GOR as visitor

IM me in world and we can set something up to get you whatever information you want.

Chevy

Late, late one night when I was but an SL pup curiosity got the better of me and I went into a Gor sim just to take a look around the marketplace. Well, no biggie I thought...a friend of mine told me to just read the posted rules, grab the observer tag and be polite...you'll have no problems.

Well...except for the fact that I'm a furry. Back then I knew very little of the Goreans. Fortunately for me the place was deserted and I wasn't discovered. I was only there 5 minutes or so and left. After I returned my pal told me that I was very lucky that no one saw me. Well, jeez thanks...now you tell me!

Just curious, what would have happened had I been spotted? Would I have been politely informed of the no anthro avs rule and asked to leave, cursed at and immediately ejected and banned or summarily executed?

As a furry I have used an ALT and played a human in a Gor sim.

I got tired of playing a human and as far as I can tell the only animal AV's that are allowed in Gor sims must look like real animals and can't talk.

Unfortunately a non talking animal is viewed as both prey and food

So be careful and be prepared to run/fly as needed.

Such a blanket statement! One can easily replace most of those words with common ones and have more of the old wives tales effect.

Please don't post rubbish just to hear yourself talk. I hear more in the news about someone running off to join a religion or circus than I do about BDSM lifestyles. You'll find a lot more "runaways" run away from home because of other issues than "Master/Mistress said to".

As I have been in the D/s lifestyle for 8 years, both offline and online, not once have I known anyone to just up and run off because of a relationship. Most of us play safe and sane and extremely careful.

And I tip my hat and bow deeply to you, Chevonne Cazalet, very well said! I am not Gorean but I do know some who are. Just like all other walks of life, there are shining examples of decency and of arsehatedness everywhere. I have met more of the latter outside of the lifestyle.

A friend of mine once invited me to see some Gor sims several months ago.

She was ah, how shall I say it... NOBODY messed with her in the Gor world, and one of these sims I was shown was her own.

I'd not seen any of this sort of Gor thing ever before (or since, to be honest) and was expecting... 'something'.

I asked if I should wear a visitor title or any of that stuff... the answer was essentially no, don't even bother.

Though perhaps I was getting the executive tour - I'm not sure if my experiences would have been the same as a three day old furry with no connexions.

* * * * *

These sims looked pretty nice settingswise - very impressive actually. What I found was... shocking, mindbending, overwhelming, completely unexpected... normality.

Sure, there were some nakie ladies and some rather solid looking, clothed males. Talking about normal things. Like normal people. Friendly, casual, and no... 'slave stuff' at all really, in fact I detected a sort of professional air, the sort of conversation one might have with business executives after dinner and drinks.


That was my guide's sim (we were discussing doing a themed sim together, not even remotely like Gor, at the time). From there, we went to another, and she explained that this one was very different - not so much a city but a sort of wilderness.

This wilderness sim had almost nothing to do with the whole 'Gor' thing as I'd heard of it, but seemed to be more of a game settiing.

And in that wilderness was played a sort of game she called 'kiss chase'.

To my mind, it was much as one played when adolescent on the playground, just discovering the opposite sex, with little flirts and "I like you's" - that sort of thing. Who would chase or capture whom, which person was your champion, and suchlike.

The males battled each other with weapons, as did... well, I'm not entirely clear on it but there were a sort of wild people who had a camp. Females perhaps?

We didn't really interfere, and just sort of looked around.

I had no visitor markings whatsoever, but somehow nobody seemed to fuss with unassuming 19th c. Des Shang in waistcoat and spectacles.

Apparently, yes, females can be captured and all that. But I got the sense that... if one WANTED to be captured, one could be... perhaps the social structure acts as a sort of icebreaker?

I came away with a distinct impression that the social environs was... shockingly tame and friendly.

* * * * *

As a sidenote, I found that relative to standard business scales, there are individuals (mostly RL male) who pour unimaginable amounts of money into Gor.

It was no accident that my friend could marshall resources enough for a few sims - personally I think she could pull off several with the aid of a few financially well-endowed friends.

