingbridge leaves a comment and accuses me of picking apart every product.
“If you feel the need to pick apart every product or release I have. Go ahead, if you are just that unhappy, then don’t buy from me.”
Get nail’d! – May 11th, 2010
I mentioned some new nails from Pixel Mode, and that I didn’t like the forced landing point on the sim.
My new house!! – November 14th, 2008
I paid over $5K for this house once, and lived in it for years. It was one of my favorite homes in SL!
(You can search for all mentions of Pixel Mode on my blog by clicking this link.)
For the record, ALL nails or shoes I have ever blogged from Pixel Mode were purchased by myself. I’ve even purchased some things I never blogged (a watch, I think?). The only things not purchased were the Fae Wedge shoes that were sent as part of a Shoe Fair. Is this how you treat a customer? Yes I’m vocal, and I critique items, but I thought we were all adults in SL, able to express our opinions without being banned from sims.
Being a sim owner myself, I never ban anyone who wasn’t spamming, or causing destruction on my sim by rezzing objects or something horrible that lagged the sim.
I just wanted to get this off my chest! Have you guys ever been banned from anywhere? Was it a good reason, or just a personal grudge from the sim owner?
/Update/ Tya sort of addressed this to me on her public Plurk timeline, so I thought I would share with you guys. Apparently, she felt that the reason is cos I have “maliciously attacked” her. For reference, see all the above blog links. Again, I will say that I have nothing to apologize for, as I have never viewed any of my words as an attack. We can agree to disagree, I suppose. I responded to Tya’s plurk in a polite manner, and she threatened to report me for harassment on PLURK! So, I think I made the right choice by never IM’ing her in SL, just in case she reports me for harassment there, too. LOL.
You were banned last year, you had a year to come to me and ask. I don’t have an issue with you. What I had an issue with : the tactics you used. I was maliciously attacked by you through a whole day last year. It came to a point I was about to pack up and leave a place I have loved for almost 9 years. Constructive criticism is welcome, being attacked over and over again is not constructive, it became about you wanting to hurt me. Being a blogger does not give you the right to spend the day hurting someone purposely. Now almost a year to the date, you have done it again. Why? Why not come to me personally? The ban will stay in affect until you apologize.
Kind Regards,
Tya Fallingbridge
About Post Author
Spend your L$ elsewhere where they appreciate your patronage & exposure!
Oh, i feel ya Gogo! I definately feel that there are a lot of sim owners out there that abuse their powers, and use the banning system as a “neener neener, i dont like you, so you cant come in” type of tool. I admit, i have banned many people that have caused me or my friends drama. But as you said, we are all entitled to our opinions. So if they want to ban you for sharing yours, let them be petty. Sadly, not everyone is an adult in sl. Or at least, if they are legally, they do not act like it. Big deal. There are thousands of other great places for you to hit, so keep it up!
When people are nasty to others and mistreat people, they just make things worse for themselves. As a designer and artist you can’t afford to take comments and criticism personally all the time. I work as a creative professional (outside of SL). It’s part of my job to listen to what the client wants, and if I want their business, I have to cater to THEIR wants and needs. Sometimes they don’t like what I do and want me to change it. It’s my job. Sure I can choose not to listen to them, but I’d be out of a job. Tya could have taken that opportunity to be professional and said something like, “I appreciate the review, I’m sorry there were some things you had trouble with, I’ll take that into consideration”. If she’s going to ban customers just because they’re not 100% favorable to her product, she’s not going to have any customers.
I’ve never been banned from a sim, but I did get IP blocked from a website once for posting on another site they were “feuding” with. Also had a forum account removed from a shop after they found a post I’d made asking about their ingredient list – apparently a touchy subject with the owner.
I’ve come to believe that the term ‘adult’ mainly refers to our physical age and says nothing about the mental capabilities of some people to act reasonable.
But anyway, why didn’t you send them a NC right away to ask to be removed from the sub-o and also why they banned you?
That would have been the first thing I’d have done.
Honestly, I don’t want to talk to people that already do not like me. So, if Tya happens to stumble upon this blog or want to IM me, she can. I don’t know the “reason” cos in my eyes, there is not a good reason. I’ve never done anything except blog their products (all listed here) and if she didn’t like it, well… there’s nothing I can do about it.
Well everyone deserves the benefit of doubt even if the doubt is minimal, you can’t know for sure until you ask and having contact to people with whom we share a feeling of mutual dislike is part of everyday life from elementary school onwards. In my opinion you should at least have tried to contact her, before you started this dramatic blog post, even if it is most likely well earned.
Not defending Gogo (even because she doesn’t need it) nor atacking Tya (I really like her products), but I think Tya should have contacted Gogo first, telling why she was banning her… And not Gogo asking why she was banned.
Anyways, just thought I’d share my opinion this time, cause I’m usually neutral on drama issues.
I haven’t been banned from any sim yet, but I don’t think I’d ask why… I’d just think “well, their loss….”
🙂
Well, I read your post about the shoe HUD and while I disagreed with the designer, the shoes were cute so I grabbed a pair. You’re right – the HUD is very touchy to use and the coordinates for the skin colour for the LAQ skin I wear was not even close, on ANY windlight setting I used. Your review wasn’t unfair, it wasn’t scathing, it wasn’t derogatory, it was simply an observation: the HUD is difficult to use, end of story.
I’ve been following your blog for a while now and honestly, I’ve never read a post from you that was anything less than professional. Even if you aren’t crazy about an item you are reviewing, you’ve always been fair and explained reasons why you didn’t like whatever it was about it that you didn’t like.
Frankly, your banning leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, coupled with the near-tantrum-like behavior on the HUD issue from the designer, and I can confidently say I probably won’t be supporting that store in the future.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, Gogo!
I think it’s cool
everyone has the right to express opinion,but if does not hinder the work of others,
I think its amazing when the blog “say” about cool stuff, but sometimes you complain about stupid little things, and it harms the creator, you create something? I say to sculpt, script, you know how much work has to do? And with a blog that you go and speak anything ( really bad ), is not cool.
I think you would use in a better way talking about positive things, not speaking of shops, textures blabla …
Sometimes you say abouth things not really good, and is good, like sandals from Stiletto, but some stuff is cool, but you affect other people , affect the store, and that the owner can do? BAN
In my experience, a lot of designers will take a less than stellar review, and improve, not sweep it under the rug with a ban. I can’t be the only person in SL with an opinion?
