 |
Stacey grills the Big Man.... |
The SFL has been under some fire recently, so what I did was talk to a few people with beef, and then took the beef to SFL president Romeo Torvalar.
Now, I have never owned a SFL team. I have never owned anything more expensive than a gown I got for a dance I was attending. A lot of this stuff goes right over my head. I also don't work for the SFL in any shape or form. Sure, I get paid to write about them, but I was getting paid before and would be getting paid if I stopped SFL coverage. So, I'm not compromised.
If you think the SFL is getting a raw deal, or if you think I let Romeo off the hook too easily here... there is a means of redress... the comments section at the bottom! use it, abuse it... I'm just that proverbial conversation catalyst.
Here's Romeo and I, chewing the fat.
[17:02] Stacey Cardalines: i could only see you, not the building[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: so I want to thank you for
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: this interview. We had many sources we could use
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: but thought you would be the fairest
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: Ahhh
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: well here we are at league stadium
[17:02] Stacey Cardalines: i've been described as fair..[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: LOl
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: you have always been to us
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar smiles
[17:03] Stacey Cardalines: fair to middlin'
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: I'll take middlin
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: Now do you need any background?
[17:03] Stacey Cardalines: i figure the process of you explaining stuff to me will be good for the readers[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: ahh perfect
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: :)
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i read the complaints of the opposition party, and it would help if i owned a team or ran a business
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i have no head for finance
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: Well they might not ether considering their failures with us.
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: they at least understand their complaints
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i'm a simple girl, who writes cute sports stories and does her own model work[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: smiles, and I can't wait to answer them and say our side.
[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: Awww, more than that!
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i'll ease into their side
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i have my own questions, most innocent
[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: Okay
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: first...what everyone asks me, and i can't explain properly
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: how exactly does the game system work?[17:06] Romeo Torvalar: The scripts, or the leauge?
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: the scripts
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: explain like you were speaking to a technical moron, because you are
[17:07] Romeo Torvalar: Well I am no scripter, but from my understanding, the scripts are based on SL collision technology and push tech. Basically, I believe every combat system in SL uses that, and we have imported that into the game of football.
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: if i can hit someone, they go down?
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: i wish that happened when i boxed
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: this interview. We had many sources we could use
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: but thought you would be the fairest
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: Ahhh
[17:02] Romeo Torvalar: well here we are at league stadium
[17:02] Stacey Cardalines: i've been described as fair..[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: LOl
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: you have always been to us
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar smiles
[17:03] Stacey Cardalines: fair to middlin'
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: I'll take middlin
[17:03] Romeo Torvalar: Now do you need any background?
[17:03] Stacey Cardalines: i figure the process of you explaining stuff to me will be good for the readers[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: ahh perfect
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: :)
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i read the complaints of the opposition party, and it would help if i owned a team or ran a business
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i have no head for finance
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: Well they might not ether considering their failures with us.
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: they at least understand their complaints
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i'm a simple girl, who writes cute sports stories and does her own model work[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: smiles, and I can't wait to answer them and say our side.
[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: Awww, more than that!
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i'll ease into their side
[17:05] Stacey Cardalines: i have my own questions, most innocent
[17:05] Romeo Torvalar: Okay
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: first...what everyone asks me, and i can't explain properly
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: how exactly does the game system work?[17:06] Romeo Torvalar: The scripts, or the leauge?
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: the scripts
[17:06] Stacey Cardalines: explain like you were speaking to a technical moron, because you are
[17:07] Romeo Torvalar: Well I am no scripter, but from my understanding, the scripts are based on SL collision technology and push tech. Basically, I believe every combat system in SL uses that, and we have imported that into the game of football.
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: if i can hit someone, they go down?
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: i wish that happened when i boxed
[17:08] Romeo Torvalar: That's right; it's the same principle. Only now, you're tackling someone!
[17:08] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: how does one throw?[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: Well, I believe it's based on inworld gun technology. Just like a SL gun which shoots something, only now its shooting a football, and rather than *kill* the receiever, it's a catch.
[17:09] Stacey Cardalines: (i open with the tough questions, you see)
[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: (love 'em)
[17:09] Stacey Cardalines: point and click?[17:10] Romeo Torvalar: Yes
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: k
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: and i catch or intercept by running across the path of it?
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: and if it hits me, i have it?[17:11] Romeo Torvalar: That's right. It's based on a radius around your avaitar, basically.
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: ok
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: that helps
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: the coach runs plays?
