The Gentrification of Second Life®

As most of us are these days, I too am much preoccupied with the recent developments regarding the new pricing of Openspaces. This is not something which directly affects me at the moment but I can see that it is seriously shaking up a world which I hate to see subjected to such tremors.

My contacts list: There are maybe 10, - 15 at the very most, that I can count on to be online more or less everyday - and every single one of them is someone engaged in creative activity of one kind or another. A good few are builders, some of whom are artists and others designers, while the rest is made up of writers and bloggers. So, what is so remarkable about that you might well ask. After all, I am myself a builder and birds of a feather do tend to flock together and hardly surprising that quite a few if not indeed all of my contacts in Second Life are engaged in creative activity. Right?

Wrong! My contacts list in Second Life® is enormous. I have hardly ever deleted anyone that I have befriended from my newbie days onwards. There are names in there that stem back to my days on Help Island, women I met in the changing rooms of NCI Plaza, people encountered in malls and at concerts, in the distant days when I had not even yet managed to purchase my first AO. I have kept them all. Avatars whose handlers came from every imaginable walk of life. None of them around anymore. Only the builder/writer folk seem to have stayed the course.

And now, every then and again, while logging in I get this little notice from Linden Labs calling out to the business world to use Second Life as a virtual platform for meetings, product simulation and so forth. Needless to say, I am talking totally out of my hat here: I have no data, no market analysis or stats to know whether any of my assumptions hold up in any way. But, I really wonder whether this strategy is paying off in a big enough way to get Second Life out of the red? Does it really work?

Can it really work even? It would seem to me that for Second Life to survive and to prosper Linden Labs would first need to deal with the colossal fall out rate, of which my friends list is but a humble example. Makes for a most unattractive sales pitch you know? Most of my "friends" are gone for ever. And as for the precious few others that do make the rare appearance: A person who logs in every 3 months or so to attend a virtual meeting doth not a true Resident make. Cultivating the involvement of a strata of society from which would emerge true hardcore Residents would seem to me the only way to salvage the situation here.

In other words bring in the artsy crowd...

And no, I am not talking about the "full-time-acknowledged-in-Real Life-professional-artist" here. I know a few of those, and they seem to me to be even worse than the business types. With them it is all about running in, rezzing a "project", shooting a quickie machinima or two, to be shown on an LCD display at some "important" Real Life art event or other, and then rushing back out again. And all of this faster than you can chat the word "biennial" at that!

I am not talking about going to art educational enterprises either. I happen to be smack in the middle of all of that particular malarkey and trust me - again, it would be a huge big waste of your time. For my idea to really work, the artistic individuals in question would need to be motivated enough to stick around, to become part of the social, which would mean the metanomic fabric of a virtual life. And those would be the ones that are doing so already - only elsewhere.

What I am talking about is Web 2.0 creative activity. Web communities that gather around portals such as Deviant Art. How many subscribers does Deviant Art have? Millions for sure, but exactly how many millions? And how many more of these communities are there the world over? Hundreds? Thousands? That, I think, is precisely where your potential client base resides oh ye good Lindens! And maybe you have already made outreach efforts and I am just babbling on about the obvious here? But then again maybe you haven't?

Now, this is of course a long-term strategy: Small budget Residents, as these persons will in all likelihood be, may or may not be in a position to buy land. Or those that do may only manage to be modest small parcel holders - initially. So, in terms of land purchase activity, obviously getting some wonder corporation to sign up and buy 20 islands straight off the bat has a glamorous ring to it that my little plan here could in no way match - initially. And what's more, you may even have to provide quite a few more sandbox islands - initially...

