16 July, 2011

you've got me thinking that the party's all over

More lunacy from the wilds of SL.

So, this is a rather large chat capture from Violent Seduction. It's not a rule to specifically identify the group when I do a chat capture--sometimes it's relevant, sometimes it's just not--but this one, it needed to be said. More on why, later.

[00:31] Scenegirl241 Resident: I had so much fun
[00:31] Scenegirl241: Playin...
[00:31] Scenegirl241: Ok
[00:31] ѕϊмσηε (simi.jolbey): ?
[00:31] Scenegirl241: guessing game :P
[00:31] Emilly Orr: ??
[00:32] Emilly Orr: Ah.
[00:32] Scenegirl241: Gues the name of the game I play
[00:32] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): She's been randomly talking in the group.. for like two days -_-


Now, chat in any group that doesn't have it specifically prohibited is just that, chat. Unless it's spam. And then most of my groups have denizens that range from cranky to psychotic, and will literally harry the person until they leave.

On not infrequent occasion, I am one of those people (those who choose aggression over complacency, I mean).

[00:32] ѕϊмσηε (simi.jolbey): oh
[00:32] Unsightly: lol
[00:32] Emilly Orr figures you should guess if she cares.
[00:32] ѕϊмσηε (simi.jolbey): she might be drunk or stoned
[00:32] Emilly Orr: Or both!
[00:32] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): gonna go with both...
[00:32] Em Westland (temperance.westland): I vote she's not real.
[00:32] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): cause lord knows I don't give a crap


Apparently "Scenegirl" had made a similar impact before, and at this point, those who dealt with her then were not impressed, nor amused.

[00:33] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Ikaru needs to make like.. a Silent group... so people like Scenegirl.. dun troll about
[00:33] Emilly Orr nods.
[00:33] Scenegirl241: Hey!
[00:33] Emilly Orr: Or, ooh, hey, someone could complain to Iki and say, so, there's this...strange person...we think she's not real.
[00:34] Scenegirl241: . - .
[00:34] ʆῼѴƸḼΣṦṢ (cado.xorbun): lol
[00:34] Unsightly: lol
[00:34] Em Westland (temperance.westland): I think we hurt its robotic heart.


To be fair, come upon any group linked around one concept, and run afoul of that concept--in this case, wanting to talk about some silly game somewhere else on the grid that had nothing to do with VS products--and the harassment will ensue.

[00:34] Emilly Orr: Okay, I care now, this is fun. What else can you do?
[00:34] ʆῼѴƸḼΣṦṢ (cado.xorbun): beep beep beep
[00:34] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Oh god.. they have feelings!
[00:34] ʆῼѴƸḼΣṦṢ (cado.xorbun): marvin had feelings too...
[00:34] Em Westland (temperance.westland): I know! What next?
[00:35] Emilly Orr pulls the profile and hmms.
[00:35] Emilly Orr: Okay, to be fair, she's not even a month old. All the newb hasn't shined off her limbs yet.
[00:35] Emilly Orr might cut her some slight slack for that.


Which is true--in general, if someone's very new--and yesterday, "Scenegirl" was 29 days old, so yes, very new--I generally do my best to understand that, and grant some leeway. Everyone comes in raw on the grid. Even if you just walk in as an alt, there's still raw, because you don't have absolutely everything you had on the last avatar; you may not have the same walk, the same shape, even the same viewer. So yes, there is a period of adjustment on SL, and there is still a steep learning curve.

[00:35] ʆῼѴƸḼΣṦṢ (cado.xorbun): goodnight group.. and.. robot.. O>o
[00:35] Scenegirl241: Stalkin ma profile . x .
[00:35] Scenegirl241: Stalker..
[00:35] Scenegirl241: . x .
[00:35] Emilly Orr: Oh, I take it all back, then.
[00:35] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): She named herself Scenegirl... and has numbers in her name..
[00:35] Unsightly: some noobs stuffs havnt shined off from people from 2008 haha
[00:35] Emilly Orr: People read profiles in here, you consummate ditz.


I do not apologize for that. "Stalking" someone has defined connotations that do not include reading random profiles on SL. Because that's what profiles are for, lollipop. No one should apologize for reading a profile, just as no one should call out anyone who does as a "stalker".

[00:35] Scenegirl241: I have the same name on imvu..

I can't prove that, as I have no way to access the IMVU database, and frankly, can't be bothered. But if she says it, okay, fine. And this matters why...?

[00:36] Scenegirl241: But I only jopined this because imvu slowed down my computer :3
[00:36] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): and.. SL doesnt..?

You have to admit, Miss Amira makes a good point.

[00:37] Scenegirl241: I had to join this..
[00:37] Scenegirl241: i cant even have imvu anymore
[00:37] Scenegirl241: dad said...
[00:37] Unsightly: tf
[00:37] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): ew.. its underage


That was my first thought, too.

[00:38] Scenegirl241: I dont take being made fun of quite nicely..

Well, should we make fun of you more vilely? I'm sure we can do that.

[00:38] Unsightly: play this game when you are 18 youll probably like it
[00:38] Emilly Orr: Whoa, whoa whoa, guys. She's legal to be in here if she's 16 or older.
[00:38] Emilly Orr: Though she's NOT legal to be in here if she's 13-15.
[00:38] Scenegirl241: Im 16..
[00:39] Scenegirl241: Sheesh e - e
[00:39] Scenegirl241: Now..Just leave me alone..
[00:39] Emilly Orr: Hey, it's new, we're all adjusting.


Yeah. I still freak out when I find out someone's not even eighteen on the grid. I have this horrible urge to track down a screaming, pointing face, and just stand there, saying "WARE THOU THE MUTANT!" or something.

[00:39] Scenegirl241: Im not in a fond mood now..
[00:39] Emilly Orr: Used to be children weren't allowed on SL, now they are.
[00:39] Unsightly: i didnt say it wasnt legal if shes not 18. i was just sayin
[00:39] Sweet Clementine: Wow, forgot about the merger up until now.
[00:39] Emilly Orr: Yep.
[00:39] Amira Lemaire (amira.little) groans....
[00:39] Emilly Orr: This is why I don't date on the grid anymore.
[00:39] Scenegirl241: ..
[00:40] Emilly Orr: Still, never mind, we apologize for bothering your little vamp self. We'll just run along and do non-vampiric things.


I should explain that, because it's somewhat relevant. Ish. From her profile:

The vampire that is nothing but a spot...I havent been accepted for who I am..I feel it hard to live a happy life without a family who'll actually accept you..I dont want to feel alone anymore..

That's the front page.

I feel as if you're near but yet oh so far..Come and hold me in your arms..Bite me my little vampire..

And that's her RL bio. Yeah. Um. Okay, I get loneliness sucks, fine, Daddy won't let you play IMVU (though I'm wondering why, now), so you jumped to SL, okay.

But it strikes me as immature, insincere emo posing, frankly, and...yeah. Not impressed.

[00:40] Scenegirl241: ....
[00:41] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): xD
[00:41] Scenegirl241: Still being rude..
[00:41] Unsightly: lol
[00:41] Scenegirl241: But whatever...
[00:41] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Welcome to the online world.


There used to be a bumpersticker--If you can't stand the heat, get off the internet. I think some people are simply too fragile to be allowed out in virtual spaces. Miss Scene might be one of them.

[00:42] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Nah... I'm just -_- at your name.. and.. well.. I'm a firm believer ya need to be 18 to join SL
[00:42] Unsightly: yis
[00:42] Unsightly: yaaaa
[00:42] Scenegirl241: It's 16 years and up now . x .
[00:42] Emilly Orr: Oh, dear Miss Scene, this is not rude. Trust me. This isn't CLOSE to rude. I haven't even worked up to mildly unpleasant yet. TRUST me.
[00:42] Emilly Orr: Not that I intend to.


