The new Second Life Community Exhibition

[Marigold Devin]

17 hours ago, Midnoot said:

Didn't sl do something like this many years ago? I remember having to choose a community when i first started.  One was named "scion " or something.  I could be confusing it with some other game , but I think it was sl.

I remember them having community portals to choose from when I created an alt in June 2012. I chose the portal that said something like "newbie friendly", and arrived in London City which was quite quiet on that day but had some male pole dancers in the window of what looked like a department store dancing in nothing much.  

And they were commemorating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 

Edited January 31 by Marigold Devin

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

17 hours ago, Midnoot said:

Didn't sl do something like this many years ago? I remember having to choose a community when i first started.  One was named "scion " or something.  I could be confusing it with some other game , but I think it was sl.

If it's any help to you, the Scion was the name of an ancient Atlantis artifact that Lara Croft sought in her very first Tomb Raider videogame in 1996.

Edited January 31 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[AmeliaJ08]

13 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

Boystown is a 6 region estate , all rated Adult. .. not only rated  it Is adult , has adult events in their clubs and a publicly usable gay cruising area 

Huh, I'm pretty sure I remember visiting their Halloween quest event once which was moderate... but maybe not.

 

[Qie Niangao]

21 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

Huh, I'm pretty sure I remember visiting their Halloween quest event once which was moderate... but maybe not.

Hmm. Now that you mention it, I see a region at the north end of the Boystown cluster, "BT SOCIAL", that appears to be Moderate-rated. (never been, no idea what's there or why, just found it on the map)

[AmeliaJ08]

Just now, Qie Niangao said:

Hmm. Now that you mention it, I see a region at the north end of the Boystown cluster, "BT SOCIAL", that appears to be Moderate-rated. (never been, no idea what's there or why, just found it on the map)

I'll have to check my pictures, I took a lot that year because it was such a great Halloween event they ran

[PheebyKatz]

6 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I didn't look at it closely enough -- I thought it was some sort of fundraising sim for orphaned boys in RL     

They had a Boystown in my hometown IRL, but it got shut down. Something about a sex scandal, and human trafficking.

In SL, I don't think it matters. If it did, all those sims with "Playground" in their names would be shut down, probably. And daddy-doms would all be hiding in dark corners. Sugar babies would all be wards of the Lindens.

It does its job as branding, it's memetic, and it obviously works, as they're a successful community.

I think people just look for things to be wrong because it's fun.

Edited January 31 by PheebyKatz

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

They had a Boystown in my hometown IRL, but it got shut down. Something about a sex scandal, and human trafficking.

In SL, I don't think it matters. If it did, all those sims with "Playground" in their names would be shut down, probably. And daddy-doms would all be hiding in dark corners. Sugar babies would all be wards of the Lindens.

It does its job as branding, it's memetic, and it obviously works, as they're a successful community.

Other than that, it's all just words.

Yeah, it's weird that communities have/had RL "Boy's Town" areas that were "officially" or "semi-officially" called that "innocently", but then later "not so much innocently".  Who woulda thunk it?

 

[PheebyKatz]

11 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Yeah, it's weird that communities have/had RL "Boy's Town" areas that were "officially" or "semi-officially" called that "innocently", but then later "not so much innocently".  Who woulda thunk it?

 

This is why I can't fly off the handle at people using words like "lolita", or such like. Words and names of things get associated with "adult activities", become secret code words and signs for clandestine communities, and eventually end up applied to fashion trends, or even come full circle and end up G-rated again. Look at how much of what used to be adult stuff is now considered beneath adults, and ends up belonging to the kids, like maypole dances, and musical chairs, and the farmer in the dell game.

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a bunch of boys who like boys calling their town Boystown (quite a few gay men I know identify as boys, actually, and not men). At least anyone with half a brain cell would realize within a few minutes of arrival that they were in the online equivalent of a gay bar, if the name didn't give it away. And besides, I'm sure "Good Friends" and "The Corner Pocket" were already taken.

Marketing is just marketing, whether it's social or commercial. You use what works, and change it when it stops working.

Edited January 31 by PheebyKatz

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, PheebyKatz said:

Personally I don't see anything wrong with a bunch of boys who like boys calling their town Boystown.

