Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Beggar Bot Blues

~sigh~  I'm not off to a good start this year... '2nd time I've met this beggar bot in SL.  The first time I met her it was the same exact story in Belleza store as today in CatwA.  Cremmosa Resident introduced herself  sweetly indicating she was back in SL after a absence and told about how things have changed so much with mesh etc., then she moved on to tell a sad story about her ex-boyfriend from SL, then proceeded to compliment my looks and how she needs to update her inventory and reinvent herself and asked if I would give her money to help her do this. 

These begger bots are all over SL now at some of the most popular stores.  I saw the bot at Belleza first but at CatwA she was a orange ghost as Cemmosa Resident then after some girls tried for a while to push her into the water then set her on fire she eventually disappeared only to instantly be replaced by another beggar bot, Pleashure Resident, who I could not see at all. It just makes it harder to take a picture of them with their tag on or to report them if they are invisible.  None of us could see Pleashure who has a rez date of today, except on radar, but she did IM everyone.  It's a pretty interesting set up really and I have to wonder how many people have contributed to this scam.  I initially tried to offer information on a great freebie group and some info on some great free skin, etc.  but that shut her up quickly back when I was in Belleza.  This time I was on to her and just listened and watched for a while as some girls tried to damage her.  They couldn't do much.  I warned in public and contacted the sim owner.  Anyway, just beware. Everyone really needs to report these beggar bots because if this behavior continues or increases there could be resulting problems associated with our shopping inworld.

Addendum: 1-5-13 Apparently this has been fully blogged and considered and I found this interesting information http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?client=tmpg&depth=1&hl=en&langpair=sv%7Cen&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&u=http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/01/second-life-flatterbot.html&usg=ALkJrhg8TmsJUAe6EV4I6dM4Gx5t2WYUjQ

And here is my personal opinion:  I DO believe this form of begging should be against TOS on ALL lands.  It's bad enough to flat out ask someone for money, but this is predatory and deceitful.  Some may say it's just another creative way to exploit in SL by begging for financial gain but this is not basic begging.   I think it is VERY LOW of a person  to provide a pathetic back story that some might identify with, but is most likely not true in order to gain sympathy, then flatter,  and while someone who has met her before or a long time SL resident like myself may spot a cheater when they see one, some kind hearted noobs will totally be suckered in by this scam... and that is exactly what it is.. a SCAM.  NO I do NOT appreciate the person's creativity.  Not one bit.  She/he should be totally ashamed.  Just saying.

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