The Daily Grind: Would you play an adult MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Global Chat: Room for improvement edition

Global Chat: Room for improvement edition originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Free for All: Why you shouldn't be worried while playing Second Life

Free for All: Why you shouldn't be worried while playing Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Daily Grind: How do you feel about mature content? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quite a delicious seasonal treat for those that use the third-party Second Life viewer from the Imprudence project, as they've got a test-build out today with all the usual goodness, but rebased against the 1.23 source tree.

What the heck does that even mean anyway? Well, it means that the Imprudence viewer now supports adult content ratings and restrictions, and is compatible with a larger variety of third-party features and extensions than previously.

Continue reading Imprudence 1.3 merge test build for Second Life

Imprudence 1.3 merge test build for Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've got a parcel on the Second Life mainland that deals in content or services that would be classified under the Adults-Only rating, today is your last day to submit a request to participate in the land-exchange program to Zindra, the Adult continent.

Admittedly, there's apparently a backlog of requests for adult land-swaps, so processing will continue for some unspecified time, but if your application isn't in today (Friday 24 July), then you'll have missed out. The offer is only open to those doing commercial business in Adult content/services, and not to (for example) home-owners.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Last day for Zindra transfer applications in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the new viewer, bringing Second Life up to 1.23 a few days earlier than expected, off the back of a very short release-candidate cycle.

The new viewer brings three things with it: The new Adults-only continent (formerly Ursula and now Zindra), user-verification by documents or payment-status, and a new Adults-only content rating that opens up Second Life to more extreme sexual and violent content.

Continue reading Second Life moves to 1.23, opens adult continent, allows more content

Second Life moves to 1.23, opens adult continent, allows more content originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The 1.23 Second Life viewer with the necessary support for Adult content is still being rushed to meet a June deadline, the exact reason for which seems a little unclear. There's some outstanding issues with the viewer release-candidates, but it seems fairly low on actual showstoppers and looks likely to make an official release in the roughly one fortnight remaining.

Definitions for the content ratings have been finalized, though they show little noticeable deviation from Linden Lab's originally proposed drafts. It appears that all the changes have been simple explanatory wording changes. The PG rating holds a couple of surprises, though.

Continue reading Second Life adult content updates: Viewers, namechanges, grannies and grade-schoolers

Second Life adult content updates: Viewers, namechanges, grannies and grade-schoolers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, ever wonder what's really motivating Linden Lab's recent push to implement an Adult content rating and firm up age-verification for Second Life? How about HR110-920 FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2009?

This is an appropriations bill that covers a lot of ground, covering appropriations for a whole lot of things. Introduced on 10 December 2008, the bill specifically includes an appropriation for an investigation and report to Congress on explicit content in virtual environments and on the access to those environments by minors.

Continue reading Is Congress the smoking gun behind Second Life's turnaround on adult content?

Is Congress the smoking gun behind Second Life's turnaround on adult content? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, the Lab held one of their occasional in-world press conferences in Second Life. This time it was about the addition of the new Adult content category, which not unnaturally has generated quite a bit of interest and concern among users.

It's obvious from the questions that were being asked that quite a few people are still under the impression that this move is a precursor to merging Teen Second Life with regular Second Life (which is obviously not the case), that this constitutes censorship (it doesn't, though it does constitute additional editorial control from what the Lab is saying), or that all non-G-rated content is being pushed out to the Ursula continent (which also is manifestly not the case). We're not even sure how some of those notions got formed.

Continue reading Linden Lab talks Adult issues at Second Life press conference

Linden Lab talks Adult issues at Second Life press conference originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 04 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

That's the question we've been getting asked since the announcement of the new definitions of PG, Mature, and Adults-Only content for Linden Lab's Second Life. We've been working on that question ever since. Interestingly, the new published definitions allow some content that was previously expressly forbidden.

According to Linden Lab, "Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic violence, and other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life."

Well, until now.

Continue reading What do Second Life's new content ratings actually mean?

What do Second Life's new content ratings actually mean? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Thanks to a piping-hot, fresh build of the Second Life viewer, we've been able to get a better look at the upcoming content controls that are due in the next major release of the Second Life viewer.

As expected, there are now three content ratings available (though it is uncertain as to what their final names will actually be. Using "PG" as a content rating, for example, has legal issues): PG content, Mature content and Adult content.

While it hasn't yet been determined exactly what content will fit into each category (actually, we barely have any idea about the existing content categorizations half the time), the actual usage and integration looks pretty straightforward.

Continue reading Upcoming viewer changes for Second Life adult content

Upcoming viewer changes for Second Life adult content originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.