Info on the Future Plans for SL- by the Lindens

I think the point is to differentiate between "mature" as Ahoy! Possible Nudity Ahead and "adult" as Explicit Sexual Content -- not unlike the way entertainment is rated. Explicit sex is "adult" and that appears to be where the dividing line is being drawn here.



So, Ralektra is right in that when doing a search on "beach" in Mature, you should be able to find a nude beach, but not sex beach. How a place is advertised is what it looks like LL is going after.

There was a big brouhaha a few years ago when LL set Search to automatically be PG and you had to check it to include Mature. Every business owner on Mature land screamed bloody murder (which is to say, most of them.) Unfortunately, what that lead to is Mature ok is the default for search and it is spammed to death with sex content that has traffic botted its way to the top and uses keywords of the most popular search terms.

It won't be subtle, trust me. It will be disruptive in the extreme. We are going to see plunging land prices. We are going to see businesses fold. We are going to see a massive exodus of people.

And it's all useless. Anyplace on the grid is a teleport away from anything else. Cameras can see through walls and into the next sim. There is NO WAY under the current structure to protect the eyes of the prudish, sensitive, or underaged from content that may be offensive.

The ONLY way to keep adult content separate is the solution we have now: separate grids. If LL had half a brain, they would set up a new grid or expand the Teen Grid, and call THAT "Second Life", and rename our current grid "Adult Life". I've offered to bet any Linden L$100,000 that if they do that, "Adult Life" will grow faster than the squeaky-clean "Second Life" grid.

And the policy isn't even one that most people want. What is the percentage of the grid that's PG today? That would be a good indicator of how many people find adult content so alarming that they want to never have to see it. I don't know the figure, but I bet it's far from a majority. This is being driven by a few moralistic loudmouths, a fear of parental lawsuits, and a dream of SL becoming a popular platform for RL businesses.

I'm so disgusted. I'm leaving the Mentors. I no longer wish to volunteer my time to help a group of people who are so clearly clueless. I'm putting my land up for sale, tiering down, and reverting to Basic membership. At the very least, we are in for rough times, and if my fears are true, we'll all be looking for a new virtual home within the year.

You and your letters, Lindal......*shakes fist*

Best. Typo. Ever.

And Pep isn't here to see it.

The little spot where I set up Viktoria's house is sandwiched between some orgy house and a "forced fantasy roleplay" mini-city. It's sure going to get quiet around there

This will not end well.

I too worry about land prices and land "scalpers," but otherwise - in view of this quote from Blondin Linden, it just doesn't sound all that disasterous.

Am I missing something obvious?

I really can't see how this would - in any significant way - change an average resident's daily SL-life, even if they are specifically (or even primarily) looking for adult content.

This is aside from any "we're all adults etc" debates... just the practical "global" impact on SL of what LL is currently proposing.

I hardly think uprooting mainland business owners and dumping them elsewhere is a perfect solution, but I'm just highly puzzled at "disruptive in the extreme" comments not just by you but all over the place.

I don't have the quote in front of me, saw it earlier in the other forum where the Lindens are talking. But they did quote the TOS. You're probably right, I'm sure, as long as the picture or description wasn't overt.

From the sounds of things, the idea is that there will be an "adult" continent for those not already on private islands. You won't be able to see in -- or TP in -- without being age verified. At least that's what I get from this thread:

/352/38/311510/1.html

I wanna quote Lindal's entire post and say Hurrah - I so agree with every word.

Isn't there *already* a way to not see Mature content in search? Do a PG search. Isn't there *already* a way to not see it elsewhere. Only go to PG sims.

I think everyone should have the right to enjoy SL how they wish (within RL laws) including those who don't want to see this stuff. I can fully understand this. And I even applaud it.

But I am so against losing privacy and RL security over playing a video game online. I am NOT going to give my SS# so I can have an alt. I am NOT giving out my personal info to some third party data collection agency. I recall a (true) story in which a marketing firm employed convicts, and one of them used the data provided to add to his rap sheet for rapes. I am NOT saying that will happen here...but some other form of violation seems likely - it is at the very least possible, and without asking this of people it would not BE possible.

I guard my privacy as well as I can online...I never, ever, ever give out my SS#. Driver's license - why would I want to put that online? Where does it go?

Tell you what. When LL does the same for us, we'll call it even. Which of them are going to send us their Driver's license in an email?

Yes I'm being facetious but I am not a happy camper...Call it the hippie in me.

