Feted Inner Child

July 29th, 2010 by Marianne McCann

Two weeks ago was Camp HardKnock, which was one of the best events I’ve been at in SL. after four years in Second Life, and attending every birthday, burn, winterfest, and other thing, that is not something I’m saying lightly.

For those not in the know, let me paint a piccie f’r ya. For about nine days, 100+ avatars (few are all logged in at once) share two second life regions. In that time, these avatars remain on site (barring the occasional sneak away). At the end of this week or so, the majority of those same avatars want the experience to not end. Most will be about when the next camp is announced, standing in line for the privilege of paying a stack of Lindens to come back.

What happens during those nine days that counts, though. The background is this. It’s a sleep-away camp, where all of the participants (child avatar campers and teen/adult avatar counselors) play a part. It a place for games, cabin wars, dances, parties, competitions, and just about anything else that can be brought to the party. There is nearly always something happening – and even if there’s a dead time, there are games and other past-times all over.

It’s a time for some serious fun. You’ll hear laughter — both canned gestures and voice chat guffaws — all over the place. Everyone is always cracking jokes, being silly, and just having fun. The jaded cynicism I see so often across the Grid does not tend to seep into Camp HardKnock. It’s amazingly refreshing.

The event brings together old vets – like me – with new kids. A majority of child avatars stick to the places they know, particularly their family homes and neighborhoods. Many of us are storeowners and builders, and spend a lot of time in our workshops. Some are alts that usually end up not getting a lot of time while other avatars hog the screen time. Here, we come together, form and strengthen our friendships, pick up tips and tricks (and a metric ton of gestures) from each other, and just… grow.

Few who go through Camp HardKnock leave the same as they were when they came. That might be the biggest thing about it. It’s something special, and not what you’ll find elsewhere on the grid.

At this camp, like all the others, I took a pile of piccies. You can see all of mine on Snapzilla. If you want to see a bit more, set aside about an hour and watch the “Designing Worlds” coverage. It’s about the most positive, honest coverage of anything involving kid avatars in Second Life that you’ll ever find. If anything, it is a shame there is such a stigma towards child avatars. People could learn a thing or two from events like this.

Will I be at the next camp? Look for me near the front of the line again, ready to sign up for a bunk!

July 1st, 2010 by Marianne McCann

I’m awful late at getting this prepared. I was hoping to do it before the event, but time just got away from. Anyway, while there’s still a couple days left to see it, let me introduce you to “Unexpected Childhood,” my build at SL7B.

The theme of SL7B is “Unexpected Collaborations,” and while we did tie a lot of the work to that theme – s well as just empathizing the birthday aspect itself – we wanted to look at how unexpected our Second lives have been. Few come to SL thinking “I’m going to be a kid!” So we decided to call it “unexpected childhoods” and focus on how we can to be kids on the Grid.

I wanted to get away from the whole, political, “having to defend the existence of child avatars” stuff that had to be done a bit n the past. We exist. Some don’t like us. Others do. To me, the arguments are largely done since the last Terms of Service update. Rather the defense, I wanted to take the opportunity to educate and have fun.

We – myself and Pygar Bu, who did a lot of the heavy lifting – decided to build it out of oversized blocks to really make any avatar feel a bit smaller, and see the world a bit like how a child avatar sees it already. Also, we used items like blocks and tinker toys and legos to try to emphasize the creative aspects of both SL kids and Second Life.

The crane in the build, BTW, was a happy accident. I had originally put it up during the build to show that it was “under construction.” But we all liked it. We tried a tinkertoy crane or two, but they all ended up far primmier and not as effective. So it stuck. Besides, it was made by Arcadia Asylum, who was no stranger to SL children as it was.

The build has four distinct parts to it. First, on the back of the “Happy Birthday Second Life” blocks are different photos child avatars, and clicking their block gives you a notecard with their story and reasons for being a kid in SL. Myself and Sage Kostenbaum, who put together a similar display at Kids5B two years ago, decided that the best way to talk about our SL childhoods is to let our community speak.