[17:11] Romeo Torvalar: I hope so as it's very advanced, but the basics are easy standard SL fair.
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: through a group IM[17:12] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, the coach/player calls plays from a menu.
[17:12] Stacey Cardalines: do the players line up on poseballs?[17:12] Romeo Torvalar: Well, they do that in a way, but think more of a huddles that sets the line, and then they execute the play.
[17:13] Stacey Cardalines: how are the players doing picking it up?[17:14] Romeo Torvalar: They've really been great. It has been an amazing beta test. First, it started off pretty hard because the early versions took some getting used to, but I can now say we are about 1 beta test cycle from full production release.
[17:14] Romeo Torvalar: Our last beta test the players reported only 2 major issues.
[17:14] Stacey Cardalines: have they reached a plateau yet, or will they be better in December than October?
[17:15] Stacey Cardalines: what 2 issues?[17:16] Romeo Torvalar: It really all depends on the player. Those who practice hard really do improve, and those who don't do well mainly have issues related to blocking. That's the hard one because SL is not really made for it, so it has not been the easist thing to bring into SL; however we think we fixed it and are getting responses back now.
[17:16] Stacey Cardalines: i block a lot in night clubs[17:16] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:17] Romeo Torvalar: Well, we could use ya!
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: i'm small...people spin around and don't see me right away
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: this is a segue question...
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: i hear a girl was drafted in the top 10[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: Well, I don't think so, but we will check on that.
[17:18] Romeo Torvalar winks
[17:18] Stacey Cardalines: i thought of doing that myself... be my own source...sort of like how Peter Parker and Spiderman benefit itself...symbiosis
[17:18] Stacey Cardalines: but i have enough things i'm currently inept at[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: Okay, I promise I won't tell.
[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: lol
[17:19] Stacey Cardalines: i'd also never pass if the mic was on...i was born in Rouen, and sound like it
[17:19] Stacey Cardalines: so... the Solo person is a male?
[17:20] Romeo Torvalar: Who knows? Sometimes, people who are alts or whatever get through. We still don't know who Solo was; we never asked him to leave, but one day, he did.
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: fair enough[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: :)
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: i still think you should let girls play... some of the better players at GOHA (a hockey league) are girls
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: nimbls fingers, you see....
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: lol
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: Oh we're working on it, trust me, but baby steps, Stacey. One thing at a time.
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: I agree
[17:22] Stacey Cardalines: when does the season start?
[17:23] Stacey Cardalines: even roughly
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Well, pre-season begins in October. We have our first game scheduled for Friday night lights on October 1st and many more games to follow. Based on the pre-season, full season will start right after that.
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Oh, and let me extend an invatation to you for October 1st.
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: first game :)
[17:24] Stacey Cardalines: i just got an IM from a club asking me if i wanted to be a pinata
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Well I prefer reporter, LOL
[17:25] Stacey Cardalines: i do too... one hits pinatas with sticks, no?[17:25] Romeo Torvalar: LOL si si
[17:25] Stacey Cardalines: how long is the preseason?
[17:25] You decline Official Second Football League!, SFL Headquarters (119, 228, 3 from A group member named Chloee Davi.
[17:26] Cinna Button is offering a TP to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Makanda%20Studios/143/96/491 (M)
[17:27] Romeo Torvalar: We are going to see. It will depend on how the teams play. If all is good, then we go straight to full season, but if it looks like players and owners want a little more time to work out the kinks, we may extend it. Things are happening very fast, and the best time to ask me that question is in preseason after October 1st. That's when we will know everything; when the players hit each other and they throw and catch in live time.
[17:27] You decline Official Second Football League!, SFL Headquarters (119, 228, 3 from A group member named Barbie Chase.
[17:27] Stacey Cardalines: baptism by fire
[17:28] Stacey Cardalines: some of the former owners listed the starting time of the season being pushed back as a chief complaint[17:28] Romeo Torvalar: Yes
[17:32] Romeo Torvalar: Well Stacey, it has been pushed back by 3 weeks. Orginally, we said September 8th, and we pushed it back to October 1st. Between the manfacturers, scripters, animators, players, trainers, and owners, we have a huge production. Just like any other design product, there are unforseen delays. Linden Lab says their new viewer will be out in blah blah and they push it back a month. It's life, and it's the reality of running a business. Did we push back our opening date by 3 weeks? Yes we did, and I am glad we did. I want the best product out there and not something rushed into production that ends up being filled with bugs. It's kind of a double-edged sword. If you rush something, you get bugs, and everyone complains about bugs; if you slow things down, everyone complains about a delay. You can't please everyone, and I have long since given up trying. I want the SFL to be amazing, and if that means a couple of extra weeks to get all our ducks in a row, then we will reap the rewards for our cheerleaders and players for years to come.
[17:33] Stacey Cardalines: did you get an earful when you moved it back?
[17:34] Romeo Torvalar: Not really from current owners. They're pretty much very supportive; as business owners themselves, they know all about production delays. I think some of the former owners who were let go from the league failed to understand the way businesses work. Doing something large-scale is not as easy as ordering a Big Mac. There will be delays, and considering some of the other large-scale SL projects out there, three weeks is still record time.
[17:36] Stacey Cardalines: let's say that sportswriters suddenly get paid amazing salaries, i save up my paychecks, and one day I say "goddamnit, i think i'll buy me a football team.....what would that cost me?[17:38] Romeo Torvalar: Well, it depends on if you wanted a pre-exsisting team or not. If you want a team that currently has an owner, you would need to negotiate that deal with the current owner. If you wanted an empty team, up until recently, it was absolutely free of charge. The leauge recieves no money from owners directly (other than a cursory helmet fee). Recently, we started to charge for our licence to use our scripts for any new owners, and that is 15k.
[17:39] Stacey Cardalines: are they allowed to sell teams freely, or do they need league approval?[17:39] Romeo Torvalar: The sale is dependent on league approval as we can't just let anyone be an owner. We try to make sure the new potential owner would be a productive member of the league and are capable of managing, if you will, a squad of cheerleaders and a squad of players.
[17:40] Stacey Cardalines: with staff and rental fees, the Ls can pile up.... i heard one ex-owner is out a ridiculous amount of money, hundreds of thousands[17:41] Romeo Torvalar: Well, if I may say more about that?
[17:41] Stacey Cardalines: 30.000L for Lombardi Premium Mebership that didnt happen in 4 weeks
78.000L stadium tier
4.000L prefabed sculpts for cheer uniforms and players equippment
6.400L Cheer Uniforms
2.000L to Mercy for 49ers dances
17.000L develop,ent on stadium, advertisement, events, furnitures, uploads and artwork
20.000L to pay off the online effort and webspace and it s setup
14.000L to pay off the sponsors that did send in gifts and free stuff to promote the SFL
2.000L for Giddeon OH for setting the 49ers traveller bike
3.000L for fastveloman Spad setting a 49ers classic ferrari vengti millia(pic at end to proof
6.000L development for bikes, clothes and merchandising for 46ers (time and workload not charged to stay on pro level)by myself
[17:41] Stacey Cardalines: (they gave me an itemized list)
[17:42] Stacey Cardalines: take a moment to answer... i have to go outside and get the widow O'Malley's cat for her
[17:43] Stacey Cardalines: all better
[17:44] Stacey Cardalines: it gets no her shed, and is afraid to jump off...i can reach her if i stand on a barrel[17:55] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, Stacey. Fees incurred by an owner are solely up that owner. We have teams that have put in next to nothing for their teams and owners who went crazy spending on their teams like mad, but let me be very clear here. The league does not encourage any owner to do anything other than take care of their team by getting helmets, building a stadium, and taking care of their players as they see fit. We also offer them the option, and let me repeat option, of a perks program, but many of them opt out for that feature. What you posted is the business choices of an owner. I did not tell her to spend that; I did not require her to spend that. Now, let's go through that one by one. The Lombardi program was her choice to enter into. Our owner perks program is completely optional. No one forced her to join, and she made that decision all on her own. Many teams don't enter the Lombardi program, and they're getting scheduled for games as we speak. By the way, when she left the league, I returned to her the money she spent for her short time in the Lombardi program. I, however, was stuck with the bill for the stores we bought for her to use here at leauge stadium.
