Info on the Future Plans for SL- by the Lindens

then we shouldnt really be all that worried.

I firmly believe they're gradually working towards selling out to some larger corporation.

Seriously... things LL have been doing recently are looking more and more like an Ann Maurice de-clutter and quick paint-over-the-cracks type makeover, ready to sell the house.

--
Aes

You may be right there, Aes. I see everything that they've been doing concerning mainland as *not* doing anything for the users, but doing it all for themselves - including this one.

What bothers me about this one is that LL will make a load of one-time extra money from people who have to move. LL is highly unlikely to swap land for land, so business owners will either have to shut down and build again, to avoid double tier, or they will have to pay double tier during the moving process.

If a third category of SIM classification is actually necessary, surely the tag "X" for "extreme" (whether violence or sexuality) would be more apt than "Adult" which seems to me to be largely indistinguishable from "Mature". On a such a basis it would be very difficult to classify objectively things such as sex beds and nude sun bathing by your own pool as "X".

I didn't say there wasn't a huge profit making opportunity

However, you pretty much have to do one or the other. To my knowledge, there isn't anyplace that caters to both audiences out in the open like that. I've been scrutinizing the Linden posts and answers and what keeps jumping out is that this is about getting "sex" out of the search rankings for non-sex related content. There are two ways they can go about this: 1) set Search to default to PG unless M is checked. This was tried and every business on M land howled the place down about being forced to move since most of the land in SL is rated M. 2) Find a way to move all sex related items to a new designation of Adult. It appears that LL has opted for 2.

I don't believe for one second that age verification will be any more solid that it is for every other porn site on the web. But putting up a roadblock, even one easily bypassed by clicking I AGREE I AM OVER 18, still constitutes "see, we tried" from a liability standpoint.

If you look at the stated goal:




I read that as "we're giving you a checkbox to determine if you want to see explicit sexual content or not." Mature content is not the same as explicit sex -- thus the difference between an R rated move and an XXX rated one. LL wants XXX content off the search results unless the searcher desires that content. Defaulting search to PG has been tried and resulted in rioting.

Well that is fine and dandy, but would only work if they planned on actually policing the search results. Not sure how moving the unsavory types to a different continent is going to fix the already unregulated search results. A search filter can only do so much. It can't police the results that were purposly created to fool it. If adult content is coming up in search results that do not have the mature box ticked, then that is a policing issue that is being ignored by LL and will not suddenly be fixed by sending the already compliant people to their own area.

**BTW... not sure how many are aware of this but the ability to flag your land as Adult for search has been available for quite awhile now.

Awww...

Cute!

Okay, so... I just want to make sure I'm correct in what I've gleaned from various posts (I'm not reading the entire Linden threads, as they're very active and can get confusing, in my opinion)

1. SL is gaining a new content rating, of Adult.
2. Adult content includes public places centered around sex and violence, such as sex clubs, sex toy shops, some (?) combat sims, and so on.
3. Mature and PG will remain essentially as they are now, with those mentioned in point 2 being moved up. Private residences and areas that include mature visuals, but are not centered around them (Such as skin stores, and so on), will be able to keep 'Mature' rating rather than 'Adult'.
4. To access Adult rated content, some form of ID verification will be needed. Either payment info used, or other form (Unsure on types).
5. There will be a new continent to house just Adult themed sims and parcels, which will be inaccessible by those not verified, and private sims located as such elsewhere will become inaccessible and invisible to the unverified.


Is this the basic gist of it?

Keira, that sums up how I understand the new policy too.

For anyone interested there is a good article on the subject from New World Notes. The reporter was able to speak with Cyn Linden and Linden counsel Marty Roberts for the article.

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/03/red-light-segregation.html

Thanks for that post. It clears up something for me.

The first Linden-sponsored threads on the topic indicated they were asking our input on the idea of segretation. After a lot of people posted against it idea, they clarified that they had already decided on segretation, but just wanted our input on how to effectuate it as painlessly as possible. Specifically, how to make a good timeline.

Well, according to the New World Notes article, they have already decided the timeline, which must mean they already know how they are going to do it.

"In any case, the clock will start ticking on this policy in early Summer, perhaps May. Adult content owners will need to start the movement process then. 'We're not going to put a hard line on that,' Cyn [Linden] told me, 'at least sixty days.'"

What upsets me is not that Linden Lab is segretating content. I enjoy the adult content, and I think it would have been a great idea for Second Life to have a red-light-district in the first place.

What upsets me is that Linden Lab lies to its paying customers, fraudulently induces people to drop money in Second Life, and unilaterally alters its deals with customers, pushing all the economic hardship on the customers.

This does bother me in light of what you mention in the second paragraph here - which is probably what you are saying also. Maybe if they had done this from the start, people would know what they were buying. And how their presence would be seen or welcomed (or not).



This is what bothers me too (at least, one thing that does). One day their money is good; the next, off to leper island.

