Revision of 'Partner' function to allow polyamorous relationships

(crossposted from Feature Suggestions)

As you may or may not be aware, there is a partner function ( http://secondlife.com/partner/ ) available in SL where one can (for a small fee) forge a 'marriage' of sorts between two avatars. However, this does not take into account the concept of polyamory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory ), which, simply put, is a romantic relationship between more than two people.

Talking to various residents of Second Life, I have discovered that many of us are involved (online or offline) in polyamorous relationships. Since Second Life is supposed to be a place we can live our lives how we'd like them to be, instead of how they are, I feel, and I am confident that many of you wil agree, that we have nothing to lose, and much to gain, by allowing polyamorous partnerships in Second Life.

On the surface, it would appear that this could be accomplished with only minor changes to the code - partnerships could be treated as a 'group' of sorts, with poly partnerships referenced in the 'Partner' field of a given profile as 'Multiple' with a list of names available as a tooltip (text that appears when you hover your mouse pointer over a word, in this case, 'Multiple'). Not having an intimate knowledge of the SL codebase, I can't say for certain what the best way to implement it would be, but I am confident it can be done without too great a difficulty.

Discuss?

Edit to add proposal link:
http://secondlife.com/vote/index.php?get_id=465

Feature Suggestions thread:
/13/9d/52873/1.html

I agree with this. But you are going to get backlash from religious fanatics, except maybe mormons who are polygamous.

However, I do agree you should be able to live your Second Life how you see fit.

/agree

an excellent idea, Teddy!

as controversial of a topic it may be in our day to day RL, it's something that i believe would only be right to offer in this alternate world of ours.

whether you be a sultan, gorean, mormon or just simply really like having to please multiple partners.. hehe.. it would simply be a welcome addition along side our current single partner availablitiy.

one doesn't have to endorse a lifestyle to endorse the freedom of others to pursue it.

Having known dozens of very nice Mormon families, it has been my experience that they do not practice polygamy and they very rarely enjoy assertions to the contrary. There are a few oddballs that claim both Mormonism and polygamy, but they aren't speaking for the religion as a whole. I would be very careful in labeling Mormons as polyamorous.

edit: Yes, I know, it used to be a common practice in Mormon settlements in the late 1800's. That time has long passed.

I voted yes. Another reason, not mentioned above, is the expanded ability for role play of various interesting, offbeat, or humorous things.

coco

Also note that there is in fact very little chance of anyone identifying both as Mormon and polyamourous. Polygamy is having multiple wives. Polyamory is effectively group marriage. These are very, very different.

Enabran,

quite true. i was just listing off a few things off the top of my head.. i'm hoping you also realized that it was all said in a light-hearted tone. i meant no offense.

now, i just hope no goreans come in here and see fit to tie me up..
(..that's more The Quirk's speed )

Hey, I'm no a Mormon myself, or anything, but having spent all of high school around them, I noticed a certain sensitivity toward the whole multiple wives subject. Just wanted to give you a heads-up.

right on and i figured as much..

thanks for the heads up though.

The "partner" function is kind of interesting because it doesn't actually bring any benefits with it, other than the basic one of declaring yourself off the singles market. I don't see any reason why not to allow a group of more than two avs to be partners. Is it really a big deal to enough people to require the Lindens to spend time coding it? Put it up as a proposal to vote on, then.

I think there should be the converse though. A couple ought to be able to make themselves a group and get all the property-sharing benefits that come with it, without having to make up a third member.

While we're at it, how about "Really close friends, but not in that way"

Umm, I'm against this if it involves some serious coding that could be dedicated to something like, ohh, say BUGS. If it would be added quickly, I don't care. Although I am against additional clutter on that main page, it has enough information. Do we really care if people have partners? Or multiple partners? Why is that crap on the first page? Why not move it all to the 2nd page?

I'd opt for a 'People who's ass I think is fine'....

I'm really bad at commitment... so 'partners' is a bit much for me

I'm not going to post my necrophilia joke here, but it's damn funny. You should laugh anyway

How about "People I plan on stalking"? since I ave really bad taste in men so relationships never get to the partner stage

that was a good point about what it would take to add it..

if it's easy and bug free, then sure thing..

if it takes a lot to do, then throw it up on the proposals.

Or name it be a more apt:

"Someone I met last week and will tire of by next week - eventually kicking them to the curb in a month for the latest bit of hawt pixel azz to waste along the sidewalk like so much used kleenex.."

I'm all for anything that gives folks choices, and allows them to live their Second Lives how they choose (without harming others).

Great idea! - I voted Yes!

Oh! I need to learn Poser and make balls for group sex! I'm gonna be so rich!


Ananda wrote:


Now that would cause a nifty chaos, imagine all the drama when they break up!


Perhaps someone could start a realityshow now, with the videostreaming.

I'm strongly in favor of SLers being able to associate any way they want... until something interferes with the 2.0 release getting out the door. Let's get revamped groups in general first, then worry about multiple partnership, S groups, polyamory, or whatever we should call it.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna establish a routine so Maeve Morgan will have an easier time stalkin' me...

I voted no because it's just a bunch of senseless coding for them to do. If we're gonna be partners, I'd much rather share land through group officerships and have mutual edit rights than simply have my name listed in a text box.

Those features already exist and, in addition to be useful, provide us with the ability to display our complete trust to each other. For publicity I just shout "I LOVE SULUMOR" from the rooftops. ahem yes well...

hehehehehe, just form a group. Groups are already set up to require three of more. Let's keep the developers working on slightly more important thing.

Just my two cents!

It should be a quick no-brainer to modify the code from "2" to "however many floats your boat". As such, it wouldn't detract significantly from other development projects.

As the slogan goes, "Just Do It".