SecondLIFE Magazine

SecondLIFE Magazine: September 2004

2004-09-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

New possibilities in v1.5

In This Issue:

The Big Story(s)

Twist and Shout: Version 1.5 is Here
Second Life 1.5 has hit the world. Fraught with problems and a bugs it has slowly wobbled unto it’s own two feet.

The new version was plagued by frequent crashes, teleportation problems and dragging lag. Two upgrades later, it now runs more smoothly. MORE...

In Other News

The Golden Lindy
C’mon Second Lifers, who do you love? SecondLIFE Magazine is proud to announce the Golden Lindy award. You, Second Life denizens, will have final say in who will be honored as among the best of the best. MORE...

Welcome to the Club
Club Elite owner Big John Jade is moving the one of the most popular places in Second Life to a new sim. MORE...

Lost in Space
I have left on a voyage to space in Second Life. I am traveling at a rate of nearly 200m per second. MORE...

Second Lifer

On the Lam: Paca Hannibal does hard time in Second
Meet Paca Hannibal, on the run in Second Life. The fact that he does much of his running wearing an orange prison uniform and handcuffs has set him apart from other Second Lifers. MORE...

A Jaded View: Upstart Jade Bard takes a gamble
Meet Jade Bard, scripter of Jaded Cards gaming machines. Jade is the brilliant lady that makes sophisticated gaming machines you might see in Casinos around the world. MORE...

Question Authority

Ancient Knowledge: Archaegeo's university teaches modern skills
Archaegeo Plantini has opened the Ancient Earth University where he teaches a wide curriculum. MORE...

Build Review

Creative Talent: The Vampire Empire Castle
One of the most attractive aspects of SecondLife, to many inhabitants, is the ability to let one’s imagination flow almost limitlessly. With a bit of land and a lot of imagination, we can create anything... MORE...

How To

The Building Series: Part 1
So you have just started in Second Life and you are finding your way around the world, there's alot to take in right? You've checked out the popular picks and visited some events and you are settling down into a routine. Now might be a perfect time to start trying your hand at building some things and see what all the fuss is about. MORE...

Grins, Gripes and Groans

Editor's Desk
I took a break at work to check in on the Second Life forums yesterday. It was Sept. 10, the eve of the three-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed 3,000 lives. The first post I saw was entitled "9/11 -- We Will Never Forget (Patriot Day)." It promised to be a memorial thread. But my, how quickly things can change in the opinionated world of message boards. MORE...

Letter to the editor
In a Foreign Tongue

First of all I must say I am not always able to write something in English. So, please, be understanding and read these scattered Second Life thoughts. MORE...

Dear Avi
Got a nagging question about building, scripting or clothes designing? Not sure how to handle that prickly situation with your neighbor? Or maybe that special Avatar unceremoniously dumped you and you just want to vent? Whether rant or rave, question, answer, advice, comment or just a simple “hello,” Avi wants to hear from you! Email: dearavisl@yahoo.com Click here for this month's questions... MORE...

Newbie 2 Newbie
So, imagine that you are standing on your Second Life front porch torturing prims, when a giant skunk shows up and begins to rez beautiful furniture on your front lawn at the same time that a shirtless, tattooed, pierced guy drops by to discuss Rene Decartes and hyperbolic doubt. MORE...

The Biz
The value of the Linden stayed constant in August and early September, remaining in the $1.40-$1.45 per 250L range. Prices climbed to their current levels in July and show little sign of deflating. MORE...

Classifieds

Personals
Announcements

Brand New! Laka River Front Market. Get your products sold!
Laka River Front Market, Laka (129, 91)

Ashburn Horse Races, Every Night at 6PM!
The Ashburn Races, Jizo (160, 221)
Property for Sale
Vehicles for Sale
Objects for Sale

DragonChiq Designs has awesome swords and custom tattoos for sale!

Single Prim Windows and Doors. Visit Jodiette Flower's Store, Ritch (214, 172) and Jodi's #2, Bodega (226, 17)

Customized license plates. All 50 states and Canada. 150L. IM Roxie Marten. Samples available.
Other for Sale
Help Wanted

Twist and Shout: Version 1.5 is Here

2004-09-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

By ROXIE MARTEN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Second Life 1.5 has hit the world. Fraught with problems and a bugs it has slowly wobbled unto it’s own two feet.

"Torus is going to be on crack now," said Linden Lab programmer Don Linden.

The new version was plagued by frequent crashes, teleportation problems and dragging lag. Two upgrades later, it now runs more smoothly.

"Never thought being able to teleport was a big deal until it didn't work. It was like loosing a limb or something," Noonian Bard said.

Others said the new version rendered some previously created items unusable

Cubey Terra of Abbots Aerodrome said a feature involving using the cursor to make items rez faster caused some problems with the vendors some merchants used.

"For some reason they changed how mouse clicks work with transparency," he said. "That broke my vendor which uses a transparent surface between the buyer and the vendor model."

"To buy something from my vendor, the buyer would right-click the transparent surface and "Pay". But now When you right-click, it selects the model inside, which doesn't do anything"

Though many have complained about v1.5 and it’s faults, others, like Jamie Oits of The Learning Center, are less concerned.

"I really feel for the Lindens right now. It’s like having a new born baby with teething problems," he said.

From its shaky start, v1.5 has already evolved. It offers some noticeable improvements from v1.4.

New building features may stand out as an improvement to many. The latest version offers more ways to edit a primative and improves other editing features.

Prims may now be twisted a full 360 degrees in either direction.

"Torus is going to be on crack now," said Linden Lab programmer Don Linden.

On top of that a new prim has been added called circle.

Another new feature is "Live Help" from the menu bar. Clicking on it puts you in touch with real-time help for your problem. The Live Help line is staffed by Second Life residents culled from the mentors pool along with other residents who have been in world at least 90 days and have a clean record with the Lindens.

For more information about being a Live Help staffer http://secondlife.com/livehelp.

If you’re landless, a new feature in the Find tool is for you. It will allow you browse for affordable land that is available to anyone who has not owned land before. This replaces the current land for the landless program.

As in the past, parcels of 512 square meters may be bought for 150L.

With new features added some features have left. No more will the Lindens announce events. In it’s place the events calendar has added a notify feature. You may now select which events you want to know about. When the time for the event arrives, it will offer you the ability to teleport to that event.

Private island owners now can sell or transfer their island to another user for a 100L fee. The fee covers costs incurred by the Linden Labs to make the ownership change.

Private island owners also have more expanded controls on their island.

C’mon Second Lifers, who do you love?

2004-09-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Was it the person who furnished you with a new wardrobe a minute after you first stumbled into the Second Life Welcome Area? Maybe it’s the builder/coder who designed your favorite in-world hot rod. Or perhaps one of the big-hearted educators or philanthropists we’re lucky enough to have.

Chances are, there’s more than one person you greatly admire in Second Life. It’s time they got their due.

SecondLIFE Magazine is proud to announce the Golden Lindy award. You, Second Life denizens, will have final say in who will be honored as among the best of the best.

At the bottom of this magazine note card, you’ll find an item called the Lindy Nomination. I urge you to fill it out and recommend people that you want to see honored. The finalists will be announced next month, and everyone will get a chance to vote.

The categories are:

Best Builder
Best Clothes Designer
Best Coder
Best Event Host
Best Instructor
Best Place in Second Life
Best Texturer
Favorite Linden
Overall Best Citizen

Welcome to the Club: Club Elite finds a new home

2004-09-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

By ROXIE MARTEN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Club Elite owner Big John Jade is moving the one of the most popular places in Second Life to a new sim.

The club had been a long-time feature in the Federal, where some neighbors complained about lag the club generated. Club Elite finds a new home on privately owned Elite Island.

The former site of the club was sold to Anshe Chung for a undisclosed price.

"Just say it was good deal on both," said Big John Jade.

Big John gave several reasons for moving.

"Lag is the No. 1 most reason why we want out of this sim," he said.

Other reasons include more control and a expanded club.

The new sim is Mature with 65,536 square meters of land.

When asked about the new club, Elite club goer Madelyna Bismark said, "I love it." Another club patron, Lexia McCoy, said, "I'm so happy. No lag!"

Lost in Space

2004-09-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

By DONNIE DONOVAN
SecondLIFE Magazine

I have left on a voyage to space in Second Life. I am traveling at a rate of nearly 200m per second.

Tools: X-Flight Carbon Rod for quick travel / Location Coordinate Finder

* 30,000-40,000 meters: I notice the map marker began to get larger and larger. Soon I was unable to see a map marker if placed in the sim below my location. If I placed the map marker in the sim in front of me it appeared very close to my avatar and very large.

This may be evidence that this world is round!

* 60,000-80,000 meters: My Avatar is beginning to become erratic, especially the name floating above my head. It looks as though it is boiling with black spots and is fluttering in waves... even when I pause for a break.

* 101,000 meters: I have broken through the atmosphere! Or so I think!

My avatar is now completely apoplectic and it is seeming to get worse... Every object and body part is waving about as though it were in a gas fume.

* 140,000 meters: My Avatar seems to have acquired two names, an identical title is jittering about my stomach as is the one above my head... they seem to trade places every now and then, but at times they both show.

The blue light above is growing brighter.

* 206,000 meters: Things get dark. Everything quite suddenly and somewhat purposefully faded to black. I don’t know if i reached the end of the virtual universe or got sucked inside one of Jeff Lindens black holes to 2035...

* Update: I go back down to see if things will reappear again, to my surprise I must travel 1000 meters down to 205,000 meters high to regain the view of the bright blue space around me. It must be a black hole. At 206,000 meters things fade to black again, right on cue.

* Meters Unknown: My Location Finder has failed and I can not view object properties attached to my avatar. Estimated 244,000 meters high. I am getting bored with the darkness of this virtual universe so I decide to try a little sim crossing action. After a bit of toying with the ants below on my mini-map... I resolve that if I tap the "up" or "down" arrow key in a rhythmic pattern, skipping a half second beat between each tap that I JUMP across a sim! Literally I leap and my AV bounds from border to border.

I could traverse the world in a matter of minutes... or seconds...

The Truth is out there Second Lifers, one day we just might make it to the moon...

On the Lam: Paca Hannibal does hard time in Second

2004-09-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

By ROSE KARUNA
SecondLIFE Magazine

Meet Paca Hannibal, on the run in Second Life. The fact that he does much of his running wearing an orange prison uniform and handcuffs has set him apart from other Second Lifers.

Paca first came to my attention after having been spotted by vigilant Second Lifer Aaron Levy who posted his sighting in a thread on the Second Life Forum. Aaron wrote "I fly along the road, pretty high up, and see this little orange dot... still running along the road... For some reason, I still didn't think much of it. I fly 3-4 sims away and decided to fly back home and log off. I'm lower to the ground this time, so here, 4-5 minutes later, I pass this guy STILL RUNNING along the road...

And now I'm closer so I see that ... he's an escape convict wearing prison orange and still in his handcuffs!"

After seeing the picture, I decided I had to meet the man behind the orange suit. I relentlessly hunted him down, which was not any small task, because the man is a master at disguise. Worn down by my repeated IM attacks and baited by my promise of a useful gift – a hacksaw - he finally agreed to grant me an interview.

Q: I thought that your idea was so creative, how did you think of it?
A: There was a law enforcement/jail theme at Phantasie Isle, I DJ there and I wanted something no one else would have but I took it further than other people. This is my Headhunter AV. I’m trying to go for the Shaman look.

Q: How long have you been in SL?
A: About 2 months

Q: It looks like you are really enjoying Second Life?
A: It’s fun, just about the only thing I do on the net now… I never watched much TV anyhow and when I did it was either the History or the Learning Channel. I can't stand not to be interactive or learn something. You think that'd be different for a guy rough around the edges like me.

Q: So how did you come to be running from the law in Second Life?
A: I was playing around trying to liven things up. I did that two nights in a row.

Q: Perhaps next time you should hook up with "Clarice"?
A: Well I didn't want to copy Hannibal Lector too much, I like to do my own thing.

Q: You have to admit, he was a cool character though.
A: and he showed that even cannibalistic and dangerous people can have a soft/good side … I was even iffy about going through PG sims with my inmate AV, so I hurried through those and tried to stick to the mature sims. That’s where that guy got pics of me, at an old friend's house in Lie near where I used to live.

Q: So what do you do in SL when you aren’t running from the law?
A: I DJ for Phantasie Isle Radio. I also used to work as a bouncer, but I got tired of it, it was too much like babysitting. I used to be a SLB boxer too. I might get back into that, the owner talks about a comeback.

Q: Interesting... did you use poser for the moves?
A: No, the owner used scripted gloves.

When I teleport into Paca’s house, I’m presented with a great build and a very refined living room where a piano sits at the center. Paca said he doesn’t play piano in real life, but he knows some fingering from lessons taken as a child.

"I took lessons as a kid and my grandmother always played," he said. "I love music, I'm a mature lyricist and vocalist actually."

So here it is, a softer side to the prisoner in orange. In fact, I couldn’t imagine this bright, creative Second Lifer every really wearing prison orange in his lifetime.

If you want to learn more about Paca, he has a website at: http://www.thepaca.com.

