06-14-2005 16:46
I've been thinking/reading about the bounce and teleport security scripts that people both love and hate. I've come up with an idea that might help the situation somewhat, so I'm sharing to see what others thought. This is a little complicated to write out clearly, but please bear with me I'm trying :-)

The new "Freeze" Feature

Any 3 unique avatars (complainants) can decide to freeze a third (griefer) anywhere on the grid.

In order to freeze someone, three unique complainants must right click the griefer and choose "freeze" from the pie menu within 30 seconds of the *first* person initiating the freeze.
ex. At 12:00:00 Joe freezes Bob. Nothing immediately happens to Bob, but inside the software a timer starts ticking. 12:00:05 Anna freezes Bob too. Bob calms down a little after this, but at 12:00:33 he acts up again. Now Steve freezes him, but because it was 30 seconds *after* Joe sent the initial freeze command, Bob's counter has restarted and will run until 12:01:03. It will take 2 more freeze commands within that time to stop Bob. Those commands can come from Anna and Joe, or anyone other than Steve.
The first time a griefer is frozen this way, it will last for 60 seconds. After 60 seconds, the griefer will be completely free again, but a 5-minute warning period will begin for the griefer. If they are re-frozen during their warning period, then the freeze time doubles (2, 4, 8 minutes etc.).

While they are frozen they cannot move, rez, chat, IM, neg rate or abuse report. The only option they have available is to teleport home. If they choose to teleport home, then the freeze is lifted, and the 5 minute warning period begins.

While a griefers is frozen, any other freeze commands sent to them are ignored.

All freezes are announced when implemented "Bob has been frozen for X minutes", and the people issuing the freeze command are anonymous, but logged by LL.

Why I think this will work
  1. Griefers seem to thrive mainly on attention. When frozen everyone can go back to having fun and ignoring them. If they come back angry and try to show out, they just get frozen again which will frustrate them even more. Frustrating a griefer is the first step in discouraging them :-)
  1. Requires a consensus to be effective. Requiring 3 unique freeze commands in 30 seconds means that this person has probably offended a majority. The 30 second cap makes it difficult for one person and their two alts to use this method to grief another individual. Even if an avatar is being "picked on" they can just teleport home and go on about their business.
  1. While I'm no expert on LL's software, I *think* this can use code that's already in place (Ratings system & Freeze mainly) to work. Hopefully making it easier to implement.
Obvious holes
  1. Groups of 3 ganging up on a single individual. Perhaps not disabling IM (allowing contact w/a Linden) would help this.
  1. Won't protect an individual (or couple) being griefed.
  1. Won't stop a determined person from coming back over & over (especially if their home's nearby) or bringing friends & starting a mini freeze war.
  1. Many griefers will end up concentrated in the Welcome Area. Bad for newbies, but griefers would be easier to police there.