Political Responses to Popularity and Culture Clash

We have begun observing the emergence of several distinct cultures within SL, some of which are popular enough to support multi-sim venues. Among these are "furry" cultures of residents who dress as animals, "elven" themes of those who role-play elves, dwarves, hobbits and such like, Gorean role-players enacting an alien world of warriors and slaves, and other cultures hard to support in "first life."

Some of these cultures may be regarded as ridiculous, politically incorrect or even abhorrent to other residents of SL. Other residents may find them a curiousity, even a tourist attraction. Those seriously seeking to maintain a role-playing community around those themes are faced with a dilemma: Allow in visitors who may become contributing members of their cultural community, bar all visitors out of concern for harassment or "cultural pollution," or exercise some form of "border control" to selectively let some in (conditionally) and keep some out.

Anthropologists observe similar issues with the encroachment of modern society on indigenous cultures previously isolated in remote areas, and politicians in FL deride cultural pollution of long-standing culture due to television and immigration from former colonies. In some cases in recent news, this "culture clash" has lead to riots, property damage and death, even terrorist acts.

In SL, this dilemma is compounded by the SL "Popular" listings that report on the 20 most heavily trafficked venues in SL. Recent popularity of some of these "cultural island" sims has resulted in an extraordinary influx of "tourists" visiting to "find out what this XXX thing is all about." In some cases, this has resulted in residents trying to maintain "role" being asked to pose for snapshots by tourists just "off the boat," despite the conflict between the tourists' presence and the culture. In other cases, residents have observed deliberate taunting and disruption by visitors on private sims with an unusual cultural theme. For some more detailed background on this effect and one such controversial role-playing culture, one might consult the Law Society's ongoing case study on Gorean Culture in SL

Questions for our readers:

Is this phenomenon real? Is it likely to get worse?

Could the clash of cultures lead to virtual violence and terrorism, wherein outworlder visitors deliberately disrupt cultures they see as unacceptable or unsavory?

Can it be seen as a political issue for resolution through internal governance in a "cultural island" sim, or is there a need for some broader resolution?

What are some of the possible practical methods of addressing these challenges?

Please share your considered thoughts through a reply to this posting.

Not only is it real, it quite probably will get worse as SL (and virtual worlds in general) become more popular. On the other hand, one reason "fringe" subcultures such as Gor (or even less-fringe ones such as Star Trek) are popular in SL is due to how it is difficult to recreate that environment elsewhere (text-based MU*s, being virtual worlds in a sense, are your main option at this writing).

Overall, I'd personally support internal solutions to that problem as opposed to a Big Brotherly approach; in SL anything beyond the most basic ToS and Community Standards enforcement is really uncalled for. What those solutions are to be depends on the sim and bunch of people in question. One manner beyond those you suggest would be to have the primary estate invisible to all except members of a certain group, but make the group itself free to join. I believe estates so restricted do not show up on the "most popular" list, and the consideration of loss of dwell isn't such a big deal with subsidies going away.

Second Life is currently part of an important place for mankind: the 'lawless frontier'.

Nowadays technology provides the frontier. The porn people used to use 8mm reels or VCR's.

It didn't take long for Disney to follow.




- Virtual terrorism? I believe it's already happened, but then how serious it is kind of depends on the person.



Political issue? Nah. Don't like 'em in your sim? Kick 'em out.



Practical methods? Heh. I wonder how many $L folks are making off the tourists, while decrying their presence at the same moment.

Forgive me for being such a cynic but from what I hear, there is a lot of money to be made if you sell the scent of 'sin'. I wonder how many $L per hour it's worth.

I'm guessing that the folk who really live the 'sinful' lifestyle probably don't take it online all that much, or just enjoy it privately amongst themselves.

I think we should all get along..no matter what culture you have.


As for 'virtual' terrorist attacks.
My shop got bombed yesterday by some idiot...who renamed his bomb to 'jihad vest' and said 'daniel pearl says Hi' to me and then blew me and my costumers a whole sim away with his cheap freebie bomb.

They should lock him in prison irl for disrespecting the dead and doing virtual terrorism in the name of 'jihad'.

I think as for virtual terrorism Linden Lab should disable all pvp scripts on 'normal' safe land.

Sry to hear about the griefer attack, Mina. Unfortunately there's a lot of overlap between useful scripts and PVP scripts. Scriptors have taken innocuous things like a notecard giver, and made a PVP weapon so powerful that -- misused -- it becomes a potent griefer weapon. I've personally seen a fun 'freeze spell' get a bit out of control, and start eliminating prims from my build. The guy was trying to control it responsibly, not attacking anything, just doing a demo on his sim because I was interested in seeing it.

So my recommendation would be to code in more controls to recognize and abort runaway processes, for example those that exploit concurrency to get around single-threaded controls. I'm not saying let's implement this or that control, and life will be fine; there's always a code wars situation in which scriptors are trying to work around the countermeasures, so new countermeasures will have to be developed on an ongoing basis.