Her tier is suspect as I have been to her sim and saw tons of other stores there, so I do not believe she got a sim just for the SFL. Instead, it looked as if it was already a sim she had. Regardless of whether the sim is new or not, the important thing to remember is that she made the decision to get a sim for her stadium. I did not make that suggestion or decision and my staff did not. If she did that, she did that based on her own decisions. Most of our owners do not go out and get a sim just for their stadium; they stick the stadium on a sim which they already had. As for the uniforms, yes, the league does ask owners to obtain uniforms for their players, but owners can make their own. Owners are given the option to use any designer they want or use one of our recommended designers for cheer uniforms. Yes, cheerleaders do need dances so they can represent the team at games. There's no disputing that, but an artwork charge? An upload charge? Well again, I don't make her business decisions. We require three things only from our owners and offer no ideas for how much should be spent on each (aside from league helmets): player helmets, uniforms for players and cheerleaders, and a stadium for them to play and cheer in. A website? Again, I repeat, having a web site created was her sole decision, and no one asked her to do that. Gifts? I am thankful she took it upon herself to promote the SFL, but while thankful, had I known I was going to be handed a bill for it later, I would have politely declined the offer had she asked me :) A bike? A Ferrari? Okay let me stop there. Again, this is like checking into a hotel in Hollywood. All the hotel asks is that you please pay your room bill, but you go out and spend money left and right, and then, at the end of the day, you give the hotel the bill and say this is the real cost of staying with you. Ridiculous, isn't it? The hotel would say all they asked you to do was pay your room bill...not spend like there was no tommorow. Honestly, that hotel would tell you they were not responsible for your spending habits, and I am afraid the SFL must take the same position. What you spend beyond the requirements of being in the leauge is your own choice, and you cannot send us a bill later for it.
[17:57] Stacey Cardalines: my plan is to just let the opposition people argue their points in the comments section here, so they can forgive me for shifting question to question
[17:57] Romeo Torvalar: No problem, but I hope some of what I said will make it.
[17:58] Romeo Torvalar: The point of spending like mad above what the league asks you to spend and then sending the league the bill is very wrong. This particular owner did just that.
[17:58] Stacey Cardalines: i plan to just run the text of this interview as an article
[17:59] Stacey Cardalines: what customer service is the SFL expected to provide for the team owners?[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: Well, for the last 4 months, it's pretty much
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: been 24 hours a day and 7 days a week
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: The league office does not close
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: Recently, we have had to cut back a little as it was killing us
[18:01] Stacey Cardalines: i've got Cinna on IM at like midnight EST before...lol... but reporters are naturally ruthless, and she took it well
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, we have done our best for the owners.
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: Answering their questions sometimes
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: at 3am
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: lol
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: but we had to cut back the league cannot
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: afford to pay people
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: to give up their rl
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: 100%
[18:02] Stacey Cardalines: someday, maybe
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: We hope
[18:04] Stacey Cardalines: is there a prohibition on a player's or owner's association?[18:06] Romeo Torvalar: Well, it depends on if we ban someone because they were undermining the league or dangerous for the league. Yes, we do ask that existing owners respect the ban and do not try to bring that person back into the SFL via their team. Sometimes, an owner will IM me and say "Romeo, I just banned so and so for greifing at my sim. Just a heads up," so I usually ban them at league headquarters, but it works both ways.
[18:09] Stacey Cardalines: what pros and cons have you discovered running this so far?
[18:10] Romeo Torvalar: We let in some bad apples in the early days. We wanted teams so badly that we let in people who we should not have, and getting rid of them has not been easy. They came in here, abused our systems, and when we removed them, they cried fowl. The clean-up has not been easy, but we have gotton rid of most of the bad elements from the leauge, and I am happy we have learned to screen people ten times better before we let them in.
[18:12] Stacey Cardalines: let's see... checking my notes....
[18:12] Romeo Torvalar: ok :)
[18:13] Stacey Cardalines: any worries regarding copyrights and the NFL?
[18:15] Romeo Torvalar: No, we actually checked on this. There are some football leagues in SL that use direct copys of their NFL counterparts, and while the NFL has nothing to say to them, we take no chances. The logos and names are changed, and we constantly review and update to be in complete compliance :)
[18:16] Stacey Cardalines: let's go back to my fictional team... once i own it, how would i make money?[18:20] Romeo Torvalar: The league offers three systems for obtaining traffic for your store or business. The SFL is huge, and when there's a game, we will send a ton of traffic to your place of bussiness. Brand advertising is, just like real life word branding, placing "Joe's Hamburgers" on a uniform, on a billboard, on a stadium, on an entire cheer team, or on a football team works. It produces results and gets you attention for your brand or product. All owners enjoy a share of ticket and merchandising sales. Right now, we have not even opened up team shops, and people are already camming in and buying things. Right now, content creators are making uniforms and gear. Right now, people are making money with the SFL, and we're not even open. The potential is off the wall.
[17:08] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:08] Stacey Cardalines: how does one throw?[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: Well, I believe it's based on inworld gun technology. Just like a SL gun which shoots something, only now its shooting a football, and rather than *kill* the receiever, it's a catch.
