[Bishop]

Due to a changing regulatory climate, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to sunset a very popular sales mechanism for content in Second Life.  It’s widely known as "gacha", and is defined by a chance-based outcome as a result of a payment.  
We know that creators plan their content releases far in advance and will need to re-tool their products, so to mitigate the impact to those affected, we are giving a 30-day grace period, until midnight SLT on August 31.  After that time, selling content via gacha machines will no longer be permitted in Second Life.  Enforcement won’t start until September 1; after that date an Abuse Report for “Gaming Policy Violation” will be the preferred method of reporting this content to Linden Lab.  
We will continue to allow any sales where a payment is given for a known item, which means that items that had been purchased as “gacha” will be allowed to be re-sold as long as the buyer knows in advance the item and quantity they will receive. We will, of course, still allow fatpacks, and any other currently-allowed distribution mechanisms. 
We did not make this decision lightly and we understand that it will impact creators as well as event organizers and certainly the shoppers! We look forward to fun creative ways of engagement that will come instead.

[showbis]

Due to a changing regulatory climate

What does that mean in plain English?
That is a very cryptic statement that if you squeeze doesn't mean sh*t
 

we are giving a 30-day grace period, until midnight SLT on August 31

So this is the end, glad they thought about the creators who plan far ahead = 30 days

Yeah the thing is to get everything we can before it is too late

Thanks for letting us know Bishop
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[Bishop]

They're probably talking about places like Europe that have ban Gachas. In their legislation as gambling.

[Ralph Hinkley]

They're probably talking about places like Europe that have ban Gachas. In their legislation as gambling.

The only reason politicians ban gambling is because they aren't given a big enough bribe out of the take by the house, and the house ALWAYS wins.

[showbis]

I was researching this and  I am not convinced but Ralph is right, some want to basically sell game licenses for loot boxes/gachas

If you are curious about what countries have in place restrictions it is clear there isn't anything pressing in regulations

• I have found this article that names the countries with legislation on this matter in 2020
  
• This is a petition to the European Union dated March 2020
  

But pretty much all of those are done to protect minors and if we go into SL ToS it is clear that the platform is designed for adults and the minimum age is 16 limited to the general area.
In the end, it is clear that some have laws, others don't and that isn't because the "regulatory climate" changes on Sept 1st.

Maybe Gachas aren't what LL has in mind in order to increase profits… that is a "climate change" we are all used to!
Or maybe it's just me who always thinks there is a catch in everything that they do.

But I would like to know other opinions on this

[showbis]

How bout breedables, sploders, lucky chairs, groups that promise some giveaways that they don't specify what those are… are they all going down?

Blah blah blah in a month of vacation with people having to revert their machines in 30 days
at times I feel sorry for the creators also… this looks like a dictatorship

Yeah we better get what we can while we can… I don't trust these dudes for a second



Damage control for laughs

[C.Nails]

Ive read the Blog

reading the general discussion forum  - its very active! 


I read one post there, which got me nodding:
" lmao LL doesnt get paid for gacha machines....they get paid for the mesh and texture uploads and thats where it ends so unless a reseller is putting it on the MP "

 LL doesn't make this step of their own free will.
In the discussion link, some mentioned that RL was so much effected being a gacha addict, that they got in deep depth.  Even when being an adult who should know better.   

Lootboxes,  in other video games, risk to make people , who play video games, addicted to buy these: 
- you pay for something you MIGHT get, but it is not sure you get it.  You keep on buying until you get that special item you want.  

I am sure the gacha makers will find a way to make gacha's again, just not as we know it now. 
The gacha addicts in SL , can still sell their "loot", since the items are now known. Some even make a living of reselling, which has been causing the anger of some of the gacha makers! 
- well, i better be making that subforum named "copybot stores"  I have been pondering about.... an absolute no go to be a member of a Copybot community and sell what others have uploaded and gain on that. << ok, sidetracked. 

LL's new policy is a result of control performed by governments world wide. We can go into a political discussion on how *things* are being taken care of from the people we voted for.( I will not start though.)
Since this is SL, and LL has to obey rules too, they acted now.


Another golden quote from the forum discussion:

"Didn't LL just have it's 18th birthday where 16 sims were full of gachas? 
Funny how that is."

