Questions you ask upon meeting people

Someone briefly mentioned the "where are you from?" question on another thread, and it got me thinking . . .

I've been here close to 3 weeks now. When meeting a new SLifer, it's usually these questions I get asked - "How old are you?" and "Where are you from?" What answers do you give? Do you give your real age, or the approximate age of your avatar? And, do you just tell them the country you are from?

I figure I got nothin to "hide" but my home address and phone #. Otherwise I have no objections to answering:

"A/S/L".

In close to 8 months here, I don't believe I've ever been asked either of those questions, nor have I asked them. Location has just sortof materialized in conversation with a few folks, but never has age or location been the conversation starter. Being the old school IRCer I once was, I suppose I've learned to steer clear of it. It's an immediate indicator that "This will not evolve into anything meaningful".

I generally ask "what do you do for fun in here?" That usually gives a good summary of that person in context with SL. Then I quickly know if we have things in common or if this person is crazy...or rather a crazy that isn't compatible with my crazy!

I usually snap back with something smartass, like "the womb, originally, and you?"

A great deal of the time, I've noticed this question coming from European newbies. Maybe they're seeking to speak in their native tongue, or share a commonality of locale?

"Where are you from?" and "What do you do" are the two biggest. In distant 3rd are "Do you wanna have sex?". But now that question is usually asked only by "certain" people.

Im asked where Im from- daily - from about half of the people I meet

People never ask me my age. Since my profile says "mom of two teens" maybe they just deduce it though.

Ill ask people rough (Continent or Coast) type location if they mention a radically different time zone than I am.

Usually I just ask peopel what they like to do in Second Life.

It annoys me to no end when men ask my age, I tell them it is rude to ask a womans age. I have no problem telling anyone what state I live in but there are limits to what I will give out and nones getting my address or home phone.

And OMG asking for sex is a BIG turn off...........LOOSERS!

Recently I have encountered more and more people from Europe who start out with "What country are you in?" or something to that effect. This is especially true if I am on'line at what for me is my early morning or lunch break, which for a lot of Europe is their evening prime time. I also get that because if someone speaks a non-English language to me that I am at least partially fluent in, I'll at least greet them in the same language. I chatted with a Frenchman for a while and he thought I was French, until I had to ask him to translate a phrase that I was not familiar with.

If they ask politely, I don't mind telling people what country and state I am in, or what time zone. I won't tell them what city, unless they are a good friend.

If they ask age or gender, they get answered in terms of the avatar they are talking to at the moment. Which for Ceera means they get told I am over 700 years old, and a female Kitsune (a Japanese Spirit Fox). *smirk* If they ask how old my Player is, I'll simply assure them that I am well over 21, married, and that the rest of my personal details don't really matter, since I never meet or date with my SL friends in RL.

Yeah, I haven't been asked my age unless the subject is brought up. I generally don't care enough to avoid the question, but if the person gives me a creepy vibe or whatever I tell them I'm 2 in SL.

i'm the sarcastic git who, when confronted with the A/S/L question in second life, responds: 1/Male/Waterhead. it feels more like i was born at Waterhead WA than Orientation Island for some reason anyway. i saw OI as more of a heavenly stop gap for ugly cherubs to put their make-up on before being thrust into the welcome area. course, there was no help island then.

My reply is always "3 years, you can tell where you are by looking at the top of the screen, and if you can't tell by looking, go take a biology class."

This is a new phenomenon in SL, and one I've only started to encounter with any regularity since mid-Spring. It's to be expected, I supose, but I hope it goes away quickly.

Kam

this is true Ceera the "where are you from" questions are far far more common in the last few months then they were for the previous 2 years.

Back when I started in 2005 - No one ever asked me where I lived.

i usually get:
who do you think you are?
hey, what are you doin?
what are you gonna do with that whip?

I usually answer...HEY turd ball! I'm the god damn Jumpman!
i do what i wanna do!

My answer to A/S/L is: 26(permanently) / isn't it obvious / Egotherapy Centre,Yosu sim.

I do say that I came to SL from UK, though. That narrows the search from 6 billion people to 60 million.

I got asked yesterday by a newbie "What are you doing here alone?" - I was actually standing in my garden!!!!!!

I've been asked if I wanted to "go somewhere quiet" quite a lot but I have to LOL at the blokes who just say "have sex with me" as their opening line. It's about as effective as saying "give me all your lindens, your land and your house".

Other things I get asked are "where can I get some money?" and "can you give me money?" Another strange one is "where is the big city?"

