have I been reduced to this?

I started an alt a few weeks ago and was pleased to see that one of the four tutorial sections specifically did include a station saying (paraphrased) "There's lots of places to go in SL, and they're almost all owned by other players. Respect the landowners and don't misuse their land." Don't remember seeing anything like that the first time around.

I sympatize. And that is why basically anyone is welcome on my land and in my house. And as long people behave polite and friendly, there will be no problem at all. Sure, I may explain some small rules I have (like about weapons and locked doors). If people respect these rules they are always welcome to return to my land.

Morwen.

I took the easy and ugly way out and banned unverifieds from my land. It just got tiring and sometimes uglier for not having them. Anyone who lives on this island is verified so they don't bother them...but unfortunately, even the nice unverifieds who fly around on the island don't get a chance to visit. I sometimes take them off to just see what happens....and then the nonsense starts all over again. I do agree that ban lines are ugly and annoying...but I think moreso on the mainland where you may need to travel through a banned parcel to get to somewhere.

banlines yes there a annoying but they are darn convient.
I don't care if they over-reaction it keeps idiots with the virtual stupid dicks from wandering around on my land trying to pixel rape my female guest or some strange guy coming up asking if I suck dick and cursing at me while I am in middle of something else.

I absolutely respect an owners decision to keep out the riff-raff. I don't own any land (YET) but very much enjoy seeing the work of others. I love to explore and see the awesome creativity expressed by many residents ! Although if I see an av in mini-map that is on their property I always avoid it - no need to invade someone's privacy.

But having experienced only a few isolated incidents of griefing I can sympathize with the desire to keep some control over things (especially idiots building and not responding to inquiry). I just wish that I could zoom over and not around...and see that cool house that someone spent a ton of time making! Hee hee!

Ban lines on the main grid are Bad...I don't bother flying around and explore anymore there's always a wall every other parcial.

There needs to be another way. Maybe a height limit? So you could at least fly over.

I was just recently looking at buying land...and the plots next to the land for sale were mostly ban lined. That is just BS >:

Ban lines should be reserved for whole island sims.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

I very much sympathise with the OP. I too have also experienced similar situations where people treated my property as their own personal sandbox. On one occasion I came home to find that someone had set up an urban combat area in my garden. I use combat RP areas myself so to me there was a momentary interest in this site but if I had no interest or was morally opposed in some way I would imagine that this would be very disturbing.

Moreover, I remember the first land that I owned under the old First Land scheme. My initial thrill was soon forgotten when within 3 days I was completely surrounded by No Fly Zones. You try building on a 512 plot when you can only move within your own borders. Also it was a pain in the proverbial for all my friends/neighbours who had to helicopter themselves in if they were walking to or flying into my home.

I, like many posters here, do not wish to put many restraints on my land as I have friends who are creative builders or scripters. To keep enabling and then disabling script running/object create and bring functions everytime they come and leave would be a further pain in the proverbial. Especially as I have no problem with them using my land and property when I'm not around.

The only solution/compromise that I have been able to find is to install a security system. This allows people a minimum amount of time to traverse my land (I've set it to 30secs which is more than adequate) or to take a quick pic of anything they're interested in. If they would like a closer inspection then I think it only fair that they do me the courtesy of asking and I will willingly accompany them to explain or show features. It also allows me to authorise all my friends to be able to use the property unhindered, it also allows me to ban certain griefers and general miscreants. And of course in 30 secs any griefer cannot build much though it is not the solution to them. I prefer to look upon it as I look upon it in RL. If I'm burglar in front of two houses and one has an alarm on display and the other doesn't, which one am I going to burgle?

I have used my security system for about 6 weeks now at my home and on some other land. All I can say is that the anti-social incidents described above and elsewhere have dramatically decreased and I am not pestering my neighbours and travellers with annoying bans. I won't be so crass as to say which system I employ here because there may be other systems that are better or may have features which may be more suitable for you. If anyone is interested then IM me in-world and I will tell you where I got mine from but I would suggest you shop around and compare and find what suits you best.

I've had one hour of sleep today, but I'm pretty sure you can fly over ban lines... I forget the exact height though (200 mts?).

