Howdy Lilac. 

I was introduced to SL by a long time chat buddy. We started chatting during my first marriage. Long story short, I was married for 14 years to a man who came out of the closet at year 13. So, not a happy marriage at that point. I spent a lot of time in chat rooms just to joke and chat with people. I met a man in Holland who was doing the same thing. During the 20 or so years that we were Internet buddies, we tried every type of new  chat that would come out. We originally met in Microsoft Chat. Remember that? cartoons. Yes, this is a virtual world, but to me it is just a wonderfully interactive chat room.

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

Very much so. I used to build with "xxxxx".

I remember standing in front of him Avatard to Avatard trying to talk to him. He was not responding and that was not like him. He was sort of a shut in because he was taking care of his aging parents. Little did I know that he was not responding because he died on while playing SL at his PC. 

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

I left a note on his real obit. site. Told his family how nice and respectful he was. We held an in world memorial. SL made me sad after that, even though I had other friends. I left for a couple years and have just now come back on to see some of my old buddies.

3/ What are your positive experiences?

some of my most positive experiences all have to do with laughter   Roll play is boring but when we make if funny, that is when I laugh and have a good time. It's hard to take my giant chat room all too seriously. Real life is often too serious and this is a place where there should be no drama

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

get a mentor

explore

and don't buy bloodlines

 

ANSWERS

 1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

Had a SL romance.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

Realised how stupid it all was and got over it.

3/ What are your positive experiences?

learning new skills, friendships.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

have fun access what SL has to offer and ascertain if there is a skill or skills you would like to acquire.

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?   Not terribly, no.  I've had instances of people begging for money or being trololols, but not anything that I was unable to handle.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?   The Abuse Report and Mute buttons are rather helpful.  With beggars, if you say no, they usually move on to the next.  The trololols can usually dish it, but not take it.  so yeah, easy peasy.

3/ What are your positive experiences?   I have SO many.  Mostly being with my friends, RPing or hanging out.  Also, it's fun to explore SL in general and meet new people.  I also have a lot of fun shopping.  It's a bit of an addiction.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?   Go do the days of the week sales (25L Tuesdays, 30L Saturdays, 35L Sundays, etc), and do hunts and sales.  You can get a lot of cheap to free stuff that is well made, if you pay attention.  Don't let grieffers or trollolols get you down. Mute, Abuse Report and move on with life.  They are petty, miserable, and all around not smart individuals, don't let them crimp your mirth.

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

Well, I can say I have had some negative experiences like in Reallife.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

Just carrying on!

3/ What are your positive experiences?

There were a lot of positive experiences, countless ones a few were that SL Friends met each other and found their Love of Life, counting myself...yes I found my Love first in SL.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

I would say he or she should go into Second Life with an Open Heart and Open Mind.

 

Lilac, We have known each other a long time

I know you have had negative experiences in rl and sl.

I think one has to remember throughout their experiences in SL that it is a virtual world. In other words, it is not Utopia or Shangri La. It is a world that we create without the necessity to worry about Moral indignation, religious pressure or anything else for that matter.

It is also a world that acts as a crux for some people and offers adventures to people that may through sickness, handicap or mental illness things they cannot experience in real life

Why am I here?? SL is fun, more fun than watching tv at night, You become addicted to this Soap Opera called 2nd Life You get to be whoever you want to be and do  things that you would probably not do in reality.

I also get to meet people from all over the world, some have become friends, some lovers, none have become enemies. Yeah there are total nutcases in SL but there are total nutcases ieverywhere... hell, look at the government.!

 

 

HI there.

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

I have had many but have also had an equal number of good as well.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

After trying to communicate with them and hitting my head against prims i just stop interacting with them even going as far as to block them..  I have sought out other places to live my virtual life learning from past experiences. and staying in character, not allowing my RL to mix too much with my VL.

3/ What are your positive experiences?

I have met some of my best friends in game.  We speak outside of the game and talk about real life things just like a friend who you work with or live next door to.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

Be prepared.  This is not an extension of your real life.  This is fantasy..  Your fantasy of who you would like to be if  you  could be anything you want.  Stay ff of skype and defiantly do not allow others into it without knowing them very well.  It is important to grasp the fact that anyone can tell you what you want to hear and take advantage of what they learn about you.  Never give your real name, address, share pictures of your kids with others. 

I was able to find people i now consider family to me..  but it took time and lots of luck and it did not happen overnight. 

My list of no no's for the noob:

Do not exchange RL pictures

Do not give your Skype name or real e-mail address or phone numbers

NEVER get on a video chat with someone you do not know - and even then think it through

Do not assume others in the virtual world have your best interest at heart

DO NOT Agree to meet them in RL. 