If you compare the quality and price of Stiletto (Moody?)to what’s currently on the market you see that they royally suck in both aspects(or did last time i checked), that’s not an opinion, but a fact. If you don’t care much for quality,but like the designs they offer, that’s personal taste. So much for that matter and everyone has the ability to check if they find what Gogo says is true or not, there is no need to believe her or share her view. If she had outright bashing posts or would purposefully write negative critiques about creators she doesn’t like, it would be different, but as far as i know she does neither and you can’t really blame her for a negative opinion you don’t share.
I prefer an honest critique which i don’t agree to over the “I will praise this cause i got it for free and want more in the future”-trend that ruined some blogs i used to follow.
I had to learn in SL that there is a connection between low intelligence and irrational behavior and rage. The lower the intelligence the higher the ‘reward’ on the personal ego when ‘punishing’ other people. A psychologist or sociologist could probably explain this relation. Only thing i know is ‘ignore them, as they will never change’.
I was just banned today from Dreamstone store. Its like a furniture store or something, but yeah, there’s a land manager or something there that does not like me personally, I was shopping and the chick banned me. I plan on contacting the owner of the sim to totally tell her that’s not fair. Just because somebody has personally beef with you does not give a valid reason to keep you from being able to purchase something from a store! Ive heard this too many times happening. SO SILLY!
I was once banned from a store *plot* on a sim not the whole sim, because I was friends with the creator of the store on the plot next door. It really only came up when my friend decided to get a different manager than the one who owned the store plot I was banned from. The manager who was replaced assumed I was the new manager that was hired in place of her. I was not, but what can you do? Her loss I will spend my lindens elsewhere.
On a similar note, I was also ejected from a store group, because in a completely separate group a discussion arose about good places to get mesh clothing. This was ages ago when there weren’t many choices. A recommendation was made for a store that had just released a collection of mesh clothing. I had been really disappointed with the new release both in fit and design and found it to look too much like another collection that had been released and was doing really well. I felt that by comparison to the store’s past work and other stores with similar yet different designs that this release was not up to par and said as much, while also stating that I had purchased lots from the store but that this release just wasn’t for me. Thirty minutes later I was ejected from the group with out so much as a word. This was a store that I had spent well over 100K lindens and probably closer to 200K as they tend to be on the pricy side and I had more than a hundred different items from them and many were purchased in fat packs. It was also a group I paid to be in, so all in all the treatment left me a little put off. I messaged the person who ejected me (not even the creator just one of her CSRs) and discussed the issue. Eventually she admitted her actions were done without thought and wrong and she offered to let me back in the group and refund the money for me to rejoin. I respectfully declined and have since boycotted the store. I also deleted all the items from the store, so I am not tempted to wear them and promote the store and I don’t recommend them anymore which probably has a much bigger impact, since at least once a day I would recommend the store to someone for one item or another.
I haven’t actively set out to stop people from shopping at either store because of bad customer service or bad treatment. Instead I settle with being secretly happy knowing that their bad service and hot headed actions have cost both stores customers for life. I am a firm advocate in boycotting products as a way of voicing your opinion. The almighty dollar is the biggest factor in whether or not companies notice they have done something that is unpopular.
I think you are fully within your rights though to discuss this publicly and to let people know about the customer service experience you have had or the difficulties you have had with a product. Everything said in a blog is clearly your opinion and not gospel. Sometimes I agree with your opinion and sometimes I don’t, but I am glad as a blogger you express an opinion about thinks you like AND things you don’t like. I wish more bloggers did that.
So much for the freedom of speech, right?
They dont need your money, it seems. Such a behaviour is reason enough for me not to go there any more. Thank you for telling us.
Its your right to write about what you think of a product. Without any question! If a shopowner disagrees than what? They cant please everyone, right? Would than take the items back if a costumer does not like a product? No. So its important, that ppl like you tell us the pros and cons of some of the stuff.
Please keep doing so!
I’ve never been banned from anywhere so I’m fortunate in that regard. But it saddens me from a bloggers point of view that a creator cannot take constructive criticism, if I were a designer….I’d personally want to know if someone was having an issue with my product…how can one improve if no one tells them something is wrong with it. From where I stand, I just see this as bad for business…I’d personally spend my linden elsewhere!!!
I always tried to get on any RedZone or CDS or Voodoo or whatever blacklist for “ohh nuh! it’s a naughty griefer because they disagree with what we say!1111!!” … well, to no avail yet.
And I’ve banned others without an explanation when they gave emotional grief to my best friends or after they had screwed up big time, so there was no way I ever wanted them close to my project again.
In this case … I think it’s peculiar that you were banned, indeed, though I also fear that trying to find out the reason is very likely to end up in more, umm, unedifying conversation, considering what kind of drama evolved from those HUD comments.
Aww well, at least there are plenty of other fine stores…
oh man i remember wanting to buy those fae wedges but could not get over the designer’s behaviour so i didn’t buy them. /shakes head. what grudges people hold.
and you said nice things about the shoes, took such painstakingly lovely photos, and said the hud was difficult and all that negative attention you recieved from ONE small remark just turned me off the whole brand.
how sad, as they were lovely shoes. people really need to think before they act sometimes!
Hi GoGo,
I must say I have spent a long time following your blog and in all honesty it is refreshing to see a review where you say things that could be done better, Not everything is “puppy dogs and rainbows”. Its very refreshing.
One of my pet hates is to go to a blog, find an item I really love… the review on the blog is great and the pictures hide the truth, than you buy it with hard earned L just to find that it isn’t at all like it was suppose to be.
At least if the flaws (and we are human we make them) are pointed out, it gives the creator a chance to get feed back and maybe see something they didn’t realise.
When i know the flaws, if I love the item i will still buy it but i will look at it knowing that although it was lacking in some way I will be happy with my buy anyway.
I have never been banned from anywhere that I know of and get along with most everyone I come into contact with, so I cant say, I know the feeling but I hate the idea that as individuals we cant speak our minds.
To sum it all up i love the way you do things and don’t change.
Gogo, I’m sorry this happened. It’s always shocking when you’re blindsided by someone, especially unfairly. You and Tya will never agree on your different perspectives of her products, and the one thing that will come from this is that the buying public will be able to attach a personality to the creator based on her responses and actions. Sadly, I don’t think the merits of her products will outweigh the perceived character flaws.
