Linden Lab! Please do NOT ever implement any kind of gender verification in SL!

Um, what is a Ningi? I'm so clueless.

Ningi, a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is valued at the rate of eight Ningis to one Triganic Pu, but thanks to the Ningi's immense size (almost twice as wide as the Earth's equatorial radius), it is more-or-less impossible to collect enough to own one pu. The inspiration for this may have been the Rai stones of the island of Yap.

Some people I know in SL (there's a group too) and even a couple creators are MUTE or DEAF or even both, so the voice thing won't matter to them. Never did in There or other mmos with guilds using voice chat. The bottom line about the age thing is lot of people I know use their parents cards for other mmorpgs they play and they ARE of legal age (but still) and I'm sure it's been discussed as happening in here. Age verification won't stop that. This games just shooting itself.

My god people let’s get a grip here. Outside of some potential SL financial issues, SL is not the real world. It’s make believe where the sky is the limit and people should be free to express themselves within the limits set forth by the creators and maintainers of this game. If people are using SL to find their soul mate, I’m sorry you’re probably going to fail. I have had my success and failures in the real world of love and SL is a safe place where I can have some fun and express my emotions without any fear of being physically or mentally abused.

1) I recently choose to join SL because it’s a safe way to meet tons of diverse people, experience things I can’t always do in person and well to have a whole lot of fun and not take anything that I do here too seriously. If my knight in shining armor does exist here in SL, well he isn’t just going to drop into my lap on our first few dates. He and I will have some serious work to do before anything happens in the real world. Plus I’m not looking for real world love in SL. If I want real world love, I know where to “try” and find it. In the real world, not SL.

2) I recently choose to join SL because it appears to be a way to express myself without fear of physical abuse, fear of date rate drugs, the fear of STDs and fear of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. Plus while I'm still a SL virgin (I was only born into the SL world a few days ago), I seriously doubt when I loose my SL virginity, it won't be as dramatic and sensual as my real world experience.

3) I recently choose to join SL because while in the real world I’m not an ugly or obese person, but in SL I have the ability to take that next step much more easily and almost instantly turn myself into a total fox that will turn the heads of all the straight guys I come across in the game. Tell me you can give me a head to toe make over in the real world within minutes and see the results that we can all experience in SL.

4) I recently choose to join SL because the lack of aging is on my side in SL. In the real world, time is slowly eating away at my former glory (I’m not old, but I’m not young either). But in SL, that glory and the memories from those yester’years can be (sort of) relived.

5) I recently choose to join SL because I recognize what a great venue it is for those who have not been blessed with a fully functional healthy body. In fact I get inspired every time I hear a story of how a disabled person has been able to spread their wings and fly in this SL game and count my blessings that while my real world life hasn’t always taken the path I thought it would take. My real world life is still pretty good and worth not ignoring. I’m just looking for new ways to express myself in this game and looking for new ways to have some fun and know that I need not worry about my safety.

I know this is a pipe dream, but I look forward to meeting all SLers regardless of their SL or real world genders. If you’re a guy, I’ll give you my time if it’s not already occupied, and who knows if you play your cards right you may get lucky sooner than you’d think. But don’t be asking me real world personal questions when we are in the stage of getting to know each other in SL. And if you’re a girl in SL, well then I look forward to exchanging notes with you, talking fashion, maybe hitting the town for a night for fun and “girls night” debauchery and well if I really like you (male or female) then I will be looking to share my passion of playing in the skies with you. I know why the birds sing, do you?

Finally

My 1st life has allowed me to be here to experience my new so far very exciting, but not serious 2nd life. But let’s not take our male/female encounters here on SL too emotionally people. This place should be about fun. If you’re not in it for fun, then you really need to be somewhere else. Life is too short to not get out there and live it. And if you’re handicapped and can’t experience the real world like you wish you could, just count your blessings that SL exists and let’s hope it continues to grow in a positive manner.

Sincerely
Jessica K.

