Problems with the notion of "Self-governed Sims" -- and a solution?

There seem to be some calling for the creation of "self-governed Sims" in which the "laws," rules of conduct, etc. are determined by the Sim's residents -- apparently above and beyond the concept of "zoned Sims." I see a problem with this:

How is anyone to know what "laws" are currently "governing" them at any given time?

I for one enjoy just wandering around; SL is a big place to explore. I don't relish the thought that at some point I could be minding my own business and suddenly get "in trouble" because of some arbitrary "law" clashes with how I dress my AV, behave in-game, those I associate myself with, etc. Nor do I relish the thought of having to stop and read the fine print of notecards thrust at me every time I cross a sim boundary.

At what point do others earn the right to infringe upon my freedom as a SL customer? At what point does Linden Labs recind their right to run SL as they see fit? The door appears thrust open wide if there are "self-goverened Sims" created within SL.

Setting up entirely separate servers for a handful of "governed" communities seems a far better, cleaner, and simpler solution offhand. The current economic apparatus would seem to allow commerce between them; likely even portals could be created between them. It would be analogous to different SL countries.

Thoughts...?

I can already kick you off my land for dressing in red - whats your point?

Meilian, think of it like visiting another country. Say, you're an US citizen, grab a plane, and visit my country in Europe, and rent a car at Avis. At the first road block, the police asks your for your documents (driver's license, ID card, etc.). You explain to them that in (parts) of the US you don't need to have them ready by you, so you didn't know you had to bring them with you whenever you pick up a car and drive around peacefully. The police fines you € 1500 for failing to present the required documents and ignores your comments.

(Yes, this happened to an US friend of mine )

Where is the difference between travelling to another country in RL (and ignoring their laws) and moving through a sim with an organized community (in SL)?

The point is that's your own private land. And you're still bound by the TOS to the best of my knowledge. It seems the "pro government" are interested in, effectively, creating their own Terms of Service which may well be at variance with Linden Labs'. And that is not something I'm interested in paying for.

Gwyneth, the difference is that in real life you have well established borders and checkpoints. And often a good amount of travel time between countries. Wandering between sims in SL is much more like crossing states or provinces within the same country: The laws (TOS) are pretty much the same; the borders are entirely permeable and easily crossed.

This changes if multiple servers are introduced. As I said, THAT would be much more like visiting different countries IRL. And there seem to be interesting possibilities it opens up, above and beyond the "laws of the land." (Laws of physics, maybe?) Plus it would give players the tools they need to travel freely within SL yet avoid those communities in which they may not care to participate.

ANYONE playing this game would be bound by the TOS. I think what we're talking about here is actually helping to, and going beyond, seeing that is followed.But your all causing a big flap over nothing as per usual.Goverments already exist all over second life in the form of Sim/land owners and yet you still have the tools to travel freely.

Note the underlined. That is where I see the big problem. There already appears to be a problem with vigilanteism in SL -- I haven't run into it directly but several acquaintences apparently participate in it. Alts with which to tweak the "maffia" and the like. Yes perhaps that indicates the system is broken, but putting the tools of power officially into the hands of those who go around it seems only likely to encourage abuse.

Remember, power corrupts. Better to leave the corruption in LL's hands, I say, than to let the application of the TOS get warped in each and every sim a myriad of ways.



"As per usual?" That seems dangerously close to an ad hominem attack. How long have you known me? How do you know what my "usual" is?

I see a concern, I ask questions. Yes, perhaps I think it's worth "causing a big flap over," but that wasn't the intent of my questions. How to manage the Balkanisation of SL's rules and maintain a positive user experience (especially for new players) is the question I'm asking. Kindly speak to that question. I think the answers can only improve SL experience for all. Even if you don't think it's likely to be a problem, put on a thinking cap and consider solutions. Where is the harm in that?

Hmm, Meilian, you're right. "Crossing borders" may well be a "problem". I suppose that you could "mark" the sim as being under some sort of "community rules" - so, besides the name of the sim - where we usuall have things like "Anzere (PG)" you would have something like "Somenameorother (Zoned)". If you clicked on the About box, you'd see the "charter" for that sim, or an URL to the "community rules".

The alternative, of course, would be to re-organize the world so as to have "community ruled sims" separate from "anarchistic borderlands". This is pretty similar to what SL was at the very beginning... one continent "organized", another "badlands".