SL "Superheroes"

That's another creative solution - not sure who would decide who to swap out for a real attendee when the sim filled up, but it's certainly thinking outside the box.

Or, um, the sim.

I totally agree with Angelique here. The Alliance Navy used to "patrol" sandboxes (laughable, since it is impossible to police a sandbox, as they are totally anarchic in nature). After they moved to Enceladus, they began to make attacks on other groups (even when the groups were in *gasp* no-combat zones) that appeared to be griefer. They still do this, by the way. It seems to me that the AN misses their days of being vigilantes, and want to feel needed again. That seems very childish to me, especially since their members seem to be almost psychotic about being in an SL military, particulary that Harlequin Salome character, who lives "for" the AN, and devotes his entire time to it, insulting everybody and acting like he's better than everyone else. But I digress....

As hard as I try, I cannot fathom the true reason why griefers grief. Think about it, a threat in RL would be a serious thing. However, in SL death is only temporary. Also, it would seem that griefers attack just to annoy people and get a reaction out of them, a point that has already been noted. This kind of behavior is commonly attributed to children and their games of "why, why,why." (If you have kids, you probably know what I mean). I just wish Linden Labs would finally say to themselves "You know what, maybe free accounts were a BAD idea!" Ah, if only.

With SL on target for hitting the 2M member mark by Christmas, and the average count of concurrent logins being around 15,000 or so, the Linden-to-citizen ratio has worsened to around one Linden per 150 citizens online at any given time - and that again assumes 100 Lindens being online constantly, which we all know by now is not the case. I'm revising my estimate to one Linden per two thousand citizens online.

Also, the number of AR's the Lindens receive is passing 2,000 per day, so at this point AR's may be being filtered out and closed as being unresolvable simply because they contain (or do not contain) certain keywords. It is certainly beyond their ability at this point to read and resolve every single AR by hand. They simply do not have the resources.

PvP doesn't belong in sandboxes. Only in combat zones. No weapons zones and weapons testing for a reason.

I love the idea of "Secondlife Superheroes", but it runs into the same problems as has been pointed out with respect to "Real-life Superheroes" outside of the comics - that it becomes vigilante justice.

Of course, some comics even explore that idea - like "Watchmen".

I prefer 'The Authority'

Dark vigilantism..showing both the positive and negative of human nature.

You think you're distracted now, you need to drop by the Cantina when I model the latest holiday fashions.

But I digress...

I have found that the inworld "police" groups are just as much a problem, if not more so, than the random griefer. One of them recently got quite belligerent when he was informed (politely) that the sim I was in at the time had its own security forces and in order to stay he would have to stand down and disarm. He refused and the land officer on duty issued a one-way ticket to the banlist.

To the poster who thinks that banning unverifieds would be bad for business owners inworld, that is evidently not the case as I am coming across more and more commercial sims with that restriction. One in particular that is doing a booming business, plus her products are no trans, so she is obviously unconcerned, or feels the potential lost revenue caused by the added security of keeping a segment of the pupulation out is a justifiable business expense.

YMMV.

Cheers.

yeah pretty much I just went through a heavy greifer attack. been bothering us for days. Even managed to TP EVERYONE HOME. I'm familiar and very versed in most of the options except the small details. I co-run an RP sim and honestly can say I keep it open to everyone. Here's a few small hints I picked up from my encounters with griefers, being friends with some,e tc.

1) NEVER SHOOT A LINDEN! (something tells me they don't like that.) Yes it has happened. Linden comes to investigate and griefer sees "dots" and never checkes names.

2) LL can detect logins from same location. In otherwords go ahead use an alt...you tick off LL enough they WILL still take out your main character, your alts, and any other character that they have on record logging in from your location! (had an accident happen with two friends over this.)

3) LOCK DOWN YOUR LOCATIONS AND GROUPS! This is sadly one even I miss wanting to make things easier and trusting people. If not on all the time think about a "quick release" to turn them on.

