how did you learn there were discussion forums?

[BelindaN]

I live on forums in another life, and one in partucular (my specialist subject), 😎, I nearly have the highest number of posts. There, I help people out a lot.

So when I set up my SL account, it was inevitable, and I came here three days after I'd wandered around aimlessly in world. I came here for help, which I got plenty of. It would have been a lot harder to develop without the Forums.

It was scary at the start, and gets scary occasionally even now, but SL would be way less involving without the Forums. In my travels, most people don't seem to know about this place, and don't seem interested.

I've made some good friends here.😍

[Rhonda Huntress]

16 hours ago, ThorinII said:

Same here.

When I became aware that there was a virtual world named "Second Life" (back then in early '08), first thing I did was looking for the forum connected to it, skimmed through a few threads -- which made me even more curious about SL than I already was -- then I created my first account.

Ditto

There are always discussion forums and that's the first thing I find for anything that interests me.  Maybe it's just this way for the pre-wiki generation?

I will say that the community here has always been so much more than just Q&A which led me to actually participate rather than lurk.

[Dillon Levenque]

On 7/16/2019 at 8:35 AM, kali Wylder said:

Nobody I know in world these days seems to know about the forums any more. 

My first av made many of her best friends in SL from first knowing them from the forums. That was back when you used to see the top 3 threads latest entries on the first page of the dashboard.  Without that I wouldn't have known the forums existed. I've often wondered why they stopped doing that. 

I got here via that very same path, Kali (and at about the same time, too). I kept seeing these snippets of interesting conversations and finally I had to go look. I spent a long time listening before I started talking, as we all did. Well, all except Maddy and maybe Scylla. 

Like you, I never understood why they dropped that feature when the format changed.

Was  nice to read all the comments in this thread and to see all the people, too. I have not disappeared, I just don't get by as often as I should. That's not permanent.

[Mollymews]

Dillon Levenque. wooo!

is getting like old home week here these days. Seeing all the names from ages past popping up again here on these forums

[Maryanne Solo]

SL was my first ever online multiplayer community so I actively sought out Le Fora.

Of course, they really don't cater for Spanish people properly.... ^^ *cough cough, as we've come to be aware over time....

Then there are the supremely elite, highly esteemed few, who, (apparently), engage active mind control over all other forum users AND LL themselves.

Is it Lunch time yet? 🤔

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

39 minutes ago, Dillon Levenque said:

I spent a long time listening before I started talking, as we all did. Well, all except Maddy and maybe Scylla.

Have you ever known me to listen before I started talking? Ever?

Dillon, it's SO lovely to see you here! Hurry back; you are missed!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Maryanne Solo said:

Is it Lunch time yet? 🤔

Ha! Don't think we didn't notice the secret hand signal, and the discreet signer/decoder ring.

We're on to you, Solo!

[Sasy Scarborough]

It was very common back when I started to be referred to the forums, to jiras to the website with Torley videos etc. It was just part of the tool kit we were provided. While people these days do not tend to know about them, it is not only that they do not know about, there are still Residents that do not know about the transaction page, how to find information on purchases made if things go awry. Do not know about abuse reports, or what a ticket is and can do etc. Lots of missing steps that would enhance user knowledge.

[AdminGirl]

Whenever I have a question about anything SL related and I search in google, most of the times a link to the forums will be in the search results. If someone doesn't know about the forums I figured maybe they never had anything to ask lol 😆

[MoiraKathleen]

I don't remember exactly how I found out about the forum, but I do know that it was around the same time that I joined SL in 2014.  It may have come up in search when I was searching for official SL information right before I joined, or perhaps I got here  from a link on the web dashboard.  I mostly just read the forums in my early days - especially the Answers section. I have learned so much from the discussions in the forum.   After seeing enough references about "across the street" I finally figured out what to search for and found the SLU forum, where I also spent a lot of time reading.  Just like when I've moved to a new place in RL, I wanted to find out all about this world and about its history.

