So much to talk about!
I know some people get a bit cranky when people drag RL into SL, but I have to go into a bit of backstory to explain things.
I was previously in a group in RL that met regularly to set goals and discuss them. It was incredibly simple and yet quite powerful--each meeting (the meetings varied from weekly to monthly, depending on our schedules) we would get goals to be completed by the next meeting. And then at the next meeting we would talk about how we did, cheer our victories, soothe our defeats and discuss our long-term plans.
The group eventually disbanded amicably and I made an attempt to start a new one along the same lines, to no avail.
So I decided to start one in Second Life.
I set up an Event for an initial meeting on Sunday afternoon and detailed what I was planning to do. I had no clue if anybody else would be interested or not, but I figured there was no harm done in trying. At worst, I'd lose L$100 setting up a Group and not getting at least one other person to join.
Well, I ended up with four other people, which is actually the optimum size for me. (I'd made a note that I'd be limiting the Group to ten people at most.) Everybody seems quite enthusiastic and I feel we're all on a similar wavelength. I'm really looking forward to how this progresses.
So, while I was in exile from Second Life last week, I heard on the radio (yes, it was a news item) that gambling had been banned from Second Life.
My initial thoughts were along the lines of ". . . the fuck?" I thought the whole point was that Lindens were, effectively, play money that some people were willing to pay money for, but not currency unto itself. I inquired about it on a couple of different SL discussion fora and the impression I got was that, well, because they can be redeemed for cash and prizes, Lindens were subject to federal regulations about online gambling and, well, had been the entire time.
As per usual, the folks at Linden Lab caved, because they do not have pockets deep enough to mount that kind of legal battle when it's much, MUCH simpler to just ban gambling and *cough* let the chips fall where they may.
I was never that heavily invested in gambling, so it's pretty much no nevermind to me. I'll miss the sploders (I made some good money off of those) and the blackjack tables but considering that one of the biggest arguments people used to trot out against buying mainland property was "you never know if a big ugly casino will show up next door!" then maybe it's not such a bad thing in the long term.
Once again, of course, as there was when the pedophiles got kicked out, there's a bit hue and cry about What Will Be Next. Well, here's a pop quiz--is what you're doing considered illegal? Not on a if-SL-were-RL level, but on a if SL-were-SL level.
Since SL is basically an extension of the Internet, try giving it the can-you-put-it-on-a-website test. Can you put child porn on a website and not get in trouble for it? Can you get up a casino on a website and not be subject to regulations about it?
If the answer is "only if they don't catch you", then maybe you need to rethink what you're doing.
To my knowledge, porn on the internet is and remains pretty much legal. So as long as the laws don't get rewritten extensively to change that (and I'd keep an eye on your government, folks) then your strip clubs and poseballs should still be safe. We'll have to see how this 'age and ID verification' thing shakes out (remember that?) but I'm guessing that once that's in place, their asses will be sufficiently covered to allow all kinds of kinky goodness.
We shall see. For me, I'll only worry if they start banning art galleries, gardens and dance clubs, so maybe it just depends on what you get out of it . . .
I uploaded a new icon, this time with my boyface. I changed the picture on my SL profile so My Life As A Girl wouldn't be as instantly obvious to the casual observer. We'll see if that changes the way people take me.
I was previously in a group in RL that met regularly to set goals and discuss them. It was incredibly simple and yet quite powerful--each meeting (the meetings varied from weekly to monthly, depending on our schedules) we would get goals to be completed by the next meeting. And then at the next meeting we would talk about how we did, cheer our victories, soothe our defeats and discuss our long-term plans.
The group eventually disbanded amicably and I made an attempt to start a new one along the same lines, to no avail.
So I decided to start one in Second Life.
I set up an Event for an initial meeting on Sunday afternoon and detailed what I was planning to do. I had no clue if anybody else would be interested or not, but I figured there was no harm done in trying. At worst, I'd lose L$100 setting up a Group and not getting at least one other person to join.
Well, I ended up with four other people, which is actually the optimum size for me. (I'd made a note that I'd be limiting the Group to ten people at most.) Everybody seems quite enthusiastic and I feel we're all on a similar wavelength. I'm really looking forward to how this progresses.
So, while I was in exile from Second Life last week, I heard on the radio (yes, it was a news item) that gambling had been banned from Second Life.
My initial thoughts were along the lines of ". . . the fuck?" I thought the whole point was that Lindens were, effectively, play money that some people were willing to pay money for, but not currency unto itself. I inquired about it on a couple of different SL discussion fora and the impression I got was that, well, because they can be redeemed for cash and prizes, Lindens were subject to federal regulations about online gambling and, well, had been the entire time.
As per usual, the folks at Linden Lab caved, because they do not have pockets deep enough to mount that kind of legal battle when it's much, MUCH simpler to just ban gambling and *cough* let the chips fall where they may.
I was never that heavily invested in gambling, so it's pretty much no nevermind to me. I'll miss the sploders (I made some good money off of those) and the blackjack tables but considering that one of the biggest arguments people used to trot out against buying mainland property was "you never know if a big ugly casino will show up next door!" then maybe it's not such a bad thing in the long term.
Once again, of course, as there was when the pedophiles got kicked out, there's a bit hue and cry about What Will Be Next. Well, here's a pop quiz--is what you're doing considered illegal? Not on a if-SL-were-RL level, but on a if SL-were-SL level.
Since SL is basically an extension of the Internet, try giving it the can-you-put-it-on-a-website test. Can you put child porn on a website and not get in trouble for it? Can you get up a casino on a website and not be subject to regulations about it?
If the answer is "only if they don't catch you", then maybe you need to rethink what you're doing.
To my knowledge, porn on the internet is and remains pretty much legal. So as long as the laws don't get rewritten extensively to change that (and I'd keep an eye on your government, folks) then your strip clubs and poseballs should still be safe. We'll have to see how this 'age and ID verification' thing shakes out (remember that?) but I'm guessing that once that's in place, their asses will be sufficiently covered to allow all kinds of kinky goodness.
We shall see. For me, I'll only worry if they start banning art galleries, gardens and dance clubs, so maybe it just depends on what you get out of it . . .
I uploaded a new icon, this time with my boyface. I changed the picture on my SL profile so My Life As A Girl wouldn't be as instantly obvious to the casual observer. We'll see if that changes the way people take me.