Upcoming Changes for Adult Content?

C'mon guys this is stupid as hell.

You already have Mature and PG in place and i think there are way more folk who really don't give a rats ass about seeing something unsightly rather than people lost because of it.

I understand what you are doing and honestly LL is start to slow decimate SL from what it was, governed by it's residents.

I applauded getting rid of Ad farms, but you over stepped your boundaries.

I applauded getting rid of small cut parcels, but you over stepped your boundaries again.

Now you want to do this?

Tell us why. What is the point?

What the hell do you have up your sleeve for the future? What else are you going to ban or take away.

You know what you guys are doing is destroying your own business. SL is accessable enough...you guys are trying to cater to everyone rather than let folks cater to themselves.

SL is diverse enough to be happy no matter who you are and guess what?

You guys are screwing it all up.

Sorry but that is the truth.

You need to keep to your guns and give us the options rather than enforcing them yourself.

There are plenty of safeguards already..... Uhh PG and Mature???

Well Mature isn't working so lets just make one called Adult?

I promise you in 2 years you will see the same garbage. Peopll will just label averything adult to be compliant and no one will give a crap.

I think you have people working for you that don't even USE SECONDLIFE!!!

Seriously let me repeat that:

LINDENS!

STOP USING IDEAS FROM PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EVEN PLAY SECONDLIFE!

Thanks.

From what I've learned, it seems that LL is trying to make the mainland more friendly to corporate, educational, and nonprofit owners, and so anything not along those lines (read: mature) must be separated from everyone else. In essence, what LL is doing is creating a red light continent where those who run mature sims shall be effectively corralled. Some of this is understandable; as Second Life becomes more and more mainstream, that is, as it appeals to a broader swath of consumers — which invariably includes family-oriented and younger users, it is only natural to have concern for their sensibilities.

What I don't understand is why Linden Labs seems content to shoot itself in the proverbial foot by arbitrarily moving adult-content residents and sims to a separate continent, without even bothering to take a vote as to what steps may be taken without inconveniencing a lot of people. As it is, more users than not are only barely able to maintain their sims insofar as paying for them is concerned, and making those sims more inaccessible is sure to force many to close down altogether. That may be Linden Labs' intention, but if so it is a shortsighted one from a business standpoint.

SL is a reflection of real life, a virtual reality as such, and any attempts at arbitrary censorship (and its enforcement) is going to be at best, problematic and offensive to many. Who are you trying to appease by going down this route? Is it perhaps the case that only those that take offence at adult-related content are the one’s that complain the most vehemently? I’m pretty open minded about most things, but if I see something that truly offends me, I simply move on. Besides, if something offends me, is that not ultimately just a judgement call anway?

If you claim that only 2-4% of content in SL would fall into the category of “adult”, then what is the point of locating such a small percentage into it’s own designated area? What does this really achieve except to appease those that choose to be offended by it? Most adult content is unseen, and of this 2-4% of adult content that you claim exists, how much of that is located within appropriately labelled stores where one only sees the material if they actively enter the shop?

Sex clubs are a case in point; it’s obvious what goes on inside them but unless someone actually makes the effort to enter, no offence can possibly be taken, bar the obvious sexual advertising that adorns the club’s premises (usually tastefully done).

Creating labels and definitions as to what is “adult content” is also going to be problematic and arbitrary, and besides, how do you police this? Are we to be subject to snoops who report merchants (maybe out of some misplaced sense of moral outrage or even just to spite someone) without considering the impact that this action has on all concerned?

I am not a merchant that sells adult content, so I have no personal drum to bang but I am always alarmed at any attempt at censorship. It’s going to be problematic, difficult to police, divisive and ultimately will probably have no real positive effect. Are we to have our lives dictated to by a small minority? Perhaps if I shout loudly enough about something that offends me, we can get laws put in place that will appease me? Where does one draw the line as to what we determine is offensive because there will always be something that offends someone.

I suspect Lindens Incorporated are going to implement this “censorship” no matter what people have to say, and the only debate will about how to enforce it. So be it, but I see nothing but divisive issues if you go down this route and that SL experience will become more restrictive because of it. Human liberties should not be taken away lightly; never under-estimate that silently majority that has the common sense and intelligence to realise that one of the most compelling virtues of SL is the ability to be creative and expressive without censorship and petty restrictions. You take this away and you start to erode at the real appeal of what makes SL so liberating.

... as there is no suppression or proscription of this activity. It's more like zoning.

Has anyone considered that this might be a good thing for adult venues, and especially adult business in general?

Location = Upgrade
Search = Upgrade

It would seem that once landmarks get moved, which will be a pain ... but life is a pain sometimes ... that there are no dawn sides to this.

I Agree with your post. People didn't leave SL because of the AO content it has. A few reasons why people have left SL.

Could be boring to some.

The economy hurts the virtual world first. (wont buy virtual bread w/o RL bread in fridge first)

Meh... why do I bother....Most changes i don't mind, but LL you have to know you are slowly destroying your own creation.

I mean any idiot can see that, who cares if your goodie-two-shoes new PR people think sex is horrible and should be hidden.