A Jaded View: Upstart Jade Bard takes a gamble

2004-09-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

By AURA LILY
SecondLIFE Magazine

Meet Jade Bard, scripter of Jaded Cards gaming machines. Jade is the brilliant lady that makes sophisticated gaming machines you might see in Casinos around the world. She is new to Second Life but has mastered in a short time what many of us baffling at best. When asked if she would call herself an "Uber Geekess" she modestly replied that she is not and that during summer she has a lot of time on her hands.

A background in VB6 and Java programming has helped her become competent in LSL. She did mention ease of use and debugging capabilities of VB6 are perhaps one of the missing components of LSL. As she put it; "LSL debugging is just like Java's debugging, it's a pain the ass, I mean usually its okay, but sometimes I will sit and look at code for HOURS to realize I
messed up ONE LINE!"

Jade is very modest about her abilities claiming her gaming scripts are not that complicated. However, her ability to stick to it and make even seemingly insurmountable bugs vanish is admirable.

The gambling machine script business has been successful during the past month netting over 25k from her single handed efforts. This is a marvel in that her scripts are considerably less expensive than her competitors with Free Upgrades, Free Servicing, and Free Suggesting.

Asked if the casino games are crooked (rigged for the house to win). She responded with a laugh and an adamant "NOT MINE!"

She did indicate that some may do this but if you see the creator name Jade Bard on the game you can be assured it is a good machine.

Ancient Knowledge: Archaegeo's university teaches modern skills

2004-09-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

By Emmy Guillaume
SecondLIFE Magazine

One of Second Life's newest residents is also one of it's most helpful.

Although he's only been in world for 17 days, at this writing, Archaegeo Plantini has opened the Ancient Earth University where he teaches a wide curriculum. Classes range from Second Life Basics - how to buy land, how to understand the US Dollar/ Linden currency exchange and how to find your unique 'niche' in-world - to Basic and Advanced Scripting. Additional classes are being planned and new courses added on a constant basis.

I was able to catch Archaegeo in one of his rare spare moments to ask him a few questions:

EG: Hi Arc..thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me about your new endeavor.

Archaegeo Platini: No problem Emmy, glad to chat.

EG: You have had quite a few students take your courses, even in the short time you have been here. All have commented about the courses you are offering, positively, I might add. Tell me what gave you the idea for your University?

Archaegeo Platini: Well, in the First Life, I’m a curriculum developer and instructor for the US Navy, and its something I love doing. So when I was looking for my niche here, it seemed to fit. Also i noticed that many of the courses were not quite as in depth as they could be, so I sought to offer an alternative, more real world like course.

EG: Your University has an unusual name. What was the etiology of it?

Archaegeo Platini: My name actually. If you do a Google seach, any Archaegeo hits you get are me, 99 times out of 100. I coined the world from Archae and Geo. "Ancient Earth".

EG: Why that name?

Archaegeo Platini: Ahh, old MMORPGs. Needed a new handle to go by, and while playing one of them, think it was one of my many times I quit playing EverQuest, I came up with it. Or maybe it was Anarchy Online, or maybe Asheron's Call.

But its claim to fame is some work I did for Neverwinter Nights for Bioware.

EG: Which was.......?

Archaegeo Platini: Oh, I was the creator and project lead for a modification called the HardCore Ruleset, or HCR.

Bioware sent me some nice thank you gifts, seemed it helped sell the game some. It was mostly a scripting thing, in NWN's scripting language, which bears similarity to LSL

EG: What is your vision for this place in the coming weeks and months?

Archaegeo Platini: Well, I have 2 Fundamentals courses active now, Basic Economics and Basic Land. Those courses are what I call 000 level courses. I teach them for free, well, donations are nice, and plan to add some more. I have also started my professional level courses with AEC-101, Understanding 3D Space, and AES-101, Fundamental Scripting in LSL. I'm pleased that both have had great reviews

EG: People who have taken these courses have said they are most helpful

Archaegeo Platini: Thanks Emmy, I hope so, that’s my real goal. Even though I charge for the 100+ level courses, its a minimum fee, 100L for the 101 courses, and my real goal is to help folks learn the skills they need to accomplish their goals in SL

So I hope to go on with the 200 level courses and above, plus I somehow ended up with 1/8th a sim, so need to expand my interests that way too

You: What is your teaching philosophy?

Archaegeo Platini: Hmmm.....

I believe in the welfare and well-being of my students. In the Real World, that means making sure they have a place to stay when they come to school, know where to find the things they need, so that there is nothing to stand in the way of them having a great learning environment. Here in Second Life its much the same. I want to make sure the learning environment at Ancient Earth support my students needs.

I also tend to not tolerate interruptions too well, so it helps the students better pay attention to the course materials.

EG: Have you had much of that since you've been here? The interruptions?

Archaegeo Platini: A few, but the nice thing about teaching on my own land is I can handle any griefers with a minimum of effort, that and the Community Standards generally makes it so most folks understand when you ask them to play nicer :)

EG: What would you like any prospective students to know about your University?

Archaegeo Platini: That courses are built to support the future courses in the series So that if they start with the 101 in a series, they can count on getting the knowledge they need to
progress through the series of their choice.

EG: How is the University doing so far?

Archaegeo Platini: Its gotten off to a good start, the students seem to really like it, and I think I’m
getting some good word of mouth.

But I teach whether I have 10 students or 2. It the passing of the knowledge and the "Ah-ha!" effect I love.

As this article was going to press, the Ancient Earth University moved its location from Dosanji to Sedig, where Archaegeo hopes to have a better technical learning environment for his students.

Come by the University and take some time to visit. Grab a course catalog and get on the road to understanding Second Life on better footing. It's well worth it.

Creative Talent: The Vampire Empire Castle

2004-09-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

by CYDONIA LLEWELYN
SecondLIFE Magazine

One of the most attractive aspects of SecondLife, to many inhabitants, is the ability to let one’s imagination flow almost limitlessly. With a bit of land and a lot of imagination, we can create anything from tiny shanties surrounded by trees to vast skyscrapers that recreate things we know and love in our “first lives”. It is worth taking time to take a look at what can be done with a little time, effort (and a lot of “prims*”).

Obscuro Valkryie, with the help of his friends and group members, had created what was one of the most beautiful castles in SecondLife, known as the Vampire Empire. At the time of writing this article, he is in the process of moving this fantastic build to his very own island. Prior to this move, it was located in the sim known as Io, and it was an impressive and expansive building.

Taking up 43,920 square meters of the sim, Obscuro created a beautiful gothic castle which included one main hall, two wings, a casino/lounge and an adjoining shop. To reach the castle, visitors would walk over a long bridge and pass by a small, frightful funeral procession. A warning, perhaps, of what could be expected inside the castle gates. Opening the front doors, guests would be greeted by a very eerie voice, “Welcome foolish mortals!” followed by laughter that could send shivers down your spine.

Exploring the Vampire Empire was an adventure unto itself, as there was much to admire and take in. Detail is one of Obscuro’s greatest talents, and this highly creative builder spared nothing. In fact, with over 11,000 prim* to work with, he had the room to do it in! Each room was set up beautifully with detailed wood and brick textures to give it the feel that you were really in an ancient gothic castle. The furniture also stuck to the theme, most items being textured in velvets, silks and other decadent fabrics.

Rooms included a courtyard, libraries and lounges, a meeting room complete with Tarot cards, a private suite with jacuzzi, a Master bedroom, a research lab, a sparring ring, a tribute to Ancient Egypt, a jail cell, and even secret passages and rooms through-out!

Though dark, with it’s Vampire theme, the castle itself is creepy in a fun way, and definitely an impressive example of what people in SecondLife can accomplish. I am sure that Obscuro’s next project, on the island sim of Transylvania, will be even grander and I look forward to seeing it, and the many other examples of the talent residents of SecondLife have to offer.

*Newbie dictionary: Prim = Primative. Every time you create an object in the world, it takes up a certain number of “prims” (similar to pieces). Each square meter of land has a certain number of prims allotted to it. See How To: Build by James Otis for more info!

The Building Series: Part 1

2004-09-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

By Jamie Otis

So you have just started in Second Life and you are finding your way around the world, there's alot to take in right? You've checked out the popular picks and visited some events and you are settling down into a routine. Now might be a perfect time to start trying your hand at building some things and see what all the fuss is about.

Lindens would say that Second Life has built-in powerful, highly flexible building tools, using
geometric primitives and a simple, intuitive interface. But you're thinking great, how do I build
stuff.

Well what is great about the setup in Second Life is that anyone can build anything. The tools at your disposable are quite easy to master and with a bit of practice you will be creating things you only imagined the day before! This article is a on-going one, where we will look at building tips and hints each month. At the end of the series you should have a useful collection of building notes.

So lets start at the beginning and get a little background information...

SL uses geometric primitives (ie. shapes) or as everyone will call them, prims. These are the basic building blocks in SL, almost all objects in Second Life are made from prims.

The land in Second Life has an allocation of prims per parcel/plot, the larger the parcel the more prims you have at your disposable. Basically for ever meter you get 0.228 prims, so on a 512m parcel you would be able to create 117 prims (some urban areas have a slightly different ratio).

OK, how to I learn how to build.

There are many ways to learn how to build in Second Life below are just some of them:

- Visit the Ivory Tower Library of Primatives for an in-world visual building guide, the building guide is split into parts so you can go at your own pace.
- Check the Events listings for building classes, usually under Basic Building or Building 101.
- The Learning Center have course notes on their own building course which offers a step-by guide, written as if you were in the class.
- Visit a sandbox (area for building practice) - you can practice with the building tools, socialize and see what others are making.

Rather than writing a complete guide to building, what we are going to cover are tips and hints to help you with building, so think of these as things to try once you have a seen the basic building ideas.

Snapping a prim to a certain angle when rotating:
===============================
Once you have created your prim, you can move it about under edit by dragging on of the color axes, holding CTRL and SHIFT changes the edit mode from move into resize (you will see the axes change), however what we are going to look at is rotation. You can rotate your prim about the color axes by holding CTRL down and then dragging a color axis.

Here is something to try, with your prim selected and the edit window open, hold CTRL down (so we are in rotate mode), select a color axis and hold the mouse button down.

You'll see that a yellow scaled circle appears around the prim, by moving your mouse pointer to the outer edge of the yellow circle you will see that a line is drawn from the prim to the outside of the circle and that your prim will snap to a marked angle on the yellow scaled circle. Neat huh?

Another rotating tip:
=============
When using the rotate mode under edit, make sure that you always have a color axis (red, green or blue) highlighted before dragging the axis. If you have your mouse over the white part of the rotation axes and hold the mouse and drag, you will be in a free rotation mode, which is rotates your prim in all directions based on the movement of mouse and is, as you can imagine, hard to control :)

Undo:
====
Many people ask, why doesn't CTRL-Z undo work when I'm editing my prims. It does, but here’s the catch, undo (when editing prims) only works when you have the chat window/box closed. D’oh, I hear you say. The undo history for previous undo is around 10 or 11 I believe.

Hopefully this first article has been useful and giving you a taster of what’s to come next month. You now have time to get the basics of building clear before the next issue in October.

I'm usually around one of the TLC areas in Second Life most of time, so why not drop by and say hello.

Jamie Otis signing out.
The Learning Center - Mauve (120, 95)

From the Editor's Desk

2004-09-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

I took a break at work to check in on the Second Life forums yesterday. It was Sept. 10, the eve of the three-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed 3,000 lives.

The first post I saw was entitled "9/11 -- We Will Never Forget (Patriot Day)." Off topic for Second Life, but topical as far as the real world is concerned. It promised to be a memorial thread. But my, how quickly things can change in the opinionated world of message boards.

Some quotes:

"It saddens me to see you waste such excellent arguments on someone who has such a fundamental lack of understanding of politics, of patriotism, well, of pretty much everything. He will keep posting the same neo-Republican doublespeak no matter how many times you whack him with a stick."

And

"Nope. Its a Generalization. Hippie. Back to woodstock, I wasn't talking to you."

How sad that a memorial thread could degenerate so fast. But it is hardly suprising.

Will the rest of the world please excuse me while I talk to my fellow Americans? We’re less than two months away from a hotly contested presidential election here, so it’s to be expected that the Second Life forums would reflect the passions of both sides.

But damn, people, do you have to be so nasty about it?

I find it hard to believe that anyone’s mind has ever been changed by reading an Internet bulletin board. I may be wrong, but I certainly have never witness so rare an event.

As long as the Lindens allow it, it is your privelege to snipe at each other over the coming elections on the forums. Maybe it makes you feel good. Maybe it lets of some steam. But it is an exercise in futility.

The world has never been changed by what someone writes to a massive multiplayer online role playing game message board, and it probably never will. But there is something that does work. It’s called voting.

So, release the hounds on the bulletin boards to your hearts content, while hopefully keeping in mind that a living, breathing, feeling person is on the other end of the pipeline reading your words.

Just make sure you do what’s really important and get to the ballot box on Nov. 2.

-- Lorelei Patel

Letter to the editor: In a Foreign Tongue

2004-09-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

First of all I must say I am not always able to write something in English. So, please, be understanding and read these scattered Second Life thoughts.

I’ve been playing Second Life from November 2003. It was a challenge. I am not a native English speaker (Italian is my first language), and my English was (and is)... let's say poor. Just enough to be understood almost always or at least often, and good enough to understand people. But it was (and still is) very frustrating.

This is a great handicap in relationships, because it seems that sometimes, when you speak like a 14 years old trying to say understandable things, people tend to get impatient and to go away rather than help. So, when you meet a player that "speaks strange" please think he/she could not be stupid, only give her/him some time to express.

