08-26-2003 15:56
Could space really be the final frontier in Second Life? According to the reports on the Police Blotter’s desk, a sizable number of residents are taking off on the trips to the heavens. The problem – and of course there is one – is that these moon shots are unscheduled, unexpected, and entirely unwelcome. There are several variations on the theme: Trial User orbits Trial, Veteran launches Veteran, and a couple of extremely popular Trial versus Veteran launch combinations. Needless to say, though apparently it needs to be said, this is not acceptable behavior. The Welcome Area is not Cape Canaveral or Baikonur, and I’ve yet to see a resident called Yuri Gagarin, so let’s put the orbiters away. The Space Race is over.

Orbiting, of course, isn’t the only misdeed going down these days. Just as Summer follows Spring, someone in the welcome area will act like a jerk – or, at least, someone will decide that someone else was acting like a jerk – and out come any one of a dozen weapons that will send the offending party flying into the next week. Vigilante justice, be it delivered via Super Boot, Mega-Bat, Uber Gun, or any other implement of chaos, might bring a moment of peace and perhaps offer a cathartic release of pent-up weltschmertz, but the victory will be fleeting. People’s Court Report Doug Llewelyn said it best: “If you have a problem, and you just can’t seem to work it, don’t take the law into your own hands – you file an Abuse Report.” Wise words indeed, an Abuse Report has the power to effect truly lasting justice. Doug didn’t say that last part about Abuse Reports, of course, but the Blotter likes to think that he would have…

Statistics: Sixteen complaints of harassment, intimidation, or vandalism, five complaints about assorted rule violations, four instances of inappropriate content on a PG sim, and three complaints of an undisclosed nature. As a result of these complaints and our subsequent investigations, ten residents were suspended, nine warnings were issued and one resident was escorted out forever.