SL not so welcoming to new residents

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

Ive been in sl since 2003 and I agree with the OP to a point. A few years ago I was banned from a sim for being female. Im not sure if it was just my avatar or if they looked in my rl profile but my vag and i were swiftly booted!

Along with that, some of the roleplaying sims are off limits and yeah theres definitely a lot of people who assume new accounts are griffers.

That being said, theres so many other places to explore, so I hope you stick around.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Ingrid Ingersoll

[Alwin Alcott]

3 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

Ive been in sl since 2003 and I agree with the OP to a point. A few years ago I was banned from a sim for being female. Im not sure if it was just my avatar or if they looked in my rl profile but my vag and i were swiftly booted!

I think this is a wrong example, themed regions have, in my opinion the right to prevent access for others that can and will make the experience for the theme less or even ruin it. . Think we forget to often that "their land, their rules" can also be a protection for a usergroup.
But it should be in the region description /about land .. what people can read upfront. Or perhaps a special datatbase... (and requirement for the destination guide and events calender.)

 

[Paul Hexem]

5 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

Although you entered SL and went about things in a reasonable manner, this is NOT usually the case.  Having been witness to far too many naked noobs running amouk asking everyone in sight 'do the sex?', I can't blame region owners for a simple 30 day rule.  It's not as if there aren't literally thousands of other places one can explore that don't have such restrictions.  Some places have group fees.  You can TP there but can go no further until you join.  Some require payment info on file.  Waiting 30 days is the least restrictive measure in my opinion.

Wait, hold on. That's a terrible reason to ban noobs!

I've been in SL ten years and I still sometimes get naked and IM  'you do teh sexy?'! Only difference is now we have bento so I can make it spin like a helicopter to sweeten the deal.

[Dragon Mommy]

So the exact wording of the OP has been showing up around various SL social media with the same axe to grind for a few months now; that places banning brand new accounts makes it hard for new players. I'm very sure the story here from OP is fabricated to help bolster their point. 

And I wish they didn't because they have a point if they could just express it better. I genuinely think that banning avatars under 30 days old is bad for the new player experience and wish that instead of needing that to deal with greifers we had better moderation tools and more robust options for filtering avatars. 

 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

1 hour ago, Alwin Alcott said:

I think this is a wrong example, themed regions have, in my opinion the right to prevent access for others that can and will make the experience for the theme less or even ruin it. 

 

A wrong example of what? A lot of booting/banning goes on in sl regardless of whether or not youre a newbie. Sometimes all it takes is having a cooter!

The other stuff you said i agree with, people have a right to do what they want with their land. But it doesnt always make for a welcoming experiencs for new people.

[Alwin Alcott]

10 minutes ago, Bitterthorn said:

 wish that instead of needing that to deal with greifers we had better moderation tools and more robust options for filtering avatars.

the tools are working... but nearly nobody trusts anybody to give access to it when the owners themselves aren't around.. and also that is, when given, quite often abused by the ones that got the powers...

[Alwin Alcott]

1 minute ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

A wrong example of what? A lot of booting/banning goes on in sl regardless of whether or not youre a newbie. Sometimes all it takes is having a cooter!

The other stuff you said i agree with, people have a right to do what they want with their land. But it doesnt always make for a welcoming experiencs for new people.

no, if you as woman/girl appearance go to a men only region its obvious you'r not welcome. No matter the age. ( other way round works the same.)

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

1 minute ago, Alwin Alcott said:

no, if you as woman/girl appearance go to a men only region its obvious you'r not welcome. No matter the age. ( other way round works the same.)

Again, not a welcoming experience for new people. 

[Alwin Alcott]

Just now, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

Again, not a welcoming experience for new people. 

no, a themed restricted region is closed for the whole bunch of registered accounts, it has nothing to do with age restriction.
If you go to a nude only beach in RL and you show up clothed with binoculars you'r also pretty clear asked to leave.
That's something totally different as a 18/21 + access to a movie.

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

1 minute ago, Alwin Alcott said:

no, a themed restricted region is closed for the whole bunch of registered accounts, it has nothing to do with age restriction.

I brought it up as an example of how regions of sl can be unwelcoming regardless of account age, on top of regions that are already banning on age alone.

[Alwin Alcott]

7 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

I brought it up as an example of how regions of sl can be unwelcoming regardless of account age, on top of regions that are already banning on age alone.

it is still not a example of unwelcomming, but a very common access rule for specific users. People have restrictions in access everywhere on the globe, internet even social media .. but specific use in SL is sudden unwelcomming... it's not. This is just another example of the "i want it and i want it now" mentality.
The age restriction used here is something different.

[Coffee Pancake]

2 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

Looking at it from the perspective a new person,  it is pretty weird that venues are closed to new residents under 30 days.

It doesn't matter how many times LL rearrange the deck chairs in the welcome area.

Nothing prepares new residents for all the oldbies yelling "GET OFF MY LAWN" because some jerk ran around naked on their sim shooting particles out of his butt, once, a decade ago and then opted to live in fear ever since.

This is a systemic problem that needs a systemic fix.

@Linden Lab should remove account age and PIOF from profiles and script access and break the cycle.

Sure there will be screaming, but the solution is simple. In the absence of being able to delegate "security" to a script, get some actual humans to do it and only boot people who actually cause trouble, rather than everyone under 30 days.

[Ren Toxx]

8 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

FWIW, after the OP's last post, I'm seriously questioning this whole thread.  

It’s just a variation of that (recently discussed) YouTuber who ‘tried’ Second Life without terribly bothering to hide the fact that he was mindset not to like it. All the essential red flags are there, including pretending not to have noticed all the places that are both wide-open and newcomer-friendly, while at the same time making the most of the few restricted ones.