In Second Life I met a huge amount of people from all the world. I am not a racist, so I have not ideas like "French are all OK" or "Americans are all ugly." In effect, I found that professional idiots and very nice people are spread between political borderlines.

-- Jopy Weber

Dear Avi...

2004-09-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

From: Betts Hedges

Dear Avi,

I am a new to Second Life and sometimes when I fly into an event my Avatar crashes and then I seem to be stuck in cyber space swimming around. It really looks stupid. Is there anything that I can do about this?

Dear Betts:

The problem you describe seems to occur on occasion when a large number of people meet in one area. If you want to stop the "Air Swimming", I recommend you first toggle "fly" off and on, failing that, log off and then back on again, that seems to solve the problem.

If logging off is an issue, you could always have some fun with it and run one of the many free animation scripts while air swimming, such as the "Blair Head Rotation", "Kick Boxing" or the "Chicken Dance". When you are perched mid air with your head spinning demonically while your limbs kick spasmodically, people will think that you have a new animation script and want a copy. In other words, your AV will be stupidly frozen, but at least it will look cool.

IM me if you decide to do this – I want to watch.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

From: Zaph Zadoq

Dear Avi,

Can I build on my Snow Land while naked? I’m in a mature sim.

Dear Zaph,

Well – first question is: Did you buy good body parts, ‘cause if you didn’t, buddy, put your clothes on please. If you did, umm, IM me.

Just kidding, whether you are in a PG or a Mature sim makes no difference. You may not fly around nude in a public sim. So put your pants on before the cold starts shrinking your build.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

From: Bran Brodie

Dear Avi,

My wife spends so much time in Second Life now, I have to do my own laundry, eat frozen dinners and clean the house myself. Can you recommend a way to re-direct her focus?

Dear Bran,

Well first off, I’d recommend microwaving those frozen dinners before eating them. Regarding re-direction of her focus – well I recommend you buy her an Island. ;-)

Avi’s quote for the day: Warm milk and cookies probably won’t help the situation at all, but a shot of JD might make it look better.

Newbie 2 Newbie – Second Life Social Protocols

2004-09-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

By ROSE KARUNA
SecondLIFE Magazine

So, imagine that you are standing on your Second Life front porch torturing prims, when a giant skunk shows up and begins to rez beautiful furniture on your front lawn at the same time that a shirtless, tattooed, pierced guy drops by to discuss Rene Decartes and hyperbolic doubt. Then suddenly, a guy in an orange jump suit wearing handcuffs and the numbers 666 runs into your house.

If your anything like me, you might be wondering … what the heck is the social protocol for this? Hey if I knew the answer to that – this game would begin to bore me.

Nevertheless, I have learned that there are social protocols to be followed, even in Second Life. I discovered this when I was caught working nakies in the garden of my beloved "Land for the Landless" by my sweet but easily embarrassed neighbor, who kindly reminded me that I was in a PG sim. No, I was NOT trying to show off new body parts, things were just really slow and laggy and I wanted to continue building rather than dress. Honest -- although some of the attachments that I have found are pretty cool, but that’s another story for another issue.

Back to social protocols – "bare" in mind, as you walk the paths of the Second Life world, that there are both PG and Mature Sims. The type of Sim that you are in is noted at the top of your screen along with the indicators of what is allowed on the land you are in, such as building, scripting or safety.

Walking naked in either Mature or PG sim is not allowed. Showing up naked and displaying newly purchased body parts (no matter how proud you are of them) at public events, is a violation of the "Terms of Service" agreement and an invitation to be quickly "tossed" from Second Life. If you think that your just going to DIE if you can’t show someone your newly purchased penis immediately, I recommend that you teleport to one of the many clubs that allow this on a mature sim. Just be advised that unwarranted poking anywhere with said body part is in violation and you will probably be tossed if that person reports you. On this note – guys that walk around with their body parts on all the time, loosen the pants! Sheesh!

Another difference between a PG and a Mature sim is the language that you are allowed to use publicly. Just make sure that if you’re having hot Avatar sex you are in IM and not in Chat mode. If not, the entire area will hear your sexual escapades and most likely, you will be tossed. Personally, I’m offended by it simply because usually I’m laughing so hard that I can’t type. Really interferes with my building.

Speaking of big guns – or not, we move on to "safe" and "unsafe" areas in Second Life. When an area is unsafe (meaning that your avatar can be injured or die, a red heart (health indicator) will show at the top of your screen. If your inclination is to jump right into Second Life and on your first day shoot something, well I have just the sim for you. I recommend that you immediately teleport to Jessie (38.145). If you want to experience Avatar death without putting up a fight, I recommend that you teleport to Pomponio (64, 208), either way, you’ll wind up being teleported home sooner or later. Every Avatar should experience death at least once in their Second Life.

That said, please realize that safe land is just that - "safe" and shooting is not allowed. People in Second Life who hold events put a great deal of time, effort and often their own Linden dollars into them and it is the height of rudeness is to show up at an event and shoot the patrons. In addition, it causes a great deal of lag in the area and is disrupting. I should note here that you also risk being suspended or tossed from Second Life for this type of behavior.

The same principal applies for classes that are being held. Mentors and instructors in Second Life dedicate an enormous amount of time to training new people on how to build and script. Shooting, rezing large objects or poking people with your big guns at events which are essentially being held for you (the newbie) are not only rude, but will also get you suspended or tossed. My recommendation is that you holster the newbie gun and hunker down for a class to learn how to build a bigger and better gun and teleport to Jessie, where shooting is not only allowed, it’s encouraged.

Last but not Least, keep Second Life beautiful and remember to clean up after yourself. If you rez an object on land that is not your own, before leaving the premises, pick up the object and put it in your inventory or in the trash. If you crash a vehicle, don’t just walk away, take your wrecked, sorry vehicle with you. Land in Second Life is owned either by the Lindens or individual Second Life Residents. There is no such thing as a "homestead". If you feel the urge to build, do it on sanctioned land (such as a "Sand Box") or with the permission of the owner.

There are a thousand ways that you can offend someone, but hate, murder, theft, liter and mature activity in a non-mature sim seem to be the biggies. My best advice is to think before you act (yes I’m sure you’ve heard it before). Never forget that there is a real person behind the Avatar that you are standing in front of and act accordingly. In other words, "do unto others as you would have done unto you". It’s a good rule – and it works in both lives.

Next Column: Down and Out in Second Life – How to Live in Second Life on a Linden Dollar a Day.

The Biz: Chart

2004-09-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

The value of the Linden stayed constant in August and early September, remaining in the $1.40-$1.45 per 250L range. Prices climbed to their current levels in July and show little sign of deflating.

August Chart

SecondLIFE Magazine: August 2004

2004-08-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

In This Issue:

The Big Story(s)

The Winter Content of our Continent
A storm hit Second Life in July. With it came alterations to the landscape that left some residents marveling in wonder, others dumbstruck, and yet others deftly preparing to capitalize on the awesome changes. MORE...

Second Life Greets Increasing Numbers of Mac Faithful
Second Life's profile in the Macintosh user community was boosted on June 17th, when it was featured by Peter Cohen, “Game Room” columnist for Macworld Magazine and MacCentral writer, on his weekly segment on popular Macintosh Internet radio show Your Mac Life. MORE...

In Other News

Wizard
On Sunday at 7:00 PM sharp, Spellbound Events hosted the last of the Wizard of OZ themed events. The OZ build is an amazing and wonderful spin on the Wizard of OZ books and movie and is hosted on Evie Fairchild's private Caymen. MORE...

Activism
A growing number of both new and longtime residents have been engaged in debate and action aimed at changing minds and inspiring action; and the issues tackled are not restricted to within the world
of Second Life. MORE...

Second Lifer

WTC
Part of Casanova’s daily routine used to include passing the New York World Trade Center on the way to work as a mailman. That changed Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists used planes as missiles and brought the buildings crashing to the ground, killing almost 3,000 people. MORE...

Question Authority
Remember your first hours in Second Life? The experience can be overwhelming for some, inspirational for others. SecondLIFE’s Leilany LaFollette caught up with Second Life resident Anicia Medici to talk about her early days here, and where she hopes to take her Second Life in the future. MORE...

Hot Spots
Club Midnight (Umber, 205,111). I know what you're thinking: another club? Yet Club Midnight sets itself apart by it's great use of the new in-world animation.. MORE...

Grins, Gripes and Groans

Letter to the editor
In recent days, there has been some drama. You may say, "Yes, and the week before that, and the one before that.” Only occasionally drama overlaps onto its succeeding week. True as that may be, this week’s drama was SUPER-DUPER SPECIAL. Now is that time where you realize I'm talking about land. MORE...

Dear Avi
Got a nagging question about building, scripting or clothes designing? Not sure how to handle that prickly situation with your neighbor? Or maybe that special Avatar unceremoniously dumped you and you just want to vent? Whether rant or rave, question, answer, advice, comment or just a simple “hello,” Avi wants to hear from you! MORE...

Newbie 2 Newbie
I waited for notification on the availability of my 512 square meters of land in Second Life with the same anticipatory delight as a five-year old waiting for Sea Monkeys. When I finally got notice and teleported to the coveted piece of land, I was struck with the same degree of disappointment that I'd had when I put the much-touted Sea Monkeys in water and realized that they were brine shrimp and would never wear little crowns or perform cute tricks. MORE...

Currency Trader
Real life caught up with Gaming Open Market president Jamie Hale, but he will be back next month to offer analysis on recent Linden dollar trades. In the meantime, check out the latest chart. MORE...

Classifieds

Personals
Announcements
Property for Sale
Vehicles for Sale
Objects for Sale

DragonChiq Designs has awesome swords and custom tattoos for sale!

Single Prim Windows and Doors. Visit Jodiette Flower's Store, Ritch (214, 172) and Jodi's #2, Bodega (226, 17)

Customized license plates. All 50 states and Canada. 150L. IM Roxie Marten. Samples available.

His & Her's Winter wear featuring color mod-able outfits by Llewelyn Moon Design. 3 great locations! Main shop at: Ebisu (105, 119)
Other for Sale
Help Wanted

The Winter Content of our Continent

2004-08-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

By GUNNAR OLSEN
SecondLIFE Magazine

A storm hit Second Life in July. With it came alterations to the landscape that left some residents marveling in wonder, others dumbstruck, and yet others deftly preparing to capitalize on the awesome changes.

The storm, or to put it perhaps more aptly, the onset of a new climate, was of course the appearance of snow. Heretofore, the weather throughout Second Life generally resembled a balmy Southern California summer day. Now residents have the options of tramping through a tundra wilderness, schussing the slopes from the top of a chairlift station, or warming their digital digits by the fireplace of a winter lodge.

Lying in the southeast region of the world, Linden Lab has christened new sims with evocative names such as Chamonix, Garmisch, Kitzbuhel, and Zermatt.

Rumors had begun to circulate on the forums about an impending winter region and by Tuesday night residents were proclaiming their joy at the winter wonderland. On June 29th Magellan Linden had reported that indications of a "...place where snow and ice have taken hold of the land, where even the trees shine white in the heatless rays of a mocking, cold sun. I will endeavor to find this frigid land and, fates be willing, report back to you."

As with any environmental change, entrepreneurs were quick to capitalize on the new reality.

Some, such as Adam Zaius (apparently prescient though actually benefiting from previous inside intelligence), presented their new wares to the new and rapidly-developing market of winter lovers. Saying he had known about the snow for "about a month now," Zaius told us that "Maxx Monde suggested it would be a good idea to make some snow-related items for the new sims when they come up."

Zaius displayed a line of snowboards that were a cut above the public domain model offered by Linden. Currently, Zaius has in development a set of skis that will be available to the market soon.

Artemis Fate was overheard to say, "Someone would so make a killing off of winter clothes now."

So began the rush to market of clothing for cold climates.

By Wednesday afternoon, designer Cydonia Llewelyn was offering a line of apparel that would have made any Nordic or Alpine citizen comfortable. She said "I spent the evening looking up stuff online and creating them, taking pix in the snow sims, then worked on boxing it all up and throwing it into a vendor...was up very late that night, but I wanted to get them out so people had clothes to wear."

Asked about how many units she had sold, Llewelyn said "Let's just say I made back my uploading costs within a few minutes of the buy/sell event."

Hip businesswoman DragonChiq Therian had set up her vendor stand at the top of the mountain snagging snow enthusiasts with a line of cool clothes that promised to keep one warm. She is also a charter member of the Snow Bunnies, a group that will "just plan to have fun and ski or snowboard down as many mountains as we can find and have fun as a group!"

Events planner, Madison Blanc is already developing new ideas for her business. She mused that "it would be wonderful to have some events here ... in fact I could see a Winter Wonderland."

Model Talla Guillaume is moving to France in real life and posed for SecondLIFE Magazine against the winter backdrop. She mentioned that, "Yes, I will maybe do a bit of skiing in the French Alps this winter."

"They stole my idea!" proclaimed Takan Hannibal seemingly more in good nature than in wrath. Hannibal, who had been pining for something more than eternal sunny paradise had previously created "Christmas in July" and was mountainside showing his snow machine to any who asked.

(Rumors that Hannibal will bring suit against Linden Labs for a royalty on every snowflake that falls had still not been confirmed at press time.)

Another resident had also apparently missed something more than constant sunny paradise. Commented Gracie Greenacre, "I own a forest in Federal and we turned it to snow at Christmas but wasn't the same as here."