ALways remember your virtual life is imaginary as is the person rezzing next to you. 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

I joined SL and fell into CCS very early on.  One of my first experiences was a guy who told me he wanted me to put on the meter so he could defeat me and then rape me.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

I left the sim and then talked to a few friends who redirected me to a different sim.  I am much happier here.

3/ What are your positive experiences?

Since coming to Sanctuary it has been nothing but positive experiences.  I have met some great people and we have a great time playing the game, traveling to see different sims and builds, dancing, and just enjoying each other's company.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

Research the game to find what you want to do and then go there.  Be open and talk to people.  Some will be rude and probably not talk but others will be nice and helpful.

Hello Lilac,

Thank you for reaching out with this fantastic opportunity to share some feedback. If I may ask, what is the purpose of your survey?

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

          The only really negative experiences I have ever encountered since I first came to Second Life in 2007 have been due to "griefers", and thankfully those experiences have been very few and far between.

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

           Moved on to another destination until the griefing was ended, and kept in mind that regardless of the platform or venue, you will likely always have some miserable person trying to make new company for themselves while they dwell in said misery.

3/ What are your positive experiences?

           I have met some of the best friends that I have in Virtual Worlds. Communicating with some of those very same people wouldn't have even been easily possible without translation services within the grid. I have gained some very useful programming skills due to my work with LSL within the grid, which have propelled me to work towards becoming a product vendor in the marketplace to capitalize on my works. I have also been involved with helping to raise thousands upon thousands of real dollars for Relay for Life and American Cancer Society charities through festivals and events in the Virtual World.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

           Get all of the freebies you can find yourself, talk to EVERYONE, and remember that it is absolutely okay to turn the computer off and come back later if the experience of a moment is not one you care for.

lol 1 / Haben Sie keine negativen Erfahrungen gemacht?

2 / Was haben Sie getan, um sie zu überwinden?

3 / Was sind Ihre positiven Erfahrungen?

4 / Welchen Rat würden Sie einem Noob geben?

fast say SL = RL  is 3 D realive game ;) ....they are reporter ?

 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?

Yes, a number of them. Mostly they involved other residents who "got their jollies" (i.e., "lulz", "kicks", or other terms referring to vicarious enjoyment of negativity) from mistreating others. Notably, this manifests as a threat of continuing harassment, even in the face of an abuse report or ban. The most common response to telling such a troll or griefer they will be abuse reported is: "So what? Even if this avatar gets banned, I can make another in five minutes, and will come right back to cause you grief." 

This is not an idle threat. There are groups of dedicated griefers who enjoy causing others trouble and find it funny when people get upset at being harassed. It's a common practice for such griefers to have multiple accounts, and if they make use of purpose-designed tools or devices for attacking residents or regions (deformers, orbiters, crashers, etc.), they may maintain a hidden cache of such devices where they can replenish them with a new avatar.

 

2/ What did you do to overcome them?

I belong to an organized group that defends others from such griefers. Repeated abuse reports and vigilance against attacks with griefing tools are the best responses. Some people use defensive weaponry such as guns with orbiting ammunition to remove a griefer from their presence, but the Linden TOS in particular does not recognize self-defense as a valid response, and a griefer upon which you direct such devices is equally within their rights to report it as an attack. Some griefers harass and taunt others verbally to goad them into attacking, then they report the person to get them suspended or banned.

 

 

3/ What are your positive experiences?

It is a good feeling to report a griefer, and have them suddenly vanish -- not teleport away, but GONE...poof! -- because they were banned mid-rant.  Even if they do come back on an alt, it's still good to see them get removed.  It's gratifying to abuse report a simful of self-replicating grief objects, and have a Linden governance agent appear and delete them all. It makes you feel good, because you've helped your fellow residents who suffered inconvenience and annoyance from the grief.

 

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?

DON'T PANIC!

In most cases, griefing is an emotional attack -- they want you to get upset and angry.  They find such displays amusing, and will laugh at you if you get mad. Even if they physically assault your avatar, such as with an orbiter or other weapon, fill your region with obscene objects, or even crash the region by overwhelming the computer supporting it, none of these things can cause you any actual harm. It's like your toon getting killed in any other game, like World of Warcraft or Call of Duty -- you will "respawn". The worst thing that can happen to your avatar is getting "killed" in a damage-enabled region, which only sends you home.

 

There are ways to keep from being bumped or orbited -- sit on something. If you can rez objects, create a plywood cube and sit on it. That prevents you from being assaulted by 99% of inworld griefing devices, as you can't be orbited or deformed while sitting. If you are buried or otherwise inundated with particles, you can turn off the rendering of particles, and won't be able to see them. If they use loud sounds, turn off your speakers or mute the objects making the sounds. Last case, mute or derender the avatar attacking you. 