Also if AO content only constitutes 4% of SL then how come everywhere I go people are doing it?

I think you mean sellable content....not activities that residents participate in.

I guarentee if you actually went by what residents actually do in SL, you may be suprised that plenty of Residents are horny mofos....guys, women....furries...eww.

Anyways, besides the point, You are making a huge mistake. I will still play, but yeah ...way to thin the crowd even more.

Firing Cory was a bad move....he knew this was the direction you wanted to go and got fired fighting against it....

...no not just sex etc, he was fighting against this stupid corporate control idea when SL has been about what you make out of it... not what LL wants.

If one or more such businesses "invade" the sim I have a major build in, I fear their presence will have a significant detrimental impact upon my business, which is not sex-oriented.

I actually would prefer a SL analogue to the Amsterdam of RL.


My guess is that LL will depend mostly on the AR system.

Divisive, I'm not so sure, and its effect is yet to be seen. Time will, indeed, tell.

Who's the minority? LL. If so, it's their business and we opt into it. They're not ruling our lives . . . just our SL activities, which they have every right to control.

If not LL, and if you're referring to an hypothetical few who object to the sexual content, then I question if that hypothetical few is truly a few . . . and not a silent majority. We just don't know, do we?

RL society always grapples with this issue . . . why would you expect SL to be any different?

Censorship refers to a government's behavior, not a business's behavior. A business makes decisions with little or no regard to such. I'm not endorsing this; but I merely point this out to you.

If you own or run a sim, you have control over who you rent to and what content you allow in your region. There is no excuse for complaining about adult-oriented content on a parcel or sim you own or have control over. It seems silly to complain about what goes on in other sims. Just don't go to them, and filter your search results for non-mature places. It's easy, and it doesn't involve segregating sims or the people who use them for adult purposes.

Discussion on this has been re-opened in the Further Conversations forum.

I suggest that anyone wanting to express their views on this topic post there. It's where the Lindens are watching.

Because it _isn't_ RL. That's kind of the whole point of all this. SL affords the opportunity to shed all the baggage of RL, yet we ourselves as well as LL seem to want to drag it along. SL slowly is becoming RLv2.

Now there you are . . .

I don't own a sim . . . and I don't run one.

I'm one of those people who have been--by virtue of my building skills--trying to help the Mainland recover from its sorry, blighted state. I own about 2/3 of a Mainland sim and have no such control over people who decide to "invade" the terrain around me. Thus my comments.

So methinks your comment here--while correct--doesn't consider those of us who live on the Mainland.

No way can anyone shed ALL the baggage of RL here.

This virtual world is populated with real people--people with real issues, hot buttons, habits, etc., that they consciously or subconsciously carry with them into this world. No one has total conscious control over their entire spectrum of behavior.

No slowly about it. SL is actually a "corner" of RL--it's not totally, completely divorced from RL like you and others like to say.

In this world we still have the same drama (maybe even worse drama), the avarice, the good, the generous, the political, etc.. We have land grabbers here. We have probably more griefers. We see protests. We see theft. We see arguments and land disputes. Only a few things are missing--war, plague, genocide, murder etc.

Sure there's the fantastical--SF sims, Roman sims, Vampires, etc.; but the human behavior is human behavior, whether it's in RL or online--real or fantastical. And online often releases the worst in some people.

This is not some alternate environment totally divorced from RL by any stretch of the imagination . . . as far as I'm concerned. In some ways it's better . . . and in some ways it's worse.

I can't disagree with much of that unfortunately.

If these rules go into effect, I will be getting rid of my region. Here is why:

I pay a fee to own a PRIVATE region. And that is what I expect it to be. My region, my rules. Simple as that. I have one tenant that sells BDSM items which no doubt would be flagged as 'adult content'..then across the sim I have another tenant that runs a support group for a chronic pain illness. If these rules go into effect I will have to choose which tenant I want to lose.

Linden Labs...don't tell me how to run my business.....

If you want to impose those rules on mainland..be my guest..when someone teleports from mainland to a private region you can show a disclaimer that says "you are now leaving Linden governed land. Some thing you encounter may be offensive to you or others around you"...simple as that...

Just DONT IMPOSE THESE RULES ON ME!

Is the upcoming adult content area being implemented in anticipation of the arrival of the flexi-dong?

I think this will remove at least 10-25% of the users of sl. LL need to realize that the economi of the sl-world simply cant manage that kind of censorship.
BR
ab

I congradulate the Linden's on their decisions about how to do the land swap. What I have heard addresses all but one of my issues. The sole remaining issue is making sure that I get to stay on beachfront land. I know others have the same concern.

Here is my proposal.

Have land catagorized by land type (if not done already). Ask land owners what categories are important to them. Some examples of categories:
1. Beach
2. River
3. Plains
4. Rolling Hills
5. Mountains


Have land further catergoried as having extras that increase land value. For example
A. Protected water
B. Protected land

So, some one might have category 1 land, someone else 1A, and a third 4B.

