The Joys of Weapons Testing... Oh Look Griefing.

You know, even though that place is for weapon testing, hard to do much of that when people abuse the right. Most people prefer you ask before orbiting or destroying the sim completely. Common courtesy, you know... All we really want. Of course, you have those choosen few that ride around on their sit shields and talk big, but aren't ballsy enough to get off the sit shield and face you.

The sandbox is for public use, but it is kind of hard for it to be used publicly when you have sit shield wearing griefers that walk around with harbingers and psitec, orbiting people. Are they testing? I doubt it takes more than a week plus to test a harbinger or days to test psitec, especially orbit. This is the point where you are not testing, you are griefing. I am sure plenty of you are saying, just report them and move else where. There are a few reasons this doesn't work, reports in Weapons Testing are ignored unless it is some moron toasting the sim. Why should I leave when I was there doing my thing and avoiding other sandboxes that doesn't consist of people wanting to be shot? To some people, WT is a home to them because they either don't have a home(Oh Oh Me me! Well, I do now) or they spend so much time there, they might as well build a house there.

Anyways, we have quite a few known griefers that have become quite regular, but they get away with it because of the location of the problem. At the moment, the most well known one is Jimmy Foley, who has daddy's credit card and has bought up lots of weapons, which are used to inconvience people trying to get work done in WT. Jimmy Foley walks around bad mouthing and pissing people off, then starts orbiting people. Reported quite a few times, but he always back to visit us the next day.

I will admit, I do use my weapons to my own ends and try to use them to the sandbox's needs as well. But I do not walk around orbiting and shooting people without asking them if it is ok. Negative comments are welcome, I know I am going to get many of them.

Hey, check this out.

If you sit on a box, no one can hurt you in the weapons test sandbox.

The Weapon's testing sandbox is just another name for the "Sandbox griefers come here" sim. It was pretty much made just in the hopes of getting the griefers and the sandbox (protection groups) out of sandbox sims.

So... whats the point of having a weapons test area if .. we can't test them..?

Most people aren't testing them, they are just flying around attacking people cause they can.

At the box comment, some testing requires moment and that is where they get you.

I love how the solution to every big problem in SL lately has been, "Then go somewhere else." Well alot of people are, which is why we have out own island sim now. Look west of the main continent lately? There's probably more resident-owned sims than mainland sims, and who knows how many more there are hidden from the map. When I first started SL there were maybe 20 resident-owned island sims; point of interest: There were also alot less reports of griefing incidents, destroyed landscapes, sign griefing, and so on back then. I'm perfectly happy to sit out all the stupidness going on in mainland sims in my own island sim, but not all people have that luxury.

Anyways, I could go on and on about what's wrong with SL concerning that, but yes Justice, the sim is named "Weapons Testing" not "Live Targets Testing" or "Free Fire Zone".

Oh, and on a side note...

Assault
Most areas in Second Life are identified as Safe. Assault in Second Life means: shooting, pushing, or shoving another Resident in a Safe Area (see Global Standards below); creating or using scripted objects which singularly or persistently target another Resident in a manner which prevents their enjoyment of Second Life.

Second Life: Community Standards point 3. Weapons Testing is a non-damage (SAFE, according to the land tools) area. "Assault in Second Life means: shooting, pushing, or shoving another Resident in a Safe Area..." Not that it's any of *my* business, but if LL is ignoring Abuse Reports coming from the Weapons Testing sandbox (a safe area), then we have a problem...

Trying out a new weapon the first time is a test.

Trying out that same weapon the second time is a confirmation.

Trying out that weapon again the third, fourth, fifth and subsequent times, all against targets who you neither asked to test on nor even considered that they just might have been working on something at the time is griefing.

The interpretation in Weapons Testing has become "It says Testing... so let's 'test'!" with zero regard for anyone else in the sandbox. It's not uncommon to see WTS crash to physics spam several times in under an hour, but nine times out of ten this doesn't come from your average Joe Newbie who's popping off a dozen Catalysers from his shiny new Harbinger for the first time.

Back when I was a wee little newbie (which was still only about a half a year ago), it was not uncommon to be booting around Island Sandbox, where weapons are forbidden, only to hear a "psst, hey, mind if I test this on ya?" I'd usually consent, more out of my own curiosity for whatever device intended to bring about my impending doom would actually do. And this happened on many occasions in Goguen and Cordova as well. Still does from time to time in fact. If you ask to shoot someone to test out your brand new Jahi, and your potential victim agrees, no harm done, right?

Unfortunately, this courtesy is rarely, if ever extended to anyone in Weapons Testing, despite the fact that Lindens have stated it is *not* a combat sim. Rather, it's declined in recent weeks especially, where it used to be a refuge for people trying to get away from the regular overcrowding and clutter of Island Sandbox and Newcomb/Goguen/Cordova, it's started to populate with griefers. For a while, up until a month ago, the sim was actually ... dare I say ... peaceful. Not anymore.

That you can test them shouldn't mean that you should go and shoot working people at random.

My first experience was good. I teleported there, and started messing with one of the free guns I had, tweaking various things in the script to see what happens. Then I would shoot a bit in the air, and at some nearby wall to see what happens. Somebody came and very politely asked me if I'd mind being shot. I said "Sure, go ahead". We flew around a bit shooting each other, and it's all fine.

Yesterday though I was there tweaking something, when suddenly I found myself 500m in the air, and fell half a sim away from where I was. I came back to my work, and the guy shot me again. I was about to report abuse when I thought that I'm quite new here, so maybe I misunderstood something, so I let it be.

But still, I can't help but find it annoying to find myself suddenly in the air when I was quietly working on something. I'm perfectly fine with some testing, provided people avoid abruptly interrupting my work and ask just in case.