Pretty much. Though this wasn't even close to rude, yet. And again, though I completely accept the childish nature of this retort--she started it.

[00:43] Scenegirl241: Ok..Now can I be left alone
[00:43] Scenegirl241: Im not very happy..


Again, you STARTED all this with your juvenile "guess what game I'm playing" line. Come on now. Buck up and accept it, or wander off and do something else. It's not like we're making you stay in the chat--or, for that matter, the group.

[00:43] Sweet Clementine: Agreed. Sorry but SL was never intended for teens to mingle with adulkts until recently, so many of us have yet to adjust (and probably never will).
[00:43] Sileny Poe (sileny.noel): If someone sells prim tits in a store allowed to 16 they should be reported :P


That brings up another point. If someone is sixteen in RL, and dresses like a tramp, well, it's tacky, but it's allowed. If someone is sixteen in RL, and gets a boob job--why on earth are her parents allowing that?!?

Same rules should apply in SL. You're always allowed to dress like street trash; but if you're under eighteen and you buy prim breasts, really, that should be a penalty for the parents. A fine for non-observance of their child's online activity, or something. Because that's just not right.

[00:44] Scenegirl241: Ok look..Im done......
[00:44] Scenegirl241: I dont like people who are rude to be
[00:44] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): cause.. well.. its SL
[00:44] Scenegirl241: It just annoys me..
[00:44] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): mute is a wonderful thing
[00:44] Sileny Poe (sileny.noel): I dont think people are being overly rude Scene :x


Again she comes back to this "rude" accusation. I'm thinking that holds as much weight as her "stalking" accusation earlier. She really, honestly, has no concept of what being rude means, I think. I believe she just trots that out any time anyone does something that isn't wholly and completely what she wants in that moment. It's just mind-boggling to consider.

[00:45] Sweet Clementine wonders how bad IMVU is for SL to be the "more teen friendly" option.
[00:45] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Which makes me simply say to parents "DOn't bitch that your kids see it.. you let them on."


Yes, and also--seriously, I thought IMVU was designed for teenagers. What the hell happened that SL--where practically anyone can go out and buy a tattoo that says SLUT in carved letters, wear it with prim genitalia, and then buy an engine-powered dildo all on the Marketplace--is the MORE family-friendly option??

Who's taking the high amount of intoxicants, here? Because someone clearly needs to lower their dosage.

[00:47] Emilly Orr: Though that does bring up a point. Technically prim breasts are supposedly Adult products, though, y'know, the grid being the grid...But I thought you had to be 18 to get into Mature areas, and were restricted to only G zones at 16 and 17. Did that stop?
[00:48] Scenegirl241: I cant go in mature areas


Well, there you go. Wait. But the store is in a Mature sim...

[00:48] Emilly Orr: A-ha! So okay, that prohibition does hold.
[00:48] Emilly Orr: Hrm. But isn't Violent Seduction on Mature land?


And therein lies why I identified this bit of chat at the top. Which also made me think a bit. Violent Seduction's chat is PG. Violent Seduction's store is on Mature.

Curious, no?

So I checked my groups. Lady Disdain Designs, my personal store group (for the bare handful of folks in it) is rated Mature. Perhaps I should change that, as I really don't have anything overly "Mature" in the store.

On the other hand, the Autogenic Alchemy group, which does, on occasion, have Adult items, is rated PG. How odd.

[00:49] Scenegirl241: I joined because this chick in one room told me about it..I looked it up and and I saw it payed my 50 and happily joine
[00:49] Emilly Orr blinks.
[00:49] Emilly Orr: Paid your '50'?
[00:49] Unsightly: you paid 50$ to play O_o?
[00:49] Scenegirl241: 50L
[00:49] Scenegirl241: to join the group x .x
[00:50] Scenegirl241: Whatcha think I meant
[00:50] Emilly Orr: We thought you meant Second Life, itself. A thousand apologies.
[00:50] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): So she joined a group to a store she can't get too...
[00:50] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): yup
[00:50] Scenegirl241: Appearently so :3..
[00:50] Emilly Orr: Do you know, that thought struck me, too?


