Where do the grown ups play?

I recently had a resident ask me if I knew of a place to go to have serious discussions in SL™
After a little more digging, I discovered that he had been in SL™ since last July so the regular newbie spots would have had little appeal. Also he had already been to many of the places I first suggested. What he was after wasn’t so much a place to go and be serious but suggestions on places that he could meet and converse with adults who act like adults. And I could certainly empathies with him. Placing myself in the Welcome Areas to assist people is my choice, but for those who wish to explorer and socialize with others as mature adults and not be bombarded with so much of the childishness that is SL™ can be a challenge. He obviously loved being in SL™ as much as I do. But I was at a loss to come up with a place that wasn’t either a busy crowded club or a small cliquish hangout.
So my question is…where are places that don’t attract griefers or newbies wanting money and has a quiet relaxing atmosphere to promote relevant conversation.
I know terms like “relevant” maybe subjective…but still

Right here.

Oh, sure, there's a ton of stuff to wade through. But we've discussed some pretty serious things here from time to time.

Haven't we?

I did tell him about the Forum Cartel, but I didn’t have the LM and I’ve only been there a few times myself.

Just search 'places' for 'Forum Cartel Hangout'. There's only one result. That's how I always get there.

Ah you make it sound so easy…LOL
I’ve always gotten a tp from someone already there

Guaranteed there are quite a few people reading this who would say the Forum Cartel members don't act like adults

I have it in my picks if that makes it any easier.

Personally, I find cartel members act exactly how I wish all adults would... Things aren't usually taken completely seriously, as that's no fun... and so it's a fun place where seriousness can occasionally happen, which is a good environment.

Yay for rambling comments!

I generally keep serious conversation relegated to RL. The whole point of coming to SL is to get away from that nonsense, at least for me.

And I’m not a freaking prude myself lol…maybe I’m just picturing a place to go that has more the 3 people and still not have my chat screen washed away with “Hooo’s” and “growls” spam all the time.

What she said. However I do like dropping in on the weekly discussions of one of the groups I belong to. One thing I learned is that some people don't have anyone in RL to discuss certain topics of interest with. I assume there are active, interesting group discussions on a wide range of topics if one wanted to go that way.

I've found the Blarney Stone a great place to chat, depending on who is there. It could go from silly to sublime tp politically heated, but usually civil. Which can be said of most Irish Pubs I've been in.

Besides the Cartel, this was the first place that popped into my head.

Madhu's Cafe also came to mind. Always an interesting, ecclectic and diverse crowd there. Great music too.

/me remains most definitely quiet on this thread.

good luck with that

I tend to prefer the one on one times as opposed to trying to chat in a crowd

a lot of times when I wish to just sit and chat adult to adult, it is much easier one on one...

hopefully that person will find a place they are comfortable

/me makes a shameless plug for NCI Kuula... But be ready for a ton of tech talk while you're there. (^_^)

Yeah, if we're going to be specific, I agree with all of the above and I believe Mondays are when Madhu DJs and a lot of people show up. It can be silly but the crowd's been consistently friendly. I visited the Blarney Stone waaay back when I was clueless. I'll have to check it out again. And, of course, I drop in the Hangout periodically.

Caledon offers a whole range of discussions on a regular basis from book clubs, to discussions on various topics held in one of their pubs, etc. I've only been to a couple, but tping into the main Caledon hub lists all sorts of activities for the more serious minded.

Depending on your area of interest, groups can be a good place to find serious discussion and adults acting like adults. There are several Buddhist groups, there is a fairly active Unitarian Universalist group, both are good places to meet people interested in progressive political issues and other more adult discussion topics.

These are two groups of interest to me, I'm sure there are many others, such as the various political parties, book discussions, etc.

I like hanging out at the Cartel hangout, too, but somehow I've missed all the serious discussion.

Love the LOLz, and playfulness there, tho!

We have alot of really great people who live and work on Etopia as well as our regular visitors. They come to discussions that we hold and even just hand out at the entrance to Etopia Eco Village and also Etopia Prime in the coffee houses we have. We do serious discussions on environmental issues but always with some humor injected. We also just have a great time hanging out and always welcome new folks...come see us! People comment all the time that Etopia is the friendliest place with genuinely nice folks that they have visited in SL...well, we do try LOL.

Etopia Eco-Village, Etopia Island (174, 73, 22)
Etopia Island, Etopia Prime (188, 54, 31)
Tsidel's Cafe Etopia Island, Etopia Prime (198, 55, 26)

Thanks for mentioning my place, that's very sweet!

I find good conversation is very hit-and-miss - whether at the Cartel Hangout (which I adore) or my place, sometimes people are in the mood for intellectual chatter and other times folks are in the mood for silly. What you encounter when you drop in is very random.

Fortunately for me, I love good solid interesting conversation and I love goofy play as well, and I have been lucky enough to develop a great collection of friends I can count on for both.

In the end, the conversations you have will depend more upon who your conversation partners are than upon where you have the conversations, so the key is to find a place that tends to attract the kind of people you want to talk to. For me, the Cartel Hangout has definitely been such a place.

A few weeks ago I was invited to the Saturday Salon, in Extropia Core. It's a weekly event that takes place around 1pm and it's a sort of talk show/discussion.

We just opened up a 'guilty pleasure' spot for conspiracy theorists to hang out on old couches and expound on favorite topics. PropAganda ROCKS! The little grunge rock bar below the Warhead T-Shirt Shop across from the Bear InfoHub. First discussion event is tonight at 10PM SL time.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bear/78/142/0

grin - thanks for the nod - there's very eclectic stimulating stuff, people are just amazing especially in regard to the Caledon Library and the Falling Anvil tavern storytelling nights... but there's also a fair bit of silliness. Beware the dread Caledonian Flaming Turkey!

That haunting gobble-gobble may be the last thing you ever hear...

Where do the grown ups play?


Some play with themselves..er...by themselves, others play with those around them.