Well gee - if it's a Cause I'm ready to grow my hair and hoist the old peace symbol again.

I guess it is going to depend on where LL will draw the imaginary line. I have no problem with nudity, I have no problem with sexual innuendo, etc. Like I said, I'm not a prude...but when a simple 'beach' search brings up f*** s*** P**** c*** etc. multiple times in keywords, that is something I really wasn't looking for. I don't mind adult content a bit, and I don't have any problem with nudity or sexuality.

As far as property/land, I'm still up in the air about that. But it would make me very happy to know that the chances of a sex club springing up next to my shop on the mainland have been reduced to none

I don't like how LL is changing the rules mid game and only affecting a small portion of the population, who are not doing anything wrong. They were told to have mature businesses on mature land, which they have and now they are being told to move.Perhaps a year from now, some special interest decides that their being in their own area isn't good enough, so they are told to move again, this time out of SL entirely.

It's the changeover that'll be disruptive. Go through a few commercial areas. There are sex related stores and clubs ALL OVER. Not everywhere you look, but one here, one there. All these businesses (and private and public areas with adult content) will have to be uprooted and relocated. Plus, in an already-depressed land market, they're building another continent!

Nobody will get land they're happy with, nobody will get a decent price for the land they're forced to leave. Everyone's landmarks will be screwed up.

I didn't say anything about the gambling ban, and no, it didn't affect me much because I don't gamble. But it DID have an effect. The SL economy tanked there pretty good for a while. Now they're talking about messing with an even larger industry, the one major entertainment people are willing to pay for (I don't mean just escorts. People who buy sexy clothes, people who buy land to build a castle with a dungeon, people who go to dance clubs with a date or hoping to pick one up, people who buy poseballs and MLP beds). Where does this "2 to 5 percent" figure come from? Linden Lab, the same people who tell us that only 10% of the people on line are bots? The same people who boasted about "12 million registered users", but just cut 2 million inactive accounts from that tally?

And I don't believe the assurances that "only very hard core sex and violence" will be affected. That is NOT what the proposed guidelines say. If they are followed, everything from skin stores that show nipples to Abranimations' store will get evicted. Who decides? Why, the G Team. Now THERE'S a comforting thought, given their past record.

All four of LL's stated goals sound great. If they could be accomplished, I'd applaud. But NONE of them can be achieved, given the way the current grid is implemented. The only way to isolate people from content is to put them on a separate grid, like we do now with the Teen Grid.

If LL wants a pristine paradise for prudes, let them expand the Teen Grid. Give THAT the "Second Life" name. Bring in the kids and the corporations. Leave the current grungy, dirty, porn-ridden grid alone. Give it a new name, "Adult Life". For gods' sake, let us degenerate in peace.

What would you rather have next to you though? A shop that was tastefully designed and sold items of a sexual nature, where customers made their purchases and went on their way, or a club full of blingtards.? And not saying you would, but what stops people from saying that we don't want the clubs full of blingtards next to us, let's move them to their own island? Who's next?

Duct tape afficianados?

Good point. Because there's no growth potential or profit making opportunity or future whatsoever in virtual porn. That's why the internet became so popular after they banned all porn.

Blingtard clubs always have stripper poles and tons of mostly naked people. They'll all have to move too.

1 user thanks Weston for the smile.

Who let in the hippies?

It's going to be a very complicated situation. Note that I am notoriously poor at predicting the future, but here you go anyway.

2-4% of mainland is 100-200 sims. Obviously no normal person thinks that it will be only 2-4% of the land area efffected but even if you take that number it's a huge amount of land.

Prices on the old mainland will fall because people will be abandoning it in droves. Not just the adult oriented businesses, all those Goreans, BDSM groups, free sex joints, every single club in SL with stripper poles etc but also since freebie accounts can't access any of that content anymore their numbers will drop off.

After the finish of the big crash I suppose things may come back as more Disney people move in but I think it's a big risk that there are more Disneyfied potential residents than there are adults here for adult reasons.

The situation in the porn ghetto is going to be even more complex. It will be very hard for SL to build an entire continent of exactly the right size. Prices there will fluctuate wildly. If there's too little land prices will rocket as every profitable adult business tries to get whatever they can and keep their businesses alive. If there's too much land then prices will be even lower than the old mainland and we could see prices drop way below L$1/sqm as there will simply be too much land and no-one who wants to buy it. I sure as hell can't absorb 100 sims and I doubt anyone else can either.

So I guess this means they are going to actually have to make age verification work...