Okay, Teens? Officially?

Has there been any _official_ word on the teen grid and main grid merging? I don't mean someone mentioning it in passing, or some Linden saying they want it. Has there been any official word, to date, that it's going to happen?

I don't keep track of things Lindens say because really, not much of it matters to me. I lead a pretty PG life for a submissive, really. However, I keep hearing people say 'There's been talk of the grids merging' or outright saying it's going to happen, but every time a serious discussion on the Forums comes up, it's always said that it hasn't been announced.

So, to this date, pure and simple, has there been any official announcement of any kind saying that the grids will be merged?

no, in fact LL is strongly maintaining that the Adult thing has nothing to do with the teen grid, and that there are no plans to merge the teen grid at this time. cough.

How can they officially say it?

SL is all full of Teh Pr0n!!!

----------------------

Once the pr0n has been shuffled off to NotUrsula ...

and they clean up "Mature" land ...


THEN they will make the plans for the Teen merge.

No.

Philip Linden has publicly expressed his desire to see it merge, as have other Lindens. Meanwhile others with LL have indicated clearly that there are no current plans to do so.

It would seem to me that the "adult" stuff has more to do with other forces than with teens, though one clearly puts us closer to the other.

Right? I guess we could give them the benefit of the doubt one more time

I asked a Linden this directly at his open office hour a few weeks or so, ago.

He said that while he thought it was a great idea to bring teens into regular Second Life, there were no plans currently in the works to do so. He emphasized this quite strongly.

Isn't it illegal in the US for adults and minors to engage in real time chat together? Not sure where I heard that so I could be wrong.

I don't think so Maya, unless it is sexual in nature, with the person KNOWING it is a minor.

Otherwise so much for online education or tutoring - or the SL teen grid itself!

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't LL say gambling wasn't going anywhere right before it went somewhere?

Hee.

What's been said v. what most of us believe...

Officially LL has no plans to merge the Teen and Adult grid.

Unofficially with no verification required to enter the Adult grid teens may enter at any time.

and Banking.

And they told the Age Players if they kept it on the down low, they could continue doing their thing.

Yes, and once verification goes into effect, only adults entering valid info will get turned away.

Progress!!

Thats because we have read quotes/ heard/seen videos of major Linden Policy makers saying they would like to merge the grids at some point.

Every time LL says "we have no plans to do X at this time", it sounds more and more like "we will eventually do X, but haven't yet made the plans for it."

or, 'we have no current plans...' mmhmmm so that means you aren't doing it...today?

I recall (but cannot cite) various official statements recently that the Teen Grid and the Main Grid will not be merged in the near future. This makes sense, because the TG is a place that is guaranteed not to have any adults. However, that is not the same thing as saying that there will not be teens on the main grid. From everything I've read, I expect teens to be allowed on the Main Grid pretty soon. Right now LL is implementing major policy changes about what content is allowed on the main grid (along with some technical changes also); that's all the "Adult Continent" talk and the changing to the current meaning of PG and M ratings for regions. This all appears to be so that teens can be allowed on the Main Grid for "Education" purposes. Meanwhile, the Teen Grid will always remain free of adults. So, no: they are not "merging" the grids.

That's how I read the situation.

The only official Linden announcements on the subject is confusing doublespeak, weasel words, and contradictions, so draw your own conclusions.

key word right there, doesn't mean that it isn't be thought about

Yeah, officially they're not planning on it, but rumors I've heard range from "They're never gonna do it" to "It's definitely coming, but not for a while" to "It's happening in 6 weeks." I hope it happens soon though. The whole "17 year old turns 18, says goodbye to friends for (insert number of months or years)" thing is ridiculous.

I love forums, don't you? Someone asks about only official word, explicitly stating a non-interest in Lindens stating their want for it, and such, and yet most of the thread revolves around speculation that the grids will be merged (In some manner), and that Lindens have expressed their desire for it to happen.

I mean really, the speculation is brought up constantly. Far more often than the facts, which was my initial reason for this thread. I wanted to know the current facts on the matter.

Now, I'm not saying it should stop, I don't really care, as I have had my question answered several times by now, but I just find it amusing, that's all.

We haven't HAD facts, that's the problem.

There have been lots of official sounding words from various officials. Unfortunately, they mostly tend to contradict each other. From what I can gather, even the published guidelines, FAQs and 'official' blog pronouncements keep being changed on the fly.

Poor Blondin Linden may well need medical intervention for severe vertigo with all the twists, turns and spinning he's had to do in the Further Conversation thread.

--
Aes

Only a couple people in this thread seem to remember their history lesson.

::raises hand::
Gambling, GOM, etc ad nauseam

I met a newbie last month and he was very polite, nice fellow. I figured he was young because he was addressing me as Ma'am. Very, very respectful. Well he admitted to me that he was 14 years old. I immediately got worried about him, natural tendency was to try to shield him from the baddies of the sl world. Much like rl. Because of my reaction to his admittance, I have mixed emotions on the merger.