Anshe Returns
by Alphaville Herald on 01/04/06 at 3:29 pm
An update in the developing story of land baron Anshe Chung’s suspension from Second Life: Anshe reports that around 11:30 am SLT, about an hour ago, her account was taken off hold by a Linden concierge. No explanation has yet been forthcoming, though, and the Herald awaits news from Linden Lab of just what was doing down.
Bob the Tomato
Apr 2nd, 2006
LL won’t comment because of their ‘privacy policy’.
Anshe won’t comment because it was clearly her own fault, indicating poor planning, which does not give confidence in AC’s stability as a viable investment model – and perhaps undermines LL’s entire ridiculous policy of making thousands of dollars from a game. After all, is it not logical that when “Second Life” becomes your “First Life” sole income, it isn’t actually a “Second Life” any more?
After all, what confidence can we have in an entire currency “backed by european silver” (which nobody has yet provided evidence of the existance of it as security, unless she’s chosen to buy commemorative coins; and the thought that such security is actually illegal to use in the US, where LL is based and therefore its laws override that of the individual user’s country in world), when she can’t even have a measly $5000 in the right place when a known billing date and amount are due?
Bob
Zeke
Apr 2nd, 2006
If you want to use a stable currency in-game, why not just use notes that are backed by US Dollars???
Simon lameth
Apr 2nd, 2006
Anshe must be crazy if she wants ll to apoligize. Just because she has a big ego and thinks she is important doesnt mean she is more important than the other 100000 members to linden
Guni Greenstein
Apr 3rd, 2006
“Anshe won’t comment because it was clearly her own fault”
It wasn’t Anshe’s fault. Linden Lab was holding more than 60000 US$ of ACS money at the time, most on Anshe’s alt “Anshee Chung”.
On the 29th was a billing failure on her main account and Linden Lab sent the usual automated email to Anshe giving her 7 days to fix the problem before her account would be put on hold. But instead of following their normal procedure, Linden Lab banned her within less than 48 hours and kept her banned for more than 24 hours after she had long fixed the original problem.
“what confidence can we have in an entire currency (…) when she can’t even have a measly $5000 in the right place”
Maybe your question leads us to the whole point of the exercise.
Prokofy Neva
Apr 3rd, 2006
As Anshe explained at the town hall meeting in Central Park, the issue here began with the Lindens’ refusal to process a wire transfer to China.
It’s hard to understand why they wouldn’t do that in principle of anyone over a certain amount of transaction, adding in the $25 fee or whatever, but it’s especially hard to understand why they wouldn’t do it for a large customer. When you work in a company, some vendors want payment in cash; some want checks; some want wire transfers.
To be sure, since the Patriot Act, banks now require additional information about people if you attempt to move more than $10,000 US overseas. That usually means providing the same name, address, Social Security number *again* that you already gave in the first place to get the bank account. Big Deal.
The IRS doesn’t care if you lose money abroad like an idiot; they care if you *document that you lost money abroad like an idiot*.
Given that the $50,000 was obtained by in fact cashing hard-earned Lindens out for lower than their value if a 30-day period were waited with different packets on the LindEx, what’s the big deal? It’s hard to understand why the Lindens didn’t want to process the wire — but it might merely be just unfamiliarity with doing business overseas or uncertainty about the Patriot Act (I can’t believe that’s the case, given that they have Lindens employed overseas, subscribers overseas, and even a billing company overseas now. Geez.)
To be sure, wires are not an option mentioned on their services related to the LindEx. Checks are, for $10. And PayPal is mentioned. But Anshe didn’t want to take PayPal, where she has an account in good standing, because that would mean flushing the funds through two sets of fees — on the Lindens’ end, and again in Germany (or maybe even three times on its way to China).
