Sandboxes are supposed to be peaceful places for building anything from a piece of jewellery to a house. Regretfully, I have found that you have to be on your guard more than ever if you are going to use a sandbox. People frequently try out their weapons and think it is good fun to pick on newbies or anyone else who may wander by. Today as I teleported into Sandbox Island, I witness three newbies being caged, two escaped almost straight away and the other one was trapped for a second or two. I examed the cages and discovered they belonged to the lady standing near me. She didn’t look like a griefer and I asked her why she had caged the people, especially as they had looked like newbies. She was friendly and told me that the ‘newbies’ had been following her around pushing into her, so in the end she had decided to use her cage gun on them. I can quite believe her story, as I too have been pushed and shoved by people on numerous occasions, although I have not wanted their attention. I’m sure this lady didn’t want any discourse with these three avators either. They may have been newbies as a lot of them walk into people instead of saying ‘hello’, especially guys who really just want to talk to a girl they take a fancy to. I would imagine though, that these three may not have been newbies at all, just alternative avators belonging to older second life residents. The clue being that they clicked on the bottom of the cages knowing they could escape that way. It goes to show that you can’t always be sure who is the griefer and who is the victim, best to get the whole story before you decide.
Submitted by Janey Bracken