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Sandbox Etiquette
A while ago, I was in Sandbox Island happily laying down cuboids to test a house design for space – one of my pastimes being “section surfing” and fantasising about setting up in a new place. Someone approached and, without a word, attempted to give me weapons and ammunition.
Needless to say, I declined his offer. Visions of being shot at as soon as I accepted danced in my head; mind you, that’s not the only bizarre approach I’ve had when using a public sandbox.
One gentleman in Sandbox Goguen actually said to me, when I declined to buy a house from him, “Please buy or I’ll put you in a cage” – his actual words! (I do like that ‘please’, since ironically I got caged even though I stayed silent.) A scantily clad girl decided that the prim I was working on for yet another house design was the perfect place to sit down. And then there’s resolutely pressing on when giant penises are hassling all and sundry, replicating objects are rendering the sim unusable, or the struggle to find space that some jackass hasn’t abandoned some half-built atrocity on.
Sandboxes, for those who don’t know, are places to explore building and scripting on as grand a scale as you desire. Usually these areas have a generous return time – up to five or six hours – and generally forbid selling or shooting. (Except for Sandbox Cordova, which is marked as a weapon testing facility.) It’s in a sandbox that you can lay out your desired edifice, try out some funky script without annoying the neighbours, and see what other people are doing.
Unfortunately, exploration is invariably dangerous. Teleport into a sandbox and you could find yourself targeted by a malicious script, shot at by some halfwit who cannot mind his own business or is jonesing for victims, or simply be hassled by nosey parkers who simply cannot get out of the way.
I have been shot at while minding my own business; instantly caged and ejected from a sim (Plum, naturally); bombarded with notecard spam (again, in Plum); hassled by two half-wits with seemingly nothing better to do. And frankly, I’m getting rather upset about it.
To Mr. Pick-Up-the-Gun, Ms. Sit-On-Your-Workpiece, and the Whatyadoing clan, I say:
ASK BEFORE ANYTHING.
And I mean anything. I probably don’t know you from Adam, Eve or a gatepost, and that probably goes for anyone else building. Besides, we’re trying to concentrate, and the last thing we need is some imbecile leaping up and asking, “Hey, whatchadoing? Want some guns/clothes/cages/stuff? Wanna be my friend? Whatchabuilding? Hey cum to [some place or site] its rad!!!1!” like a labrador with broadband access.
There is little to lose from asking, “Hey, are you busy?” Similarly, there is little to fear from being rebuffed. Being polite is far better than being branded a fool. Yes, being foolish gets attention, but being polite gets respect.
So, what are my recommendations for playing the respectable user of a sandbox?
- Leave busy people alone.
- Clean up your mess when you leave.
- Be prepared to Abuse Report offensive behaviour. (After all, you have a right to be unmolested in a sandbox as anywhere.)
- Remember that creating replicating, spinning, noisy objects is not clever. Or particularly original.
I’m seriously considering a gesture which I can use to quickly respond, “I’m working here. Please go away.” or “I don’t speak to rude people or suspected griefers. Go away.” in order to fend off such people. Of course, they’re likely to take offence, but rudeness begets rudeness.
And I need to use the “Set Busy” option more, I suspect.
Posted in Second Life (Op-Ed,) by Martien Pontecorvo 12/07/07 05:31 PM Tags: human nature, manners, rant, second life
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— Martien Pontecorvo · Jul 18, 05:28 PM · #