Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Answers to Questions

IM Fontte Newbold in-world. He's an awesome scripter for hire atm.

It's also been stated (I forget which Linden said it) that if there was demand for a PG continent they'd look into it.

The fundamental problem with running into racy material on the mainland is the way PG and Mature regions are scattered together. I'm a little surprised some kind of reorganization or rezoning of the mainland to fix that doesn't meet the criteria of the project.

Until that happens, these potential customers will still be running into salacious material on the mainland.

of course they're ignoring us. they always do, why should this time be any different?

/me rolls my eyes heavenward.. get with the script girl, get with the script..

The only action that will make them pay attention is to stop spending, tier down and cancel any premium subscriptions. Since they know that there's more chance of snow in the desert than that, they're free to do as they wish.

you could try seeing if the mainstream media want to put the boot in. The IT side is sniggering but the mainstream just look at what ll have said they're going to do (the press releases and all the other marketing) and nod approvingly. TBH they don't really care if a lot of smut peddlers get shafted.

the only other thing that may get their attention is a class action. but I would think it would have to emanate from the US. That would require a chat with the nice people from that government department that looks at internet fraud.

Some sort of action within SL. Of course action which will be legal. We should get together and get the this thing going on. I think that within the week it is possible to get enough people so the press will be alarmed. I have spoken to some reporters (in rl) and they would love to write an article about it. Boycotting the tier will not work since most of us are business owners and we cannot allow to hurt our business. Anything against TOS is not acceptable also. I'm talking about some sort of action which would show other SL residents and the RL world that this is the most stupid idea ever.

Sorry, but 99% posts here are totally ignored. I think it is the time to act. After all we are the customers. Of course we can always leave, but we dont want to because we love SL.

btw. here is a very funny video about second life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9hQDT6fhI

my favorite quote from the video: 'Internet is a cruel mistress"

click is up now http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00k7q8m/Click_25_04_2009. the interview starts at 10 minutes

interestingly they're push looks like it's getting rl companies to make virtual versions so people can buy them for use inworld. Sensible if you're going for the sheep crowd.. they'll adore doing the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Since this failed the first time around they'll need fresh eyes for it

@ Anabella, talk to brie and the I *am* adult content mods if you want to rally the troops. How about a congregation at the new safe hub? There's the freebie censored bar from julia someone which if everyone wore would make a nice photo opportunity.


or of course flash mobbing linden sims and seeing if you can crash them.

so what do you have in mind?

ta

Totally agree and I am willing to take some sort of legal action as well. Depending on how things transpire with this "Adult Content" move I may take as much action as just leaving SL. If it hurts my business here then I am not about to waste time trying to help "their" business.

Very well said! Thank you.

Ooops... just realized that by saying "legal action" it sounded like I was going to sue them. I meant to say some action that is legal... ie... not illegal. Just needed to clarify that.

flash mobbing not only linden sims but many sims in SL by coming and informing (not spamming) people on the sim is the good idea. Of course nothing like crashing sims etc should be even considered since this is totally not only illegal but not fair. But going with group of 50 people around SL informing them nicely what this is all about. I dont think it's something wrong.

And when it comes to big companies like for example large clothes companies entering SL, I think they already tried that many times and they were never successful. Their sims are always empty and all good stores in SL (clothing, furniture) are done by residents. So i wouldnt be afraid of it.

Where? WHERE are the "supportive comments"? "Most of them are emailed/PMed/IMed directly to us!" will be the most obvious answer, since the vast majority of the responses made public are NOT supportive.

As others have said, yeah, while there IS support for fixing *SOME* issues with Adult Content, there is little to NO support for the way you all are going about it.



So, basically, what you are saying here is that two (supposed) birds in the bush are worth more than the one in the hand?

Look, I am all peachy over LL looking for ways to enter new markets and bring more people into SL. The more, the merrier, and more profitable for everyone concerned.

HOWEVER...

