Getting support
Virtual worlds are great places to explore, but sometimes it's good to know there are friendly and helpful people about. We also take the safety and well-being of all our "residents" seriously, and so offer support for anyone that finds themselves being "griefed" or otherwise harassed.
Website FAQ
The FAQ section of this website has a growing number of articles based on popular questions that crop up. Please do let us know what things would be useful for you.
Website Forum
Our forum is a great place to ask questions, read answers and find out stuff. It has a public section and also a section that can only be accessed when you are logged in.
In world assistance
VivoSim aims to be a social space and has both typed and voice available as communication options. Often just asking around can get you answers or start lively discussions! We also have an estate office on Mintor where you can check in with any admins that may be about. You can also send an Instant message - admins will aim to respond as quickly as they are able, but sometimes real life takes priority over the virtual one!
Virtual world Wikis
VivoSim runs on OpenSimulator which itself is a spin-off from Second Life and both these have wiki sites with plenty of information that may be useful in answering your questions.
Reporting
We hope that everyone enters VivoSim in the spirit of universal love and acceptance of others, but we realise that, especially as we are linked to the global "Hypergrid", sometimes people may, either intentionally or through lack of understanding, behave in ways that upset others.
Physically not much permanent damage can be done in our virtual areas and so if you find yourself being "griefed" a few tips are:
- If you're being pushed or thrown around by scripts, right-click on an object and choose Sit Here. This stops you from being moved.
- If you go to a combat/damage-enabled place, shooting someone with a weapon is not abuse. Look for a little red heart in the menu bar, which indicates your health. If you can see it, you're in a valid combat zone, and weapons fire is permitted. Your avatar can't die permanently: even if you lose all your health, you will simply be teleported back to your home location. Using weapons on non-combat land is usually abuse unless the landowner has clearly allowed it, for example in a role-playing game.
- If a friendship has gone sour, block the person and remove them from your friends list. This will also remove any permissions you may have granted them, like the ability to track you on the map.
If needs be, log off and either wait a while or perhaps try logging in to a different location.
If you do need to report someone, please note that most of the browsers (Firestorm, Singularity etc) may have a reporting system built in, but that is a legacy from Second Life and so does not work in OpenSimulator places such as VivoSim. Instead, please use the website, either via private message or you can also post to the Abuse section of the forum - you will need to be logged in to the website to use this. Postings here can only be seen by you and the site admins.
Abuse through voice chat
If someone is harassing you through voice, the best solution is to block this person. You can report them, but it's difficult to provide concrete evidence in such situations, since there are no Instant message or chat transcripts.
There are a couple of ways to mute voice chat in-world:
- Right-click on the avatar and choose Block.
- Use the People button in your Viewer to open the PEOPLE window. Open theNEARBY tab, select the avatar, and choose Block/Unblock. A small red icon will appear next to their name.
Note: If you 'Instant message' or give inventory to someone you have blocked, then they are automatically un-blocked.
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