Other reactions to the wintry sims were varied and almost exclusively positive.

Zeke Casanova "loved it" and Darwin Appleby exulted: "I love them, they're amazing."

Some, though, warned of the perils of overdevelopment that are always present.

Baccara Rhodes called them "very beautiful," but mentioned her hope "that at least some of it is left natural and not sold off."

Second Life Greets Increasing Numbers of Mac Faithful

2004-08-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

By ETHAN THERIAN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Second Life's profile in the Macintosh user community was boosted on June 17th, when it was featured by Peter Cohen, "Game Room" columnist for Macworld Magazine and MacCentral writer, on his weekly segment on popular Macintosh Internet radio show Your Mac Life.

Cohen declared the recent beta-test release of Second Life for the Mac OS X operating system as "really damn cool," and described Second Life as "a cross between the Sims and a Massively Multiplayer Online Game, but it’s not as lame as I make it sound."

Cohen went on to describe Second Life as an "attempt at creating a virtual civilization" and "virtual reality without some of the heady trappings... such as headsets or data gloves." Cohen claimed to have become familiar with the product during a tour given to the columnist by Phillip Rosedale (aka Phillip Linden).

The mention on Your Mac Life arguably marks an increase for the world’s profile in the Macintosh community. Your Mac Life, hosted and produced by Shawn King, boasts the highest listenership among broadcasts aimed at Macintosh enthusiasts, averaging around 1,700 to 2,000 listeners to the live show and 160,000 listens via the archive per month. These listener figures do not include subscriptions to the program purchased through online audiobook and programming distributor Audible.com, which offers the program as well.

Since announcing the preliminary beta-test version, marked version 1.2, in December of last year, there has been a steady increase in the presence of Macintosh users immigrating to the Second Life community. One indicator of this growth is the new Mac Lover group, founded by Phoenix Linden -- a development made possible both by the release of the Macintosh client, and the increasing number of residents who have come to the shores of Second Life via the Macintosh platform.

The increasing numbers of Macintosh users to Second Life, as well as Second Life’s mention in Your Mac Life, coincides with a large influx of new residents sparked by recent high-profile mentions on CNN, C-Net and Slashdot, as well as the announcement by online world There that the company would discontinue further development.

Second Life requires the Mac OS X "Panther" operating system for Macintosh. Apple currently claims a user base of 25 million people for the Macintosh platform, of which over 10 million users currently has OS X installed.

Somewhere over the Second Life rainbow

2004-08-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

By QUINN BUKOWSKI
SecondLIFE Magazine

If ever, oh ever, a wiz there was, then Baccara Rhodes, Fey Brightwillow and their merry band of mighty munchkins are it.

On Sunday at 7:00 PM sharp, Spellbound Events hosted the last of the Wizard of OZ themed events. The OZ build is an amazing and wonderful spin on the Wizard of OZ books and movie and is hosted on Evie Fairchild's private Caymen.

If you haven't gotten to OZ, you might want to call a friend who has and ask if they took pictures, because this was the last hooray for the Emerald Palace and Yellow Brick Road. As of the writing of this article, OZ was scheduled to be de-res'd by the end of day Tuesday, July 21. The event, which was widely advertised as Baccara's Rhodes thank you to Second Life for her one-year anniversary, took four months of planning, the combined efforts of more than 10 of SecondLife's most talented builders and scriptors and an incredible eye for detail that comes from a level of passion not easy to found in Second Life or the real world.

I had the honor of accompanying the charming and mysterious debutant; Ms. Olympia Rebus, to OZ (Cayman 37, 37) for “ask the wizard.” This being my fourth trip to Oz -- the first of which ended with me stuck in a Munchkin avatar while trying (unsuccessfully) to make time with Glinda, the good witch of the north -- I settled into the arched stone bench directly behind Ms. Rebus without the typical tourist gaze around my amazing surroundings.

Panthar Orlowski and friends did a credible job reenacting the wizard’s wish-granting scene.

The evening included an unbelievable demonstraition of generosity on the part of Baccara, Fairchild, Orlowski, Brightwillow and many others who granted a string of wishes that included everything from money to love and land.

I spoke with Baccara Rhodes and Spellbound’s chief scriptor, Panthar Orlowski about the OZ build.

QB: How is OZ different from other events that you have done?

Baccara Rhodes: the difference with Oz is that is was more interactive and had a level of detail that I don’t think is seen often. There were things to do and we held events.

Panthar Orlowski: Yes, this was really a combination of builds and events.

DQ: Yes I agree I was really blown away by the level of detail in the and interactive capabilities the build offered.

Baccara Rhodes: Quinn let me say something about Spellbound if I may. We work totally together, No tiffs, no prima donnas. Fey Brightwillow and I are partners. People always see me as the public face but without Fey I am nothing. This has been such a partnership. We only get stronger."

People always see me as the public face but without Fey I am nothing. This has been such a partnership. We only get stronger.

Did you miss OZ? or love it so much you would love to do it again? You can, Spellbound and company will re-res the whole kitten kabootal .. for a mere $500,000L ... The cost of the actual development of this version was secret. Sources put it at almost twice their asking event price.

Demonstrating intent: Second Lifers find their activist voice

2004-08-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

By ETHAN THERIAN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Hank Ramos, balloonist and resident since November of 2003 holds a one-man protest to decry the state of the Linden Balloon that no longer provides tours for new residents. A new campaign headquarters opens for U.S. Presidential Candidate John Kerry, and soon lawn-signs exhorting Kerry 2004 are spotted throughout Second Life. The first of a series of in-world town hall meetings convenes, held by Second Life luminary Khamon Fate, to discuss the future expansion of Linden Continent.

These are a few examples of what seems to be a new trend: activism in Second Life. A growing number of both new and longtime residents have been engaged in debate and events aimed at changing minds and inspiring action; and the issues tackled are not restricted to within the world of Second Life.

On June 30th, IceRink Zamboni presided over the opening of an election headquarters for Kerry. Decorated with campaign paraphernalia such as posters, red, white and blue balloons, and a letter from Kerry on the wall, the site was strikingly similar to campaign sites you might find in any small town. Of course, this being Second Life, there were touches of the outlandish: a girl with cat ears and a tail followed by a small floating demon, for one. Her name was Mimi Therian. When asked why she had decided to come to the rally, Therian replied "[I] do know this election will affect Second Life [and] Real Life, because every person here is a real person and I want Kerry to win."

Within a day of the opening of the headquarters, at which lawn-signs extolling candidate Kerry were distributed, it has become a common site to see residents' houses with the placards displayed out front, as in any suburban neighborhood.

Zamboni (who has since held several pro-Kerry events) when asked if she thinks Second Life activism will have any affect on real world behavior, replied "it will allow for some Real Life discussion in Second Life -- something that I haven't found before. I would hope that this does serve to educate, and if it is indeed possible to change minds in Second Life, I will try!"

Some of this activity may be attributed to the fact that this is a particularly contentious political season in Real Life, and the two sides are highly polarized -- an effect that bleeds into what seems to be predominantly liberal Second Life.

The recently erected Iraqi War Memorial [see related story] also provides silent witness to the increasing expression residents are giving to their real-life concerns, beliefs and opinions within Second Life.

However, the new shift toward personal activism is also seeing growth in the realm of in-world matters. One example is Ramos' Balloon protest.

Declaring "Let residents give tours! We are not the enemy! We are here to help!", Hank Ramos single-handedly maintained a picket line for several consecutive hours to express his grievances that the Linden Balloon, designed to give tours to new residents was not working and was taking up space that could be used to allow residents to park and give tours. Moreover, claimed Ramos, until last week, tours had been advertised despite the fact that officially sanctioned guides were rarely available.

The protest seemed to have an effect, as a visibly irritated Lee Linden fixed the balloon within hours of the small but vocal demonstration. Afterward, when asked why he was remaining on the protest, now that the bug was fixed, Ramos replied that the purpose of the protest went beyond the balloon. It dealt with what he sees as the growing inattention to newbies and residents by the Lindens.

“If you own an island sim, you have Philip Linden's ear... they ignore forums, ignore personal comments, IMs, emails. I'm protesting the unheard suggestions.”

Ramos was apparently heard, as in addition to Lee Linden, Liason Jill Linden agreed to bring up the issue of the deficiencies in the Welcome Area, and the balloon tours specifically, in the Real World, at the next Linden Labs meetings, but made no promises regarding results.

Not all in-world activism took the form of protests, however. Khamon Fate sponsored, in Godeltron, what is billed as the first in-world forums to discuss the future of our online world. The intention of the first of the town-hall style meetings was to attract residents who may not post to the forums and send the resulting transcripts to the Lindens. During the course of the forum discussion, suggestions were raised that Linden Labs could license the software to host small, specialized worlds dedicated to either specific audiences (such as education) led to concerns about the possibilities of establishing commercial presences and advertisers to Second Life.

"I think [Second Life] players supporting Second Life players is a grand thing. I think anyone who is here solely to make a buck misses the entire point of Second Life... I don't think companies belong on the same grid." commented Catherine Cotton during the meeting.

One possible reason for the surge in activism on in-world issue growing pains created by the influx of new users, and the growth of Linden Labs itself. Much of the content of the apprehension and discussion in the in-world forum, among onlookers to the Ramos protest, and positions espoused by Hank Ramos himself, revolved around the decreasing responsiveness of the Lindens to resident concerns and attention to forums and resident suggestions.

Indeed, Fate's town-hall meeting series, of which there have been multiple sessions since the first, have the avowed purpose of providing an alternative method to the web-based forums in the quest to catch the ear of a Linden.

Does activism in Second Life have an effect? The answer may lay in an announcement made in the forums on July 23, declaring "The limitations of the balloon have come to an end. The group formerly known as Baloon Guides will now adopt the stylish new moniker or Sky Guide Tours - and flight path and flying craft are now left to the imagination of the Guides. the Balloon itself has been removed so that the Sky Guides [formerly the Balloon Guides] might dock their tour craft at is former berth."

It seems that Ramos' protest action resulted in change extending beyond the purely virtual. Jill Linden, who had made the commitment to Ramos bring up the balloon issue in a Real Life Linden Labs meeting, confirmed: "I kept my promise to Hank and brought it up in the meeting. The dialog contributed to changes that were already be considered...and now I had sky guide tours."

In response to the news, Hank Ramos declared "I always knew that Linden Lab listens to their customers, and I knew that protests were a time honored way to influence change, both in Real Life and Second Life."

As Second Life matures, evidence points to a gradual thinning of the membrane between residents' First and Second lives, resulting in both an increase in in-world activism that reflects users' in-world concerns and the importation of First Life concerns into the environs of our online world.

From the ashes: A Second Lifer builds a memorial to the World Trade Center

2004-08-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

By ROXIE MARTEN
SecondLIFE Magazine

There are two buildings Sexy Casanova doesn’t see anymore.

Part of Casanova’s daily routine used to include passing the New York World Trade Center on the way to work as a mailman. That changed Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists used planes as missiles and brought the buildings crashing to the ground, killing almost 3,000 people.

But now, Casanova and others in Second Life have a second chance to walk by the Twin Towers one more time. Casanova has built a memorial to the buildings and the people who worked there at Hachiman (20, 214).

“I’m a mailman, and I travel by the WTC on the way to work every morning, and sometimes, I just remember the towers there in the skyline, and I get depressed when I don’t see them,” Casanova said. “I lost a few friends and some of my customers, so I always have reminders when I work.”

He thought building a memorial would be a way to “let out some of the things I feel.”

Working quickly, Casanova assembled towering replicas of the World Trade Center that include dozens of images of the landmark buildings. Some show the towers in happier times. Others, on the day of its destruction.

“I had started with just the good ones remembering the buildings, then I figured it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t show the end results so people don’t forget,” he said. “I don’t plan on keeping it here too long. Might upset some people with the pictures.”

But others looking at Casanova’s memorial said the images moved them.

Brynna McCoy said she likes the memorial, but it makes her feel “Angry, really....that people can get away with this kind of thing ... I mean...barbaric acts...”

Krashen Byrne, a Navy pilot in real life, responded by donating Linden dollars to Casanova so he could upload more images.

Casanova said he’s concerned that the images might upset some people. Olympia Rebus said she had the same concern when her real-life friend framed some newspaper and magazine images of the attack and hung them in her apartment.

“At first I thought it was morbid,” Rebus said, “but now I realize it’s a good ‘never forget’ strategy. I see the pics every day and remember what happened … and (know) that something similar could happen again.”

Such talk had Casanova thinking he might keep his memorial around a little longer than planned.

“Maybe ill keep it here longer,” he said. “It seems to do some good.”

Question Authority

2004-08-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Clubbing, scripting and the search for good shoes:
A SecondLIFER muses on her first five months

Remember your first hours in Second Life? The experience can be overwhelming for some, inspirational for others. SecondLIFE’s Leilany LaFollette caught up with Second Life resident Anicia Medici to talk about her early days here, and where she hopes to take her Second Life in the future.

By LEILANY LaFOLLETTE
SecondLIFE Magazine

Q: How long have you been in Second Life?
A: It will be 5 months this Tuesday (June 15).

Q: Why did you decide to try out Second Life?
A: I heard about it from one of my best friends and decided to follow him here.

Q: Does your friend still play?
A: Yes, off and on.