It just reminds me of times in history when moralists/reformers would storm the red light district, burning, jailing, killing, blaming it on the city's evils, when the week before a lot of them were patrons. Yes it's a dramatised example, but the hypocrisy seems the same.

Shuffling the 'adult' content onto a new island can only be a directive from some corporation that has bought into SL and wants it sanitised before the announcement is made. That's the only thing I can think of that makes any sort of sense. I don't agree with it but it makes some sort of sense, and I wish I knew if that was what is going on.

I wonder how much of the stuff you think will have to move is of such a transitory nature that it will expire natually in the timeframe it'll be given to move. That is, if the lifespan of the typical bot-infested ugly box club with stripper poles and flushy crap is four months, and you've known about it for a month, and they are given three months to move, then no move is actually necessary, and that land would have come available, anyway.

The real question is, how many *stable* establishments will be affected?

Also, how many will simply decide to do away with the naked bot on a pole rather than move? Or remove the vendor full of naughty stuff that hasn't sold a single copy, anyway?

I've traveled extensively looking for bots, and I've traveled extensively cataloging every single entertainment venue I can find with a chance of surviving the time it takes to make a catalog, and I've not found many stable businesses that'd be affected by this policy, particularly on the mainland.

Go out right now and find some places that you think will be affected. Will they last the three or four or five months LL is likely to give them to move? How much land are we really talking about?

Mainland is already so yellow and fractured I think LL may have to do some forced consolidation to make it whole again. Another 3-4% in the pot probably won't be noticed.

I think the characterization of Linden Lab trying to be morality police is misplaced.

Linden Lab does not want to drive off the adult content. They profit from it directly (tier payments) and indirectly (high usuage numbers to publicize). They have to know that sanitizing Second Life is the death of it.

However, they can unload the burden of their policies on the users of adult content for several reasons.

One, a lot of adult businesses already have a lot of sunk money that they can't get back. Even though moving will cost them, it's better than losing everything.

Second, Linden Lab can get away with breaking contracts, fraudulent inducement, so long as (1) they don't cause enough financial damage to someone that it would be financially rationaly to hire a lawyer to help get the money back, and (2) they don't get a reputation as a business that routinely deals in bad faith. As to the latter, screwing adult businesses isn't going to get a lot of media sympathy.

And third, a lot of people engaging in the adult side of Second Life are also using it primarily socially. They have friendships, and no matter how bad Linden Lab may screw them, they don't want to leave Second Life because they don't want to leave their friends in Second Life. That's why Linden Lab can cavalierly ignore community concerns. Community members are emotionally invested in their relationships.

So in fact, despite the uproar, most of the people affected by this new policy will endure it. And Linden Lab knows that, and can take advantage of these people, and they happily take advantage of these people. Linden Lab is a lot like the classic abusive boyfriend. Logically you know you should leave; emotionally, you can't.

Or maybe they've decided they've got all the flash-in-a-pan business they're going to get, and it's not enough to make Second Life an important force in the world (everyone wants their creation to become important, right?), so now they're trying a new strategy. This action, combined with other mainland action, could mean they're cleaning it up for someone, or it could mean they're cleaning it up for themselves.

I think they're just trying to make the place desirable for more people so they can resume growing. It probably should have been zoned from the start, and with zero growth you can't achieve zoning without zoning what you already have.

I agree that LL are not necessarily judging activities *themselves* but see, one doesn't need to agree with an action in order to pursue it, especially if financial gain is involved. That's kind of what I meant by this reminding me a bit of the 'reformers'. A lot of them would've been friends/patrons of the prostitutes they were running out of town on a rail - peer or business pressure, made them act in a way they would not have, but they went with a larger self interest.

So I'm not saying that LL personally 'hates' or anything. But actions in the end are what count and what does this blatant disrespect and disregard for long term customers say?

Anya- yes of course every creator wants their product/idea to prosper, and flourish. But I think SL already was. Also if it's a social experiment, then uprooting it isn't kosher. Maybe nudge it, but this seems forceful. Well, it IS forceful; a lot of people will lose their own investments (time and money) and be *forced* to move. As well as other people, if they wish to begin or continue patronising such places, will be *forced* to give personal info which for some nations is illegal to do.

Other big companies have tried making changes that didn't work and they later paid for it. It all seems like a bright idea at the time or places wouldn't do it. New Coke anyone?

I don't think LL is acting on any sort of moral crusade either, this is strictly business. The mainland does need to be made more orderly, I don't like the term "zoned" but it is the same idea.

LL is a business, and SL is their product, whose main purpose is to generate a profit for that business. But SL is a very unique product. It's not an inanimate item like a TV or a washer where you just make it, sell it and it is used by the consumer, end of story. It is different even from other online services, like say AOL, WoW. Their users can have some say in what they would like in the service, but again it is used pretty much as it is delivered. SL, on the other hand is dependant on it's users for it's sustinence, growth and development. There is no SL without the residents, LL's customers.