Thankfully, the "bad" part of the RL history of such places should pass from collective memory within a generation or so.

On topic: In the meantime, I think Zal had a point in that "Boystown" sure sounds more "G" than "LGBTQ+".

Eh, whatcanyado. *shrug*

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

14 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

Sugar babies would all be wards of the Lindens.

Socialism for the win!

I demand a guaranteed income for Sugar Babies! (And me!)

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Socialism for the win!

I demand a guaranteed income for Sugar Babies! (And me!)

I dunno, you're too pretty to be a Mole, and not bougie enough to be a Linden.

My guess is, you'd have to be transformed into one or the other to be accepted and earn the "One of us! Gooble Gobble" rights.

 

[PheebyKatz]

9 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Thankfully, the "bad" part of the RL history of such places should pass from collective memory within a generation or so.

On topic: In the meantime, I think Zal had a point in that "Boystown" sure sounds more "G" than "LGBTQ+".

Eh, whatcanyado. *shrug*

 

If a Mediterranean restaurant advertises as Greek, it's probably owned by a Greek person, and the core customer base that made the restaurant possible in the first place is probably Greek. Calling it Greek doesn't mean they hate Anatolians. It just means they like other Greek people. If they call it an international restaurant, people will expect to find as much sushi as falafel, and then what?

Does inclusivity exclude the persons who make the place and community happen? Then why bother?

I wouldn't go to a sim called Waifu Central and expect it all to be yaoi, but that doesn't mean they're being unwelcoming.

What, were you hoping to find more lesbians? You know they're all being played by dudes, right?

Edited January 31 by PheebyKatz

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, PheebyKatz said:

Does inclusivity exclude the persons who make the place and community happen? Then why bother?

All the alphabet letters really matter.  That's why "T", "B", "Q", and "+" were added.

When I was young, it was literally "GLBT".  35 years later, it's been "LGBT" for quite awhile and I've not seen any complaining about switching the "L" and the "G". 

My point is, if you were not part of the "explicitly included" group, you may not FEEL "included".

Most places want you to feel included. 

IJS.

 

[PheebyKatz]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

All the alphabet letters really matter.  That's why "T", "B", "Q", and "+" were added.

When I was young, it was literally "GLBT".  35 years later, it's been "LGBT" for quite awhile and I've not seen any complaining about switching the "L" and the "G". 

My point is, if you were not part of the "explicitly included" group, you may not FEEL "included".

Most places want you to feel included. 

IJS.

 

You're right, I'm going to all of those niche-specific sims and demanding right now that they rebrand for the general public, and all of the colors on the emotional spectrum.

First I'll go to all of the "women's safe space" sims owned by lesbians, and demand they call them "people-welcome sims", and encourage more male avis to visit.

What IJS, since it's too much work to type it out, and I'm cool cos internet, is that it's SL. People can like what they like. Nobody has to bow down to what uninterested parties would have them do with their region they are paying for, and you can be inclusive while still identifying as a specific.

Branding is a practical thing. You use it to get more of what you like. At least they don't say that everyone without a thingy has to go away. Ease up, people.

You know, judging every little fart and poot of everything the way people do, it just shows me over and over that the ones trying to correct me are the ones who need to look at themselves.

You want everyone to be so accepting of everyone, and all you do is look for what's wrong with it all. Then you complain about feeling unaccepted everywhere, when you yourselves wouldn't find your own behaviors acceptable if you met you.

Let's neg on everyone, it's how we show we're better than them, right? Pick, pick, pick.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

you're too pretty to be a Mole

Awwww! (I'm sure there are Moles who'd disagree!)

18 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

not bougie enough to be a Linden

Hey, if being bougie means living a carefree life of plenty, I'll be bougie!!

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, PheebyKatz said:

You're right, I'm going to all of those niche-specific sims and demanding right now that they rebrand for the general public, and all of the colors on the emotional spectrum.

First I'll go to all of the "women's safe space" sims owned by lesbians, and demand they call them "people-welcome sims", and encourage more male avis to visit.

