New World Notes

No, Virtual World Ageplay By Consenting Adults Is Not Legal (In Many Places)

There's been lots of heated reader discussion about last week's update on the lawsuit against Linden Lab, which alleges the company has not adequately prevented money laundering, sex abuse, and virtual world ageplay in Second Life. Some of these comments, unfortunately, contain a profound misunderstanding of of age play in particular that should be addressed -- for instance, this:

Is it pedophilia when two 45-year-old people using the SL system have pixel sex, and one has a mesh female adult body and the other a mesh child-like body? Is this pedophilia?

Is it pedophilia when two 45-year-old females using the SL system have pixel sex, and one has a mesh male adult body and the other a mesh female child-like body?

Legally speaking, the answer to both questions is yes -- in many countries around the world that are essential to Second Life's survival as a virtual world. To quote this analysis by lawyer Benjamin Duranske from 2007, when the age play controversy as reported by a German TV news story, utterly tarnished Second Life's brand forever:

Survey Results: Tepid Interest in Attending Second Life's 16th Birthday

Not a scientific survey by any stretch but still worth talking about: With 101 readers responding, about 54% say they have "Somewhat" or no interest at all in attending Second Life's official 16th Birthday celebration. Reasons for the relative disinterest? Judging from reader comments, the main reason brought up most often is lag. However, "Cormoran" also alleges a loss in shared culture:

Psychedelic Zebra Sex, Alien on a Stripper Pole: What's Your Strangest Second Life Experience?

Reddit's /SecondLife has a fun thread on "the Wildest/Weirdest Experience you've have on SL", including some that are just horrible and disturbing (i.e. racist roleplay) while others are refreshingly zany:

Long time ago I was in a sandbox and suddenly a lamp avatar started talking to a toaster avatar. It got a little NSFW. The light got turned on and the toaster ejected burnt toast all over the sim.

Well OK then! The thread inspired blogger Meri to go into further detail in a post, including the time a Linden staffer showed up as an alien (above) which danced on a nearby stripper pole.

All of which reminds me that I've never got around to telling my story of Psychedelic Zebra Sex:

SL Should Adopt VRChat's Avatar Rankings -- And SLers Should Be Less Like Barbie, More Like Elizabeth Warren (Comment of the Week #2)

Great conversation in this post praising VRChat's new avatar optimization rankings (from Excellent down to Very Poor, for avatars over 70,000 triangles) -- including this great comment from reader "Finni Graves", who agrees with reader "Cake" that Second Life should adopt these rankings:

I've invested a lot of my SL esteem in the whole crazy avatar adornment scene. Then one day, after trying to navigate a horrible shopping event, I've got to stop being so selfish and hogging so much resource. What's the point of looking good, if I don't feel good? These ridiculous mesh bodies, heads, hair. clothes, and accessories are literally sucking the life out of our SL. We must simplify ourselves because this whole hamster wheel isn't working.

Cake is right. All of us need to be graded harshly and it is our duty to ask ourselves, " do I really need this?". It's also the duty of content creators to make consumers aware of the optimization of their products and to guarantee it. They should have to be graded too, at least on Marketplace. 

Finni says SL's many fashion bloggers should advocate optimized avatars and stop promoting resource heavy avatars which degrade the performance for everyone around them. And then, notably, likens these reforms to the plans put forth by the US Presidential candidate who's leading the charge to reform the American economy by penalizing people whose greed hurts society and the environment:

Linden Lab Needs a Prominently Placed FAQ for Second Life Users (Comment of the Week #1)

My interview with a famed YouTuber turned Linden Lab staffer Strawberry Singh provoked some reader complaints that the company is not very responsive to SL user feedback. As reader "Mac" points out, there's an easy way to partly address that problem:

People need context to understand. Just as important, however, this context needs to be accessible and available.

My suggestion: Have Linden Lab make a bullet point FAQ list. '20 Top Misunderstandings Explained' -- something like that. Put this list up on the Forums and PIN IT, so it stays up there and people are forced to see it. Pinning it will also help with (formerly answered) questions that keep coming up, such as "Why won't LL tell us the exact time when they're going to do big maintenance?" [Linden Lab community forum staffer] Grumpity (I think), has answered that several times, but without a pinned answer, her attempts have vanished into the ether. Add to, and update, this list when necessary.