Second is a tunnel through the large architectural blocks. It displays words and phrases that came to mind when we asked on the Second Life Children group for their description of what life as a kid in SL was all about. Some are funny, some are thought provoking.

Behind the build you’ll find the third section, which is resources. Weblinks to various kids blogs, a Second Childhood Network kiosk, and other good to help further the information about kids in SL. Finally, hidden towards the top of the tower, is the adult to kid transmogrifier – for those who want to explore their *own* unexpected childhood.

Also, you’ll find numerous “little people” throughout the build, each with a thought bubble, answering some of the more common questions about child avatars. They’ll even speak to you if you click the “voice dot” over their head.

I hope you get a chance to visit and check it out, and enjoy the rest of SL7B’s builds and stuff. It is up ’til the end of July 3rd.

July 1st, 2010 by Marianne McCann

I’ve a couple other entries I wanna write about (stuff like SL7B, and Philip Linden, and the “restructuring” an stuff), but first iI wanna jes do this quick one.

Twice a year there is a week-long sleepaway camp called Camp HardKnock. It’s become one of the biggest deals in the SL year for child avatars. Imagine a real-life sleepaway camp and all the events you can have there. It’s a great role-playing opportunity and a heck of a log of fun.

Registration was today, with a start time of 6:30 p.m. SLT for those who were in camp before (specifically, those still in the group from the Winter camp), and 7:00 p.m. SLT for other folks. A spot in camp this time is L$1000 per person, which helps cover the cost of renting two full sims for the time needed for the event. Registration is capped at 100 people due to the limitations of Second Life regions.

At 4:30 p.m. SLT or so, the location for camp registration was announced. By 4:40 p.m. SLT, when I got there, 17 people were queuing.

And by 7:30 p.m. SLT, every spot — plus an additional 10 they decided to try to squeeze in — were gone.

That amazes me. I mean I was glad to also be in that line and get myself registered. I’ve been buzzin about f’r days now planning what to wear and what to take. Yet I can’t imagine any other such event in SL selling out so fast, and having such rabid fans that they’d sit there for a couple hours just waiting for the chance to participate.

June 7th, 2010 by Marianne McCann

So it is no surprise to anyone that I like traveling and exploring the mainland. I’ve always lived in the Mainland. In fact, I’ve only ever owned land on Sansara, the first continent. Likewise, no one will be shocked when I say how much I like Mole builds, especially cuz I just got done saying that in my last “non-spammy” blog post. Of course, you also will not be in any way shocked if i mention liking good role play options for kids, especially ones that might have just a slight tinge of nostalgia to them.

Now when I was a kid in my First Life, it was pretty common to go out on day trips with the family, or even long drives for vacations. think of National Lampoon’s Vacation for example, and the Griswald family’s ill-fated trip to Wally World in their “Family Truckster.”

But could you do this in Second Life? I think so, and here’s a possible route that might make for some fun role-play for a Second Life family or others.

First, a word of advice: if you have ever crossed a region boundary, you know that you can “rubber band” or face other weirdness. In a car, you can have all sorts of weirdness. Your car can get lost, you might crash out of Second Life, and little pixies might carry you off in the night. Or stuff. Bast thing t’do is jes accept that this will happen, and just “roll with it.” Find a good spot to wait for folks who crash, or whatever. You can also drive slow, especially over sim crossings (the route I’m going to mention has big signs at each crossing, but not all routes do). You’ll also find several rez zones along the way (most of these regions have em, and many look like pullouts or parking areas. Each has a “Rez Zone” sign).

I’d recommend starting this route sometime in the SL Daytime, probably early in the day (1:00, 5:00, or 9:00 PDT). if you take things fairly easy and explore a lot, you might make it to the final stop just after dark. A perfect little end.

