Orientation Island now a kicking arena?

[Joolan]

Well, I thought the mounting individual personal security issues I've been having were enough so I went back to orientation island to talk to someone/anyone who doesnt answer either in riddles (I'm new, I dont understand a lot of what others may already know) or doesnt just ignore with a laugh!

I arrive there to 'UGH UGLY' and 'KIck her out' and other abuses I wont mention here .. er is this some test lol? I'm told to go to a website to learn how to protect myself? but it wasnt done in the friendly of manners using the most helpful language ..and I was booted off the island twice

I know I'm supposed to get some message from this all, but struggling to see what it is .. I go to 'school' to learn more things and am ignored by a lecturer when I merely say hello. I'm a lecturer in real life and would never ignore a student

I'm an inch from leaving second life, I thought second life was what you made it, and your reasons for being here were entirely up to the user? I bought land and thought I'd be safer in a peaceful community but am constantly bombarded by 'visitors' who dont talk, just stare or laugh or comment on why I've bought land where I have as if I'm not allowed to, but they dont actually say.

So Orientation Island Public is a kicking arena now? Or did i stumble upon something that doesnt usually occur there, I'm worried for very new second lifer members aswell as me. Have I missed something? or should I just go

[WADE1 Jya]

You just encountered some of those people (sometimes dubbed "greifers") who like to harrass newcomers, they do it out of boredom... or something...

It is against the ToS (Terms of Service) to bother others, so these type of guys get banned quickly. You can click on any avatar or object and choose "Mute". This will shut up something (or someone) bad. Also if something that seems seriously harrassing, uncomfortable, or wrong is happening, you can choose "Abuse Report..." from the Second Life menu to report the abuser to Linden staff (they'll investigate to ban/suspend the person or do something to help you).

The bad ones maybe only try to hang around orientation areas & are not very common elsewhere (they don't get very far).... Anyways, I wouldn't go back to Orientation for a more advanced issue.

The area is really just meant for newcomer orientation, so maybe just contact Linden Support with a ticket or check the Knowledge Base for the info you were looking for!

Or ask here the info you wanted to find out, maybe someone here can help you?

[Randall Ahren]

How could they boot you off Orientation Island? They would have to be able to eject you and they don't have that power. Concerning the verbal abuse, just right click on the abuser and select mute. They can chat all they want, but you don't have to listen to it.

Have you in fact already bought land? Most noobs don't do that for awhile, but if you have, welcome to the ranks of land-owners. Regarding bombardment by visitors who don't talk or anyone else that annoys you, you have the power as the land owner to ban them.

Why don't you join NCI if you need help? They have classes and a sim for noobs staffed by volunteers that police the area. The sim is a bit laggy for me, so if you need help, I would just ask in group chat instead of going to the sim.

 

 

 

 

[Willow Danube]

I think you would have a better chances of being treated fair and decent if you:

1. Join NCI/Happy Hippo/Caledon University and ask questions in the group chat. They'll be happy to respond and help if they know the answer.

2. Ask questions in this forum. Yes this is the website but we are all residents of Second Life and we do know almost all the answers.

3. Some honest questions were percieved as complains and moans by some residents. Perhaps you need to state your questions clearly next time and make sure they know that you are not there to troll but sincerely looking for inworld help.

[Joolan]

How could they kick me off  I dont know, it happened each time I went back with a pasted statement ' If you dont want this to happen again go to this website or it will happen again and again' and i landed in some water each time.. just saying what happened. I didnt get a chance to mute anyone.  Thanks for the replies

[Poenald Palen]

Not sure what they are using, but you might be able to use a sheild...if they still work. To stop people orbiting or pushing you people used to wear a sheild. It became part of SL life until they finally stopped the ability to do orbiting...pushing might still happen. Um, mayben a move lock type of device is still around, that might stop them as well. But when they changed things, they might have broke this stuff to because it is not needed.

 

[Rufus Darkfold]

It's set "no pushing", and scripting and rezzing are also not allowed.    How are they doing it?

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

Orientation Island is a very bad place for anyone to go, and especially new folks.

I would suggest going to 'The Shelter' instead.

That place, and morem are mentioned by me in my blog which is meant to help new folks out:

http://catnapkitty.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/getting-started-in-second-life/

 

What has happened here is that as much as 6 or 7 years ago the Lindens stopped policing their own locations, and about a year ago they stopped using Second Life for anything more than ribbon cutting on festivals and weekly office hours. And finally, in the last few months they've given up the office hours.

