Rez Magazine

MadPea Your Day

2009-07-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

On occasion it has been known for Second Life residents to be at a loss as to what to do that afternoon or evening with themselves in-world. Sometimes you can feel like you have seen it all and experienced everything Second Life has to offer you. Have you tried games in-world, and no I don't mean the plethora of board game/ hud/ trivia games on offer in the shops, I mean actual interactive, use your mind games. If you've not tried in-world games, MadPea may very well save you from an evening unsure what to do next.

MadPea Productions create interactive games in Second Life and these aren't your average game either. With well thought out and constructed story boards, scripted HUDs, clues, action, mystery and adventure these games have captivated a lot of residents already which has earned MadPea quite a following. Question is when will you join in?

I managed to speak quickly to Kiana Writer, the founder of MadPea about the games and the concept behind MadPea Productions itself.

Can you tell us what the main aim of MadPea Productions is?

Our main goal is to create high quality and exciting content in Second Life. We like to push the limits of the engine and show people what is possible to do. We want to create a community around our games, so that the players are not alone, they can meet like-minded people or get the help if needed.

What game development experience did you have before coming to Second Life?

Hmm.. does it count that I created a Batman board game when I was little? ;) I honestly had none, I'm a real life writer. When I realized that my stories could involve into interactive games and people were enjoying them, I truly found my calling there.

How does a game come together, how it is conceived and converted into an in-world entertainment zone?

We are a bit chaotic here.. usually we start with my story and build the surroundings around it. Sometimes though, one of us creates an amazing build or we have a HUD idea we like to test and then make a storyline to fit that. Our games all include three main elements: it has to have an interesting story, that actually makes sense and is not just a filler to show off some fantastic graphics (sadly I think a lot of games are like that.. :( ), it has to be interactive and it has to be built so that the player loses himself into the whole experience.

Have you faced any complications when bringing a vision into Second Life?

Not really, sometimes we have to make minor changes to the storyline to better fit the platform restrictions. We imagine and build in SL, so we are not facing the difficulties of trying to import the game from another platform to here.

What sort of feedback have you received from the Second Life community?

So far, the feedback has been really great and positive.We have a large group called madpeas, that is really supportive to all members. We love to hear feedback of all kind so that we can improve. Sometimes people don't understand that this is our hobby and that we are doing the games on our sparetime and for free, at times we are getting demands that are just impossible to meet. With thanks to Orange we have had the space to create on their islands. We are hoping to find more real life companies as sponsors to be able to test our ideas and bring out quality entertainment in Second Life. Sometimes sadly, the money is a huge restriction on what we can create. We have even had some of the Lindens playing our games (and of course we've been spying on them then ;) ).

What’s in the pipeline for MadPea?

We have a big event coming on the 26th at our headquarters, where we are revealing some future plans. We have at least one bigger game coming out this summer. Right now, we're all taking a little time off for holidays and for planning the next year.

Wether you're a romantic helping to discover the ending in Firefly, or a would-be Ethan Hunt trying to finish Within, or even a top class sleuth trying to solve the mystery of the Swamp Hotel, if you're the sort of person who enjoys thinking outside the box and solving mysteries then get along to MadPea, I guarantee you won't regret it.

MadPea Productions HQ

*All images reposted with the kind permission of MadPea Productions*

The Full Spectrum of Music

2009-07-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

One of the constant challenges voiced by anyone within the Secondlife music community is the concept of getting the word out. With the grid being such a large place, and so many things going on at any one time, actually getting a following, or even getting anyone to turn up to your event, is a long and difficult slog, with predominantly word of mouth being the main way to get publicity. Yet, of course, this does mean that you run the risk that, no matter how much you play, it may end up feeling that you are playing your gigs to the same small group of friends, night after night.

Fortunately, there are people trying to wave the banner of live music in SL, and one such man is Fox Reisch, the owner and operator of Indiespectrum Radio a website and online radio station playing exclusively original music by SL artists. I met up with him, to find out a little more about how this project came about, why he does it, and what it could do for the talented musicians inworld.

Voodoo Buwan: How long has Indiespectrum been operating?
Fox Reinsch: Since November 2007
Voodoo Buwan: And what was the inspiration behind starting it?
Fox Reinsch: I wanted to help a musician friend promote her music here. Figured in RL they use radio so I would start a SL artist's radio station.
Voodoo Buwan: Was it at all difficult getting going at the start?
Fox Reinsch: Figuring out how to stream was Ok but setting up the web page to take requests was hard. Getting music turned out to be hard work too. I knew a few musicians that sent music but everyone else I have to chase after. They are on my Artists' Links page in the order they signed on.

Voodoo Buwan: Was there any problems with the issues of copyright, since I know how sensative artists, especially those inworld, can be about such things?
Fox Reinsch: Well I probably have the only legal station in SL. All the artists sign an on-line agreement that they personally own the music and give me permission to play it. All indendant artists' original music. No covers! Under the creative commons act the record companies really cannot bother me. Also they cannot bother any virtual businesses that play it.
Voodoo Buwan: So, once you've got the station, and the music to play, how did you spread the word? Do you have any idea how many people listen?
Fox Reinsch: I just tell people about it and the word spreads. Also I give out free radios here. and on Xstreet. I had 31,000 tune ins last month and over 100,000 hits to the web page. The station is also listed on iTunes under the eclectic genre. The problem is that word spreads fast in the live music community but it has been hard to get outside to the rest of the people in SL. I was in SL amost a year before I found out about live music here!
Voodoo Buwan: So, there's a challenge in getting the word out inworld, let alone getting recognition of inworld talent out in the real world?
Fox Reinsch: It seems impossible to tell all of SL about live music. I need help. I pretty much do everything myself. It would be great if my free radios were out as freebies at the high traffic shopping places in SL and they played SL my station not out of SL copyrighted web stations.
Voodoo Buwan: Apart from landowners using your stream, if someone wanted to help, what could they do?
Fox Reinsch: Anyone with any SL business can expose people to the great talent here in SL by playing my station. They can put out my free IndieSpectrum Radio radios vendor too. Also have now playing signs for them, like the one above my head or with hover text.
Voodoo Buwan: Are there any challenges with funding an operation like this, or does it all come out of your pocket?
Fox Reinsch: I do it just for fun as I love the music here and make many good friends. It is not a business but I do get some donations. I would like to have some volunteer helpers too. Publicity and to run live music fund raisers shows at my venue. I think most people running venues and supporting live music here are not making money but some do consider them businesses. So I have a listener supported station but mostly I support it and am a listener.
Voodoo Buwan: Finally, with all the music by SL musicians you must listen too, who are the acts that you would personally recommend as must see performers, for someone interested in hunting out the best that the scene has to offer?
Fox Reinsch: Well I don't think I should say. But I do enjoy all of the music no matter how good or bad. Listen to the station, you choose.
Voodoo Buwan: Very diplomatic of you.
Fox Reinsch: I play all of the music I get. If an artist sends 1 song it gets played much more than each of the songs from an artist that sends me dozens. The artists that send alot of songs do get played more. I try to be fair to everyone. Don't think there is any bad music on the station, there is a huge varity. Over 130 artists and over 1000 original songs. Everything from classical flute to hip hop. The full "spectrum".

