Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Motivations and Goals

The message being presented in this little section of the conversation seems to be "MY morals will not be offended. Islam, Christianity, etc., they can be offended. Mine, however, are more important and should be bowed to."

Otherwise, it all has to go. Everything that offends everyone. No hanging flags upside down or burning them, no matter what nation. No WW2 roleplay. No vampires killing people. No religious texts condemning other religions.

what would be left?

Our friend here wants rid of Gor and Whores. I have no doubt someone wants something to do with him removed. He will never entertain their wants, though. If that isn't hypocrisy, i dunno what is.

Good question. I'm not really sure what would be left. But perhaps Nany's quote above is not so far off from something the Lindens now envision as their goal:

"The mission is to use Second Life virtual world technology to help create and sustain Business Communities. Gors and whores get in the way of that goal. So we want them removed from view. "

And this is total speculation only because the Lindens haven't bothered to tell us the truth about their real motivation behind all this, so it is anyone's guess.

'Certain adult activities'? From my experience owning and working in a number of so-called 'adult' locations in SL, a huge number of Residents are interested in this... Has this really ONLY just become clear. I can't stop laughing at this statement.

'Casually encounter'? That is utter rubbish (in Mature land, I agree that publicly accessible adult orientated/explicit content could be a problem in PG land). I know what to expect in Mature land and have done from day one. It's already clearly stated. If I don't like something or find it offensive (which is amazingly rare in SL compared to RL) I can either choose to remain, teleport out, exit SL, OR, if it's within view or earshot of my land, I can choose to ignore it, talk to the other owner of the said content, put up a screen or, if it's violating any ToS or covenant, report it. Easy. I'm an adult. And on the whole I agree with the Voltaire line (which I think has been quoted before within the forums on this topic), that "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."



There are clear systems in place already - implement and enforce them - there's no need to start ghettoizing people, places and lifestyles. (Even I've been on the wrong end of the LL law on this one, I'd be the first to hold my hands up and plead guilty, but I learned my lesson - well, on the whole ).



Hmm, maybe they could do with a little bit of tweaking - but going down the path of defining what is and what isn't adult content has been impossible in RL for governments and organisations all over the world - do you really think this is possible or likely to engender a sense of belonging within the Residents? I for one will leave SL if the definitions become any more Draconian. I think trying to define it is pointless and should not be LL's priority - at worst it raises doubts about LL's ability to create a virtual world in which we feel we belong.



There are perfectly adequate systems in place already - I don't know about anyone else, but I have a tickbox that says include mature content. I know what to expect - again, I'm an adult. And speaking personally, I enjoy the violent, naughty stuff, that's a big reason why I'm here.



Looking at the posts in the forum and the myriad of technical issues raised about this - I can only respond, however generous I try to be, with, 'Oh no you won't'. I'm sorry. Please use your resources to solve other pressing technical issues within the grid and the client, please don't come back on Monday and think any of this is a good idea whatsoever. Find the person responsible for it and fire them (my advice from running a successful RL IT/new media business for the last 13 years) - then shred the accompanying paperwork on this 'plan'.



There's no system in the world that will work in this case - apart from face to face interviews (and even then I know of adult parents who let their children use their SL accounts, not least their credit cards, ID etc. on the Internet - and yes, I would report them where applicable).

You have to face facts and deal with the issue like many other 'adult' content/service providers and accept that the person clicking the 'I Am An Adult' button takes responsibility for their actions (or their parent or legal guardian in RL does, if it's a minor).

At the moment the press and media, sure, they like to have their fun with salacious stories of (rare and sometimes doubtful if even true) illegal activities within SL - but if this statement above IS linked, in any way, to the merging of the grids (a precursor, beta test etc.), then say goodbye to your jobs, homes and liberty, when SL *does* in fact become a playground for sexual predators in a big way - you'll have knowingly created a space for them to access minors. Forget content, locations and poseballs - all they need is IM and charm. I don't want to be in a SL with minors.

/me breathes again after that rant...

I'll continue to read the posts - much respect to everyone that has posted so far. It may not make any difference, but we need to continue to communicate our feelings on these 'upcoming changes'. Most of us think we'll be ignored anyway, but if we don't make our voices heard, the changes will DEFINITELY take place (although I think it'll be followed very quickly by LL's demise financially) and we'll feel bad if we don't stand up and be counted.

/me starts packing a small overnight bag for my new life in 'Jizztown' (or was it 'Naughtyville' that I was being transported to?). Frighteningly reminiscent isn't it?