[17:09] Stacey Cardalines: (i open with the tough questions, you see)
[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:09] Romeo Torvalar: (love 'em)
[17:09] Stacey Cardalines: point and click?[17:10] Romeo Torvalar: Yes
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: k
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: and i catch or intercept by running across the path of it?
[17:10] Stacey Cardalines: and if it hits me, i have it?[17:11] Romeo Torvalar: That's right. It's based on a radius around your avaitar, basically.
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: ok
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: that helps
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: the coach runs plays?
[17:11] Romeo Torvalar: I hope so as it's very advanced, but the basics are easy standard SL fair.
[17:11] Stacey Cardalines: through a group IM[17:12] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, the coach/player calls plays from a menu.
[17:12] Stacey Cardalines: do the players line up on poseballs?[17:12] Romeo Torvalar: Well, they do that in a way, but think more of a huddles that sets the line, and then they execute the play.
[17:13] Stacey Cardalines: how are the players doing picking it up?[17:14] Romeo Torvalar: They've really been great. It has been an amazing beta test. First, it started off pretty hard because the early versions took some getting used to, but I can now say we are about 1 beta test cycle from full production release.
[17:14] Romeo Torvalar: Our last beta test the players reported only 2 major issues.
[17:14] Stacey Cardalines: have they reached a plateau yet, or will they be better in December than October?
[17:15] Stacey Cardalines: what 2 issues?[17:16] Romeo Torvalar: It really all depends on the player. Those who practice hard really do improve, and those who don't do well mainly have issues related to blocking. That's the hard one because SL is not really made for it, so it has not been the easist thing to bring into SL; however we think we fixed it and are getting responses back now.
[17:16] Stacey Cardalines: i block a lot in night clubs[17:16] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:17] Romeo Torvalar: Well, we could use ya!
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: i'm small...people spin around and don't see me right away
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: this is a segue question...
[17:17] Stacey Cardalines: i hear a girl was drafted in the top 10[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: Well, I don't think so, but we will check on that.
[17:18] Romeo Torvalar winks
[17:18] Stacey Cardalines: i thought of doing that myself... be my own source...sort of like how Peter Parker and Spiderman benefit itself...symbiosis
[17:18] Stacey Cardalines: but i have enough things i'm currently inept at[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: Okay, I promise I won't tell.
[17:18] Romeo Torvalar: lol
[17:19] Stacey Cardalines: i'd also never pass if the mic was on...i was born in Rouen, and sound like it
[17:19] Stacey Cardalines: so... the Solo person is a male?
[17:20] Romeo Torvalar: Who knows? Sometimes, people who are alts or whatever get through. We still don't know who Solo was; we never asked him to leave, but one day, he did.
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: fair enough[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: :)
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: i still think you should let girls play... some of the better players at GOHA (a hockey league) are girls
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: nimbls fingers, you see....
[17:21] Stacey Cardalines: lol
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: Oh we're working on it, trust me, but baby steps, Stacey. One thing at a time.
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: LOL
[17:21] Romeo Torvalar: I agree
[17:22] Stacey Cardalines: when does the season start?
[17:23] Stacey Cardalines: even roughly
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Well, pre-season begins in October. We have our first game scheduled for Friday night lights on October 1st and many more games to follow. Based on the pre-season, full season will start right after that.
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Oh, and let me extend an invatation to you for October 1st.
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: first game :)
[17:24] Stacey Cardalines: i just got an IM from a club asking me if i wanted to be a pinata
[17:24] Romeo Torvalar: Well I prefer reporter, LOL
[17:25] Stacey Cardalines: i do too... one hits pinatas with sticks, no?[17:25] Romeo Torvalar: LOL si si
[17:25] Stacey Cardalines: how long is the preseason?
[17:25] You decline Official Second Football League!, SFL Headquarters (119, 228, 3 from A group member named Chloee Davi.
[17:26] Cinna Button is offering a TP to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Makanda%20Studios/143/96/491 (M)
[17:27] Romeo Torvalar: We are going to see. It will depend on how the teams play. If all is good, then we go straight to full season, but if it looks like players and owners want a little more time to work out the kinks, we may extend it. Things are happening very fast, and the best time to ask me that question is in preseason after October 1st. That's when we will know everything; when the players hit each other and they throw and catch in live time.
[17:27] You decline Official Second Football League!, SFL Headquarters (119, 228, 3 from A group member named Barbie Chase.