LL should be constantly keeping tabs on what the residents are doing, how they are doing it, why they are doing it. They should evaluate what is contributing to SL's growth and what is stunting it, They should seek out residents thoughts, concerns, compliments complaints and suggestions. Sincerely. Not in the patronizing,condescending way they do now. They have done nothing to show they are interested in hearing customer feedback, or will consider it if they do ask for it. They give a resident with a lot of time, money and emotion invested in SL no faith that they care.

I don't think it has, and I think it isn't growing at all anymore. I think it appeals to a tiny number of the people it might someday attract. In fact, I suspect that if you took away the make-money-with-no-effort carrot that so many are chasing, the current numbers would be vanishingly small.

I see three things limiting the potention of SL:

1) The make-money-with-no-effort crowd cheapens the place for everyone. SL is like one big, tacky, empty, crappy mall. It looks like crap and feels like hucksterism. This is the result of the mixed blessing of a low barrier to entry for calling one's self a "businessperson".

2) Smut everywhere. Low-quality, tacky, amateurish smut. If you like it you may not see it as a problem, but do you really think the RL people you know would find it appealing? SL needs to appeal to more RL people if it is to resume growth.

3) LL, wanting to be fair, has created a system that does not reward useful content. They rely on automation, and have not put in the effort to make it effective automation, and may even benefit financially from it not being effective. To be visible you need to spend money or game the system. The system is too easy to game, and there are precious few non-automated systems of reward, so the stuff that is visible is not the best stuff available.

SL has an image problem, and it will take big, bold steps to fix it. The people who are affected by this may feel they've been betrayed and think they're responsible for making SL what it is, but what it is is a niche market and LL probably wants more.

Way back in 1998 I started playing Ultima Online, arguably the world's first true MMOG. We saw something similar happen; after a while the management had gotten complacent, the creative team wasn't, and the players logged in every day to do their thing and that was that.

Then Everquest showed up and the player base started to dwindle a bit. A better game, they said, or better graphics, or whatever. Electronic Arts, who owned UO by that time, made a highly intelligent move - they put their official forums on an outsourced server, and placed not only the player's forums there, they placed the *developer's* forums there, and everyone could see everything. They took a chance by saying "if you love UO, help us make it better than the competition".

It worked. UO is the world's longest running MMOG, and although it's following never recovered (currently around 70,000 subscribers worldwide I think), it enjoys a unique relationship with it's fans. Players can and do routinely contribute to what they think would be fair, balanced and exciting in the game, and the developers present their best efforts to make those things, and more, happen. The development team not only listens, but takes suggestions from the user base very seriously. UO really is the player's game, more than it is EA's on many levels.

Now, if we could only get LL to see things this way.

Ugh, like a police state? No thanks.



I disagree this is why 'most' people get into SL. I think a lot of people just want a diversion from RL, to experience an immersive virtual world *created by its users* (always was the draw for me - and still is unique and sometimes thrilling), and to just plain have fun. The 'get rich quick' people quickly find out the old 'spend money to make money' adage and either find other diversions in SL or leave as quickly as they teleported in.

As for "smut" the use of that word might tip your hand as to how you think SL should be, but isn't that putting your values onto other people. I do not have interest in being a furry but I would not want to see their clubs segregated because someone ELSE might find it "disturbing", same with people of various private inclinations.

You already have a choice whether to go to a mature or a PG area, sim, shop, club etc. You have to click to teleport there, and most 'mature' places have a drop down 'warning' the second you land. Am I missing something?



I honestly do not ask people I know/friends in RL what they find scintillating. That is their business. As long as it is consensual and adult how does it concern me. But leaving me/my RL friends out of the issue altogether - there are a lot of other issues being raised by the changes than 'smut'. (Although judging by sales everywhere in RL, people are indeed interested in such things; it may even be the quickest/easiest way for people to make profit even in a recession.) Anyway, 'smut peddlers' are 'real life' people too.



What "niche" of "real life" people do you personally feel would improve SL/be what LL are supposedly after?

I like SL the way it is.. i can choose where i go.. i am adult and i am ultimately responsible for myself.

I seriously think this is a precurser to 3rd party content on the grid.. and i wouldnt be surprised to see more segregation further down the line.

No. As in get out into the world and see how people are using SL, what works and what doesn't. Meet the residents casually, find out what they like , don't like, want improved, want removed.

If meant in the sense of actually playing the game they are ruling over then yes.

(Do they know what made Thalberg successful/a genius. Not reading the fan mail. Listening to it.)

Is there any evidence of users asking to have a three category system created and have 2 to 5 percent of parcels get moved to an adult content continent?

quoted for truth.

and add all the opportunists who will in fact take yellow land for sale and put a big spinny ugly sex club on it so that they get a brand shiny new parcel on a new continent worth more than the crap they are holding.

I wonder how many will see this new adult continent as the new land of expressive freedom rather than the redlight district it was created to be and abandon the PG and Mature mainland simply for that reason.