However, my guess would be that a good portion of this new blood would very quickly start designing stuff to be sold in-world. (Just take a look at the 3D modeling pages on Deviant Art and you will see evidence of what I am talking about right there). So, maybe not straight away but in due course they would seriously be bolstering up metaverse economy, which would necessitate the purchase of land for shops and entertainment venues where the purchased goodies could be flaunted; which would brighten up the real estate market, and so on and so forth... And who would be purchasing all of these nice new products, you want to know? Well, that is the beauty of the whole thing: They themselves would, of course. Isn't that precisely how all of these portals survive? Members sell things - prints, posters, skins, widgets, gadgets - which other members - who in their turn sell things also - buy! Teeeeee heeeeee...

And then secondly, artists also do this wonderful thing called the gentrification of decayed city spaces in Real Life. You turn loose a sizable group of artists in a totally run down inner city area: They fix up, they renovate and of course - indeed most importantly - they also bring style and coolness to the place. Next thing the realtors step in, the artists get ousted out - the neat little cafes and things stay (of course) and the fat wallet types move in. The earliest example I guess would be SoHo, NYC but there are literally thousands of examples of this the world over.

Thus, once bitten twice shy, all of these communities would be wise to demand some serious reassurance (preferably in writing) that land prices would be guaranteed and that policies would remain stable. In other words, that what happened to their counterparts in Real Life would not also end up happening to them in a virtual world.

So, Dear Lindens, this was my two cents worth of input to your, to me fairly obvious, conundrum. If you promise to not to throw us all out on our virtual ears once we have gentrified the place, please do take advantage of what our ilk has to offer! Anything we can do to help - really and truly...

Megaprims for science

Megaprims breathe life into outreach programs that empower human exploration of space.

Builder Jimbo Perhaps and his partner, Rocket Sellers, routinely work with megaprims to help real life rocket companies demonstrate their programs in 3D. Jimbo was also responsible for building most of the rockets at the International Spaceflight Museum.

The Terrestrial Planet Finder is a mission NASA hopes to launch in 15 to 20 years. Slurl: Explorer

Jimbo explained that he would not have been able to achieve the smooth outer hull with regular prims.

The Bussard Ramjet - built here at about 1/4 scale - is a huge spaceship that scoops up interstellar hydrogen and uses it for fuel. Slurl: Bussard Ramjet, Space Frontier


This Sun Tower is a recreation of a plan that recommends that the U.S. Government continue studying the feasibility of solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels.
Slurl: Space Studies Institute, Frontier Spaceport

Yet another solar power satellite has huge particle beams to show the sunlight being gathered and converted into microwaves.

All this would not have been possible without megaprims.

Dear Linden Labs: Give us some editable megaprims, bigger prims, manageable prims... but don't take away our megas... and Michael Linden? It's been two weeks now... Two weeks that builders have been stalled on many projects. Please give the waiting (second) world a favorable answer, and soon!

Without Megaprims...

this post by Douglas Story

Without megaprims...Light Waves' Man Angel would have disappeared.
photo by Finny Yates. slurl

Ah, the power of them three little dots! I refer to the ellipse... Useful in this case because we were all ready to write a scorching propaganda piece with the theme, "Without Megaprims... All This Great Shit Will Go Away!" But now with things looking up on that front (latest word is that the all-powerful Lindens are leaning toward keeping megaprims) I only have to change the part after the ellipse to "...All This Great Shit WOULD Have Gone Away! And What A Damned Shame That Would Have Been!!!" Hmmmm...the first title was snappier though, you have to admit.

Without megaprims...DanCoyote Antonelli's Hyperformalism would have disappeared.
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Without megaprims...Rezzable's Greenies' Home would have disappeared.
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Without megaprims...the irritatingly prolific Juria Yoshikawa's Liquid Light would have disappeared.

I make something new about every seven months. With Juria, it's about every two minutes. I find this annoying. slurl

Without megaprims... Sabine Stonebender's Zero Point would have disappeared. slurl

You'll find a lot of shots here that include Bettina's booty in them. The author wishes to point out that most of the pictures here were taken by Bettina herself. Any booty issues should be taken up with the management.

Without megaprims... The International Spaceflight Museum would have disappeared.
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The thing is...the artists and builders who use megaprims tend to be the most creative, charming, and well-dressed avatars who bring us joy in SL. How lucky we are to have them!