I didn't really start posting until this version of the forums, because the prior version did not exactly seem like a very friendly place. I still am more of a reader than a poster, but I do 'talk' more here than I do inworld I think, and I did finally make it over that magical number of 500 posts eventually.  I know that there are many who have become active in the forums after I did, yet already have a higher post count than I do. However, I feel that the post count I have achieved is a victory for me.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, moirakathleen said:

I didn't really start posting until this version of the forums, because the prior version did not exactly seem like a very friendly place.

You're certainly not the first person to say this, or something like it, in this thread.

I was one of the more prolific posters in the forums for about a three year period, during a time which I know some people still nostalgically think of as one of the "Golden Ages" of the forum, when there was little effective moderation, and things here were wild and exciting. It was, in some ways, a fun place to be . . . for certain kinds of people. There were long, fun, jokey threads that would never fly here now, interesting, long, and thoughtful discussions that took on and really wrestled with worthwhile issues and ideas, and there was generally much more engagement by posters: it was simply a much more lively and busy place. I have a lot of very good memories of that time, and I made some friends (such as Maddy) who remain really important to "my SL."

It was also a deeply, deeply toxic place: cliquey, troll-ridden, gossipy, and really not very welcoming to new posters. I don't think that I directly contributed too much to the toxicity, but I am, in hindsight, conscious that it was difficult if not impossible to be a prominent member of that culture, and not be at least in some sense complicit with it, and with its nastier aspects. I posted what I think was some worthwhile content during the height of the anarchy, roughly 2010-2011, but just being here had an emotional cost to me, and also meant contributing to a community that had become really disfunctional.

I am more than a little embarrassed about much of it, actually. In hindsight, I wish I had walked away when things really got out of hand, and it had become clear that only a thorough housecleaning was going to fix things. And that is, of course, what happened, beginning a little earlier than the period at which you joined. (And I actually did walk away, eventually, towards the end of 2011.)

I have more than a few reservations about the forum in its current form. I don't feel that I have a good handle on the principles of moderation here, and mostly I tread very lightly when I post for that reason. I think, without question, that the moderation here is inhibiting: there are things I think we should be able to post that I don't think we can.

BUT . . . the result is a much much more inclusive and welcoming place, a place that people like yourself, and Rolig, and I'm sure a host of other people, now feel is worth their time. I've come to the conclusion that being welcoming, inclusive, and not nearly so toxic is well worth the restrictions on freedom of expression. And I'm glad that you, and they, are here now, and contributing as much as you do.

Edited July 18, 2019 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Janet Voxel]

11 hours ago, AdminGirl said:

Whenever I have a question about anything SL related and I search in google, most of the times a link to the forums will be in the search results. If someone doesn't know about the forums I figured maybe they never had anything to ask lol 😆

That’s exactly how I found it: googling how to do stuff in SL. I never felt the need to participate because it seemed to have its own zeitgeist. It still does to a degree, but not like it used to.

Forums are not the preferred mode of communication anymore, just like Usenet and BBSs back in the Wild West of the Internet days.   They still exist, but it’ll never be what it once was. It’s great because it tends to be more permanent as opposed to the chat based things that have surpassed it.

Its still a great resource though. I enjoy popping in throughout the day to see what’s going on. It’s not too taxing on my phone either, since I work from a gov’t pc there’s just certain things I can’t do during working hours, so that’s a bonus. I pretty much jump from forum to forum including Reddit throughout the day on my phone.

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

This thread is discrimin,.. Descrim... deiscrim.. racist to teh Spanish. It smells to coffee and must be deleted. LL hates teh spanish. it is well known of this. 

Also it needs moar crotchfruits. 

@Scylla Rhiadra I remember you from the old days.. You were a sharp tongued firecracker. Not much has changed really..