Voodoo's SL6B Do's and Don'ts

2009-06-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Second Life celebrates another birthday, and we all trekked out to show off our latest creations to the virtual world. And once again, there have been some truly superb exhibits, showing the very best on offer inworld, and there have been... some less impressive stands on show. So, once again, I would like to present to you all, my personal Do's and Don'ts of SL6B.

Don't give visitors a migraine - When I flew past Marmottina Taurog's Green and Wild Design stand, I immediately gagged at the technicolour swirling see through boxes, with a mesh of glowing chaos within. I then thought, "No, give it a chance, it might be much better inside". It wasn't. I'm now wearing sunglasses.

Do work with the theme - A lot of people have been very annoyed with the enforced theme of "The Future" that was imposed on us by our rulers up in Linden Land, but many of the exhibitors, rather than bitching and moaning, have made a real effort to do something with the theme. Juliete3d Quinzet's decision to steer away from the usual box building acting as her gallery, but rather having a shuttle pod being smashed by a meteor, spilling her artwork down onto the ground, was inspired and a delight.

Don't forget to add some content - The CoExist exhibit by Claari Shepherd is an impressive monolithic building, with an intriguing logo on top. And inside, absolutely nothing. I am totally none the wiser, and to be honest, if you can't be bothered to make the effort, I can't be bothered to care.

Do pay attention to detail - And to be honest, when it comes to detail, you never need to look much further than AM Radio, and his playful futurist nod, still entrenched in his retro style, delights almost as much as his perfect and intricately put together builds. Just stunning.

Don't turn the festival into an adfarm - Sioban McMahon - West of Ireland and Project Children: Yes I know you're not on the main walkway and yes it might all be in aid of a good cause, but the is NEVER an excuse for a giant rotating cube billboard. NEVER. Okay?

Do take us into your world - Yes, I know I have mentioned Skills Hak and her fantastic work at Insilico in the past, and yes it probably is easier to put on an impressive futuristic exhibit, when your sims are all set squarely in the future, but just look at it. Look at it, and be in awe.

Don't make your exhibit look like a 5 year olds scribbled all over it - Right, don't get me wrong, I am actually a fan of Treet TV, and I know what the designer was TRYING to do, with the multicoloured cables, but honestly, it didn't work, looks a complete mess, and I was more than a little disappointed. Massive shame.

And finally, a very special final Don't....

When making walkways, Don't forget that the actual point of them is to be able to WALK on them - Yes, they look very pretty, and in keeping with the cyberpunk motif, but when you're constantly ranting about getting stuck, trying to jump onto or off the blasted thing, and generally finding that they are hindering your ability to get around, then you have a recipe for Walkway FAIL.

See you next year!

Second Life Essentials for Homemakers

2009-06-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

You’ve been in Second Life a while now, you’ve decided to take the plunge and find yourself a home. You’ve bought your land, or found a lovely rental island and paid the tier. You’ve decided you want to be careful of any DIY accidents and splinters ruin your hands so you’re going to buy your Second Life home, but wait… where to go?

Welcome to my personal Second Life essentials for home makers; a small, yet succinct list of my personal recommendations from the filled world of the prefab home.

[ba] barnesworth anubis

Tastefully nestled into a hillside on the Demersal sim is [ba] (barnesworth anubis) without doubt one of the best known names in the world of Second Life prefabrications. With a vast array of residential prefabs and a small, yet growing number of commercial builds, ba offers its visitors good quality in a vast array of styles at reasonable prices.

The shop displays show images and information about the individual prefabs as well as a quick and easy option to teleport to the display in-world, where you can wander through the potential house of your dreams and all without an estate agent chirping it's features in your ear.

Various sizes, costs and prims await you at ba, all explained on the easy to understand vendors. The majority of houses are priced in the 1,000$L - 1,500$L price bracket, some indeed much lower, and similarly a few more expensive. Most of the builds come with copy/mod permissions and an easy to use rezzer for initial placement. Also, most have window tinting and lockable doors etc, although you should always check details thoroughly before parting with your hard earned Lindens.

I took a peek at The Howe Efficiency Home which is one of my favourite ba houses. It makes for an excellent starter home. At only 750$L and 88prims it's perfectly suited for smaller plots.

Trompe Loeil

Connected on the same cluster of sims as ba stands Trompe Loeil. This outfitter isn't just a prefab maker, they also have some landscaping products for sale. Predominant however, of course, are the prefabs on offer here.

Trompe Loeil offers a smaller collection to the likes of ba, however the quality is outstanding. Indeed some prefabs incorporate sculpted prims for maximum prim efficiency and style. The arrival shop features vendors with easy to use teleport to display functions similar to the neighbours at ba.

The styles on offer in this smaller selection are quite unique. You can have a sculpt hobbit home, popular with Lord of The Rings fans or you could chose to live in a rustic Silkhouse. With the varying styles, varying prims and prices follow suit.

Without doubt The Hobbiton home is not only a fantastic quirky house, but also quite an achievement with the plentiful use of sculpts. Priced competitively at 2,000$L and featuring 351 prims the house speaks for itself.