Without megaprims... Douglas Story, Aldomanutio Abruzzo & Desdemona Enfield's FlowerBall would have disappeared.
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Without megaprims...Artoo Magneto's anyMOTION would have disappeared.
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Without megaprims...Gazira Babeli's 'Gaz of the Desert' would not have been possible.

I don't like most of the machinima I've seen. This is 23 minutes of spell-binding, slow-cut magic. See it. slurl

Without megaprims... Cube Inada's Alien Flying Circus would have disappeared.
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Without megaprims...Earth Primbee's Inspire Space Park would have disappeared.
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Yes, it's true that I took this shot myself. But you'll notice - there's no booty. My pictures are entirely booty-free.

(photo by Wellington Bahram) slurl
Without megaprims we would not have Bettina's forest home - Chakryn - by Andrek Lowell,

nor this,








nor this (spanning three effing sims!)
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nor this.
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I'm sure we've missed many wonderful items (I'm sure you'll point them out, gentle readers) but I think we made our point here. The loss of megaprims would be a cheapening, deadening blow to the fields of imagination and creativity that Second Life opens up to people. We hope that this wonderful creative tool remains open to us, for both our creative impulses and for those who appreciate same.

Yoo hoo! Linden Labs? Paging Mr. Michael Linden... Please give the waiting (second) world a favorable answer, and soon!

This just in! The future of huge prims is looking good

Andrew Linden, the man in charge of Havok4, just posted a transcript of a meeting about huge prims that should cheer you all up. Our very own Seifert Surface was present at that meeting and stood up for the big guys! (I'm referring to huge prims, of course). Thank you, Seifert <3

Worth underscoring:
[16:41] Andrew Linden: Currently there are a bunch of big estate owners who use megaprims to make cool content (IBM, greenies, Electric Sheep, etc)
[16:41] Andrew Linden: There is no way anyone is going to be able to nerf megaprims.

Here's where you can read that transcript.

In a funk

It’s Fashion Week in my home town of Los Angeles, and there are before-parties, after-parties, up-the-wazoo parties all over town. I can’t get up the energy or the excitement to attend a thing… not that I’m invited to the really good ones. I'm also over the little bit o'fun I had with our readers in my last post - guess nobody caught it - or maybe they all feel the same way I do.

Seems all I’m good for is to pop open a Red Stripe and just sit here glumly, contemplating the future of Second Life without huge prims. Granted, I keep checking back on the Second Life Community blog to see if anything new has been posted there; likewise the SL Forums, which as of this writing has 555 comments on it, the last one by Charlie Omega who pretty much summed up my feelings:

OK Michael, now that you have seen many opinions.....what is LL's take on this before it becomes too much of a flame fest based of differing opinions.

Will LL take the easy way out again and remove or limit something that already exists, thereby seriously damaging or destroying existing content?

OR

Will a harder headed stead fast approach be attempted against abusers?

I think after many of the comments here, the best choice is obvious from a 'customer' standpoint, so what is the best choice from the 'provider' standpoint?

Remember, we pay fees etc. for this, make enough people mad, and even bad publicity won’t be enough to pay the bills given enough time.

Linden Labs, please spare us this growing knot in our tummies. I’m all for dialogue (something we missed on the VAT introduction), but this is taking too long. If I were a builder – which I am not (I merely revere great builders) - I would be frozen into inaction, too worried and demoralized to continue.

Arcadia Asylum's inventory... it's gone: asset server issues are calamities

October 1 addendum: Thanks to the prompt efforts of Kona Linden who responded to NPIRL'er Ponk Bing's request, we have been able to verify that Arcadia's inventory is in place and appears to be fine. For more information, see the 16th comment to this post. Thanks Kona and Ponk!