PS: Before I forget. Men and women are having some really challenging communication issues in our ever changing fast paced and dangerous modern world and if we in the western hemisphere don’t start making more babies with each other, the future of our descendants is in jeopardy. I’d be willing to bet that a man would change his perspective of the world if he had to see it through the eyes of a woman for a few days and well we women make life much more complicated on the guys because we’re simply wired differently. So in that respect, what’s wrong with a little gender experimentation as long as it is kept out of our public real world lives.

The absurdity here is your staunch refusal to recognize the difference between RL and SL.

First, it is quite obvious that you are worried about getting into sexual situations with other avatars, so you can stop trying to talk around it. One could, if they felt like it, pass moral judgments on you merely for seeking out those types of situations, so I would be careful where you point that +5 Broadsword of Morality you're carrying around.

If you are looking for RL relationships in SL than you should have already prepared for the fact that others may not being doing the same thing and are under no obligation whatsoever to divulge this information to you. If you need that kind of assurance then return to RL and take your chances. From what I've heard, medical science is well on the way to making your RL encounters as iffy as your SL encounters.

I guess that means you're forever chasing rainbows but hey, YOU signed up for a service where people can express themselves however they see fit and YOU made the decision to interact on a level that could have you running counter to your beliefs. That's your problem.

Ya I'm not skilled at texturing, so my first impulse was to try and simulate my real appearance. I got as close with my eye color hair color, body type as I could, and I did not feel the need to take liberties although I was not able to depict my exact face. I was also naive enough to put my real pic in my FL section of my profile, and have had my share of grief and very 'immoral' comments tossed my way. If I take it down, which I will, I do not want it replaced by information I provided to Linden Labs with the understanding that it would not be made public. Period. And you do not have the right to force me or anyone else to relinquish my right to draw my own line of demarkation between RL and SL so your VR Fornication is speculation free. Switch your computer to 'OFF', go to a bar or club. Simple as that.

Nicely said.Welcome .

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Giving money to a thug at gunpoint is also "voluntary". For the longest time, the IRS 1040 booklet contained a note from the President thanking the citizens for participating in "Voluntary Compliance" by paying taxes.

Look around, you guys...virtually every new feature coming in here is referred to as "voluntary". And they are. If of course, you don't mind being cut off from 80% of the grid for not surrendering your passport/ss info, and you don't mind being treated as a gender switching leper instead of a woman for not putting your RL gender on blast for 2 million strangers. There won't be half that many strangers in RL who will know my gender before I die, so why should they know it in a virtual sim?

Oh and of course, let's not forget being the same gender-hopping freakazoid instead of a woman if you don't want to run your mouth in voice chat so everyone else can make lewd comments and noises with confidence and surety.

These people don't care about your security or comfort. Or your freedom to protect yourself. They don't care about mine either, and I have too many past experiences and current psychological needs for security to last here much longer if they don't start caring - right now. I will hate leaving here, but I will contact my close SL friends outside of SL and eat my $ loss rather than wondering every day whether my history will be repeating itself this week.

Thanks Brenda (you did mean me right)?

No matter - I am 150% behind you on this. One of the greatest joys of my life was getting lost in fantasy literature to such a degree that I was completely oblivious to my real surroundings. When I took those journeys, I did so in an environment that promised me sufficient safety to become that absorbed.

I am here because SL claimed it was attempting to offer a similar environment. I am confident that I speak for all women here when I say that, and that the makers of games like this should not be whining about lack of female customers and talking about jeapordizing our safety out of the same mouth.

Sorry...You and Jessica.

Many thanks Kascha for your thoughtful comments.

So following your line of reasoning Kenn, if I met you in REAL LIFE and you were not aware that I am actually cross-gender in SECOND LIFE then I would be equally as morally and legally blameworthy!!!???

I don't expect to change the minds of the few cretans running around in SL, only to point out how utterly void of reason this argumentation is.

Sorry Kenn, but you don't "get" SL... so stop trying to scrw it up for the rest of us.