Now, granted, new person, rules are unclear, they don't know a great deal, plus they are sixteen to boot--she's not due to know "absolutely everything" until 22 at the earliest--but...Still, were it you, wouldn't you check? Just to make sure you could go to the store, before signing up?

Oh, forget that, because why are you signing up for a store you've never been to?

[00:51] Unsightly: ohh.. you might have to set it up in prefs
[00:51] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): well, teens can't
[00:51] Scenegirl241: I cant change my rating in prefs xD
[00:51] Scenegirl241: Or age verify myself


This is true. If she's set up on an actual teen-rated teen account, she can't change her preferences. She doesn't have access to them, period!

[00:56] Scenegirl241: If I leave the group can I get a refund^ ^"??
[00:56] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Nope
[00:56] Unsightly: no you cant
[00:56] Scenegirl241: Cause I really want one if I leave . x .
[00:56] Emilly Orr: Nope.
[00:56] Unsightly: just stay in it forever
[00:56] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): you should have gone to the shop
[00:56] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): this is why i do my homework before joining groups that cost L


Absolutely. Also, if she asked the group owner she'd be told not. Any group that charges, will not refund people that ask.

Plus, good gods, you twit, it's fifty Lindens. Fifty Lindens is twenty cents. You're making all this fuss over two virtual dimes? Are you high?!?

[00:57] Scenegirl241: hey I dont look xD
[00:57] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Thats obvious


Manifestly so. Or really thinks at all before she types.

So some kind soul tossed her some Lindens, so she wouldn't be bereft of spending money. Most of us have done it at one time or another; it's a nice gesture, and it makes the receiving party ever so grateful.

Unless, you're, well, Miss Scene.

[01:04] Scenegirl241: Sooo..
[01:04] Scenegirl241: Who payed me o . o
[01:04] Scenegirl241: because I just got like 550 l o o..
[01:04] Unsightly: it should say in local chat who paid you


This took her a bit to track down, for some reason.

[01:05] Scenegirl241: A..
[01:05] Scenegirl241: Cornelius
[01:05] Scenegirl241: Somethin like that xD
[01:05] Emilly Orr blinks
[01:05] Emilly Orr: Dear Miss S. You can't read, either?
[01:06] Amira Lemaire (amira.little) gigglesnorts
[01:06] Emilly Orr: Oh, you poor dear.
[01:06] Scenegirl241: Wait what o . o?..


I have no words. But, at that point, someone asked if it was Cornelius Kira. Now, I don't know M. Kira from, well, I don't know him. Plus, as later turned out to be the case, it was Cornelius Kiranov anyway (we think; we're still not sure, but also, it's not as if it truly matters). What did matter was the fact that in typing to us, and staring at the name in chat...Scene still got it wrong.

[01:06] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant) facepalms.
[01:06] Scenegirl241: Yeah that name
[01:06] Scenegirl241: I didnt remember how it was spelled
[01:06] Emilly Orr: Ki-ra.
[01:06] Emilly Orr: It's pronounced Kih-rah.
[01:06] Emilly Orr says helpfully.
[01:06] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): Say it slowly irl
[01:07] Sweet Clementine dies laughing.


Yes, I was being sarcastic. But I was also trying to help. Edged help, to be sure, but seriously--in any viewer, if you're staring at the name, how can you get it wrong?

