No Kids in the Main Grid: Redux

I also think that, since the banning of IP address is not working, why don't you just ban them from your sim, and then spread the word. sooner or later they won't have no place to go on sl, and they'll get bored seeing that they are blocked from pretty much everything.

We'd better not overload LL

Let them come out with the new group tools patch, THEN we demand IP ban. K?

except the people who want children there?

two things will work together to make protection far more realistic:

1) blacklists, as mentioned above, all plots can be managed quickly, and easily, with a single entry, plots could subscribe to multiple ban lists, a quick emergency private one for removing a problem person asap, and then say a more global public 'shared' list that you set up and somehow give permission for other people to use as well.

A single nasty/hostile grief attack could effecitvely ban a vicious user from the vast majority of 'fun' places on the grid, and each new alt they make would be 'dealt with' just as rapidly. so instead of a person hittin 30-40 places before they are removed (if they ever are, bans and even suspensions have trickled to almost non existantce from what we've seen)... ONE hit on one public place could neutralize an entire account's ability to cause harm to SL's community

2) ban being *effective*... works hand in hand with #1. Ban needs to be floor to cieling, even mainland (only for NAMED offenders, not groups etc, but someone who has specifically and directly attacked an area, has no 'right' to fly over it, or areas they are affiliated with, anymore, period) It needs to be instant, send people home, set the area nobuild to them, no script floor to cieling to them, and mute them.

If they could literally be 'not drawn' to anyone within the area that would just be icing on the cake.

If we had those two things, specific targeted griefing in SL would subside to a trickle. Most of the people whos purpose in SL is to just hurt others, would just end up on a bigger blacklist pretty quickly, try to go somewhere else, find they're already banned from there, repeat it again, get bored, and move on.

as to 'false' or 'retributive' hits, hey if someone thats attacked our area feels he needs to ban me from his and his friends, yup, i'll care, really, almost, or not

This won't be effective, I believe, because kids simply won't reveal their age, and we won't know whom to blacklist. I don't think people will blacklist people because, "I think maybe the person is a bit under 18".

No, this needs a hard solution from the entrance to SL.

By Blue Linden's response to another SL Answers post, it seems like Linden Lab has given up:



It seems if we all want SL to remain adult-free, we will need to let Linden Lab know loud and clear.

While I personally think it would be fine to allow minors in the PG areas, I understand that there are far too many people that don't pay attention to rules, or don't respect others enought to police themselves... so I vote "No minors in the main grid".

OMG the shear thought of this has terrified me. Kids in SL in adult area. Oh Joy. Just can see it now. CNN mom catches 14 year old son in middle of SL sex secene. SL Teen is not safe. SL is not safe. One thing going for it gone.

What a disaster.
Where to next ppls?

Linden labs used to be responsible running this world. This latest move is just irresponsible and reckless. They have stuck thier resposibilities away in their wallets and I guess just don't care anymore what happens in world. I am afraid nothing good will come form this and only a lot of very bad press.....and worse. I have written to Philip as everyone should who thinks this lack of any age verification besides a yeah sure I am 18 is wrong. Very wrong. I feel so strongly opposed I have not been in world since learning of change nor will go back...if it never changes back or some better solution is not offered ...I guess I may be out.

Anyone want to bet that in the next 2 weeks there will be a story on Fox, CNN, BBC. On the how some boy girl was caught by parents in cyber with an adult.

SL already has a reputation of a SEX palace now it is going to be cemented. Money? LOL Begging/ Harrassing for payment or harrasement doesn't stop. This is a bad boy/girl's dream. An admins nightmare.

Its simple as this, and some have stated this as well, but you get kids into the adults areas and you're going to have legal issues, just like Yahoo had. It only takes one parent who is too lazy to monitor their kids on the interent before you have a lawsuit on your hands. Yahoo, ended up having to close their user rooms because of the same issues of no age verification. It only takes that one kid, and that one perv. and our SL life is right down the drain. I say NO to kids on the adult grid.

Next question: If the teen grid has all sorts of requirements to get in because of the presence of minors, how does that fit with the new main grid registration policy?