My personal take on it was this: my friend is very poised, well-spoken, and sets men at ease very naturally - I could see a number of men wishing to finance any sort of world where they could enjoy such company, and escape realities like minivans full of rowdy kids, surly wives and busted lawnmowers.

Incidentally, we didn't end up doing any business - my honest appraisal was such that I really didn't bring anything to the table that she didn't already have, and thus any business arrangement would probably fall apart rather quickly.

When visiting a Gorean sim, be sure to wear a Barney The Dinosaur outfit. They love it!!!!


Gorean stuff just aint my thing. Some of the sims are nicely done tho.

From what I hear that's part of the new newbie experience now: find a Dom, get a collar, have him pay for skin and clothes and hair and then dump and move on. Wish I had thought of that .

I spent a little time in Gor, and I saw furrys visiting us wearing visitor tags and, so far as I could tell, they were politely ignored, just like human AVs wearing visitor tags. Of course, there are many Gor sims, perhaps in some furrys may not be welcome to visit, I bow to those with greater knowledge. I have heard rumors of hostilities in the past, but in a few months in Gor saw no evidence myself.

Gor sims are full Roleplay based on the fantasy series by John Norman, where I believe there are no furry characters. So I would be very surprised to see a furry accepted as playing any of the Gorean Caste Roles (warrior, free woman, kajira, lalala). And, indeed, in some Gor sims any furry not wearing a visitor tag would be interpreted as playing the only role they might fit, nonsentient animal. Thinking about it, since there are a very limited set of animals mentioned in the Gor books, if you were a nonspeaking furry playing an animal not in Gor -- i dunno, kangaroo? -- you would be out of place no matter how silent you were. A speaking furry AV would almost certainly be resented, as they would essentially be OOC (out of character) no matter what they said. They would very likely be asked to leave, politely or not, depending on the degree of RP-righteousness they encountered. Just as human AVs playing a Gorean role must dress for it or be ejected, a furry AV would be constrained to roles that fit it. If there are any, and there's the rub.

That said, I have also seen female AVs playing "panther" (a woodland female warrior character) lying around conversing wearing very good panther (larl, in Gor terms) AVs. It was adorable. I have also seen an AV playing the huge Gorean vicious-beast-pet, I forget what it's called, and his/her chat was confined to describing the actions of the beast. And I'm sure somewhere there's somebody playing a Tarn (flying pterodactyl-like beastie used for transport).

This is exactly what I did this past weekend. I explored Gor. I loved it, and am still exploring it. I do have some advice on how to explore Gor, but first:

Gor is no more brainwashing than any other online MMORPG. I know 4 marriages that have broken up over Everquest and there are countless cases of people actually killing somebody over WoW gold. In high school when my parents found my D&D books they literally burned them because they thought that D&D was some evil brainwashing thing because some kids killed somebody over a D&D game. None of these games has a gorean element that I am aware of (possibly D&D can, but I never played it like that). All MMORPGs can be addictive, and there are people who can't separate reality from the fantasy. Those are always the people who get brainwashed and do stupid things. If you are mentally healthy and well adjusted then you do not have to worry about it.

Back to how to explore Gor:

Go to a Gor sim and read any notecards it gives you. Wear the observer title and dress how they expect you to dress.

With the observer title on people will not interact with you unless you interact with them. You can walk up and watch/listen on a conversation, but don't interrupt the conversation. If anybody tells you to go away then comply. If anybody tries doing something that you don't like to you then tell them to shove off, you're here to observe. They can't do anything to you if you don't play along anyway.

One poster said that they were put up for auction just for being in the sim. I would not have tolerated being put up for auction simply because I walked into the sim without any roleplaying. That is NOT normal. You should have left then and there. There are too many Gorean sims in SL to put up with that kind of crap.

Slaves wear silks, which are usually somewhat transparent and don't cover much. Women with veils are free women. They have to be submissive to men to a point but they are not slaves. There are women who are not only not submissive, they fight the men. They dress like Xena (ok, not exactly like Xena, but that's the general feel). It is a myth that all gorean women are submissive.

