Ok, if this is the end, we need to decide where we are going to go

No communal decision is possible, of course, I guess we all have different needs.

Can anyone advise me which places may meet my individual needs - they may indeed be similar to yours.

Here's my list:

1 Genuine SL members posting in the verified name of a registered avi. This means some system of registration by interacting with an inworld object which confirms a password as yours to the forum website.

2 Moderation in the sense that really insulting libellous and bullying posts are removed, and posters warned and if necessary permabanned. More quickly than the many months and repeated little warnings and suspensions it took to get rid of Prok. This will require mature and intelligent judgement and a well developed sense of justice. Since, however, there will be many other forums, permabans should come more easiy than in the original. Let people get heated over issues, just clamp down hard on abuse of persons. No delayed moderation - postings should appear immediately or discussion is killed dead.

3 Run by someone who has some sort of reputation as above petty squabbles, vendettas etc, no personal paranoia or axe to grind, and some investment in their own SL reputation, so that I am willing to trust them with my ip number. Preferably a promise not to record them, ie to regularly delete the logs.

4. This is perhaps more controversial. Because of the ease of creating alts now at no cost, I would like to see an experiment with only letting in people who are more than, say, three months old in SL. It seems mean, but it sure would ease the griefing pressure. I think the inworld registration object could be scripted to implement quite complicated criteria.

Can anyone suggest which forum might meet at least my three points above ? Would anyone else feel this is the right sort of place too ?

I am genuinely concerned how any of us, new or old are going to find our way around the various alternative meeting places. I think I'll suggest on the hotline that they create a new SL "Find Each Other" forum which allows the posting of the locations, characteristics and moderation policies of various discussion forums, as they arise, and discussion of which is best for which purpose.

And could some genius not create an umbrella site from which we can conduct keyword and poster name searches across a whole range of different venues, and maybe even click straight through to the thread or posting.

Another suggestion I would like to make - could potential new forum owners be helped by someone selling a kit to implement the "prove your identity with an inworld registration object" process. It would need an inworld object, and presumably a bit of php or xml or something to link it into your forum website, unless it just sends a newly-chosen password by email verifiably from within SL, which might be enough.

What do you think ?

Anyone care to post a brief summary of an existing forum here, including its link, and its registration and moderation policies, to help people choose before its too late ?

This is something I would like to see too: a sign-up process that involves in-world registration and therefore, identification. With the removal of free 'extra' SL accounts by LL, this would greatly aid a pro-active approach to forum moderation.

As for the rest of your wish-list, I think the following site ticks most of the boxes:

http://forums.slhomepage.com/index.php

Stratics covers many of the requirements on your list too - as part of the largest multi game MMORPG forum site it has the reputation you can rely on for quality. A comprehensive "Banomatic" system also has ways to stop people creating multiple accounts and trolling.

http://sl.stratics.com - we hope to see you there. At least give us a try; it's free after all.

Lewis

I think I will stick with Cristiano Midnight and SL Universe

What other places are there?

Briana Dawson

To the pub!

I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than go to Stratics, When TSO switched over it was crap, I'll stick with Second Citizen, swear words, trolls and all.

I'm going to Disneyland.

I have a blog, I don't need a forum!
And I'm dragging Belaya there with me!

The problem - if you can call it that - was the TSO forums were the official ones, and had extra rules and conditions imposed partly because of the teen rating of TSO, and partly upon EA's insistence.

Each Stratics forum has its own 'personality' if you can call it that, and would strongly recommend that you at least give us a try. After all, isn't prejudice bad?

Lewis

I'd be happy to provide an LSL/PHP script combo which could be used to easily verify an in-world avatar identity (similar to how we do with SLBoutique) to anyone who wants to run a forum.

Regards,

-Flip

Just let me know where you are going --so I can be somewhere else.

I want to go to a forum where you don't get pointless mean-spirited comments like this.

Albion

I'll be at SL Universe as well, when I feel like posting. I looked at Second Citizen and SL-Forums.com, and neither one of them really appealled to me at all (although SL-Forums doesn't really have anything wrong with it). Stratics, meh, never liked Stratics and I've posted on various game boards there for years. It just doesn't feel like much of a tightly knit community to me.

Dissent is totally pointless and is never apropriate, I agree.

The 'tight knit community' is as close as those who post there make it.

Over the years I've been on the TSO forums, I've seen them turn from an angry bunch of refugees thrown against our will from an officially hosted forum onto a third party site, and grow incredibly close.

