Waterhead - Linden Village

Hello there. For the past two weeks or so I have been conducting an experiment in the Linden owned sim of Waterhead; I have been spending my time there helping new people out. This thread is not meant to be a question but more of a public service announcement for Second Life/Linden Lab. I apologize if this thread is in the wrong category, but I really want a Linden to see it if they are reading in the forums. It is come to my attention that new people are being sent over to Waterhead as though it were a welcome area.

Waterhead is a dangerous, wild west sort of sim even thought it is rated PG. The land allows scripts to run and builds to be rezzed for a few minutes. (I think one) Lots of new people show up there and are very confused as to what is going on.

There are a group of regulars that go there who are some of the meanest people and griefers I have ever met in Second Life. They make a sport of using scripted objects to orbit new people or punt them using other gadgets. Often times it is a hailstorm of bullets and particles; I have left my avatar in Waterhead while I have slept for a few days in a row; each day I wake up to see that I have logged out because the sim's server crashed. I have been attacked numerous times on voice and with scripted weapons for being gay or just for talking. One former mentor oribted myself and three others because he said he "hates gay people". Others have been putting pictures of people they do not like on prims (with horrible little captions next to their RL faces) One person in particular has been putting pictures of their genitals on prims. Supposedly the person who has been doing that has been hardware banned. (word on the streets) I was told that I don't belong helping people or having nice conversations in Waterhead because that's not what it is for. Somebody also told me my RL picture is ugly while he rezzed pictures of a RL cat being strung up and mutilated. That part earned an abuse report.

I have a tough skin, and most of what people say or do to me there does not bother me; I have been going there to help people. The easy thing to do would be to stop going there; I might just do that, but I must ask LL to do something first.... Please stop sending new people there or have the Linden village moderated somehow. New people are showing up in hordes, and that environment is not a good first impression maker for anyone running a business. Thanks.

Thanks for the heads up.

Gaybot, I don't think I've been to Waterhead but I occasionally go to newbie dumping points to watch what happens and witness all the same things. It amazes me that LL does nothing about it. Is this what they want people to have as their first experience in SL? Is there any wonder there is such a low retention rate.

That's how the welcome areas have struck me for the past four years.

I've never spent much, if any, time in a Welcoming Area or Linden area really, but I am rather shocked. Why not just allow these people to go to the OI and have at them before they bother coming mainland LL? Is the mentor program still up and running anymore? I dont know why, but I thought those that were mentors sort of took turns hanging around in Welcome Areas to, er, Mentor people and keep these kinds of things from happening. (Not slamming the mentors, just wishing the program and those in it could do something too, if LL wont?)

Just imagine how many people are turned off thinking this is how SL is all over!! Then imagine how many active and running accounts there would be if all of those people had been helped more and given a chance to enjoy SL for the possibilities it really has.

I made an alt the other day that went through one of the alterative welcome areas and they actually had people staffed there to help. I saw a lot of conversations going where people were being taught things, not orbited or abused.

Cant anything be done about this?

Edit - post deleted.

Wow, Ray, I usually look towards you to keep me in a positive frame of mind. Can't say I disagree with you on anything you said but is sounds like someone pee'd in your Wheaties this morning.

lol - I'm so grouchy that you mistook me for Raymond. I'm sorry. Actually, it's been a busy morning and the holidays generally make me grumpy - long story... I also have known a few people with hydrocephalus. It's awful. It's one of those "there but for the grace of God go I" sort of things when you see them suffering with it.

Anyway, I didn't mean to sound like such a bummer. I'll pick up the mood!

I'm surprised I didn't know that about the word waterhead...my husband was born with hydrocephalus and almost died as a result. I wonder if there are many more sims out there with insulting names such as this one? Or, I wonder if they realized it was an insulting term when they named it? *frowns* Either way, there shouldnt be any areas where this sort of behavior is acceptable, especially if it is LL owned land? (assuming it was)

This thread is kind of depressing...well, on the good side...In the past few weeks I have helped maybe 50-100 people. (at least that's what it felt like) Questions ranging from "what is this box on my head" to "how do I get the hell out of here?" They are ever so grateful too; some even offer their hand in newbie friendship. There are a lot of nice people I have met there too.

I have to agree with the others. ALL the newbie places are like this.

I know of groups of peopel that go to these palces to "hunt" the griefers harrasing teh newbies. However, this is a poor solution as the griefers jsut keep comming back.

I agree LL should do something about it, but I honestly don't see that happening given their track record.

The best I can do is to help those newbies I run across and give them a more positive view of SL.

~Jessy

I guess, thinking about it now, that they probably didn't know. For all I know, it might not be a word that is in common use as much as I thought. At any rate, Knowing LL and their liberal, hippie sort of culture, in retrospect, I shouldn't have jumped on them as hard as I did. I'm pretty sure they didn't mean it that way.

See how I am? Leap first, as questions later. I'm a loose cannon. They really ought to life-ban me from the internet. Send a google hit squad out to my home to confiscate my computer and replace it with a HAM radio set.

Actually, my dad's old HAM radio equipment is still up in my mom's attic. Maybe I should take a trip to see her and pull that stuff out. It always looked like fun - all sorts of lights and knobs and buttons to play with.

I don't recall ever hearing waterhead used to mean hydrocephalic.

