Minors now allowed in SL?

I have reason to believe minors are now allowed in SL. I met a minor tonight, who told me his mom bought a sub to SL for him. He said he entered his real age, and that the software knows he is a minor, it just prevents him from going into Mature sims. I was in shock, since I had heard nothing about this. I decided to check the new user signup page, and sure enough, everything about having to be 18+ is GONE. Its simply not there anymore. I asked a few Lindens about this, and they all say that they aren't sure.

Are minors now allowed in SL? o.O

I would think that's a "Yes". They've had the ability to block minors from mature servers for a while now, I'm surprised they haven't let in under-agers sooner.

Which brings us back to the whole trial user thing. Oy vey, whatevar!

Noooo!

I didn't read this. I didn't read this. I didn't read this.

One of the things I absolutely love about SL is I don't have to worry about whether the person I am talking to id a minor.

Not about to start now.

Lindens, please, don't take away our adult playground.

O.o

I know of 2 minors in SL one is 12 one is 15. The 12 year old DOES have his mom's permission to play.

I hope they show more maturity than some of the adults I've had the pleasure of adding to my ignore list lately.

LOL I agree with Huns' extremely good point in the post above mine

Yes indeed, as long as these little kids are mature and aren't a nussence, I think this is great to help SL grow. If they're annoying they'll get negitive ratings and/or get suspended then banned. If they're mature and smart enough, then they'll be accepted in society no matter what age they are. That's the way it will work, and I have no problem with that at all.

For the record:

Minors are not allowed in Second Life. We will update the webpage to make that more clear.

Parental permission cannot sidestep this requirement. As a product, Second Life falls under the COPPA laws, which cannot be avoided by "giving permission". This would be similar to giving them permission to speed and run stop lights.

One day we will make Second Life available, and once that day arrives, we will announce it loudly and proudly. Until then, it's 18 and older.

-Peter

I worry about that day, the maturity level around here isnt the best as it is.

We have enough adults around here acting like children to let children come in (thow I know some of them will put said adults to shame).

Eh... I suppose as long as there are more mature areas by then (by more, I mean 50%-ish) it'll be ok...

Dionysus Starseeker ~ 18 year old turning his back on his caste

Just for the record, I'm not sure I agree with everyone who reports big maturity problems in SL 'as it is'. In fact, one of the major draws for SL *SINCE DAY ONE* has been that 99% of the people ive met have been mature, pleasant people. Think we got a maturity problem? Mmkay, do me a favor and go play, well, pretty much ANY OTHER MULTIPLAYER GAME EVER MADE. I make this point not out of a need to argue, but because I feel that SL is doing well enough in this field to deserve recognitiion for it!

To everyone who thinks we have a maturity problem, go play Counter-Strike, Eeverquest, DAOC, SWG, etc ad nausem! I think you will find yourself longing for the maturity level of SL in less than an hour. You dont know what you got til' its gone!

So cheer up! We got it gooood ^_^ (comparatively, at least..)

Lola, I was thinking the exact same thing.

Even the text MUDs I've been involved with had more of a ratio of yahoos. Asheron's Call, SWG, etc have been crawling with freaks. SL's been great so far.

In my prior experience:

underage folks on MP games are either: a) annoying and shortlived, or b) enriched by the experience and enjoyable to interact with

overage folks are a) annoying and persistent, or b) enriched by the experience and enjoyable to interact with.

I agree with Dionysus.

Personally one of the draws for me is that minors are not allowed. If that changes (ugh) I hope there's a larger number of Mature rated sims, preferably grouped, not single sims scattered here and there.

I for one really like not having to worry if I may say or do something in front of a kid when all I have to go on to judge is an AV.

If it is open to minors, at least have little asterisks next to their name, or their name in a differnt color or something, anything so that we have some sort of immediate visual cue, and not have to 'guess'.

On a related note, I know they just introduced Chartruese and Gilbson? Gilbert?? Gilligan? just went Mature, but IMHO as I said, a single sim off in the boonies doesnt create a large sense of community. I travel through the areas around Federal on the East end and the Mature area in the middle, around Freelon, and I like that I have several sims surrounding me, all Mature.

I'd like to seemore fully Mature rated sims, far enough behind other Mature sims that we don't have to be so concerned about being heard and seen by anyone who would be offended.

I really hope it's a long long time before we start seeing minors allowed in SL.

Yes, it'd be great if I could say whatever I liked without worrying about kids hearing it. But my desire to be able to say whatever I want is not more important than some kid's desire to play this game.

I guess I think of kids as people, and can't rationalize putting my needs over theirs. What I want is moot; I'm stuck with supporting what's fair.

I think that the maturity level comes from comparative differances with said games to SL.

I have played all of those and more MMOG's and while yes you can run into MORE immature players in them. The said problem people have much less ability to create problems for you. With SL's open ended play / usage they have a much easier time creating problems especialy for those who dont know how to institute working security measures against said people.

The majority of us could probably name some names for you and some history of certain sims which would give you nightmares and sending you running back to the relative security of EQ

I dont think being trapped inside a cube or being pushed off a sim boundary really qualifies as threatening or scary to me personally, and I definately can't stand EQ (in its relative security), But I guess I SORTA see your point.. although the fact still stands, if you're upset with the level of maturity in SL, you probably have very high standards and expectations ^_^

I personally hope that SL stays 18+. I've found that SL has attracted a population of intelligent and mature individuals... with exceptions.

For example, like the guy who tried to trap me in a room I was building or the several other ones who like to shoot RPGs at people who are building things in Olive. Grow up people.

Other than that, I'm really impressed by the sense of community.

Remember that if someone doesn't have access to the mature sims (and without minors, that group is limited to the trial users) then they can't see or hear anything coming from that sim. It's like the sim isn't even there. I'm new enough to remember those first two days before I signed up... I had to fly around the missing mature sims.

Difference of opinion I guess, I think it's perfectly fair for me to have my own wants and needs. Also, since we're not talking about taking anything away, but rather continueing the current policy, I see no unfainess there either. I'm also not convinced kids are people.

I think a LOT of people don't really have experience with other games; I don't have much. I know of one 17 year old (playing with his own credit card) who is a great addition to the game. I've also run across some very rude middle-aged men in Jessie and other places who really should have known better.