I had issues trying to use her shoe HUDs long before I saw this and, like some others have stated, this now leaves a bad taste in my mouth for going back. I hope you find some resolution or are able to let go of this easily.
Just know that some of us read what you say because, whether we agree or not, you say it well.
I have been banned once from a club and only found out about it cause friends wanted to go there and the tp failed, so moved manually to simply find me out of it. Still nowadays wondering the reason, since I don’t even remember having been there before. Also awaiting for an answer from the sim owner regarding the ban, but oh well… I don’t even remember now what place it was, lol.
In the real world, sometimes, journalists are kill for express their own opinions … in SL you are just ban 😀
I’m also ban from famous place in SL … it doesn’t matter … you are still free to express it 😀
She has the same right to ban you from her sim as you have to open your mouth and say what you want. It goes both ways. 🙂
The one things that was not mentioned in any of the comments I read was this: cultural differences. I have english as my first language but there are many in SL that dont’. even more do not understand the nuances of the language. Sometimes we can be mistaking “gruff” or “bitchy” talk as such, but its just the only way they know how to convey their displeasure.
Also, I completely agree the crazy defensiveness of this person. But we all must realize Gogo’s blog has a large following, lots of commenters, a big community, and is one the ones wih the highest secondlife fashion google rankings. Anything Gogo says can potentially take away or bring customers. There is like half as many people on SL as there used to be. So losing even a few people can mean alot to smaller designers
That being said-some people are just touchy about criticism and need to chill the &$@# out!
“But we all must realize Gogo’s blog has a large following, lots of commenters, a big community, and is one the ones wih the highest secondlife fashion google rankings. Anything Gogo says can potentially take away or bring customers. There is like half as many people on SL as there used to be. So losing even a few people can mean alot to smaller designers” – Yjaira nikolaidis
do not mistake us for zombies who follow everything gogo says like she is a dictator. some things she might not like, some of us might. we have our own minds. many of us read this blog to discover new stores and see what’s out there. as you said it’s a highly ranked blog and so we know gogo has the low down on a lot of new products.
the only ‘hurting’ that is going to happen to a store in here is for the designer themselves to come on and start major drama by being butthurt and destroying their own reputations by banning her and bad mouthing her over stupid little things (when most of the review was actually good).
the glam skin review a while back? it wasn’t the most stellar review. the rep (or owner/designer, not sure) came in and was polite and gracious. that impressed me. i actually went and checked out the new giselle skins and bought them because they looked good on me. if gogo had been banned from glam affair because of her post, i would have never went and tried on a skin for myself. i wouldn’t want to support an unprofessional brand. remember that saying ‘the customer comes first’? no one is owed constant asskissing no matter what.
so the only damage that can be done here is really the designer’s own fault.
As an artist/designer you’re putting yourself out there for the world to see/judge and not everyone is going to like what you do and not everyone is going to kiss your derriere. So having a thick skin is a must and you need to know that your actions will have an affect on your business. If you are that easily offended by a product review and you feel the need to ban someone- it says a lot about you [it also makes me feel that I can’t interact with you for fear of offending you]. After seeing the fuss PM made because of Gogo’s shoe review I trashed all my PM items and never returned… sad because I loved my Baby T’s but I just couldn’t wear them after that.
I totally know how you feel I’ve been banned from the meow sim for simply disagreeing with the owner on Flickr and sticking up for a friend.Then they decided to ban people who were friends with us for no legitimate reason.
It is very unprofessional for an owner to be so immature to banned you for just because you are using your own money to purchased hers item to review how you felt about using the product. You have right to review it because you bought it by your own. This is a review of a customer, if the owner sees it, she should be happy because people care to buy her stuff,used it and review it. There’s always positive and negative comments to balance everything. The owner should take it as a tips or goal to made the products even better. By the way, I suggest that in future of every bit of products that you review, put something like ” Disclaimer: This is a product review that I bought with my own money and it does not have anything to do with being ……” just to protect yourself. I had been banned from a lot of Japanese shops, haha well it is because I got sponsor by them to review their new stuff but I was late on blogging their new stff which made them banned me just for that reason, as you can see that SL people might a lot are very small hearted person. Cheer up girl, I love your blog and don’t let this tiny bits ruin your lovely smile~
You did nothing wrong. Obviously she just can’t handle constructive criticism which is a shame. That’s something any good designer should be able to do. It was sad to see her little cronies jumping in on that Plurk to bash you too. In fact it seems like Harlow Heslop jumps in on all drama plurks trying to nag people and be the moral police when she should keep her nose out of people’s business that isn’t her own. She’s really one to talk when she copied another blogger’s blog post last summer. All the crazies flock together anyways.
Anyways, keep up the amazing work! Haters gonna hate and people will always be jealous of someone who is far more exceptional than themselves.
I don’t know why you felt like you had to make this public, and seems pretty childish and mean to me.
“but I thought we were all adults in SL”, you said, I dont see this as adult behaviour.. You should just have spoken to her instead of trying to defame Tya like you do with this blog post.
I usually like your posts, but this was just childish..
Defame her? She posted a response that pretty much said I had spent a whole day maliciously attacking her, which I did not. I responded to her, on her Plurk in a polite manner, and she threatened to report me on Plurk for harassing her. Can Tya be spoken to in SL? I’m not so sure that she wouldn’t report me there too.
what was the point of going public with, Gogo? What was it you were trying to achieve with it? To me it seems like you want to get people on your side and show people how Tya treat you. I could be wrong, but to me, this seems like something you did when you were 14 and tried to turn people against another girl.
And yes, I think it’s very possible to talk to Tya in world, I’m a merchant myself and I would really appreciate someone IMing me about an issue instead of going public saying things that could hurt my business. You have a very populair blog, and even if you don’t mean anything bad, people might turn your words around and use them for bad instead of good.
Overall, as most of you know (and yes I times I do fail to do this, I am not perfect), I feel blogging in the Second Life community should be a thing that helps bring the community together. Often times gogo, I think you do a spectacular job with that. Being critical isn’t a negative thing, but I think a post like this hurts the community as a whole. No good really comes out of something like this, as it comes across as petty, and get’s people fired up with their opinions (my own included). I’m really big on things that make the community better as a whole in SL. We are a relatively small group of people in this big world, and I think there is a way to be critical yet tactful at the same time. Most of the time I think you do it very gracefully, but IMO not this time. I personally believe that Tya is the type (and have seen her do it with total strangers) who would been over backwards to help someone, so it’s painful to read false opinions about her that are based off a blog post or two. Like I said, i’m big on bloggers and designers and residents as a whole who want to encourage and better the SL community, and that can be done even when critiquing. 90% of the time I think you do a fine job, this whole post just hurt to see…from not only myself but many others as well, some just too nervous to speak up about it.