Q: Have you been a resident in other online worlds? Have you played any online games?
A: Well, I was in The Sims Online and it was a great experience for a while. Lots of great interactions and I loved building my homes. Met a lot of nice people there. I was also in There and still am. I enjoyed making clothing and selling it in auctions, I enjoyed all of the vehicles and places to explore.

Q: How would you describe your on-line persona here in Second Life and how does it compare to others you've had in TSO and There?
A: I am the same here as I was in both others although there are more mature features in this game that I enjoy. AV-wise, I didn't love the (avatars) in TSO because they were stick like. I did like my AV in There.. the Avs here are something I still have to get used to.

Q: So what mature features have you tried out in Second Life that you would recommend to others?
A: Well, I like the fact that you can have anatomically correct bodies here. I have played with some of the toys with scripts that I find appealing. I still have a lot to try in that area as well.

Q: Do you look forwards to joining any groups in Second Life? Have you joined any groups in Second Life? Why or why not?
A: I have only joined one, Elite Executives VIP. I joined because I was going to the club and I had a great time there. I am not sure if the club has been finished being rebuilt though. I guess it was torn down for a while

Q: The first time you entered the world in Second Life, what was your first impression?
A: I didn't like the “computer look” of the world... it was overwhelming at first.

Q: Has your perception changed since? If so... how?
A: Yes I am used to the look now. I would say the things you can do in the game outweighed any issues I had with the “feel” of it at first... I really like the differently rated areas.

Q: Of the few things you've seen so far, is there anything you would change?
A: The shoes... can’t find many good shoes around!

Q: What is your idea of success in Second Life and do you have a plan to achieve it?
A: My only plan is to have fun here... maybe have a home and shop for clothes. Success is learning how to do all of those things, and yes I plan to achieve it.

Q: Finally, take this opportunity to say hello and get your message out there to all the Second Life residents who will read this. What would you like to say?
A: Hello all of you out there who took the time to read about lil’ ol’ me. If you like to have fun and are a nice person IM me sometime... you never know what you may find.

Hot Spots

2004-08-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Break your curfew to enjoy Club Midnight
Club Midnight (Umber, 205,111). I know what you're thinking: another club? Yet Club Midnight sets itself apart by it's great use of the new in-world animation features by creating dances so realistic and stylish that anyone who can dance will immediately feel the moves in their bones, and anyone who can't will twitch in envy. The club's top-rate dance machine ensures any Avie can participate, and the moves repeat so infrequently, only the most obsessive of partygoers will notice. -- Ethan Therian

Letters to the Editor

2004-08-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

In recent days, there has been some drama. You may say, "Yes, and the week before that, and the one before that.” Only occasionally drama overlaps onto its succeeding week. True as that may be, this week’s drama was SUPER-DUPER SPECIAL. Now is that time where you realize I'm talking about land.

A certain unnamed resident certainly isn't a small charecter in the Second Life community. He gives away 512 meter plots to newbies for FREE! What a philanthropist.

Wait up, rewind that back a bit. He lives in the same world as we do (one of very little land, and almost no public land), and, without applying for the Land for the Landless program, he can give 512 meter plots to newbies? How does he manage that? Oh, I see. He has an advantage.

It was revealed a few weeks ago on the forums that this particular resident had mysterious scripts placed all over the world, high in the sky, called "Acidic Flight." It burns just thinking about all the things that it might be... Oh, I see it maps out the sim it's in for public land, then snatches it up for our resident-in-spotlight. No one else can get the land, of course, but this isn't a TOS violation, right? And besides, it's his land he has his scripts on. Oh, wait, hold up... no, it's not. Sometimes, perchance our resident can't put his script on his own land, he'll put it on someone else’s, notching one prim off their allocation meter. Oops, tee hee.

And wait a second, these people that he's using for their land (without their knowledge, mind you) are also entitled to the land that our resident is snooping with his scripts. No, actually, they're not. Not anymore. So changes have been made, as changes usually are, and now all public land will go straight to auction. Hurray, problem solved! Win one for the gipper! Well, THIS problem's solved...

They say there's only two types of theft in Second Life:
1) Linking an item to a prim of your creation to change the "creator" name and claim you made it.
2) To sell an item without the original creator's permission.

Let's add a third one really quickly:
3) Using the prim allocation on someone else's land for your own benefit.

"But you're not actually STEALING anything from them, are you?" Yes, yes you are. If you have 4000m of land, it's pretty useless if you have no prims at all to build on that land. That's right, worthless. No one would buy it. Stealing prims is stealing the worth of the land. Trusting souls leave their land at build-enabled. Just to be kind, and friendly. But people take advantage of that. And it isn't pretty when it happens. The sneaky often take advantage of the trusting.

So now we have a 3rd way of stealing stuff in place. (Note to script kiddies: OMG I R TEH FOUND TEH N3w W4y TO TEH ST33L I R l337 LOLOLOLOLOL!!!1111!1!eleventyone). What does this mean for our community? It means an age of people tallying their prim count every day out of paranoia... scanning way up high in the air for scripts and objects... everyone having their land set to no build... and is this really good for the community? I'll let you decide that one.

(To Chance Small and supporters: Flames to Darwin Appleby, please.)

-- Darwin Appleby

Dear Avi:

2004-08-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Got a nagging question about building, scripting or clothes designing? Not sure how to handle that prickly situation with your neighbor? Or maybe that special Avatar unceremoniously dumped you and you just want to vent? Whether rant or rave, question, answer, advice, comment or just a simple “hello,” Avi wants to hear from you! Just send in your query to SecondLife Magazine, addressed to her column, Dear Avi at dearavisl@yahoo.com and you are sure to get a response. Feel free to send your name or be anonymous if you wish. Look forwards to hearing from you all soon!

Love,
Avi

Newbie 2 Newbie

2004-08-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Flying Houses and Vanishing Primitives: Building in Second Life

By ROSE KARUNA
SecondLIFE Magazine

I waited for notification on the availability of my 512 square meters of land in Second Life with the same anticipatory delight as a five-year old waiting for Sea Monkeys. When I finally got notice and teleported to the coveted piece of land, I was struck with the same degree of disappointment that I'd had when I put the much-touted Sea Monkeys in water and realized that they were brine shrimp and would never wear little crowns or perform cute tricks.

By now, most Newbie’s have figured out that the best way to get a chunk of land is to go to the Second Life Forum and note their request in Land for the Landless. It’s best to make sure you are really posting in the correct forum, so here is the link: http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10109

I am a madly optimistic person, so when I took possession and teleported hubby in to look at the land, his dead pan comment was, "Oh boy, I can see what your so excited about. It’s a cliff wall." Smirking as though I’d purchased swampland in Florida. (I must find the avatar gesture for the bow finger salute). Ultimately, I responded by trying to build something magnificent on the land.

With my land editing tool in hand, I realized that the land itself could only be modified to the extent that it conforms to the parameters of the neighboring land adjacent to it. In other words, once a cliff, always a cliff.

In real life, a woman has to know her limitations --this applies in Second Life as well and after two days of trying to build my own contraption on a sheer cliff wall with limited building and scripting skills, I turned to a little pre-fab help from my Second Life friends. I found a lot of good free designs at the Free Bazaar, the GNU Architects Store and Newbie Central.

It was during the erection of my first pre-fabricated house that I realized the value of a “prim” and “object” count. I had a great house, but it took up so many prims that I had to strip just to walk in it. (Hubby thought this was cool, but I just found it annoying.)

Newbie building lesson one: Buy or create LOW PRIM items.

After learning the prim lesson, I moved onto positioning all the housing pieces on my land. Erecting a pre-fab on a sheer cliff wall presented some challenges. One was positioning the house once it was erected. I began this challenge shortly after the new Second Life version upgrade and I was only mildly surprised to see my entire house vanish while using the positioning tool to place it on the foundation. Oh well, I simply pulled another copy from my inventory placed it.

It was not until a very angry avatar came knocking on my door the next day that I realized my terrible mistake. My frazzled neighbor teleported me to her land, where my pre-fab house lay skewered on her property like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. I apologized profusely and removed the offending object. Fortunately, she was a tolerant soul and I walked away with a new Second Life friend and an adorable little red dragon.

Lesson two: Careful with the positioning tool. Use the viewer tool to move in and out and to orbit your object.

Once the house was up, I wanted to personalize the color and texture. The house, of course, was linked -- so I unlinked it. Big mistake. At one point, I confused my ALT and CTL key and thought I was using the viewer but ended up rotating critical parts of the house. In trying to re-position them, I of course, lost them. I have not had another angry neighbor show up to return the errant pieces, but the week is still young.

Lesson three: Use the Select Individual before unlinking.

Lesson three and a half: Drinking and Building do not mix!

So after putting up and tearing down about five or six houses, hubby teleported me to the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives. It can be found at Noyo 207, 189. I can’t recommend this place enough to anyone who wants to build in Second Life. In less than an hour, I figured out what most of my mistakes were and learned much more to boot.

Two days later my house was up. I’m still falling through the floor and rolling down the cliff when I walk near the front door, but I don’t want to waste prims on bracing the house against the cliff. So unless I’m flying, I stay away from the front door. I don’t always tell everyone who visits me though, I had lots of fun watching hubby roll down the cliff three or four times. I can’t apply physics, because I actually stuck the foundation right into the cliff wall and physics cannot be applied to objects buried within other objects. All in all, it’s still a pretty cool house and I even have a yard.

Coming up next: Avatar related protocol (why it’s not a good idea to do your yard work naked on PG land) and cool resources for the Newbie.

Currency Trader - August

2004-08-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Real life caught up with Gaming Open Market president Jamie Hale, but he will be back next month to offer analysis on recent Linden dollar trades. In the meantime, check out the latest chart. Second Lifers continue to pay top dollar for Linden cash and one can't help to wonder why. With the Linden in such high demand, it could mean a boom time is ahead for Second Life, with new buildings, destinations, objects and vehicles in the works. Or, it could simply be land speculation has gone to an extreme. Either way, it's getting costlier to play the game on a grand scale.

BREAKING NEWS: Balloon Guides gives way to Sky Guides following protest

2004-07-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

By ETHAN THEREIAN

On July 23, an an announcement was posted in the forums, declaring that "[the] limitations of the balloon have come to an end. The group formerly known as Balloon Guides will now adopt the stylish new moniker of Sky Guide Tours - and flight path and flying craft are now left to the imagination of the Guides. the Balloon itself has been removed so that the Sky Guides [formerly the Balloon Guides]might dock their tour craft at is former berth."

When asked if the changes to the Welcome Areas tour sections were due to Hank Ramos' protests, Jill Linden confirmed: "I kept my promise to Hank and brought it up in the (Linden Labs) meeting. The dialog contributed to changes that were already be considered...and now I head Sky Guide Tours."

Jill Linden, however, emphasized that Ramos' protest was not the only factor, and that discussions were already underway at the time of the protest.

When asked if the announcement had changed his opinion of Linden responsiveness to residents, Hank Ramos commented "I always knew that Linden Lab listens to their customers, and I knew that protests were a time honored way to influence change, both in Real Life and Second Life," and then added, jokingly "though, the [area]definitely need[s] a redesign to look better."

BREAKING NEWS: Protesting the Linden Balloons

2004-07-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

By ETHAN THEREIAN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Hank Ramos, balloonist and resident since November of 2003, held a one-man protest in the Mainland Welcome Center at Ahern.

Ramos, who is well-known for building and flying balloons, protested because the Linden Balloon, designed to give tours to newly arrived residents, had not been functioning for some time. Ramos said the space where the unused balloon sits could be used by himself or
others to give balloon tours to "newbies" from an official, easy-to-reach spot.

"I'm fighting to bring something good to the newbie experience... to allow residents to give newbie tours." said Ramos, "In time honored fashon, like it used to be -- like we did when there was a huge influx of newbies. The Linden balloon just sits there most of
the time, doing nothing."

SecondLIFE Magazine: July 2004

2004-06-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

07/24/04 - BREAKING NEWS: Balloon Guides gives way to Sky Guides following protest
On July 23, an an announcement was posted in the forums, declaring that "[the] limitations of the balloon have come to an end. The group formerly known as Balloon Guides will now adopt the stylish new moniker of Sky Guide Tours - and flight path and flying craft are now left to the imagination of the Guides." MORE...

07/03/04 - BREAKING NEWS: Protesting the Linden Balloons
Hank Ramos, balloonist and resident since November of 2003, held a one-man protest in the Mainland Welcome Center at Ahern. Ramos, who is well-known for building and flying balloons, protested because the Linden Balloon, designed to give tours to newly arrived residents, had not been functioning for some time. MORE...

7/03/04 - BREAKING NEWS: Vive L'Evolution!
The evolution has come, and Linden Labs is rewarding everyone who refers people to Second Life. For every referral you get a chance to earn Linden dollars, as well as entries into the greatest contest ever - a chance to win a lifetime account, just like Dianna Fredericks (see "Lifer for Life"). Click here for official information from Linden Labs!

Anshe Chung, above, demostrates a yoga position she created. Chung created custom animation to use in Second Life version 1.4. The animations are one of the new features in the latest version, which was released on June 15.

In This Issue:

Like a version: Second Life v1.4 makes its debut
Second Life version 1.4, with instant inventory, streaming music and custom animations, has arrived in-world. Gone are the days of stuttering music struggling to load and dancing to silence. We are now in a world where anything, quite literally anything, is possible.

