Dealing with Chat Spam Griefers

Over the past few days I've received reports from tenants and visitors that an object has been spamming them with the following annoying text:

[11:44] III||IIl|||||||||||||: HELLO MY NAME IS BLACKPAT HALLARD AND I'M 16 YEARS OLD, NICE TO MEET YOU HELLO MY NAME IS BLACKPAT HALLARD AND I'M 16 YEARS OLD, NICE TO MEET YOU HELLO MY NAME IS BLACKPAT HALLARD AND I'M 16 YEARS OLD, NICE TO MEET YOU HELLO MY NAME IS BLACKPAT HALLARD AND I'M 16 YEARS OLD, NICE TO MEET

Normally you can just mute and report objects that spam you, but this one has been specially designed to make finding and reporting it very difficult. In order for Linden Lab to track down the offender and stop the spam, I need your help in reporting the problem when it happens.

What to do if you get spammed
Please contact me (Wildefire Walcott) or one of my estate managers (Vivienne Schell or Clara Hirvi) as soon as you're spammed. Tell us exactly where you were when you got the spam, and copy/paste the message (including the object name) into the IM you send. We will try to contact Linden Lab support to track down the spammer.

New Desperation Isle is open to the public!

New Desperation Isle is an adults-only kink and fetish playground in the virtual world of Second Life. If you have Second Life installed, you can teleport there now. If you're new to Second Life, visit What is Second Life? to learn about it and sign up for a free account.

This post covers the following topics:

• Recent history
• Getting to the island
• Improving your experience
• Improving your performance
• Exploring the island

Recent history
The adult playground and kink mall New Desperation Isle is officially open. Old Desperation Isle was shut down on October 18, but most of the attractions there have made their way to the new island in one form or another. My slaves and I built the new island with our guests in mind, and with a goal of delivering a more focused and immersive experience for you to enjoy. Note that the old island has been renamed to Desperation East, and become one of the rental islands in the Desperation Isle Estates. To see if any land is available for rent, go to Search > Places and look for "desperation." All our rental properties are listed there.

Getting to the island
If you have Second Life open now, you can teleport directly there by clicking this link. You can also find us by going to Edit > Search and looking for New Desperation Isle on the Places tab. I also have a link to the island in the Picks tab of my in-world profile. While you can get there by simply flying West from the old Desperation Isle, I strongly recommend you update your landmarks and profile picks because the old island will be going away soon.

Improving your experience
(Note: If you've got an older, slower, computer, skip this section and move on to the next section about improving performance.) New Desperation Isle is a lot more scenic and visually dynamic than the old island, and if you've got a fast, recent computer and a good broadband connection, here are some suggestions for getting the best total experience during your visit.

• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Draw Distance. I recommend between 192 and 256 meters. Any higher doesn't add too much, but affects performance.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Lighting Detail. Set to Nearby local lights for the best effect.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Terrain Detail. Set to High.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Nighttime Brightness. If things seem too dark, increase this value until they look better. I strongly recommend doing this instead of using World > Force Sun, because the island was designed for a nighttime experience.
  

Improving your performance
The sim performance at New Desperation Isle is near-perfect. In other words, the island is not bogged down on the server side and all scripts and download services are running at full capacity. However, if your computer is old or you don't have a very good broadband connection or graphics card, you might have to make some compromises in order do get around easily on the new island. If updating your computer, graphics card, or RAM are not options for you, here are my recommendations:

• Play in full-screen mode. Generally you can get more frames per second (FPS) by running Second Life in full-screen mode, instead of "windowed mode." You can switch between full-screen and windowed modes at any time by pressing ALT+ENTER. To see what your current FPS is, enable View > Statistics Bar. Your client-side FPS is the number at the top of the statistics bar. This is different from Sim FPS, which is a measure of how fast the server is operating. If you find that your FPS actually drops when you enter full-screen mode, it might be because your computer's screen resolution is very high. If you set your computer to a normal resolution like 1024x768, full-screen mode will likely be faster for you than Windowed mode.
• Edit > Preferences > Network > Maximum Bandwidth. Set this slider to match your broadband connection's speed. The default is 500 kpbs but most cable modem connections are much faster than that. This slider has a maximum of 1500 kbps. It probably will not help you to increase the slider to a speed greater than your broadband connection.
• Edit > Preferences > Network > Disk Cache Size (MB). If you have the hard disk space, increase this slider to expand your cache, which will cut down on the time you have to spend re-downloading assets at places you frequently visit. The maximum value is 1000 MB, which is around 1 GB.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Draw Distance. Lowering this value will increase FPS by limiting how many distant objects your computer has to display. 96 meters is an acceptable distance, in my opinion, and I wouldn't recommend any less than 64 meters.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Lighting Detail. You can get a minor boost by switching this to Sun and Moon only. If you select this, I recommend that you drastically increase your nighttime brightness or force daylight so you're able to see where you're going, as New Desperation Isle makes heavy use of local lighting for visibility and atmosphere.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Terrain Detail. Setting this to Low will give you a 1-2 FPS boost. The ground won't look as nice.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Filtering. Uncheck Anisotropic Filtering if it's checked. You probably won't miss it.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Graphics Card Memory. Select the highest number that isn't grayed out. If your graphics card has less than 128MB of memory, you're not going to have the best experience.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Max. Particle Count. New Desperation Isle uses many particle effects to enhance the atmosphere in several parts of the island. Lowering this number to something like 1024 or even less will improve performance in these areas.

