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Monday, April 14, 2008

Decision time: Open vs. Closed estate

Ok. I think I am getting a handle on closed vs. open islands (estates). Please read the following questions and add your comments so we can all profit from your knowledge. Thanks!

  1. Basically, I think we want to start off our new island in seclusion, restricting our students avs to our island and restricting outside access to our island. I think that we may want to gradually (and on a case-by-case basis, if possible) open-up our island to mainland teens in the future if possible. In short, is it possible to start off with a closed estate and change it to an open estate over time?
  2. Adult teachers are restricted to their island forever and cannot TP to other islands or the TSL Mainland, correct?
  3. Therefore, adult avs cannot travel around and pick-up/shop for furniture, textures, clothes, correct?
  4. So, how do adult avs provide their students with these necessities? Does the adult av have to load up in SL and get transferred to TSL permanently (one-way ticket)?
  5. If so, how do adult avs in SL go through their inventory to check for non-PG content? Is there an easy way?
  6. If we have an open sim then our student avs can visit other open islands as well as the TSL mainland, correct?
  7. If so, then they can obtain freebies or purchase clothes, textures, etc…correct?
  8. Other teen avs can come into our open sim at any time, correct? Adults on our sim will not be able to IM them , only local chat and local voice, correct?
  9. If we start with an open sim, can we use the estate properties to restrict our student avs to the island and not allow them to TP off?
  10. If we start with an open sim, can we use the estate properties to restrict anyone but our student avs from coming to our island?
  11. If #10 and #11 are correct, can we give individual permissions to a select few of our student avs to TP off, or is it all or none?
  12. If #10 and #11 are correct, can we give individual permissions to a select few mainland teen avs to TP onto our island, or is it all or none?

    Please add comments so all can read your replies. Thanks again!

2 comments:

Rafi said...

Hi Chris! Thought I might give a shot to some of your answers, as I've been dealing with these questions for a number of years now. (I'm global kids' virtual community manager.)

So, let's get started:
1) The closed or open status of your island can always be changed through a number of estate settings that you have access to as estate owner or manager. Nothing is permanent about the open or closed state of an island.
2)Yes. Though there are some caveats here. (LL has moved accounts permanently from one adult estate to another, etc.) Under no circumstances can an adult go to the TSL mainland.
3)Correct.
4)Either load up before coming to tsl, or upload them once you're there.
5) The best way is to just start with a completely fresh account to make sure that you're not bringing anything iffy over if you're unsure.
6) The state (open/closed) of your sim has no bearing on where your students can travel. That's a matter of how their accounts are created. If they're created through teensecondlife.com, then they can go anywhere on the teen grid, always, as long as the place they're trying to go is not a closed estate. If their accounts are created via RegAPI, then they are locked to your estate, and cannot leave. This cannot be altered after the accounts are created.
7) If they are created via teensecondlife.com, yes, they can purchase anything on the teen grid and bring it back to your island.
8) If your estate is open, other teens can come at any time (though you can make sections of the island that are only accessible to certain groups or individuals.)

You will be able to IM teens from the TSL mainland, as long they are on your friends list. You cannot do this via search, friend requests can only be done "face to face". Also, you cannot easily give them $L or easily transfer inventory items (both are possible, but require workarounds). The same will apply to your own students if their accounts are created via teensecondlife.com.
9) See #6.
10)Yes, but by definition this would no longer be an "open sim", it would be closed.
11)See #6.
12)Yes, you can select individual teens from the TSL mainland that you want to allow to access your island, or part of your island, even if it is closed.

I know this is all a bit confusing, and I hope this is in some way helpful!

Chris Baker @bakerhhhs said...

Thanks for the insight Rafi. You are right - it is confusing, but your comments did clear things up. I just didn't want to take the plunge not knowing if anything was irreversible...

I really hope this blog will help others in the future!