User:Robin Linden/OH Summary 17 July 2007

17 July Office Hours Minutes 11:00A - 12:00P PDT Ambleside (110, 6, 26)

Attendees:

Alexandra Rucker Angelo Linden Ciarin Laval JW Singer Kamael Xevious Kendal Rossini Kid Kuhn Koko Rimbaud Kooky Jetaime Laetizia Coronet Robin Linden Saijanai Kuhn Tao Takashi Wyn Galbraith

1. Voice Robin suggested talking about voice capability, which most residents were not using (at the time of the meeting), how it might change the SL experience, and any miscellaneous questions. • It’s a problem if both chat and voice are being used as it’s hard to track • Some residents enjoy using both, as it’s easier to get a word in in chat • Texting is better as there’s no one talking over anyone else • It will mean having the loudest loudmouth dictate the meeting • For meetings (like Office Hours) the moderator can lead the meeting, and call on people in order to minimize talk-over • Chat chat is currently logged, but that won’t be the case when voice is used. It’ll be interesting to see the effect on inworld behavior, especially illicit activities like ageplay. • Downside is that there’s no log or transcript • MP3 is a problem in that you can not scan it (voice chat) quickly • Adding MP3 (in addition to running SL) is pushing a lot of a system • With SL voice it’s pretty easy to track who’s talking as the dot appears over the speaker’s head • Chat logs can be faked, voice is harder… • Residents are to abide by laws of the jurisdiction in which they live in RL. Since residents are from such different regions, it’s an interesting dilemma to know what law is actually in effect. • You shouldn’t be recording anyone unless they’re aware it’s happening, it might not be illegal but it’s plain rude. • It’d be cool to have a legal expert at Office Hours to answer questions on local vs. international law re: recorded conversation • Voice distortion function is a critical feature—it’s be cool • No censorship on what people can say, preferable to live with offensive language than censorship

2. TOS question from Kid Kuhn: The TOS states you are not allowed to “publish” chat logs without permission. As a researcher I wonder if this means that I would need full consent for producing things even if it was anonymized. Robin answers that Kid should let people know he’s doing research and get their permission, then anonymize it should be okay. 3. General discussion of griefing/behavior, with comments about potentially

      minimizing griefers with a trial period, training, etc.
      - Interesting blob by a MMOG reviewer, saying that SL *does* have levels, only
     they involve getting the right skins, hair, social contacts

4. Discussion about Ad Farms - There are some laws that LL needs to address, and by filtering some words (loli isn’t a letter group, it’s shorthand for a role-playing character) - If LL is going to ban the use of certain words in SL, there should be a list of those words - Words that re being filtered are specific to gambling and to the role-play of sex with minors

Follow-up and Action Items

1. Will there be a change in the TOS to permit recording, whether or not LL does

    it actively or not?

2. Add some information in FAQ with respect to laws that LL will be operating under 3. Get legal expert to answer local v. international law re: recorded conversation 4. “It’s complicated enough with all the customization options…I think there needs to be

     a more user friendly skin for newbies”

5. “In world I wanna see less lag, more physics, and more than 16K script limits…but since

     I know I’m not gonna get any of the three..I’ll shush”

6. “…we need a subject line in the to set a topic”

Prepared by Angelo Linden