Kultivate Arts

Hello Windlight Readers! In this helping of SL Etiquette 101, I will discuss how to handle being banned from a location in Second Life.

The first thing is to check to see if you really have been banned. How can you do this? First:

Try An Alt: If you have an alt, try teleporting there as the alt. If your alt can access the location then you have possibly been banned. If your alt cannot access the location, then maybe it is closed temporarily for renovations or a private event.

Ask a Friend to Teleport to the Location: Ask a friend to try teleporting to the location, if your friend cannot access the location, then it may be temporarily closed. If your friend can access the location, then this does point to your being banned.

Before you contact the land owner or a manager, you can try the following additional steps:

Try Teleporting to an Adjacent Parcel (if mainland or if the location is a parcel on a private sim): If you can teleport to an adjacent parcel, cam over and right click on the land and see if the land is set to group only access or if public access has been turned off. If you see ban lines and your name is not in the ban list for the parcel, then chances are the land is turned off to a select few or it is set to group only access.

Check to See If You Have the Right Group: If the land has been set to group only and you are in the group, check group notices, usually locations will let you know if a location is going to group only access or if access has changed temporarily. If you are not in the land group, check the land group to see if it is open for anyone to join and join the land group.

Check the Parcel For Age and Payment Information on File Changes: Some parcels and locations have gone to an age restriction, where you have to be over 18 and age verified to access the location. Similarly, others have included the fact you must have payment information on file. If you have not age verified yourself and you do not have payment information on file and a location has these two options checked, then yes you will find yourself not being able to access the said location.

So what if you have tried the steps above and you are still banned, this is the point where you have to make a decision. You can either contact the land owner and inquire about the banning or you can simply let it go and just find a new location to visit. Lets discuss the first option, contacting the land owner. When contacting the land owner remember the following emotional steps:

Be Calm: If you instantly im the land owner and start a tirade about being banned and you did not do anything etc the land owner may simply keep you banned. Remember you do not know if the location has banned you or if they are turning off access to a select few. Calmly approach the land owner, you could say something along the lines of “I love visiting your location but noticed that I did not have access. Is the location closed?”

Inquiring About Overturning a Ban: If you are actually banned, you should remain calm and ask what behavior or what you may have done to cause a ban. Remember that there are sometimes many rules hidden in covenants and those notecards we receive when we teleport to a location. Often than not, we ignore both and simply visit the location. If you are given an explanation, then ask if the ban is permanent or temporary.

So what do you do if you are not given an answer or an explanation or if the land owner becomes irate? This is where you can simply stop inquiring about the ban and simply move on. While you may be upset and/or angry about being banned. Ask yourself if you really want to visit and support a location that obviously does not want your business? There are over 24,000 sims in Second Life, you can surely find a new location to support and it is important to maintain dignity in such situations.

In our next article, I will discuss how to deal with irate customers as a merchant!

Until next time!

Jessi!