Within two days of its June 15 release, inventive Second Lifers made animations for lap dancing, symptoms of demonic possession and various bedroom sports. MORE...

Big Story: Man on a Mission
These are exciting times for Philip Rosedale, who is better known in the world he created as Philip Linden.

A major upgrade to his on-line world Second Life has recently been released, just days after the virtual reality simulator got a boost in membership through mentions on CNN and Slashdot. At the height of the influx, one new person was signing up for Second Life every minute. MORE...

The huddled masses: Influx of newcomers strains the system
It’s hard not to notice the influx of new people into our virtual world. What has influenced this new surge of people? There are several factors.

One great wave of new players arrived on Second Life’s shores when a competitor cast doubt on its future as an online game. MORE...

Customer for life: Dianna Fredericks refers friends and scores a lifetime membership
DIANNA Fredericks has only been in Second Life for a short while, but she thinks she'll stay here a long time.

That's because Fredericks, a recent arrival from There, recently won a lifetime membership to Second Life. MORE...

Entrepreneur with a heart: Brianna Dawson
When Briana Dawson first visited Second Life, she thought she'd never return.

"My expectations were very low, which made it easy for this world to blow my mind." Seven weeks passed before she progressed beyond making simple plywood boxes, but these days she is a successful entrepreneur. MORE...

It's a man's world, but Feliciaa Feaver's got it under control
Feliciaa Feaver, the brains behind Second Life’s clothing-optional Phantasie Isle, is one of the best-known women entrepreneurs in Second Life. But success didn’t come easy. Sequoiah Lightcloud caught up with her at an "undisclosed location" where Feaver gets away from it all. MORE...

From Slim Shady to Second Life: Asri Falcone
When Nimue Galate discovered Asri Falcone's designs in Leda, she was instantly enthralled. "I couldn't take my eyes off luxurious textures and a flamboyant style I haven't seen in any other designs," Galatea said. "Asri designs quality. I simply had to interview her!" MORE...

Master of the Universe Room: Damien Fate
Damien Fate stays true to his first life while in Second Life. Read this Q&A session with this talented designer! MORE...

Canadians in Second Life huddle for hockey
SecondLife may be a world unto itself, but for some, the flavor of the game tends too much towards hamburgers and apple pie. Now, a group of Canadians is looking to add some Canadian bacon and poutine to the mix. MORE...

From the editor's desk
When I first stumbled into Second Life, the first thing that amazed me was your imaginations. As I flew around, exploring, I was astounded at the creations I encountered. At some points, they were beautiful buildings. At other times, funny avatars. And sometimes, it just looked like a Dr. Seuss book sprung to life before my eyes.

The freedom to create and express here is something I truly enjoy, and it one of the reasons that keeps many of us coming back to Second Life. MORE...

Give the game development contest more love
It is sad that the Game Development competition has ended before many inhabitants of Second Life realized it even began.

It was very frustrating for the people who worked so hard over two months to put their games together that they would meet people every day who said "Game Dev 1/2/3/4...what's that?" MORE...

Newbies need love, too
I’ve never played an "online" game before Second Life, but being a true fan of all "Sim" games, I was mildly curious when hubby mentioned signing us both up for Second Life after seeing an article about it on CNN. Thirty minutes later, I was standing on a teleport pad colliding with multiple people and objects.

The main gate looked like New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Avatars ran the gambit, from a little girl with pigtails to a huge, naked, green Shrek. Wings that rotated and flapped, objects that floated in the air and sparked, I spent a good hour just sitting and looking at everyone. MORE...

For fun: Vandals and road rash in
Mysteries fill the air in Fujin, in the north east section of Second Life. The bridge connecting the lower half of Fujin with the rest of the land in this sector has been destroyed, rather violently. We have no leads about what may have caused the crumbling of such a sturdy structure, but graffiti left behind at the scene indicates a possible "Linden-hater" may be the culprit. MORE...

Currency Trader
A swindler teaches a hard lesson: Gaming Open Market's President explains recent halts in trading
Sunday afternoon (June 20), a new client purchased over $3,000 worth of ISK and SWG credits at the "Gaming Open Market" (GOM). He nagged GOM for delivery, and then immediately after receiving the goods, reversed the charges claiming they never delivered. Read on to learn the impact of this malicious act of fraud. MORE...

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Like a Version

2004-06-26T01:59:00.000-07:00

Second Life v1.4 hits the scene, and Second Life may never be the same
By CALIANDRIS PENDRAGON

Second Life version 1.4, with instant inventory, streaming music and custom animations, has arrived in-world. Gone are the days of stuttering music struggling to load and dancing to silence. We are now in a world where anything, quite literally anything, is possible.

Within two days of its June 15 release, inventive Second Lifers made animations for lap dancing, symptoms of demonic possession and various bedroom sports.

However, some Second Lifers hint there is still room for improvement.

"I love the new animations. They bring a whole new dimension to SL, which was badly needed. On the down side though – boy, is it laggy," Cailyn Miller said.

The updated version will also change the way some common activities take place in Second Life. For example, many Second Lifers enjoyed group dancing with the aid of Kris Ritter’s Dance-o-matic machines.

How will the advent of 1.4 affect the machine?

"It will break it," said Ritter. "It will work fine as it is now, but it can’t be easily adapted for custom anims the way the Lindens have implemented it. I’ve posted a feature suggestion that would help me, but don’t know if they’ll listen. Until they do, it can’t really be done very practically."

Despite this, Ritter was enthusiastic about the changes in 1.4. "Yeah - custom anims are cool!" she said, "and I like the streaming sound thing, too. I can play my songs to my friends now."

There were mixed reviews from residents after a couple of days. "It’s much more fun than 1.3, and generally more stable," Strife Onizuka said.

Ratt Foo thought 1.4 may have been released too early: "It’s buggy. The ideas are good but it’s not ready," he said.

Others didn’t mind the occasional programming flaw.

"Sure there are bugs, but I’ve been here since 1.1. This is nothing. Besides, it’s well worth it for the benefit of having custom animations and streaming audio."

"I think overall it’s a phenomenal thing for Second Life," said Higbee Protagonist. "Sure there are bugs, but I’ve been here since 1.1. This is nothing. Besides, it’s well worth it for the benefit of having custom animations and streaming audio."

Anshe Chung demostrates a yoga position (above) and a stretch (below).

Higbee provides a guide to setting up the streaming audio on the forum. To some, the process seems a long-winded and time-consuming business, especially if they lack a static IP address. There are suggestions for simple ways of getting streaming music on the forum too.

Before 1.4, the main way of getting live music in-world was to employ a DJ using the Live Internet radio stations. Sukkubus Phaeton, one of the DJs in-world, said that she didn’t think it would affect her business too much.

"I don’t think it will be a problem," she said. "People like dedications and announced events still. I love 1.4."

Phaeton continued, "It’s made me enjoy Second Life even more and animations are addicting, the streaming music is fantastic, and I love flying around and hearing different types of music. They just need to work out the bugs ... but this has been the best online virtual world I’ve ever seen and will only get better."

Hank Ramos, an instructor at Second Life University, said he hadn’t been online enough to know the full extent of the changes in 1.4. So far, he was impressed with the speed of inventory load.

Some changes will take a while to understand fully, like the introduction of XML-RPC, which allows data and commands to be sent back and forth between things in-world and external computers.

The impact of the new profile option, which allows Second Life couples to make their relationships "official," also remains to be seen. As people already hold engagement and wedding parties, this may be just a formality.

Finally, 1.4 has brought changes to the building tools. New tools make it more difficult to swivel a prim in a wobbly way and much easier to see turn an object through multiples of 90 degrees. Builders now need to adjust their movements to 1-360 degree movement, rather than -180 to 180.

Most users asked said it is an exciting time to be in Second Life. The explosion of animations has made users anticipation of the changes they will bring. Sound has also burst forth into the world, tempered by the possibility of keeping noise to land borders.

Three mini-updates after the introduction of 1.4, there already appears to be more stability and fewer bugs. The possibilities could be endless.

Information on the update can be found at http://secondlife.com/download/guides.php

The Big Story: Man on a mission

2004-06-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

Philip Rosedale, aka Philip Linden, says verion 1.4 is just the beginning
By LORELEI PATEL

These are exciting times for Philip Rosedale, who is better known in the world he created as Philip Linden.

A major upgrade to his on-line world Second Life has recently been released, just days after the virtual reality simulator got a boost in membership through mentions on CNN and Slashdot. At the height of the influx, one new person was signing up for Second Life every minute.

"We've had tremendous growth," Rosedale said. "I don't know how much more it could accelerate."

Over the past half year, Second Life memberships have grown at a steady 30 percent each month - punctuated by sign-on spikes caused by media mentions and events in other virtual worlds.

Unlike competitor There, which recently told its members that it would forsake in-world development in favor of other business opportunities, Rosedale said Second Life is an end of itself.

"We want to see it get bigger," Rosedale said.

Linden Labs, Second Life's parent company, took a giant step in that direction when it released verion 1.4 in mid-June. The update allowed users to create their own animations and stream audio onto their property.

Rosedale is particularly excited about the animations.

"With animations, you can completely become another person," he said. "How you move is how people recognize you."

But Rosedale said he hasn't created many animations of his own. He'd rather buy them.

"Custom animations have really improved Second Life," said Teeny Leviathan, who's been a member since May 2003. "They were a big ticket item we were all waiting for."

Leviathan said she's enjoyed dance animations created by Christiano Midnight.

Looking forward, Leviathan awaits the addition of Havok 2 to Second Life. The new engine will allow builders to create more complex items. For example, it will allow vehicle designers to make machines with more than 31 primitives.

"Right now, I think most of us are eagerly awaiting Havok 2," she said.

The changes may help Rosedale with another of his goals: Make it easier for newcomers to get excited about their new world.

"The amount of time it takes someone to have an eye-opening experience is five to 10 hours," he said. "We need to take that 10 (hours) and make it one # That's a tremendous challenge to overcome."

Leena Khan, who joined Second Life in April 2004, said she relied on the help of others to get her footing in Second Life.

"My avatar looked like a gorilla," she said. TinaStar Dawn eventually helped her out.

Khan suggested that giving newbies goals might ease their way into the virtual world.

"Second Life is wonderful, but people expect it to be a game, not a virtual world where they have to make their own goals," she said. "And there are people I've met that still don't have a goal after playing a month."

Rosedale's goal is to make Second Life a vehicle for other people's imagination.

"The world has always been about people expressing themselves in ways they couldn't before," he said.

Visit the Black Thong Mistresses clubhouse in Epimetheus (8, 8)

The Huddled Masses

2004-06-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Influx of newcomers from There and CNN viewers fill Second Life to the rafters
By ELEK CASANOVA

It’s hard not to notice the influx of new people into our virtual world. What has influenced this new surge of people? There are several factors.

One great wave of new players arrived on Second Life’s shores when a competitor cast doubt on its future as an online game.

The online game industry is a very competitive business, and companies strive for their share of the player base. When one company’s product is doing well it attracts new players from other products. When one company’s product is not doing so well – or perceived as not doing so well – it loses subscribers to other media.

The online world known simply as "There" made an announcement on May 21 that it would make drastic changes to how it handled its product. Although they didn’t say they were closing their doors, they also avoided saying they weren’t.

To answer the question "Is There going to close?" they replied: "No. The company has just received new funding and will continue to operate; only we will now be focusing most of our resources on building out our platform."

Asked specifically about the consumer service, they replied, "… [We] will be evaluating its financial performance on an ongoing basis."

They followed up this notice with a drastic cut to service and support, and the most dreaded notice of all: "We will no longer be making regular updates to the software, and we will not be fixing bugs."

So, Therians flocked to Second Life like never before. Abandoning There they came to Second Life to start anew.

In the words of Prelisa Casinova, who’s taking her first steps in this online world, "This is an incredible game. It’s everything Will Wright envisioned for The Sims Online, but better than they were able to successfully implement."

But Second Life’s new residents are not only from There. Some of them are taking their first steps in an online world. Others are arriving from The Sims Online or other platforms.

What could have fueled this portion of our new residents?

One possible reason for the arrival of these new players is the article that
appeared on CNN’s Website on June 3. Though not a game review in the traditional sense, it made the Second Life name be heard around the globe.

The article compared the acquisition of Second Life real estate to that of real life real estate. People are willing to spend hundreds of real dollars for a piece of virtual real estate, or spend thousands of in-game dollars, which can be translated into real money like a commodity that some people watch as closely as any real-world commodity.

Regardless of the reasons, there’s little doubt that more people are trying out Second life than ever before. As other games struggle to retain their players, Second Life is experiencing a snowball effect: more people refer more people who in turn refer more people.

It’s a winning situation for the producers of Second Life, and – in the long run – it could be a winning situation for those of us who think of this virtual world as our second home.

Lifer for life: A There refugee wins a lifetime membership to Second Life

Lifer for life

2004-06-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

DIANNA Fredericks wins a lifetime membership

By LORELEI PATEL

DIANNA Fredericks has only been in Second Life for a short while, but she thinks she'll stay here a long time.

That's because Fredericks, a recent arrival from There, recently won a lifetime membership to Second Life.

The winnings include an allotment of 4,096 square meters of land. What does she plan to do with all that space?

"Have fun, what else?" she said, standing outside the Black Thong Mistresses clubhouse she created.

