Vaelissa Cortes

I rarely have the urge to create a new thread, and tend not to be very serious with most of what I post on these forums, but this is something that has been annoying me for quite some time. While it is not exactly the most interesting drama out there, it is about as deep as it gets for me for something SL related .

Short version: There's a guy named Albsalgar Magic who hijacks help groups to promote himself and to brag about owning said group. If you are ever in a position to give him ownership status of a group, don't! He took over the "Blender" group, and is attempting to get a hold of the "Blender Users" group as well, which I am an owner of.

Here are some logs for people who like to read this sort of stuff (e.g. not me ). Some of the most interesting quotes are in bold. I have cut out a lot of other group chat (such as unrelated conversations going on) to make this more readable.


[2010/08/24 17:47] Albsalgar Magic: landmark is in the gorups 'Blender' old notices
[2010/08/24 17:48] Albsalgar Magic: i can't send notices in this group i'm afraid
[2010/08/24 17:48] Albsalgar Magic: so i suggest anyone interested in blender classes to join my 'Blender' group
[2010/08/24 17:49] Albsalgar Magic: the 'Blender' group is the OFFICIAL group
[2010/08/24 17:49] Malic Tolsen: wait what? are both groups connected somehow?
[2010/08/24 17:49] Albsalgar Magic: this is just a support one
[2010/08/24 17:50] Albsalgar Magic: yes am a member of this one
[2010/08/24 17:50] Albsalgar Magic: OWNER of the other one
[2010/08/24 17:51] Albsalgar Magic: if you are interested in contests, classes, and show and tell join the group 'Blender'

[2010/08/24 17:51] Albsalgar Magic: the 'blender' group is also a support group in case u must chose between one or the other

[2010/08/24 17:52] Albsalgar Magic: i do not always remember to tell people in this group about classes



[2010/08/24 19:41] Albsalgar Magic: i teach this concept in my classes

[2010/08/24 19:42] Albsalgar Magic: hey i basically finished it
[2010/08/24 19:42] Albsalgar Magic: all you have to do is connect the dots
[2010/08/24 19:42] Albsalgar Magic: and if u like contests like these join the Blender group

[2010/09/06 10:24] Neil Robinson: how do you sculptify stuff in JASS Anway?
[2010/09/06 10:24] Albsalgar Magic: take my clases

[2010/09/06 10:25] Albsalgar Magic: but u have to join the group blender
[2010/09/06 10:25] Albsalgar Magic: thats where i advertize my classes not here


[2010/09/06 10:26] Albsalgar Magic: points people to join the group Blender
[2010/09/06 10:26] SunQueen Ginsberg: so you won't tell us, huh?
[2010/09/06 10:26] Albsalgar Magic: if u want classes, and contests
[2010/09/06 10:26] Albsalgar Magic: ur in the wrong group
[2010/09/06 10:26] SunQueen Ginsberg: geez, thanks loads
[2010/09/06 10:26] Albsalgar Magic: and show and tells
[2010/09/06 10:27] Midi Aeon: No, he's in the right group
[2010/09/06 10:27] Albsalgar Magic: lol
[2010/09/06 10:27] Midi Aeon: you should stop that Albs
[2010/09/06 10:27] eWumV Tyrellium: thats no advertise group at all here, also not for other groups, just to mention
[2010/09/06 10:27] Albsalgar Magic: look at the group charter here
[2010/09/06 10:28] Albsalgar Magic: look at the bleder user group charter
[2010/09/06 10:28] Hideaki Wirefly: whom has that been set by?
[2010/09/06 10:28] SunQueen Ginsberg: I guess it would be too hard to send an IM telling us when the next class is...
[2010/09/06 10:28] Albsalgar Magic: Those who want semi-regular classes and notices may want to join the other "Blender" group as well.

Vae note! The above quote about Blender classes was what I added in the group charter after he pestered me, you can find a log of this chat at the bottom of this post. This text from the group charter has since been removed due to him being a general douche.

