Confused Over Maturity Ratings

[KhaleesiShinn]

Ok, I can get a little confused by this as the way we have our Adult rated sim is that we have all sexual content hidden behind closed doors in a dungeon under a building that you have to go looking for and hidden behind doors in caves, and the open public area is all pg/moderate as it is a park, leisure hang out area and want to see if we can get it on the destination guide as this is where i get confused.

We don't advertise its sexual nature or use the sexual terms in the search terms as we want people to come and visit and wandering if you could help clear up if i could set it up as Moderate or should it be left as Adult?

Or pop over to our sim and see for yourselves and tell me what you think, http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Matchbox/72/92/23      as I have seen alot of Moderate sims with Adult items out so this is where I get confused.

 

[sven Homewood]

Did you read this article: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Adult_Content_FAQ ? That should help to understand better. But in general:

General rating: no sextoys, no violance, no swearing...

Moderate rating: sextoys yes, with some limits: the parcel need to have the invisible avatars turned on and they need to stay inside a room  ... cave ... whatever ... and banlines up, so no one can enter that parcel + using an orb maybe.

Adult: everything is allowed, just the TOS and CS are the limits.

Many people in SL just ignore these things, I wouldn't refer to what others do or not. In many cases it just the language barrier.

[Ariel Vuissent]

Can a parcel be not entirely Adult?

There are several ways a parcel can be partly Adult and partly Moderate:

• Mixed content in a public area: for example, a store that sells a variety of items, some of which are adult in nature, but those are not advertised explicitly or provided for public adult usage on the parcel. This would require a Moderate rating.
• Mixed public and private use of a parcel: for example, a store at ground level which only sells non-adult items, and a private skybox above with restricted access (as described above), which contains sex furniture. The landing point is at the ground level store only. This would require a Moderate rating.
• Mixed use by time: for example, a parcel that is normally a private residence, but occasionally advertises an adult event. This would require an Adult rating. If on Moderate land, the event must not be advertised and must be kept behind closed doors.

 

So, short answer: If you'd like to make your sim Moderate, you can, BUT you must restrict access to the underground areas. Not just hidden - actual restricted access, private group members only. 

It's best not to go by what others do; lots of people break the rules, and may not get reported for a variety of reasons, so they get away with it. If you'd like to stick within the rules, the second bullet point above tells you how.

[Innula Zenovka]

If the public has access to the dungeon, then the means you need to be on an Adult region.   If  it's your private dungeon and only you and your friends have access to it, then it's OK on Moderate land, but if it's open to the public then your region "publicly promotes," (to use LL's phrase ), 

 

• Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photo-realistic. We broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct.

I know that a lot of places on M land do ignore the Maturity Ratings, but that doesn't really alter the fact that they are breaking them and, if enough people complain, you are likely to have problems with LL.

See the Knowledge Base article on Maturity Ratings for more details.    

Based on my experience of being involved in the administration of Adult regions, I know that they are frequently a target for trolls and griefers.   If you find yourself banning someone from your region for being a nuisance and he knows about your dungeon, there's a pretty good chance he'll retaliate by AR-ing your content.   Similarly, if someone's simply exploring, comes across your dungeon and takes offence at it -- as some people do -- they'll quite likely complain.

Your decision, obviously, but my strong advice, particularly since you've posted the map reference here, is that the region needs to remain Adult.