There is a RIGHT way to go about it, and MANY HORRIBLE ways to go about it. You've chosen one of the worst ones.

Basically, what you are doing is throwing away your existing customer base to kowtow to the "maybe" millions of people "out there" instead.

The PROPER way to handle this is to find a solution which keeps both your EXISTING customers (the ones currently in your hands, feeding out of them, and feeding YOU in the process), and allows you to pursue the ones in the bushes that you want so badly. You must find a solution using the lens of your existing customers to seek it. THAT is where this train went off the rails in the beginning. You completely and utterly DISrespected your existing customer base, treating them like they weren't important and didn't matter to you. Of course, you will claim otherwise -- "we just don't see it that way" -- well, yah, we KNOW that -- THAT IS THE EFFIN' ERROR.

If you really wanted to pursue a new market, and the existing customer base was in the way, the CORRECT FIRST THING to do would have been to openly come to us, tell us that is what you wanted to pursue, and explain to us the nature of the problem to begin with. Ask for our help in finding a solution to get more people on the grid. Present the issue in such a way that it is a mutually-desirable goal ("You know, if we can get more people in here, there will be more folks buying resident content! How can we work together to make that happen? Here are the issues that we have been told. Here is the market data which shows us the problem areas that we need to work on.".

The WRONG way to do it is to get together in a back room at LL's corporate offices somewhere and hatch some sterile plan with little to no resident feedback to help shape it from the outset, work on developing it for a year, get the momentum of the organization behind its implementation, and THEN spring it on the residents a few months before implementation is complete.

Any process manager worth his salt who looks at the way it has been done would cringe at the sheer folly, knowing full well that it literally is a train coming off the tracks, heading for a most spectacular wreck.



A very wise man once said:





Well, it's OK to ask, but as far as I and many others are concerned, you (LL) have not operated in a trustworthy, respectful, and forthright manner, so your request is denied. Given the MANY instances of policy cock-ups, repeated instances of hideously poor implementation and enforcement, abysmally poor customer service, handling, and, most especially, COMMUNICATION, plus a general tendency towards hubris regarding "we know what is best for our residents", I am afraid to report that the well has long run dry. At this point, at every juncture you all are going to have to EARN that trust and respect back, until you demonstrate a continually improving trend towards being WORTH our trust. For some of you Lindens, that is a personal issue, but I am more speaking towards trust in Linden Lab.



Your belief is woefully misplaced and incorrect. It raises FAR more concerns than it allays. ALL of these threads on it and the various FIC-ish "Brown Bags" demonstrate this. What doesn't make any sense is WHY you all don't see it. It is like you have the blinders on, the bit in your teeth, and are galloping like the most barn-sour nag in existence, because you're not going to make it home in time for dinner.

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I ran a poll in this thread:

/327/43/317552/4.html#post2403655

For people to vote how their land would be rated under the maturity definitions.

Since the definitions are changing, this poll is closed (although I dont see a way to close it myself)

THanks to all who voted.
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Final Vote Tally when I closed the counting:

40 PG
66 Mature
83 Adult (thats 44 +/- 7% statisically, or 37-51% Adult)

Your math is obviously wrong. Only 2-4% of the mainland is adult.

Me stands and applauds.