If I own 1/8 a sim of category 1 land I would expect the same in return -- or compensation for the lower land value for a different category. Someone with 1A land should be able to pick another parcel of 1A land.

Another issue is who gets 1st pick of the new land, even within these categories. I mean, some beaches are nice than others, right?

I say it should be done according to:
1. Senority (age of land ownership).
Within groups of land owners with same senority, rank them by
1A. size of land holding
and finally
1B. Lottery determined rank for owners within same senority/size group.

This determines who is "first in line" for land.

Next, how to determine which particular parcel we can get.

We should be allowed to place up to 5-10 "bids" on land within our category (that whole beach or mountain and extras scheme). The winning bid is awarded to the person with the highest senority and rank within that senority group. In case of "ties", a lottery drawing is done to pick the winning bid.

The only sticking point is if 5-10 bids is enough. Or if this whole process is logistically feasable. I'm just brainstorming here. You (Lindens) tell me whats possible.

Just a question:
Will there be AO continent telehubs for people who log in trying to reach an adult ratet region that isn't available?

The time being, if someone logs out or even crashes from a sex sim they might not be in a proper state to enter a PG sim, especially not in a busy place such as a telehub. Thus, it would be appropriate, if one is both allowed to enter adult regions and trying to enter an adult region, one will not ever end up in a PG or mature region.

If I am pissed about with my land I will ditch it as fast as I can click my mouse. The money I now spend inworld I will put in my own "grown up" bank account. We have the teen grid...PG regions etc. I have a credit card...I can get access to any porn online I want with that...what is the prob. I see this as a version of apartheid. I JOINED SL BECAUSE IT WAS, BY DEFUALT, FOR ADULTS. If you want to play with the adults, then be one. I came here to excape narrow minded bigotry. NOT HAPPY JAN..AND yes I am age verified. I think you Lindens could be shitting in your own nest.

I'm new and have enjoyed many fun, new adventures since joining SL - none of them have involved sex or violence. However, I absolutely support others' desire to engage in these pursuits and when I casually stumble upon them, I am neither offended or surprised. I_just_leave. What the heck is up with people who try to impose their ideas of appropriate behavior onto avatars?! We're talking sims here, folks. Not RL. Part of the fun is not knowing exactly what's around the corner. And this is a very safe environment for discovering with what one is and is not comfortable. Let's not destroy that element of surprise and exploration. I came to SL to have my horizons expanded, not contracted.

Maybe the parents forget that they are the eye behind they childrens and they need to watch them its their right and obligation, its seems like allways they need to other do their jobs .

But clearly this is a slowly and smart move from LL to become an "real bussines".
From they F.A.Q



Yeah right......

What a great move by LL!!!! I mean...finally!!!! I was ecstatic when they introduced Homesteads and stopped the Open Spaces abuse and now this! It's been a long time coming!

To those who are up in arms about all this, as has been pointed out already by a couple Lindens this vocal majority of people against this, really only seems like a majority because of the fact they just complain really loud.

In fact as Meta Linden stated, there are a lot of people who are in favor of this, and many of them from the Adult Community!

People claiming that LL is using this wide-sweeping policy change as a means to push undesirables out of business and out of SL is ridiculous! Talk about skipping your meds!

This is a boon to SL and it *is* about time!

And like Meta Linden also said, this change isn't just for the people in SL currently, this is for all the new and future residents who want to come to SL but *don't* wan't to be assaulted by sex at every turn! They've talked to people and companies. And by and far, new residents don't want sex smacked into their faces as soon as they arrive in SL! I mean seriously how many new residents do you think actually come here and want to have virtual sex as soon as they touch virtual ground?

And many current residents as well concur! I would say the majority of residents agree with this move, they're just probably not all as vocal about it as the minority that is complaining loudly.

I for one, applaud this move by SL. In fact, it wouldn't a bad idea to further segment groups in SL in a similar way! Of course, it would be up to LL to decide who/what was deserving of their own grids but It would be better for them, since griefers would be less likely to travel from grid to grid to harass them and it would also put less stress on SL's servers as well in theory!

And? Do you support reactionary, repressive Eichmann-Methods for creating social biotopes? Do you like Apartheid-Regimes? Are you a fan of ghettos? Do you enjoy to end up in a concentration camp? Would you like to receive the same treatment for yourself and your steamjunk stuff? If you are a fan of being isolated in a concentration camp, then maybe build your own, lock yourself there and be happy in your self chosen jail. And maybe do there some contemplating about, if a cosmopolitan world like SL is the right location to be for you.

Just out of curiosity, what flavor *is* the Kool-aid?

-V-

This is just a stellar idea! We should start with anything steamy. No, not sexually steamy: I refer to steampunk and all its variants. It would be a much more predictable experience if we could just get Caledon and all its retro-chic hangers-on to separate from the rest of the grid. And it would be good for them, too, because none of the unwashed hoi polloi would tarnish their Regency streets, scattering anachronistic L$s around the pristine Victorian shops, etc.

Yes, steamy must surely be the next to get its own content-segregated continent. (I'm just not sure, off-hand, how Aristotle will verify that one is steampunky enough to qualify.)