Another Profile question...

Hey all! Happy grid down day

I have a question that often pops into my mind.. when reading peoples profiles I come across stuff like:

"Jane Done is my FAMILY.. you MESS with HER..you MESS with me.,..I will be RUTHLESS"

Or

"John Doe is my protector..IT will get UGLY if you upset ME, because HE will upset YOU...then you WILL be sorry, cos WE is FAMILY dude"

Kind of thing!

What are they going to do to mess with you? type people to death?

Seriously I am confused..if you have it in yours what does it mean? is it a term of endearment?

I am all for professing SLove and stuff in profiles because I am mushy at heart... and i can understand why people do that as its a public way of saying you care.. is it the same idea as that? a public way to show you care?

It always makes me giggle when I see it

As someone with something like that in her profile (mine doesn't actually say something that oddly written or strong), yes that is a form of showing endearment, connection, loyalty, family, etc. Mess with? Well you can harass someone in SL. There was one occasion when I mentioned that someone was trying to get at me and the one mentioned in my profile dealt with the one who was a little too aggressive in trying to get close to me. I hadn't seen that protection in action before. I rather like the protection.

As a kid avatar, it warns that messing with me (griefing and such) will lead to a serious talk with my dad. ^^


Sacha

Don't trivialize Death By Typing. It can be a hideous way to go, as anyone who has been in an IM session with Figtree will attest to.........

ROFL!

I've wondered about these types of profile entries too - maybe their loved ones have experienced griefing or abuse of some kind in SL and are trying to be protective. Kinda doesn't encourage you to want to talk to them and get to know them when you read that though..

Thank you, because it really is a genuine question

But then does the person doing the harassing to begin with then become the victim in terms of an AR if someone then harasses them return? These are the kind of things I think of when the grid is down.. I blame LL!

I am not judging anyones right to be how they want in SL in anyway.. you should see some of the trash I write in my profile.. I am declaring love every 5 mins I swear....

I just never understood it in terms of practicality as how could someone actually "Protect" another if you know what I mean.

I dun have nuttin' like dat in my profile -- but I know what *can* happen when people do mess with me an it gets back to my folks. Let's jes say dat it *usually* stays on the right side of TOS. Definitely no griefing, but maybe a few harsh words, depending.

But ya, I tink it's usually a sign dat a person is cared for an protected.

Mari

The "ruthless" and "don' mess wit' me" profiles DO give a fairly accurate indicator of the age of the REAL person behind the avatar. Let me just say they are "young at heart". I usually keep walking when I read that. Beside profiles should be a work of "personal adornment" so I plaster mine with images of myself - I am vain, you see, NOT threatening ... well, my Neko side indicates I might eat you ...

the ones with strong statements of "protction" are someone or a group that likes to roleplay their commitment to their groups/couples/whatevers safety and defense...

it doent have to be they will grief someone...in fact probably the majority are just that, there for roleplay opportunities...

just my thoughts

I have to say I usually don't try and engage in to much conversation if I read that stuff, it just seems to me a bit aggressive.. I don't really do aggression... well not that kind!

But saying that... people may think I am just a plain freak when reading mine.. so I guess it works both ways.. I was just curious that was all.

I think that most often these statements are just meant to give you insight into that person's social network, and what's really important to them.

But sometimes these statements really are about a "character", as in roleplay. When you're ingame, it sounds like you play yourself. But, just because an avatar looks ordinarily human doesn't mean they're not roleplaying. To "play" along with them, you would be expected to make use of whatever they say in their profile. For example, if someone goes out of their way to say "mess with Joe and you mess with me", they just might really like it if people mess with Joe, because then they get to roleplay that protective combat scene.

It's not usually roleplay - sometimes people really mean it because of past abuse, sometimes they're just being cute. But sometimes it is!

The extreme case of this are characters like SL kidnappers, who may/may not have all sorts of threatening things in their profiles. This really made me laugh the first time I encountered it ... I mean for an SL kidnapper to stalk and grab you, you have to help them out quite a bit ... give them permission to see you on the map, etc.. Who cares? It can still be fun.

As someone who has had real life threats in sl, let me say that this kind of thing in a profile makes me run, not walk, the opposite direction of this person. Not only do I not want to mess with them, I dont want to be in the same sim as them. Threatening isn't a sign of affection, it's a sign of abuse. *shrug*

And yes, I agree that putting things like that in ones profile does show one's r/l age a bit. Those of us with grey hair and menopause symptoms are a bit more mellow and easy going than the youngin's.....when it comes to the "momma bear gonna kill anyone who looks at my kids funny"

Oh, and by the way, get off my lawn, pull up your pants, wear a belt, comb your hair, and get a job, slacker........

Protect - When I mentioned that someone was continuously trying to get into the space I was in, despite their constantly running into a wall (by their actions they were not accidently walking into a wall through lagging or the like, and later they apologized), my "protector" spoke with them. I was too far away to see what was said, but I was protected from having to continue having that person "attack" me, and from trying to figure out how to deal with said person.

I'm 31 in RL, and I do not "play" a child avatar in SL. Nor to I act childish in SL. I'm just shy and submissive.

Me too - takes me back to being in x's gang at school

Yes, the person that had been bothering me was not griefed. Just a "friendly" conversation.

Oh, and I am not the one with the "DON't MESS with the PERSON under MY proTECtion", I'm the one with the profile that notes that compliments and complaints, and the like, go elsewhere. Protected, I am, by my family.

I take those statements as a simple advertisement about the person and agree in part with the role-play direction. Some people have 'I'm chatty and fun so IM me' which seems pretty inviting while others have things like 'talk to me and my master will answer you' which says to me 'don't bother'.... so I don't.

Oh dang it. I don't want to be messed with. I didn't realize someone might read it that way.

My personal experience -- if you don't want to be messed with, don't even mention the possibility. Just be nice and sunny in your profile ... roleplayers will then know you're not playing.

Personally, I mention my SL relationships in profiles only if I want people to know that I'm already in a relationship or social group ... if I want to let folks know I'm not so very available Then, if someone is bothering me, I can point to my profile. Then they usually just find somehow to wander away.

Ha Ha!

*imagining Brenda at her keyboard praying furiously to her God to make the noise stop*..*PLEASE*

What I see more often in profiles is, "Any issues with this pet, please refer to Mistress Imelda Knockemov", or something like that. Often with more or less the same form of words, as if there is a standard template shared amongst several mistresses (which is altogether possible).

I'll have to look at my profile again, but I wrote the current edition of my profile myself. Not all changed . . . have to look in SL to see.

You can be child-like at heart and not be immature and child-like in your ways and all your thoughts.

ummm yes there is a standard phrasology, same words used for Pets or Slaves, shared informally among those in the D/S communities. Gor, however, is very standardized in this regard, some cities requiring Slaves to carry papers with a very standard statement including this and other cautionary blather ... er ... guidance.

Folks like Lexxi, whose relationships appear to be more familial than D/S, might wish to avoid that wording.

Um. I'm actually the family pet. The submissive family pet. The S in D/S.