The Lindens talk a good game about having third-world people make money off this game and lift themselves from third-world poverty. They need the financial services to match that by tuning up their wire fund apparatus. To be sure, it requires someone to walk to the bank to sign the form, but then, they probably have daily deposits anyway, no? Maybe not…
It sounds to me like putting the account on hold was someting that an unsure and maybe even panicked lower-level Linden did — but the fact that it was a manual override of an automatic system that gives you 7 days normally as the default sounds like the sort of “signal sending” for which the Lindens seem to be known — and the kind of “plausible deniability” signal-sending that is best for them.
Anshe talked at the town hall about keeping funds on deposit to refund customers — her first priority in this entire episode was to reassure all the 500 plus people of Dreamland that their refunds are available. I saw nothing but support for Anshe during this period, and I didn’t see any obviously run for the doors. At the end of the day, if anything, were the Lindens suddenly to pull the plug on Anshe, customers would rightfully ask the Lindens to do at least a partial refund for deeded land, as in fact Anshe paid her tier, and people lived on that tiered land and paid Anshe.
This fussing about “Eurosilver” is really nutty. Anshe doesn’t need silver in coffers to provide a currency. Her currency is backed by the Linden, in turn backed by the dollar, if you will, or merely backed by the USD which is the currency for PayPal acceptable in the U.S. In fact, the actual game/LL location is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Anshe is on the Internet with a valid PayPal account, accepting US dollars in PayPal (or British pounds or German marks).
All this screaming about “illegality” is uninformed. If a supermarket wants to make coupons or green stamps to collect it may do so. You’re welcome to buy them or not to shop with.
Bob, as for all this hortatory stuff about the *requirement* to “have fun” in a game — I can only say that requirements to have fun aren’t fun. Read my blog:
http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2006/04/in_defense_of_a.html
whatever
Apr 3rd, 2006
“when she can’t even have a MEASLY $5000 in the right place”
$5000 is a whole damn lot to some people, so get off your fucking high horse before it bucks you off and stomps the shit out of you.
Marsellus Wallace
Apr 3rd, 2006
I think whatever needs a hug.
Marsellus Wallace
Boss, The Sim Mafia
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Cat Cotton
Apr 3rd, 2006
Prok are you one of Anshe’s employees. yes or no.
Thanks.
Cat
Bob the Tomato
Apr 3rd, 2006
$5000 is a lot of money to me too, “whatever”, so I’m not entirely sure what your problem is.
I’m just making the point that someone who has supposedly done over half a million dollars worth of business, and is rich enough to consider supporting an entire currency, should have 5k in the right place BEFORE the billing problem occurs.
keep your petty little insults to yourself. Fear my pips.
Bob
Toy
Apr 3rd, 2006
Hearing only one side to this whole story makes me wonder just how gulible some people are. Shoud we accept Anshe’s word as gospel? I certainly dont. I has a messup once by LL and my billing but I didnt feel I had to scream in the forums or anyplace, I just let LL handle it and it was cleared up soon.
Is there more to thiss than meets the one-sided info already spoon-fed to people? Who knows and who actually cares.
I’d much rather deal and accept LL’s silence in this seems a bit more businesslike to me. Once again it simply who do I trust LL or someone screaming foul in the forums, easy answer for me.
Prokofy Neva
Apr 3rd, 2006
No, I have no relationship to Anshe Chung, Cat, I do not work for her nor am I on her payroll, and it’s funny you’d even think that. I’m as critical as the next person about some of her business tactics but she’s a fact of life — I don’t particularly like Con Edison either, but if I want electricity, that’s the company I have to deal with.
To be sure, in the course of business, Anshe rents a store at one of my plazas, and I rent one of her lots in Dreamland; I’ve bought land from her, she’s bought land from me, but these are not significant transactions. I have no stake in her business whatsoever; I’ve rented and bought and sold to or from other land dealers in SL too. It’s a pretty small world in that regard.
What is your point, exactly? If I defend Anshe in a blog I must be “on her payroll” getting the equivalent of “Moscow gold”?
I defend a free market. Unfortunately, when you have a socialist/social-engineering overwhelming executive power like LL running our world and our “free market”, with no checks and balances, and actually no genuine free land market (the Lindens artificially keep the value at around 5/meter), the inevitable result is oligarchy — huge businesses that get their start from the fact that the state essentially subsidizes some part of their business, or they essentially get the raw materials for their business for a song (like in Russia).