Ask questions, but DO NOT interrupt a scene or even a conversation to do it. Gor is about roleplaying and somebody interrupting a capture or serve with questions breaks the scene (or mood). Use IMs if you must interrupt, but if you can wait for the conversation to end before talking to them.

Let's dispel another myth: Gor is NOT all about BDSM! BDSM is part of it but if you are looking for some simple kinky BDSM then find a BDSM dungeon. Gor is more like Dungeons and Dragons with some kink thrown in. Do not expect to get captured and raped and trained to be a kajira in one night. It doesn't happen that way. If you don't like detailed roleplaying then Gor is not the place for you.

It is a myth that Goreans are unfriendly. Goreans, in fact, have been more friendly and helpful to me than anybody else in second life.

The best introduction to Gor is to set up a capture. The idea is that you get captured from Earth and know nothing of Gor. Roleplay being terrified and pleading for your life and everything. Since your character is from Earth people will explain everything to you and you don't have to roleplay a character from a universe that you know nothing about.

Note: The capture does not have to be insanely violent or sexual. This is Gor, not a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sim. My capture was not violent or sexual (well, I made it violent when I decided that I should be shot in the leg or else this capture isn't going anywhere, but that was me, not my captor, and roleplaying getting shot in the leg is not that violent).

If you want to read about my adventures this past weekend then you can find it at avatar's blog here: emily6.blogspot.com

The first post is an in-character account of my capture. Below that you will find the out-of-character description of my Gor exploration. If you are looking to explore Gor, then read the out-of-character description. Here is a link directly to that blog entry: http://emily6.blogspot.com/2007/07/broken-computer.html

... and if you do explore Gor and decide to do it in Midgaard, send me an IM. I'll help you out, or most likely get you in touch with somebody who can help you, as I'm still learning myself.

Almost ALL of the Gorean Sims provide Guest or Visitor tags at their entries. If you wear one it allows you to observe BUT NOT TAKE PART IN their role play. You are expected to Ask questions, but most of the Gor Sims prefer you do so in IM.
As a guest you are immune to Most aspects of the lifestyle, but you ARE encouraged to live up to their standards of appearance (No Furries, elves Robots Etc) Dress (veils for free women in some cases, No wearing weapons for women in Most cases), and Decorum (Treat frees with respect, and do NOT interfere between a slave and their owner).
Most Gorean sims do NOT allow indefinate visits with the guest tag. If you are a frequent, and long term Visitor, you will be asked (On rare occasions politely) to either Commit to residence and full status in the Sim, or curtail your Visits. On the surface this will seem Abrupt, but many of the Goreans are very passionate about maintaining the Integrity of their role play and don't want outside influences interfering.
Be polite, be respectful REMEMBER, you are a Guest in Their Home.

Note: If you enter thier sim without Wearing their guest tag It Will be assumed you are fully conversant with the lifestyle, and you will be subject to ALL their laws and strictures up to and Including Forced collarings for Inappropriate dress or behaviour, Explaining you neglected to wear the tag May get you off ONCE But Refusal to Cooperate will probably get you banned.
As a rule the Goreans are NOT a very Liberal lot.

If you have questions about the Lifestyle but don't care to Risk a visit to a Sim just yet, talk to me In game, i'll answer your questions there, And reccomend some Good people within the Gorean community for you to Know.

Angel.

I went to gorean markets to browse for furniture many times and nobody gave me any tag...I shopped, watched and went away, nobody asked me anything( I'm female )

Most gorean markets are OOC areas, so don't go there expecting to get a feel for what the RP is like in the IC areas of the sim.
In addition, there is only one gorean sim that I know of which allows no obervers at all into the RP area. The village of Bila Haruma is a completely immersed RP environment...and they warn all visitors of that fact quite a number of times before you're allowed entrance.
There are simply three easy-to-remember things to keep in mind when visiting a gorean sim:

1. For the most part, they are deeply-immersed RP-ers. Stick to IM's when asking questions, because for some, even the double bracketing in open chat is an unwelcome distraction.

2. Read the notecards you get at the sim entry portal. They'll often answer any obvious questions you might have about the place. If you're polite, you'll get politeness in return...if you're there to critisize or condemn...expect to be treated with less civility.