Oh yes, and in sandboxes I get "what are you doing?"

A/S/L gets, "Old enough to know better/Not getting any/State of insanity." I don't know why, but personal questions irk me when asked as a conversation starter. Come to think of it, most of the people who use that right off the bat usually follow that up with, "Wanna cyber?"

Actually, I don't mind giving out my location. I live in the hicksticks of Arkansas. *shrugs* Not like I haven't posted that before, so....

As I am in SL as myself, I am not really shy of telling people my age, reafferming that I am a guy (After all I primarily roleplay the opposite sex in other mediums.), or location starting with Country and province or region first, then maybe my closest internationally known city if it comes up around close aquaintences. Of course the detail I give is proportional to my previous interaction with them and the vibe I get.

Personally I start off with "Hail {There Name}." or "Hail all." in greeting, and follow up with "How are you doing?". I use "Hail" rather than the standard greetings because well... everyone uses them, so "Hail" is my default internet greeting.

Actual IM exchange (ALL OF IT) the other day:

[17:21] X: are you rich?
[17:21] Osprey Therian: no
[17:21] X: oh ok
[17:22] X: bye

Them: Where are you from?
Me: Here.


The most memorable "Where are you from" was very early in my SL. I was building on my First Land when I was approached (like, walked right up to - in my face) by a Born-Today resident.
She was vaguely female in shape and unclothed. Alternatively, she had found an avatar based on the things that apparently died in the Roswell UFO crash.


She: shall we get both naked? where are you from
Me: I'm from here.
She: i am homelesss then
You: There's a time and place for everything y'know
She: where
Me: You're in a rush aren't you. A girl likes to be courted.
She: why courted? what have i done
(Language problems? She thinks 'courted' = legal action?)
Me: If you want rumpy-bumpy at the drop of a hat, there are all sorts of places. All sorts of varieties. Search for your favourite perversion/joy in Groups.
She: you mean lik bisexuals?
Me: But you'll have better luck if you invest in a body , skin,and maybe hair.
She: yes i would love to have hares
(Aha! Into animal sex then?)
Me: You need some nipples.
She: you are so beatyful
(A drop-dead gorgeous friend of mine then arrives)
Me: Look behind you x,. Now there's a stunning woman. You need to buy that sort of kit.
She: can i watch you both kissing
Me: No you can't , you can piss off and get some shopping done girl / boy !
Friend: c ya!
She: cu

Yeah, I've come a long way since that day. I meant to say I was sorry......

I must say that I'm quite surprised that opening questions like 'where are you from?', 'what do you like to do in sl?' and 'how old are you?' are taken so offensively by some. I would consider them perfectly acceptable because I've always assumed that most people prepared to engage in a SL experience should be reasonably prepared to expect such inquisitive questions and be equally prepared to answer them (except overly personal and offensive ones, i.e. 'do you want to have sex?'... that's stupid of course!!!).

As a relative new-comer to SL who is looking to make new friends, often all I have to go on when I first met someone is a mere visual representation of their animated avatar standing in front of me... I don't know anything else about them whatsoever, so I mean to assume that we're all meant to come up with some strikingly thought-provoking and 'original' one-liner to start the conversation off is absurd. I don't know, maybe it's just me... but what type of non-offensive alternative opening lines are there other than the usually boring 'how are you?' which usually gets followed up with 'i'm good, and you?'. I mean, yes, let's be polite... but let's not be overly sensitive about genuinely inquisitive questions either.

I get the impression (maybe way off) that sl was a bit of a US club until recently. The apparently newish phenomena of the “Where are you from” question doesn’t seem to be well understood by many long timers. I say this because many of the long timers seem to assume that when asked this question we want your town or county name (was very supprised when once told somebody's US county). As a newish non US based Avi I can assure you, if I ever ask that question, I’m not after your home address, county, nearest capital city, state I'm just after a vague geographic location, time zone or Country. So why ask this question at all? For me it basically it helps give me an idea of
a) when your likely to be in world should we be friends or likely to be so,
b) gives other clues has to how I should interact with you, ie. Not going to talk local sports news or politics with somebody outside my time zone who would have no idea what I’m rabbiting on about.
c) other general stuff like that.

As for the Age question, I’d never ask that unless I was really good friends with you and it came up.

I assure you that is not the case.

I can understand the "where are you from?" question better than I can the "how old are you?" particularly if you are trying to get a handle on language, etc. I don't see the point in asking someone's age unless I've chatted with this person a few times and have begun to get to know him/her.

Granted.... the age question probably is a bit off... especially as an introductory question.