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Is this an accurate experience (assuming a "role" in SL)?

Alexandra Rucker
Metamorph
Join date: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 71
04-20-2007 21:50
Regarding Avillon:

I actually kept the notecard, because, well, I shapechange a LOT. Into a LOT of things.

My copy of the notecard is dated April 1, 2007 and reads (in part) as follows:

From: someone
[...sniiiip...]

1. DRESS CODE:

Clothing worn upon these sims must be medieval in nature (16th-17th century). Everyone must wear appropriate clothing on the Avilion sims, whether you be a guest or part of the community.

[...sniiiip....]

HUMAN CHARACTERS: Human characters have a different dress code than fantasy creatures. If you are playing as a human female, you are automatically a "Lady" upon these sims, and must wear a gown. There are no exceptions to this rule. Human males must dress as they would have in medieval times.

SHAPE SHIFTERS: Your "current" form is subject to the above rules.
If you are, for example, a human female whom shape shifts into a Drow, your human form is subject to the rules for a human female, and your Drow form is subject to the rules of fantasy creatures. You MUST make sure your current form meets the dress code.

[...sniiiiiip...]


To me, that does NOT say I cannot use a male shape/skin and then wear men's clothing if I so choose. Wouldn't be the first time, and won't be the last. *grins*

I don't see it any worse than being a staff member at a renaissance faire - simaler rules apply, you have to at least look the part you're assigned.



Beeboo, if you don't mind gender-bending once in a while, that's probably the answer to your dilemma right there.
Faybot Foxley
Morgana Le Fey's Landbot
Join date: 3 Apr 2007
Posts: 166
04-20-2007 22:18
Can I be a medieval man who wears a gown and tows his pet cat around on the silky material that hangs down from my pointy hat? lol
Sys Slade
Registered User
Join date: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 626
04-21-2007 06:57
From: Beebo Brink
The last item on this list -- lack of any real aims -- is not an issue unless you're a gamer.

It's not an issue for me, before SL I spent all my time on forums, IRC, teamspeak. If I want to play a game, I load up GTA. Never been attracted to WOW or any of the others.
However, there's a lot of people more used to having to do something, with set goals to it.
I've seen plenty of WOW players come in, look around and ask "What is the point?".

If you look at the massive worlds out there, most are game based. To me that suggests more people looking for specific aims. I think SLs style is more of a niche with a limited number of potential users.
Desmond Shang
Guvnah of Caledon
Join date: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 5,250
04-21-2007 08:18
From: Yumi Murakami
The reason why this whole issue comes up is because often, when people ask what they can do in SL, they get told something along the lines of "anything you like". This means that role-playing is important because it is the "catch-all" which allows this claim to be made. But the problem is, role-playing on SL doesn't in fact let you do anything you like, since you can't role-play anything which involves giving other people a negative experience - and a lot of what people want to do, does in fact have that effect, although they may not realise it at first.

So you might be able to earn the IC status as a king or queen, but you can't "really" play as a king or queen would because what you can do with your power is still governed by the requirement to generate positive experiences for others. You're still very restricted.


I'd like to add to this - I see it as very correct, but in a way I have those precious moments that seem to be the exception that proves the rule!

Most people treat sim owners differently. No matter HOW unassuming you are. I get people asking me to resolve their personal disputes, asking how they are supposed to dress, &c &c.

I give the standard answers.

"I would not dream of telling you how to dress"...

"It's none of my business if you have a problem with that other fellow"...

"No, I don't want to read the chatlog, in fact, it's against service terms for me to do so and I could jeopardise a lot of people's land if I got in trouble"...

... but in effect, people do treat sim owners as if they were somehow more important.

Like ninjas that win all the time!


Sure, I've got the ability to unjustly eject and ban people... which would simply mean that when everyone heard about it I'd be stuck paying almost 3000 USD a month of tier on my own.

So basically, I've got the ability to be phenomenally stupid... yay! Nothing I ever could or would do.


The toughest cases are the 'official complaint to the sim owner' ones. It's one thing to mention that a noob left junk all over someone's lawn - that I swing by and take care of, but this isn't about that.

These are deeply personal, usually laced with multiple chatlogs embedded in the notecard, accusations, invectives, and 'evidence'.