This route will take you across Route 1 on The Heterocera Atoll, a land mass discovered by Magellan Linden way back in ’05. Each of the regions here are named after moths, prob’ly because of the moth worshippers at the old temple in Iris. That’s a story f’r another time. The route is paved with cobblestones, so make sure you have your cars suspension checked out at the first stop, Mole Mart in Leafminer – it’s a small gas station and mini mart which is full of free mole stuff. There’s also a nice picnic area just to the east – but only get a snack. Lunch will be up the road.

Exit Mole Mart to the north (you may have to pull around to the other side of the Mart to find the road; use your mini map for compass directions, or get a free compass HUD at my store). This will be Route 1 heading towards Clearwing. Just a ways up the road, in Clearwing to the right hand side, will be an apple cart. They’re fresh, and you can buy a bucket to take home.

Just beyond it, also in Clearwing, is a beautiful old butterfly house. Very pretty to look at and explore.

Just a bit further down the road, on the right hand side of Route 1 in Peach, you’ll find the Peach Pit. It’s a nice, clean diner with lots of good food. No rez inside the building, but all the food is attachable. You’ll find it on the serving counters. Check out their kebobs!

As you travel past the Peach Pit watch out for speed traps. I saw traffic cameras recording your speed in Astarte, Lunalis, and Athetis – but there may be others.

In Rivula, to the left-hand side of the road (though the park is just over the region border, in Moneta), you’ll find a large, privately-owned amusement park. It’s no Wally World, but it looks fun to me. There’s also a small mole-made park just up the way from it, too, in a traffic roundabout. Both look to be good places for stretching your legs for a bit. When leaving, take the route towards Parva.

In Parva is another little picnic lay-by by a waterfall, again on the right-hand side. Up the hill from there is a smallish, privately owned park, too.

A bit further down the road, on the right again in Mormo, is newbie Bob’s Souvenirs. You can get a commemorative Route 1 shirt or sign to remind you of your trip! Another small pullout is just beyond it.

A little further down the road, to the right in Spini, is the Spini Reservoir. I would not recommend fishing at it,though. Some of those fish definitely don’t look right.

Finally, the end of this journey, on the left hand side of the road in Ribeata, is Pit’s Truck Stop and the Last Stop Motel (The motel’s rooms are actually just over the border in Sylvata). It’s fairly run down and a little grungy, but it’s cheap and about the only motel you’re gonna find. Just avoid the swimming pool, and “hold it” ’til you get to your room – the bathroom in the mini mart is serious messy. On the plus side, much of the truck stop and motel is rezzable.

There is more to route one, on either side. Further down the road past Pit’s is the way down into the hobo infohub in Calleta and the Second life Railroad – but this gives you a big taste of travel along Route 1 (and mainland in general), and I think a nice framework for a bit of role-play. It’ll be what all of you make it, and I hope it provides a backdrop for a memorable Summer road trip.

May 17th, 2010 by Marianne McCann

I want to take a moment to talk to those who are kids in Second Life, as well as those who take on the role of parent, caregiver, teacher, principal, scout leader, camp counselor, and whatever else I may have missed from the list.

Our community is a great one, filled with special, wonderful people.

Us kids have opened up a part of ourselves rarely seen, sometimes shy, sometimes capricious, always childlike part of out psyche — and through this, have unleashed some awesome parts of ourselves onto the Second Life Grid.

Those who serve as adults, too, are very special. These people nurture our inner kids, providing incredible places and wonderful experiences, while giving a great amount of their time creating amazing shared experiences for us all.

Yet, I also know that our community is a fragile one. Over time, I have seen wounds open up between people, virtual kids and parents set against each other, adults against adults, kids against kids. Entire subcultures have begun to spring up in response, and these may well end up hurting us all.

Perhaps there were slights, perhaps great wrongs. I know that there are people amongst out community who hurt every day over things that may have happened here. In a world where we are here for fun and joy, we need to look hard at this.

