SERIOUSLY getting sick of all the damn griefers!

After hours of being in Sandbox Island, some idiot named [edited] decides to emit a bajillion particles in all directions at high speed. Splendid. So I IM "do you mind?" and he says "no" so I say "then you won't mind being reported to". Then, his buddy, [edited] chimes in with various "stfu" (shut the f*** up) replies after he, his buddy [edited], and others start shouting and playing annoying sounds. Really, these morons should be in the teen grid where they belong (or, better yet, the corn field--or, even better yet, banned from SL completely since they obviously don't know how to act in a civilized manner).

Anyway, the point of this post is an attempt to get LL to be more diligent about stopping griefers and have a less tolerant policy towards them. I've been suspended 3 times from SL IN RESPONSE (swearing and fighting back) to griefers. That is just stupid. I was obviously provoked yet I was the one who got suspended (who knows if the ACTUAL griefers got suspended too since suspension emails don't give ANY details (except time, date, and sim) and they're often days later so who can remember??).

A lot of abuse reports could be prevented if LL would simply implement better grief-handling tools. Take muting, for example. While it's fine for text, it's useless against sounds, particles, animations, gestures etc. Come on, LL, SL isn't a text-only medium so how about providing more thorough muting options that work on ALL forms of expression in SL?

SL also needs more sandboxes because the current 4.75 (Morris and Plum are partial) official ones (one of which, Newcomb, is essentially useless since it doesn't allow scripting) get filled up quickly and tend to crash/hang/lag so easily it's freakin' ridiculous. Not everyone can afford the outrageous prices for land (and the piddly prim count you get with it) so how about providing more space for all us freeloaders? And don't tell me you don't have the hardware because there are PLENTY of unused sims sitting idle that barely even get visited, let alone built in. I appreciate the recent addition of the "no shooting" signs and, after an IM to Torley, sandbox titlebar inclusion of "no shooting" but more emphasis needs to be placed on simply not being ANNOYING to others. Yes, the TOS mentions it but who reads it? It shouldn't take a warning/suspension to make people read it, or at least be aware of the rules, either.

LL needs to deliberately and intentionally make the points of the TOS (specifically about griefing) more known and aware of so people WON'T be inclined to violate it. If it means slowing down the registration process and forcing people to read a slowly scrolling TOS, so be it. Teens "graduating" from the teen grid should also have the TOS REscrolled to them since most teens don't suddenly mature once they turn 18 (or even years/decades later, for that matter). Orientation Island should reiterate the TOS points, too. Perhaps even walking through newbies with examples of what you SHOULDN'T do--shoot the newbie with a push gun and have them fly off-world or so high up they can't get back down within a reasonable amount of time and have to relog! Set off C4 in their face. Emit a bajillion particles around them. Have a heavily-lit, prim-heavy NPC/bot avatar come into view (after forcing local lighting on in prefs by default, of course) and lag the newbie to hell. OK, some of these are what should be done to GRIEFERS but if it gets the point home about what NOT to do, I'm all for it.

Please, LL, consider these grief management issues before I snap and kill the next griefer...

It's harsh to hear you're having such dismal experiences being griefed, Eep. Inshort, though:

1. Teens aren't necessarily griefers, nor should any youth be branded with that label simply because they are on the Teen Grid. There are many teen Resis who are productive and creative and don't like griefing either. There are griefers of all ages, and I can't help but think of senior citizen bank robbers who do exist. A problematic individual needn't stain an entire age demographic.
   

1. More sandboxes are being discussed--it's clear that at our rate of growth, and even with many exceptional Resident-run sandboxes, we're getting pretty stuffed.
   

1. Simply being "annoying" isn't against the Community Standards unless that is conjunction with something that does violate the CS, i.e. intolerant personal attacks.
   

1. Coffee added new sandbox signs to the NON-combat sandboxes to make it additionally clear there is to be no shooting there. Sometimes, people just don't know, and we want to give them that opportunity and say, "Hey, there are places you can blast your guns off in SL--just not here!" Repeat and deliberate infractions are dealt with more firmly.
   

1. I personally hope we'll have more enticing areas for combat in the future, which would entail a combo of technological and social changes. The bottom line being: "Everything in its right place."
   

1. "True muting" has been brought up before. There've been several features votes like 594 and 1032. We'll be keeping an eye on them. I agree it'd be useful, and accurate!
   

1. I hope you are better than letting violence take over you too, for that would make you no better than those who cause you grief. All too often, I've seen gun battles in safe zones escalate because no one has the personal strength to put down their gun and TP to somewhere it is allowed, even if they know. Be above "hate begetting hate", and show that you're a shining example of someone who follows the Community Standards in Second Life.
   

I hope you have a more peaceful time in those sandboxes. As you know, you can send an abuse report via the HELP menu, and if the shooting doesn't stop, please ask a Linden Liaison for assistance.