That's the technical side of PVP. You don't want to pay money for a sim, then have it seriously disrupted, or lose prims from your build due to griefers. The social side is more nuanced.

Some sims might benefit from the excitement and publicity of an ongoing rivalry or hostile diplomatic relations with other sims. Guild vs Guild battles are part of the fun in Guild Wars. : ) In SL some fashion designers have rivalries. A while back some of these people/groups were exchanging blows by means of the star ranking system on forum threads used by different designers to showcase their latest creations. Surely a well-orchestrated plan of rivalry between designer groups could be win/win for everyone if all the participants got spotlight time from it.

I realize that this requires an underlying sense of community from all participants. Is that possible given the strong desire for personal self-expression in SL? Yes! Look at success stories like Boardman and Taber and Lusk. I just bought land in Miramare, one of the four city sims of Nova Albion, and yes -- that kind of community is growing there too, and it deliberately includes all four sims. These examples are true grassroots communities, not some guy's self-aggrandizing scheme because he wants to run it, and not some guy buying a sim, naming it 'The Whatever Community', and advertising for renters.

It's my personal opinion that strategic alliances and hostilities between sims and groups of sims could capture a 'Living in a movie' sense of excitement, and pull in green dots to the participating sims.

Traxx, I suspect you are on to something here. Two examples from my experiences in the last week.

First, drama unfolded in the City of Lydius over a visiting Gorean warrior from another city landing at the docks with undocumented property. The property was seized by the local authorities, and a confrontation ensued that would fit into "Miami Vice." Weapons were drawn, threats exchanged, documents produced, seals were examined, the local boss appeared and ruled, the weapons were put away and life went on.

But it drew one of the biggest crowds the sleepy town had seen, with locals and visitors standing back and chatting, flirting, laying odds on the home team or the visitors and enjoying the show. And they stayed on to shop and trade other property at auction later that afternoon.

I think that the sense of excitement came from the tension between competing role players, all staying (more or less) in role and dealing with the issue using in-role customs and practices. Oh, that and the threat of possible violence, a perpetual draw if there is no real chance of actually getting hurt. (for more detail see "Dockside Drama Drives Lydius into Top 20" at: /246/99/85031/1.html#post883193)

Second, drama unfolded in the City of Port Cos as a visitor landed on the docks dressed as a gunslinger, with pearl-handled revolvers and announced "i wanna be a warrior." Any arrival at Port Cos has thrust upon them a notecard pointing out the rules and customs of the sims, which include no firearms at all, and no weapons drawn in town. This is because the Gorean fantasy world is one in which only ancient-style weapons exist, such as swords, spears and crossbows.

The visitor had no apparent Gorean background or affiliation, no apparent background in local customs, and proceeded to insult residents, trash-talked passersby, curse and offer to kill them all. I'll omit the names to protect the guilty, but think the language used is needed to demonstrate that this was not a "borderline" case.

One person who said he noticed the six-guns on the visitor was told "lol well u will be if u dont shut ur big trap," another resident chuckled at a "babe playing cowboy" and was told by the gunslinger "uve got some cheeck to talk ... big ass bitch ... u lil (expletive deleted) tonny."

The local "First Sword" (a designated municipal official authorized to use force in defense of the city) rallied from wherever he was, got down to the dock, and told the offender that he was in a private sim, and that if he didn't want to play by the sim's rules, he would have to leave.

The gunslinger didn't like that, responded with "how about ... u back off ... before i cap all of ya." So the First Sword captured him with a scripted net. At that point the gunslinger began spraying the dock area with scripted gunfire, saying "mess wit me u all die... bitches ... go no respect ... hahahahahaha come on ... u gorean (expletive deleted)."

He and the cage he was in were pushed over the edge of the dock and to the bottom of the Port Cos harbor. Once he got tired of laying on the bottom in a cage, picking seaweed and sewage out of his mouth, he left the sim and was banned.

Although this second instance was one of dealing with a rude visitor who refused to play in an appropriate role or be a passive observer (a required local choice), the local players dealt with him "in role" to the extent possible. Although the second encounter was less dramatic and lasted a much shorter time, it added measurable excitement, and everyone debarking from the ships in the midst of the finale wanted to know the whole story. A lively trade in transcripts (amateur video?) was had.

Both instances are also good examples of the real-time exercise of local governmental controls over emergent issues without LL assistance.

So, Traxx, I agree that regular "in-role" drama adds a very great deal to the attractiveness of a sim. The character of the drama also offers a way to distinguish one sim from another. Sometimes you feel like going to a "Star Wars" movie, sometimes to a Western frontier film, and sometimes to one that combines both, like "Serenity ." But folks enjoy a change, and the opportunity to vary their chosen combination of both exotic locale (architecture) and exotic activity (drama).