<A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure> (Wikipedia)

They cannot call it a ghetto, lest it offend various ethnic and cultural minorities. And we know, now, from this conversation, that offending anyone is bad. Oddly, trying not to seems to offend everyone.

You do realize, that according to the rules of the English language any one born in North America, Central America, or South America is by definition a native American?

I find your call for censorship much more harmful to people than any thing in SL.

Have you considered leaving second life as clearly it holds nothing for you with the great mix of people and cultures here and virtually everything seems to offend you. Maybe you would be better suited to "There" or IMVU. Can i remind you that many years ago the settling Americans did the same to your ancestors (the Indian Nations, I read your profile) do you really want to perpetuate this type of racism you are starting to spout.

Upthread I posted two of the first Search results for Native American that come up without Include Mature Content checked. They are both offensive enough to mean there are no Native American colleges in Second Life. No Native American libraries. No Native American artistic or trade organizations. Just about everything you see here labeled "Native American" is fake misrepresentation and exploitation of authentic Native American culture. It is ripping off and harming Native people. It is denying Native people the use of this valuable tool.

If other groups want to argue the same thing is happening to them, I would like to hear it.

We will let the Lindens sort it out.

Wow, a Cherokee and a fan of Andrew Jackson's methodologies. Talk about conflicted.
So, is this a hypocrisy thing or a revenge thing?

*calls BS* This is the old "appropriation" argument, huh? Sorry, we are all oppressed minorities here. The presence of one kind does not negate another and just because someone halfway around the world decides it's funny to put on a kimono or a cowboy hat (or whatever it is that seems belittling to you) doesn't mean you are in any way prevented from using this platform for your own purposes. This place is big, it can always expand, and there's room for everyone. You don't need to play a zero-sum game and kick others out.

Another silver lining! Not only will it piss off botfarmers, we might be seeing Bloodlines restricted to the Adult continent!

SL has every form of bias known to man, really. Fundamentalist Christians can meet here on Sundays amid things that to them are more abhorrent than anything i can possibly imagine, with groups OPENLY condemning their beliefs. Rape victims meet in a world where people go to rape sims, and gain great benefits from teh support they find here, regardless of things that might hurt to happen across. Every form of bias known to man is here, because man is here.

If people don't come here, it's more than just that. Do you toss out your televisions because there are old, offensive westerns? No, you just don't watch them. Well, don't go to places that offend you here. Your sensitivity about this borders on insanity.

I am an American, white, anglo-saxon protestant. If you listen to popular culture we are responsible for almost all the world's ills. If i were male it would be even worse, but thankfully at least i don't have to be ashamed of my gender. If i were as sensitive as you, though, the propaganda passed around on SL would have sent me packing ages ago.

Good luck with your bitterness. I will allow people the right to offend me, even hate me. I don't believe it is my right to take it away.

This is a pointless argument, you want your opinion to be expressed for fair consideration whenever we figure out what all this nonsense is really about, and I too have very clear and definite purpose here, so get off it. This is not your social state to create, and if you would like to attempt one; SL has a group system, where people who understand your rational can get together and form ideas.
Have you a suggestion towards a solution to this?

If SL is planning on mirroring RL then what's the point of being here?

This. Squared.

Because in RL ou can't just teleport to country devoted to you darkest fantasy then come back and play innocent shopper/shop owner?

I think this would certainly ease up some of the burden that many will feel from this change. Personally I think it's a good change, as I know many people have met some people who they thought were a certain age. I have actually created a small area on my land just for the purpose of checking age verification (personally I think this should be something that is in each persons profile). The other thing is my main account (this one I use to manage all my builds, as well as my estate. But sometime I used my alt to go do some RP or just get a bit of privacy, and then something happens on the estate that I need Owner rights (not just manager rights). Doesn't happen very often but it does periodically.

Your first paragraph - the line "I have a very clear reason to be here."

Explain. If your reason is to sanitize SL, then might I suggest you go to sanitized IMVU.

I'm part Native and my husband is registered Native. We are not offended by Gor in any way. No, we are not of your tribe. Tribe affiliation is irrelevant. As for slavery - slavery has been around since time began and it will be here until the Earth is gone - actually, no, it won't be gone - it will just be on other planets that sustains any kind of life forms.

Gor is sci-fi - get over it - Gor is here to stay in SL and RL. Don't like it - don't go to those areas - don't look at it - don't read about it - better yet, shelter yourself in a bubble away from anyone and anything that might offend your narrow-mindedness. Sorry if that's harsh - but that's the harsh realities of SL and RL.

