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Inventory Reconciliation - Tad Carlucci - 04-03-2016 12:10 PM
Occasionally (we try to do this annually, but, sometimes, we slip a bit), Charm and I will go through her entire Pedigree and ensure that **ALL** cats and boxes shown can be located.
We then file a Support Ticket requesting return of those which, after our best efforts, we cannot locate.
In our last Ticket, just a short while ago, I added some suggestions which I am repeating here, for public disclosure and discussion:
Quote:The most-likely cause of 'lost' cats and boxes, such as above, is sales where the purchase was transferred by-hand, and the cat/box was never placed in-world by the new owner; thus preventing the New Owner event from firing. Unfortunately, I do not think it possible to design a system which prevents this, or resolves the conflicts it produces, short of requiring all sales to be performed through a more reliable system (such as a properly-designed web site).
Suggestion #1) Offer an option on the Pedigree Roster to show only cats/boxes which are NOT in the Cattery. When doing inventory reconcilation, it speeds things along to send as much as possible to the Cattery. Showing only cats NOT in the Cattery, then, gives a concise report of those which should be found in inventory or in-world.
Suggestion #2) Live cats regularly report in to the Mothership. Produce a report which cat be sorted by Region Name and, at least, last-report-datetime and altitude, as well as showing the date and time when last heard from. If the location were presented as a clickable SLURL link, this would greatly speed locating each cat.
Suggestion #3) Boxes only report in when placed in-world. Produce a similar report for boxes. I view this separately, but it could well be merged with the earlier suggestion.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - JessicaArianaHamby Resident - 04-03-2016 04:52 PM
I love the ideas that you have. Some thoughts on them...
I love the idea of a "in world" option on the pedigree. Like a drop down, list all cats in world. Or, list all cats in cattery. Or simply, list all cats. I do not know though if it would be able to differentiate between cats in inventory, and cats rezzed in world? I am on the team of, if you're storing a cat, do so in cattery. So there's that. If it's possible, I love the option with dropdowns like we have now for "resolved tickets" and "non resolved" tickets.
I love the second idea to. Like, in pedigree, have a link to where the cat is currently, based on last report. Click it, and be able to TP to the cat. My only question is, would this increase on SL lag, or, on server strain?
As for the last one, I do not breed in cattery. Therefore, I"m not sure what happens when a cat has a kitten in the cattery. When a box is had, regardless where it's had, I feel it's important for the box to announce itself. Otherwise, people may get confused. To my understanding, the boxes report where they are, be it in world, or in cattery. But, don't quote me on that.
I agree, it is important to be able to keep track of everything. If I was to be totally, 100 percent honest, I am at a loss at how you do it. It seems like a humongous task. One in which I know I should be doing, if I knew how.
(04-03-2016 12:10 PM)Tad Carlucci Wrote: Occasionally (we try to do this annually, but, sometimes, we slip a bit), Charm and I will go through her entire Pedigree and ensure that **ALL** cats and boxes shown can be located.
We then file a Support Ticket requesting return of those which, after our best efforts, we cannot locate.
In our last Ticket, just a short while ago, I added some suggestions which I am repeating here, for public disclosure and discussion:
Quote:The most-likely cause of 'lost' cats and boxes, such as above, is sales where the purchase was transferred by-hand, and the cat/box was never placed in-world by the new owner; thus preventing the New Owner event from firing. Unfortunately, I do not think it possible to design a system which prevents this, or resolves the conflicts it produces, short of requiring all sales to be performed through a more reliable system (such as a properly-designed web site).
Suggestion #1) Offer an option on the Pedigree Roster to show only cats/boxes which are NOT in the Cattery. When doing inventory reconcilation, it speeds things along to send as much as possible to the Cattery. Showing only cats NOT in the Cattery, then, gives a concise report of those which should be found in inventory or in-world.
