Totally Intimidating Profiles

Yeah I know: "I have a problem"

I wanted to IM someone who owns a chunk of the region in I'm interested in buying more Mainland in and ask about how it is there etc. But when I opened their profile to contact them...

... they had a totally nude shot with their "attachments" toward the camera.

That's a pretty strong message about whom they want to be contacted by. So I took a proverbial step back.

I then checked out the land I was interested in, thinking I'd contact them instead.

The owner selling had a pic that was just erotic (only in SL can someone say "just erotic", but every line of her Interests and picks and every group she belonged to had to do with BDSM, Nekko, Sisters, Mistresses, etc etc.

I am totally intimidated. They both seem thoroughly consumed by their lifestyles than anyone I've interacted with before in SL. I don't want these folks to think I'm after them from seeing their profile. While this is THEIR lifestyle, I don't need it in my face just because I want to ask about the land and what the region is like to consider for settling.

sigh

LOL. Just IM them and say "what's this region like?" That doesn't sound like a sexual proposal to me.

I think that profile picture may be against the ToS:

Indecency
Second Life is an adult community, but Mature material is not necessarily appropriate in all areas (see Global Standards below). Content, communication, or behavior which involves intense language or expletives, nudity or sexual content, the depiction of sex or violence, or anything else broadly offensive must be contained within private land in areas rated Mature (M). Names of Residents, objects, places and groups are broadly viewable in Second Life directories and on the Second Life website, and must adhere to PG guidelines.

As I understand it, Profiles have to be PG.

Being intimidated by something is a choice - your choice - and even more so in an online world.

That said, do not let their SL lifestyle impact you in that way. Send an IM or notecard asking whatever questions you want to ask. The worst that would happen is that they would respond in some negative hostile manner and even that can just be brushed off and walked away from.

Mine has a totally tasteful topless picture at the moment of me and a very very dear friend, dancing - I hope that doesn't offend.

It's a toughie. On the one hand I can imagine celebrating being able to do stuff here which RL doesn't allow is liberating and she wants to run wild. On the other hand ...

It does sound completely against ToS though.

You shouldn't let their profile get in the way of doing business if you want the land. Put it on the other shoe, what if they looked at yours and thought "Do I want to sell to this guy?". They are just words on a page, it may describe some of what the person is about, but not necessarily all. Ask whatever questions you need, and go from there.

This too - mute is your friend in that case and she loses out on what she was looking for in the first place.

Land has nothing to do with their sexuality. Drop a notecard / IM with an offer for the land.

As for the profile pic, it will only be removed if it's rl nudity/copyright infringement IIRC.

I'm sometimes taken aback by things I see in people's profiles as well, but unless the profile says "Don't IM me for any reason at all unless you want to be my personal slave!" I don't see anything wrong with IMing (or notecarding) to ask your question about the land.

Now if you are considering moving into the sim these folks occupy, you might want to check out their place and make sure they are not having loud and/or laggy events on their property that would make you uncomfortable to live next door to.

Ditto. I find that profile choice to be more a lack of professionalism than meant to intimidate those who don't share their preferences.

As a future tenant I'd be more concerned about having that lifestyle displayed in my front yard, and so one of your questions should be about the type of activity normally taking place on their properties.
It may be encouraged there (hence the profile) and, if you don't want to be part of it, you may want to look elsewhere.

They'd probably reply "Moist".

As an aside, does anybody else sometimes think that "Mature" is kind of an ironic choice of word to describe some of the activities it's applied to?

/me wipes the very ripe and juicy nectarine I was eating off the screen. lmao

Moist would be more apt. Or sticky.

On seeing the title, I was hoping this thread would be an account of someone who had fallen foul of a profile that said "Mess with my sissy and believe me, I'll hunt you down like a dog" and actually lived to tell the tale.

I love profiles like that.

"I spend my days having fun, building, scripting, and protecting my cousin JJeek93. If you mess with him, you're gonna have to go through ME first!"

/me snickers.

Are these people running a business there or are they just potential neighbors? If someone is running a land sales business in the region, or some non-sexual, professional business, I would think twice about doing business with them because of their profile, not because I care about their lifestyle, but because I feel like there should be an expectation of at least a basic level of professionalism. I don't mean they have to wear a shirt and tie and belong to professional groups only, but I what you've described is a little too much.

On the other hand, if they are just landowners, living there, enjoying their lives in whatever way makes them happy, then good for them! Just IM them and ask what the region is like. I doubt they'll take it as a come on, and if they do, just tell them no thanks and be on your way. It's not like they can hurt you or anything.

My profile is pretty (non-sexually) unprofessional. It's a picture of me (clothed) in the cornfield sticking my tongue out at the camera and waggling my fingers with my thumbs in my ears. Very juvenile, but it makes me laugh. I don't have a business, though. I just play.

I have a good friend who has a mistress, and my friend's profile says "If you have a problem with me, please contact [the mistress]."

I love my friend, but there is no way on God's earth I would ever respect that request in someone's profile. I mean, I don't normally have problems with people that need to be taken up with anyone; but if I do have a problem with you I am going to take it up with *you*, not with someone you've decided to make the boss of you during SL playtime.

Folks are welcome to play whatever roles they want to play in their personal relationships, but please leave me out of the game.

This is going in my profile:


If anyone here has a problem with me, please take it up with Madhu. She's not my boss or anything, but the time you waste bugging her is time I can spend creating more trouble for you, and it's not like taking it up with me would do you any good. She's very kind. Maybe she'll be sympathetic.

Oh no! Not those damn perverted Neko!

...then way in the back, in the unused First Life tab, you can follow that up with:

If you can't get any satisfaction from Madhu, call Lindal Kidd. She wears a .45 on her hip and isn't afraid to use it to put troublemakers in their place. I am sure that she will solve all your problems quickly. However, I strongly suggest you have your affairs in order first. Have a nice day!

Linden profiles in 2009:

"If you have a problem then please contact my master Abraham Lincoln."

Most definitely. That would really be the only thing about someone's profile that might give me pause.

Otherwise, if I find something in a profile that is not to my preference, I just keep reminding myself "to each, their own" (and I sometimes laugh a lot).

On your profile, it will say

You may well have found yourself referred to me in your quest to resolve a problem with Trout Recreant. Frankly, I don't have enough bullets in my .45 to deal with the inevitable lengthy queue of slighted individuals, so please IM Max Herzog, who will be delighted to treat your query with a practiced air of surly indifference.

... and on your profile, Max?