[2010/09/06 10:29] Midi Aeon: You completely discouraged Soraya in advancing Blender for Linux users, that's wrong
[2010/09/06 10:29] Albsalgar Magic: Sun... i try but can't always do that
[2010/09/06 10:29] Midi Aeon: Albs has his own agenda
[2010/09/06 10:29] Hideaki Wirefly: i feel taking over and power abuse lol
[2010/09/06 10:29] Pamela Galli: He also gave everyone in his group a giant box of textures in organizers, many of which were stolen
[2010/09/06 10:30] Hideaki Wirefly: but thats just imho, just in case xd
[2010/09/06 10:30] SunQueen Ginsberg: Would if we had more than 25 slots
[2010/09/06 10:30] Midi Aeon: Albs, you should leave
[2010/09/06 10:30] Albsalgar Magic: yes... i have a huge agenda to eat cookies
[2010/09/06 10:30] Midi Aeon: I've left your group
[2010/09/06 10:30] Hideaki Wirefly: it's not his group, just to be clear..
[2010/09/06 10:30] Midi Aeon: ah, that's true
[2010/09/06 10:31] Midi Aeon: He took it over, so I left anyway
[2010/09/06 10:31] Hideaki Wirefly: \o/
[2010/09/06 10:31] Pamela Galli: then ejected me for objecting
[2010/09/06 10:31] Pamela Galli: It is his group
[2010/09/06 10:31] Albsalgar Magic: seems i got me some haters over here
[2010/09/06 10:31] Hideaki Wirefly: ejected you too?
[2010/09/06 10:31] Albsalgar Magic: pamela theres no record of u being ejected
[2010/09/06 10:32] Hideaki Wirefly: no it's not, hes just a moderator


[2010/09/26 15:28] Cerebral Caramel: be careful eventually you'll run out of 'other' blender groups to join :3
[2010/09/26 15:29] Hiroaki Rhino: i asked him if the group is for Blender related topics
[2010/09/26 15:29] Hiroaki Rhino: the mod there this Alb guy
[2010/09/26 15:29] Hiroaki Rhino: he sent me IM telling me he is god and all members of Blender group is his fan and friend so he is allowed to spam
[2010/09/26 15:29] Gaia Clary: the blender group is only for very expert oriented people...
[2010/09/26 15:29] Hiroaki Rhino: i objected him, he kicked me out
[2010/09/26 15:29] SLB Wirefly: guess you didn't agree and he kicked you out? lol
[2010/09/26 15:30] Gaia Clary: And there can only be one expert!!!!
[2010/09/26 15:30] Hiroaki Rhino: [14:41] Alb----------: everyone here is my fan
[14:42] Hiroaki Rhino: that is ridiculous and doesnt make sense
[2010/09/26 15:30] Gaia Clary: and that is "god"
[2010/09/26 15:30] Ethos Erlanger: Well, now you know who is the god of all things Blender
[2010/09/26 15:31] SLB Wirefly: we all have to change gesture
[2010/09/26 15:31] Hiroaki Rhino: [14:43] Alb----------: only need to think of me as GOD [14:43] Hiroaki Rhino: ok, then make a vote, prove yourself, god? [14:45] Alb----------: haha
[14:47] Alb----------: You have been ejected from 'Blender' by Alb------ M----.
[2010/09/26 15:31] Gaia Clary: i got a spare group for all fallen angels ;-)
[2010/09/26 15:31] SLB Wirefly: oh my Alb
[2010/09/26 15:31] Cerebral Caramel: let that be a lesson on how to react if a mod IMs you saying they're god
[2010/09/26 15:31] Carbon Frostbite: Thats pretty unprofessional.
[2010/09/26 15:31] Hiroaki Rhino: you must be joking Carebral, right? lol
[2010/09/26 15:31] SLB Wirefly: yea i have a vague idea of who he is
[2010/09/26 15:32] Vaelissa Cortes: I just logged in, but Albsalgar Magic?
[2010/09/26 15:32] Kooky Scientist: what a fucken ego, i just left the other blender group
[2010/09/26 15:32] Cerebral Caramel: is there another more level headed mod you can talk to about it?
[2010/09/26 15:33] Ethos Erlanger: Hiroaki, at lease you lived to tell your story
[2010/09/26 15:33] Hiroaki Rhino: I wont say who
[2010/09/26 15:33] Kooky Scientist: yeah you could of been struck down lol
[2010/09/26 15:34] Kooky Scientist: by a bolt of blender lighting
[2010/09/26 15:34] Ethos Erlanger: it is Albsalgar's group - so all things go his way
[2010/09/26 15:34] Hiroaki Rhino: hmm, i certainly hope this group's mod isnt as egoistic as that brat XD
[2010/09/26 15:34] SLB Wirefly: lol
[2010/09/26 15:34] Cerebral Caramel: report it to another mod, the guy might lose his place as god and be butthurt
[2010/09/26 15:34] Vaelissa Cortes: I think group chat ate my message
[2010/09/26 15:35] SLB Wirefly: nop, call him His Highness
[2010/09/26 15:35] SLB Wirefly: it's useless Cerebral
[2010/09/26 15:35] Hiroaki Rhino: thanks Ethos, I just kept the anger until now, ever since he took over the group, I even sent email to Ton, he did say its terrible sotry. :O