Fredericks found her way to Second Life after the infamous "failure to support" letter appeared on There. In it, There's owners said they wouldn't turn away members, but they wouldn't develop new features for them, either.

"I was mad as hell at there for doing what they did to us," Fredericks said.

So, she came to Second Life to start over.

Some parts of her new world took getting used to, but Fredericks quickly found her footing. She said she misses the voice enhancement available on There.

Fredericks also invited her There friends to come here. Each time a referral was accepted, Fredericks got entries in the Second Life lifetime membership contest. In the end, her name was selected at random from among the entries.

Unfortunately, Fredericks won just a few days after she paid for a year-long membership.

Fredericks said she might use the extra land allowance to build on Black Thong Mistresses, a leather-themed nightclub she and her friends created.

Don't let the dungeon scare you; Fredericks says the place is open to all.

"Fun, open-minded and great friends," is how Fredericks' friend, midnight Fredericks, describes the place. "It's just a great place to hang out.

Visit DragonChiq Designs, Shoki (236,122)

Entrepreneur with a heart

2004-06-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

Rent-free landlord, merchant and designer - It's all in a day's work for Briana Dawson
By THEA DONOVAN

When Briana Dawson first visited Second Life, she thought she'd never return.

"My expectations were very low, which made it easy for this world to blow my mind." Seven weeks passed before she progressed beyond making simple plywood boxes, but these days she is a successful entrepreneur.

Dawson's primary activity at the moment is expanding her Second Life Residents Program, through which she provides land at her expense to couples, groups, and homeless citizens. There are currently six residents living on land purchased exclusively for them, and some have even been provided with houses ranging from L$1 to L$1000 in cost. Her latest addition to the program is 2Stylez Apartment Living @ Aqua, where each tenant is provided with a spacious 3-room flat and a generous prim limit of 200, free of charge. "The idea [for the Second Life Residents Program] began in Aqua," Dawson explained. "I had about 2200 prims doing nothing so I figured I might as well let someone use it if I am not."

"When I started Second Life, I couldnt imagine how I was going to earn a dollar, let alone earn ten-thousand dollars.."

The cost of land was another factor. "When I started Second Life, I couldnt imagine how I was going to earn a dollar, let alone earn ten-thousand dollars like you need now to buy a 1,024 meter plot in a mature region. I wanted to alleviate this worry for some people and help them to have a more enjoyable Second Life."

Santana Lumiere has been living on Second Life Resident land for the last several weeks. She and her partner started out with 1,024 square meters in order to open a shop, and couldn't afford to expand when they decided to build a home.

Dawson bought 2,056 square meters especially for them, and even bought them more land so they could have a higher prim limit. As well as a shop and a home, Lumiere and partner are building a new club and hope to hold events when the building process is complete.

Currently they have no plans to leave the program and buy their own land. "I think so long as Briana allows us to live here, we will stay. It's very cozy here."

When asked what she considers her greatest in-world achievement, Dawson described the popular Aqua Galleria.

"Every day I go there I am amazed that I was able to cobble that together." The inspiration for that project stemmed from an unfortunate experience as a new vendor in Luna. She misread a memo from Char Linden explaining when her lease would be up, went on vacation, and returned to find that her store had vanished.

Brianna Dawson demonstrates her building abilities.

"My first thought was that I needed someplace popular where people know to go. Of course, Aqua being the first shopping sim in Second Life sprang into my mind, so I went there and grabbed all the land I could. A whopping 160 square meters."

After four weeks of contacting landowners in Aqua she was the proud owner of 20,000 square meters, and a beautiful galleria built by Maxx Monde. The latest addition to the Galleria is the Animation Repository, where animation artists are given free vendor space to sell or give away their creations until July 1.

Her own creations can be found throughout the world, from a collection of photosourced clothing at Club Elite, to her Go! Go! Jewelry line at the Aqua Galleria, Club Elite, and Half Moon Couture.

Sunny Buttercup has been a loyal customer since she joined Second Life three months ago, and especially appreciates Dawson's realistic jewelry design. "She puts a lot of time and effort into her work and that is why she is one of my favorite designers," Buttercup said.

"Who knew that inside this stupid box I sit at every day I would find such beauty, amazing creativity, and... the wonderful depth of a virtual life with such people."

Amongst Dawson's favorite aspects of LindenWorld, its citizens rank at the top of the list.

"Who knew that inside this stupid box I sit at every day I would find such beauty, amazing creativity, and... the wonderful depth of a virtual life with such people," she said.

The secret to her success is fairly simple. "I just sort of do what I can do, and don't do what I can't."

YOUR AD HERE?

Question Authority

2004-06-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

It's a man's world, but Feliciaa Feaver's got it under control
By SEQUOIAH LIGHTCLOUD

Feliciaa Feaver, the brains behind Second Life’s clothing-optional Phantasie Isle, is one of the best-known women entrepreneurs in Second Life. But success didn’t come easy. Sequoiah Lightcloud caught up with her at an "undisclosed location" where Feaver gets away from it all.

Q: Given that so many new people are joining our community, we wanted to include stories about well known AVs that are currently influencing our world :) I was really interested in talking to you for several reasons: One, you run a very successful and lovely place; two you're a female AV, and I thought it would be good for all new female AVs joining to read about you.
A: Feliciaa Feaver: Yes its hard here. Men like to try and rule haha.

Q: Some things never change! Has that been your experience in Second Life so far? Or would you say men are more cooperative here?
A: Well.. they like to think they rule! I spent 5 months living at the Second Life park, dressing under the waterfalls. I made a few clothes. I can’t build at all. I had a boyfriend that wanted to do all for me. When the land all opened up and new sims came I fought hard for the beach, and went through about ten different parcel owners to buy their land. Some even knew what I was trying to do and they snatched it to sell to me for higher. But I am a business woman in real life, so I knew since I can’t build or make things that I would need to do something else. I wanted to make a cool nude beach, or clothing optional, so it wouldn’t scare peeps off.

Q: How did you get the idea for Phantasie Isle?
A: I was standing on the beach land, about 2 weeks before the parcels went up for auction, and one thing I know is that mature and sex-type stuff attracts people. So that’s when I made it clothing optional, and started making events and got a radio station to make it fun for people.

Q: Recent posts on the forums have made it sound like the whole community is a rabid orgy fest… What would you like to tell them?
A: LOL not true! I would say that some events are mature, but like we had a Wizard of Oz event on Monday, people dressed as Dorothy, etc. It was fun. I would say that most of the events here at Phantasie Isle are not mature the way people think.

I give away about 2,000L at each event, and I split it up so it can go to different people.

Q: So it's safe to say that Phantasie Isle keeps you busy, huh?
A: Oh my God, yes! Let me tell you what I do with the dwell money. OK, I pay out of my pocket the $75 land tier, and the $50 a month for the radio. And the money I make in real life from Linden Labs for dwell, I have them give to me in Linden money, at the GOM rate, and I use that money for giveaways. I give away about 2,000L at each event, and I split it up so it can go to different people. Some have nothing, so why give 1,000 away to one person?

Felicia Feaver worked hard to get Phantasie Isle and works hard to keep it going.

Q: Do you have business partners / associates or are you the lady of the isle, so to speak?
A: Well, I started it, by owning the land. However, I couldn’t do it all without my partners. Tink Buttercup does the stage set ups, then my boyfriend Michael Phaeton does all the bouncing and fixing LOL. And Isis Lumiere is an idea person. We are a team, and we have a new DJ as well. We do all as a team here and that is what makes it work. No one wants money, they have me give it away.

Q: I guess most people don't realize how much work actually goes into these events. Do you have any recurring themes for parties or events that you hold on a regular basis?
A: Yes hehe. Mondays is theme night, we have had matrix, dancing in the street, gangster night, ho down, red barn and country... oh, and campfire! And Thursday night is fantasy reading night. That one is a little mature. People give me fantasies on a note card, I put them out in a note giver, they read and vote on the best one. Also, I read them out loud on the air. Wednesday night we were going back and forth with a pet auction. That was fun, and the opposite Wednesday we had people show how to position themselves in Second Life... if you know what I mean! But it never turned into an orgy. Just watching two couples on stage positioning themselves.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to see in Second Life that you think would improve your beach / parties?
A: Less lag, more people that can be in a sim with less lag. Other then that, that’s it, ‘cause we do the rest.

Q: So in closing... what would you like to say to the fine people of Second Life (old and new) that will read this?
A: I would like to say come to the parties at the beach and party all night. I want to make sure something else is said… some people have made speculations (that) I do this for the real-life money. But I want them to know that I pay everyone else all of it, and I thrive on the dwell because it gives me more to give away.

We do all as a team here and that is what makes it work.

From Slim Shady to Second Life

2004-06-26T01:52:00.001-07:00

Asri Falcone designs for the Detroit music scene in real life. Here, she designs for everyone.
By NIMUE GALATEA

When Nimue Galate discovered Asri Falcone's designs in Leda, she was instantly enthralled. "I couldn't take my eyes off luxurious textures and a flamboyant style I haven't seen in any other designs," Galatea said. "Asri designs quality. I simply had to interview her!"

Me and my nephew have what we call OCVGD: Obsessive Compulsive Video Gaming Disorder.

Q: How did you discover Second Life?
A: I was playing Sociolotron as a break from Star Wars Galaxies, where I met a girl who invited me to try SL. So I did. Me and my nephew have what we call OCVGD: Obsessive Compulsive Video Gaming Disorder.

Q: What is the meaning of your name?
A: I chose it because Asri is my Jedi name on SWG. My whole image is that of a storm. I like to get the character as close to me as possible.

Q: What do you do in real life?
A: I own a graphic design farm. We do promotional items, album covers. Anybody from Puff Daddy to Eminem. Anything that happens in Detroit, I’ve got my finger on it.

Q: Where do you get inspiration for your designs?
A: The inspiration for my formal wear comes from the red carpet. I want to make things I would love to wear in real life that I can’t afford. This is the reason why my dresses aren’t too expensive. The first project I ever build was a dress. I figured it would be simple and easy, and it was. People liked it and actually made me sell it! My casual wear is inspired by classics that don't go out of style.

The red carpet inspires Asri Falcone's designs.

Q: How do you create your clothing?
A: To be honest, there is nothing that everyone doesn’t already know. The clothes I have released are made with tools that are already in the game. The ones I haven’t yet released I created with Photoshop. Every texture I’ve used so far came with the game. There is another line coming out that’s clothing made up of graphics and airbrush.

Q: Is there a story behind the Black Ice design?
A: That was my third design. I had created Pink Ice and a lot of people bought it. Then there was a "Best formal wear" party at Club Elite. The last thing I could do was show up in something I had created that everyone else was wearing, so I had to come up with something new. Hence, the Black Ice dress.

Q: Is there anything else you design?
A: I designed the stage at the Leda events area, where I am the head of events. Right now I’m working on a line of avatars from "Kill Bill". Also I photograph.

The Black Ice dress designed by Asri Falcone

Q: What do you photograph?
A: People. Weird, crazy people. Mostly I take pictures with strange camera-views.

Q: What are some of your hobbies in real life?
A: Considering I spend 20 hours a day on my computer, this is about it. I design for my Website, I airbrush, I paint, I sing. There, that's a good one!

Q: What do you sing?
A: Mostly R+B, Jazz and House music. I sing gospel in church, and I sing in nightclubs. I also do karaoke contests when I can.

Master of the Universe Room

2004-06-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Damien Fate stays true to his first life while in Second Life
By CALIANDRIS PENDRAGON

Q: How and when did you come to Second Life?
A: Last year, from June to November I had no Internet access due to moving house, so when I finally got hooked back up I was looking into the realm of online gaming. I'd never really played an online role playing games before but I tried looking up various keywords on Google, needless to say I added "free" in there cause I am cheap! Eventually I ended up at the Second Life Website, viewed the trailer and pictures and thought it was worth a try, so in November 2003, I stood on Orientation island for the first time, not knowing what was ahead of me.

Q: What was the first thing you made?
A: When I first started Second Life, I had come with knowledge of other 3D construction programs, such as TrueSpace, so I was really looking forward to building something in Second Life. The first item I made was the "friendship bear" and I made it to give to all the people I had met in Second Life who had helped me while I was young... Francis Chung, Siobhan Taylor to name just a couple... This bear is still being passed around from friend to friend.

The first item I made was the "friendship bear" and I made it to give to all the people I had met in Second Life who had helped me while I was young.

Q: How long did it take you to feel at home in Second Life?
A: I could say pretty much as soon as I came out of orientation island, I was met with friendly greetings and made friends quite quickly, and they ended up feeling like family... and Second Life became a home. I couldn't give an exact date, but it was pretty fast.

Q: Does your avatar have the same personality as you?
A: Pretty much the same, Damien Fate isn't a character I play, it's just my representation in Second Life. His personality has evolved as I have. Things in Second Life have affected the real Damien just as things in real life affect Damien Fate.

Starry vision: Damien Fate designed the observatory in Phobos.

Q: What’s your favorite thing not built or made by you?
A: I'd like to say two things really: The Seburo by Francis Chung and Neil Protagonist, and the WW1 RAF biplane by Cubey Terra. I'm not a gun OR a plane nut, but these two beautiful items have to be tried. My best purchases yet.

Q: What are you most proud of?
A: Well I always liked my universe conference room. But then I went one step further and made the observatory in Phobos. It's the same thing but 900 times bigger.