I don't think ban lines need to be up permanently in most cases. There are times when they are necessary, but you can usually take them down again soon for the general well-being of the neighbourhood.

For me, it's FUN using Band & Eject on these kinda griefs...but to each his/her own...

I agree that once the drama has passed you'll probably be ok to just have no-build, no object entry and autoreturn running, and just ban the specific avatars who annoy you. then empty the list after a week because they won't be back.

Locked doors do keep day one cage gunners out of your home, but a green dot on the minimap is like moonlight to a moth for those people.

Freezing them can be fun, though. Make a game of it. Your land, your personal puppet show

Oh, and if you don't want people "touching" your poseball furniture, cover it all with solid prims. Maybe even have the covers whoosh up on command, or when you're not around.

Well, I can see both sides of the argument. I have a rectangular 1024, with a shop at one end, and my house at the other, and even though my shop has signage, two kiosks, and 3 different kinds of hovering text, some people can't tell the difference. Since my business and home are on the same parcel, for the prim allowance and so I can keep an eye on things, ban lines and verified-payment-only isn't really an option. I just turn on 1-minute autoreturn, and no-build, no-script; that does for most of the litter.

If I see an av on the parcel, and I'm not up to my eyeballs in texturing, I usually pop over and have a chat. I was downstairs in my house yesterday, when an av walks right past me, totally ignores me, and heads straight upstairs. Well, I have click-to-open doors, so I took great delight in moving my camera up and opening and closing the doors at random intervals. I don't know if I freaked him out, but it didn't take long before he TP'd out; if only I had some ooee-ooee music I could've played...

I blame RPGs, you know; there isn't one of them that doesn't positively encourage you to go into people's houses and have a good old root around in any chests you see lying around. Some new players need an education in the fact that SL is a different culture; we have no NPCs, no quests, no potions; we're.....different.

one thing i'd suggest, is to have a separate parcel for the main part of your house (or maybe just bedroom) with its own banlines if you absolutely need them. then you won't disrupt someone taking a hovercar through your yard or someone just walking around or exploring. i like to walk around, and even with slow speed and a skinny body it can be hard to get around banlines without flying or falling off mountains.

having a skybox as a home seems to keep the intruders away, though it's pretty much isolated from any neighbors or community. i don't use any kind of detection in my main skybox house so i can't say if anyone is there when i'm not, but i really don't care. i have build turned off so it's not like they can leave a mess.

the nice ground property i share had one guy teleport there the day after buying it because he logged in at the same location, but he was polite. no problems so i guess i'm lucky we don't need banlines there. i just hate seeing them, and i suspect it's the first thing a lot of people do without considering alternatives.

Earlier, Pansy Peccable posted about an incident with an idiot just walking into her home and refusing to leave. I was there, the "favorite neighbor" who was visiting to see her new drapes and other decorating items. The idiot who barged in was brand new that day and said he was either portuguese or Brazilian, I forget which. After being asked repeatedly toleave, he just refused. He did speak English well enough to tell both of us he was in love with us. I finally cussed him out in spanish, which I HOPE he undrestood. Pansy banned him and I, at least didn't have to worry about because I HAVE ban lines onmy property. After Pansy ejected him, he went to anothe rneighbors house and tried to hit on the guy's RL sister.

Whether you hate ban lines or not is irrelevant. the point is they ARE necessary.

I have access to the property of 2 neighbors, Pansy and the guy who's sister was bothered. Also they are both good friends, I simply would not barge into either home unless the owners were home and I was invited. If everyone had that attitude, the unsightly ban lines would not be needed. Unfortunately, there is a small percentage of people who dont respect anybody or anything, so I will keep my ban lines thank you very much.

It's not irrelevant. They're antisocial and offensive to neighbours. Banning individuals for being asses is fine, making SL a red line hell hole for everyone else in SL including the people next door is just mean.

I used to ban neighbours on a like for like basis if they had ban lines. You never saw righteous indignation like you get from someone who thinks putting red lines in the face of everyone is A-OK but how dare anyone do it to them!