About 2 and a half years ago, they disbanded the official empowered resident helpers that had taken over for managing their helper locations, and about a year and a half ago they cancelled the 'community portals' that would let new folks get directed straight to user-run new login helper locations.

 

DESPITE LL's best efforts to kill off Second Life, the residents have continued to make places very helpful to new folks, and tutorials to get new folks up to speed, as well as continued to personally help out newbies as much as they can.

BUT, the small majority of super-hostile folks have laid claim to the pretty much -ALL- of the linden owned spots for new people. So pretty much ANY location listed in search as linden labs owned, official, and help oriented is anything but.

Avoid them.

 

Instead, look for places run by the users: The Shelter, NCI, Builder's Brewery, Luskwood, Caledon Oxbridge, Help People, Raglan Shire.

 

(Note that "Help People" is -NOT- the same as "Help Island" - Help Island makes what you went through look nice. But "Help People Island" was made by regular users who work very hard to make it a very positive location. It is perhaps the only place in SL where 'Help' actually means help.)

 

[Joolan]

THIS reply gets my attention and makes sense .. last night wasnt the only time bad stuff happened, a few odd things happened when I first joined SL .. I dont completely understand but understand a lot better now I got some info that isnt basically telling me it didnt happen to others/cant happen so it isnt happening at all lol. Aswell as info for myself hopefully everyone else knows now what is happening there .. there are some things happened I didnt add here as it would be very inappropriate but concerned you ought to be .. it was absolutely WILD .. My concern is that newcomers go there.

Thanks to all replies, very helpful

[Peewee Musytari]

Hi again Joolan,

Sorry to hear that you have been having problems, sounds like you have been getting aquainted with the all the wrong people in SL, don`t take it personally, its not you, it is the fact that they are too stupid to find anything better to do with their time than to go around trying to spoil things for other people.

There are so many people in SL & the majority are nothing like that, I agree with the recomendations to visit the NCI`s and to do classes at places like Builders Brewery. Checkout Events & the Destination Guide and find people that are enjoying the same things that you like & you will soon see the nicer side of SL.

As for your land, as you know I have seen it and there is nothing at all wrong with it or what you are doing there, if people passing by have nothing nice to say, just ignore them, its none of their business what you do with your SL.

[Joolan]

Thanks Peewee,  the answers here have helped ..

[Kelli May]

Another sure defence against many griefing attacks is to sit on something (AO-based sits that just pose your av in a seated position don't  count, you have to sit on something with right-click & sit). While your avatar is seated, physics-based attacks can't move you. In a very hostile environment, you might have to be quick to find something and sit on it, but it will work.

"On second thought, let's not go to Orientation Island. It is a silly place."

Of course, that won't solve the problems of being harangued by idiots, but that's what 'mute' is for. Generally though, the other advice you've been given is better: you're unlikely to get much help at Orientation Island, and many of the Linden-owned help locations and infohubs aren't much better. Ask here, or seek out the resident-owned help groups.

[Venus Petrov]

Hi Joolan,

Welcome to SL and the forum.  As you have read here, there are many residents willing to help you out with alternative suggestions on just about anything.  If you have specific questions, you may post them in the Answers forum (top leftmost tab) or visit one of the inworld locations suggested by other posters here.

I have been a resident for 4 1/2 years.  I hope that you find ways to enjoy your SL!

[Randall Ahren]

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Rufus Darkfold wrote:

It's set "no pushing", and scripting and rezzing are also not allowed.    How are they doing it?

 

---

I think I know. I caught a griefer at Hyanisport Infohub pickup avatars and dumping them in the water. The guy has a large transparent box attached to his avatar and he flys. He swoops down and picks up his victim in the box and then dumps them when gets over water. He did it to me a couple of times.

I sent him an IM and asked if he wanted to be AR'd. He flew away and never replied, so I took that as a yes. I filed an AR. It wasn't a one day old account either. It was an account about 400 days old. 

[Venus Petrov]

@Randall:  Someone like that should join a PVP server on WoW and see how much fun it can be.

[Kelli May]

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Randall Ahren wrote:

---

Rufus Darkfold wrote:

It's set "no pushing", and scripting and rezzing are also not allowed.    How are they doing it?