[Selene Gregoire]

58 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I don't feel that I have a good handle on the principles of moderation here

There aren't any. And only one person metes out the punishment for imaginary infractions. Not only is it heavy handed, it's cack handed. From one extreme to the opposite, with nothing in between. Worst forum moderation I've encountered in over 20 years. Second only to another forum I no longer have any desire to be abused on.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

@Scylla Rhiadra I remember you from the old days.. You were a sharp tongued firecracker. Not much has changed really..

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies . . ."

lol, yeah, right. I've been withering all over the place. I am one giant wither.

[Rolig Loon]

Matching poetry with poetry ...

"All that is gold does not glitter,

not all those who wander are lost;

the old that is strong does not wither,

deep roots are not reached by the frost."     J.R.R. Tolkien
 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

4 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies . . ."

lol, yeah, right. I've been withering all over the place. I am one giant wither.

 

/me runs screaming. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Just now, Drake1 Nightfire said:

 

/me runs screaming. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Calm yourself dude. Just avert your eyes.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

15 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Calm yourself dude. Just avert your eyes.

But i only have iron armor and a spear... 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

8 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

But i only have iron armor and a spear... 

Perseus managed with far less. I'm sure you'll be fine!

[kali Wylder]

5 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

 It was, in some ways, a fun place to be . . . for certain kinds of people. There were long, fun, jokey threads that would never fly here now, interesting, long, and thoughtful discussions that took on and really wrestled with worthwhile issues and ideas, and there was generally much more engagement by posters: it was simply a much more lively and busy place. I have a lot of very good memories of that time, and I made some friends (such as Maddy) who remain really important to "my SL."

It was also a deeply, deeply toxic place: cliquey, troll-ridden, gossipy, and really not very welcoming to new posters. I don't think that I directly contributed too much to the toxicity, but I am, in hindsight, conscious that it was difficult if not impossible to be a prominent member of that culture, and not be at least in some sense complicit with it, and with its nastier aspects. I posted what I think was some worthwhile content during the height of the anarchy, roughly 2010-2011, but just being here had an emotional cost to me, and also meant contributing to a community that had become really disfunctional.

I am more than a little embarrassed about much of it, actually. In hindsight, I wish I had walked away when things really got out of hand, and it had become clear that only a thorough housecleaning was going to fix things. And that is, of course, what happened, beginning a little earlier than the period at which you joined. (And I actually did walk away, eventually, towards the end of 2011.)

I have more than a few reservations about the forum in its current form. I don't feel that I have a good handle on the principles of moderation here, and mostly I tread very lightly when I post for that reason. I think, without question, that the moderation here is inhibiting: there are things I think we should be able to post that I don't think we can.

BUT . . . the result is a much much more inclusive and welcoming place, a place that people like yourself, and Rolig, and I'm sure a host of other people, now feel is worth their time. I've come to the conclusion that being welcoming, inclusive, and not nearly so toxic is well worth the restrictions on freedom of expression. And I'm glad that you, and they, are here now, and contributing as much as you do.

yep, it was fun and yep it became toxic.  Then they changed the software and the moderating style and it got even worse....then I don't know what happened exactly because I was gone.   I left about the same time you did for many reasons.  The main one though was I retired my first avatar and I moved on to a different part of SL than I'd lived before and started fresh. The only tie to my old life I had was Dil's music thread in the SLums, or Feeds as they are now called. Anyway, that thread maxed out and I missed it, so I drifted back in here and discovered it's quite nice now.  So I think I will stick around. 

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

45 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

I left about the same time you did for many reasons.  The main one though was I retired my first avatar and I moved on to a different part of SL than I'd lived before and started fresh.

Thinking about this . . . I came back on an alt myself in 2013-14. The reason for that was I too wanted a sort of "fresh start": this account had a lot of baggage, some good and some not so good.

