Official Word on Outing Alts In The Forums

You didn't not ? Hehehe Double entendre?

He did state it Ulrika, see MrsJakal's post above. Unfortunatly, Path claimed in that quote that it was against "the Guidelines". But, those "guidelines" are not written anywhere. At least not on any official document that is posted for the public to see.

The actual saying "alts are not to be outed" isn't in the guidelines but he does say that it is a violation of privacy which is in the Forum Guidelines.

Valid point. One that can be disputed still though. hehe.. But I see what you are saying.

Well, the Guidelines or TOS or whatever include the part about the privacy. If a person wants to keep his alt private, then outing it is a violation of that privacy.

coco

Agreed. Everything can be disputed.

Ulrika took off her makeup once, and we found Jimmy Hoffa

Personally, I think alts are great for in-world use but I believe they should not be permitted on the forum.

~Ulrika~

Weedy took off her makeup once, and we found Waldo.

~Ulrika~

Show me the rule - show me the law

After all if I can I should - ain't that so?

Outted

That wouldn't work, though, if a person has alts that sell things.

coco

The rule and the law is that it is a violation of privacy. Pathfinder himself has judged it so.

coco

EDIT: I changed my mind on this post.

~Ulrika~

Okay so dont say I never support you coco.

On this one you are right and Ulrika is wrong (according to how I read the TOS), and that is a rare double-event indeed.

Because they always add that line equating "personal information" with anything *not* shown on your profile, one's status in terms of how many alts you have or who they are is (technically) a forbidden topic of conversation. As you point out, anything you do not offer to share in your profile is against the rules for others to "share" for you.

Ulrika is right about it being a fairly minor issue that is situationaly decided though (assuming I paraphrased that correctly). In the game, alts are most often either inconsequential drones or complete alternate characters. In the forums on the other hand, they are just extra voices that are specificaly created to cheat and to harrass people, and thus a much bigger deal from the abuse standpoint.

On the other, other hand, this is all really picky stuff and the rules are unevenly enforced anyway. We would all be better off just to use some common sense.

Glad you support me on this one, Diane!

This is probably another thing they should make more clear.

coco

I totally agree with using common sense - I try and do it across the board.. my point though was with people who stick to the letter of the law when it suits them or gives them an advantage - then switch to the spirit of the law and cry foul when it doesn't.

If you are referring to me - as you obviously were in your earlier post - it is not correct to state that I stick to the letter of the law when it suits me or gives me an advantage, then switch to the spirit of the law and cry foul when it doesn't.

That would indicate that I'm nothing more than an opportunist, with no morals or ethics whatever.

The actual facts are that (1) I never thought I was doing anything wrong getting my 512 First Land. (Obviously, or I wouldn't have mentioned it on the forums.) Then I was told I had. Now it's sitting on the Hotline waiting for an official answer.

(2) I never had any problem understanding that outing alts would be outing personal information. That seems to me very basic. Particularly since Pathfinder already clarified it once. But to others, it doesn't. And they may well not have seen Pathfinder's clarification. Now this matter, too, sits on the Hotline waiting for an official answer.

Should there be an individual who outed an alt without realizing it is against the rules, then they didn't knowingly commit any crime. Should I purchase a 512, not realizing it is against the rules (which it still doesn't appear to be), then I didn't knowingly commit any crime either.

Therefore, it is not a matter of being a spineless opportunist, an unethical and devious liar, or anything else you may be thinking.

I would never out a person's alt. But I would - when I get another account on any given game - assume that account is a real account, with all the real perks that come with it, and use them without a second thought.

coco

Obviously? There are a lot of people besides you who do that here.

AFAIAC, it's not okay to out alts unless they're your own alt.

Oh, or unless it's obvious (for example, if anyone thinks Anshe Chung and Anshee Chung aren't alts, they score a 10 on the naivety scale!)

Personally, I'd never make a forum post using my own alt, but that's because my forums posts are written from the point of view of my real first life persona and I can't see a reason to express one person's pov using two identities.

I noticed that a few people found the concept of treating alts as separate personalities a little "creepy". I think that's a culture thing, with those of us coming from a role-playing background (tabletop RPGs, MUSHes, MUCKs etc.) having less of a problem with it than those coming from other milieus.

In fact, the concept of whether your avatar is you, or a roleplayed character could start an interesting discussion on the topic of in-world relationships and whether that is "cheating" on your first life relationships - but that might be something for Hamlet to explore

I was referring to lots of people - but are you one of those people? Well to me you are.. but thats not here nor there now is it?



I said nothing of the such in my post. But it's a very good point and I agree with it.



I'm so very glad I have you to tell me what I'm thinking Coco.. I could never have worked that out on my own..
Now had I said such a thing, you'd be double clicking that AR like a 15yr old on his first porn site. News Flash Coco - you don't get to tell me what I think.

I must congratulate 'a poster' on getting Siggy riled. I've never seen it in over a year and months in my SL. /clap

This is very well-expressed, Lisse. At least, that's the way I see it. When possible, I like to ask someone questions about their approach to SL, and hopefully they can be articulate and explain to me, at great length, what gets them passionate.

As for me, I generally don't find separate personalities in different alts to be creepy—unless they are lame greefer kin. Hehehe. Infact, I've stuffed enough multiple personalities into my Torley Torgeson Resident account, so maybe I will need another one to catch all the overflow or sidechain everything that's dripping over so it doesn't go to waste!

I'm also curious how this will be reflected with more cultural diversity as SL grows greater internationally.

hahah thats not 'riled' .. I didn't say the 'C' word

To get the full effect reread that only imagine I'm nodding my head straight faced and giggling into my hand the moment the other person turns away

Just pointing out that Miss Koala doesn't get to tell me what to think -- personally I beleive if she did I'd be on the short end of the stick

"Show me the rule - show me the law

After all if I can I should - ain't that so?"

I suppose the above - directed at me, which I ignored - and followed up with an explanation of what you meant by directing that at me, which I didn't ignore - is totally meaningless, then, right?

If you don't want to stand behind what you say to me, don't say it.

coco