But the mystery was solved, huzzah! And then this interchange took place:

[01:08] Sweet Clementine: He's a good guy. Should IM him and say thanks. IT'd make his day.
[01:08] Scenegirl241: gimme his name :3...
[01:08] Scenegirl241: Again..
[01:08] Amira Lemaire (amira.little) facepalms!
[01:08] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): scroll up
[01:08] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): omg
[01:08] Sweet Clementine: Cornelius Kira
[01:08] Amira Lemaire (amira.little): This.. is the makings of a troll
[01:08] Emilly Orr: Cor-ne-li-us.
[01:09] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): I said so before
[01:09] Tess Allegrant (tessa.allegrant): troll
[01:09] Sweet Clementine: Hahah so true~
[01:10] Scenegirl241: I cant find the name . x .
[01:10] Emilly Orr: You are kidding, right?
[01:10] Scenegirl241: nope..
[01:10] Emilly Orr: Search > People > Cornelius Kira
[01:10] Emilly Orr: Press Search
[01:10] Emilly Orr: It's not rocket science.


Now, actually, it is. Turns out that Search, as it is currently configured, means you need the exact spelling of the name to find anyone. (In point of fact, People Search works best if you copy the name from the profile of the person you're trying to find, and paste that in. I'm not kidding, I'm tragically serious.)

So if you want to find Miss Rayven Zelmanov, say, and you type in Raven Zelmanov, you're not going to get anything. But even worse, if you type in Rayven Zelmano, you won't get anything either. As many, many people have said, that's a bad search engine.

Though apparently, sometimes this fails, with interesting results...

[01:10] Scenegirl241: Im serious
[01:10] Emilly Orr: What viewer are you using?
[01:10] Scenegirl241: No matches found
[01:10] Sweet Clementine: Kita
[01:10] Scenegirl241: veiwer 2
[01:10] Sweet Clementine: My bad!
[01:11] Emilly Orr: Hmm, point, but a Cornelius Kiranov comes up.
[01:11] Scenegirl241: Used Kita
[01:11] Unsightly: wow
[01:11] Unsightly: shes using viewer 2
[01:11] Scenegirl241: Fount it :)
[01:11] Emilly Orr: Which I found by typing in Cornelius Kira....
[01:11] Unsightly: thats why shes so lost


So it was either Cornelius Kita, or Cornelius Kiranov, and frankly, it doesn't matter either way, because she likely found someone else entirely, and sent them a random IM thanking them for no apparent reason.

A random, badly-spelled IM thanking them, I should point out...

[01:16] Scenegirl241: Ok..Im headin out...
[01:16] Scenegirl241: Ima go roam for a while
[01:16] Scenegirl241: Maybe play more Bioshock later on


Of course. Be well, small vampiric soul! Enjoy your...er...G-rated vampirism!

Tch. Some peoples' children.

And now, another sector heard from:

[19:52] Your Friendly Internet Troll (jakkar.carlos): [19:47] Yummy Tamale: Because of your incessant harassment of others, you're permanently banned from Beast Forest.
[19:52] Emilly Orr: Does it ever bother you that you keep getting banned from places?
[19:53] Your Friendly Internet Troll (jakkar.carlos): Well, since Beast Forest is a beastiality sim, no.. not really.


Now, I wish to make it clear that my personal policy is never going to involve harassing people for any sim they wish to go to. If I don't like it--while I may make mention of it here just for bwuh value--I generally don't go back, problem solved.

And, while bestiality is illegal in many parts of the world, as far as I know virtual bestiality is just fine. (And let's be honest, people--it seems half the grid, some days, is neko. Neko + human = bestiality, or at least its smallest, most prettified side. So we're none of us innocent on that charge.)

All in all, more fuel on the fire, I suppose, of why bringing teens into SL was a very bad idea...but yet another very bad idea that won't go away any time soon. I swear, the Labs need a new motto.


Yeah. That'll work.

10 comments:

Aunt Foggy said...

As someone who spent some time being stalked by alts in SL, my bullshit meter is pegging on some of the chat there. It is actually really hard to pretend to be a noob if you are not. People always pretend to be befuddled by the easy stuff, but can do the harder stuff. A response of "viewer 2" to the question is a great example. Real noobs generally have to have the concept of "viewer" explained, and if they have that then the answer is "I just signed up and use the one I got" or some variation on that. Even joining a group is a bitch to explain to a true noob, and usually would take an hour of pulling out your hair.
This one smells a bit fishy to me :)

Emilly Orr said...

