The Proposed Adult Continent Policy Has Resulted in Good Press for Second Life

I take issue with the categorization of SL residents as sheep and wolves. I do not partake of any sexual content here, and I might even find some of the content personally distasteful (if I could be bothered to seek it out); however, I signed on to a platform that required that I be over 18, and I knew from the outset that it meant adult content (which most seem to be reading as "sleazy/slutty/xxx-rated" might be found. I'm a grown-up, and have been on the internet for a while. There is sex stuff there! *shrugs*

My taste is horror -- which was, last time they had the ratings up, classified as the old adult (mature). So I guess that makes me a wolf in a sheep's clothing. I choose to not be offended by things here in this "second" life. It makes the experience very pleasant. I wish more folks would try my approach.

So this is what it is coming down to: Ugly comparisons putting people in SL into 2 groups, wolves & sheep?

LL used the sex industry to make SL big, now they are casting it aside as they try to reach for a new plateau.

Do you think when LL introduced animations into SL in v1.4 they were thinking "oh this will be great for business meetings and inworld educational sessions"? No, they were coming to a few us, like myself and Taessa, and asking us to demonstrate our creative use of the current limited animation set to do sex. So it is kind of odd how they choose to make a sex ghetto continent now and wipe the Mainland clean of "adult content". In 2003 and early 2004 when SL had a population rush from Seducity, LL was not thinking about telling them "SL is not a sex haven". No, instead they were about making SL more realistic. What purpose does that serve for businesses?

I really cannot say I see the logic in this or agree with the actions of LL.

Obviously M. Linden has a vision of an SL that many of us do not agree with, and I personally cannot wait to see him fail, and do i mean Glorious failure. Maybe Philip can help him with the Hegh'bat ritual.

You sound like a certain Right Wing talkshow host.

There you go. Perfect illustration of how nonsensical this is. Your interests would be cosidered distasteful to a lot of people, probably many who are into what you find distatseful. No biggie, live and let live. That's how it should work.

Well, if this is true, then the recent adult "continent" move makes even more sense. If landowners aren't liable for people who inappropriately access content they provide, then who IS liable? Well, LL of course. And if they decide the best course of action for limiting damage potential is by keeping all of the adult content in one place, where the only people who have access to it are people who have made some sort of effort to establish that they can appropriately access that content, why is that a "bad faith" action on their part? You can't reasonably both insist that Linden Lab be liable for everything that can go wrong AND insist that they shouldn't be allowed to take steps to protect themselves legally. It's either one or the other.

I still don't see how anybody is going to lose money over this. Generally speaking, people who have enough lindens in the bank to buy that L$2000 deluxe talking todger are going to have payment info on file anyway, because they had to buy those lindens; if the lindens came from a stipend, then that means they're premium members, and still have payment info on file.

No, Cody, you're asking Amity to get ahead of himself. He's only saying that other courts in other cases have invalidated unilaterally-imposed contract provisions, and that IF this went to trial, a court MIGHT rule in this way.

Playboy were already here and are now gone. Even though it was a 'no nudity' sim it was a pretty popular island so I have no idea why they left.

That's the underlying notion, yeah. The implication, however, was that the landowner is liable for anything that appears or occurs on their pixel parcels, whether they provide it themselves or random passersby are overtaken by unwholesome toon lust. So by having land at all you'd be responsible for policing it for prude-friendliness. All of which might encourage landowners to IDV-restrict access to their parcels, regardless of contents.

This time 'round, this whole theme has gotten much less play. The only relevant language I've noticed is the turn of phrase in this excerpt from the original blog announcement: "4) We will implement account verification systems that provide an additional level of assurance for providers of Adult content that only adults are able to access their content." The implication being that it's the content providers who are really clamoring for protection from litigious prudes. (Which may be true, for all I know. A certain Toyzmaker has hinted as much, I guess, and he has deep enough public pockets to have reason for such concern.)
I don't dispute that logic at all. And I don't think I've accused LL of acting in "bad faith" here--although if that really was a (the?) motivation for this change, it wasn't communicated such that I grasped it.
Regarding the income to adult content providers, I agree with this, too, or a variant. Right now, there are a lot of residents who aren't verified and don't have PIOF, who nonetheless have L$s from some source (alts, mostly, or in-world income) and spend it at adult venues. That will change, one way or another. Merchants fear they'll lose business, but with the relaxed "Adult" verification methods proposed, I think the hit will be minimal. (The big winner will be PayPal.)