If however you have no delusions of hobbit-ism then perhaps the The Arc - Luxury Lodge is for you. Make no mistakes this isn't your average Second Life prefab. Priced at 12,500$L and engulfing 751 prims this gigantuan building won't suit all. I however have been in love with this building since the first time I ever saw it and had to feature it here.

Scarlet Creative

If however you're the kind of person who enjoys clean lines, with white minimalistic qualities then you should venture no further than ScarletCreative. With a substantial collection of homes most RL architects would be proud of, the minimalist look is one which suits many.

There are various sizes, prim counts and price costs at ScarletCreative so really you would need to venture around this sim to find the build to suit you, and your needs. However as this is a beautifully constructed region, wandering around isn't a hard task.

I'm choosing to feature the Grand Urban Beach House from ScarletCreative. Weighing in with 480 prims and costing just under 14,990$L this is one of the more luxurious homes featured here.

BOTHA ARCHITECTS

You've decided to embrace your inner architect however you're not one for the clean, white line, minimalist look of ScarletCreative. Botha Architects may very well suit your needs. Scattered across 2 sims the architecture here at Botha covers a plethora of styles.

Similarly to ScarletCreative, Botha doesn't have a store with all the build offerings laid out, so you will need to hot foot it along the pathways and explore these sims yourself.

In true architectural fashion, you couldn't describe these houses as low prim. If however prims are not an issue for you, then these meticulously designed homes are filled with many prims furthering the attention to detail. In fact many of the houses come with in built water features or fireplaces.

Featured in the image above are two very different styled buildings on offer at Botha. The Treehouse on the left, complete with 323 prims, and priced respectably at 3,999$L offers home makers another path to take on their search for the ideal home. Meanwhile the house on the right, with a staggering 1,106 prims and priced at a modest 11,000$L is certainly an investment in your future home.

Skye Castles

"An Englishman's home is his castle" - it must be true then that said Englishman shopped at Alex Bader's, Skye Castles.

As quoted in Skye Castles creator, Alex Bader's profile - "Skye Castles - the finest castles in all SL? Only you can decide". I must admit that true to my Scottish Heritage I have seen quite a vast number of Castles in Second Life. People clambering to have a piece of tangible history in this fast paced virtual world. In my personal opinion Skye Castles are the finest castles in Second Life.

Upon arrival at Skye you will be presented with a notecard containing the landmarks to all the build and accessories on offer here. It would be well advised that you store this notecard as it will make exploration of this place a lot easier. With a growing number of castles, and pavilions, tower houses and even a bridge it's no wonder that Skye Castles stretch over a number of sims.

From the dark depths of Skye Gothic Castle through the Skye Deco Castle and into the Skye Steampunk Castle the collection here can only be described as eclectic.

Nipping on the heels of 1,000 prims stands the Skye Faery Castle and at a cost of 15,000$L it is a substantial expense but then it IS a castle! One major advantage of the Faery Castle is the selection of accessories you can purchase to decorate it. From the Faery Watchtower, to the Faery Bed and even a Faery Bridge which all go hand in hand to compliment this building on arrival at your home.

Even the relatively dormant steampunk in me is aroused by the Steampunk Castle here. Also costing 15,000$L and charging off with 842 precious prims this building uses the best of it's included scripts to create a quirky steampunk experience. Panel opening doors and a rotating sphere system driving outer cogs which all go hand in hand to make more than just a home it’s an experience!

Hydro Homes

Ok so you've looked at my recommendations and decided you don't want to live your Second Life in a castle, or clean minimalist home. You haven't found anything at Barnesworth Anubis or Trompe Loeil so what now?

Well perhaps you're someone who wants a little funk in their modern living. If that's the case then go along to Hydro Homes.

You'll arrive in a clean functional store with vendor images and all the information you'll need about prim counts and costs. I find the layout at Hydro very helpful, the builds themselves are split into categories dependent on the size of parcel they require. Starting at 499$L for 512 sqm homes increasing to a maximum 1,999$L for 2048 sqm builds you'll find the houses here all priced very reasonably.

Venturing towards the daylight you will be presented with 3 levels to rise too and take advantage of the temp rezzing platforms to view your potential homes. With clear instructions you can see which platform is in use or free and up, up and away you go.

The Enigma is a clear representation of what you can expect at Hydro Homes. A curvaceous building with plenty of interesting features which will help to set your home out from some of the other prefabs available in-world today. In the largest size category this build utilises 307 prims and will cost you 1,999$L, well spent in my opinion.

That completes my tour of some of the best Prefab makers in Second Life at the moment. The Second Life prefab world is a humongous world, the market is flooded with options for you when you purchase your virtual home. It pays to spend time investigating the options open to you before making your decision. Hopefully as I believe these establishments stand out from the others, this list will give you a good place to start.

Second Life Career: Fashion Blogger

2009-06-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

There is only a relatively small select group of people who have actually made a career from Second Life. That is either people who work in Second Life or those content creators fortunate enough to bring some very real profits from their given venture which, in turn, make a difference to their real life.

All things considered, generally speaking, when we think of a Second Life career it's usually a job that we love and therefore that we dedicate time too. Wether it be a career in virtual journalism or torturing prims into whatever you've decided to make that day, it's safe to say that very few people make any money from their Second Life career.

Undoubtedly the virtual world of fashion is a highly demanding fast-paced one. Couture comes in and out of fashion in Second Life as quickly as it does in real life, of course the real difference is that for many of us Second Life fashions are much more affordable than those of the real world. There is a plethora of fashion orientated blogs and magazines in second life and for many of the top bloggers/ writers they can hold the key to a product, or brands visibility and success rate. With that in mind I set out to speak to one of the biggest and best known fashion bloggers, Ana Lutetia about her career as a model, and blogger, including the highs and lows which come from her chosen career path.

What made you want to be a Second Life model?
I don't remember when or how it started. It just did. I remember deciding that I wanted to be a model inSL and I started looking for agencies and opportunities. Nowadays, I am more a (fashion) blogger and a magazine writer than a model. My RL European work schedule is not compatible with the majority of SL events.

When did you realise that you were a well known model/blogger?
I don't consider myself a well-known model. I realised I was a well-known fashion blogger when people would IM me around SL saying that they love my blog. Nowadays, I must be one of the oldest fashion bloggers around.