 

You have a right to file an abuse report for any action upon you that violates the Terms of Service or Community Standards. Use the Help>Report Abuse option before derendering attacking objects, so you can get a snapshot of the action, and use the button on the abuse form to automatically populate the name of the attacker by clicking on one of their objects. Do this WHILE SITTING so you do not trigger a deformer or orbiter that relies upon an auto-sit to grab permissions and operate against you.  But even if something happens to your avatar when you click on an object, it's always negated by relogging. NOTHING done to you by another is permanent. The worst case, you'll need to relog.

 

DO NOT ATTACK A GRIEFER! If you do, they can and probably will abuse report you, with the intention of getting you suspended or even banned! You have tools to work against them in an approved fashion. USE THEM.  Abuse report, mute, and derender.  If you are in a parcel or region you control, add them to your ban list. Firestorm in particular has an "eject and ban" option from the People window. Right click on their name, and there are multiple options at the bottom of the context menu for removing/banning/derendering them.

 

There are security devices you can buy and install in spaces you control. The land tools give you many options for controlling intrusion. You can establish a safe space for yourself that nobody but you can enter. Worst-case, buy a small parcel somewhere, set it only to admit yourself, and to block others from even seeing inside that parcel. If you are targeted by griefers, teleport there, and even if they know where you went, they can't follow you, can't see you from an adjacent parcel, and you can't see or hear them.  Then abuse report them.

 

If you can, call friends to come and witness you being griefed, and ask them to also file an abuse report. This is called an "AR Party", and can be extremely effective.

 

It's understandable that you might get upset by a griefer. Immersion in a virtual world can cause you to strongly identify with your avatar, and perceive harmful intent towards your avatar as an attempt to ACTUALLY harm YOU.  Do not fall into this emotional trap!  They can't actually do anything to really hurt you.

 

If they manage to find real-world information about you, and threaten to show up at your home or place of business to cause physical harm to you, CALL THE POLICE.  Abuse report them, and copy-and-paste the threat in the report.  It's possible for the police to contact Linden Lab and acquire the griefer's information so they can be arrested for terroristic threats.   It's also a good idea to call the police in case the griefer attempts to SWAT you by calling in a false report to police. If the griefer calls your local police and claims to be you, they might say "I just shot my family. They're all dead.", with the intent of having a heavily-armed SWAT team show up at your house.

 

These events are VERY rare, but they can happen. DO NOT share personal information in a virtual world unless you know the person personally in real life and know they are a friend. If you are anonymous to the griefer, they can't do something like this to you.

 

https://youtu.be/TiW-BVPCbZk

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/04/another_swatting.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/swatting_hoaxes_cropping_up_in_new_jersey.html

 

 

 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences? peeple dying in rl

2/ What did you do to overcome them? suppowt wiff fwends and fams boff in sl and rl

3/ What are your positive experiences? handicaps meen nuffing in sl

4/ What advice would you give to a noob? esplowe sl has much tew offer and neber be afwade tew ask fow help

 

 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?     Yes. That ppl lie a lot  and try to play bad games with alts .

 

2/ What did you do to overcome them?   Don´t take it personal and do not belive everything.

 

3/ What are your positive experiences?   I found a lot of Friends, i found my RL Love, and i could be creative

 

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?  Don´t tell anything about your RL ! Do not trust fast !

 

 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences? yes

 

2/ What did you do to overcome them? ignore

 

3/ What are your positive experiences? friends and laughing

 

4/ What advice would you give to a noob? keep your mouth shut... speak when spoken to

 

 

 

1/ Have you had any negative experiences?  To be honest very few bad experiences within the virtual world, as I have met alot of great people and rped with some of the best out there and have learned quite abit on thinking as well as writing longer posts and ways to word them.

 

2/ What did you do to overcome them? Major thing i had to overcome really was my gender identity, awhile back I rped as a female as i was shy and scared of being myself and then a close friend of mine helped me get out of it and be myself and ever since, I had nothing but great expereinces.

 

3/ What are your positive experiences?

Meeting new people and making great friends who stand by me as well as new experiences created as well as being close to a few good advice givers.

4/ What advice would you give to a noob?  Be yourself and not try to be something your not as it may come up and bite you in the face or perhaps it may work. Just get out here and talk to people as well as be open, granted some are jerks on here, but not all of us and hey if yu ever need a friend. My paw is here to take ^>^/

 

 

Thanking you in anticipation for any responses

Lilac Collas