Exploring the island
There are many places to discover on the isle. Here's a short guide to the major locations:

• The Mall. When you first teleport into New Desperation Isle, you land on the top level of our kink and fetish mall. Please support our vendors- they pay our bills!
• The Castle. Seven rooms for seven sins, each area in this castle is outfitted to cater to different kinks and fantasies. See if you can find the hidden dungeon! There have been rumors of dark rites being performed in the ancient ruins behind the castle... are they just stories?
  
• The Treehouse. This scenic location features a bar and slave parking downstairs, as well as a forniphilia lounge and a comfy private area on the second level. Use the teleporter inside the big tree to get upstairs.
• The Medical Center. Our experienced medical technicians specialize in gender reassignment (or enhancement) and a variety of brainwashing and fertility services.
• The Goliath Tree. Just West of the Medical Center looms the immense Goliath tree. Ride the teleporters to the top level for a 360-degree view of the entire Desperation Isle Estates.
• The Atrium. This is Wildefire Walcott's personal gathering place and office, surrounded by trees. Visitors are welcome; it's perhaps the only "safe" place on the isle.
• The Barn. At great expense, the Walcott Family contracted to have the most popular building from old Desperation Isle moved to its new, more private location, enshrouded in a ring of trees. Everything you remember is still there, although some stables have been added for keeping your pets where they belong. (The pony wash is now located on the South side of the barn.) Visitors will also find an inviting bonfire outside the barn.
• The Love Nest. One of the Walcott slaves contstructed this heart-shaped building as an expression of her devotion to her Mistresses. Find a comfy hammock, warm (scripted) bearskin rug, and a roomy jacuzzi on the top level. This structure has the best view of the giant waterfall and the tragic shipwreck of the Blessed Hellride.
  
• The Pirate Ship. (Coming soon.) This giant unmanned vessel floated into harbor one gloomy Fall morning; no trace of its owners was ever found. It seems too beautiful to dismantle, so we're looking for a use for it.
• The Cave. Like old Desperation Isle, the island sits upon a vast network of caves. Explore our 9,600-square meter cave and unlock its mysteries. Note: There is a secret entrance to the cave tucked away somewhere aboveground, but it can also be accessed from the island teleporters.
  

New Desperation Isle Mall Rules and Info

Thank you for expressing an interest in setting up shop at the New Desperation Isle Mall. The isle is a dark BDSM roleplaying area whose guests are mostly D/s practitioners and fetishists from Germany, France, Scandinavia, and the USA. New Desperation Isle is a mature, privately-owned sim. As of this writing we get between 12-16K of real traffic at our current home (no campers, no bots)- depending on the day of the week.

*** MALL RENTAL RATES ***
There are different rates depending on the number of prims you wish to use in your stall. Rent is due weekly and should be paid to the rental box in your stall. The rental box will remind you when pay is due (or late). (Note, the default rate is for 20 prims, if you wish to use more or less, please contact me and I will make adjustments/refunds as needed.) Please see the New Desperation Isle FAQ at the blog for other options: http://desperationisle.blogspot.com/
* 1 to 10 prims: L$100/week
* 11 to 15 prims: L$150/week
* 16 to 20 prims: L$200/week
* 21 to 25 prims: L$250/week
* 26 to 30 prims: L$285/week (5% discount)
* 31 to 35 prims: L$333/week (5% discount)
* 36 to 40 prims: L$360/week (10% discount)
* 41 to 45 prims: L$405/week (10% discount)
* 46 to 50 prims: L$425/week (15% discount)
* Over 50 prims: Let's talk. =)

*** REFERRAL BONUS ***
If a new Second Life merchant sets up at the Mall under your recommendation, I will reimburse you for a week's worth of rent! Just have your friends tell me you referred them. (This is important!)

*** HOW TO SET UP SHOP ***
1. Pay the rental box in the stall you would like to rent to claim your spot.
2. Contact Wildefire Walcott via IM and ask to be added to her group for the mall. (I am online every day between 10pm-12:30am PST, but can respond to offline IMs during most days.) I will invite you to the group, "Mistress Wildefire's Sub-space" as an "Associate."
3. Once you're in the group, remember to always activate the group tag before placing your items. If you don't do this your items will be auto-returned within 10 minutes.

*** NOTES ***
- The land is set to 10-minute autoreturn. Be sure to wear the group tag when putting things out for sale.
- Stalls are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Follow the steps listed earlier to claim your spot.
- If you have a business partner who needs group access as well, just tell me.
- Please check the Desperation Isle Estates blog for up-to-date information (check the Mall Renter Resources links on the right side of the page): http://desperationisle.blogspot.com/

*** DETAILS AND RULES ***
- What you sell on New Desperation Isle is up to you. So long as what you're selling doesn't violate the Second Life terms of service and you're not reselling freebies, you should be okay. Items that sell very well at the isle: All types of womens' clothes, latex and fetish wear, scripted BDSM furniture and collars/cuffs/binders, add-ons for popular collars and cuffs.
- Please avoid hovertext when possible, as it can creep between walls and mess up neighboring displays. If you MUST use it, please place the items with hovertext so that they don't cause problems in neighboring stalls.
- Please keep your items inside the stall, specifically I don't want anything obstructing the island view or blocking the aisles.
- You MAY add a sign to the top of your stall if you like.
- You MAY add 'wallpaper' to your stall to give your area a customized look. Note that doing so will count against your prim allotment.
- Please pay the rental box in the stall; do not pay me directly.
- No 'holo' or 'temp-on-rez' vendors are allowed.
- You may not place networked SERVERS on the isle, however networked VENDORS are certainly allowed.
- Please do not use textures greater than 512x512.
- No rotating, shouting, flashing, or blinking objects.
- No casino items, including hippie pay or any other item where you pay money and do not receive an object.
- I repeat: No reselling freebies!

Please contact me with any questions, concerns, bribes, etc.
-Wildefire Walcott