The sim names Kirkby, Buttermere, Grasmere, Borrowdale, Waterhead, Ambleside, Beaumont, Windermere, Bowness, Keswick and I expect some others in that area on the grid all appear to be the names of places in England. Might be towns, lakes, hotels, youth hostels, I can't tell exactly what the common denominator is exactly without looking more.

Are we going to now start looking into Sim names for hidden Broad Offensiveness? Waterhead is also a place in the UK. Maybe that's what it was named after. The obnoxious behavior there should be dealt with, but let's calm down on the PC policing.

I used to hang out at the welcome center helping people, but I ran out of patience. In my opinion, it's gotten a lot worse in the last year.

I've written about the new resident experience before:

/327/9e/225292/1.html#post1772488

and the welcome centers in particular:

/327/48/230382/2.html#post1811713

Trout, I got my dander up a bit when you mentioned it was an offensive term, even though I didnt know it. Some might want LL to be careful with names but in reality, who the heck would want that job!

I am tempted to find a welcome area to hang out but, what places are good ones to send newbies that do ask that question of "How do I get the heck out of HERE?" Is there one spot that outshines the rest as being the best for helping newbies? Or maybe a list that can be given to them so they dont stay in a place that will only bring them grief or frustration?

If the mentors are not able to be in places to help all the time, are there maybe other groups out there that visit these places at random times and try to help that are looking for more to do so? If not, maybe forming a group like that with like minded people (seeking to help the all mighty newbie) is a good idea.

Have I asked enough questions? *stops babbling*

Maybe I'm uneducated, but I've never heard Waterhead in the way you were referring. So, I'd cut them a little slack. If you can can forgive me for calling you Ray, you can forgive anyone.

Seems no one here knew the term was offensive except for ole Trout. I'm guessing the providers were just as clueless as the rest of us.

The InfoHubs were developed after the Telehubs went the way of the Dodo Bird. Just to appease public outcry. Then the Lindens abandoned the project and let them become un-managed greifer hang-outs. If you have land in a sim with a InfoHub your at the mercy of these folks abusing the sim resources and making it difficult for people to enter the sim. In the official blog in 2006 Linden Lab described InfoHubs like this:

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"These spaces, called Infohubs in Second Life, are distributed throughout the mainland grid. Because these spaces vary in size from very small plots of land to larger ones, we are considering two types of builds. The smaller of these would function as an information center for centralized distribution of Linden Lab news and announcements as well as resident content. The larger type of space would be used as a public gathering space for meetings, events, or general socializing."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But most of them have one broken notecard giver and greifer groups tagging new players and handing out guns. Instead of addressing the existing issues Blue Linden says she has been told to open MORE of these greifer areas across the mainland - ignoring the fact that a major amount of abuse reports come from InfoHubs (so create more, right?).

Lindens need to read their own definition and get the InfoHubs back on track. Concerned citizens like the OP would be happy to help reach that goal.

I'm guessing the same thing - see post #12 above. I'm usually the least PC person around, so can we please cut me some slack? I backed off of my original post pretty quickly. My apologies to LL. Like I said, it's a rough time of year for me right now and I'm overly grouchy - I let that get to me. I'll knock it off and I won't jump to stupid conclusions anymore. Well, I probably will jump to stupid conclusions, but I'll keep them to myself. How's that?

I'm not sure what the 'welcoming' area I first landed in was called, but I do remember thinking "I hope no one notices me" since there seemed to be a lot of harassing going around. I never saw any mentors there - then again, I never stayed long enough to see. Since it was my 'home' for the first month, until I figured things out and relocated, kind of sad it wasn't more welcoming. I would log on and quickly search for someplace to TP to - ANYWHERE but there...

As for the word Waterhead, my brother was born with hydrocephalus but it was caught early (all's fine now). I didn't know Trout was being serious and laughed out loud when I read his post. My Mom would always talk about how he had 'water on the brain' in a heavy French-Canadian accent... I guess I'm a bad person, I thought it was funny.
Sorry.

Awwwww....you're OK.

Gah, I was simply asking some questions regarding it...I wasnt attacking LL or the name at all, just curious if they even knew it could be offensive. I also do wonder if there are others that have offended people that most are unaware of. Where am I policing anything by wondering? I'm curious as to why you made the choice to quote my post (which was simply asking obvious questions) when there was a much harsher and 'pc policing' type post before it? *looks for a place to hide* Not to mention I also ended it with a comment about the obnoxious behavior, regardless of the name. Just like others have posted here, now that I know it is a place (geography and I never did get along LOL) I assume they didnt have any clue that it was an offensive term to some...like I said, even I didnt know until it was pointed out and I live with someone suffering from it.

To keep from taking away from the OPs point, my last post does have some questions I would be curious to have answers to....seeing as we have a wide variety of people here I hope to see some places to send newbies that are outstanding in helping them or even find a group to do more organized help for the new people in SL.

I thought the waterhead was a welcome area (or at least an info hub) and just because newbies are there doesn't mean SL is dumping them there

they could be finding it through other residents or themselves

when I was new I found some pretty bizarre places that one would not expect a newb to find hehe

Hmm, not sure, but I think Ahern is a pretty good place, even though it appears to be centered on the four corners of 4 sims. It has a cool store of freebies where I found an awesome bike to ride around on. I've seen lots of mentors there too.