I agree completely Alexxandra. Well said. I think as a blogger yes, we have a right to our opinions, and I also know that people have constructively criticized some of Pixel Mode’s work in the past and it was handled flawlessly and professionally. While, everyone is entitled to their opinions, it reaches a point where you look petty, and childish…especially if you took the time to go back through all of your blog posts to try and “prove yourself”. If you wanna really start to go into detail about this, you also used other social venues that day of the HUD post such as flickr to continue on with the subject. One post would have been respectable. Words were twisted around in this situation, and it was blown way out of proportion. Like Alexxandra said, Gogo, I have often times in the past really enjoyed your blog, but when you take the time out of your day to publicly announce something like this instead of going to the designer first hand it makes you look childish. It’s okay to be critical about the items you blog. It is not okay to continue to publicly slander and harass. This in my eyes, and many other eyes, is considered harassing, and foolish. Once again, you stated above that we are all adults…and your actions do not reflect your words.
I store all my photos on Flickr, cos of bandwidth issues and also, it’s my favorite photo storage site. I always promote all my posts on Flickr, Plurk, and Facebook, cos that’s how some people prefer to get updates.
I don’t see this as childish. She’s obviously pissed off she was banned after spending her money on a place and continuing to blog them, even when she did have something negative to say. It’s a slap in the face to anyone who’s a longtime customer. If I banned someone from my sim and they got mad and blogged about it? So be it. I had the freedom to ban them. They have the freedom to vent about it.
Also:
“Words were twisted around in this situation, and it was blown way out of proportion.”
Can you provide some specific examples where words were twisted around, and what words were actually used?
“It’s okay to be critical about the items you blog. It is not okay to continue to publicly slander and harass.”
Slander means something is false, so what lies were spoken? Can you clarify what’s being lied about?
You speak your mind when you’re genuinely convinced of something, so I’d like to understand better.
I agree. You said just what I was thinking after reading the post. Some people just love the drama.
fine gogo should of gone to her and asked why she was banned if that is the case, why was she not informed that she was banned? is that ok that she was banned for no reason and expected to just lump it, but god forbid she made an effort to go to a store and actually take pictures and see the beauty of a build and now faces this drama.
BOTH are the instigators here, one the owner knows that gogo wears her heart on her sleave as that is why many come here to read her blogs for honesty and two gogo could of gone about this in a more private manner but we are human and allowed to make mistakes. slapping a ban hammer on someone is childish and disrespectful without telling a person the reason.
If the same thing had happened to you, you might have felt the desire to do the same thing. Maybe not, but I would bet you’d certainly want to. I think the onus is on the designer to treat her customers better. If I receive poor customer service from a dry cleaner, from the grocery store, etc that was comparable to this, you can bet I’d post my experience on facebook and let all my friends and family know.
Great, a shitstorm! I hope, other designers learn from it and see criticism as a constructive progress. You get way more costumer, when you get in interaction with them, giving support, listen to their wishes and criticisms.
How many of you get asked where you got that clothes from? How often do you tell your friends when you find a cool new store? No matter, how much time and money a designer spend to create new things, unhappy costumers won’t come back and warn their friends too.
I follow very few blogs, because most show the same stuff without any explanations at all. Gogo doesn’t want to eviscerate anyone, she shows how a designer can make a good product into a perfect product.
Dear Gogo, please don’t change your way to blog 🙂
Gretchen, i just had to tell you how much i agree with what you wrote and it was very well said
I believe that criticism is best taken in a praise sandwich. Praise = Criticism = Praise.
Let’s see if Gogo did that in her infamous Shoe HUD post:
Praise: I love the textures and wedge style
Criticism: The HUD is challenging to use.
Praise: It’s perfect for summer.
If a designer cannot chew that sandwich, they really have no business being in business.
Having been a designer of a successful store in SL (not successful enough to drop names, lol – but successful enough to pay my land rent for it!) I understand the point of view of the person who suggested this was defamation. I’m not certain I can agree that it is – as an outsider it appears that there’s a lot both parties could have done to rectify the situation before it escalated. I would suggest a lot of back and forth conversation between both parties as being necessary prior to a banning, as I agree with Gogo and would only ban someone that was disruptive to my business.
I don’t consider what Gogo did as harassment, and let’s define this; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harassment
I would have to say objectionably that if a person doesn’t like a critique of their work that it doesn’t necessarily signify harassment. Just because I do not like Angelina Jolie’s body of work, and vocalize it in my spare time does not mean I am harassing her. To the maker of these designs it is as simple as not reading Gogo’s blog. You only surrender control and allow yourself to be “harassed” by continuing to read and further Gogo’s success by creating this melodrama for yourselves. It was proven last time (about a year ago, you say? I seem to remember reading another post about this topic) that the controversy between you two has netted a lot of traffic and responses on Gogo’s blog. I am sure she is grateful to that, but do yourself a favor (if you really dislike her reviews) and stop giving her ammunition to post about you, because she will post reviews regardless – about your products or other people.
To Gogo, you are lovely, your avatar is beautiful, your blog is amazing. I am an avid supporter and lover of what you do and I admire you honesty and respect your integrity as a blogger to review products exactly as they are with your opinion. Like so many others I sometimes do not notice things until you point them out, and you have helped me amass an inventory of 20k that I am constantly trying to trim down. You do more good then you do bad, and I hope that people recognize that. There are hundreds of designers in SL that have made a pretty penny off of me because of YOU, and I suspect that Pixel Mode was likely one of them, lol.
Personally I think you should have taken it up with her inworld. I think she’d need a lot more than an IM from you to accomplish an AR for harassment against you. You know that, surely?
An “adult” would have just accepted they were banned from a place owned by someone they obviously have had issues with and left it at that.
I’m not sure what you wanted to achieve from this post other than to have your friends agree with how terrible Tya is and to not shop there anymore? Seems to have worked from reading a few of the replies. That not a little mean? To try and ruin somebody’s way of earning money?
I don’t know yourself or Tya, but I have had to contact her once with an issue and she was friendly, fast and really nice to deal with.