Each of us is a special being, and capable of great things. We may have a hard time believing it, but I’ve seen this little group of ours grow from a handful of people dispersed over the grid like so much thistle down, to a large but disparate community.

We don’t have to agree with each other every day, and I know that there are kids and adults out there who I don’t always agree with. I’m no saint neither.

Yet I ask each of you this: if you feel you were wronged once, try to forgive. Seek out those who you were hurt by, and talk to them. Don’t accuse, but seek to mend. Likewise, if someone does seek you out, or if you feel you may have hurt someone, seek them out too, and tell them your sorry for any thing you might have done to hurt them.

We are a big, wonderful bunch — but we’re even better as a team. Imagine what our world could be if all the schools worked as a district, if our regions worked to the benefit of all, if we could truly be one community?

Let’s make this happen, and strengthen our ties to each other: we’ll all stand to benefit.

April 22nd, 2010 by Marianne McCann

Okay, this may be a self-serving post, but well… it is my blog, after all!

I love a lot of the kid clothing designers. I think my Robin Sojourner overalls are great, I’ve watched Chelsea Grigg grow into an incredible designer over the last few years, and I really like a lot of Babydoll Stardust’s designs (though I wish her jeans were, um, not so low). There are many others out there I like lots, too.

But I wish that some of the really great adult clothing designers would take a turn at doing some kid clothing in their own particular style.

I’v thought about this for a while now. I’ll see big First Life retailers release fashionable kids clothing, for example the Stella McCartney collection for Gap Kids, or L.L. Bean, or others. Stuff that real kids wear, you know?

A couple weeks ago a designer of retro style clothes shared pages of some First Life retro style clothing for adults and kids. The First Life me was all over that first category, but some of those kid outfits would be great for my avatar.

It strikes me that, aside from a small amount of victorian ware, one will be hard-pressed to find any period-specific kidware in-world. I’d love to find outfits for kids that reflect mid-century designs, or even some of the looks of the 1970s or 1980s, as an example.

i’d also love to see what some of the most talented designers in SL could do to work around the limitations of the Second Life avatar when shrunk down. What solutions would they come up for the folds in the shoulders and waist? How would they handle the “kankles,” let alone the chest issues on the female avatar (or, for that matter, the broad shoulders and “package” issues of the smaller male avatars!). They’d also need to avoid the low cuts, short skirts, and “boob shading” so common in adult avvie outfits.

So, if you are a designer who regularly creates adult clothing, who has made a name for themselves doing so — I implore you to try your hand at making some kidwear. I’ll even lend a hand, if you want.

(Thanks to Eshi Otawara for resizing one of her awesome outfits for the above photo!)

April 12th, 2010 by Marianne McCann

At long last, sexual ageplay is spelled out in the Second Life Terms of Service. More than this, it makes it crystal clear that there are distinct real-world consequences to be had for those who attempt to engage in such behavior.

In the early months of 2007, following a scathing report about sexual ageplay and the trading of real-life pedophilia in Second Life, Linden Lab decided it was in their best business interests to set policy regarding these activities.

But rather than make a bold public statement, their first action was to give owners of places catering to child avatars (both those who were involved with sexual activity with child avatars, and those who were not) a notecard telling them that they were possibly in violation of the terms of service and community standards, and could lose their assets as a result.

It was a short notecard, not much longer than that last sentence. No one knew for sure exactly what this meant Was this aimed at all child avatars, or those who were using them for decidedly non-childlike activities?

It took a bit of time and some outcry from Residents to get Linden Lab to even acknowledge that these notecards were real, and what they meant. That acknowledgement – and a later clarification – were posted to the Second Life blog. Yet even with the clarification, the wording was imprecise. Some claimed this was deliberate, providing a bit of “wiggle room” for Linden Lab to act on.

Maybe that was true, maybe not, but the language of these blog posts, coupled with the fact that these remained relegated to increasingly dusty blog entries, made it more and more difficult to find out what the rules were towards child avatars.