I've tried testing weapons in the Weapons Testing sim, and what I find is that either it's lagged like a big laggy thing by people playing war, or some donkey's rump keeps pushing me while I'm trying to simply fire a gun at a plywood block. And I don't want to sit down because my guns these days have custom animations which I want to check.

If I want to test weapons properly I generally do so in a proper sandbox, or at home.

I hate to be the realist here - but honestly, texture a default cube the way you like (me, I prefer matte black and shiny) and sit on it.

SL is full of assholes, I'm sorry to report. This is a social problem, not something that can be solved via technical-behavior-modification.

I understand your plea for common sense, but really, its just like waving road flares in a fartstorm, you're just going to get burned, badly.

Welcome to SL.

I have no idea why the force that can be applied to avs isn't capped. Are there any legitimate reasons for being able to knock someone more than a few meters?

Ok I could see this spoiling human canons and trampolines, that's it. It would sure be nice not to be blown around unless you spend you whole time sitting down in sandboxes.

Um... I though 'matte black' meant it wasn't shiny.

It is capped (though with a high cap). But you can always use simultaneous push scripts, which is what proper push guns do.

Hmm this kind of reminds me of Jessie.

Ok, so if we can't go around testing or shooting people in the 'Weapons Testing Sim' Which it clearly STATES it is a weapons testing, how are we going to know if our weapons are working or not?

This is just like Jessie, if you don't like what goes on there, you shouldn't go. Yes, people are assholes (I'm one of them hurrah).

Until I see a clear definition on what is an 'acceptable weapon' to everyone from a Linden, I just say let the drama begin!

Go ahead and test, just please avoid doing it on me right while I'm building something. It's annoying as heck to be really concentrated on tweaking something just right, to suddenly find yourself in the air.

Just come, ask, and 95% of the time I will agree. At least in my case, part of the weapon testing includes tweaking the weapon to get the desired effect, and it's annoying when people interrupt me while I'm doing that.

Hmm, true - I guess I meant that the shiny is more subtle on a black cube. You are right, matte does usually mean non-reflective.

You bastard.

You have to remember that Maxx is unable to create anything without making it shiny. It's one of those things that's been such a hinderence to his building career.

In RL I am an instructor in a corporation. I teach a new customer service class every four weeks. From one of those classes was birthed a monster named Big Sexy Cookie. I am not sure why I did not report him for abuse, but chose too mute him and remove him from my list instead. He took great pleasure in taking pot shots at me without my consent. I kept warning him again and again to no avail. I am in SL for two reasons only; to create and sell prim models of all types. And to meet women. (of which I am doing both happily) I am one of those who just moved on to avoid those who love violence against unwilling participants. this ex student of mine is just another quiet guy in real life, but a monster in Second Life. he has another identityin SL as well as his alias Big Sexy Cookie, I don't remember what it was. it will be only a matter of time when someone will report him for abuse. At this point I probably will the next time he offers a TP. Any time I TP'd he was waiting with weapon in hand. He offered a TP last night as a matter of fact, but I was at a dance with a wonderful red haired lovely. Are there not other type of MMORPG games out there for idiots like these?
Footnote: if you know someone in RL, don't mention the game to them, they become a totally different person in SL than in their RL. SL can either bring out the best in you, or the worst.

Thats what I meant though, nowadays most of them out you so high that you have to teleport to make things normal again, assuming SL managaes that.

There should be a cumulative cap, there's no real legitimate reasons to push someone more than 50M. Also this shouldn't affect vehicles or objects you sit on as I believe avatars don't have any physics applied when seated.

What you mean is really a maximum acceleration, then. That might be a good housekeeping rule come to think of it, as things vanishing out of the sim can cause ghost objects or avs to remain. I've done that (consensually of course, or as much consent as you can get from plywood).

The thing is, though, it's still possible to grief someone with a restriction like that - just have an object that follows them, pushing both itself and them at the maximum allowed rate. In fact you can annoy people with a very slow push if it also cancels their own velocity so they can't get out of it.

Yeah, there is the solution! Let the griefer get away with it. Maybe their next step will be plastering your home with boxes that are calling you a loser. As stated before, it doesn't take three and up times to test out a weapon. Plus, when it is a commonly used weapon like a harbinger, you can ask what certain things do. I.E. The Catalizer mine, which is a known factor to toasting WTS. They aren't testing the weapon, they are just being an asshole.

The other being that pesky limit of 15K prims per sim . . .

Jess

At the risk of being ignored a second time...

I hate this reasoning. "We can do it so we will do it".

To all of you saying "Why be angry when you get griefed with a weapon and someone screws you up while you build?" a hearty slap is all you deserve.

its called common courtesy, you freaking animals. Inb WT when I want to test something, I ask. "Hey, mind if I bounce you?" You'll often find people happy to help. Hell in testing the OTCR Jahi rifle I sacrificed my life hundreds of times, just to see if rounds were doing damage.

Meanwhile, you're all saying "Well, I'll just do what I want when I want it." Poeple like that make me want to spit. Its a disgusting self-indulgent point of view and its whats wrong with SL and RL together. Try politeness. Its nice. It makes everyone happy but hte griefers, but the griefers are scum so who cares about them, ne?

And Ani, I've talke to lindens in WT. Their response is "Sit on a box"

Basically, "Let the grifer dictate things to you because we're sure as hell not going to."

Thanks a bundle, LL. May as well not bother even showing up there. And justice has a great point. The griefers in area sare ALWAYS THE SAME PEOPLE.

There are people who are known to be such common griefers that when they show up on MG, everyone calls out a warning. HOW IS IT THAT LL IS MISSING THIS?!?!