Despite all that, he still joins the "Blender Users" group, spams this crap, and leave before anyone can kick him:

"[2010/10/03 17:48] Albsalgar Magic: 15 minutes until Blender For Beginers Class

Sunday Oct. 3 6pm slt

landmark attached"

For the record, there's no landmark ever attached, he can't send notices or do anything, so nobody knows where to go, even if they wanted to attend. all that they see is the exact text above.

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Vaelissa Cortes

And his IMs to me:


[2010/08/24 19:45] Albsalgar Magic: hello
[2010/08/24 19:46] Albsalgar Magic: vaelissa I'm a teacher in blender and wonder if u can make me an owner of blender users group
[2010/09/04 19:08] Albsalgar Magic: hello
[2010/09/04 19:08] Albsalgar Magic: vae r u online?
[2010/09/04 19:08] Vaelissa Cortes: Yes.
[2010/09/04 19:08] Albsalgar Magic: i teach blender...
[2010/09/04 19:09] Albsalgar Magic: and i saw an add that u guys where looking for officers
[2010/09/04 19:09] Albsalgar Magic: and i would like to advertise my class in this group
[2010/09/04 19:10] Vaelissa Cortes: I shall check things over later.
[2010/09/04 19:10] Albsalgar Magic: is there a way you can make me co-owner of the blender users group?
[2010/09/04 19:11] Vaelissa Cortes: No, at the very most, an officer. The current 3 owners will not be adding anyone else.
[2010/09/04 19:11] Albsalgar Magic: i'm already owner of the group Blender
[2010/09/04 19:12] Vaelissa Cortes: I recall, but that is irrelevant to this group.
[2010/09/04 19:12] Albsalgar Magic: i think it'll be a good thing for me to reach more ppl
[2010/09/04 19:13] Albsalgar Magic: and my classes are free
[2010/09/04 19:13] Vaelissa Cortes: If you like, you can pack those notecards up into a single notecard and I will send out a group notice.
[2010/09/04 19:13] Albsalgar Magic: well... my clases are kind of impromptu
[2010/09/04 19:13] Albsalgar Magic: like mm...
[2010/09/04 19:13] Albsalgar Magic: i teach when i have time
[2010/09/04 19:13] Albsalgar Magic: usually send a notice about a day before hand
[2010/09/04 19:14] Albsalgar Magic: can i pay you to add me as owner?
[2010/09/04 19:14] Albsalgar Magic: and join Blender i can add u as owner there too
[2010/09/04 19:14] Albsalgar Magic: i think its good to work together =)
[2010/09/04 19:15] Vaelissa Cortes: As I have previously stated, the current three owners have already discussed this, no more new owners will be added. I shall talk to them and see about giving you officer status, which still premits the sending of notices.
[2010/09/04 19:15] Albsalgar Magic: ok talk to them
[2010/09/04 19:15] Albsalgar Magic: my offer is i can add them as owners too
[2010/09/04 19:16] Albsalgar Magic: but i would like to be in the status of an owner rather than an officer
[2010/09/04 19:16] Albsalgar Magic: i've tried messaging the others but they seem to not log in as often
[2010/09/04 19:19] Albsalgar Magic: u get my group invite?
[2010/09/04 19:19] Albsalgar Magic: check the past notices
[2010/09/04 19:19] Albsalgar Magic: u'll see the type off things i do
[2010/09/04 19:33] Vaelissa Cortes: I saw, but have no desire for another group. For now, the "Blender Users" group charter has had an additional note added which directs people towards the "Blender" group. There's little need for redundancy.
[2010/09/04 19:35] Albsalgar Magic: mmm...
[2010/09/04 19:36] Albsalgar Magic: if u say so your group still 700+ strong it'll be nice to have them know about my classes
[2010/09/04 19:38] Albsalgar Magic: and i would pay for the privilage as well
[2010/09/04 19:38] Albsalgar Magic: if tat could change your mind
[2010/09/04 19:40] Vaelissa Cortes: I've no interest in Lindens.
[2010/09/04 19:42] Albsalgar Magic: i see...
[2010/09/04 19:43] Albsalgar Magic: only other thing i can offer is a copy of my 1/2 prim house
[2010/09/04 19:54] Vaelissa Cortes: I've no interest in that either and will not persuaded; beggars can't be choosers. As I've stated a few times now, it was a unanimous decision of the current owners that no more would be added for the time being. Furthermore, on 2010/08/24, when you were talking about your classes in the group, I received a few IMs from different group members specfically asking to quote, "rein you in" and not let you, "hijack this group as well". Such IMs are certainly a contributing factor in the firm decision not to allow you, or anyone else to be an owner.
[2010/09/04 19:54] Vaelissa Cortes: While I realize your intent is helpful, the persistent pushing, despite my answers, is rather tiresome. I have already told you that I will be contacting another officer, namely Quinlan Quimby, to see about maybe having you added as an officer (at most). An officer role is more than sufficient for sending announcements, anything more privileged is not required. Please do not ask again.