This cause a couple things:

1. Residents, fearing that they could lose everything by even allowing a child avatar near their land, decided to ban any avatar that even slightly resembled a child. This was usually based solely on height, which caused a lot of trouble for clearly adult avatars who were less than amazonian in height.

2. Child avatars, unsure of what the rues were, grew increasingly insular, and would often panic out of fear of rumors and perceived tightening of the rules.

3. Witch hunting formed as people assumed that all child avatars were real-life pedophiles and deviants. This is still an issue.

4. Real perverts and pedophiles would come into SL after hearing that there was sexual ageplay here and would not see any mention of rules against it in the terms of service, meaning that the kid avatars had to bear the burden of “educating” these sorts — if they bothered to do so after giving them a swift eject.

Finally, three years after that initial notecard, these rules are in the Terms of Service, and made very plain. To quote:

“You agree that you will not…. Post, display or transmit any material, object or text that encourages, represents, or facilitates sexual “age play,” i.e., using child-like avatars in a sexualized manner. This activity is grounds for immediate termination. You may review our full Age Play Policy here. You understand and agree that we may report any and all such incidents — and any and all of your corresponding personal information — to any authorities we deem appropriate, whether or not it in and of itself violates the law of your (or any) jurisdiction.”

While shorter, this is a vast improvement over the Clarification from the blog. It’s more concise and much clearer. Not only does it include mention of “Sexual Ageplay” – a language child avatars have wanted since 2007 — but it defines it and explains that you ma not only be in violation of the TOS, but they will report your actions to real-world authorities if they deem it appropriate.

It’s not to say it’s perfect: there is still some questions in the new clarification in the knowledge base, specifically with the first bullet points, where it seems to imply that real life images and avatars portrayals of child avatars (regardless of sexual or lewd acts) are disallowed.

That said, the language of the TOS itself, as well as within context of this clarification, make it pretty clear that no one is going to get in trouble for sharing holiday snaps of their grandkids at the Grand Canyon, or for making a child avatar inworld (presuming in both that there is no sexual or lewd activities involved).

Three years ago, I wrote then-LL Vice President Robin Linden for clarification. I cc’ed then-Liaison Chadrick Linden, the Linden who set out the infamous notecards. I also cc’ed the former Daniel Linden, author of the “Keeping Second Life Safe, Together” blog post that also touched upon the ageplay policies and other issues.

Now, today, my concerns of 2007 are right there in the Terms of Service, and those of us who opt to play child avatars in a non-sexual fashion in Second Life can, finally, see things spelled out. Thanks to those in LL’s legal department for finally putting those old blog posts to rest and putting Second Life policy where it belongs. It’s about time.

March 22nd, 2010 by Marianne McCann

Okay, this one is gonna be long. Settle in, grab something t’drink, an alla that.

Not long into my Second Life, and shortly after I grew down, I ended up in a family. I did not go through any of the early adoption agencies (this was before MAW, etc.), but a RL friend of mine was part of this family, and I happened upon her aunty while exploring her treehouse. Later that day, her Aunty and Uncle, Sazzy Rosebud and DJMike Glitterbuck, asked to adopt me. I agreed about a week later.

DJMike did not hang around long, and for the first few months of my SL kidhood, I was an only child to my single mommy. in the course of a year or so, this changed, with the addition of my brother, Pygar Bu, my sister Robin Howe, and a new, improved daddy, Laurynce Book.

Being in a family for an SL type kid can be the bestest. That’s why – if you look at the profile of SL kids – you’ll usually see “I have the best parents in the world” in there somewhere. It can truly complete the character, and create a next-to-perfect RP environment for one to just be a kid.

It means having someone there when you are at graduation at HardKnock Elementary, or when you get promoted at Kid Scouts. It means having people to write home to from camp, or attend parent and family events with. It means someone who gets that dreaded letter home from school, or who is there when your avatar gets a boo boo on the playground. It can also mean having someone there when you are facing hard RL times, and each of us in our family went through a few of those.