I’ve never told anyone to stop shopping at Pixel Mode, that would just be silly. I am just sharing my experience on my blog, which um, is what a blog is about.
we are not all gogos friends yanno, we are readers, i love pixel mode and i shop there alot and would hate to be banned. i would equally hate to be banned from this site . i would not stop shopping at pm, nor will i stop reading this blog.
Its Gogo’s blog. She has a right to say what she chooses to. I have been following this blog for a long time and never once have seen her personally attack an individual creator. She gives her honest opinions and is very polite about something she is not happy with. Takes wonderful picture and promotes whatever she is reviewing. In the end its up to the individual to decide if they want to take Gogo’s opinions seriously or not. They can go to the place in which an item is sold and see for themselves.
The creator in this topic has been childish. And showing his true side has turned me off from wanting to buy anything else from him. I have even went as far as deleting everything from them I have ever bought, I do not want to promote children creators.
Keep up the good work Gogo. You are allowed to tell it how it is. Its your blog. If people aren’t too happy they can shut up and go elsewhere.
you blogged a few pixel mode items and as cajsa said, you gave praise with your criticism and if a content creator can not stomach criticism, they don’t deserve the praise either. when you become a content creator on a grid like sl you are putting yourself out there, just like in rl people are going to judge your work. if you can’t handle it then you definitely need to find something else to do rather than content creation. i’m sure tya fallingbridge is a great content creator, but if criticism makes you emotionally unstable enough to consider leaving sl then the problem is not the blogger that is critiquing your content, it’s you and your inability to accept criticism and attempt to improve your item rather than sulk about having been critiqued fairly instead of praised in the first place. i’ll never understand why content creators don’t take criticism as a spark that fires up their drive to just do better. as far as plurk and the drama on there, i think it’s safe to say that harlow heslop and luna jubilee have shown what they are really all about. harlow claims to be antidrama but jumps into any and every drama plurk pretending to be all doe eye and clueless. luna needs anger management.
“Apparently clicking a few buttons is a challenge for some or even reading a notecard”
I’ve worked in real world customer service for a very long time. If I were to ever say anything like this to the customer I would lose my job in a heartbeat. Period.
To insinuate your customer is an idiot, is just, bad business, virtual world or not. I personally appreciate blogs that show things that I might not like about a product. It allows me to make a more informed decision and weigh my options.
Furthermore, do you think the CEO of say.. Adobe would call someone an idiot if they found a feature of Photoshop particularly difficult to use? No, they would take that feedback into consideration and see if they could help to overcome the difficulty the user experienced and see if it was a widespread thing.
I think it’s Tya that owes the apology. Because when she made that statement, she not only insulted Gogo but every other customer who has ever had difficulty using the particular HUD. Not only did Gogo point out that the HUD was difficult but she was very specific on the feature.
“This HUD didn’t let me use the RGB color picker to click around until I got the perfect match, so I had to use the sliders and that took 30 minutes instead 2 minutes if the HUD worked properly. If you have these shoes, you’ll know what I’m talking about. And if you can match your skin in less than 2 minutes with this HUD, props to you :)”
Most companies would be happy to receive such specific feedback. It already gives them a jumping point to improve.
There is a quote, I forget who says it, but it is, “A complaint is a gift from your customer.” This is true, because MOST customers will never say a word to you, they just won’t return to your store.
Ohh, I think I remember the day she was talking about, when the “If people aren’t smart enough to read a notecard / click a couple buttons” comment was made (damn, ive been lurking here for a long time), and a lot people were upset, avid PM shoppers included. And if I remember correctly (i’d need to re-read the comments), they weren’t upset at you, or by you, or by anything you said, they were angry with her over her OWN comment. So, I’m not sure why that leads to you being banned, but some people like to remember past battles in their own favor.
I’m only putting my two sense in because all of this is absurd….
1. I will admit that posting a whole blog entry about it IS maybe a little much, maybe would have been better to just talk/laugh amongst your friends about it, maybe even a vague plurk to vent… but a whole post out in the open when you know its going to blow up (its SL, it ALWAYS does) is a bit over doing it.
but whats done is done… so my thoughts/questions…..
2. I have yet to figure out WHY she thinks you’re attacking her. Can someone give me a REAL example please? Because from what I see and what I’ve read, I can only ask these….
2a) Why would someone get so bent out of shape because someone doesn’t like a HUD for shoes? Does that translate into “The product quality is shit”? No. Does that say “Never shop at her store”? No. Who stops buying shoes/items because of a HUD anyways? Not many. I don’t like the PM HUD and I had my stupid moment of trying to get it just right but does that mean I don’t like the shop there? NOT at all. I LOVE the Fae wedges and STILL blog them. Hell, I hate Maitreya’s HUD with a passion but that doesn’t translate a damn thing into their product. I still spent countless Lindens at their store. So to get all pissy because someone has a harder time tinting their feet makes no sense. For every person to hate it, theres one that uses it with ease.
2b) And I’m trying to really understand why someone could be butthurt over you disliking the name of a sim? Whofjdakltkgl;rfucking cares if someone doesn’t like the name?! Let me ask anyone this… do you like every name of every sim out there? I know I don’t. There are some dumb as hell titles/names/etc out there on the grid and because you voiced your opinion on the name of hers is no reason to abuse the “attack” word. And as an example, I can sit and say GOL is the most weird, meaningless name to me, but that doesn’t say anything about the owner OR the place. I still go there.
When you teleport to a gorgeous place, such as T Town, do you teleport back home because the name seemed dumb to you? LOL Probably not. Because of Gogo’s post about T Town, I actually ran there just to take photos for my blog.
My last word is this…. people need to stop getting so damn pissy and overly sensitive over stupid shit like this. Its a PIXEL world. There are always going to be people who don’t see eye to eye with your ways/views/likes/dislikes/products/ideas/etc etc etc.
Are you really going to get so upset over something so idiotic and minuscule as someone not liking your HUD or a sim name? Seriously? There are more important things in life to worry about and be upset over and let me tell you… these aren’t it.
If you someone can give me some sort of REAL attack on the store owner, PLEASE DO… because so far, the “examples” listed looks only like its all just a case of “WAHHHHHHHHH!”
But “WAHHHHHHHHH!” usually is the SL definition of a real attack.