[17:27] Stacey Cardalines: baptism by fire
[17:28] Stacey Cardalines: some of the former owners listed the starting time of the season being pushed back as a chief complaint[17:28] Romeo Torvalar: Yes
[17:32] Romeo Torvalar: Well Stacey, it has been pushed back by 3 weeks. Orginally, we said September 8th, and we pushed it back to October 1st. Between the manfacturers, scripters, animators, players, trainers, and owners, we have a huge production. Just like any other design product, there are unforseen delays. Linden Lab says their new viewer will be out in blah blah and they push it back a month. It's life, and it's the reality of running a business. Did we push back our opening date by 3 weeks? Yes we did, and I am glad we did. I want the best product out there and not something rushed into production that ends up being filled with bugs. It's kind of a double-edged sword. If you rush something, you get bugs, and everyone complains about bugs; if you slow things down, everyone complains about a delay. You can't please everyone, and I have long since given up trying. I want the SFL to be amazing, and if that means a couple of extra weeks to get all our ducks in a row, then we will reap the rewards for our cheerleaders and players for years to come.
[17:33] Stacey Cardalines: did you get an earful when you moved it back?
[17:34] Romeo Torvalar: Not really from current owners. They're pretty much very supportive; as business owners themselves, they know all about production delays. I think some of the former owners who were let go from the league failed to understand the way businesses work. Doing something large-scale is not as easy as ordering a Big Mac. There will be delays, and considering some of the other large-scale SL projects out there, three weeks is still record time.
[17:36] Stacey Cardalines: let's say that sportswriters suddenly get paid amazing salaries, i save up my paychecks, and one day I say "goddamnit, i think i'll buy me a football team.....what would that cost me?[17:38] Romeo Torvalar: Well, it depends on if you wanted a pre-exsisting team or not. If you want a team that currently has an owner, you would need to negotiate that deal with the current owner. If you wanted an empty team, up until recently, it was absolutely free of charge. The leauge recieves no money from owners directly (other than a cursory helmet fee). Recently, we started to charge for our licence to use our scripts for any new owners, and that is 15k.
[17:39] Stacey Cardalines: are they allowed to sell teams freely, or do they need league approval?[17:39] Romeo Torvalar: The sale is dependent on league approval as we can't just let anyone be an owner. We try to make sure the new potential owner would be a productive member of the league and are capable of managing, if you will, a squad of cheerleaders and a squad of players.
[17:40] Stacey Cardalines: with staff and rental fees, the Ls can pile up.... i heard one ex-owner is out a ridiculous amount of money, hundreds of thousands[17:41] Romeo Torvalar: Well, if I may say more about that?
[17:41] Stacey Cardalines: 30.000L for Lombardi Premium Mebership that didnt happen in 4 weeks
78.000L stadium tier
4.000L prefabed sculpts for cheer uniforms and players equippment
6.400L Cheer Uniforms
2.000L to Mercy for 49ers dances
17.000L develop,ent on stadium, advertisement, events, furnitures, uploads and artwork
20.000L to pay off the online effort and webspace and it s setup
14.000L to pay off the sponsors that did send in gifts and free stuff to promote the SFL
2.000L for Giddeon OH for setting the 49ers traveller bike
3.000L for fastveloman Spad setting a 49ers classic ferrari vengti millia(pic at end to proof
6.000L development for bikes, clothes and merchandising for 46ers (time and workload not charged to stay on pro level)by myself
[17:41] Stacey Cardalines: (they gave me an itemized list)
[17:42] Stacey Cardalines: take a moment to answer... i have to go outside and get the widow O'Malley's cat for her
[17:43] Stacey Cardalines: all better
[17:44] Stacey Cardalines: it gets no her shed, and is afraid to jump off...i can reach her if i stand on a barrel[17:55] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, Stacey. Fees incurred by an owner are solely up that owner. We have teams that have put in next to nothing for their teams and owners who went crazy spending on their teams like mad, but let me be very clear here. The league does not encourage any owner to do anything other than take care of their team by getting helmets, building a stadium, and taking care of their players as they see fit. We also offer them the option, and let me repeat option, of a perks program, but many of them opt out for that feature. What you posted is the business choices of an owner. I did not tell her to spend that; I did not require her to spend that. Now, let's go through that one by one. The Lombardi program was her choice to enter into. Our owner perks program is completely optional. No one forced her to join, and she made that decision all on her own. Many teams don't enter the Lombardi program, and they're getting scheduled for games as we speak. By the way, when she left the league, I returned to her the money she spent for her short time in the Lombardi program. I, however, was stuck with the bill for the stores we bought for her to use here at leauge stadium.