Arcadia Asylum is the self proclaimed queen of trash in Second Life - and no, we're not talking about smut... she's strictly PG. Arcadia, whose first SL rez day is imminent, is peerless in giving a place that "urban decay" look. You see, it was Arc who built the now defunct Slum City, and Rags to Riches as well as the Pawn Shop at the Hobo Village Infohub.


I haven't finished introducing you to this feisty steam-punk urchin unless I also mention that she is resolute in her belief that all creations in Second Life should be open source and free. Her profile reads, "If you payed (sic) for anything made by me, even for L$1, you were SCAMMED!!!" Arc's made a pile of freebies, and they are - every single one of them - full perm.

Anyway, I got word on Saturday that the contents of her inventory had been wiped. If you know Arcadia and her builds, then you will probably agree with me when I say that this is a tragedy. (P.S. - In Arcadia's very, very special case, most everything she created is "out there," so her builds are still there. So are many of her textures, which she freely gave away when Slum City still existed. However, rebuilding your tools from scratch can't be anything more than a downer and a drag.)

Arcadia's vehicles can be found all over the grid.

Arc's reaction to the situation was to say that she was going to move on to other virtual worlds and go make her freebies there. We haven't heard from her since.


Hobo Village Infohub is a mess. An intentional mess. After the demise of the gambling industry in SL, Arcadia tossed slot machines in the bonfire there.

This got me mulling over the implications of lost assets. There are a handful of people in Second Life whose inventories contain one-of-a-kind treasures, not just of their making, but that of many other creators. What if their inventories were vamoosed?

I logged in last night and posted a question to the knowledgeable crew in the First Look group: if LL wanted to, could they back up a specific person's assets? "Probably not," was the reply.

Darn. I had hoped to propose that Second Life set up a program whereby, on an annual basis, a few people's inventories were given the designation of "Second Life Treasures," and then promptly backed up in order to preserve these repositories as living patrimony.

I realize that this would not be an easy program to implement. Beyond the technical difficulties, the selection criteria for whose inventories are the most valuable would most assuredly be a controversial and political Waterloo, but I still maintain that it would be worth the trouble.

Meanwhile, we are still Arcadia-less. For days now and every few hours I receive an IM from one great builder or another that begins "Arcadia's inventory is lost," or "has anyone heard from Arcadia?" The Friends of Arcadia clan, which is evidently enormous, is fretting. Is demoralized. Misses her... a lot.

Here, Arabella Steadman is wearing Arcadia's backpack... so complete with goodies, it might as well have a kitchen sink hanging from it.

Arc, if by any chance you are reading this... please come back. I hereby promise to give you anything from my humble inventory that is transferable. I think it is safe to say that so would scores of others.

Someday... a galaxy of metaverses

Most NPIRL'ers have a great deal invested in Second Life, be it in ongoing business concerns, acquired land, or inventories bursting with creations. While we all deplore the instability of the grid, we do keep a watchful eye for information regarding legitimate competitors to SL who might have the potential to render our virtual assets valueless... or perhaps improve our second lives.

There’s the new HIPiHi, now in commercial release... Wagner James Au (aka Hamlet Au of New World Notes), was just in China and met with Xui Hui, founder and CEO of the 16,000 member or so start-up.

IMHO, no matter how good the grid, content, what-have-you may get, of this and the just-around-the-corner English and Japanese language versions, the western world is not likely to embrace the politically censored environment of HIPiHi.

And then there is the happy talk of interoperability between Second Life and other metaverses… ^.^

So... it was with interest that we read the Sept. 6th article in Reuters about DeepGrid: "Rival grids threaten Linden’s monopoly on SL technology."

Adam Frisby (SL's Adam Zaius) confirmed via IM yesterday that while he may not be the fearless leader of DeepGrid, he has indeed teamed up with a dozen other independent developers to work on it. He added that DeepGrid is one of many grids that have joined the tumble, but pointed out that what we really should be looking at is OpenSim, a project to develop an Open Source Simulator.

Adam also said that OpenSim is still a good 18 months out from being competitive, and by then – he hopes – LL should have an open grid that DeepGrid can connect to.