Content Ratings of Second Life's Top 50 Sims: 54% Moderate, 34% Adult, 12% General (November 2010)

At Sexy Islands, Second Life's most popular site in November

Last week I reported November's top 50 Second Life sims by most visitors, as compiled by Metaverse Business. I asked Louis Platini, CEO of the SL data gathering service, to update that list by content rating designation, and here's the results:

• 54% are Moderate (formerly categorized as Mature)
• 34% are Adult (Rated for extreme sexual and violent content, accessible only after adult verification)
• 12% are General (formerly categorized as PG)

Interestingly, it's not always possible to discern the content rating simply by the sim name. Sexy Islands, the very most popular Second Life sim in November, is a clothing optional beach and often contains dozens of live nude avatars, but the owners steadfastly prohibit sex from happening there. Then again, some Adult-rated islands are pretty obviously so. Of the top 50, here's the 17 Adult sims: Gor-jus Events, escort oasis, Bondage Ranch, Delightful Desires, McFarren, BROTHEL, Caladan Island, Misfits Cove, Chained Desires, Bukkake Bliss Island [sic!], Sexy Sands, City of Perdition, Rinji, Eichorn Cove, Miami Island, Skinny Dip Inn, and Terri.

Of the top 50, here's the 6 rated General: Franks Place 2, Sweethearts, REDGRAVE Mens Fashion, Morris, Virtual Spain, and Orientation Island. The rest are Moderate, including the aforementioned Sexy Islands, which I'll write about more later, as it's a bit more interesting than I originally expected.

Comments

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

"Sexy Islands, the very most popular Second Life sim in November, is a clothing optional beach and often contains dozens of live nude avatars, but the owners steadfastly prohibit sex from happening there. "

Hamlet, you ain't no Southerner. Otherwise, you'd know there is a mile of difference between "naked" and "nekkid."

The latter means "I ain't wearin' no clothes and am up to something."

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Clothing-optional locales, real or virtual, are rarely what people expect.

The same is true of the Adult category in general, really. Some retailers locate there simply because the rules are so vague that it's not clear what mechandise is "legal" in each zone.

And with the integration of the teen grid, an age-verified sim may be the only place to pursue an online relationship without risking a felony conviction.

I view the ghettoization of sexuality in SL with deep suspicion. It's something like the Archie Bunker theory of California: God is just waiting for all the fruits and nuts to get there before sinking it into the sea.

And that would be a loss. Freedom of expression isn't freedom at all if you can't express ideas that are unpopular, vulgar, repugnant, or just really, really steamy.

[Laetizia Coronet]

There is no adult website whatsoever demanding hard proof of age before granting access to it's sometimes hardcore pornocraphic content (and no, not all are pay sites). You declare you are 18 and thereby apparently the responsibility is yours (or that of your parents).
What prompted the Lab to go hardcore Tipper Gore (Miss Parental Advisory) on us all is still beyond me.
It's good that there is a Sexy Nude Beach. But this publicity will make the Lab fearful of new waves of bad press.

[Martien Pontecorvo]

/me responds to Laaetizia

Aaand the dreaded "bad press" is precisely why Linden Lab is ghetto-ising sex in Second Life.

SL already has an image problem regarding the sexy - I remember Iggy Onomatapoeia blogging about it, I think - and the Lab is trying (poorly) to overcome that.

Personally, I reckon the only way for the Lab to truly overcome the sex barrier is to shard off the hard adult stuff into a separate grid. Planet Xindra anyone?