In my SL family, one regular occurrence – nightly or near nightly for the course of about two years – our little avatars would be gently tucked into bed my our parents. So no matter what, we still had that ‘family bond,” that little bit of time that would be ours as a unit. Sometimes it was a tender moment, sometimes it was silly, but it was nearly always good. It is one of a great many things I miss from then.

I miss my mommy’s sense of humor, and I miss my daddy’s quiet wisdom. I miss hanging out (literally) at the family tree behind our old house. I miss getting care packages and letters from home while at Camp HardKnock. I miss that whole thing.

So you may ask yourself this: what happened?

The trouble with SL families as a whole is that they rely on all parties to keep them going. Each person brings something to the table, and plays a part on it all. When things are good, they’re good — but when things turn sour, it’s not so much.

I’m not going to get into details or air any dirty laundry here. Suffice it to say that the relationship between mommy and daddy turned sour, and fell apart. call it unreconcilable differences. Both considered dropping their SL personas, and both have all but retreated from the Grid. I might see mommy online once a month, maybe — and to her credit, her First Life has seemed to be too busy to really allow her the time she once had in her Second. Daddy is on rarer, largely over on a fresher account and making a new Second Life for himself.

What of us kids?

Well, no one ever truly told us “this is over.” For the longest time we remained with the family house out in Hundertwasser, but found it to have lost it’s spark. It was just us there, in a far too big home. A christmas tree and unopened presents beckoned from the large family room for a year, remnants of a Christmas day that never quite happened. My brother took to spending his days in his workshop rather than coming home, and my sister tended to just stick to the bedroom — and not go downstairs at all. Me, I eventually found some land elsewhere on the grid, and tried to make a house that we could get away from all the old ghosts. Never mind that I could not afford to keep the tier going on the land we once had.

My folks remain listed in my profile, albeit only on one panel in my picks. I think my siblings did much the same. The old home is now go, for nearly a year now, and the three of us share a much more modest place in Shermerville. There is no parents’ room there, though much of the house outside our rooms is decorated more to the tastes of an adult.

We delved into other things to take up our time. I became much more involved in exploring, and made my way into Bay City and its goings on. My brother focuses on his building work. My sis is simply not on as much as she used to be.

Why not get new parents?

It’s a good question, and there’s a lot of answers.

First off, like I said above, no one ever said it was over. For all intents and purposes it is (and it certainly could not be what it once was), but it remains an open, unfinished chapter. We remain the “Flying Rosebuds,” an affectionate term coined by my daddy that plays off my mommy’s last name.

We are a trio. We’re like a civil war chess set from the Franklin Mint, and you simply can’t break us up. You can’t take one, you take three.

Each of us are not the usual. We’re all pretty knowledgeable about SL an how it works. Each is a pretty good content creator and usually knows what is going on in SL on a gridwide basis at any given time. Any of us could be called away to do projects here and there. We’re all storeowners. And while we can indeed fit into our role-play selves just fine, there are going to be times where we simply will have to be somewhat out-of-character.

We’d also be pretty particular about parents, in part due to the issues of our old family, and in part due to things that we know would make us a better fit. We don’t need folks who will be there 24/7, but we do need folks who are going to be here. We’d need distinct family times, and would prefer to at least have some “at home role play times” (tuck-ins, family dinners, etc.) as well as things like attending talent shows or parent-teacher conferences. We’d need stable people in stable relationships who aren’t going to abandon us, and we’d need people who could embrace our quirks.

In short, I don’t see it happening. Not easily. I’m certainly not going to put all this in a panel at an adoption agency.

October 23rd, 2009 by Marianne McCann

Before folks think I’m going off into “zOMG Dramaz0rz,” let me start by saying I respect the opinions of the others involved in this discussion, and hold no ill will or any of that. The specific incident is irrelevant, but it points to what i want to talk about.