I would rather encounter a generic ban line and not be able to enter, than enter an area and be individually ejected/sent home and banned by the owner for being there.
Luckely the latter hasnt happend yet.

I use a ban line just around my house, but allow people to enter the much larger garden around it.

I had to laugh at this one.

Yes they did. My origional account (not this one) was created right after SL came out of beta. I cannot remember there being a single griefer back then. It's also true that very few griefers stay in SL more than a few days and any account over a few months old is probably not a griefer.

I see the words Ban Lines used a lot.

I do not see Ban Lines as a problem at all. On my land it means maybe 10 see the ban lines which out of xx,000 is no big deal. On the other hand are you referring to "Access Lines" which deny access to all but those you list as being allowed into your land which in my case is two people?

"Access Denial" Lines I never use, "Ban Lines" I always do.


Andrew

I have a security orb on my skyhouse. I personally think this is the best alternative. It leaves my land down below open for some nice landscaping and a seat-rezzing campfire that fits 10 people...perfect for hanging out and chatting with friends or avi's wandering by.

A quick click on the teleporter or ctrl/shift/h brings me up to my house.

The teleporter has an access list just for my friends and the house has an authorised list for friends only....all others that arrive at my house (whether flying or whatever) have 20 seconds to decide their fate.

I myself don't like the restricted access/denied walls so many seem to have up but it is their property.

For myself, within minutes of my buying my 1024 and setting up my house, I was getting folks dropping in and trying to go in it. I found it a bit odd as most didn't want to even say hi, this yours? But then again, not everyone is socially oriented.

So we jump ahead a couple of days. Furniture and more is now in place. And I've got folks just jumping in and making themselves at home. Most were accounts created around the start of the new year.

I know there are many ways around locked doors and land permissions isn't a viable option as I have friends who don't have payment verified and many are new to the game. So I went the security system route. You can get a very quick peek on my land before it kicks in. You can easily cam view the outside from the Linden Road it's next to, but by the time you get inside my house, you're kicked.

I prefer to have no restrictions and be friendly but the acts of the socially stunted forced my hand. There is no excuse for poor manners and not being polite. However many use the web as an outlet for their inner brat.

So yeah, even in a virtual world we have to lock our doors and shut the garages, so to speak.

I hate the ban lines AND the orbs.

I don't see why you have to hinder innocent passers-by with such systems.

The other day I was peacefully walking to a store when an orb shouted I had 10 seconds to leave.. OR ELSE!!!!

So I ran like hell and was able to leave the land of this xenophobic citizen on time, without finding myself 100 yards away with my hair between my legs and my shoes scattered all over the place.

So for the first time I was able to inspect the property I was just almost kicked off to find out what hit me and I IM'ed the owner. I have to admit I was not as polite as I usually am, because all my bad feelings about all the times I had been kicked were rushing through my blood while I wrote this IM.

Next thing that happened is he IM'ed me back he was going to report me to the Lindens if I didn't immediately stop being unfriendly to him.

So WHO started the hostilities? I didn't. I was just doing my own thing, on my way to a shop on foot because I seemed to have to TP'ed in to the wrong co-ordinates. If you get hit by such an orb you may very well loose some of your prim attachments you have paid your precious Linden Dollars for. I call THAT agression.

Thats why I have my security orb on my sky house only.

I had a neighbor once with a security orb and even when I was on my own land, I had the thing going off on me...(he had the security radius set too far)....GRRRRR
IMing him didn't seem to help...thankfully he moved before I had to take it any further.

The only intruders that I'll get at my skyhouse are the ones that can fly above 300 meters or fall/fly from their houses onto mine hehe
....and they don't show up that often


feel free to wander around on my ground level though..I have a pretty little plot with a stream and waterfall overlooking a lake.

Security orbs should only be used against a list of known troublemakers. Use against anyone who happens to fly past is really just a form of griefing.

Not quite.
and not even close to being an annoyance to someone just flying through. 20 seconds is a LONG time when flying by a house

And to all those people enjoying their flying machines, I'm sure they are MORE than willing to endure one drop down blip instead of running into a wall and then trying to navigate around or over it.