Meta Linden's large response to my 'Any Linden, I beg of you..' thread has been answered very well by others here and Sindy over in that thread (page 9 or ten) at Xstreet General discussion forums. Here is the addendum I had to add to that.

~~~

Meta, I know your larger response was meant for me as the OP of this thread. However, the above response from Sindy basically says everything I wanted to say except for one thing.

The idea of the 'voice we have not heard is the potential millions of future residents'.

That is offensive to me for this reason - We are here now. We are being abused by this process for the sake of people that aren't even here yet who don't even want to be here yet. WE WANT TO BE HERE.

This is like getting dumped from a relationship we love because the person dumping us thinks we're ugly and would rather chase the dream of sleeping with a supermodel.

It makes me, for one, feel used, disrespected and unvalued.

An architecture office in Brazil made what I think is one of the best uses of SL. They maintain 3 islands. They build there the project, complete, whith furniture compatible with those of their customers - than show it to the customer.

Customers have than the choice to make changes in it, changing door positions or room size or anything. A new model is made until the customers satisfied, before they star to build in RL.

I think I don't need to say that they (office and customers) don't mind what is going in Mainland or any other place in SL.
______

P.S. And is probably only a matter of time for them to leave SL for an Openlife by themselves

Originally Posted by Blondin Linden
Those who attended have disclosed their identities in earlier posts. And trust me, those who attended were not in favor the changes to Adult content



This just proves that there are outside forces driving this. Let us assume Linden Labs is rational about running their business. They have known from the start that existing customers would not like this change, and it would likely hurt their business.

Therefore the only thing that makes sense is some other outside factor is *more* important than the existing customer base. It has to be something like (1) government officials threatening to shut SL down cause its too easy for kids to find adult stuff right now, or (2) they think the corporate/educational/family market is so huge it outweighs what they will lose from existing customers.

Daniel
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Hey, how about a contest for the best business ads that are not adult, but would be banned from search...my first entry:

"Tricky Dick's" A bar with a Watergate era theme (US President Richard M Nixon aka Tricky Dick 1968-1975), where political discussion is encouraged.

If it's outside forces like threatened action on the part of the government (or governments) they would be far better off explaining the parameters of the problem to us all and getting out help to solve the issues. We build the world, we can save it.

However, if it's the greed factor, well that's the end of that.

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Contest business name - Kinky Hair Everywhere! The best ethnic looks for a world wide range of beautiful people!

Boss Linden: Wow, we have a lot of empty servers. People aren't buying opensims, and the homesteads don't seem to be drawing people in. But we are still making money since we increased prices on the opensims.

Investor Linden: Well I got a good dividends check this year but I want more. Any ideas how we can put those servers to use.

Boss Linden: Well lets see. If we merge the teen grid we will only have to maintain one grid. More families would get involved.

Investor Linden: But the teens don't really make us much money. The adults are the ones with the purchasing power. We can't merge them yet. And besides theres too much adult content that would need to be cleaned up before we can merge the grids.

Boss Linden: There you have it. The adults stuff. Some people don't support it, but it does seem to be everywhere. If we were to make them move to an isolated area we can benefit in several ways. We can make use of those empty servers by making a new land for the more adult stuff.

Tech Linden: We only have so many empty servers. And a lot of the residents will be upset having to move all their stuff.

Boss Linden: How many sims can we fit onto those servers.

Tech Linden: About 250. 300, if we push resources.

Boss Linden: Not bad. Okay, so now if we just move people there should be little resistance. Let them have the land for the land they currently use. We get them out of sight and that will help make it more family friendly. It will be good p.r. for us. Show that we care and don't want to isolate anyone. But at the same time cleaning up the grid.

Investor Linden: Wait, you just want to give them the land?

Boss Linden: Yes.

Investor Linden: How are we going to make money on that?

Boss Linden: Good point. (thinks for a few minutes) okay heres a thought. We only give away ¼ of the new land. Tell the residents its meant for extreme content, and that only if they advertise the stuff they
will have to move. Then we auction off the rest and put that money into our pockets.

Tech Linden: But what if more people want the move then we have the land for?

Boss Linden: Well we will decide who gets to move. Then a few months down the road we can go in and tell those business's left behind that they need to change content or move to the adult land. They will be forced to buy the land from the speculators. Look at how much money those guys generated for us on Nautilus.