Sad, but true.
hello i love reading your blogs :)baning is out of the question a simple clearing out talk or even asking about the glitch in the item will have better results,i once rated a shape on xstreet and i was threatened to be reported,but as a known bloger with many followers your rating is much more effective some ppl cant take it, but some other ppl can take it from there fix it .youre not unfair cause 99% youre right about it:)its just that its not only stars on xstreet its coming from you,but what i noticed is you say the good too and if u dont see it good enough it wont be on your blog,,And for me i would take your word when you rate a product …again Baning is out of the question its so agressive
I’m really disappointed that more people (especially other bloggers who have opined here!) don’t look at this as an opportunity to really look at the relationship between bloggers and designers, and come to some realistic expectations.
Bloggers do NOT owe anything to designers. Yes, designers often hand out review copies but that is the *designer’s* choice.
There is absolutely no hard and fast rule that says “You should be blogging for This Specific Purpose.” If your goal in blogging is to bring about some Pollyanna-kumbaya-community, then that’s a great and awesome goal! The world can always use more love and holding hands.
But just because that is your aim, that doesn’t mean it has to be everyone else’s purpose, too. And it’s just plain wrong and arrogant for anyone to think they can dictate to others how they should blog, why they should blog, and who they should blog for.
It is up to the blogger to decide who they are blogging for. In Gogo’s case, she’s made it explicitly clear that she is blogging for her readers, who are also consumers of SL fashion. She’s loyal to her readers, and takes care to be honest in both her praise and her critique. Sharing her customer service experiences with her readers not only falls in line with this overall theme of her blog, it is also perfectly within her right to do so. This entire episode with Pixel Mode falls under that.
Ohhh Gogo!! On the same topic of HUDs and as a request, I wonder if you can show us a tutorial on how you tint products, or the best way to obtain an RGB. I’m not sure if you’ve covered that, but I have tried for a few months steady to match the shade of SLink’s mesh feet to my avatar (body co skin – petal in tropez) and I cannot do it!!
Let’s face it, tinting as a resident can be very difficult, and we tent to need all the help we can get, lol.
I don’t see how you are attacking her, other then saying her store name sounds ghetto lol. But your entitled to your opinion, and it obviously doesn’t stop us from shopping at a store, just because of a name. Some here say you should talk to her, but the person made it clear, you are not welcomed and she wants nothing to do with you. I like your honest reviews and I hope you keep doing what your doing, and if there product is getting criticism then maybe they should think about improving or just not caring.
I just thought the name T Town sounded like it would fit an Urban themed sim better than what she has there now, from the pics, I think it is a country sim, so I suggested Tyaville. I never said it was ghetto, but more Urban.
What a childish thing to do. Sure her banning was just as bad but you are both at the same level now.
Its obvious you two have history and we only see your side here and now you are abusing your position as a popular bloger. Its a shame you sank this low imho.
hi Zoe, there is no history with Tya Fallingbridge. I thought I made this clear on my post, and listed all the times I have had an interaction with her, all through the blog posts (which are not mean-spirited in any way), and Tya’s response of them. I’ve never spoken to her in-world that I can recall, and she just joined Plurk this week, so I don’t interact with her in other Social Media sites either.
why make it public though. These things are handled so much better in private? You can only lose some friends here I feel. Yes i was a bit harsh to you and I apologise but its a delicate balancing game here.
I once have been banned from a sim because I was camming on a female avatar with a huge butt. Apparently she was the sim owner and I had no clue. It may be her taste and others may like HUGE butts but according to my taste it was weird. She insulted me and banned me from her sim, oh but before that, she invited another friend of hers to yell at me. 😀
Oh also my alt has been banned from a sim where only female avatars are allowed. My alt is also female but the owner thought my profile was too empty (I only had a profile picture) and that there was nothing to prove that I was female. Well… Being a woman in RL (and maybe a little too “girly girl”) it made my eyes widen for a bit to be suspected. :)))
Tya is well known for her emotional outbursts, she has flounced from situations many times over perceived “hurt” whereas in reality reasonable commentary has been given.
Anybody who has been to Art School or done any design in RL (versus just SL) would know critique and response to your work is not always flowers and puppies and if an “Artist” cannot grow, and resorts to emotional blackmail (and playing the victim) I suspect they should try something different – creating is clearly not for them.
There is nothing wrong with what you wrote, Tya needs to grow up.
Gogo is a blogger, a writer, and she puts her heart and soul into this blog- or that’s how I feel as a reader. Gogo is why I personally blog myself. A blog in its very nature is a way to express yourself and so when something happens in Gogo’s life whether that is her favorite picture site closing, her inability to make a shoe work with poses because of two different ankle/ feet parts, a new mouse, adding herself to facebook, or the latest “new to her” shop that she found the latest thing she “loves” to wear- Gogo is going to use her outlet to express herself and that includes her likes and her dislikes. It is why it was so second nature to her to express herself and her frustration about being banned- blogging is what she does, guys. What was she hoping to accomplish? A way to express her current frustration over what was going on in her SLife. It’s her blog and its kind of the point of the whole thing. She is frustrated and upset and that comes out in this blog, but she is not attacking or harassing.
One last thing: It is great that Gogo shops in world, but even if everything she blogged was a review copy that does not mean she can’t speak her mind. Bloggers do not owe designers flowers and roses just because they got something free. A review copy is for a blogger to review and give an honest opinion of the product. I owned a store in world for three years, lol, three very hard years considering I worked full time too in RL. I have seen both sides of the coin. Celebrity Trollop reviewed some of my designs and had some nice things to say and some constructive things to say. I thanked her and continued to give her review copies and I genuinely appreciated the feedback- good and not so good. Her feedback made me work harder and my designs get better. I also made a KILLING anytime she reviewed anything in my store, even if she said some constructive things. GO BLOGGERS!
I remember long (LONG) ago when Ihearts was just a babe in swaddling gear that three month old me made a not so nice comment about a hunt. YOU stood up for me saying that we should be able to have our opinions. Now I pretty much keep my mouth shut and suspect that my readers can read between the lines.
I do sometimes say that a hunt in general didn’t work well for me for whatever reason (most often because there was no SLURL list and it was impossible to continue). Still, I do agree that not only do we have a right to opinions, in some cases we have a duty (well that’s a bit strong) to tell it how it is so that our readers (hopefully faithful ones) are not led astray by flashy vendor photos and press release text. *wink*.
I think I have only been banned from one place and I found out a couple weeks ago that I am still banned. I was in a quandary over that ban and then somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered saying something about the sim owner’s hunt practices in their personal shop (the ban is for a shopping district now). I stand by what I said then. They jerked the hunters around mercilessly and then gave them a prize that might have been ok two years prior.