Q: Tell me about the things you have made and built in-world?
A: The Phobos Project: A large place devoted to enhancing the experience of Second Life for newcomers. With a free public stage, 1$ store (full of donations from some of the best creators in Second Life) and a hidden universe room called the "observatory". Also, Europa Apartments: Free apartments for the landless, helping them find their place in Second Life after the free trial is up. Many have left the apartments very grateful for the chance to spend more time in Second Life without worrying about land.

Q: You’re Second Life emperor for the day: what do you do?
A: I get everyone in world to stand on each other to make the tallest avatar tower in history.

Artist Damien Fate

Q: What are the influences on your art and design, in-world and elsewhere?
A: I get a lot of inspiration from dreams and one of my favorite artists, Yoshitaka Amano. I try and make my architecture different from something you could see in real life. Why make a replica of a house when you can look out of your window and see one? So, I try and make something which is new, never seen before, but looks like it really could be real.

Q: Where do you hope you will be in ten years’ time? Still in Second Life?
A: That depends how Second Life is in ten years, my needs as an artist always grow and change. Second Life has provided a new medium for me, and with extra features we've seen such as custom animations, it keeps me going. If I am not in Second Life in 10 years time, for whatever reason, I will still be doing my art.

I try and make my architecture different from something you could see in real life. Why make a replica of a house when you can look out of your window and see one?

Event Reviews

2004-06-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

Canadians huddle for hockey
By ROXIE MARTIN

SecondLife may be a world unto itself, but for some, the flavor of the game tends too much towards hamburgers and apple pie. Now, a group of Canadians is looking to add some Canadian bacon and poutine to the mix.

"Attending events in SL, I find that a lot of them are American-centric, with trivia and such dealing with American history," said rynox Zapata, an officer of the Second Life Canadians group.

Zapata formed the group as part of his quest to find more Canadians on line. A week after the group constructed its Canadian Embassy in Ebisu, the group had garnered 46 members. Many of them gathered there on the evening of June 6 to watch game six of the Stanley Cup showdown between the Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightening.

Eight group members, wearing red Calgary jerseys, gathered around the television to talk hockey and pass along the action. Most of them hailed from Canada.

"I am a very patriotic Canadian," Zapata said. "You see how Americans are overtly proud of the fact that they are (American). Canadians are just as proud, but we tend not to show it as well. This is my way of getting the fact the (we) are Canadians and we are proud of it."

So far, the group has built an embassy and plans to build other features of the Canadian landscape, such as the CN Tower, beaver and moose. There will be Canadian-themed events, too, including trivia and building contests. It’s not too late to start studying up on the Yukon – or to learn what poutine is all about.

Americans and citizens of other nations shouldn’t feel left out, Zapata said. There’s also a group for honorary Canadians. Anyone interested should send him a message online.

"You see how Americans are overtly proud of the fact that they are (American). Canadians are just as proud, but we tend not to show it as well.

Rynox Zapata: True Canadian.

From the editor's desk

2004-06-26T01:50:00.000-07:00

From the editor's desk

By LORELEI PATEL

When I first stumbled into Second Life, the first thing that amazed me was your imaginations. As I flew around, exploring, I was astounded at the creations I encountered. At some points, they were beautiful buildings. At other times, funny avatars. And sometimes, it just looked like a Dr. Seuss book sprung to life before my eyes.

The freedom to create and express here is something I truly enjoy, and it one of the reasons that keeps many of us coming back to Second Life.

Philip Rosedale himself, in an interview I had with him, said that "The world has always been about people expressing themselves in ways they couldn't before."

That's why it bothers me that the forums have been rearranged.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a controversy junkie. I don't like fights and personal attacks, but I love a good discussion of the issues. OK, you got me, sometimes the drama is entertaining, too. But it also brought forth discussion of really important matters, such as issues of tolerance and racism in world.

As a whole, the forums give us space to speak our minds. Sometimes we have upbeat things to say. Sometimes we just want to be silly. And sometimes, we want to complain. All of it is expression, and all of it is part of what makes Second Life unique.

I understand why Linden Labs might want to control what is said in the forums. They are, after all, the public face of Second Life. However, the freedom to express can - and is - a mark in the plus column for myself and many others.

I sincerely wish Linden Labs will reconsider its deletion of posts. Expression is not something to be feared or squelched. It's part of what makes Second Life great.

On another note, many of you have contributed to Zeppi Schlegel, aka Jamie Hale, the president of Gaming Open Market. GOM was recently defrauded of $3,000. We're talking real life money here, not Linden dollars.

What Jamie and his organization has to offer us in Second Life is immense. He's already promised that he won't be deterred by the criminal acts of one person. We are fortunate for that.

Though Jamie never asked for it, many of you have decided to contribute spare Linden change to his cause. It is a worthy cause, and those who contributed are to be commended.

Gripes, Grins & Groans

2004-06-26T01:49:00.001-07:00

Give the game development competition more love
By CALIANDRIS PENDRAGON

It is sad that the Game Development competition has ended before many inhabitants of Second Life realized it even began. It was very frustrating for the people who worked so hard over two months to put their games together that they would meet people every day who said "Game Dev 1/2/3/4...what's that?"

Despite the fact that the eight (later seven) teams were battling against each other in a dwell war, a certain camaraderie developed between the teams. At least we knew what we were talking about. We didn't have to explain to each other that we had all entered a proposal for the competition, along with the names of a team of up to four people, and had won the first round when we were invited to the Game Development Islands to start putting our games together.

My team, the mysterious journey, had only four official members, but many more people helped to build the game. The rules allowed this, and also allowed us to buy things for the games, but only if they were generally available for sale - anything original had to be made for free.

The weeks spent building the game were exciting ones for all of us: We learned a lot and we learned it fast. Many of the other teams had more experience; some of the most talented and skilled people in Second Life compiled games for the competition.

One irritation for the other teams was the realization that many more people were working on our project and that this was within the rules: Some of the others might have done this earlier if they had realized it was legal.

The rules were a bit flexible in all - we started out with one set and halfway through the build period a whole raft more appeared. Thus it was that I spent a great deal of time on making prizes that became illegal; free to copies to publicize the game, when publicity in world was illegal; and no time at all on an external Website when this was an OK way to publicize the game. We became terminally confused about what was allowable.

A garden in the Game Development islands.

We became terminally confused about what was allowable.

The judgment for the game came from the amount of dwell that the games achieved, as a measure of the games popularity, but of course the nature of dwell being that one person's ten minutes spent in Second Life is worth another's ten hours, it didn't actually reflect the number of people or the amount of time spent in the game - although of course all the games were judged by the same standard.

The result at the end of a month of dwell measurement was:

First: Classic games, an addictive Mah Jong game being the central core of that
Second: Demolition Derby
Third: Deus Via.
Fourth: Our game, Mysterious Journey
Other games included Pet Trap, Castle Seige and 3D tank combat

The top four games will now proceed to a second competition, where a professional from the games industry will inspect the games and award linden dollar prizes for the content.

Though it was terribly hard work, I would recommend that anyone who is interested should apply if there is another Game Dev competition. It is hard work, but the rewards are also there. Having people play and like the game you have worked on is a great feeling.

Oh - and if you want a quick look at the games, they are still there on their Game Dev islands for a few days more.

Newbie2Newbie

2004-06-26T01:49:00.000-07:00

By ROSE KARUNA

I’ve never played an "online" game before Second Life, but being a true fan of all "Sim" games, I was mildly curious when hubby mentioned signing us both up for Second Life after seeing an article about it on CNN. Thirty minutes later, I was standing on a teleport pad colliding with multiple people and objects.

It’s pretty hard to beat a naked Shrek for strange.

The main gate looked like New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Avatars ran the gambit, from a little girl with pigtails to a huge, naked, green Shrek. Wings that rotated and flapped, objects that floated in the air and sparked, I spent a good hour just sitting and looking at everyone. The guy walking around with a car on his head was a bit odd, but in light of the carnival atmosphere, I didn’t question it. It’s pretty hard to beat a naked Shrek for strange.

Most endearing to me however, were the avitars who were walking around with animals that they’d created. One very kind person created a cat for me. I was too much of a newbie to realize how wonderful a gift this was. If that person happens to read this article – Thank You.

Most endearing to hubby were the people selling male body parts – Thank You.

It wasn’t until I showed up at a newbie event wearing a box on my head that I realized – newbie’s need help. If they are anything like I am, they may be too shy to ask. So I thought it might be useful to some of the newbies if I shared some of the things that I’ve learned in the last two weeks:

First, understand what type of account that you have and what the limitations are, if any. I spent hours trying to buy land, only to learn that I was not entitled to it.

When someone rates you positive, look for their avatar in the crowd, right click on it and rate them positive as well. Ratings are money. (To those people who rated me positive when I first got to Second Life that I didn’t rate back – I’m sorry, I wasn’t rude, just uninformed. RTFM, right? But then, who ever does?)

Ask Questions – Being the preverbal king who had no clothes (just a box on my head), prompted me to start asking questions.

I can’t count all the kind people in the Second Life Community that have helped me with building questions. I have also found that going to the "Sandbox" and just practicing has been both fun and helpful. Find a clear spot on the ground, right click and create. It doesn’t have to be perfect, experiment some.

You can never have an appreciation for the creativity, time and skill that it takes to craft all of the fantastic objects found in Second Lifeuntil you try to build something yourself. With that in mind, I recommend that you treat the creations that you have bought or received for free, with the respect that they are due and not re-sell them without the permission of their creator.

Next issue: purchasing land, house building, and object creation. Hubby’s personal experiences at the pool party with all his body parts intact will probably not be covered in any issue.

For fun: Road rage in Fujin

2004-06-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

By CYDONIA LLEWELYN

Mysteries fill the air in Fujin, in the north east section of Second Life. The bridge connecting the lower half of Fujin with the rest of the land in this sector has been destroyed, rather violently. We have no leads about what may have caused the crumbling of such a sturdy structure, but graffiti left behind at the scene indicates a possible "Linden-hater" may be the culprit.

The area surrounding the disaster is relatively undeveloped at the time, so there are no witnesses, although a few who live on the islands nearby reported hearing "explosions" in the distance a couple weeks ago. This was possibly when the bridge was destroyed, though we have no further information at this time.

However, the tragedy of this situation extends beyond the vandalism found here.

Although warning signs lined the roads on both sides of this area, a lone motorcyclist decided to ignore the advice, daring to jump across the river.

Sadly, the daredevil did not make it across the void. It is unknown at this time what happened to the poor soul, but his bike remains behind, a testament to his courage (or stupidity) and a warning to others who would contemplate following in his footsteps.

Currency Trader

2004-06-26T01:40:00.000-07:00

Gaming Open Market President Jamie Hale explains recent halts in trading:

Swindler provides a tough lesson learned

Sunday afternoon (June 20), a new client purchased over $3,000 worth of ISK and SWG credits. He nagged us for delivery, and then immediately after receiving the goods, reversed the charges claiming we never delivered. He was making use of a well-known loophole in PayPal's chargeback policy that favours the purchasers of "intangible goods" over the sellers. He explained this to us in an email he sent today. He claims the ISK and credits he stole are "payment" for the lesson he tought us.

This incident has been reported to the FBI Internet Fraud Department, and tomorrow to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We have compiled as much information as possible on this person, including his name, address, phone number, email addresses and the IPs used to log into our site. All of this information will be turned over to the authorities.

Now, the complaints registered with the FBI were two-fold. The first was about this person who scammed us. The second was about PayPal. PayPal's policy rewarding the perpetrators of this type of fraud not only makes it easy, it actually encourages it. Please take this as a lesson learned the hard way. If you deal in any "intangible goods," be it downloaded software, music, documents and data, or game currencies or items, PayPal is not your friend.

We are currently providing as detailed information as possible to the PayPal fraud department, but we're not holding out hope for a favorable settlement. Our PayPal representative has made it very clear that we can provide any evidence we want, but that it doesn't matter - we deal in intangible goods and hence have no rights.

(NOTE: Any employees of CCP or Sony Online Entertainment (or any other game publisher for that matter) are encouraged to contact us. We know we violate your user agreement - we just want this behaviour to stop! It hurts everyone, including your paying clients! I know you have detailed transaction records proving exactly when and where those transactions were made. This information could help get the ball rolling. Linden Lab has worked with this. So can you!)

Now we have always called ourselves a "secure way to trade." By that we mean that we actually provide seller protection because we guaranty delivery. We are holding true to this policy, and absorbing this $3,000 loss. This $3,000 is approximately 70 percent of our profits since January. We didn't build GOM to make us rich. We built it as an experiment in digital world economies, and to provide people like you with a cheaper and more efficient alternative to eBay. We cannot afford to be tought another lesson.

Linden Lab is the only publisher to support our efforts. Second Life business will continue as usual.

Until further notice, all trading in all games except Second Life is halted. All currency you may have on deposit with us will be returned to you at a mutually convenient time. Please request a withdrawal and contact either Tom or myself to schedule it. PayPal withdrawals will also be made on our regular sporadic schedule.

Linden Lab (creators of Second Life) is the only publisher to support our efforts. Second Life business will continue as usual. Please accept my apologies for this delay. Linden Lab has worked with us before on this type of fraud, and we're confident that our future with them will be long, happy and prosperous for all.

Keep yer stick on the ice.

Jamie Hale
President - Gaming Open Market Corp.
jamie@gamingopenmarket.com

Recent currency trades on Gaming Open Market: