Take Back the Welcome Area

Oh my I was completely unaware that the Welcome Area had degerated so much, I'll have to swing by more.

I'll try to stop by more often, too.

Great to see people working together to improve something and help new Residents!

I was at the welcome area yesterday,where i was showing a newbie how to get to some popular places around SL when 3 individuals started to harass me and call me names, after neg rating one i filed an abuse report on all 3..the bottom line is we really need to get those type out of the welcome area it's depressing

i hope they enjoyed there suspensions

We had a fresh new "look" to the WA for some time... but with degrading behavior.

It feels "welcome" again.

Hi ZsuZsanna

I'm pretty sure they do care - a lot! Trust me, from being in Live Help, a lot gets missed when you're swamped in IMs. When a Linden is on, I'm sure they're being swamped from every direction for requests, and thus, miss a lot of the nonsense going on right in front of their eyes. When you're multitasking answering 5 IMs, and someone is being an idiot right in front of ya, it can be missed!

Fiona, you're the best. I'm so glad you decided to stick around and that you're back as a W.A. regular!

Violet negged me! WOO-HOO! Apparently me telling her that her CONTROL+Q "joke" to get newbies to close their viewer wasn't funny was enough to warrant a neg from this sociopath with a heaping size of personal issues. That joke hasn't been funny since fooling new computer users to hit CNTRL+ALT+DEL in 1985. You're 20 years late, Violet, Daniel and the rest of ya. I feel honored by your negs - a negative times a negative is a positive, so a neg from a negative like y'all makes me happy!

Its been funny watching some of these "You're not welcome in my welcome area" types go silent, as Susie mentioned. I guess its not as fun when you can't gang up on newbies. Aces, sorry they got you too, I'm sure I know the three of which you speak. They're not worth the time or effort, and they WILL be defeated.

Regards,

-Flip

I have quite a bit to say about the situation in the welcome area. And why shouldnt I Im on the front lines as an officer for New Citizens Inc and an officer for Welcome Area Regulars

I came to Second Life last November and the welcome area is my second home in SL.
There has always been trolling in Ahern for as long as ive been here but its become increasingly out of control since the welcome area was renovated I do see some Linden presence but not as much as there used to be And sorry to say this guys but when Lindens are in the area they do nothing to stop griefing and harrassment of players when its done right in front of them. This has made the aggressors very bold as there are no consequences what so ever. I have personally filed 80 abuse reports and the most response I can get from a Linden is "Im really sorry to hear about your trouble It sounds like youve been through alot" Aside from helping new residents I am also a clothing designer and it really makes me pissy I dont even feel welcome in a world im trying to help create in my own lil way. Having said that, I would admit in the past Ive done nothin but stoke the fires as my personal philosophy is not to take abuse off people and I give as good as I get. But I have revaluated the situation in recent days and realized its time for me to take another approach. I simply neg rated and muted every single one of the griefers in that area. I no longer am subjected to unprovoked attacks and I have a peace I never had while visiting Ahern in the past. Unfortunately now they have also changed tactics in order to get my attention. Now they block my avatar physicially or surround it with a group of their own avatars or they simply take an axe and knock me into the next sim or they bump me all the way across Ahern when im standin there not even engaged in convo with them. Anything for my attention and to create an unpleasant experience for me. And havin them on mute does nothin to keep them from posting harrassing slandering comments about my avatar publically All it does is prevent me personally from seeing the posts. Everyone else can see the posts and people I dont even know and have never had a discussion with in my life hate me because of things they hear griefers saying about me. Sometimes when im not even online. Philip came to Ahern last night and I tried to discuss the situation with him and all he wanted to talk about was the pony in Morris. He didnt see a problem at all. Well i will tell you its a huge problem when volunteers come to the welcome area to help new residents and trolls interrupt their work with harrassing statements about the helpers. Its a really bad first impression for new residents and im quite shocked Lindens have allowed this nonsense to continue for as long as they have. I dont care what you people think of me The fact is I never once provoked these arguements and the only time you ever heard anything nasty out of my mouth is when i tried to defend myself or a regular or a new resident. And its one thing to post here about how much you agree there is a problem. But its quite another matter to step up to the plate and get involved when you see harrassment or abuse against players. You all just stand there. Its people like Aces Spade or Gala or Blueman or Flipper Those are the people who are gettin involved in ahern from what Ive seen. If you wanna take back Ahern you need to be more proactive and send a clearer message that trolling isnt welcome in the welcome area.

Hi Fallen I saw you last night in the WA and had no idea that you created that dress, it's lovely. I'll toss in my comments to the comments, and also to the WA situation last night. I was neg rated by Violet and also by Blythe for trying to calm down the argument she was having with Flip, and for my forum comments. Violet appears to have taken the WA situation personally and spent most of the time I was there with her attempting to engage people in arguments about it. Flip and I were trying to refuse to argue, so that the WA would not be negative. Again.

I also had an interesting conversation with Blythe in which she directly told me that she neg rates people because most of the time they flip out, and she finds it entertaining. As I told her, I think being entertained by other people being upset is sad. There are a lot of other things to do in world. In particular, I found it sad because in IM I found her articulate as opposed to her WA behavior last night, which was intentionally provoking and juvenile. It's clear to me from the conversation that this is a group of friends who came to SL and who enjoy hanging out in the WA chatting and provoking residents. She said as much, and I have to give it to her, she was honest with me. I'll say here the same thing I told her in IM: if you're that bored in SL that you have to be entertained by provoking people, I suggest you go play Guild Wars and kill somebody. There are a lot of other ways to be entertained in SL, and an intelligent person could actually...you know...CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING. Pathetic.

As far as the Linden presence in the WA goes, I think we have to remember that when a Linden is in the WA they are also often in IMs from residents having problems. Those residents don't know where they are or what they are doing and also want help. If we as a community want a Linden who is dedicated to only monitoring the WA, I guess that is one proposed route. Another that has been mentioned is retricting the WA.

My point is this, after last night I'm officially getting irked. The long term residents of this community need to take a stand against juvenile, negative behavior in an area which is designed to recruit and retain new residents. It's that simple. People will not stay in world if they log into the WA, nobody helps them, and they stand around watching people pick fights and neg rate. Last night showed me these folks have no intention of stopping.

So I suggest the rest of us start, and also finish. Simple as that.

Awww, Fallen, don't let the gobshites getcha down!

The Lindens want to avoid being the police except in extreme circumstances. I prefer this laissez-faire attitude... let the residents figure out ways to create and shape the world... like we're doing here.

I must again point out that Lindens will be swamped. If you IM them about the problem, that might work a little bit better.

Abuse reports do take time, but I've found them effective in the past.

Fiona - I couldn't have said it better myself. These folks are amongst the most pathetic attention whores I have ever witnessed in or out of SL!

Regards,

-Flip

Well Said Fallen to add to that i am not sure how long it takes for an abuse report to kick in,i saw some of the folks i filed on yesterday at ahern,i wrote the report the day before when this incident happened,It's funny.. when i was being reported by a scumbag for defending myself on my own property i was suspended for 3 days for my language in a pg sim..go figure and he was abuseing me...Trolling isn't welcome in the welcome area, and if i have to get nasty and i an suspended again it will be for a good cause lol

Looking at the Police Blotter, it appears these winners we know are finally getting warnings and suspensions (maybe that's why its so nice there today!):

Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Rules of Conduct
Region: Ahern
Description: Annoying and misleading new users at the WA.
Action taken: Warning issued.

Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Indecency, Mature Content
Region: Ahern
Description: Crude and obscene chat and behavior in the WA.
Action taken: Warning issued.

Date: Sunday, June 5, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Indecency, Mature Content
Region: Ahern
Description: Profanity in the WA.
Action taken: Warning issued.

Date: Sunday, June 5, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Indecency, Mature Content
Region: Ahern
Description: Profanity in the WA.
Action taken: Warning issued.

Date: Sunday, June 5, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Assault, Safe Area
Region: Dore
Description: Repetitive bumping in the WA.
Action taken: Suspended 3 days.

Date: Sunday, June 5, 2005
Violation: Community Standards: Indecency, Mature Content
Region: Ahern
Description: Crude and repetitive profanity in the WA.
Action taken: Suspended 3 days.

GO LINDENS GO!

Even though I am no longer a mentor, I will still always want to help new people in SL. I'll do my part to continue dropping in on the welcome area and helping where I can. And how wonderful to see all of you joining together to help this area. *HUGS*

Fabulous news, Flipper!

coco

before i got my suspension i got 1 warning...i am wondering how many these guys got before they get suspended??

Flip-I agree with you about the Lindens and the laissez-faire approach. It's a dangerous road in my opinion to show that residents can't handle this themselves, and then the Lindens have to clean up the problem. I have more faith in us than that. Of course, in my mind this ties right in about the arguments re government in SL. I want to believe that we can self govern in the WA and in other areas, and that Lindens will be available as backup as needed. I think the growing social movement about the WA shows that we know what we need as a community when we work together. Ten minutes a day from committed residents who are genuinely there to help newbies and have a good time would take care of the issue. Well, that and some well placed reports.

hehehehe, would it be too much to ask...

If you have less that three as many positives given as negatives, you can't enter the 4 welcome sims? Don't we want positive folks as the Welcome Wagon?

That'd be funny, I can see a certain W.A. regular desperately trying to get up to 900 positive rates given to go with her 300 negatives. I really wonder what peoples' problem is when I see "Given: 15 positive, 289 negative". Talk about having issues... in fact, a subscription!

-Flip

Would we refer to that as the "Bad Mojo" error message?

Hmmm . . . pretty good idea, Flipper!

coco

We are basically on the same side of this issue and you know i adore you Flippy . . Ace, Fiona thank you for the support However, I would like to clarify and have it be noted that I did infact send a large number of abuse reports and was told to do this specifically by several Lindens who i spoke to one on one and in several ims This all took place over the last several months as attacks against my avatar by the same specific people ( all friends to eachother ) became more frequent and more vicious One Linden even told the leader of the trolling group she was not allowed to speak to me at all This isnt an isolated thing or i wouldnt have addressed it This is a long standing case of harrassment against my avatar w the direct purpose of forcing me out of Second Life How do I know thats the goal? Because she told me so in IM and yes the Lindens know about the situation But I havent seen many suspensions come from the reports I sent No suspension No banning Infact the griefers sit and laugh about it You are welcome to say anything youd like to dismiss me or valid points im makin here And I have no opinion about the laissez-faire Linden attitude that you hold in such high esteem But i hope its perfectly clear im not impressed by how Lindens have handled the situation and im not concerned with what people think of me nor do i have any problem sayin how i feel about the situation Which basically is how I drew the attention of griefers in the first place Because i wouldnt back down and I stood behind what I said And still i wouldnt join in or support them in their efforts to troll

It's too bad -- just this week, we lost one of our computers (we only had 2) and now we're just back to my little laptop, which does NOT appreciate the Welcome Area at all. I wish I could spend more time there than I previously have

I guess they did this with the help island, eh?

yup