Warning to (RL) young ladiesFollow

Maybe whoever is going to be he victim of this won't read this, and maybe you deserve what you get, but as a woman myself I thought I better put out a warning to young ladies who play this game.

People are not always what they seem in virtual worlds, and telling someone you will do a nice webbie show is definitely not a good idea. I just come out of a group where the webbie show is being sold for all to view for a few plat and laughs.
I don't think you want this to be seen by every Jon, **** or Harry who has a few plat to spare.

If you where my kid I'd box your ears for forgetting the basic internet safety rules.

EDIT: seeing that my post seems unclear (forgive me as English is not my mother tongue) and I did not want to give anyone any weird ideas) let me put it clearer:

- Out there there are a lot of creeps who are only out fishing for a bit of cheap exitement
- Don't believe anything anyone tells you, how ever nice they are, how ever sincere they may sound.Some people are honest and true, many are not.
- Keep your dignity, if anyone really likes you they wont ask you to show yourself in a way that is not appropriate for church (you get my drift).
- Never give out personal details (your real name, place you live, your phone number) it is very easy to track people once you have that info. Just do a net search and see how many people get into serious trouble, some even end up dead, by trusting too quickly.
- Never go and meet someone you met on the net, especially not if you are a minor. Us old people don't say this to be a pain but because we are seriously concerned about your safety. If you are of age never go alone or without an adult knowing were you go to.
- Have fun playing EQ, and meeting new people, just remember that your safety and dignity comes first.







Edited, Fri Apr 14 14:04:44 2006 by Maktub

I'm a little confused, and I've been around the interworld and back. Are we talking about using the in-game characters to dance or to use actual video of actual people dancing in their scivvies? The second one would seem to be implied dangerous.

Having spend years on the cyber.. I mean roleplaying.. prefered server, I can tell you that people don't have the common sense of a rock.

And that way too much telephone, web cam and hotel room stuff happens.

Tarv, you just set off my "creepy pedo" alert, regardless of your "consenting adults" comment.

I'm a strong believer that nobody should be allowed on the internet until they're 16 and receive a permit. A lot of kids just don't have the common sense for it.

Edit: Isn't that weird, pe-do is censored. Huh.

Edited, Fri Apr 14 13:48:04 2006 by Brudish

you can do whatever you want.

at the same time the OP is certainly within her rights to remind/warn young women about internet safety. though the warning in this case seems a bit incoherent.

watch your attitude, what gives you the right to preach to me? you are not my legal guardian. You sit and tell other who are not your children what to do, and you have no right to do that, you keep your religious bullsh*t out of my game.

Legal age for what?

13 year olds are not allowed to play EQ unsupervised, if you bothered to read the EULA you would know that.

Besides which giving people ideas about what is acceptable behaviour is EXACTLY what YOU are doing, you bring YOUR beliefs into it and yet castergate those who have differing views to your own.
My sister would be a far better person having come through an experiance like that, what you describe is no different to the experiances of millions of kids at school, if you act like a Nanny and stop them from learning and growing from real experiances and mistakes you do them a total diservice.

People rebel against smothering like this and end up in deep sh*t because people like you refuse to let them LIVE thier own lives.

Tarv you are so naive... just because the EULA says 13 year olds are not allowed to play EQ unsupervised doesn't mean that they don't! And our job as parents is to try to SPARE children from going through these experiences... Yes, they might learn from them, but if they don't live through them how are they learning from it?

My 8 year old daughter and my 5 year old son are in the Gift (now in WoW form).

Their ages are in their public Guild notes, and they are the only members that are not Officers. *laughs*

Generally I group with them, but I sometimes let them solo (if I am in the room with them) or group with other Gifties.

Just last weekend, they discovered /dueling.. I am monitoring this.

And with the WoW phenom of random invites to sign a Guild charter, I came back from a bio to find my 5 year old (that does not chat) tagged and an Officer of a new guild.. so, it can happen really fast.

I dunno.. I worry about them annoying people more than I worry about stalkers. But, they are too young to drive.. or even go out without us. I think I would worry more if they were 12 or 14, and there wasn't a parent in the home during the day.

PS- By "webbie shows", she means girls performing sexual acts on webcam. If you're going to talk about sex, don't forget to mention the **** and the *****.. beating around the bush is the worst thing you can do.

Edit: And why does the filter turn di-ck into "Richard" and pus-sy into something messed up? Good one on Richard, though.. someone must dislike 'em.