How does it fit? Rather badly I should imaginge as the outcome is bound to be that kids signing up will take the soft option of the 'unverified' signup for the Main Grid instead of having to jump the hurdles to sign up for the Teen Grid. LL should bring back some form age / identity verification in the Main Grid sign-up process. Their current policy is financial suicide and I, for one, want SL to be around for the forseeable future.

Definitely not.

We live in bush country, I don't want to go to jail because I cyber boinked someone playing an adult who was really a kid.

A big part of SL is sex, lets be honest, sex, drama, money and relationships (remind you of real life?)

If kids were let in purposely, the government would crack down on the game and its freedom of expression, expressions that do include human sexuality.

It'd stifle a great many people, and make "mature" land drop in value, all the homes people buy to hide their naughty toys will go missing (because most of its rented, no owner rights or privs, so they cant lock it off to "confirmed adults"

So rental land would drop in value to the point that having it costs more than keeping it open, all the sexy clothing, attachments and furniture would go bye bye or into extreme hiding...

Ugh, the ripples it would produce, and the government attention it could garner.

Hell no, no minors.

I think limiting all of SL to adults only is cutting out a rather large potential revenue stream for LL. I don't see it being possible on the Main Grid, however.

Keep the kids at the kiddie table, and the adults... well... wherever they can get away from the kids.

What about the SL teen grid? I thought that it was exactly built for this reason?

Perhaps the teen grid was just a transition to what SL is doing now?

Early last year I had a guy hiting on me in game. He was a nice enough guy, but seemed a bit childish and I discouraged him. He was an insistent little devil, getting very upset when I finally lost patience and told him in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in his advances.

A few days later he messaged me to apologise and say that he was leaving SL. He mentioned that he 'should't be here anyway'. Eventually he owned up that he was in fact 14 years old. I told him to leave or I would report him. He left.

The point is that I felt pretty stressy about this. What if I had accepted his advances? He told me he had had girlfriends in SL, but had not told them his true age. How would you feel if you were his girlfriend and later found out he was 14???

The new changes mean that scenarios like this will no doubt happen far more often. How long before some poor guy finds himself being hauled over the coals for getting too friendly to an underage girl? The papers will have a field day.

Your 100% right.

SL is nice because you have choices and you can pretty much saftly assume everyone is an adult, if anything turns out bad and you go to court you can simply point out the the terms of service they were agreeing too and how they were lying over age... at least you have SOME defense.

I like SL being relaxed... I'd hate it if everyone's first question was "So um, how old are you IRL?"

Ever heard of Romeo and Juliet? She was only 13. Romeo's age is not mentioned in the play but he plays like 15 year old. How times have changed.

In Australia when I walk past a group of very young high school girls, I never cease to be amazed at their language and I begin to doubt that times really have changed. Look at the stats for child age mothers and I know things have not really changed. Parents have real difficulty protecting their children with compulsory education and low standards of school behaviour.

In real life we are all responsible for our actions and so we should be in sl. Men should think carefully about who they cyber with. Maybe they should even ask age? As in text only chat rooms, a few well publicised police sting operations would probably go further in reducing child participation than all these rules.

With the abolishing of dwell, club owners should start demanding entry charges. So should xxx vendors since majority of their customers want to spend money with them anyways. Gambling places should be enclosed with pay to enter boundaries. This will have the benefit of keeping out minors who have no cc to get money to pay for things from their basic accounts.

LL 's is responsible to improve our tools so we can more effectively control who participates in our activities - our responsiblity is to actually use them. Walls should become real walls, not barriers to alt/peep behind. Ban lists may be ineffectual, but they are a start.

It seems to me that sl is the last bastion for the old fogeys like me. We have to start behaving responsibly, setting better examples. Technology is never the total answer! The real world is creeping into sl and we have to cope!

Ed

You notice it was also set during Shakespeare's time, with a greatly reduced life expectancy and radically different norms of ideas on when children mature?

And that their young age was part of the very reason why their love was so controvertial?