Her tier is suspect as I have been to her sim and saw tons of other stores there, so I do not believe she got a sim just for the SFL. Instead, it looked as if it was already a sim she had. Regardless of whether the sim is new or not, the important thing to remember is that she made the decision to get a sim for her stadium. I did not make that suggestion or decision and my staff did not. If she did that, she did that based on her own decisions. Most of our owners do not go out and get a sim just for their stadium; they stick the stadium on a sim which they already had. As for the uniforms, yes, the league does ask owners to obtain uniforms for their players, but owners can make their own. Owners are given the option to use any designer they want or use one of our recommended designers for cheer uniforms. Yes, cheerleaders do need dances so they can represent the team at games. There's no disputing that, but an artwork charge? An upload charge? Well again, I don't make her business decisions. We require three things only from our owners and offer no ideas for how much should be spent on each (aside from league helmets): player helmets, uniforms for players and cheerleaders, and a stadium for them to play and cheer in. A website? Again, I repeat, having a web site created was her sole decision, and no one asked her to do that. Gifts? I am thankful she took it upon herself to promote the SFL, but while thankful, had I known I was going to be handed a bill for it later, I would have politely declined the offer had she asked me :) A bike? A Ferrari? Okay let me stop there. Again, this is like checking into a hotel in Hollywood. All the hotel asks is that you please pay your room bill, but you go out and spend money left and right, and then, at the end of the day, you give the hotel the bill and say this is the real cost of staying with you. Ridiculous, isn't it? The hotel would say all they asked you to do was pay your room bill...not spend like there was no tommorow. Honestly, that hotel would tell you they were not responsible for your spending habits, and I am afraid the SFL must take the same position. What you spend beyond the requirements of being in the leauge is your own choice, and you cannot send us a bill later for it.
[17:57] Stacey Cardalines: my plan is to just let the opposition people argue their points in the comments section here, so they can forgive me for shifting question to question
[17:57] Romeo Torvalar: No problem, but I hope some of what I said will make it.
[17:58] Romeo Torvalar: The point of spending like mad above what the league asks you to spend and then sending the league the bill is very wrong. This particular owner did just that.
[17:58] Stacey Cardalines: i plan to just run the text of this interview as an article
[17:59] Stacey Cardalines: what customer service is the SFL expected to provide for the team owners?[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: Well, for the last 4 months, it's pretty much
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: been 24 hours a day and 7 days a week
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: The league office does not close
[18:00] Romeo Torvalar: Recently, we have had to cut back a little as it was killing us
[18:01] Stacey Cardalines: i've got Cinna on IM at like midnight EST before...lol... but reporters are naturally ruthless, and she took it well
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: Yes, we have done our best for the owners.
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: Answering their questions sometimes
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: at 3am
[18:01] Romeo Torvalar: lol
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: but we had to cut back the league cannot
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: afford to pay people
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: to give up their rl
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: 100%
[18:02] Stacey Cardalines: someday, maybe
[18:02] Romeo Torvalar: We hope
[18:04] Stacey Cardalines: is there a prohibition on a player's or owner's association?[18:06] Romeo Torvalar: Well, it depends on if we ban someone because they were undermining the league or dangerous for the league. Yes, we do ask that existing owners respect the ban and do not try to bring that person back into the SFL via their team. Sometimes, an owner will IM me and say "Romeo, I just banned so and so for greifing at my sim. Just a heads up," so I usually ban them at league headquarters, but it works both ways.
[18:09] Stacey Cardalines: what pros and cons have you discovered running this so far?
[18:10] Romeo Torvalar: We let in some bad apples in the early days. We wanted teams so badly that we let in people who we should not have, and getting rid of them has not been easy. They came in here, abused our systems, and when we removed them, they cried fowl. The clean-up has not been easy, but we have gotton rid of most of the bad elements from the leauge, and I am happy we have learned to screen people ten times better before we let them in.
[18:12] Stacey Cardalines: let's see... checking my notes....
[18:12] Romeo Torvalar: ok :)
[18:13] Stacey Cardalines: any worries regarding copyrights and the NFL?