So sometimes we make sacrifices for the greater good of the fashionista community. I’m OK with that.
I DO love those Fay Wedges and still wear mine often. Since I mostly wear pants finding a perfect skin tone match isn’t such a big deal for me — happily.
Cheers. Sure you will keep doin’ your thing. May we all follow suit.
You were banned from a silly sim for being genuine to us, your followers, and ..the most important, to you. So, just feel proud, GG.
I was banned from Miamai shop, for being dumb and didnt know how to pick stuff, as blogger, for an event on Chic sim. They never asked me why..they just ban.
Thats the “power abuse” they think they have, maybe that makes them feel v.i.p (in the most literal way) on a silly platform game? idk..
But what im sure is that this kind of people are really unhappy (to be sutile) in their RL.
Anyways..i surely live without visiting that silly store.
Kisses and tx for being the way u are.
It’s a little sad to watch how that designer ruined her own business. Although I am not into designing in SL, I’m a fashion design student in RL and I know creative people can be emotional sometimes. But being in business requires tough nerves.
My heart is seriously aching for her. I am not saying that she is right. Even if she has been attacked (and I am not saying that she has been), she should have controlled her emotions and come up with a positive attitude for her own sake. I guess her behavior hurt her business more than a blog post. My intention is not to criticize. I am just really sad for her. 🙁
I couldn’t help but post this time, normally I just read and love your posts Gogo (so kudos for that alone XD). I’ve been banned also from a certain sim for even just working at a store that the owner didn’t like. I also refuse to shop at any of the places on there, for obvious (I can’t go on it) and marketplace just because I believe that place deserves no support, even indirectly. I saw nothng wrong with this blog post and feel like more childish sims/stores should be called out. Learn to take some critisim and stop banning because ‘wahhh you didn’t do everything I like’, so tired of creators being so stupid in this respect.
Wow, so many responses! I am a fashion blogger as well GoGo, and i must say that i love your reviews, they are honest, constructive,and not biased, you give us your true opinion….and i know as a blogger that sometimes that is hard bc you know with some designers if you give a not glowing review they will hold a resentment and who knows how they may react. All bc a blogger says something constructive about their creation….i spend a ton of my own money on items (yes i am given review copies but i would say its 60/40 split on what i buy versus what i am given) and i feel like giving an honest review is what readers want…i also want to say Kudos to you for posting this specific post and letting it out there that some creators want only 100% positive feedback.
Sometimes i feel like designers don’t respect their bloggers…i get group messages like “closing the blogger group, i don’t need IT anymore” or “if you guys aren’t blogging every item i send out then i am kicking you out of my group” its all nonsense and seems like we aren’t a team but just a resource for SOME designers.
Thanks for letting me rant!
oh one more thing…the creator says “the ban will stay in effect until you apologize” WTF? how old are we????
I am not apologizing for blogging, cos if she unbans me, I might go purchase something and blog about it, and get banned again, lol.
no no, i am NOT saying YOU should apologize! for what? blogging? for giving an honest review? She even said you attacked her personally but i saw absolutely no evidence of that what so ever. I am saying that the creator sounds pretty immature saying “ban stays in effect til you apologize”.
Yeah… No candies until she finishes her meal. *rolls eyes*
This really doesn’t surprise me at all. Years ago I had a nasty customer service experience with Tya. I had purchased 3 different belly rings from her store…I thought they were adorable because they were dainty and understated. I wasn’t a fan of bling but these supposedly had a soft bling (the softest I’ve ever seen) which I was totally okay with. I unpacked all 3 and tried each one on and adjusted their position for my avatar…as well as playing with the bling on bling off commands. One of the belly rings refused to wink at me…so i put the others back on, took a look at their contents which included a single unmodifiable script, and then put the malfunctioning one back on. Turned out there was no script in the malfunctioning belly ring. I contacted Tya and just said that one of the belly rings I had just purchased had no bling. She argued with me that it did and there was nothing wrong with the belly ring I’d received and that I either broke it or basically I was just too stupid to be able to figure out how to type the on and off command. I mentioned after that that I checked the contents and there was no script in there like there was in the others I’d purchased…Her idea of customer service was just to rudely tell me I was wrong and then ignore me. I even offered to let her log into my account to check it out herself. Whatever….she probably saved me from becoming a bling addict…but she could probably improve customer loyalty, retention and appreciation if she treated her customers with just a smidge more respect.
I had an experience about 3 or 4 years ago at a store where the owners were of the habit of showering people they took a like to with freebies to make you beholden to them and then increasingly making demands on you with that leverage. I think it was some kind of D/s mind game for them. When I stood up to them over it I was immediately banned from their shop and have been ever since.
I went back with an alt a while later and they were still up to their little games.
Well this insured that I will not be buying from Pixel Mode again. I’ve never been banned from a store, but this is a good way to weed out designers that may not be worth the money. Many of the posts up there are the reason I shopped at Pixel mode, whether the review was great or not. The point was that it brought attention to the brand, and from there I could go to the store myself and see whether I like the same product or not. Sometimes I did.
But I don’t care for that kind of message. It’s a product review, not a personal attack. If someone can’t take a critique, that’s their problem; all this has shown is that Tya is self conscious about her work. I don’t believe you should apologize for anything, hun. I believe your reviews are honest and that’s something to be proud of. If Tya feels you aren’t worthy of buying her stuff, find a new designer worth talking about. It is not like your word alone will stop sales…but it’s certainly stopped me from setting foot in or near that store in the future.
We can’t be loved by everybody , as soon as you put this in your head , everything will go for the best … its as simple as she dint like you or your comments then banned you , shit happens .
I like you and your blog but these sort of posts are crying out for some unneeded attention . The answer is as simple as she din’t like you and how you are . That’s it … nothing more to it !
I don’t want to be loved by everyone, but I also don’t want anyone going around saying that I have “maliciously attacked” them, when I have not. I also feel that my blog post about the ban is not a cry for attention, but is just sharing my experience (with blog readers). If you don’t care to read it, scroll to the next post.
I disagree… if someone bans you, they’re implying that you did something wrong, for which you *deserved* to be banned. So merely disliking someone is not a valid reason to ban them, as you’re actually defaming them.