What, if any, have been the experiences of this ‘fame’ (good and bad)?
In the catwalk, I was always surprised to see people knowing my name and it still amazes me to get feedback of people saying that they know my work (mostly about my work as a blogger).
The good part is making friends. Some people that follow my work contact me and we start talking and became friends.
I love blogging. I am a addict blogger and if it wasn't for my blog I wouldn't log as often as I do.
It's weird to get random friendship offers and random offers from people...
The bad part is the jealousy involved that results in nasty anonymous comments in my blog and in some SCD SL Secrets. I call it jealousy because I can't think of a better word and because there is no reason whatsoever for anyone to have any issue with me mostly because I don't get out much and don't socialize. (I simply can't find time to do it all.) So the majority of people don't know me in a personal basis and only know me through my blog.
Some people don't realise the hours of work involved for being a fashion blogger and mainting a website updated daily. There are only a few bloggers that keep their blogs updated daily...
On occasion, I feel the fashion blogging pressure and that makes me very anxious. A lot of people send me gifts as well as review copy items and I simply don't have the time to blog it all even though I wish I had but it's impossible. I am only one person and it takes me around two hours (sometimes more) to make a simple post. And... the time I have to be inSL daily is only between two or three hours.

Are there any trends in the fashion world you personally like/dislike?
Personally, I don't like the new freebie and hunts trend. I believe that a lot of designers feel an obligation to release freebies and to participate in hunts. What about the hours spent by designers creating an item?
The sense of entitlement of freebies is bad too.

Do you have any suggestions for budding fashion stars that are starting out now?
Nowadays there are two many fashion bloggers and models and I encourage people to learn another skill like building, texturing or scripting because the fashion world can be overwelming and people will need a break from it.

*All images reposted with the kind permission of Ana Lutetia*
More information about Ana Lutetia can be found on http://analutetia.com

Faster Than the Speed of sLight

2009-06-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

In the real world, society breaks many of us. Companies eat up their ‘human resources’ as a means to make a profit. In a recent conversation with Peter Stindberg we discussed the idea that SL could in-fact be somewhat similar to this.

As shop owners will admit, success is born from a drive to create and release new products. Even the best stores will continue to tick over as their releases diminish, but eventually new stock is the only thing that keeps people returning and shopping. A virtual ‘target’ is placed on creations and the need to; constantly release products, speak to the group, offer support, advertise and market your brand can be just as harsh as any RL target driven work.

As bloggers will also agree, the need to write new articles, feature new designers and highlight the happenings in this world comes with its own stress and strain. Resident Choice blogger Prad Prathivi quickly became a victim of resident attention, forcing him to take a step back and focus on what he wanted to do, and blogging at this time wasn’t it. I’m sure many of us will remember Prads writing abilities and sarcasm, but eventually people move on and find new sites to focus their attention on.

With literally thousands of blogs all fighting for the attention of the reader, you must quickly grab a reader and stick to them like glue. Hoping they subscribe to your RSS feed, or at the very least come back and visit your site. The best (and arguably only) way to do this is provide them with the information they want to read. Updates, new articles, vast areas of coverage and insightful information are required to stand out from your other ‘competitors’. However of course insightful and researched information is something that does indeed take time, and time is something many of us has in short supply thanks to RL societies draining us too.

Second Life is a fast paced world, in fact sometimes far too fast paced. If you can’t keep up with the flow then you’re quickly trodden on, walked over and all too soon forgotten. What can we do to stop this? Can we infact stop this or are we happy with our treatment of others and their treatment of us?

Interviewing the Interviewers: Paisley Beebe

2009-05-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Over my long and varying career as an SL journalist, I think the one thing that I have become known for more than anything else, are my interviews, especially with the publication of my inworld book "Times of your (Second) Life", and the interviews I have carried out here. Over time, being know for something like this makes you start to wonder how other inworld interviewers cope with having to chat with the many and varied creatives, business people and movers and shakers in SL. So, seeing as there are so many talk shows and interviewing journalists currently operating within our digital universe, I decided to hunt down some of the most interesting, and discuss their experiences, and give you some insight into what it takes to make a good interview, and in many ways, a good interviewer.

The first on my list in the lovely and talented Paisley Beebe, who's show on SLCN, "Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe" is possibly one of the longest running and well established Second Life based talkshows around. She tends to specialize in mostly arts and culture in SL, a world she also appears in with her performances as a jazz singer, but has had everyone from musicians, games creators, bloggers, Lindens and more, sitting on her sofa, and opening up to her. Despite the fact that I am on UK time, and she is based on the other side of the planet in Australia, we eventually managed to square our diaries, and sit down to have a chat about her experiences:

Voodoo Buwan: So, what initially brought you to SL?

Paisley Beebe: A magazine article on it talking about musicians playing here

Voodoo Buwan: Ah, so you arrived inworld with hopes of extending your performing into the virtual world?

Paisley Beebe: Not really just curious about it. Didn't start playing in SL till 3 months was up. I use the computer a lot for my marketing of albums etc...

Voodoo Buwan: What inspired you to start performing? And did that come before or after you began your association with SLCN?

Paisley Beebe: I went to a gig here and asked the performer how you did it. He got me to play at his venue with my husband one night and that was it. I drew a small crowd. I picked up a manager/publicist type person who hooked me up with lots of venue owners, and then I met SLCN a few months later and stage managed an event for them. We then decided as we were both in Australia we should work together on something they just started filming in SL and started a sort of whats on show called That's life. So we thought a talk show might be good as I was in Radio in RL. We planned it, I hired some people, and off we went, just making it up as we went along. Still doing that. No one else had done it. Cypress Rosewood had a podcast, a live one with an audience, and so did Flaming Moe. that was it, no TV at all. no one to learn from. Tonight Live is the longest running Virtual TV show and there are lots now.

Voodoo Buwan: So, with your rl radio experience, you had some experience with conducting interviews?