Investor Linden: Nice we can make money from both sides.

PR Linden: But sirs aren't we basically changing the whole nature of what we are selling. Wont this upset people.

Investor Linden: Who cares. We have the only viable grid at the moment. They will stay. So what if we lose a few suckers, err users, err Residents.

PR Linden: Okay, but I suggest we don't let everyone know our plans. If we do, there will be a mass revolt. I suggest since only a small percentage of users go to the forums and blogs we post it there. It will be less noticed and we can say we informed people about the changes.

Lawyer Linden: I would add a press release, or two. That way if we get taken to court for possible criminal activities we can say we announced it in the press.

PR Linden: Great idea, that will also show the world we are cleaning up the grid that way.


This is only an imagined conversation. Repeat, IMAGINARY as in being able to fly, teleport, and most of the activities in SL.

Meta Linden is quoted as saying,

"B) The voice you are NOT hearing on the forums (by definition) is the millions of new potential users we want to enjoy Second Life like you do, but aren't here yet. Surveys of people who tried SL but decided it wasn't for them, as well as feedback from new organizations (educational, corporate, and other social networks), pointed out the high visibility of AO content in M spaces as a blocking concern for them. It is for *these* silent potential users we are making this change."

Meta, this is an erroneous business tactic. A smart business NEVER alienates customers it already has in favor of potential customers it does not yet have. An existing customer is worth ten times more than a potential one, because that is what you will have to spend to capture a potential customer. Lose one existing customer, and you have to capture ten more to take his place on the balance sheet.

By all means, go after those potential customers...but NOT at our expense! We have proposed several ways in which this could be accomplished, but LL has completely ignored our inputs.

Besides which, your survey respondents who were put off by "adult only content in Mature areas" obviously did not read the rules. It is CLEARLY stated that SL is for persons 18 and over, and everyone is CLEARLY told that they can choose what sort of experience they want by selecting PG or M areas.

Do you really want customers who are so self centered and stupid that they can't understand plain language?

They don't seem to understand that every single person that leaves SL because LL treated them like crap has a negative impact on LL/SL's word-of-mouth-cred...

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Add that to my growing list of workarounds to the rules:

Deliberate mis-spellings and typography

Previous thoughts include:

*The description is clean, the photo in the listing is suggestive
*There are at least 47,000 synonyms for sexual terms, find one that's not on the banned words list
*Advertise something totally different:

"Make LOTS of MONEY" (which for an escort club, is completely true, the girls do make a lot of money, as such things go in SL)
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What I do expect to see happen, is many businesses with part non-adult, and part adult, will simply split their stores, one part on mature land, one part on adult land, with teleports and instructions between the two parts.

"To see our adult pose balls, first make sure your account is verified (click this sign for instructions), then use this teleporter".

Its like having a back room in a video store, where the adult DVD's are, except in SL the "back room" does not have to be physically next door, it can be on an entirely different continent.

About a decade ago, las Vegas embarked on a similar kick. They decided that they could make more money by reinventing itself as a family-friendly place where the kids could play in the playgrounds while daddy and mommy gambled the night away. Does anyone remember that? They got rid of teh hookers, closed many shows, tore down the massage parlors and put up more kid stuff and play areas.

Do any of you LL happen to recall the results of that brilliant move? Here's the readers digest version - it was a total disaster. Attendance slowed dramatically. Funny thing was, people coming to Vegas weren't interested in family fare. When Vegas went after the broader market, they destroyed the market they already had and failed to capture any of the bigger family market. They caught little of the market they were after and almost lost all of the income they already possessed.

Today Vegas has gone back to its original business plan. They decided that being Sin City pays the bills while trying to be Family City does not. Adults have to have a place to play too, and there are next to none left.

Analysis: Just because there is more money in a different pot out there, does not mean you will be able to get at it. And it is shortsighted to throw out your current customers while pursuing them.

The parallels with Las Vegas are important lessons to learn for you guys in LL.

People remember bad customer service experiences for a lot longer than they remember good ones, unfortunately in many cases but that's human nature.

That's not a question you really want to ask of Linden Lab right now...

"Huh? Those are the ones that spend the most money, though!"