It does, but by the same extension, I completely and utterly believe that she is incapable of rational thought, the ability to spell, or of being over 18.

She could have been a troll, granted, and members of the chat seemed to think so. Still, it might have been explained to her by this mysterious benefactor in the unknown IMVU room, of what to do, how to download, and basic names for things--like "Lindens", "viewer 2", and "L".

Stranger things have happened, but...yes. It's all just off, somehow.

Winter said...

I can't believe I read that whole post. The only thing I have to contribute is this:

Bioshock's ESRB rating is M 17+.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.jsp?title=bioshock

Aunt Foggy said...

Meh - since I do not date online the issue for me it maturity rather than age. I have met some awesome teens on the grid, and some hideously immature "adults" who were obviously over 40. That said, communication styles certainly vary a lot amongst the youngsters vs old folks like myself. And a lot of the current habits that are apparently perfectly acceptable in the age cohort set my teeth on edge. Like old folks throughout time :)

Emilly Orr said...

Winter,

I could make an award. :p

But yes, that's what I thought--so she's really irrespective of any age guidelines, and her father's an absentee parent. Wonderful.

Emilly Orr said...

Lady Fogwoman,

If you remove dating from the interaction pool--and I really should, I'm off the market--then what remains is fairly simple: do I like communicating with that mind?

At that point, any age gap diminishes--if we genuinely appreciate conversation and dialogue with another mind, then it doesn't matter overmuch if they're sixteen or sixty.

Then the case becomes, can any personality quirks be dealt with to continue the conversation? It makes religious leanings, political alignments, and social impressions secondary, in a sense.

However, even on that scale Scenegirl fails, and while you and I both have met awake, alive, active teenagers, for the most part, this is why I'm instantly dismissive of "Resident" as a last name. It's terrifyingly bigoted of me, but working in the sales office of Solace Beach, and shopping around the grid, I've found several things to be nearly always true for me:

* If they're under 200 days old, and their last name is Resident, they're generally still pretty confused about things. (This can be dealt with, though.)

* If they're under 100 days old, and their name is Resident, they generally can't spell. (This is a problem for me.)

* If they're under 50 days old, and their last name is Resident, generally they can't spell or string a coherent conversation together. (This is a larger problem for me, especially if I'm trying to rent them land.)

And I have found this to be wholly separate from age, race, religion, ethics, and language/country of origin (which is sad; my head's been saying for a while now that if someone I'm speaking with isn't American/Canadian/English, they're probably smarter as a rule. And that hasn't proven out.)

Anonymous said...

So, a very close friend of mine got bored, deciding to link me this blog post... About me. At first, I'm thinking, I fuckin' knew there was somethin about me out there. I can't say I'm too shocked as I figured it'd happen eventually, not from me being a noob, learning new things, and a young YOUNG teen, just from other bs. It was 2011, was too young to know any better. But honestly, Ms.Cookies, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for showing how stupid teenagers can be. I no longer use that account, theres no redeeming it with that username lmao. Enjoy 2020.

Emilly Orr said...

Goodness, back in the bad old days of avatar names. Still pondering when the eventual changeover happens from Blogspot to Wordpress, which is coming when stress descends to a more tolerable level, I shouldn't just junk all names entirely. Precisely because of incidents like this.

But hi! Hope your 2020 features you well, and not on fire!

Anonymous said...

Hello hello, all is well! 2020 is shit but I'm still kickin' so it can't be impossible. :)

Emilly Orr said...

2020 is a dumpster fire sliding down a rollercoaster of razorblades, yes, and I do apologize, this got hitched in the spam folder for some reason, which I rarely check. But better late than never? Good to hear you're still around.

I've got a three day headache and it's all in my head

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