4) AR, Ban, AR, ignore, AR, contact LH, AR, and as a last resort contact a Linden directly if it gets chronic. In those orders. Get others involved to sumbit ARs as well. It kinda shows the "scope" to the lindens.

5) Talk to neighbors. Sometimes you can get a group of people together and ban him all around you. Not as easy but it is an extra step. The more distance the better.

I'm siding with Kalel Venkman on this one - vigilantes work outside the system, and I've seen how his Justice League works, and they don't do this. If you want help, they help, and if you don't, they're gone. And they always play by the rules, and they're one of only one or two groups in SL that do, superhero or otherwise, that work completely within the ToS and get things done anyway. (Not counting the Lindens themselves.)

I've been griefed far too much in SL. The one very serious time, I can say that a Linden did show up and free me from the bubble in which I'd been imprisoned (in which electric shocks made my av's hair do some really nifty stuff), but when I asked if I needed to file a separate AR, the Linden was gone, never to return. That was it. Nothing was done to the griefer despite pictures, logs, whatever.

It's frustrating to report griefers and have NOTHING happen. I'm not talking about being pushed here, or having someone poke his rather large and unattractive Lee press on body part at me. I'm talking about someone trying to sell my land (no response to AR), and locking me in a bubble (no response to AR). It makes me understand why Kid would want to take this on. I've gotten ZERO from the Lindens when it comes to protecting me and mine in world.

I'm proficient with ban, I know how to file AR's, but it's hard to not join the superhero movement when you feel that the frontier has no sherrif. It's pretty much take care of yourself in SL, and when you do, here comes the griefers. There's just not enough enforcement of the TOS. Griefers exist because they get away with it and they like doing it. It's like crime. If there aren't any cops, the drug dealers get bolder on the corner.

So, Kid, your heart's in the right place. I just might join you if I can find a cape.

This superhero idea sounds ok, as long as your group of heros are people you trust enough. Anyone can pose to get in and mess things up. BTW would you be interested in Furry Superheros? I know It's something hard to find but I am a purple spirit wolf mystic so i could be "Wolf Girl" Or" The Purple Feral" rendering the power of purple to aid me.

*is reminded of the stephen lynch song: if i could be a superhero* That song cracked me up.

Seen Legion of Superheroes yet? the Timber Wolf character is pretty cool.

Krazzora makes good points.



IMHO, on your own land the 5 key things to do if you're getting a lot of griefing are :
1) Lock down the land settings - turning off "create objects" and "run scripts" for the public are very effective. Stopping objects from entering your parcel is good too. Banning unverifieds is very good, but hits your traffic so badly it may not be worth it.

2) Have a security team, and make sure the security team can freeze/eject/ban on ALL your land. Have them do it via a security orb if you want logs.

3) Make sure your visitors know about filing ARs and how to contact your security team, so they can get help.

4) Use BanLink. It helps a lot.

5) Make sure everyone who sees griefing files ARs on it as such.

The "Proactive Security" and "Second Life Anti-Griefing Guild" groups may also help.

Angel Fluffy

Sorry should have clarified I assume those have already been resolved and that you have taken all proper precaustions as best you can in your unique land situation to disallowe griefing. These steps I mention are to prevent further griefing like the kind many experience after the ban. I don't always have my land 100% locked down cause it does inconvience and annoy the players in my sim heavily along with the fact you can't start a fire fight over someone else's land, then you become the griefer. It's really a balancing game and every situation is different but yes I agree with what you said angel initially. I just jumped to "if the usual stuff fails."

I got no problem w/ the superfreex...but greifer's (gangs...why are folks nice enough ta call 'em by a poofy nickname) claiming they banded together to fight griefers, is a whole different thing.

As a matter of fact the majority of "SL Military" groups have gang allies. The 2 Supergroups I know about...the Green Lantern Core, and The New Justice League, are more like The Gaurdian Angels.

http://www.guardianangels.org/

or the lesser-known, self proclaimed "real life superheroes" like Angle-Grinder Man in the U.K., and Mr. Silent in the U.S.

