Burning Life 2009: rangers on the playa

In Burning Man, the playa is the dry, ancient lake bed where the event is held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. In Second Life, the playa is the group of 34 desert regions where Burning Life is held. Both playas are patrolled by trained, volunteer rangers whose job is to uphold community standards. Last evening this writer went on his first patrol as a Burning Life ranger.

This photo shows ranger Iknow Tomorrow watching Burning Life Sabriel Azalee near the entrance to Burning Life (there are more photos in the slide show below). Rangers patrol the Burning Life playa, usually in pairs. It would be easy to think of Burning Life rangers as law enforcement, but that's not the real role, though it's an element. It might be more appropriate to think of them as lubricants, reducing friction in the Burning Life community.

Where does the friction come from? Some of it is from builders - often inadvertently - violating the minimal building restrictions on the playa or interfering with other builders. Some examples are a builder using mega prims, using too many prims, or building outside property lines. Other examples can include engaging in commercial activities - these violate the Ten Principles of Burning Life and Burning Man - and of course griefing. In all cases, rangers first try to learn the facts of the situation and discuss it with involved parties, always striving to reach agreement rather than imposing a solution.

Rangers in Burning Life began in 2008, a direct outgrowth of the Burning Man rangers established by Danger Ranger in 1992. Some Burning Man rangers, are also Burning Life rangers, and the training and functions of the two groups are nearly identical except for the survival issues and additional presence of Law Enforcement officers, both absent in Second Life. All rangers must take part in yearly training, both in Burning Man and Burning Life.

If you have a problem with griefers or see want to report problems at Burning Life, visit the Burning Life rangers HQ in Zero Mile. This region is frequently laggy, so a satellite HQ has been established in Selenite. You can identify rangers by their "Burning Life Ranger" group  tag and by the broad brimmed hats that most wear.

You can see more ranger photographs in the slide show below.

This is the tenth article in this series about Burning Life. The previous articles are The roof is gone, Burning Life 2009 is open, preview 1, preview 2, preview 3, preview 4, preview 5, preview 6, or preview 7.  Burning Life is inspired by and closely follows the principles of Nevada's Burning Man.

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All photographs in this report are by Erik Gordon Bainbridge.