Paisley Beebe: only a little, I had done part of a radio course, a short one and been in Community radio for 3 years. Both as a Jazz Program presenter and a Morning show host but the emphasis was on music really. I just happen to be a chronic sticky beak and nosy parker, and I tend to "interview" people constantly at parties. I enjoy it, finding out about peoples passions their lives etc... It's the actress side of me also, where I studied Characters and their motivations.... Method actress... I once spent about 5 years reading nothing but biographies, and I'm an avid watcher of Talk shows and interview shows. I study them now of course. Learning all that I can about good interview techniques and interview subjects. My sister has been a professional journalist all her life, so If I ever get stuck I ask her. She knows everyone over here in the buis, and knows what the process is in RL, and I've asked her advice on interviewing. She probably thinks Im stepping a bit on her turf but as I'm only a virtual interviewer she probably thinks its all a bit silly :)

Voodoo Buwan: On the subject of getting help from others, you mentioned you have some other people working with you on the show: Has it been hard finding the right team for such a project?

Paisley Beebe: There is no set process. Some were people recommended, some just came up and asked at the right time, some approached SLCN and we took them on. We are now attracting people who have a genuine background in digital communication or writing. To start with it was anyone that wanted to give it a go. My first Director was a seasoned podcaster but I think, now that the TV industry in SL is gaining a small foothold, it's attracting people with a more professional background within a related field, which is good because SLCN, who are about to re-brand as Treet.Tv, and myself have a real life contract, so this is well and truly my RL career now. I'm actually legally obligated to continue it. So my choice of employees has to be good choices and it's very hard to judge that as it is in RL. My 2 major criteria for a good employee are tenacity and determinism. Oh and being organised. There are a few other criteria but when your hot on the trail of a guest you have to be like a detective and not give up till you land them or exhausted every avenue without being a pest or stalking, and then the follow up of the guest getting them to give you the information you need and getting them prepared for the show also takes a great deal of tenacity and determinism. We deal of course with guests most of the time who have had no experience with any interviews of any kind in SL or RL perhaps an employment interview is the closest they have come, so we have to guide them quite a bit to make it comfortable for them whilst trying to get an interesting and entertaining interview.

Voodoo Buwan: OK, so on the subject of getting an interesting and entertaining interview, what would you say makes a good interviewee, and have you ever had to deal with a difficult subject for interview?

Paisley Beebe: ahahah... It's funny you know. I have a family of awkward difficult to talk to people, so it helps me a lot. I have a family of people with high functioning Aspergers. You learn how to talk to people. There are very few people I cannot talk to. In SL, on my show... I don't think there has been anyone that wasn't..... ok there have been maybe one or 2 and you know why? They were people with an agenda, professional PR people, who instead of "talking" to me kept spouting off their "advertising". When I tried to cut through the bullshit, I kept getting the pre-programmed marketing speak. That was hard. I interviewed a Rocket Scientist once who was really a bit shy, but I knew from the Aspies in my family once I got him on his favourite subject......rockets, he was off like one. I genuinely care about my guests. They are not just subjects for publicity to me. I have a personal history of being like that with people. I have had to learn to stand back and let people do things their own way. I've been a sort of amateur mentor all my live. Then I used to get so despondent that people wouldn't do what I thought they should to let their talent shine. I feel with this show I get to promote people in a good positive way, and hopefully help their talent to shine. I hope people sense that in my interest in them and don't fell its prying. It's really just tuning into the person, finding a place where they are comfortable and asking the right open ended questions. None of them are kidnapped into coming on the show. I think my honest curiosity and fascination with them helps. I've seen other interviewers who look bored by their subjects and I think that doesn't help at all. Maybe I'm just new at this so the novelty hasn't worn off, but I'm 47 and the novelty of being interested in people hasn't yet. The pay off for me is seeing people get their message across to a wider audience or their talent seen by a wider audience. Initially my reasons for doing this were mixed. It was in a way a job to "fall back on". I suspected that the music industry was not going to fully support me. That even in SL, I'd need a 2nd job, and I hoped that if I combined my love of radio and interviews with occasionally singing in SL, the Talk show would give me enough of a profile to get work as a singer. But what has happened is I fell in love with my 2nd job, and now its my main job. I'm now more well known for my Talk show than my singing, but that's ok. I think that this job, as crazy as it seems, has more of a future. The music industry in my country is really going through a bad slump, because of the economy etc... I can't sustain it. I've been retrenched recently there was a post on SL about the fact I'm using this show as a vehicle to promote myself. That the guests are just window dressing for my own ambitions. But my profile in SL, whatever you want to call it, is part and parcel of being on the Telly. You don't have one without the other, and I watch the most successful Talk show hosts in the world, and they all give something of themselves away in their interviews. It's horrible unless you are a political interviewer to watch an interviewer hold back or just take in an interview and not relate. Oprah, Ellen, Michael Parkinson... all have a public profile. It's about establishing a reliable brand, something that people relate to. Not just interviewing but having a conversation with your guest. When I'm interviewing, I always feel that I'm part of the conversation, even if I am only 20% of it. That's what it is supposed to be. I tend to only talk a lot when I have something important to say. I'm not good in social situations, don't like small talk, not good at it :) I tend to go from nice weather to tell me about your childhood in about 2 mins. People tell me the most extraordinary things. I guess you just have to be interested in people. You can't fake that. I used to be horribly shy at parties. I'd either have a few drinks and be the life of the party, a total clown or hide in a corner. I learnt to take interest in other people, then I felt not so shy. I discovered a gold mine of stories of fascinating history by doing this. I guess I learn about human nature and life through that.

Voodoo Buwan: Is there anyone in SL who you would love to be able to interview but have not been able to?

Paisley Beebe: No not really. Just the next inspiration. I'm in the unique position of being able to interview anyone really. People refuse because of shyness, language and not wanting to use voice, and I of course only want enthusiastic people on the show. I find the most wonderful subjects in the most low key and non-famous places. Everyone to me is on the same level. What I'd like to do is interview a RL star, for totally selfish reasons. Just to say I've done it and not fallen in a heap with nerves, and to have some RL attention for the show. Bring the ratings up and just because...it would be such a test of my skills. A real challenge. Can I cut it with the Real Life Interviewers? Having said that I'm very aware of my limitations. I'm not highly educated. I'm creative and if I interview someone it will be on a very casual basis and probably involve a very silly question or two. I appeal to the everyday person and that's what I am I reckon. I won't ever try to be cleverer than I am or I will soundly slap myself for being a pretentious twat! I'm a performer first, always have been. Terrible show off. I'm the girl that did Teacher impressions at school for a laugh, entertained the school with my pretend TV productions, plays and dances to awful 1970's music. I started at 4 years old: can't help myself, middle child syndrome.