I agree with Amara! Totally not shopping there again. I think I’ve only had one thing from there anyways. What she did is very immature and I just won’t support those kind of people. I really appreciate your posts, Gogo. I never felt like you were mean or unfair to a designer. You are super tasteful with your posts. We need bloggers like you, ones that tell the truth, that have opinions. You’re a blogger not a fashion mannequin. And I’m glad you realize that what that designer said isn’t true or fair, you go girl!
What silliness! This is a strong sing for me to never buy from Pixel Mode. Anyone creating items and selling them in SL is open up for some honest reviews. Love your blog and I always appreciate your honesty.
Totally silly!! I dont read this blog really often, one time every three months maybe, but i like time to time… i like the style of the blog and the reviews, and normally i find interestin items even my style in sl is totally different… well, the thing… i totally agree gogo´s opinions about pixel mode… coz omg its so obvius… LOL Feelin hurted coz of that its so childlish… ofc gogo dont have reasons to apologize… thats my opinion ;))
Yes, but let’s face it… how long will we pretend that there isn’t a very large group of store owners who feel their designs are far more elite than the next. They have their elite sales groups, hunt groups, blogs, etc and if you sneeze wrong they outcast you like the Mean Girls. I, personally, refuse to shop at all in mainstream stores simply because of this behavior. Let’s not pretend that this sort of control issue is only occurring with one designer. I think what upsets me most is that you will find that most of these elite shops don’t even create what they make completely on their own. There’s going to be someone scripting, sculpting their prims, creating their textures, etc. But, I feel like it’s not about artistic content creation in SL anymore as I feel it’s becoming a popularity contest. When you think about it, it’s pretty easy to be bitter when you are working so hard for such a little cash return… and then even more of a stab when you aren’t liked by the blogs we all read when you are used to feeling at the top of your game. I mean, think about how many dresses or pairs of shoes one must sell to even make their tier for the month. If they don’t have all of the attention on them, they are losing the very few lindens left in the world to earn. I don’t think most of the people who’s goal to “cash out” of SL really see just how much round the clock work they are doing and that they are probably only making $7 an hour round the clock. As one of the little fish in this big sea, I can honestly say it would be an honor to be blogged by anyone at all. The feedback, the advertising, the additional ability to find my products even through google??!! I feel it’s priceless. But, I suppose if your end goal is being popular, it’s quite a shock when someone doesn’t automatically wipe your behind for you. Please keep that in mind before generously offering an apology. There are many of us waiting to hear what you have to say about product reviews or in my case, I love to see the styles you put together in the same way I spend an hour in the Barbie isle in RL. Keep on blogging and remember that those of us removed from the situation find what you’ve said to be fair and productive. I’m also bravely posting my name so that maybe you can get back to blogging and they can do what they do best: Hate.
May you always have peace, love, and dollies,
Saucey Sinister
Owner of Dirty Dollies, My Digital Hobby Since 2007
This reminds me of a similar issue I experienced with Sil’ly, more specifically their Crystal Tear lashes. The owner is Silmarien Ferryhill, who saw fit to give me the WORST customer service I’ve ever gotten in SL, to this very day. The lashes were curved incorrectly to the eye (opposite of the natural curve of eyelids), and there is no way to curve a prim in the opposite direction. Stretching doesn’t help, either. So I approached her about the issue. I was very polite, asked her how the lashes are supposed to fit.
I told her that I’ve fitted TONS of lashes in my time. It’s actually a specialty of mine, after lots of toil and practice. Her response was, and I quote…..”46 days in SL and you’ve fitted tons of lashes?” – That was in reference to me coming back to SL after an 8-month hiatus (where I was previously Haileymarie Zenovka). Despite Ferryhill saying that it’s “very easy” to fit their lashes and that “hundreds of our customers do it” (doubtful), I still was not able to get them working, which I found ironic, as again….I’ve done this a lot over the years. Finally her partner, Afu Rajal, approached me in IM, having never met me before, and tosses me 120L, then calls me a “crybaby.” I therefore offered a proposal too good to resist. I told him that if he could show me the proper way to fit these lashes, that I would not only give him back his 120L, but I would retract my negative Marketplace statement and instead issue a PUBLIC APOLOGY on the same Review section. Too good to pass up, right?
That’s precisely what both of them did. They took their little war into the comments section on Marketplace, both doing nothing but ridiculing me and reinforcing my point 100%. The result? I logged on that same morning only to notice that the Crystal Tear lashes were no longer for sale on Marketplace. They got rid of the negative comments by killing the product completely.
What could have been a very easy, friendly back-and-forth had degenerated into a grossly unprofessional business owner and her partner berating their customer while being argumentative, confrontational, and arrogant. I knew after that day that I’d never buy anything with the Sil’ly name attached, and I haven’t, to this day.
In the five plus years I’ve spent in SL (good lord, I feel old), I’ve come up against this kind of knee-jerk reaction time and again. We have to realize that, although there are a lot of really awesome people on the grid, there are also segments of the population that come there/work there/play there/etc. because they don’t get on well with people in the real world, for whatever reasons. Creators included.
Even if a creator doesn’t come to SL because of some RL social deficit, he/she does generally come with the proverbial artistic disposition; that is to say, a big ego. How do I know this? I used to be one! You spend that much time alone, designing or building, you tend to get an overinflated opinion of yourself and your work. Blogging critiques helps creators keep a more objective perspective on their work. That’s good for everyone. Sometimes it just falls on deaf ears, or, as the case may be, fragile egos.
I’ve been banned from NOYA ‘s place (when she had one for promo) and her group because I left a 2 stars review on Marketplace. First of all my intent was really to give her a 1 star review and I just said what I thought of the item there. I like some of her items and some I do not and never left a negative review for the ones I really disliked. But I’m not the only one, I read some other reviews where people also said about how rude she becomes when you don’t like her items. I went to her and asked why I was banned and she answered it with a copy of my review. People are entitled to be silly and immature but when you run a business you are expected to be professional -which obviously isn’t her case. No problem, since then I follow her own advice: I never shopped on her store again and went for (much) better designers.
I know this is way late but I was just going through some older posts on your blog and when I came across this one I had to comment. I realized the other day when taking photos for a blog post that I gave up on trying to colour match both of my PM pairs of wedges and opted for N-core instead. I am by no means of a lower IQ or delayed motor skills – I just couldn’t get the right colour for my Glam Affair skin because as you said, the HUD was a bit challenging. I have shoes from PM that don’t involve prim feet and I absolutely adore them. Don’t get me wrong, the wedges are fabulous too, just a hit/miss with the HUD.