XD


My own opinion on gachas as we know them now, will disappear. 
GOOD

Gacha makers who makes a living out of others addiction?  that is bad.  But since we are several really old SL residents existing, we can be called addicted too.
Make stuff we want to buy instead. With demo's. And copy. Don't make it RARE.  (thinking of we are not all copybotters!)

[Yeeana]

IMO gachas, till now, they were pretty fun to play and considering the fact that a single pull wasn't very expensive (between 50-75L a pull) you could still get some good items to wear with your avatar, so you couldn't leave empty handed. Personally, I didn't really care about gachas the entire time I was on SL. I wasn't a really big fan of them since I could easily buy the items that I wanted from MP resellers, but I still played them whenever I had the chance.

As I read the blogpost LL made about the new change I was thinking: ''what about the gacha-only events? like Arcade or Epiphany? how are they going to handle this big change? are they going to shut down or literally change the entire event? i don't know.'' These questions are still haunting me as I'm looking for answers, because i'm really curious on how these events will handle it and what are they going to become in the future. Imo I don't think they will be shutting down or something, maybe they will be like any other shopping event with regular products, but you can always share your opinion on this

I also checked out the forum post to see other people's reactions;
- some seem happy about this, they are happy that **finally** gachas will not be a thing anymore
- some are sad about it, I assume those people are the ones who already built an addiction to it
- creators that have gachas are very confused, they don't know what to do with them as of now
- and some people have neutral reactions.

So, my really honest opinion is:
LL did a good thing. They finally did a right thing. I'm also happy that gachas are gone for good, because if you really think about it - gachas are like IRL gambling machines - you are playing for the big prize (in SL being the rares and IRL the money/jackpot, but we will focus on RL for a bit), you eventually win the big prize, you redeem it....and days later or literally after you redeemed your prize, you play again, and again, and again....till you win the big prize again and this chain of events it's just repeating itself. And this chain of events is happening in SL too - you play for the rares, you eventually win a rare, but you ran out of L$ and you want to buy more with your own RL money so you can still play at the gacha till you get all the rares from it. So at this point SL can be named as a ''gacha game'' in some situations and people are building an addiction to it, but unfortunately nobody can control their addictions to stuff. So i'm glad LL did this.
Anyways after the new gacha policy takes effect, people who still have gacha items laying around in their inventory they can still resell them on MP and creators that had gacha machines full of items can sell the items as regular products at their choice.

[showbis]

Latest Update - The short version -

• Linden Lab will not extend the policy deadline. Warnings and enforcement will be happening from 30th September 2021.
  
• 7Seas will suffer no impact due to this policy
  
• Breedables won’t be impacted    [but you need to read the long version because they might be in the future]
  
• Subscription boxes are not affected
  
• Linden Homes are not impacted [strange would be if they would kill a golden chicken]
  

Latest Update - The long version FAQ

Code:

We have developed an FAQ to assist with answering some of the most common questions we are being asked. 
This list is not exhaustive, and we will continue working to get answers and add them here.

Q:  Is it possible to extend the policy deadline?
A:  We are sorry that we are not able to further extend the policy deadline. 
However, we have been able to extend the enforcement of the policy change an additional 30 days. 
To be clear, starting on September 1 we expect gacha as a sales mechanism to cease.
However we will start with warnings, and any enforcement of the policy as it would be applied on an account
will not begin until after September 30.

Q:  How are breedables impacted by this policy change?
A:  This current policy change and deadline does not apply to breedables or other life simulation products.
At the present we are working with external counsel on the subject of breedables. 
If any action is required we will make a separate announcement and have a separate timeline associated with it.

Q:  Will popular games like 7seas be impacted by this policy change?
A:  No, because the purchase of bait to go “fishing” is a purchase being made of a known item,
and also the fish you catch while playing the game are non-transferable. 
To be clear, if they are not currently, they must be going forward.

Q: How are subscription boxes affected?
A: Subscription boxes are not affected as long as all subscribers are getting the same content box.
Different items being sent to different subscribers on a chance basis is not allowed.

Q:  How are Linden Homes affected?
A: Linden Homes are not impacted by this policy change. 
Linden Lab owns the homes and they are not transferable.  

There are still several great questions which we are working to answer with our legal team. 
We will update with additional information as soon as possible.

Source: Second Life community blog

Users are yet to realize that SL is made by them for them and how strong they really are!

See Linden's democracy in action and how disoriented they look… we change and adapt as the noise gets louder?!



showbis