Voodoo Buwan: Final two questions: Firstly, what advice would you give to anyone thinking about following in your footsteps?

Paisley Beebe: Well.... know who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are. Get people around you who can fill in those gaps people who are good at things maybe your not so good at.... and....you have to have the ...here's a quote: the hide of a buffalo the heart of a dove. You have to role with the punches. If you don't love it, you won't last. I think you have to be a little bit nuts. Actually, driven and hyperfocused.

Voodoo Buwan: Finally, what's next for Paisley Beebe?

Paisley Beebe: Well, I must do some more singing. It seems such a waste of all that training and experience not to do more and I do enjoy it when I do sing. Tonight Live is about to go high definition and I have to redesign the show a little around that. I also need to earn some money :) So this year is about finding finance to support the shows I already have, Fabulous Fashion and T.L. I have about 2 or 3 other ideas for shows and I would like to get them up and running but I need finance to do it. I'm already copping huge expenses running 2 shows. It might be a Govt grant or some sort of sponsor. Advertising on TV is very slow to take off here. We can certainly compete with the other media outlets, but we are newer than other media outlets, so it takes a leap of faith... I do love the creative process of putting shows together. It's so exciting for me and because we have now some great procedures set up for our existing productions its not as hard as someone starting from scratch. I won't host the shows, I have my show, one is enough but will set up other shows for other people. I guess we are just hoping that Virtual worlds become more mainstream and that this media is as popular as it should be within the virtual population.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, there's no reason why it shouldn't be with the enthusiasm and work you're putting in. Best of luck, and thanks for taking time to talk to me

SL Essentials for..... Film Buffs

2009-04-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

If you're house is fast becoming taken over by your DVD collection, imdb.com is one of your most used bookmarks, and you spend those rare nights away from SL down at the local multiplex, you may be wondering if there are places in Secondlife where you can explore and embrace your love of celluloid within the virtual landscape. If so, you aren't alone, as I also was wondering something similar, but of course, anyone who has put the words "movie" or "film" into the SL search engine will know that this is a recipe for a long and painful search through advert after advert for porno theatres, porn filled inworld television, or randy webcam girls at reasonable prices. So, fear not, I have attempted to save you the effort and possible blindness that such a search can bring, by tirelessly scouring the grid to find some of the best places in SL to visit if you consider yourself a bit of a cinema aficionado.

There are various movie theatres in SL, where you and your friends can go and catch a film together, and many of them cost you absolutely nothing. One particular sim, the suitably movie inspired named Amity Island, actually has two. The Second Cinema Movie Theatre is a traditional cinema with one screen but plenty of seating, showing a variety of largely horror films (on the two occasions I popped by, they were showing "Scream" and "Interview with a vampire"). However, if you would prefer to enjoy a more open air movie experience with a charming retro feel they also have a superb Drive in Movie Theatre next door, showing films like "The Goonies", which you can view while sitting in one of the stylish American automobiles they have put out for the enjoyment of patrons. Once you've seen one of the films on offer, you can also head down to the beach to enjoy the little tribute to the film Jaws, from which the sim gets it's name.

If your film tastes extend to the more art house end of the spectrum, you might want to check out the small yet modern cinema that the BBC Film Network have set up on the depo sim, playing some superb documentaries. On show when I popped over for a look was "I Expect Jean Feels The Same" an interesting and touching story about two WW2 war widows, and the love and losses that they have experienced. Definitely more thought provoking than your average popcorn fodder.

Another small but perfectly formed moviehouse can be found on the Desperation Kelly sim, at the Redrum Public House and Cinema. Upon my visit, they were showing the frankly legendary "Full Metal Jacket", and if you piece together the clues from their film choice, and the name of the Pub, then you can probably figure out some of the other film related delights to be found nearby. If you go exploring, you may well discover a door to the Kubrick Rooms, a tribute to the much missed director, with lovingly detailed recreations of the sets like the war room from one of my favourite films, Dr Strangelove, along with the bathroom from The Shining, and a Moloko bar from A Clockwork Orange. You can even enjoy a documentary about the man himself, inside the room detailed after the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Once you have experienced these delights, you can also find some superb recreations of the shack from Evil Dead, and also the 80's Cafe from Back to the Future 2, but in addition to being able to have a look around these, you can also buy copies of them for your very own, to place on your own land, if you so wish.

For more items of purchasable film related goodness, you can do a lot worse than visiting the Paper Street Soap Company. Ah ha, I hear you cry, I know what this will look like then. And while you would be right that the signature pink soap from the Fight Club posters does feature heavily, and you can buy a fine recreation of the house on Paper Street, the actual main store building actually owes more to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, although put through something of a grime filter, and producing soap instead of chocolate, in appearance at least. Other prefab buildings for sale, that should interest any film fan, include the desert church from Kill Bill, Sweeney Todd's barber shop, the Quickstop store from Clerks, and a smashed up version of the Mooby's fastfood restaurant from Clerks 2. There are also some nicely crafted film inspired outfits on offer, which you can wear while you pop to the neighboring sim, to check out some of these buildings out on display, so you can have a look around before you buy.

It would be remiss of me to talk about films and Secondlife without talking about the large community of Star Wars fans, who have decided against playing one of the other Star Wars themed online games, preferring rather to make their own roleplaying areas in SL, and becoming a Jedi or Sith inworld. One of the best places to go to dip your toe into this galaxy not so far far away, is Little Mos Eisley, a highly detailed slice of the planet Tatooine. If you decide that you'd rather not get involved in the lightsaber battling, and rather just look around the Catina, or marvel at the creatures, buildings and vehicles littering the sim (including a gorgeous Millennium Falcon), you can get a free visitors tag at the arrival point, and walk without fear of attack.

And finally, how could I look at the perfect places for a film buff to look at without suggesting a visit to the Hollywood Sim. This is a beautifully glamorous place, complete with it's own walk of fame, and Hollywood sign for you to gawp at, and if you're lucky you may even be able to catch a show at the sims very own Hollywood Bowl venue. Sounds like a potentially perfect end to any movie fans day in the world of SL.

A Walk Through the Garden of Ryker

2009-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

One of the most valuable resources available to you in Second Life is the people who surround you. A community, always willing to help and offer a guiding hand. Ryker Beck is one avatar who has first hand experience of this resource. A talented, and respected artist, Ryker is also a jewelry creator who recently released the first of an anticipated new line of Second Life skins. A featured (SL & RL) Avatrait artist who has had feedback on her photography through her Second Life journey. Ryker has recently used the very popular outlets of Flickr and Plurk to her benefit as she created Eden, her first skin.

I managed to grab Ryker for a chat in her busy schedule to discuss her progression in Second Life and how valuable the other residents of Second Life have been to her advance into the skin making world.

How, when and why did Ryker first come to Second Life?

I originally began playing Second Life around November 2006. Ryker was born on February 22, 2007 (after I decided I really hated my initial SL name). I began playing the game when a real life friend mentioned it to me in passing. It got what I can only assume as the usual answer of, "What's that?" That led to Googling, Googling led to account creation and well... you know the drill. :P I had no idea the amount of content creation and artistic possibility that was in store when I first rezzed onto the grid. Now, I'm glad to be able to look back and see the things I've done, how the metaverse has changed, and how much more evolved everything and everyone has become.

Can you tell us a little about your Second Life achievements?

My achievements, hahaha. Hmm. Let's see. Well, I am first and foremost an artist and photographer, having started photography in SL in April 2007. I've been featured in Vain Inc Magazine as artist of the month, took third place in the Stiletto Moody photography contest, had a very successful exhibition at the Avatrait Gallery, was a participating artist at the real life exhibition "Renascimento Virtual" at the National Museum of Anthropology in Florence Italy, and have had pieces published in a real life book, "Avatrait: From Second Life to
Florence", among other mentions and achievements.

I began crafting jewelry in January 2008, and launched my first store on January 1st (formerly known as Beck's Fine Jewelry). Eventually, real life took over a bit, and I stopped releasing new products for several months until October 2008 brought the Jewelry Exhibition. It was then that I really kicked back into high gear, and created 10 all-new pieces of jewelry, and a one-of-a-kind set for the silent auction at the expo. It was at the expo that the brand "Genesis" was truly born.

I followed, with great excitement on Plurk as you shared the concept, and initial drawing of Eden, your first Second Life skin, can you tell us a little about the process that brought us, Eden?

Eden was a two year dream in the making. Ever since first rezzing on the grid, it was my ultimate ambition to make skins. I always thought that when I did, I could finally say, "Veni, vidi, vici," and be truly happy with where I had landed in my content creation ambitions. I can't even explain the excitement when I finally found the inspiration to sit down and start creating my first skin. Long, long days of hard work and burying myself in Photoshop and neglecting pretty much anything and everything. It was a single-minded, bee-lined track to the finish marker. The name Eden came from the theme I am maintaining with Genesis. Eden sort of just... "fit" as the first name for a skin from my brand, however it didn't hit me until about a week before release that that's what she just had to be named.

How valuable was the feedback from Plurk and Flickr to your process with the skin model?

Oh, the feedback from Plurk especially was invaluable. I was able to get a substantial pool of beta testers, honest and on the spot feedback, and a plethora of pictures of people wearing the skin so that I could see it on other shapes and pinpoint trouble spots. I received around 30 notecards of feedback and photos, many with very useful tips and pointers of what could be better and what was fantastic about the skin. It was from that giant pool of feedback that I made enhancements and adjustments to the beta skin, and thus Eden was born. She was in no way a single-minded project, and despite having made her, I can't take complete credit for her final state. There are opinions from about 50 total people resting on that skin. And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

What's the future for Ryker Beck's skins?

I am currently working on a new skin, Candace. She is a much more detailed, very catwalk-y skin that I aim to market more at the glamour model industry than I did with Eden, which was a much softer, girly skin. Candace is currently in the beta testing stages and should be released, hopefully, in early to mid May. I already have a plan for a third skin which will also be in the works soon, along with ideas that have been bounced off of me by my lovely and talented sister, Vernice Burks, to make a child skin. And of course, a male skin is in the future too.

For any would-be skin creators out there, can you share any tips you learned along the way?

Don't rush it. Go with your gut. Get feedback! It is the best tool in your arsenal. Invest in a good resource photo website meant for skin creation and 3d texturing work, unless you intend to fully hand draw your skins (or in my case, do both). And above all, find your niche... the quality that will set you apart from the rest. Never stop learning, always keep growing, and never give up. As Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Victory belongs to the most persevering."

*All images reposted with the kind permission of Ryker Beck*

From Tiny Empires, Great Fun Grows

2009-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Regular readers, or anyone who knows me, has probably figured out about me, I love a good game. Whether it's board games, consoles, facebook apps, or anything else, I adore emersing myself in many forms of time wasting virtual adventures or contests. Bearing this in mind, it should come as little surprise to anyone that when, some time ago, a friend of mine in SL gave me a game HUD trial of a game called Tiny Empires, I became engrossed in it, and soon got my friends playing too, spending a good deal of my time inworld on the scroll in the corner of my secondlife screen, keeping an eye out for land for sale, any potential subjects I could try to recruit, or trying to solve the puzzles that would hopefully reward me with more gold, so I could increase my land holdings, and hopefully move up to the next level in the monarchistic hierarchy.