I view this as an inevitable stage that must be passed through; trying to take something like communism (a closed game economy) and make it capitalism (an open virtual economy) has been compared by some to trying to trying to make an aquarium again out of fish soup — but…it must be attempted, and the process will be inevitably painful.
The only way for competition to increase, for oligarchy to be rolled back, for the land market to develop and become more free, for residents to be able to sell to each other, is to allow the price of land to float, and for the Lindens to stop glutting the land market.I’ve written about this extensively on my blog. So while that means high prices for the best land from Anshe, that’s what people value the land at. Some will pay it. Some won’t. There’s enough land alternatives in SL not to be dependent on Anshe. In fact, I’m one of them : )
The phenomenon of Anshe is a game/MMORPG/socialist phenom — it can ebb to the extent that the world becomes more real and more free.
Anshe may tell stories selectively, we can’t know. But what she says sounds plausible. Obviously her not getting $50,000 handled is a lot different than Toy’s $500 or less — and frankly, I see nothing wrong with that.
It’s funny how the FIC and the content fascists are always lecturing us about how it’s “normal” for companies to play favourites with some customers, to allow some loyal and good customers to be sounding board, to give some customers special perks, etc. Well, sure, why not? But then…don’t be surprised if some of that customer list isn’t just you and your friends in your sector, but includes others in other sectors.
It’s funny how everyone is slamming Anshe for allegedly not having her ducks lined up to have $5000 in the till — no one but me seems to ask the question of whether the issue might have been the Lindens not having money in their till somewhere along the line.
Their refusal to send the $50k to China is a mystery to me, but maybe they simply don’t want that kind of transaction — it’s of course at their discretion.
simon lameth
Apr 3rd, 2006
Hold on, she wanted money wired to China? Is she laundering money now?
One Song
Apr 4th, 2006
Ofcourse this might have been Linden Lab’s innitial attempt to “legaly” get rid of her.
It’s something I predicted would happen, I suspect they are angry that Anshe is exploiting their land market, by having pretty much a monopoly on it, and they see that as unbeneficial to the game. Especially, since they didn’t think ahead when writing their Terms of Service or how they are going to run their in-game economy. Thus monopolies weren’t pre-thought off and they are starting to feel the consequences of their carelesness.
Above in one of the comments someone mentioned LL’s best custumer, I doubt thats the case whoever said that. You gotta remember what Anshe is doing in their eye could most likely be divided into what 20 other people in game could be doing at a small scale. Anshe doesn’t produce demand for land, the demand is there she is merely taking advatage of the restrictive market that it is. LL is not making any more money of Anshe than if there was more competition what they would be collectivelly making.
This is LL internal policy, allow anything that is giving them an advantage or generating interest in a certain area of their venture, until they become a obstacle on their path or they think they can do better. That’s why they had to destroy GOM it was in their way of creating a Linden exchange market that they could manipulate their moeny and print money to sell and make it part of their revenue. Ofcourse as you should know that generates inflation, thats why over time we are seeing a steady decrease in the value of the Linden vs the USD. Deflation is also happening as more people join their game, only that the rate of new paying custumers isn’t enough to cover for all the moeny LL is printing and selling directly to their custumers. Gotta love the evil machinery.
Marsellus Wallace
Apr 4th, 2006
Toy, I gotta agree with you on this one. I have had dealings with both Anshe Chung and Linden Lab. Linden Lab in particular on a billing issue and it was easily resolved. Granted was exactly quick, but research was required on their end so that is understandable. As for Anshe, my past dealing with Anshe have left me with the conclusion that either because English is not her first language, miscommunications occur, or that she feels she is infalible, which she obviously is not. In regards to a second currency that is stable, this is no different than her accepting cash. She can’t create her own version of money in the game. How would people earn it to give it to her?