Recently on Plurk, an SL clothing designer was pointing out some cute real-world kids’ clothing. One person suggested making some clothes for kid avatars based on this. I also chimed in that I would love to see some clothing like that.

You see, while I love some of the kid designers out there, a lot of the clothing fits a specific “thing.” It’s babydoll tops and poofy skirts, 90% of the time. I don’t mind these, but I’d love to see a bit more variety. I want to see more of the Gap Kids or Justice look. Nice looking stuff I can still play in, you know? Never mind that all those babydolls and poofy skirts end up with my hands and arms interpenetrating them all the time.

And yes, most of the adult designers I simply can’t wear the clothing of. Either they’ve spent a bit too much time working on “boob shading,” (which I simply don’t want or need), or they have non-modifiable prim clothing bits that can’t be sized down, or the clothing is too sexy/revealing/etc.

Anyway, so this discussion went out on doing some more kid fashion stuff. It’s something I’ve wanted to see for some time: a top SL fashion designer actually take on the kid market, and turn their talents, if even for a one-off, to kid stuff.

But then the inevitable happened. Another posted made it clear that if kid avatars were to shop at that store, they would not. Even tossing in a comment about throwing up. Now they might have been being a bit over dramatic, or even joking — and see my note above again — but I believe that her comments were not out of line with how others might feel. This is somewhat sad to me.

There is such a stigma attached to kid avatars at times. I think it has changed a small bit, but it’s still very much out there. Some people are (and in some ways legitimately so) “creeped out” by kid avvies, while others assume that any and all child avatars they come across are perverts in pretty packaging. I could go onto pages about all this (and have before), but let’s simply say that its out there an we know it.

but as a result, it perpetuates the stigma. Without good people making good things and welcoming kid avatars to shop at their stores, people do not see kid avatars — and therefore they remain creepy if only because of their scarcity.

A friend of mine attended an event at Inner Child Camp at Burning Life, and was amazed at how many kids were there. From my point of view, there weren’t all that many compared to some of the circles I travel in. A lot of kid avatars really do not “mix” with the general population — too much hassling, mostly focused at kid safe locations, or spending time in their family units.

Anyway, I’d love to see some designers give it a shot some time. For one, I’ve long wanted to get some “retro” kid clothing from the 50s, 60s, and 70s from some of the places that specialize in that. I’ve love some modern cool stuff too. Mostly, I just want to have something nice and new to wear that looks good for my avatar. That’s all.

September 4th, 2009 by Marianne McCann

So this week’s big drama is about Robot kids, huh?

F’r the last few days I’ve had random friends I’ve not heard form lately IMing me out of the blue to ask my opinion on the whole KidsBotz Controversy. For those who don’t know what this is, an avvie named Naughty Dreamscape set up some, well, kid bots. People can rent them and have them as their SL sons and daughters. Some have raised concerns about how they might get used.

Anyway here’s my feelings:

1. Yes, someone could presumably pay a lot of Lindens, take one of these home, and use it for some sick purpose. I think it’s more likely that someone would just make their own ‘bot to do that, or even just get an alt of their own, rather than bother to pay someone for the use of their ‘bots. It may not be much ado about nothing — but it’s pretty close.

2. I think that any potential SL parent who would rent a ‘bot for their SL kid is the sort of person I would not want to see in an RP scenario with any of the “real” (meaning “with a human behind the keyboard”) SL child avvies. These are the sorts who clearly don’t seem to get the whole “interacting with real people” thing.

3. Frankly, from the examples of chat with these ‘bots that I’ve seen, I think most would get bored with these ‘bots pretty quickly. I honestly don’t see this as any sort of long-term, viable business. That this is being discussed so much however, means the maker of ‘em is getting some great free publicity.

4. There are far bigger issues and concerns in this world than someone who makes a business out of renting ‘bots.