Edited, Sat Apr 15 03:16:15 2006 by ReofblMobile

i have a feeling that the OP had somthing happen.

and felt the need to share with others in the hope that it wouldn't hapen to them.

so, take a moment, forget your macho attitudes and think. it is 1 in 5, yes, those are true scary numbers that end up with some sort of preditor. it is exactly why we don't alow our 15 year old daughter free rein of the net. i belive the OP wasn't just talking about EQ. was talking about any online. there are sooo many sickos out there. and guess what? some are on these forums, the odds are too high.

so, like the OP tried to do. watch yourself, and watch your kids. i couldn't agree more.

Maktub,

Interesting post. It registers on a number of levels. And regardless of whether I agree on every point, I'm pleased that someone put it out there for discussion. I'd even go as far as to chastise you for solely addressing your warning to young women. Predators come in all kinds, and *every* child ought to be wary. Even one tragedy of the kind you have implied, is one too many.

I have so many strong opinions about what you've said that I'm not sure where to start. So, please forgive me if I fall back on the old forum standard of quoting what you've said, and responding point by point. I am not trolling, but attempting to reach a higher level of discourse.



Those who have been victimized sexually do not deserve what has happened to them. Ever. I understand your frustration in trying to communicate your point, but this mindset is so dangerous. This is the reason why so many rapists and predators are able to victimize as many as they do before getting caught.



Agreed. When you look at someone's toon, you have no idea who that "person" is. If someone means you harm, they're certainly not going to worry about being honest with you. And it is not easy to catch a practiced liar.



And how did you know that the person offering the web show was a minor? Was this communicated during conversation? You didn't give us the specifics of the incident. I've assumed that you knew the age of the person in question, but we've already established how hard it is to *know* who's behind a toon.

The flip side of this is, that you might come off a bit prudish and close-minded to those of us that don't like being told how to live our lives. Obviously, you touched a chord in Tarv along those lines.

This is important, because you are trying to accomplish something by posting here, and if you want your message to be heard, you need to consider your audience. If you come off as an angry parent, you may be alienating those you intend to reach.



1) Once again, you're probably alienating those you're trying to reach. The threat of violence is the worst way to convince a teen to do anything.

2) Kudos to you for at least mentioning those rules. EVERY parent should know them, and they shouldn't let their children anywhere near an internet conection until they know them as well.



There is nothing to forgive. Thank you for clarifying that English is not your native tongue, and thank you for learning it, so that we can converse. I must admit, that other than a smattering of schoolboy French, I'm unilingual. I have the greatest respect for those who learn my native language.



All true, and good sound advice. (Even if it does sound like it's coming an angry Mom.)

Thank you for posting.

Edited, because I apparently I haven't said my piece

I have to just reiterate, that you need to pay attention to Tarv's reaction. Because if you truly seek to warn people of the dangers online, you have to be more aware of how your message will be received.

As oppossed to getting defensive, and striking out, figure out what your detractors take issue with, and learn how to deliver your message more effectively.

Also, if you base your rationale on religious imperative, you have to be prepared for those who don't wish to be preached at.

(Being a fairly open minded agnostic, religous rhetoric has little effect on me, but it will infuriate others. They don't necessarily believe what you do.)

Edited, Sat Apr 15 13:02:52 2006 by BellamDreamguard

And.. what am I to say? You better make sure you don't cyber or whatever.

I believe you misunderstood that part of the reply. I'm annoyed that it's minor offenders that are being vilianized while major offenders are free of scrutiany. Minor ****, speeding tickets, drug charges, etc, are charges that often chose lesser targets out of an unwillingness or inability to go after greater targets.

After I got caught for coming to a rolling stop at a stop sign, I went to a DMV-required class on driving along with many others who also were required to take it. There, I found this one idiot who seemed to believe he was justified in all the most reckless and stupid things a man could do on the highway; I was at a loss to do anything with regards to him other than laugh and make sure he was long gone before I started my car and left the seminar. By and large, though, most of the offenses were minor- speeding a couple miles over the limit- for that man was the exception. Asking the teacher why this was, he explained cops don't like having to go after the dangerous ones, such as those going 90 down the highway in the far lane.. they want the guy going not more than 15 over in the closest lane since the process is dangerous for them.
In short, my rant in that part of the post was off-subject about how it's disgusting me that law enforcement are getting the slightly guilty but not the true criminals.