Taking and sending people into the abyss just because something they do or purchase or participate in offends the eyes of a few vocal nay-sayers is totally insane. It happened in IMVU - sanitized it down to less than Disney - and many of us came here in order to be respected as adults and not have everything taken away from us that might be fun for us. Role-play is fun for many - don't like it, don't do it. Simple as that.

Gor is not just offensive to specific women. Please stop making this thread into a cause for a specific ethnic group. Want to know a secret? Gor is offensive to WOMEN. As are many TV series and movies, books, PC games. Gor is fiction, a roleplay game, it is not not real. Many women play Gor because it is fun to do so. Move Gor to the ADULT part of SL but please, leave it in peace. Goreans have as much right to be here as everyone else.

This is one of the reasons I am in favor of the new split: If you don't like it don't go there.

Separating races, religions, ethnic groups, and so on is starting to sound a little like segregation to me. I thought we all were suppose to be moving forward not backwards in time. It has been said here that SL should not be like RL and I agree, but for the sake of arguing lets say it is: When I drive down the road and see a church nobody makes me stop, nobody makes me look and nobody makes me go inside to see what it is all about. When I see a whore on the streets of any major city, nobody makes me stop to pick her up, nobody makes me look at her and nobody else but me can control what I do. So this BS of "We don't like what we see" is just that, BS nobody makes you look at it, nobody makes you buy it and nobody makes you do anything you don't want to do BUT YOU. If all of the Corp and Edu groups have an issue with what 1.5 million other users do, than stay on your sim in your safe zone and don't ever experience anything else in your life. We were asked to build this word, we were told it was OUR world to build, now it seems as a selected few want to destroy it to please themselves.

LL, Lets have a pole and survey by a 3rd party that has no affiliation to the users or you the creator and see what the MAJORITY say not the minority. That is the only way to really be fare here and to truly show you are doing as your residents what done.

Second Life is unique in catering to a broad, international population of adults. Because of its richness and diversity, SL attracts a wide range of entrepreneurs who provide a wide range of services to a wide range of residents. The organic nature of this mix is itself creative. The functionality of a BDSM collar may benefit another entrepreneur making improvements to a 'PG' hugger; Gorean silks may generate new ideas in traditional fashion design; techniques learned to make vampire animations are transferable to dance animations. Rich and poor, men and women, Americans and Vietnamese, straight and gay, black and white, all rub shoulders in SL's vast metropolis. As I am fond of telling noobs, "SL is not a game; it is a new country." (all rights reserved for that slogan).

Creativity is messy. Penicillin was the result of dirty dishes. Many successful inventions were the result of honest mistakes or unorthodox experiments. The most creative periods in human history were those with the least centralized control. Jazz did not emerge from a clean, sterile environment, nor did Blues. Indeed, the power and beauty of the music derives from the hardship of the people who developed it. Where is the latest dance craze coming from? The white ghettos of Paris.

Alan Turing, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, who masterminded the British codebreaking techniques that decimated the German navy during WWII, committed suicide in 1954 when his homosexuality became known. Homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time. History is littered with the corpses of the brilliant heretics.

The founders of Second Life understood this. They recognized the organic nature of the IT industry and that 'creative destruction' had to be embraced rather than shunned. They were amazed by the fall of IBM and inspired by the Burning Man festival in the desert of Nevada. They built Second Life - against all conventional wisdom (don't you know, man, it can't be done) - and it was hugely successful.

Sadly, in 2007, the regulators, lawyers and bureaucrats arrived. All this organic stuff had to go, they said. The time had come to strip away risk and uncertainty, to seek the lowest common denominator and penetrate the mass market. I summarized the spirit of this new direction in my profile: "In the name of safety and security and to protect residents from themselves, all activities requiring intelligence and maturity will be banned."

While my criticisms may seem harsh, I feel it imperative to warn Linden Lab of the long-term consequences of 'cleaning up' Second Life. Yes, improvements can be made in the property rights structure to enable residents greater privacy and control - I am very much in favor of this - but Linden Lab does not seem to realize that the lowest common denominator is poison for any creative enterprise.

Perhaps not. But none of those can shine a candle to such headlines as "Linden Labs Creates Porn Continent in Second Life and Opens Grid to Teens", which is ultimately the direction this thing is headed.

This kind of explicitly violent sexual language and behavior should be immediately moved to the new continent.

Who the hell do you think you are to dictate what I should and should not be "allowed" to see?