Omg They Did It!

I think it would be a bad idea for anyone here to be able to go into their world. Andie I think it's great that you are a teacher, but being in that position, you should know as well as I (or any other parent), that there is no way possible for LL or anyone to be able to tell the difference. I mean can you honestly say that you can tell the person behind the computer's intentions when they want to go play with the children? I can't imagine LL wanting that responsibility, I know I wouldn't. Bad enough trying to screen people from my own 3 children.

You mean, like Junior Linden scouts?

There's kind of a cute ring to that.

No Lord of the Flies, please.


On a serious note, I wouldn't be opposed to having a whole crowd of, say, YTs -- you'll recognize the reference if ya know it -- joining SL in such a way. I welcome that sort of youth when it comes with precociousness and a startling lucidity of societal depth, even if I'm not all for the added brattiness. (then again, takes one to know one.)

I do wonder what would happen if there was one, age 17, who spent sufficient time in this new grid, and then turned 18. Smooth transition to "the main grid"? Hmmmmmm.

OMFG LAWLZ DANGER ON INTARWEB FOR t3h KIDZ!

Good under two conditions

1. They stay on their own grid
   
2. Rude and cruel behavior isn't tolerated. Even (alleged) adults in SL spread gossip, harrass others, grief, and so on. I predict this will be a BIG problem in Teenland. Anyone who's ever been to jr. highschool (sometimes highschool too) knows how mean kids can be.
   

For example, I'd have loved a place like this when I was thirteen- but would probably get discouraged and leave if I got greifed.

Age really isn't a great measure of maturity, is it. Oh well, what can you do? Give the kids some credit, guys. I mean, what, were all of you, to the last person, a bunch of immature retards, until you hit 18?

What's going to suck is someone on the KidGrid turning 18, and promptly being kicked off of it onto the main SL Grid, since they're now an adult, and having to leave everyone they've gotten to know behind.

Our first Second LIfe Second Grider

Sorry but I have no interest in making friends with real teenagers.

Say hello rEaLLy aNNoYiNg tYPiNg, wannabe gangsters, l33tsp3ak or whatever that is, virtual Homecoming queens and the overwhelming rush of hormones, insecurities, and guns everywhere? No thanks.

Thank god they're on their own damn server. I wonder what the hell they'll turn their world into? Would be fascinating.

It's not the kids I don't give credit to, it's the parents who want the internet/TV/libraries/bookstores/video games/movies.. etc etc to babysit their children, and hold others responsible (by way of protest and lawsuits) when they find something questionable.

Kids are very clever. They'll find ways to do what they want to do, just like the adults in Second Life have, whatever that may be. The difference is that as an adult, I am responsible for my own actions, under the law. Kids are not. LL will be directly responsible for whatever kids may get up to on their grid.

Napster did not hand out music files to people, they only gave users an arena to do it in, and look what happened to them. Providing the tools is enough to get them closed down.

/me puts on helmet and hides all his pr0n.

I say we implement a game wide government on them. See how they like them apples!

*grin*



J/k!!! I couldn't resist

*runs*

I think it's great to give them their own grid and let them experience second life. I have a couple of concerns though. First, how would LL know that someone isn't a "teen" - what is stopping an adult (a warped one to be sure) from "pretending" to be a teen and getting an account? As hard as it is for them to assure that we are all adults - it seems even more difficult to assure that no adults get into the teen grid. I guess that is really my own concern. I'm also a teacher that works with that age group and even though I think they would love playing and exploring, they are sometimes too trusting and would worry about them being harrassed or preyed upon in their own world. I hope LL has given consideration to the method of making sure only teens get access to this new world.

Second Life seems like a great product for teenagers. It's a meeting place where you can explore your identity. It wouldn't surprise me if Teen SL grew faster than the adult grid.

But the most intriguing thing about this to me is that LL is creating a new specialized grid. I hope there are more.

I voted "Good". Now my daughter can play SL in a couple years. She's been bugging me to play this one. I have to explain to her that there is content that is not suitable for her in SL. She watches me build and wants to do it too and I believe she would be a great creator as she is in RL. I think this will be a great learning tool for her, however, I plan to monitor her online game play if Teen SL is still available for her in 2 years. I do this with every online adventure she goes on. As a parent, you can't be too careful.

My 2 cents,
MJ

Pendari,

<<I say we implement a game wide government on them. See how they like them apples!>>

Yes, let's unleash Ulrika on them!

I say instead of TeenSL, let's put them in zoos in our SL.

Ohhhh

I love this idea........

Then there could be sign's saying:

"Please don't feed the Teens. Thank you."

Umm... don't we have all that already?

I'd be more concerned about Barney threads.

I'm curious -- and I mean genuinely curious, I'm not just trying to troll -- would you consider it acceptable to say similar things about people of a certain ethnic group, or people who are gay/lesbian? If not, what makes teenagers any different?

I think it's a bad idea and I think it's going to bite them on the ass..

That said, my opinon matters not at all since I don't own LL. So the point of this is what? I thought we had beat this horse beyond death.

Surreal

If that was Allow Codesmith or another on her team, feel free to IM her with questions about what's to come. More information will be forthcoming but she's the one with the answers. Developing . . . =)

If you have never read The Day of the Barney , a book length post from the early 90's it is hilarious. It shows Barney for the truly evil creature he is.

I don't care much personally so long as they are on their own grid and have their own forums.

Linden Lab gets to deal with all the problems of pedos posing as teenagers, scripted penises, stolen Lindens, unacceptable language and the like.

This is quite a big can of worms.

Will it have the same name? Same or separate website/forum?

What happens when someone turns 18?
- Are they forced to move up to the adult grid, leaving their friends behind?
- Can they transfer their L$ with them?
- Can they transfer their assets with them?

Will they have all the same build abilities, ie using the same client? If not, that means LL will be splitting already precious development resources into two forks. If so, then you must realize the consequences of letting people build *anything* means mature content will be just as easy to create on a teen grid as it is on an adult grid.

How is LL going to "supervise" content, which you *know* is going to be problematic, given the raging hormones at that age. This age group will be a much greater and *constant* challenge to keep the content PG and to keep "griefing" under control than the adult grid.

LL is going to have to hire a lot more Liasions for the teen grid, at a much higher liasion:resident ratio than on the adult grid.

Will the economy be the same (open, encouraing external trade for US$)? If so, will their currency also be called Linden Dollars? That will get confusing.

What will be done to stem the new tide of teens getting on the adult grid? You realize a lot more underage people are going to attempt to get into the adult grid (out of curiosity) once they've spent some time in TeenSL.

What will keep adults off the teen grid? I can't see any way to prevent this, and this is a problem for any social place which specifically caters to the teen age group. Sure, you can get proof that someone is *over* a certian age, but you can't really easily get proof that they're under 18.

I predict a big mess. I hope LL has good lawyers.

My initial thoughts echo Kex's post pretty much. Quite a can of worms indeed - and I hope LL plans to hire many more people to deal with this new teen grid. If they truly have the resources to cover both grids, then sure - go for it. I would just hate to see the main grid suffer as resources are pulled from it for the teen grid / client.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds...