Hidden Prison In Second Life Revealed

Although not playing the game as often as I used to, I still keep up at regular intervals with what happens in the world of Second Life. A few days ago, Tony Walsh at Clickable Culture posted an interesting article about the hidden prison of the ‘Corn Field’:

Nimrod Yaffle, a resident of the virtual world Second Life, has revealed details of a bizarre and dark prison Second Life’s maker Linden Lab is now using to lock up criminal avatars. Dubbed the “The Corn Field,” the moonlit environment contains only rows of corn, two television sets, an aging tractor and a one-way teleport terminal allowing no escape. It exists as an alternative to standard disciplinary measures, which traditionally prevent access to Second Life completely.

While this isn’t new in the little corner of MMORPGs (I know of at least one other game that makes use of a ‘jail’ to help unruly residents to calm down), there hadn’t been confirmation until recently of the rumor about the Corn Field, and lots of people simply were unaware of its existence. The prison is used as an alternative to standard measures, such as short-term ban. If a player ends up permanently banned from the game, s/he won’t have acces to it at all anymore, including the Corn Field.

The TV set in the prison only displays one “movie”, communications with the main grid are cut off, and one cannot create objects there. Of course, I suppose that nothing prevents the player from logging off and doing something else (I don’t know how long the punishment is meant to last–it probably depends on the offense itself). I’m not sure myself of what might get out of the use of such a simulator (as the article mentions it, people in Second Life are one bunch of curious fellows, and it indeed wouldn’t be that surprising to see some commit an “offense” just to be sent there and see the place with their own eyes!). At least it’s an original enough setting, in a way.