Sarcasm Button/Sensitivity Level Indicator

I'm a good egg, ask any one of my three friends. But since becoming a member of the Second Life "family," I have discovered a knack for being unintentionally offensive and, apparently, rude. The problem is this: the majority of Second Life members seem to have no familiarity with the concept of sarcasm, or if they do, the are far too sensitive to take a few deep breaths and look at the situation with a cool head -- thus resulting in my being banned from various properties. For this, I have two suggestions, either one of which, I'm sure, would work wonders in making my personality more cohesive to the Second Life mentality. If, by some great miracle, both features could be implemented, then look out Second Life! Prepare for the upcoming domination of Cletus Hatfield.

These are my ideas: Sarcasm Button, and Sensitivity Meter. I feel they would be benificial not only to me, but to all Second Lifers with any sort of sense of humor -- however base. They would result in far fewer misunderstandings, and a general rise in tranquility among those with the ability to laugh, and those who are merely delaying their inevitable carreer as a nun or mortician.

They would work as follows:

The sarcasm button would function much like the shout button. For instance, when I type something such as, "Your hair looks like the rotting flesh of a brutally murdered crab fisherman," and rather than pressing only the enter key, I pressed crtl, alt, enter, the text would show up as, "Your hair looks like the rotting flesh of a brutally murdered crab fisherman -- Just kidding! I'm on your side, friend."

This would greatly reduce the number of sour faces made on avatars and their real life counterparts.

The Sensitivity Level Indicator would be a simple addition to each avatar's name bubble. A bar graph with ten increasingly long bars could be added just above, or below each individuals name. Each new avatar would begin with an empty graph, indicating that they are not sensitive in the least. With each person that avatar bans from his or her property, one bar would be colored in for ten days. With each instance in which a Linden is contacted, three bars would be filled in. In the event that a Linden decides that the contact was warrented, three bars would be removed. If the Linden believes the claim to be ridiculous, as would likely be the case, the bars would remain colored in for ten days. Once all ten bars are filled, the overly sensitive individual would be given a non-removable animation override that caused him or her to constantly appear to be crying, as well as a baby rattle.

This would allow others to more confidently decide who it is okay to joke around with, and who needs to be coddled.

I feel these suggestions are vitally important to a harmonious second life, and I welcome feedback from everyone. Perhaps with a little bit of love, we can nurture this li'l concept of mine into reality.

Cletus Hatfield

This post hurt my feelings

Your feelings always hurt my posts

Stop being so damned sensitive!

I need a tissue for my issue

bah they killed my [img]power.

I'm reporting you, panda. And you too Cletus. This thread is offensive, full of personal attacks, and must be closed.

The Pampers are in the mail.

BTW, you can always add emoticons to your chat text:

>:)    devil 
:p      raspberry
8-}    silly
;)      wink
:D     grin

To be honest, might be just a matter of the medium. IRL we can sense sarcasm and see it on people's faces, or hear it in their voices (sometimes). I warn my students away from sarcasm as humour in professional settings because it usually doesn't work well for folks outside of a familiar relationship.

Tone of voice is extremely difficult to convey in text; thus: emoticons! ;-D (winking grin).

Cletus is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

I've been emotionally crippled ever since I met Cletus.

Ever since I met cletus I gently weep into my pillow untill I fall asleep every night.



-- Just kidding! I'm on your side, friend.

I'm allergic to these kind of posts

I give this thread 5 stars.

Cletus sounds like a tool.

Someone needs a sarcasm botton.

Yeah see this is why I use emoticons.

cletus ate my baby

Ohhhh a sarcasm button... that'd be reeeeal useful

I didn't eat your baby. It was miscarried, and it was still on the steps last I checked.