The last couple of meetings in the Adult Content User Group have improved. The meetings are moving forward and usable information is being provided. There are several new things that are pretty interesting, especially to those with land in Zindra.
Hopefully by now you know Zindra is the name of the Adult Continent. There is also a region named Zindra.
RFP for Adult Content Gateway
I think it is pretty well established and agreed that people have trouble finding things in Second Life. This has been a particular problem in the Adult Content community. While one can use search and the Destination Guide, that still leaves the problem of people not Adult Verified.
There were a number of opinions on what could be done about that problem in relation to Zindra. There have been long arguments over what to name the Zindra region and what should be on the region and who gets to do what there.
Word does get around that Zindra is the Adult region and the place to go to get lucky… not really, but a load of people think that about the lucky thing. So, the location has lots of possibilities.
The Lindens needed to decide what to do with the region and Zindra in general. Sex sells and Zindra is the one region of SL showing consistent growth as the rest of the grid shrinks. Somehow the Lindens need to get the idea out that Second Life is less about escort services and hookers and more about an eHarmony type thing.
So, the problem arises on what to do with a gate way into SL’s Zindra. Everyone’s ideas conflict, which is to be expected as they all have different interests. After several weeks the Lindens decided to request written proposals for what to do with the Zindra Gateway.
Anyone can submit proposals for what to do with and how to run the gateway between now and September 30, 2011.
I expect there will some landing place for non-verified people. Hopefully it will explain to them how to get verified. Also, there will destinations guides and other information for those interested in Adult eHarmony-like activities and those looking for the seedy side.
Adult Sandboxes
There are various adult sandboxes around SL. One of the new things is the creation of Premium Member Adult Sandboxes on the Zindra continent.
These are being created, or have been. I have no clue where they are.
Destination Guide
This has been a sore spot with those with land in Zindra. They had no way to add destinations in Zindra with adult ratings for a time. That has changed and more changes are coming. The most recent change was last Friday.
For those that are adult verified, the Destination Guide (DG) now provides destinations in Zindra.
Take a look at the web based Second Life Destination Guide – Adults Only. This is the new set of categories available for land owners in Zindra.
If you run into problems or an Adult destination is not being accepted by the DG contact Editor@lindenlab.com. Highly commercial places will likely be rejected. Otherwise, they should make it in. I suspect lame builds will miss out.
Adult Verification Process
This process has been changing ever since I joined SL. It is still changing, more simplification.
Also, there will be Linden mailings to promote the Adult Content part of Second Life. One interesting possibility is a mailing system to remind people turning 18 that they can become adult verified. Presumably there would information about the eHarmony-like aspects of SL adult areas.
Also, active residents note age verified will receive an email that may allow them to age verify via email. It will at least suggest that being age verified is a good idea and opens up all of SL.
Adult Continent Meeting Schedule
This is going to change to less frequent meetings. They are currently weekly. I never did catch what the new schedule will be. It is presumable that the new information will appear on the Office Hours/User Groups page in the wiki will update.
Summing It Up
The last two meetings have been a big improvement over the meetings I attended weeks ago. Those were so frustrating I quit attending and I am just covering the meeting for news.
It also appears that the Lab has a recognition that many social networks are about hooking people up. It seems they are moving in a direction to take advantage of that aspect of online life.
One thing to do maybe is to geographically swap Zindra and Arapaima regions and then disconnect Zindra Welcome Area from the Zindra mainland completely. Make Zindra Welcome Area a Moderate-rated area of 4 regions (like Korea) Zindra-Zindra2-Zindra3-Zindra4 so can fit more people in.
Then do like you said, put in stuff that tells people how to verify their accounts and enable their viewers to access adult-rated content. Also put in teleport (Map destination) gateways to the other Zindra continent WAs.
Also disable Set Home at Zindra WA to discourage parking. People can park like normal at WAs on the Zindra continent proper.