That's not to say nobody will lose money as a result, however.

Migrating merchants will lose hard-won (or bought) Picks IBLs for Search, and for some that will disrupt revenue.

Personally, I think the greater losses will be in land prices on existing Mainland, sooner or later, as folks flee to Ursula and Adult-flagged Estates; LL could help some by only very slowly returning swapped-out parcels to auction.

Some smaller Estate owners also face a decision at this point; a little cooperation (e.g., tenant-swapping) among them could lessen the impact, but that may be unrealistic.

Maybe they were uncomfortable being in a world associated with what they considered to be downmarket porn?

I know a number of people who gave up on SL because their PCs were not up to the load.
If LL are looking to make SL more acceptable to mainstream, then they should consider if the client-side tech is more of a barrier to entry than is some fear of stumbling across Adult content.

The current RL economic climate is a good one in which to offer inexpensive entertainment.
It's a good climate in which to offer a micropayment economy.
It's not a good climate in which to expect people to buy a high-end graphics machine (non-mainstream) up front.

If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it. Of course, not everyone fits into those two categories.

But yes, it does really come down to that - there are wolves in SL. Those who prey on other people and seek to disrupt their fun by any means possible. Those who use SL to scam money out of people. Those who view SL as a sexual free-for-all, to the point they come on my land while I'm building to offer me sex.

The "wolves" cost SL money in the long run. Because "sheep" like me, will just go elsewhere. Attempts at retaliation will only get me banned, even something as simple as telling people about it here. I don't disagree with that policy either - the competitive nature of SL allows false accusers to profit.

If you are in neither of those categories, no worries for you. The fact that you find it "ugly" doesn't alter the reality that it does exist. I find it ugly too, which is precisely my point. There are a lot of people who do ugly things.



That boils down to "it's not fair, and I hope they suffer!" I've felt the same on occasion, over different issues. But in my experience, they (devs in general) don't care, unless it costs them money.

I got the impression it was the boiling-down of humanity into two simplistic categories they found 'ugly'.



What's a "dev"?

The us vs. them tone is polarising by nature, and is at the root of a lot of social ills, imo. Not the differences themselves.

PS, the anti social or ill mannered are a part of life outside the internets, too.

Why would someone voluntarily be a sheep? Are you really a dull witted creature who is unable to defend yourself, nothing but prey for the higher species?

You missed the part about "Of course, not everyone fits into those two categories. "


dev = developer, as in software developer. Gamers parlance, I guess.


You're wrong. The differences themselves are polarizing. These are the differences I stated (there are others I didn't state, but these will suffice for illustration):
"Those who prey on other people and seek to disrupt their fun by any means possible. Those who use SL to scam money out of people. Those who view SL as a sexual free-for-all, to the point they come on my land while I'm building to offer me sex."

I feel it's perfectly reasonable for me to object and not tolerate them. My lack of tolerance does not extend to causing them any harm. It only results in me removing myself from their presence (or banning them from my land - I prefer to keep my land available to all if possible). I don't see how you could possibly view that as being a "social ill". Are you suggesting that I shutup and tolerate it?



Of course. By the way, I don't have a problem with people who are simply anti-social or ill-mannered, and never stated so. What I won't tolerate is people who actively try to harm other people. Especially in an environment that I consider just a game, i.e., a place to have fun and escape from First Life.

I'll just go somewhere that's more fun. And that's my primary point. I'm only here for the fun, and when it becomes not fun, I move on. I doubt if I'm unique in that regard.

Dull-witted? People can only prey upon me here if I allow it. I refuse to allow it. I can just walk away, and there's not a darn thing they can do to me if I do.

The dull-witted are those who don't recognize that it's that easy.

You can put a coyote in an ACME sheep costume but it's still a coyote