What IJS, since it's too much work to type it out, and I'm cool cos internet, is that it's SL. People can like what they like. Nobody has to bow down to what uninterested parties would have them do with their region they are paying for, and you can be inclusive while still identifying as a specific.

Branding is a practical thing. You use it to get more of what you like. At least they don't say that everyone without a thingy has to go away. Ease up, people.

You know, judging every little fart and poot of everything the way people do, it just shows me over and over that the ones trying to correct me are the ones who need to look at themselves.

You want everyone to be so accepting of everyone, and all you do is look for what's wrong with it all. Then you complain about feeling unaccepted everywhere, when you yourselves wouldn't find your own behaviors acceptable if you met you.

Let's neg on everyone, it's how we show we're better than them, right? Pick, pick, pick.

It's fine that we see things from a different perspective. 👍

[PheebyKatz]

I'm going to go see the exhibit, and then I have a world to build, I'll see you guys inworld, if y'all do that kinda thing.

[Garnet Psaltery]

If any of you were to start a new community would you make use of this potential gateway?

[Scylla Rhiadra]

I was sort of waiting for this sort of thing to happen, and am honestly surprised that it didn't happen earlier. The earlier Community Pages set up by LL suffered the same fate: "Why them and not us???"

As Prok noted above, one of the things that makes this a bit different from the Community Pages is that there is an open invitation to apply for a spot here, so it at least looks a little less cliquey. And I do think, assuming that this doesn't suffer the same fate as the Community Pages, and get abandoned after two iterations, this will be more diverse. 

Yes, there should be something more explicitly inclusive to represent all of the letters in LGBTQ+. And I'm sure there will be. Eventually. If LL doesn't drop this.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

If any of you were to start a new community would you make use of this potential gateway?

Yes.

And I'm going to suggest to one of my photography groups that they apply.

[Love Zhaoying]

12 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

32 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

you're too pretty to be a Mole

Awwww! (I'm sure there are Moles who'd disagree!)

But you'd get all dirty, digging around in those Mole holes!

[Love Zhaoying]

12 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

If any of you were to start a new community would you make use of this potential gateway?

Yep.  It would be a "welcome to all" community with a combination of humans and non-humans, like the original linked article has the "outlines" of humans and furries.

So instead of just having "outlines" and the "promise of an exhibit" for inclusiveness, it would be an actual exhibit of something that was inclusive (and not just sexual orientation / gender identity, etc. but also non-humans).  I was Peeved to not see anything Furry (although Prok mentioned something, I didn't see anything except the DJ booth).

 

[PheebyKatz]

Been to the Community Exhibit, it is nice.

Anyone with a little sense could make really good use of a spot there, because the kiosks are big enough to put a little representation of your region's contents with lots of room around it for visibility. Kiosks are round, for ease of navigation.

Dots all over the map, and I still managed around 20 FPS with my gfx on my "building mode" setting. Not bad, least for me.

Violet Mole is cool. We had a nice conversation.

My overall feeling on attending the Welcome Hub and Community Exhibit is very positive. If I had ended up there when I was new, I would probably have had a much better time of it than I did at first. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

[PheebyKatz]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Awwww! (I'm sure there are Moles who'd disagree!)

Hey, if being bougie means living a carefree life of plenty, I'll be bougie!!

I'll settle for their godlike powers. I'd love to be able to delete stuff on the mainland, lol.

[SueWorthly]

A pity that they missed Drivers of SL in the video. There was a big announcement in the group. And we just had a wonderful and memorable winter camp in the week-end with two regions full of people. The exhibit was right at the entrance, the one with the blue globe. They only walked past it, heading to Boystown instead. However I see it has the same colors of the background building (blue/cyan and white), so I wonder if Strawberry took it as a sort of decoration? 😅 Anyways, I like the idea of showing some of the possibilities that SL offers. DSL can be pretty fun, it also shows new places and other things in SL. And even if SL it's not as good as a driving sim game, DSL it is one of the most lively things in Second Life, if you do that with the group or with friends (it's fine also by your own). I'm not sure how exactly good it could be for newbies, as the drives can be long and region crossing can still be an issue sometimes, but you get also a reward at the end (often a car).