"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams", Willy Wonka (a.k.a. Gene Wilder).

If we have gender verification, one might still be faced with that irresistable hunky guy in SL being a fat, bald 60-year-old man in RL, or that sultry SL sex-goddess being a 20-stone 'bull-dyke' with a buzzcut in RL! The jovial big black jazz guy in SL might be a morose white person in RL.

So - after gender verification, what next?

Race verification?
Weight / height verification?
Age verifiation (actual age rather than just 'over 18')
Avatar authenicty rating on a scale of 0 - 10 measued against photo of RL?

Well that's when we bring in voice and webcams and SL becomes , as Colette likes to say, the next version of E Harmony.

Nobody was even talking about gender verification until this thread started. Now we have a quote from a Linden in this thread about voluntary gender verification. I am not sure this matter is progressing in the right direction!

Our RL gender is of course private and it should remain that way.

Actually the thread was started in response to Robin's comments.

So your conversation took place before this thread started. OK, that was not clear to me. Sorry.

Hoorah!!! This is so well said, I have nothing to add except applause!! Thank you Kascha for ALL of your intelligent thoughts on this issue!!

Yes I can imagine Islamic countries would appreciate LL acquiring and publishing this information, so as to react appropriately to women and men in their countries who violate their laws.

I can imagine social predators within and outside of the World appreciating this information as well.

I can imagine too that it might assist those democratic yet perhaps at heart homophobic countries, with government clearances, employers or even insurance companies who consider gender social roleplayers to be security or financial risks.

Ah but you think only LL will know our RL and SL names, and their security can never be breached... errr, at least not again? The Age Verification plan I have read of will provide a third party with that information, either en masse or by "voluntary" participation request triggers... The third party provider identified in some posts already also provides financial, political, employment and other demographic information happily to governments, businesses and individuals. Wish I could remember the name; will try to add at some point.

Yep, and I'm still scratching my (er) head. Realizing how ppl stuck in rigid dualist (and archaic) roles will percieve my aspirations of transhumanism which sexuality will best be described as all and none of the above(depending on my mood that week). I'm guessing that it won't be greeted openly and affectionatly. and what gender would i post then? EH?

Heh, that sounds like you should be added to the "creepy dude" list. Sounds like you're trolling for women. Why should women make it easy for you? If a woman wants to go on Skype and show you she's a gal via voice and webcam - then that's her perogative.

What next, do you want certification if they're not married too? What the heck do you think this place is? A dating service?

The rest of us are quite happy leaving you in the dark. Maybe you'll think a little bit more about flirting with a woman or making obscene comeons until you're a bit more sure if she's interested, or not.

If the woman doesn't want to share it - shut up and move on. Stick to real life if it matters that much to you. You know, where at least she can pour her drink on you in disgust.

I don't know, I can see a case for it - for those who may want it. However, I don't know if it's going to be that huge a problem. If it's made to be only visible to people on your friends list, and only if you want it to be visible for them - I don't see the argument why people who may want to verify their own gender voluntarily should be denied it.

However, I am completely against making such information available to strangers just browsing a profile. It should never be visible.

Making it voluntary is kinda like the voluntary question "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the..." of McCarthy era/Blacklist fame. And if LL is not checking - well, hon, what gender do you WANT me to be tonight? So what's the point?

I think if its something you have to pay for - I seriously doubt that the masses will bother to do it.

So if the majority are unverified anyway, which is the current case - it won't matter. You'll blend in to the masses. So that's why I don't see the sky falling

and I repeat - it should NEVER be visible to strangers! Especially not searchable for strangers!


Man, talk about candy for a sex offender. Don't make their job easy.
Otherwise - no I don't see this as a big worry issue as some of you are portraying it to be. I seriously doubt most people are going to verify. So this issue is moot, because there can be no gender verification without identity verification.

Prim attachment!!!

Using those to display a verified gender makes about as much sense as verifying gender in the first place (ie. none).