Suggestion #2) Live cats regularly report in to the Mothership. Produce a report which cat be sorted by Region Name and, at least, last-report-datetime and altitude, as well as showing the date and time when last heard from. If the location were presented as a clickable SLURL link, this would greatly speed locating each cat.
Suggestion #3) Boxes only report in when placed in-world. Produce a similar report for boxes. I view this separately, but it could well be merged with the earlier suggestion.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Tad Carlucci - 04-03-2016 05:50 PM
Here is our process. It's long, and painful, and oh-so-tedious.
0) Before beginning, Charm notes the number of Live and Box cats shown at the bottom of her Pedigree Roster. She then goes to each of her shops (causing me to begin to moan at the sheer number of them), and totals up the number of cats and boxes at each. Area Search helps with this. She then adds these totals to the totals from her Cattery. If the numbers are reasonably close (say, she's within 5 or 10 of the total from her Roster), we declare that "Good Enough" and abort the reconciliation.
A few weeks ago she noted the difference was over 50. So ....
1) Charm logs in each Alt and make sure that NONE have any 'KittyCats - ' or 'KittyCats Box - ' in inventory. One Alt is holding starving collectibles for later sale: all her cats and boxes must be sent to her Cattery. And other Alts only send No-Transfer cats and boxes to their Catteries, and all Transferable cats and boxes either to Charm, or to the Collectibles Alt, as appropriate.
2) I then log in each Alt to ensure Charm has not missed anything.
3) Charm goes through all of her shops and breeding areas (fingers in ears singing 'Lalalala' while I complain about how many she has). At each, all cats and boxes which are not marked for sale are sent to her Cattery.
4) We repeat the totalling from and see if we're now "Good Enough". If so, we're done.
Yesterday, we were still off by over 30, so ...
5) I print out her entire Roster, sorted by Fur. Charm goes though her Cattery and I cross off each cat and box she finds.
6) Charm goes to each shop and breeding area (and I, being a Wise Husband, have learned to shut up about how many there are), and reads off every cat and box she can find. I cross each off the list.
7) Now, in a perfect world, this would be the end of it. Every cat and box would be crossed off.
But, last night, we still have over 30.
8) I log in each Alt, again, and check for missed cats and boxes. I then log in as Charm and check her inventory, and all her shops (no comment), cross checking her work.
9) When done, I open Notepad and begin a Support Ticket. For each cat not crossed off our list, I open the Pedigree (Tree View) and obtain the UUID; which I copy-and-paste into my Notepad document. I carefully check to ensure that the traits, gender, and name, exactly match the entry on the printout.
10) I then file a ticket for Charm, cut-and-pasting the document into the ticket, and attaching the original as a file upload.
Historically, in a week or so, Charm will get a Folder Inventory Transfer with each missing cat and box.
And off she goes until, in a year or so when the errors again creep up again and we spend a day doing it all over again.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Tad Carlucci - 04-03-2016 08:19 PM
FYI, Kitten Longmeadow sent the folder within 24 hours of submission of the ticket. Considering the number involved, I'd say that's way far above and beyond the call of duty to respond so quickly to what really should take a back-burner to the normal work-flow.
Interestingly, for all our work to check and re-check, it appears four of the 30+ Lost Ones were in the Cattery after all. Ah, well. I suppose some error should be expected when you're working into the wee hours to get it done. Sorry, Kitten.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Kayleigh McMillan - 04-03-2016 10:37 PM
O
M
G
I have laughed so hard by this explanation!!!
I so want to visit you guys when you do this, hilarious!
I am so the wrong person to read this I am terribly OCD!
Now I have to do this yearly as well!
Sorry Kitten..
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Ivy Norsk - 04-04-2016 08:39 AM
THAT is DEDICATION to a hobby. My own personal reaction is "ain't nobody got time for that." I tend to take an if-I-don't know-it's-missing-then-I-don't-miss-it approach to boxes. Also a KonMari attitude towards shops: if the shop is not giving me joy then I drop it.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Sneak Whisperwind - 04-04-2016 03:42 PM
I used to try and keep what I know I have and what the website here says I have 100% accurate...but for me that is impossible. Reason being...there is still a person out there who made a purchase a year or more ago and never bothered to rez them in world after said purchase. I'm still stuck with it saying I have a pair of HeLL-O-Kitteh! - Pyromaniac's when I know I don't. It is frustrating for those of us who are OCD about such things, but sadly there is nothing to be done about it.
The website in the Pedigree tab says I have Total: 20 Cats (♀ 11 ♂ 9) and 151 Boxes (♀ 77 ♂ 74).
The Cattery tab says that I have 19 Live (♀ 10 ♂ 9) and 140 Boxes (♀ 72 ♂ 68).
I have 1 (♀ 10) live in-world.
I have 5 (♀ 2 ♂ 3) boxes on the market place.
The pair (♀ 1 ♂ 1) I know I don't own any more.
So this leaves me with 4 (♀ 2 ♂ 2) boxes that I have no idea where they are. Guess I found my project for the week.
I would love it if they would send out a monthly reminder to rez your live and boxed kittens in world after you purchase them on the secondary market - either at an in-world store location or SL's Market Place. Sadly there may be those new that just don't realize they need to do this.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Tad Carlucci - 04-04-2016 04:25 PM
While I know there's a good chance that some of those missing are, like yours, sold and never rezzed, there's those 4 you don't know about.
Frankly, I figure if a few months have gone by and we're still seeing a discrepancy, what-the-heck. Some MIGHT be lost in a still-active player's inventory, but most are probably lost in Charm's .. there's just no way of knowing what with coalesced objects.
I remember once, a couple-three years ago we searched high and low for a lost kitten box and finally filed a ticket on it. A LONG time later (like a year or more) Charm pulled out an old shop build and asked me to work on it. Low and behold, when I was poking in the inventory of the root prim there was that kitten box. Of course, it was Duplicate Delete me and, of course, it was STILL a box in her Cattery.
So, I say, go ahead and file for those 4, AND ask for those other two back. They're in **your** Pedigree.
As to reminders .. a years or so ago I was helping out at a sales region and there was a kitten box which had been sold AGES ago, sitting in the middle of someone's shop. I asked the tenant and she didn't want to risk losing it on an Item Return, so I sent an IM and Notecard, week after week, until I decided enough was enough, six weeks and 8 or 9 reminders, and they STILL had not picked up their purchase .. WHAM! and if they needed to file a ticket because it was lost during the Return .. well, all of those reminders had the UUID, and I had logs including copies of each.
So, reminders don't work. And regularly-scheduled reminders work worse. Just clean up the mess and move on.
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - Melodie Jigsaw - 04-04-2016 09:46 PM
....is now officially intimidated to look at reconciling things....lol but I think I will try it too!
RE: Inventory Reconciliation - LibGwen Resident - 04-05-2016 05:36 AM
It's easier for the giver than the receiver, I think.
Of course, keeping good records helps avoid confusion.
If the giver has a few extra boxes/cats, it doesn't matter because they don't expect to have the ones they transferred to someone else. Eventually there may be confusion--"Ooh, hey, one of those! That would be perfect for this project/person!"--but not for a long time.
For the receiver who forgot to pick up a cat they purchased, it's not until they need that particular cat that they'll notice they don't have it. But not having it, how are they to track it down if it has outrun their SL transaction history? The KittyCatS pedigree entry isn't transferred until the new owner rezzes the box/cat. So those reminders from the giver that the cat is still there waiting for pickup are vital.
But after some point and after reasonable effort, I do agree that the giver does have the right to give it away again. If the receiver doesn't know about it (due to abandoning the account or having died or some such) and cannot know about it if they should suddenly revive (due to the cat not having been transferred to their pedigree list), the cat is in limbo (and increasingly out of date) and will remain there unless the giver reclaims it. Worst case scenario, the giver has to refund money at a future date.