The Welcome Area.

juniper, I am going to ask one question without judging any particular member's actions:

Given that the WA is not just any land, but the place where new members rez, do you feel that the priviledge of hanging out in the WA also comes with a certain amount of responsibility in the kind of behavior new members experience and witness?

agree / disagree?

Ahh..so that's why you haven't argued logically? Thanks for clearing that up.

You're one of us now, you know.

Assholes like these are going to be the reason the WA ends up getting closed to the general public.

Mark my words.

Wow You have to enjoy a good debate about the WA in which people have such solid points about their own behavior that they resort to commenting on people's souls.

Anyway, I would get back to my point...

But I think you already made it for me

Whee thank you everyone for an entertaining thread while I ate lunch, especially Violet - your wit is top notch, and Daniel for being your spokesperson/translator. I need a spokesperson, that is very cool.

Now here is the Cliff Notes version:

1) The Welcome Area has a specific purpose - it is the first place that new players end up and begin to explore SL.
2) For whatever reason, over the past few months, a few players have decided it would be fun to fuck with people in the welcome area to fulfill their own feelings of inadequacy/lack of sex life.
3) This has caused the welcome area, at times, to be quite unpleasant for some people.
4) Some players who are not new players but hang out there are mad that people would dare to criticize the place they love so much, even with the trash talking neg rating bitch squads and get very indignant when you diss their hizouse.
5) Violet is 12
6) Daniel has a crush on her or some weird fixation.
7) The welcome area is a cess pool now - mind you, an overly ornate, laggy cess pool.
Lo said motherfucker.
9) Blah blah blah is the new black

#8 was the highlight

The Welcome Area "entertainers" are just digging themselves in deeper. I love it!

Disagree, there are far worse places in second life. You know newbies come into second life alot and ask where to have sex...does that mean there should be sexual positions area in the welcome area so they can get their taste of what second life really is about? Sex is a wonderful thing and some people enjoy having it in second life...but it seems that is all that second life really exploits is the sexual side from the way the men/women make their avatars, from the way they dress? Is that okay too? Yes freedom to who you want to be must be honored and for that it makes everyone right.

I am a happy positive contributor to the true Welcome Team.

I like to show 'em what good schtuff they can do.

A week or two later, several of the folks that I meet on their first day will IM me and ask if they can show me things they've made and get my opinion.

That's ALWAYS cool.

As for you Miss Boffin, Those people are no even talking about my post anymore they are defending themselves and which has NOTHING to do with my point. We are all different and sorry if you are not respecting that. It's okay though I will forgive you too. Digging themselves in deeper..no defending themselves... yes

There isn't freedom to do whatever you want, Juniper. There's this little thingy called the ToS, and also different types of behaviors are tolerated in different areas. Many of my longtime friends in game run thriving businesses that have to do with sex content in Second Life: live and let live, there's lots of room for diversity in world. However, the welcome area has a designated purpose and a title to go along with it. So if possible let's discuss the WA, the issue of sexuality in SL has been discussed ad nauseum in other threads.

And Schwan, I agree.

I've been bewildered by this Welcome Area saga for weeks, and would err on the side of free expression. I was amazed that Suzie Boffin even advocated filtrating out everyone from the WA except greeters, mentors, and Lindens, imagine!

I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were talking about. I went to the WA on spot checks a half dozen times, nothing doing. The usual Lindens in IMs, the usual sk8ters and idiots in costums, and newbs spread-eagled in appearance mode with some of them asking what prims were, etc.

FINALLY I hit the jack pot the other night when I flew in just because I happened to be nearby and I saw this crew Violet, Daniel, etc. -- that I took to be the "regs". And I see what you mean now that they are doing some little routine shtick, well, it's jejeune, sophomoric, varsity, whatever the word is -- high school. Like, I dunno, the badger loop or the dancing kitty loop or what have you.

One person -- can't even remember who -- kept repeating every 4 minutes on cue (were they a bot?) "I wish to perform a sexual act with your mother" -- like they were some sort of NPC but of course a fake NPC.

So yeah, there was "trash talk" in the WA and tomfoolery and idiocy as there often is in groups of people on the Internet with nothing better to do. The back of the room in 6th grade used to be like this, too, as was the boy's locker room. No Lindens in sight, which may have accounted for it.

So what is to be done? Well, I think people who have these experiences should both AR these "trash talkers" and neg them.

I am a great believer in the honourable tradition of negging. I don't think negs should just be used on anybody though in the spur of the moment. I think a neg just used in anger or rashly is never justified -- with one exception, on bounce scripters.

I believe negs are vital, and a wonderful way to start a conversation with some of the asswipes in this game who use bounce scripts or put up giant spinning boxes that block your land on all sides. But I think you should have a neg policy, that is articulate, that is consistent, and that you can justify to others. Otherwise, you end up making the neg seem like it is just a harassment tool. I think multiple negging of people who have committed egregious offenses is a very important thing to do in this game. You need it because the game has no dispute mechanisms and often there simply is no other way to warn other players about someone they're going to be at risk dealing with.

I'd advocate doing nothing special about this situation except for the ARing and the negging. The ARing isn't even going to stick because there may not be a violation but I've recently learned the value of the non-TOS related AR which is merely to get Linden "heightened awareness" to trigger their "guidance" of other players.

Anyway! I was answering someone, and it wasn't you first of all and second second life does give people to do what they want to a point. good day to you.

Your prediction is noted. I've always kind of suspected it might go that way, ever since the Stipend Bonus Riots.

Just a little reminder about Violet Manhattan:

/120/b7/45739/1.html

Juniper, Daniel, Violet, grow up, and stop projecting your feelings of inadequacy onto others.

The WA is not a hang out for anti-social twerps with hang-ups. It is called "Welcome Area", not, "My home base for taking out my aggressions on those who represent to me a virtual manifestation of my personal problems Area".

Try moving beyond that stunted imagination, and do something other than worrying about what others do. All the possible ways to be imaginative and creative within SL, and this is how you choose to spend your time. What a waste.

It's cool though; while you're here bitching about people who are unhappy with what you simple minded folks do in the WA, your little home away from home is slipping away from you. Your behavior insures that you will lose the right to hang out there, much like Schwanson has predicted. The only problem is - you ruin it for everyone if the WA gets restricted - but hey - that's probably what you want anyway, so those evil older players can't brainwash the newbies.

I can't wait for the grade school level response I am going to get to this post, but, we need to keep pulling your strings - to ensure that your type clearly identifies itself, and what you are about, to the community.

I will say it again, the Lindens are around the welcome area often so if you think it's so terrible it would have been closed already and people would be banned. Lindens can be invisible and watch over the welcome area.... so with that said. Good day.

Yes, we all know you are a great believer in neg ratings, except the way you use them is hardly honorable.

I can't think of a single avatar I've negged who didn't deserve it richly due to their bad behaviour.

THIS is exactly the problem here Juniper.

1) You don't feel you are doing the things people are complaining about.
2) No one in the other thread mentioned you and said you were one of the people doing these things.
3) You automatically assume "if they're talking about people from the welcome area, they mean ME!"

So before getting taking everything personal and hopping up on your soap box, you might want to consider the possibility that no one was talking about you.

And for the record, the people complaining aren't just "club goers." Infact, I think very few of those complaining are the clubbing types. You might know this if you'd taken the time to read the thread. "reading a few comments and getting a feel for what was said does not qualify as having read it, nor does it give you just cause to start drama over something you haven't even read thoroughly. If and when you do really read the thread, you might note that it's not all about specifically attacking people. People are not complaining just because they are personally too annoyed to visit the WA. They can easily tele away to someplace more pleasant. The complaint is how certain actions in the WA impact SL as a whole.

"While you are in the Welcome Area, you are an embassador for SL" - Mick Linden

Violet, the WA was great before people like yourself entered it. We are not jealous of you... we don't like you. The WA was a nice place to chat, get help, and ask a few question. Then people like yourself joined with groups called "non-helper".

It astounds me how much you can just sit here an lie about your motives.

It should be clear... welcome... area... an AREA (place local section) which is WELCOME (accepting kind warm).

Poking my butt with a stick looking for poop is hardly that. None of your behavior is "welcome". Neither are you "negs of love".

I won't say that I'm sorry that you feel that your behavior is proper, you know it's not and you push it as far as you can till a Linden is around.

If you want to stir things up in the WA go ahead, but don't get on the forums pretending you behavior is "what we need".

Radiant,

Excellent post. It probably won't be received as intended, but it is nice to see some sanity here.

Exactly. Much like when toddlers pitch temper tantrums repeatedly; eventually the Lindens will act on what's going on in the welcome area because everyone will get tired of watching it over and over. And then there will be claims it's unfair, when it's really just a necessary response to infantile behavior.

Love the new title for the WA Nolan, but it's a bit long don't you think?

Nolan,

When I made the comment about mentors corrupting newbies, mentors are no longer older players by the way. Just a little info for you. And second you are judging people who you do not know you see our postings and assume that we are awful and immature ect ect. You call us names and yet we are the immature ones? You say it's a waste that we spend our time in the welcome area? What we aren't dancing naked or out having lots of avatar sex and acting normal like you? So that makes us a waste? It's a waste that you are judging without knowing the people. That's the waste. You yourself have been judged many times over in the past with your second life so I don't know how you can say nasty things about us... good day to you too.