Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Main Forum Thread

Nany, becuase someone is disgusted by your racist views does not make them less native, it makes them more human.

New product - protected poseball. Nobody can use it unless you're present.

changed(integer c) 
{
  if(c & CHANGED_LINK) {
    key id=llAvatarOnSItTarget();
    if(id != NULL_KEY && id != llGetOwner() && !listFindList(id, gPermittedList)) llSensor(... llGetOwner(), ... gSensorRange);
  }
}

no_sensor() {
  key id=llAvatarOnSitTarget();
  ejectAndBan(id);
}

I find blatant stupidity offensive.

One of the key problems I think we face, is that we (humans, living in meatworld) tend to equate, or try to compare the virtual world (SL, in this case) to real life. It's a natural tendency, everyone does it to a greater or lesser degree and it has to do with things like our ability to defamiliarise, our levels of immersion, how we respond to fantasy and how we individually manage our emotions. Linden Lab knew this when they developed SL, we knew it when we signed up to be part of the experiment.

We even use the same terminology and language for things, which compounds the problem. We are invited to become 'Residents', our avatars have character, depth, they take shape, we build 'homes'. It all feels - even to the powers that manage the rules and 'standards' - like it's reality, when it's not, it's some sort of hybrid hyper-reality, in which meatworld humans are still on the first rung of the ladder of, evolutionary-wise.

However, as I see it, if Linden Lab want to develop their/our 'world' by responding to real life socio-fiscal-political pressure (e.g. the issue of adult content in SL) they really should make the decision, right now, between two clearly definable routes, either of which will make things a lot easier:


1. Linden Lab is god (lowercase G). It makes a decision and carries out its own policy change. Don't involve Residents, in fact remove your TAO and change your profile also, so that it's clearer. Stop inviting us to be Residents and just issue the edict. Don't expect Residents to take any responsibility or help in any way. You just have to take the risk and live with the effects of your decision.

2. Linden Lab wants its user base to take responsibility (to a greater or lesser degree) in shaping the future of SL, therefore it has to re-assess its position somewhat and grant some sort of 'rights' to its Residents. If LL feel this is the direction it would like to go (and as far as we thought, this was why many of us signed up to use SL in the first place), then it has to implement some form of democracy, even if flawed - a blog announcement and a forum just won't suffice (e.g. in this case, a clear, transparent poll for every Resident account in SL). Personally, I favour this approach, as I see this being a much more creative and exciting prospect for LL's future.


There can't really be any middle ground anymore, which has obviously been the case for a few years. Like a number of posters have said, users leaving may well be replaced by others, community instability might eventually settle - but your vision will have irrevocably changed.

If it already has, just close the thread and tell those that are left in SL when you're ready.

Argent!!! how are we supposed to whine and complain with you creating logical solutions to issues. grrrrr

Really? You're offended by people that are far less smart than you are?

Really? You're offended by people that are far less smart than you are?

I think Ilana meant "willful stupidity", perhaps?

New product - protected poseball. Nobody can use it unless you're present.

Lindens: How did you gather stats on whether or not people wanted this? I am sure most of us never even heard of this proposal before the blog?

I actually had almost this as a product last year, except that it didn't eject&ban... it was a joke poseball that orbited you. I pulled it when Havok 4 broke my orbiting code.

Maybe I need to polish it up again and release it.

Nice idea, but that would also prevent that poseball from being used by any of my own alts, if my main wasn't also logged in and within scanner range; or from being used by my Partner and our guests when I wasn't able to be on-line, and they were entertaining houseguests in our shared home... And I can't see how that could work with furniture that spawns pose balls...

I will take those as suggestions for product improvements. For example, instead of just scanning for llGetOwner() it can scan through the contents of gOwnerList.

Do you remember that login survey that asked "Would you like more predictability in your Second Life experience?"

It was probably that.

I find bigotry and racism offensive.
I find arrogant and willful stupidity offensive.
I find rabble rousing and distorting the truth offensive.

If we can get 4% of the people reading this thread to agree, can we get a new thread started, call it Kayopolis and relocate all of the offending posts of the author that is causing so much trouble to that thread so we won't have to be offended by them, then bar posting to this thread to the author of those post so we won't have to be offended by their polluting our 'mainland' thread.

Now, does that put things in perspective?

I created a thread in Resident Answers announcing the protest of Nany's behavior during the panel discussion on Friday. Take a look and IM me in world if you are interested in participating. w00t, direct action ro><orzzzzz.

Presuming a large, technology company were to decide to compete directly with Second Life, how long would it take them to construct a 'better' technological platform? Forget content for the moment. Let us say a company decided to grab the creative space that LL seems willing to abandon, how long before they have a robust platform up and running?

Presuming a large, technology company were to decide to compete directly with Second Life, how long would it take them to construct a 'better' technological platform? Forget content for the moment. Let us say a company decided to grab the creative space that LL seems willing to abandon, how long before they have a robust platform up and running?

I don't approve of the action you're proposing. Really.

I am in the its a good idea camp and looking for the positives rather than focusing on the negatives. Yes short term there will be loses but i think if LL then leaves the adult stuff alone after it will pick back up and as you say possibly even be better for business. But a lot of folks do not like change as they have settled in their routines and feel that change will harm them rather than looking at what we can achieve out of this and there is nothing wrong with that just because it differs from my views.

I am sure as i have stated before LL does not want to get rid totally of all adult content and ruin SL thats just plain crazy, however we are not privy as to the real reasons as to why they are driving this forward. Maybe if LL approached this with honesty rather than the truth, as this can be twisted to serve their purposes but honesty can't, we would perhaps understand and be able to help in a more constructive manner than presently, as we do not what is driving this change for sure.

Just my opinion though

The main reason? Well, I see two: The killer will be the lag. A sim can only hold so many avatars before it buckles. Concentrating all of the nightclubs in SL into a single geographical location will have a devastating effect on any particular club's ability to even open, let alone provide any kind of entertainment value.

The other reason is that, shut behind the "iron curtain", a substantial percentage of our clientèle will never be able to reach us. Based on my own polling (read: profile-perving), about 75% of a club's typical clientèle are NPOIF. I myself was NPOIF until just recently. We're not the poverty-stricken newbies many people believe we are. Some of my best tippers have been NPOIF. I, in turn, would take that money and spread it around a few clothing, hair, and skin stores, and thus help keep the economy going. By separating us from 75% of our market, LL will remove a very significant player in SL's economy, and the entire grid will suffer - even those who have nothing directly to do with the sex industry in any way.

There is also the ugly spectre of censorship and borderline fascism, coupled with real-world examples of culling out the "undesirables" in world history, that have us all bristling.