Certifications

And another thing, the one and only club any
where near me that allows single males requires there certs before they will let me in.
So, sometimes, you do need certs.

I’ve literally never considered certs. It has never entered into my mental calculus about meeting people or not.
Nor have we ever asked for them. We were given one unsolicited (from a lively couple who was, apparently, totally new to all of this lol) after playtime, and we have given them when asked.

Like the “friends” thing here, it seems like a silly bauble for the social media people.
However I’m male, and not a small man, so I’m not really scared of much. I can see the value from a female perspective where personal security is more of a concern.

I cannot imagine anyone within 3 hours not wanting to meet with you two. Mrs. Cal is stunning.

On here we should delete what we have and get new ones but just can't be bothered. Anyone within 3hrs of us really wanting to meet will know we're real soon enough.

Agree Cal. I did not have many, but deleted mine. They were 15 plus year old certs anyway.

We've purposely avoided receiving certs but have given some. On all of our LS accounts we don't have more than one or two. The only purpose we've seen is to validate we're real for those who might question that, otherwise certs don't really matter to us. What's funny is that the people we've been with and know the best aren't even the ones who have validated us on the sites.

When looking to meet, certs are among the last things I look at. We've met people without looking at certs at all. When I do remember to check them, usually it's just to see if they may already know some of the same people we do.

As is probably known, we don't do a lot with the online game and prefer to meet people in person at LS parties. I'm not opposed to certs, but we are geneally not looking to get or give them as they usually have so little impact on whether we'll meet someone or not. For whatever reason, we do also tend to engage with a number of newbies.

If things work out and a newbie couple is so inclined and feels ready for it, we'll introduce them to the parties we attend.

Think certs add credibility to a profile, relatively recent certs especially. Some choose not to give or receive certs & we've met couples like that as well, provided they were willing to speak with us on a phone call to verify they were for real.

If you think how the site works, it is impossible to give anyone a fair certificate. No one is not going to approve a post. That is on the bar side. Like they didn't show up etc...

Everyone uses certs differently. But we pay almost no mind the number someone has or what has been said. To us, meeting in a public place for a vanilla date is the true and only indication if a couple is legit. It's really no bother to drive to a mutual location for a meet and greet. And if we get stood up (hasn't happened yet, incidentally), we still get to have a night out on our own.

It would make infinitely more sense to allow anonymous reviews like Yelp.

We check and read all certs it helps us know more about the couple or single what type of people they consider to play with and it shows that they are real

It's one factor to evaluate along with the quality of the profile. Someone with certs is at least somewhat more likely to be real. I would say it's especially useful for a single male.

I have been here 3 years and I do not have any certs, but you can tell I'm real because I'm so annoying.

For me, certs can be faked, like anything else. And I do not have any so I really can't require someone to have them. I consider everything in a profile and in messages.
But I would rather just meet them and then decide. Instead of guessing online.

We've met many couples and singles who took breaks for life- to raise kids, to relocate and start a new career, etc. And we took two and three year breaks a couple of times- then hopped right back in- one new cert and the rest are several years old. Good luck :-)

" So, Person A has been on SLS for a year and has 0 certs. Person B has been on SLS for 10 years and has 5 certs, but the most recent one is from 2018. All other things (profile, looks, age, location, etc.) being equal, who seems more "legit" and why? Discuss. "

I'd lean slightly towards the profile with certs and experience for those reasons, but wouldn't discount either prior to any discussions.

"...appear just a little too slutty. "

Otherwise known as "a normal male" ;)

Some people collect certs by the dozens and some don't want any for their own reasons. I can't say either is right or wrong. We have a few which is not indicative of all the LS people we know, but we don't feel the need or see the benefit in having a lot. I do think having a few adds value to the legitimacy of a profile, but having none is not a deal breaker for us.

So, Person A has been on SLS for a year and has 0 certs. Person B has been on SLS for 10 years and has 5 certs, but the most recent one is from 2018. All other things (profile, looks, age, location, etc.) being equal, who seems more "legit" and why? Discuss.

"...appear just a little too slutty. "

---------

I had no idea that was possible, or a 'thing' around here. Lol

If a couple has been on the site for a number of years and their profile is well-written, we'd likely overlook the lack of certs. The same goes for single guys. However, if the couple or single guy has been on the site for less than a year and has no certs or their profile is full of typos then there's a zero percent chance we'd meet up with them outside of an event.

Over the past two decades we've been in and out of this.. fun hobby.. and have been stood-up and ghosted by several single guys and couples who emailed a good game. That's why we prefer swing clubs or hotel take overs- you're looking at and talking directly with what you're gonna get :-)

At one time we had upwards of 18 awesome certs. And then it dawned on me (husband) that a ton of certs might not necessarily be a good thing. It made us appear just a little too slutty. So we thinned them out. It is also kind of interesting to click on the certs and see types of people a prospective profile associates. Sometimes it's like "damn, they got certed from an awesome looking couple- they must have good game." And other times it's like, "that must have been a big tequila night..." ~ It's all good though. Like you all, we're just here to have fun and put a smile on nice, like-minded people.

The longer I exchange messages before being able to arrange a meeting the less important certs are to me.

Guys that want to meet today - better have some recent, gold-plated certs.

Someone I've exchanged messages with for weeks and our schedules finally align to meet in a few days - don't much care about certs and just need a face photo to be sure they don't look like a hated family member.

I think certs have value, obviously, as they help solidify that you're real, and if you can see you have friends in common, that adds to the 'trust factor'.

Certifications are especially important for a guy playing single to confirm you have actually been with someone via SLS and likely not too crazy. I haven't been with anyone new for a while but still keep the certifications around.

Just for grins.. just saw one in the ATL area, a single female , has 44 REAL CERTS of guys who she has played with!

So .. the conversation continues!