So I’ll say the same: there’s no logic in bending over to try & accommodate people who are going out of their way to find and enjoy suffer bad experiences. Not only there’s no way to please them because they didn’t want to be pleased, but it screws a lot of users who do want to enjoy themselves in here. Land access options? No, we won’t give you any, because a single snowflake may be upset by it and publicize his disappointment. Better we have many willing users disappointed, just so we can try & please the one who enjoys displeasure—and was going to leave SL in a couple days no matter what, anyway.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Ren Toxx

[Phil Deakins]

I'm inclined to agree with @Ren Toxx. I was curious, so I created a new account and tried to find places where he isn't allowed, and I didn't find any.

I didn't jump through hoops though. I tried a few places on the mainland where there are green dots, a few places from the destination guide, and a few private islands where there are green dots, and none of them suggested that my minutes-old account is too young to be there.

I can't say that the OP didn't coincidentally run into multiple places where she is too new to be, but I don't know how she found them.

ETA: She is 5 days old, and claims to have a premium account, which, after only 5 days, she says she's cancelled. It may have happened, but find it to be quite curious, to say the least.

Also, her use of the word 'toxic' was completely wrong. maybe she meant 'annoying', but it does add to Ren's suggestion.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Phil Deakins

[ChinRey]

2 hours ago, Bitterthorn said:

I genuinely think that banning avatars under 30 days old is bad for the new player experience

It is of course but why should the individual land/venue owner care? It's not their job or responsibility and there's nothing in it for them.

If LL wants to recruit more new users, they have to make it more welcoming to them. This is not something they can expect their existing customers to take care of.

 

7 hours ago, Tori Nova said:

Hopefully that will change soon, Patch Linden said they are overhauling the newcomer experience, including a new bom bento mesh avatars for new players

That's good to hear but if a new avatar is the main part of the overhaul, they're on the wrong track. There are so many other factors that are far more important.

[AnnHerrick]

9 hours ago, Mortus Allen said:

Blame those that will create brand new alts to grief and harass sims and individuals at those sims. Sadly, it's a case of a few rotten apples spoiling things for many others for no reason other than they feel entitled to making others miserable or prevent them from enjoying otherwise great content.

The sad reality of life, unfortunately.

Yes! ^This! People like that are why I stayed away from SL for the last two years!

[Noelle Delaunay]

I agree that 30 days is overkill. LL should limit this so you can only set this to 7 days or something in that ballpark.

It also doesn't matter if the thread starter is a new user or an alt (lucky coincidence that they were able to fetch a limited last name) but the point of criticism itself is valid.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Noelle Delaunay

[Theresa Tennyson]

9 hours ago, Nanuk Fyrewik said:

Thank you all. Yes, I did get a Linden Home. I literally read everything I could get my hands on before I joined just so I wouldn't be clueless.

I've deleted my account now so no need to keep replying, but I thank you and appreciate that you've replied.

SL is the most toxic environment it's ever been my misfortune to experience, I'm sorry to say.

Theresa Tennyson nods and smiles and thinks, "With some people, the most toxic environment they ever experience is when they look in the mirror."

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

4 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

it is still not a example of unwelcomming, but a very common access rule for specific users. 

Access rules that keep a lot of people out. I know its common. I know everyone has a right to ban. But its still not welcoming to any account of any age who isnt on an access list. Which was my point. Did I veer slightly off topic? Maybe. But I wanted to share my similar experience as an older resident who still faces the same kind of thing. 

Keeping people out of a place means youre not "welcoming" them in. 

[Ceka Cianci]

I went through the destinations in search and could only find one place where an avatar had to be so many days old and it was only 7 days..

I had a hard time finding any others yet..

I don't know how often destinations get changed because I don't use it that often.. But i was hard pressed to find ones that were limiting access because of how many days an avatar has been in SL..

 

ETA: I just want to add also, That Slender place looks pretty wild and scary!

Edited July 10, 2021 by Ceka Cianci

[Alwin Alcott]

55 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

 But I wanted to share my similar experience as an older resident who still faces the same kind of thing. 

Keeping people out of a place means youre not "welcoming" them in. 

You'r wrong, it's totally not the same as preventing newcommers have a bad start in SL.
New players, and existing ones, have nó right for acces everywhere.

Excluding newbies from places that are accessable for everybody else is a total different thing. (you don't seem to want to understand that)

[Silent Mistwalker]

11 hours ago, Chris Nova said:

Lets say I knew a few actual griefers who are no longer in the game for obvious reasons. I just don't put them in the same category as trolls.

Well of course you wouldn't want to call your friends trolls. At least not to their faces.

[Silent Mistwalker]

8 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

Don't forget the $40 for the name change.  How many new users would even bother with that right away?  Oh wait, she did say she did all kinds of research.  I'm calling BS on this one.

Well, if it is, I played right into it and set myself up to look like it was me doing it with an alt.

Thanks for pointing that out. 🤬👿😖🤫

[Silent Mistwalker]

7 hours ago, Paul Hexem said:

Wait, hold on. That's a terrible reason to ban noobs!

I've been in SL ten years and I still sometimes get naked and IM  'you do teh sexy?'! Only difference is now we have bento so I can make it spin like a helicopter to sweeten the deal.

That wasn't a helicopter. It was a chicken. I have the video. Send rain.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

12 hours ago, Chris Nova said:

This is why SL cannot and will never retain new people. The fact is...SL is not newcomer friendly at all. The fault is on both LL for making it a free-for-all, and everyone else for acting anti-noob and blaming griefers which I was told are like...less than 1%. Its stupid. So until everyone recognizes this problem, people like her are never going to stay much less recommend it to her friends.

I am not sure why I replied, but this is why right here that new people do not stay, they see the negativity they  see the problems you throw out. 

Edited July 10, 2021 by bigmoe Whitfield
changed it.