Those whose sims outlaw all "drama" as something distasteful may be depriving their visitors of the best reason to come back again and again. After all, nobody comes to the daily recreation of a shoot-out at Disneyworld to look at the pretty recreation of a dusty Western town. Its their choice, but for myself, I visit the sims where there is "some action," because its far more interesting than watching textures dry.

It also illustrates the value of a sim with a high tourist/griefer quotient having some paid Homeland Security on duty with scripted tools and ban privileges to maintain order and appropriate role play.

Fascinating.

I often wonder about 'observing' and its effects - clearly you have demonstrated that the observers are a vital part of the environment.

Frank, here is an offbeat idea... I'm not sure you have considered it, but I'm just throwing it out there.


Have you ever considered *becoming* Gorean?


Perhaps, by virtue of extended observation and immersion you are already, even inadvertently, a part of Gorean society?

Like strangers in a strange land, you have proven that even the visitors are economically, emotionally, even personally part of their environment.


I think you could make an excellent Gorean. You have studied them extensively. What better way to learn more! Many people find satisfaction and fulfillment that way, who knows?

It is always a challenge to determine the line between being an embedded journalist/scholar and "going native."

When Dan Rather was with the Afghan "freedom fighters" (when the U.S. was on Osam bin Ladin's side) he was famously seen dressed like them, living among them and going to the front with them. War correspondents have done that for generations, are doing it today.

There's a TV show on Discovery channel where a scholar/presenter joins the culture he's studying and joins them in experiences, eating their food, indulging in their hallucinogens, getting tattooed or pierced in the traditional way. Then he brings back to us his film and thoughts.

In Gorean lands, I dress and behave Gorean.

In Elven lands, I dress and behave Elven.

In nightclubs, I dress and behave ... clubby.

It gives meaning to the expression "I have places to see and people to be."

I don't know how else to get to understand the environment.

Yeah i totaly aggree, and i love guild wars!!!... well not anmore, sinse SL took all my attention away from it. If anyone thinks of bombing my shop- me and my whole group will persue them with ever lasting vengence! SBS style.

I recently had to convince a friend of mine why herassing Goreans beause "slavery" is wrong. Her possition compared them to rl slaves out of the context of the game.

I know there are terrorists in game (one less now woo!)

Will it get worse? probably, but then with increased population maybe more awareness can be brought out.

I do have to say though, that my shop is next (so close basically only 1 or 2 av's fit between them) to some huge star wars clone trooper organization that does get attacked from time to time as part of their rp style and it is very fun to watch

I bust out a comfy couch and some popcorn and enjoy the show although I wish I could have x-ray vision and see the attacking that's going on inside their building lol!

I think it all boils down to if both parties are in on it, or if it's a 1-sided fight.

I too am puzzled by those who would harass individuals who choose to themselves play a "slave," as if it were real slavery and not voluntary, consenting adult role-play.

I wonder if they would harass those who would portray Sallie Hemmings, slave of Thomas Jefferson, who bore children by him?

I wonder if they would harass the production crew and cast of the award winning TV series "Roots" for allowing actors to portray Kunta Kinte, who was captured and sold into slavery and brought to American on the Middle Passage.

I wonder if they would harass George Lucas, for allowing an actor to portray Anakin Skywalker, a child slave on Tatooine in the Star Wars classic film (destined to become Darth Vadar, father of Luke Skywalker).

Modern and classical history and fiction include numerous characters that were slaves either real or fictional. Those have formed the foundation of some of our great film and theater classics. Would your friend harass all those who chose to portray the slaves in such role play?

If I ever went to Gor, I'd probally retain my roleplaying, and start this massive anti-slavery demonstration. I don't care if I got banned after I did that, it'd still be awesome. My character considers slavery wrong (gasp, as do I), but I'm not going to go around following Goreans and such like that. Civil disobedience, ya'll.

I think the difference is, many Goreans espouse an actual philosophy that supports slavery, or at least "women should be submissive to the men" thinking. Some, undoubtedly, are simply role-playing, but some appear to hold this as a serious opinion.

I have no interest in tarring all with the same brush, and I can't say the phenomon has interested me enough to do a serious study, but it does make for a different scenario than hassling an actor.

There are female Goreans who own Gorean slaves, who might be male or female. And each Gorean sim has its own way and degree of interpreting the culture in the books.

Personally I'm happy to see a master and slave attend a Thinkers meeting or just go sightseeing in a non Gorean sim, and feel comfortable enough to maintain their choice of behavior. I used to wonder why anyone would want to be the slave. I assumed that it was a tactic to get more attention than the usual kind of relationship supplies. But a couple of very illuminating posts in the SL forums made it clear that it's a form of self-actualization. Those heartfelt posts made more of an impression on me than all my observations of Gorean sims.