[18:15] Romeo Torvalar: No, we actually checked on this. There are some football leagues in SL that use direct copys of their NFL counterparts, and while the NFL has nothing to say to them, we take no chances. The logos and names are changed, and we constantly review and update to be in complete compliance :)
[18:16] Stacey Cardalines: let's go back to my fictional team... once i own it, how would i make money?[18:20] Romeo Torvalar: The league offers three systems for obtaining traffic for your store or business. The SFL is huge, and when there's a game, we will send a ton of traffic to your place of bussiness. Brand advertising is, just like real life word branding, placing "Joe's Hamburgers" on a uniform, on a billboard, on a stadium, on an entire cheer team, or on a football team works. It produces results and gets you attention for your brand or product. All owners enjoy a share of ticket and merchandising sales. Right now, we have not even opened up team shops, and people are already camming in and buying things. Right now, content creators are making uniforms and gear. Right now, people are making money with the SFL, and we're not even open. The potential is off the wall.
rd
NOV 20 • tell chloee davi shes a lieing whore ty
Jason
OCT 03 • As a player in the SFL league, I just want to say that most of us are fine with waiting until most if not all of the bugs are worked out of the system. In the SFL, if you behave and act like a respectable adult, you will be treated as such. The SFL is a huge project and rational people cannot expect it to go off without any hitches. People have been berating and verbally attacking Romeo for far too long, so I applaud him for responding. Romeo, on behalf of myself and a majority of the players, thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for putting the SFL together for us to enjoy!
LOL
OCT 01 • I'm lol-ing on this comment:
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i read the complaints of the opposition party, and it would help if i owned a team or ran a business
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i have no head for finance
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: Well they might not ether considering their failures with us.
Romeo, this comment shows your extreme arrogance and lack of tact ... it sums up who you are and how you behave towards others around you.
All SFL owners were required to own at least a sim in order to even qualify to be an owner in the league. People willing to purchase a whole sim either A. Have a lot of free money to spend on SL or B. have SUCCESSFUL businesses within SL. Since the SFL's original goal (and I say original because who the hell knows what it truly is now) was to promote it's owners' businesses the latter is most likely true. These are successful people Romeo, so far your league is a complete disaster, and what we are seeing now in these SLE articles are only a couple examples of YOUR failures, not theirs.
Romeo are you out of the red yet? You've told many you've spent thousands RL USD on this endeavor (unless that was another lie) ... So I'm assuming the answer to this is "No." Perhaps the real reason why you are kicking teams out and being such a douche and causing people to leave is so you now can collect the newly enforced team ownership fee!
Those of us now not involved in this league anymore can take a big sigh of relief that we are not wasting our time or money on something that FAILS to deliver. I hope you have fun pretending to be a successful business owner, the rest of us will continue on being the real thing. I pity those that are still involved in this mess of a league.
Treet, if you are reading, Do you REALLY want to be associated with a person/league with such deficient people management abilities and poor business practices?
NOV 20 • tell chloee davi shes a lieing whore ty
Jason
OCT 03 • As a player in the SFL league, I just want to say that most of us are fine with waiting until most if not all of the bugs are worked out of the system. In the SFL, if you behave and act like a respectable adult, you will be treated as such. The SFL is a huge project and rational people cannot expect it to go off without any hitches. People have been berating and verbally attacking Romeo for far too long, so I applaud him for responding. Romeo, on behalf of myself and a majority of the players, thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for putting the SFL together for us to enjoy!
LOL
OCT 01 • I'm lol-ing on this comment:
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i read the complaints of the opposition party, and it would help if i owned a team or ran a business
[17:04] Stacey Cardalines: i have no head for finance
[17:04] Romeo Torvalar: Well they might not ether considering their failures with us.
Romeo, this comment shows your extreme arrogance and lack of tact ... it sums up who you are and how you behave towards others around you.
All SFL owners were required to own at least a sim in order to even qualify to be an owner in the league. People willing to purchase a whole sim either A. Have a lot of free money to spend on SL or B. have SUCCESSFUL businesses within SL. Since the SFL's original goal (and I say original because who the hell knows what it truly is now) was to promote it's owners' businesses the latter is most likely true. These are successful people Romeo, so far your league is a complete disaster, and what we are seeing now in these SLE articles are only a couple examples of YOUR failures, not theirs.
Romeo are you out of the red yet? You've told many you've spent thousands RL USD on this endeavor (unless that was another lie) ... So I'm assuming the answer to this is "No." Perhaps the real reason why you are kicking teams out and being such a douche and causing people to leave is so you now can collect the newly enforced team ownership fee!
Those of us now not involved in this league anymore can take a big sigh of relief that we are not wasting our time or money on something that FAILS to deliver. I hope you have fun pretending to be a successful business owner, the rest of us will continue on being the real thing. I pity those that are still involved in this mess of a league.
Treet, if you are reading, Do you REALLY want to be associated with a person/league with such deficient people management abilities and poor business practices?
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