One great thing about having a prominent FAQ is it encourages oldtimers to point to it, when noobies ask a basic question. It's why RTFFAQ is a commonly used acronym. And as Mac continues, it helps convey more transparency:

Petition Against L$ Processing Fee Increase Slows, Draws Some Skepticism

The signatures to this online petition protesting Linden Lab's plan to increase the cost of processing Linden Dollars in Second Life recently passed over 2500 total total, but the numbers of new signees is noticeably slowing (most signed signed within the first couple days). Given that there's roughly 100,000 highly active Second Life users, it's likely that the vast majority don't have much incentive to sign on.

Also, since the petition went up, I've seen quite a number of skeptical comments from other SLers who have misgivings with the petition itself. For instance, it mentions (in a message to Linden Lab) "[S]hould you agree to have a direct conversation with representatives for those who have signed this petition, we will work with you to choose those delegates." But that brings up a potential problem:

Inside the Avatar-Based Transgender Community of Second Life

ECLIPSE magazine has a fascinating and beautifully illustrated feature on the transgender community in Second Life. Perceptively written by NWN contributor Cajsa Lilliehook, who interviewed six transgender SL users, it connects their struggles in the virtual world with the real life activism of the LGBTQ community, and the tension they sometimes encounter with the SL community at large -- for instance, by resisting the traditional concept (and accusation) of "catfishing":

“SL allows us to be seen as the men or women we are inside," as one member explains to Cajsa. "Because of this, I feel this is not catfishing and is incredibly different than people who 'role play' a different gender. My interactions with anyone in SL, whether a romantic interest or friend, are much more genuine and real than how I interact with most people in RL because everyone in SL knows me as Tiffany... not the person I was born as."

Read it all here. Also read: "Second Life's Strength Is Its Power To Transform Identity -- And The "Weirdos" Who Embrace It".

Good Virtual Communities Need Good Moderators (Comment of the Week)

"Goodbye Chouchou" by Loverdag

News that Chouchou plans to leave Second Life due to rampant user-to-user harassment that the owners were unable to curb provoked this blithe, "shit happens" comment from a reader:

There's no such thing as an interactive space open to the public where someone will not be offended by something. Some people are simply unpleasant and others are simply impossible to please. The only way to change this is to change human nature itself, and if you start actively trying to figure out how to do that: you are part of the problem.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of thin skinned people out there.

Han Held's reply to that is worth considering -- not just for Second Life or virtual worlds in general, but pretty much any virtual community:

There's a lot to unpack here, most of it wrong.

1) In the real world, if you "troll" in a club or an art gallery, you will be escorted out. It's the same for most forums; any forum worth spending time on is moderated.

2) Some people are simply unpleasant and others are simply impossible to please.

The first group can -and should- be shown the door, and there's a world of difference between 'impossible to please' versus 'wanting polite, adult behavior in the space we pay $300/USD a month in'.

Frankly, someone paying as much as $300/month deserves 24/7, on-call armed response security from the company. (Premium real world home security systems charge less -- $100/month!)

In any case, Han Held is just getting started:

Linden Lab Needs a Heavily Regulated PG-13 Continent in Second Life -- And More SL Presence of Linden Staff & Mentors (Comment of the Week)

Expanding on the idea that Second Life needs a PG13-only content, reader Gingir Ghoststar proposes a way to make that happen:

I've said for years that if SL would provide a maintained PG to PG13 area that it would thrive. I get it, it would be work, possibly [cause] increased cost of living and [provoke] the argument "nobody wants to be told how to live" but I beg to differ. Linden Lab thrives on all the private sims that they're paid to host that are then locked down with strict land rules, building rules etc and people pay through the NOSE to live on these super landscaped country club like estates. There is a market for it. If LL could create a continent and build it up like an actual city and enforce land/build codes I can almost guarantee that it would fill up in a heartbeat.

More than that, she adds, what's really is missing is a lack of Linden Lab activity in Second Life:

Meet Mrs. Mayo: Foul-Mouthed Old Avatar Hilariously Rants & Advises About Second Life Drama on YouTube

While most Second Life YouTubers are focused almost entirely on virtual fashion and avatar poses (near exclusively emceed by avatars in their early 20s), Mrs. Magnolia Mayo stands out in the crowd: Old, cranky, frequently dropping F bombs, always entertaining, she's an advice columnist for the metaverse, responding to questions sent anonymously to her blog right here. 

Watch another recent video below, but you'll probably just want to subscribe and watch them all (some of which are more serious than others).