3. Gorean sims are mostly, if not all, private property. Their creators are sincere fans of the books, and they take great pride in creating an atmosphere that is as authentic as possible. Don't like it? Then leave. Interested in learning more? Then remember point number one...ask someone in IM's if they have time to talk to you.

The goreans have been demonized far out of proportion to their actual behavior. Most of them are welcoming and very helpful to newcomers...they LIKE their homes, and are often very proud to show them off. But some have had their patience worn very thin by a constant whining litany condemning their position on slavery in a fantasy world.

So...don't get your knickers in a knot about visiting Gor. You might be a bit surprised at learning more about what's caused so much of a "tempest in a teapot" with a few rigid-spined individuals.

I popped into one Sim last night. It was empty pretty much, but I put on the guest tag and walked around a bit. The had no dress requirements for observers. I received a very detailed set of notecards that Iglanced through. It was a lovely sim with a great shopping area, found a gorgeous peasant dress that I think I'll wear on my next visit. I'm looking forward to going back when there are people around. The only other RP area I've seen so far was a Western one, which was great as well. I plan on visiting some more RP sims, who knows I may even one. Even I get tired of Shopping.

I think I saw you popping in at Tarnburg yesterday, Bren. You tp'd out before I could say hello. I'd love to show you around if you'd like that.

Being a Free Woman there myself, I have to say that the RP is excellent and we're not all degrated pervs. I spend about 2/3 hrs per day there and then return to my other SL activities. Most Gor sims are very well made and it's a joy to walk around and enjoy the scenery. I do recommend an observer tag and if you'd like to join as citizen, be sure to study the RP and most citizens are more then happy to answer questions unless they're engaged in RP.

Mandy C

Yes I was there briefly. I didn't see you, darn. definitely, I'd love a tour. That was the one where you land on the ship wasn't it? I had to go afk for a bit when I got there, and I figured it wasn't a good idea to stand around a Gor Sim to do it so I TP'ed out.

LOL dang! I could've collared you while you were afk!

Mandy C

Wouldn't having a Slave be hypocritical for a Freewoman?

Very true, I was j/k. Although I have seen a few with one or more (male) slaves.

Mandy C

In defense of Gor - not the sims - Haven't visited the Gor sims - I do not know that you will find many true adherents to the philosphy.

One piece of advise on Gor - read the books - then decide. The core is not about BDSM - that is incidental. Not all Goreans maintain d/s relationships. It is about knowing your place in the world - mostly it can be boiled down to, "To thine own self be true." There is a lot more to it than sex which is about the only thing that ever gets any press.

Oops I forgot to add . *I know you were joking*

(Or wishful thinking,, maybe? )

*ponders*



Very true, the books are essential to read if you wish to participate and get an idea of the Gorean community as a whole.

Mandy C

actually most freewoman in the books have slaves of either or both sexes the difference between the books and the gor life in sl is that the freewomen in the books with slaves didnt have them and use them for sexual purposes and in a few of the books the freewomen could be quite cruel to their slaves

while i was in gor i had alot of fun my only drawback were to many of the people had not even read the books and way to many did not even come close to acting close to how people did in the books and it always bothered me

What you have to remember is that like all fascists, Goreans get off on controlling people. So you should be fine as long as you do exactly what the thousand notecards tell you to do. Wear a tag, a burqa, and grovel a lot and you'll be fine.

That's right, we do! For example, when playing chess I control people by forcing them to play by the standard international rules of chess.

LOL Get over it, it's a role playing game within second life. If you don't like the rules then don't play. Not liking the rules is no reason to go accusing us of being control freaks. You can, however, call our game 'silly' if you really wanted to. No need to stoop to personal attacks. That is the kind of thing that caused all of the misunderstandings in the first place. You wouldn't want that, would you? I mean, to say that kind of thing just to cause controversy would be trolling, and I would never accuse you of trolling.

For the other Goreans here: I'm new to Gor (think I mentioned that before). Could you recommend which book would be good for a new comer to start with?

emily start with the first of the series its a little hard to get into but it helps make the other ones make more sense

i got thru book 13 but want to start all over again but am having a hard time finding the books at any shops in rl