History repeats itself?

Lewis

This may be interesting to some and not to others but you asked so here goes....
www.forumbdsm.com
It is the website for our group and on it we have a friend finder program and an open to all forum. It is just starting out but again it is open to anyone.

We have an object in world at our sim that directly links to the website, though it isn't actually necessary to use that to get to it. We do state on the site that when you register you must give your second life identity as well, but no we won't discriminate based on SL age or verification status.

I will personally be moderating the forums and of course my plan is to do my best. There will naturally be times when I am sleeping or unavailable, no one could moderate 24/7 but I'll try to keep on top of it.
Well same answer as above I guess.
No, I understand your point but I dont intend to discriminate against people based on SL age.

A list of our Guidelines and the link directly to the forums:
http://forumbdsm.com/modules.php?name=Forums

*It is not expected or assumed that everyone who reads and posts in these forums is involved in BDSM. These forums are not just for D/s or BDSM people, it is for everyone to use and enjoy. Many subjects can and should be discussed here. It is open to all.

* Try to post in the correct forum so we're not moving stuff around and you don't have to worry about not being able to find your threads.

* Please do not post pornographic images. Be respectful of the fact that some people are browsing these forums while at work or with children around them at home. Pornographic images will be removed and so can your account if it's offensive enough or occurring repeatedly.

* It is NOT acceptable to pretend to own an account belonging to someone else. If you are discovered using the name of another second life account holder, pretending to be that person, you WILL be permanently banned from these forums.

* Signatures may not be so large or intrusive as to disrupt normal viewing of these forums. If your signature is too large or offensive you will be asked to remove it.

*Links in signatures are permitted but you may not post links to pornographic, racist, or otherwise offensive material.

* Guidelines as to Avatars are the same as signatures, they may not be too large or offensive to the general population of these forums.

* The community of The BDSM Forum within second life is adults only. The main grid where The BDSM Forum resides is adults only. The subject matter contained in this website is geared towards adults. Therefore these forums are for adults only. You must be 18 or over to post here. If it is discovered that a member is under the age of 18 they will be banned from these forums and from the The BDSM Forum within second life and reported to Linden Labs.

Finally, lets all remember to respect each other and each other's views. Thank you.

Enjoy and welcome to The BDSM Forum!

for a time i found the forums of some amusement and would dally a bit. observed that hilarious period where people actually felt that large numbers of posts made them a celebrity or something like. the flame wars used to be amusing. the concerns expressed over pointless senseless unimportant issues were a hoot. watching people think that their opinions expressed here were actually taken into account by linden labs was always amusing. that period where the common use of pointless polls was just strange.

now the forums are going to be treated as that enigma they always were. useless. i dont applaud it. i dont care. i won't be seeking any other outlet for my observations, for i am sure they are as useful as any, or not. i usually see someone stating my own thoughts on any given real subject, so dont bother. i wont bother any more.

I thought it was interesting that they focused on how one could restrict, censor and restrain a new forum. How about wanting a place with the free exchange of ideas - including those I disagree with - without heavy-handed moderation? I like the feel of http://www.sluniverse.com/forums although I see that http://forums.secondcitizen.com has much higher traffic - probably because it had more traffic before the main forums closed as well.

I think I would want to avoid the kind of forum the OP describes.

While a free for all sounds great in theory, in practise it quickly becomes a place where sensible argument is drowned out by petty quips and personal jibes. And it's not about restricting the exchange of ideas, but how they are expressed. Also, a free for all by definition attracts trolls and the like. I'll go to the moderated forum.

Albion

I'd love somewhere that printed IP addresses with each post to make it harder for gangs of alts.

It would really suck to have earned an indelible reputation as a bigoted, weak-chinned asshole.

I feel really bad for anyone who would be saddled with such a burden. Perhaps the factionization of the forums will provide a new beginning for such individuals.

But probably not. Sucks for them.

e-pec.info

We have an established, mature, respectfull, intelligent community. We have the most full service site in the Second Life realm and plan many more features. It isn't for everyone. We don't strive to be the biggest, we strive to be the best.

If anyone wants an invite key, just let me know.

Woot! I will SO be there, Allana!

Of course, my posting will probably be limited since the "bdsm" in your URL might come up on my company's firewall. That's if any of the dummies know what bdsm means

But other'n that, I will definitely check it out, thank you. I can never have enough forums to read when I'm bored at work.