She also just opened up an office in China (I know because she offered me a job their before it opened to which I declined) which all those people with last name ACS work at. As a result, her overhead has dramatically increased and perhaps their truly was a billing issue regardless of what Anshe says. Takes a lot of money to start up something like that. My question is, how long before the Chinese government shuts her down? Second Life is a challenge to their communist society which frowns upon free expression which SL promotes big time.
She is a good source of income for Linden Lab, so why would they suspend her without valid reason? Perhaps too, this proves Linden Lab does not make exceptions for those paying customers as so many have cried about them in the past. Just my 2 cents.
Marsellus Wallace
Boss, The Sim Mafia
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Patch Lamington
Apr 4th, 2006
I wasnt going to comment in this discussion, I have no particular interest nor axe to grind, but a figure Prok mentioned got my attention.
“Given that the $50,000 was obtained by in fact cashing hard-earned Lindens out for lower than their value if a 30-day period were waited with different packets on the LindEx, what’s the big deal?”
For some reason I find the idea of someone dumping ~15 Million Lindens significantly below market value quite interesting. Wonder if it has any link to this?
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=97111
Elde Eponym
Apr 4th, 2006
Marsellus writes:
“As for Anshe, my past dealing with Anshe have left me with the conclusion that either because English is not her first language, miscommunications occur, or that she feels she is infalible, which she obviously is not.”
“She also just opened up an office in China (I know because she offered me a job their before it opened to which I declined) which all those people with last name ACS work at. As a result, her overhead has dramatically increased and perhaps their truly was a billing issue regardless of what Anshe says.”
My impression of Anshe is that she’s hit the wall that many small business owners do – The business has grown beyond her ability to manage it. Like many in her situation, she has confused being caught up in a whirlwind with mastery over it.
As a business grows, it’s systems and procedures must grow and change as well, and to many a small business owner, this change is frightening as hell. Many business owners react the same way Anshe has – by trying to bluff their way past it. (“I must be infallible! I must know what I’m doing! After all haven’t I gotten this big!”) They don’t realize the problems they gloss over are potentially business killers. (For instance keeping track of which avatar has the money.)
Toy
Apr 4th, 2006
hmmmmm “Anshe may tell stories selectively, we can’t know. But what she says sounds plausible. Obviously her not getting $50,000 handled is a lot different than Toy’s $500 or less — and frankly, I see nothing wrong with that.”
Are you saying you think the socalled FIC concept should apply, Prok? Your saying one who pays more tier deserves more than others? Quite a turnaround from your old spiels.
Irregardless what you believe, ranting publically about a situation isn’t the best way to handle things. Taking a chill-pill always works out for the best.
Hell, I could offer amother opinion to this…. perhaps Anshe isnt no longer as successful as she wants, the recent rantings about the TH land, the buying up shoreline areas, the announcing a new currency….. perhaps its a way to try to transfer blame to LL when she folds rather than simply saying so….. See, there’s so many spins on this whole situation that its all guess work, no facts…. just a one sided rant.
RZ
Apr 5th, 2006
Toy:”Irregardless what you believe, ranting publically about a situation isn’t the best way to handle things. Taking a chill-pill always works out for the best.”
When you have built up a business from scratch and have it arbitrarily taken out from under you by Linden Lab, apparently in contravention of their own stated policy, *then* you can talk about `taking a chill-pill’. Sometimes bringing matters to light and making people aware is the only way to get something like that resolved.
Toy
Apr 5th, 2006
RZ: “When you have built up a business from scratch and have it arbitrarily taken out from under you by Linden Lab, apparently in contravention of their own stated policy, *then* you can talk about `taking a chill-pill’. Sometimes bringing matters to light and making people aware is the only way to get something like that resolved.”
Your assuming it all was brought to light. Once again, a one-sided story. Let’s face it LL owns SL, not Anshe. All I have seen in the recent rantings by Anshe is she no longer has the control she asssumed she had to begin with. I dont see that LL has taken anything away they just have rules ALL must adhere to, and that’s how it should be.