Never have I had any of the impassioned ones be about anything that was my business. Usually it was "X said something" or "Y did this in business and we agreed on something else".

I wonder what, precisely, I'm wanted to do? Perhaps I'm supposed to tell the accused to wear a scarlet letter or something? No one has yet suggested a desired result in any of these... they only seem to wish for some vague, dire consequence based upon their missive.

I sympathise... but the message to take home is that all sim owners are just residents like anyone else. Equals. Period. Or at least, they should be.

I took an ethics class in college once, but justice isn't my forte, and I don't think it's anyone else's specialty either. There's always group consensus, but after reading Lord of the Flies I think such a thing on a private island might be... less than wise. grins

Yumi, I agree with you totally... just saying there are some roles that people like to riff off of, and I guess sim owners are ripe targets for being misconstrued as authority figures. :)
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Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!
Beebo Brink
Uppity Alt
Join date: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 574
04-21-2007 08:42
From: Alexandra Rucker
Beeboo, if you don't mind gender-bending once in a while, that's probably the answer to your dilemma right there.

Calling it a dilemma is overstating my emotional investment in the Avilion sim. I was a casual tourist, willing to follow local custom for a few minutes, but not beyond that.

If I had wanted to role-play in that sim for any extended time, then creating a male avatar would be the obvious and easy solution. But oddly enough, I'm not sure I would be comfortable doing that for any extended time either. I've tried creating a male avatar before, and the prospect of being able to switch genders was one of the aspects of SL that first intrigued me. But I haven't been able to carry it off, perhaps because -- as I've stated before -- role-playing per se just doesn't interest me.

Wearing a male avatar is assuming a role, because that's not me. No matter how attractive (in a overall sense) I may find a particular male avatar, it's not a reflection of who I am. Just as some buxom, hip-swishing feminine avatar is not me either. I can't even pull off wearing a gown without feeling completely dorky. It's like the avatar detaches and becomes an object on the screen rather than being my portal into SL.

In RL I'm just middle-of-the-road androgynous, you know, one of those women who wears jeans and a sweatshirt or nice pant suits for dress up, and not much make-up. In SL, I am much more overtly butch and wear mostly men's clothing. It feels right. And I can really indulge in that expression here, in a way that I wouldn't dare in RL. I just don't have the kind of courage to buck conventions in a way that draws unwanted attention.

So, if anything, I'd say I'm playing FEWER roles in SL than I am in RL, where I compromise myself to fit in.
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www.BrazenWomen.com
Cyn Vandeverre
Rabid Learner
Join date: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 45
Digression on medieval
04-21-2007 18:03
I'm amused that the notecard said "16th-17th centuries." Medieval is generally held to be Fall of Rome (call it 500 AD) to just before the Renaissance (call it 1500) for Europe.

During that time, women's clothing in the poorer classes consisted of a white linen tunic as underwear and a wool overtunic, usually colored and ankle-length, plus headcovering. They didn't have separates, really; the "blouse and skirt" idea came in much later. Men would wear the same thing, or a version around knee length. As time went on, and as you went up the economic ladder, there were some differences, but I won't talk your ears off about one of my favorite subjects.

People looking for accurate medieval costumes may wish to visit my store "Vandeverre's Emporium" in Caledon II 196, 101, 22
Ace Albion
Registered User
Join date: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 866
04-23-2007 06:07
Well, if Avilion is a roleplaying sim, with costume requirements for participants, then I'd personally shrug it off and walk away if I didn't like it. If they allow people to "visit" without playing a role, then dress codes probably don't apply- because you're not "playing" a human female, you just are one. But if not, well, it's their sim, and their fantasy setting. I think there's several hundred thousand words (if not millions) of debate around this with respect to the Gor sims, and their themed roleplay, to risk lighting the touch paper to that whole thing.

There are also sims where simply not being a lesbian will get you ejected, or at least made to feel thoroughly unwelcome (according to the land description/entrance notecards, I don't hang out at those places). People like to build their niches, and protect their little fantasies. There are 3000 more sims out there worth visiting, so I would just shrug and move on.
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Ace's Spaces! at Deco (147, 148, 24)
ace.5pointstudio.com
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