That's nice, and totally unrelated to what I'm talking about. Read again.

After careful rereading it still looks the same, Aliasi. We probably have a different interpretation of context or focus.

For what it's worth, I was ignoring the 'harassing actors' context in favor of a generalized context subsuming those used by Zany and Doli. The general case in which a non-Gorean's behavior toward a Gorean in SL might look like harassment to an outside observer.

That's the context in which I responded to your qualified statement:


You were already making the point that not all Goreans think the same, and my intent was to underline that with a good example:

The tacked-on stuff was just a personal observation.

Normally I don't get word-picky like this, but it's challenging to be in a discussion on this particular topic. It's like threading between two chasms: 'YOU SUPPORT SLAVERY!' and "YOU ARE INTOLERANT!'. Neither you nor I are taking those positions, of course, but they seem to be very much in evidence when people hold sharply conflicting opinions about the Gorean lifestyle.

I have noticed a clear and definable bias within Frank's posts that is quite obviously pro-Gorean.

Goreans aren't actors, IMO, as often times, when I go to Gorean cities, they're not even good roleplayers. I see people naked in the street, and some woman on a panther having sex with a naked man also on a panther. I mean, honestly! There are most definately good roleplayers amongst them, but from what I've seen...

There are also some people who do not want to be slaves but are slaves anyway. For instance, one of my friends within the Merczateers was made a slave by a group in the city of Cos, and couldn't teleport out. I admit, these people are in the minority, but still.

I think it would be pretty awesome if someone were to start a Gorean abolitionist group. Fight slavery in an in-character fashion, the only way the Goreans won't auto-ban you for.

Ah, I see, Traxx. You seemed to be responding directly. But that is where the weight of my opinion lies. I mean, I'm a longtime roleplayer, most frequently paper RPGs, but many other forms as well. The idea of playing a role I personally don't agree with is nothing new to me; the idea that I must identify with every aspect of a character is like expecting an actor playing a villian to be "really evil". No problems there.

The key difference is, when I'm playing as one of the Fair Folk from the game Exalted, by White Wolf Studios (/plug), I am not personally advocating the eating of people's souls. When I play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I'm not suggesting that going out, stealing a car, and starting a gang war is a sound plan for life.

It seems a reasonable guess that many/most Goreans view Gor in this context as well; my concern is the dead-serious minority seem to be very loud... and in pointing out "hey, maybe those folks are a little extreme" you run straight into the Geek Social Fallicies on the part of everyone else involved.

After some viewing of my own at Port Cos I came away with a similar opinion, Doli.

From Wikipedia:

Misogyny...

There are many different forms of misogyny. In its most overt expression, a misogynist will openly hate all women simply because they are female. Some sexual predators may fall into this category.

Other forms of misogyny may be more subtle. Some misogynists may simply be prejudiced against all women, or may hate women who don't fall into one or more acceptable categories. Entire cultures may be said to be misogynist if they treat women in ways that can be seen as harmful. Examples include forcing women to tend to all domestic responsibilities, demanding silence from a woman, or beating a woman regularly.


Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?



He does seem rather taken with the whole society... but he might just like the depth of the roleplay and the period costumes/swords/etc.


I've heard of people being forced from quite a few different friends and contacts. This kind of takes the credibility away from those who say "Aww it's all consensual - good clean fun! The women there WANT to do it."



Having said the above... it is their sim. They bought it and they pay for it. So they do get total control over what goes on there. Just as someone could start up a Femdom sim

Thats assault witha script, agaisnt TOS.. or she could just have logged off and re-rezzed at home.

No, she was there by choice, in character choice or not, out of character she made the choice to stay.

Edit:



Liberty Island

Hah -- great site, Aliasi. I'm going to pass around that URL : )

Well, I'm a furry. I've been on SL for a little while, month or two, and I have not run into a single problem with my "culture". I've hung out in the Furry Dungeon, Luskwood, but also the Welcome Area [damn it lags] as well as many other general random places, and not once have I ran into any kind of hate, or even dislike.

So I really don't know what you doomsayers are talking about, I have never seen such a wonderful mix of furrs and nonfurrs in my life.

So hah! =

I'd agree. At least in Luskwood, the person who yells "NOT A FURRY! GET OUT!" is going to be met with more raised eyebrows than the person in a human av who wants to see what's going on.

We don't really have "role" going on all the time though. Right now I'm watching a debate about SEGA vs NES happen; and I think that any human av who landed and said "No, NeoGeo!" would be welcomed into the debate

Actually, we have two non-furries there right now asking about how to make clothes. Most of us are pretty practiced artists/texturers/scripters/builders, so i'd even reccomend that new folks come by and ask if they've got a question.

I don't want any border patrol around Luskwood. I do think a lot of non-furry folks assume they aren't welcome though. If anything i'd look for a way to lessen that impression.