He has not IMed me since, but continues to go about promoting himself and his mediocre classes.

Here is what he changed the "Blender" group charter to:

and here is a lovely pick from his profile:

It seems he doesn't realize that adding such a retarded pick is useless, despite what it says, one cannot nullify the Terms of Service with a profile pick.

There's quite a bit more negative things people have said about him in IMs to me, but for one, I can't remember all of their names and don't care to search, and two, they probably wouldn't want me pasting that here anyway.

Everything they've told me is pretty much the same story though. It all comes down to this guy bragging about being some sort of arrogant, self proclaimed help god that hijacks groups by convincing the owners he has good and innocent intentions, then he takes over, kicks people who are the least bit negative towards him and promotes his own junk. He also goes around trying to pull members from other groups to join his while bragging about owning other groups.

To me, all of this is simply an annoyance, I just wanted a place where I could freely say all of this without the Terms of Service being a concern. Thanks, SLU! Oh, and in case it wasn't clear with the title, this is about somebody who hijacks help groups, I'm not looking for help with a group hijacker, just ranting mostly.

Luna Zaks

Group-hijacking asshattery aside, I'm really *really* sick of douchebags with "disclaimer" picks like that in their profiles. They rank right up there with the dumbasses who (still) use anti-inspect shields.

I swear I see that same "disclaimer" word for word, over and over in so many profiles. Just copypasted again and again like some e-lolyer perversion of the ubiquitous little ascii world domination bunny.

What is it about SL that turns otherwise reasonable adults into narcissistic 13-year-olds?

Shadowen Silvera

Umm why not just kick him from the group if you have a problem. Problem solved and no need to post his chats on here.

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Jopsy Pendragon

buh? I thought that *only* applied to their own official forums.. not to 3rd party venues.

Vaelissa Cortes

I have, he comes right back.


Me too, I see these idiots all over and just roll my eyes. It's not like most of them are even worth anyone's time in the first place.

Siyu Suen

Fashion Emergency sometimes has this problem. We get little raids by trolls or spammers who come by, and of course booting them does nothing. So we close the group sometimes and make it invite only, and put a note in the charter that says "Temporarily invite only due to ad spam". I think if you make the note really obvious, like at the top with *'s by it you'll still seem welcoming to Blender folks. You could allow all officers to invite and list their names for people to contact if people want an invite. And I'm sure everyone would appreciate the lack of chatter from him.