 

---

I think I know. I caught a griefer at Hyanisport Infohub pickup avatars and dumping them in the water. The guy has a large transparent box attached to his avatar and he flys. He swoops down and picks up his victim in the box and then dumps them when gets over water. He did it to me a couple of times.

I sent him an IM and asked if he wanted to be AR'd. He flew away and never replied, so I took that as a yes. I filed an AR. It wasn't a one day old account either. It was an account about 400 days old. 

---

It wouldn't have been an attachment... attached items are phantom. It might have been a transparent box-shaped vehicle that he rezzed somewhere else and rode in. Either way, it's worth an AR.

[Paladin Pinion]

What happens if you are sitting on something and a vehicle hits you? Would sitting stop that kind of attack?

[Kelli May]

As far as I remember, yes. As a bonus, if the thing you are sitting on is big enough, the vehicle will crash or at least be stopped in its tracks.

[Randall Ahren]

He may have to now as he may be banned. His profile no longer comes up when I search for it in-world. I suppose he could have also cancelled his account preemptively. When I search on the web, the name shows but when you click profile this message comes up: This name is unavailable.

 

[Melita Magic]

Hubs are zoos. 

Get out of there as quickly as possible.

No, they (hub-ites) have no say over who can be there or not. They wish.

[devinelust]

What Randall described happened to me too at Orientation Island a few days ago. We were all just standing around when suddenly i started to be pushed and then we were all lifted up in the air and thrown in the water. It was a lot of us too lol..never saw this before but it was so stupid i had to laugh

[YT Upsilon]

It's not happened to me, but it sounds as if it's something LL should look into.  I applaud your reaction to it, but on a more serious note, newbies can be very disoriented in SL and they should be guaranteed a more gentle introduction to SL.

I used to direct new people to Orientation Island, but I don't any more due to reports of harrasment, etc.  It's okay saying these people are just griefers - should get a life etc, but they are damaging the reputation of SL in general.

The first few hours of experience that newcomers have is the difference between new people sticking around and leaving.  

LL should have trusted helpers to stop this kind of thing happening.  They could pay them in $L or free stuff, so it wouldn't really cost that much.  

[BellaRoche]

I was griefed on Orientation Island tonight by Pinkiepie143, brooklyn and matt and it was pretty bad, even though I told them I was ARing them for the assault, harrassment and cussing on voice on a PG Sim they laughed and said that LL's would not do a thing to them, as they have been reported many times and LL does NOTHING!  So from what I gather they do this on a daily basis and LL does nothing even though the AR's get sent in and it seems that LL doesnt give a a damn about what is happening on thier welcome islands, and pretty much ignores it.  I was pushed around, sent flying by an object that they had on called a "Goldy Bumper" and it works even if push is restricted.  

 

I would not come back into SL if I was treated that way the first time I logged in and if LL's wants to continue to get new users they really need to "police" their welcome areas.  There was one person with the bumper on and he was hitting everyone that was entering and that were already there, and he would sit on them or push them all over and it was overkill if  you ask me.

 

It was also said that LL cares more about making money then putting an end to griefers and doing something about it!  If this continues I will have to reconcider logging in again!

[Dillon Levenque]

 You are approaching something like griefer status yourself by necro-posting this when you already have a current OP on the same topic. You have steadfastly refused to accept the advice given my most of the people who have commented, which is: leave or ignore. Sit and mute. AR if you wish, nothing wrong with that providing you catch them in an AR-able act and document it properly.

Arguing with griefers, even acknowledging griefers, feeds their fun. Yes, you're absolutely right, they shouldn't be allowed to act like the stupid nasty children they are. No question. Trouble is, things are set up to allow a lot of freedom of action here and short of paying dozens possibly hundreds of people to attend various sims and boot griefers, all you can do is deal with it. As a paying resident I personally would not be in favor of LL spending money on that.

You've been given good advice. Try it. It works. It's always worked. Your reaction is the griefer's reward.

And by the way, Forum Community Standards forbid posting the names of other residents in the way you did. If I were you I'd edit those out.

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Orientation island still exists?

Oh yeah it is still on the map - if you scroll out as far as you can - you get an image of what looks like an anus and the name of it there... This proves that Orientation Island is the a-hole of the grid.

Even if not for the fine helpful people there, the lag is unreal.