[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

Do I think it's perfect? No. Do I believe for even thirty seconds that there won't be some teens who fudge their birth date by a few months? That's too funny to consider. Fact is, there are and always have been teens doing the exact same thing to access the main grid. I've met them, found out and immediately reported their status to LL.

Sometimes those few months are a few years. And of course I know it happens now too. But they have not been invited before, and they had an alternative to go to the Teen grid, where everybody is treated the same and having the same priviliges. They are boss of their own virtual life there and no one is telling them they can not do anything in that virtual world that others can do. Now they come to a virtual world where they are treated like the kids they are, like in rl, having not all the priviliges the adults have, like in rl. Believe me, they are not going to like that. This merge is a like a giant neon advertisement, saying: come to SL and make trouble. And they will. That's what teens do in a world created by adults, they do it in rl, they do it on the net, it's their job. That's why it was wonderful for them to have their own grid, their own virtual world, created by them. This merge is the worst change SL ever made since I joined 4 years ago. SL will never be the same again, and it may cause a lot of people to leave. If this turns out to be how I think it will, I will be one of them.

[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

For 16- and 17-year-olds: 

These Residents will not be able to enter Moderate- nor Adult-rated regions, even if they have payment information on file and/or have used our Web-based identity verification system.

 

You can not promise us that, because no one needs to verify for accessing Mature/Moderate land.

Do you, LL, have any idea how many adult roleplay sims are on Mature/Moderate land?

They do the rp in a home or castle, which makes it ok for Mature/Moderate, because that is allowed indoors there, right? See, LL, that is how your Adult Policy does not work.

For 16- and 17-year-olds: 

These Residents will be able to communicate fully with and befriend all other users on the Main Grid. This includes local chat and IM.

So they can IM me and I will not know what age I am talking to.

They will also be able to join my group where adult gifts are send out for groupmembers only. How on earth am I going to prevent that to happen? I do NOT want minors in my group!

[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

This simply means the following:

1. all G rated land is going to be taken over by the teens.

Taken over seems like a little bit of an exaggeration. The main grid gets a traffic of 60 000 or more per day from what I've heard. Only about 100-200 teens are transferring and I doubt many more will be registering afterwards.

2. All Mature rated land is going to be taken over by 16-17 years old (no one knows they're not 18 yet on mature land - age verification is only required on adult rated land)

I doubt that Linden Labs would allow any means for new residents to access mature land unverified. If they do, then... well... score another one for their list of screw-ups I guess.

 

One does not need a verified account to buy or rent land from in world estate businesses.

Have you even been to sites outside of SL with teens and adults both using it? It's usually a large group of 14 year olds ruling the place. If this really turns out like I think it will, then I hope someone will build us adults a new virtual world somewhere for adult people only, like SL always was before.

[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

This simply means the following:

1. all G rated land is going to be taken over by the teens.

2. All Mature rated land is going to be taken over by 16-17 years old (no one knows they're not 18 yet on mature land - age verification is only required on adult rated land)

3. adults are forced to live their sl life on adult rated sims only

Way to go, LL --- not

[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

The sooner 'adults' stop seeing SL as somehow different from the rest of the internet, the sooner we can move forward constructively and be done with all the 'angst'.

 

SL *is* different from the rest of the internet. It has always been meant for adults only. After this merge, it will not be anymore. Which means it is going to be an unsafe place, for both teens and adults, just like the rest of the internet.

[Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid]

I came to SL almost four years ago for the opportunity to express myself, be creative, & be with adults. Keyword: Adults. I feel extremely uncomfortable to be pushed into a place where I will have to interact with teens in G rated areas (To stop an argument before it starts I like to go to sl parks. I like many shops that are in G areas. I write on various SL things & go everywhere for it. Not going to a G area is not an option nor should it ever be). As a parent I wouldn't want my kid befriending adults in an open virtual world. To me it seems like a very unwise & unsafe move.

I agree.