I forget where the main hub site is for the "Real Life Superheroes" wordwide community, but heres a MySpace Profile of one:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=55630609

He's Police Sanctioned in his home town of Clearwater, FL, USA to do what he does because he has proven his common-sense and non-willingness (is that a word?) to step outside the law. The New Justice League in-world has criteria for joining, and from what I've read I doubt Kalel would have any tolerance for Vigilantes in the group...thats just my 2 cent


*goes back to sellin' virtual narcotics in-world*

*watches the videos on that myspace site* it's penut butter jelly time!!!! XD

LOL...when I used ta talk to him he DID mention gettin' "cat calls" from the ladies while on patrol

What i find shocking is that this guy is only a few counties away from me. I'm in Spring Hill which is between hernando and pasco.

Aah, they're not so much. You used to see them around, but they just hang around on their own island now. Never a Lantern around when you need one. They're all over there contemplating their navals.

While it is not an attribute of the game that I am looking forward to experiencing (the newbie that I am), crime and grief are a part of most societies... why should we expect SL to be any different?

Customer service is there to provide assistance with the software, right? Are they also supposed to be a governing body for the society that we create within that environment? Isn't one of the aspects of the environment that we, as members, are in control (to some extent)?

I'd submit that if we keep an eye on the situation as it progresses, you will see a growing number of SL members reacting to crime as it, too, grows. Like the "wild west" of the early U.S., SL will most probably begin to form some governing or policing body as time goes on. No doubt, we will see the development of local, zone or global laws over time, simply because the society will need them... and there's nothing to say that we can't devise, create and implement a governing body (of the people, by the people, for the people) to ensure that member rights are protected without being constricted.

It's an interesting experiment that we are a part of...

QFT

Any other POWERS and people might think youre a griefer too...

In danger of repeating things I have said before many times, written into the core programme of SL is the potential to liberally use weapons anywhere in SL. Whats man made, can be unmade. Why not simply restrict the use of weapons to designated areas? Then with the simple use of no-push, ban, mute, freeze, no-scripts etc will become more effective. Education of greifers showing them that they can have their fun in a place designated for doing all the things they want, would go some way to reducing the need to police 'normal' society in SL.

From my very limited experience of weapons in SL, you don't actually need to be able to see someone let alone be in the same sim, to be able to 'shoot' them. Bullets that pass through walls and nearly every sheild are abundant, I seen some that by the click of a button, can remove every object you are wearing, send you 1,000's of feet into the air and suspend you there in limbo, available for a few hundred L$'s and these are able to be used anywhere!

What is in almost every new comers inventory as soon as they land? A gun and a penis (males only I think/hope lol).

This would only make matters worse and is a horrible idea. Think like a griefer; which of the three scenarios is most enticing?

1) You grief someone, and they completely ignore you, not speaking a word, sitting on an object, and going about their business ignoring particle/physical/sound spam.

2) You grief someone, and they get frustrated, and respond with chat and other reactions.

3) You grief someone, and a group of "superhero" characters comes to their "rescue" for you to play with.

The second scenario is what the griefer is looking for, but the third scenario is a whole lot better. It fans the flames of griefing by multiplying those involved. It reinforces the negative behavior.

If you wish to be more active in anti-griefing, there is a method, but it has nothing to do with "punishment" or vengeance. It involves trying to show the griefer alternative ways to use SL besides griefing, such as building and scripting. This will not work for all though.

Y'all should listen to the advice of the large green praying mantis on this one. Aminom, I absolutely love that avatar.

I witnessed a griefing incident at a store over the weekend where the individual persisted in shooting customers and blocking the door with boxes despite the manager's very polite requests for him to leave. When someone asked him why he wouldn't go elsewhere, the response was, "Because I am bored, and you guys are funny." Imagine how much fun he would have had if superheroes started arriving to engage him in a shootout!

It occurred to me that I should find a landmark to some obnoxious sex club or something to keep on hand to drop on griefers because they might find that more exciting.