Well, the "fresh start" thing was only partially successful: when I started posting here with Laskya, I was pretty quickly detected, and so, on the forums anyway, it really didn't make much of a difference: Laskya was Scylla was Laskya. BUT for some reason -- and I'm not sure whether it was because I was using an alt, or because I'd just grown emotionally, and gained a bit of needed distance -- I didn't feel myself nearly as much sucked into the old drama vortex as I had, despite the fact that the community here hadn't changed that much, and I was certainly still being trolled and provoked from the same quarters as before.

And now, even on my old main account, I feel quite a bit, I don't know, "stronger" maybe, than I did in 2010-11. And the fact that this is a much nicer place than it was obviously helps too.

[LittleMe Jewell]

7 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

You're certainly not the first person to say this, or something like it, in this thread.

I was one of the more prolific posters in the forums for about a three year period, during a time which I know some people still nostalgically think of as one of the "Golden Ages" of the forum, when there was little effective moderation, and things here were wild and exciting. It was, in some ways, a fun place to be . . . for certain kinds of people. There were long, fun, jokey threads that would never fly here now, interesting, long, and thoughtful discussions that took on and really wrestled with worthwhile issues and ideas, and there was generally much more engagement by posters: it was simply a much more lively and busy place. I have a lot of very good memories of that time, and I made some friends (such as Maddy) who remain really important to "my SL."

It was also a deeply, deeply toxic place: cliquey, troll-ridden, gossipy, and really not very welcoming to new posters. I don't think that I directly contributed too much to the toxicity, but I am, in hindsight, conscious that it was difficult if not impossible to be a prominent member of that culture, and not be at least in some sense complicit with it, and with its nastier aspects. I posted what I think was some worthwhile content during the height of the anarchy, roughly 2010-2011, but just being here had an emotional cost to me, and also meant contributing to a community that had become really disfunctional.

I am more than a little embarrassed about much of it, actually. In hindsight, I wish I had walked away when things really got out of hand, and it had become clear that only a thorough housecleaning was going to fix things. And that is, of course, what happened, beginning a little earlier than the period at which you joined. (And I actually did walk away, eventually, towards the end of 2011.)

I have more than a few reservations about the forum in its current form. I don't feel that I have a good handle on the principles of moderation here, and mostly I tread very lightly when I post for that reason. I think, without question, that the moderation here is inhibiting: there are things I think we should be able to post that I don't think we can.

BUT . . . the result is a much much more inclusive and welcoming place, a place that people like yourself, and Rolig, and I'm sure a host of other people, now feel is worth their time. I've come to the conclusion that being welcoming, inclusive, and not nearly so toxic is well worth the restrictions on freedom of expression. And I'm glad that you, and they, are here now, and contributing as much as you do.

I walked away from the forums when they changed them from Resident Answers to the crappy version after that because so much of the general conversations stopped.

Lots of bad RL stuff was going on at the time and the forums were such a huge part of my SL back then, so I pretty much left SL at the same time.  I logged in now and then - once every few months or so - but it just wasn't the same.

When they created this version of the forums, I got an IM from a friend that said the forums were mostly back to being similar to the early days, with actual general conversations and such.  I came back to the forums and stuck around.  Soon I was back in SL regularly, learning new things, meeting new people, having new fun.  

[Drake1 Nightfire]

3 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Perseus managed with far less. I'm sure you'll be fine!

Magic boots of flying, magic sword, magic helm, magic shield, Pegasus.... Yeah,  my piddly iron spear and chestplate is such a match for that stuff..

 

[Maryanne Solo]

To return to the forums after all this time and engage in constructive, respectful, considerate & somewhat amusing discussions is pure bliss. To see veteran posters return and be comfortable here is surely a mammoth achievement by LL. (some of us never left). We can complain about moderation or anything else but the fact remains it is now a pleasant place to be.

The old incredibly toxic forum, (once discarded by LL), went on to become the cesspool of filth & hatreds that is now known as "that little chirpy bird social platform" 

It was odd, curious fun to be involved in such a knockdown dragout slugfest and some of us learnt more about ourselves than others. = priceless. LuvU-SL ❤️ Thank you.