Class\strata

I've met a lot of classy people in SL; at all strata, but mostly while at ground level.

I was tempted to say that Brenda is not only in class of her own, but a whole genus of her own. I resisted the temptation. Until just now.

actualy i guess there is one class division I suppose that people also use aside from the money thing

"avatar birthdate"

I dont know if its a class though.. or at which point it stops being relevant as in newer avatars are less trusted blah blah blah in many cases but I see this one pop up often.

Quiet you n00b

n00bs don't fit into the class strata - they're more like part of the landscape.

They're the disposessed huddled masses.

Quit hushing the n00bs, n00b!

I rest my case

Newbs should be treated gently. N00bz however are not the same thing.

N00bz are people without skillz.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iEWgs6YQR9A

Holy crepe that was funny!

I'll accept that statement here ONLY if you thoroughly define the terms underwhich Some people are better than others.

What are your Criteria?

(Lets see him answer this one without ending up Burned to a crisp in a Flame storm. lol ).

Seriously though, "better" is such a completely subjective term. I Illustrate usually by asking people to State which is Better, an Apple or an Orange, and to present Facts to support their Contention. A similar question i use is to ask; Which is Morally Superior, Gold, or Silver? again, presenting Facts to support their contention.

The best ANYONE has ever provided for me has been Opinion. Arguements on both sides equally factual, or nonsensical, and All Boiling down to the same thing. Class distinctions are Artificial and based upon our own prejudices. I have Rarely found anyone Adhereing to a system of Class beliefs that placed them at the LOW end of the scale. They may be Forced into a Lower caste by Circumstances, but their own Tenets hold that they are where they are Unjustlywhereas those at the TOP of the scale rarely if ever hold the belief that their role is the wrong one. As long as they are at an advantage, All is right with the world.

Class systems Exist, no doubt about that at all, and some people are Advantaged because of them, But that does not make them Correct, or in any way an adaquate measure of a Human being's worth.

Angel.

How long you've been in SL
How much you know about SL
How good you are at building
The appearance of your avatar

These are the first 4 SL status tickboxes that come to my shallow mind.

Oh yes! And I think you get a better kind of person living on the southern continent, especially on the eastern side!! LOL!!

You've got it completely the wrong way round. People's class is dictated by their success, not the other way around.

No, they choose to define their success by their Class while ignoring the things at which they are failures.
many Class systems seek to make permenant their status by assuming them to be hereditary. That is why today, you have the anomaly of the Old World "Nobility" who are rather Impolitely termed Euro-Trash because they have title, but No Wealth, But these people still hold that they are and will be forevermore Cut from a Superior cloth while there is NO real world Standard by which they can continue to make that Claim. You would caste these people as social failures, while they would Contend that you, By Virtue of common birth are beneath their notice, no matter How rich, or successful you are. and there are Still to this day many who would Agree whole heartedly with Them. Where you are in Class depends wholely upon the Scale that You choose to use in it's measure.

Angel.

I would agree with them. Certain qualities are bred into people; like horses and dogs. It's also an established, but unpopular, fact that the children of middle class parents have, on average, higher IQs than the children of working class parents. This may be down to better nutrition.

Since SL suspends belief in so many ways the entire class concept is invalid. I put in all the money I need into my account, I own land, a home ,all the toys I want. Does that make me Upper Class?

If you have to ask...

grins

There's no such thing as Upper Class. You can be Upper-Middle Class though.

I'd rather just be Me. You can put your labels up your class.

Spoken like a true peasant

Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!

The upper class in SL are all those people who have castles. Haven't you seen them? Big black castles. Usually they have a dungeon full of freebie sex furniture.

I have a castle.

I just have nowhere to put it.

I don't think you have the classic "class" in SL aside from the Lindens, because entry into any given "class" or exit from it is not defined by members of any class (except Lindens). Angelique had it right in an earlier post: The only determinant here, besides personality, is money, and you can move from one "class" status to another merely by applying enough US$ to the SL situation. Whether you earned the money in world or just bought L$ wholesale willl determine how much respect you get, as I think it should, but will not much affect the practical categories you find yourself in.

Social cliques are another matter, of course. You are in or out depending on whether some or all of the clique members decide you are.

The distinguishing factor here in SL is that there are no serious barriers to entry or exit.

And borrowing from RL does not apply here either, really Proletariat, working class, petty bourgeois, merchant class, upper class - it is all nonsense here, and SL is better off for that fact.

There is no such thing as a "classless" society, in the sense that there is no significant hierarchy. Because people are different, and no matter what scale of values you apply, there will be some who rank higher and some who will rank lower. It is only when you have artificial barriers imposed on passage from one category to another that "class" in the - ah - classic sense applies.

Because you have no class.

*I can tell you where to put your castle, though*