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nieve

this kind of case makes me wonder if LL has "banned av" for group as they do for land.

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Dragger Lok

Make a hobby out of booting him, maybe even copy paste a disclaimer when he shows up- it's your ego against his. War of wills if you must- close the group down and ask for invites to join for a while- sometimes you have to go toe to toe with an asshat like that.

Fred Rookstown

You can post announcements.

He can't.

Guess who wins?

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eku Zhong

that twit gave out THOUSANDS of stolen textures ..to a bunch of groups...
well its a box of texture organisers with stolen textures and sculpties loaded.
Even though ppl pointed it out to him..he still carries on giving the stuff out

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Shadowen Silvera

Erm didn't LL put in the ability to mute avatars in groups? Something like different titles or something. Been a long time since I logged in.

Siyu Suen

She could either make it so that no one could chat, or everyone could individually mute him. Unless Snowstorm or a TPV has been working on this, those are pretty much her only options aside from closing enrollment and booting him.

Innula Zenovka

Or she could maybe create a group role that didn't allow chat, and put him in it each time he rejoins. Wouldn't stop him leaving and rejoining, but it might be easier than taking away his ability to chat in group the normal way (which only lasts for that session, I think).

Siyu Suen

Unfortunately I don't think that would work. You can't remove someone from the "everyone" role, and if the "everyone" role allows chat, he'd still be able to I think. She would have to make sure that absolutely everyone else in the group (as the log said, somewhere around 700+ people) were in a role that was able to speak, unless she wanted to suddenly mute everyone whenever he came back.

Fred Rookstown

Get a bot, autoinvite newbies to the group under the "can fucking speak" role, and "demote" those that don't deserve it.

Or you can just AR him.

Imnotgoing Sideways

I remember him very well. He's the reason we got rid of one particle heavy avatar from the NCI freebie wall. He would wear the thing to events claiming it was his right to look as he pleases. Of course, it generated a particle field that was nearly a good 100 meters all around. (>_<)

We eventually banned him from events and encouraged everyone to delete that avatar over the disruption is causes. (>_<)

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Eva Ryan

Immy, I dunno if you know this or not; but... your "Click here for fun and prizes" link puts you on the ignore list. Might wanna get that checked out.

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Imnotgoing Sideways

It's working as intended. (^_^)

Argent Stonecutter

So, does this guy count as a griefer, or does this get filed under "resident-resident disputes"?

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Lila Corith

"No spamming please I get important ims all the time."

Only GOD may spam me!

I mean, a spiritual counselor at 21, I really think none are enlightened enough for his ego- er... helpfulness!

Vaelissa Cortes

There's 824 people at the moment. I had considered making the default "Everyone" role unable to chat and creating a new role, but that would mean I would have to keep an eye on the group constantly to make sure everyone can talk except for him. That's too much maintenance though, but perhaps one solution in the future when I can dedicate myself to SL more, or have more people to help with that.

Even after putting a small fee to join, half the group ARing him, and booting him again, he is still around and came back to spam. This time around he was just plain harassing other members. When I booted him (again), he sent me an IM saying I'll miss him....right.

I muted him, kicked him again and raised the join price to be quite a bit higher with a note that says to IM me for a free invite. If he keeps joining, at the very least it will line my pockets a bit, maybe I can even hold a raffle for the money .

It's just annoying that has to be done, especially since he has control of the other free to join Blender group which he hijacked. Hopefully people will be turned off by his charter and just IM me instead.

While the situation is dealt with for now, I'm highly annoyed that something like a very popular free help and resource group can be ruined by a single person due to not having ideal tools to deal with it and LL doing nothing (yet) even though he now has loads of ARs against him.

Argent Stonecutter

We used to have a saying about people like this, back in the old days, before the web: "Welcome to Usenet, here's your handbasket."

Pamela Galli

I was glad to see you kicked him; wish he could stay kicked. When I protested him giving out that huge box of (partly stolen) textures to the entire group with, he immediatly muted me, then went to IM, where I told him he should warn the group that the textures could be stolen (since he had done no checking at all -- someone just gave him the box). He then kicked me from his Blender group.

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