Tiny Empires is a medieval-themed game, the full version retailing inworld at L$799, with the aim being to get more and more land and gold, and recruit other sl residents to be your loyal subjects whose land then contributes to your own count, helping boost your way up the social ladder. Having spent so much time, and had so much fun, with the game, I decided to hunt the creator, Ultralite Soleil, to have a chat with him about how the game came about:

Voodoo Buwan: So, how long have you been in SL, and what originally drew you inworld?
Ultralite Soleil: Let's see, I started in August 2006 because I read about SL on some techie website. Slashdot, perhaps. I didn't care about the shopping or the so-called adult activities, but I was fascinated to learn that you could build and script things, and retain ownership rights. I used to play MUDs where you could create things, and the idea of SL reminded me of that.I made a few things in sandboxes but nothing too interesting :)
Voodoo Buwan: So, how did Tiny Empires come into being?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, I was looking for something to do, and I noticed that the games in SL at the time were mostly like checkers, or bingo. I sort of wanted a game that I could play with other people, but I didn't want to have to be in the same sim with them. And I also have a background as a RL game developer (my former career). So I just started with a basic idea of a hierarchy game, and it sort of went from there. I got out of game development several years back, because it's a ridiculously insane industry, but the urge to make games is still strong.
Voodoo Buwan: How much of the project was your own baby, and how much help did you have from others inworld with the development?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, as my most loyal players would tell you, I'm a control freak :) I didn't have any help :)
Voodoo Buwan: So kept it all very much to your own vision?
Ultralite Soleil: Yes. Well, in the earliest part of development, I knew I wanted a hierarchical game that 1) could be played anywhere, 2) took advantage of all the people in SL, and 3) was extremely simple to play. But the specifics of the game environment took a while to settle. Of course it was launched as a medieval, feudalism style game, but early on I considered making it a corporate management, ladder-climbing simulation :) I had just left a company in RL that was a bureaucratic nightmare on the order of Brazil, so perhaps it was the hatred of that seeping out :) (Brazil the movie, heh)
Voodoo Buwan: How easy was getting word out in SL regarding the game, as it's definitely one of those that benefits from having a lot of people playing?
Ultralite Soleil: It was quite tough, which is true for any new product in SL. I advertised quite a bit, in-world and in the various websites. But after a few weeks there were just a few dozen players. Then I think it reached some kind of tipping point. The fishing community started to play, and that's when it really took off.They'd fish, and play Tiny Empires at the same time :) But in those first few weeks I almost packed it in, thinking I'd try a different game approach. This was in July 2007, btw
Voodoo Buwan: So perseverance and luck ruled the day?
Ultralite Soleil: More the latter, I'd say :)
Voodoo Buwan: You mentioned about advertising Tiny Empires. How difficult was funding for this, bearing in mind that, once you have the game, it's not exactly a money spinner in the same way games like Zyngo are?
Ultralite Soleil: Funding wasn't really an issue. I spent only my spare time developing it. And after launch, I deposited 10k lindens (I think) as my advertising budget. I don't think I used it up before the game finally took off. But personally, I don't like games with subscription models, so I didn't want to inflict that on my customers. Pay once, play forever. Of course, the add-ons aren't free :D Tiny Empires has one add-on, called Tiny Empires: Federation. It could be called an expansion pack. Basically it lets you do more things in the game.
Voodoo Buwan: How much of a factor is financial success in your assessment of the success of Tiny Empires?
Ultralite Soleil: For me, I'm just blown away by how INTO it people are. That's the biggest factor for me. There are websites about the game, entire sims devoted to the TE theme. There have been RL marriages between people who met through playing the game. For some reason, it seems to bring people together into big families, which is much more fulfilling to me than the L$ it brings in.
Voodoo Buwan: So, what should the residents of SL be expecting from you next? Any upcoming projects you can let us in on?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, I recently (March 10) released Tiny Empires 3000, which is a sort of sequel to Tiny Empires. You play as a space-based merchant, 1000 years in the future, building your spacefleet, and cultivating colonies after a devastating galactic rebellion. It is a game similar in structure to Tiny Empires, but has quite a different feel, as its players will tell you. I'm currently working on an add-on to Tiny Empires 3000, as well as constant improvements to both TE and TE:Federation.
Voodoo Buwan: And finally, do you have any advice you would give to developers thinking about following in your footsteps?
Ultralite Soleil: Hmm, I'd say, start simple. Many new games I see are complicated, over-architected frameworks that are daunting to a new player. Make a basic, simple game, and then introduce complexities as the player advances. One last thing: Tiny Empires is really a simple game, even for high level players. The thing that makes it complex (and interesting) is the people. So a game developer should keep in mind the human element when designing social games. That's it, really.

SL Essentials for..... Weapons Enthusiasts

2009-04-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

Considered by some to be an essential for personal security, and by others as a hard-edged fashion statement, very few people can claim weapons evoke no emotion, even if they aren’t a hardened Role Player or fashionista. Simple truth is in this your second existence a large proportion of us own at least one weapon for whatever reason. Role Players must be armed suitably to handle any situation they face and likewise many fashion icons have toyed with the use of weapons, especially guns. “Girls with Guns” have quite an avid following, in both lives, by both sexes.

In this my essential list of some of the superior weapon manufacturers in Second Life, I will cover places to purchase your firearms or if you have a penchant for steel, a fine blade.

First on my tour is Breach. Breach is a popular creator of replica firearms for your virtual life. A small, yet succinct range of guns await you here all meticulously created with the vision to improve combat in Second Life. From the timeless classics of the 1911s and Eagles through the heavier powered Sawedoff Shotguns, Submachine Uziels, M5’s and MP7’s to the precision of the sniper rifle; Breach have it well covered, and their popular following is proof of the fact. Breach’s mission statement claims “…on par with normal first person shooters. We concentrate on "look and feel" and customisation instead of providing a hundred different types of bullets.”

Heading over from Breach, also on Overdrive Island, you arrive at the doors of C-Tech.

With a small selection of guns, only 4 in-fact, C-Tech provides an AK-47, Pulse Rifle, Mach 10 and quite possibly my favourite Second Life handgun the MK4 (Redemption Pistols). What C-Tech lacks in number it more than makes up in attention to detail and as well as this small range of weaponry, you can also purchase full body armour and aircraft that wouldn’t look out of place in the popular Wipeout games.

Leaving the two shops on Overdrive Island behind the next essential choice for a Second Life arsenal would be Black Ops.

Upon arrival at the Black Ops main store it’s plainly obvious you are at a fully-fledged military outfitter and in fact the store takes the form of an outpost in style. Various vendors await your arrival which are helpfully split into easy to use categories where you can select between the pistols, machine guns, assault weapons and snipers. Black Ops has the biggest selection of guns of the three places I visited on this tour. Ranging from standard issue Beretta M9’s to RPG-7 Rocket Launchers. Other vendors are in place offering armour and uniforms including replica armed forces uniforms. One major advantage which Black Ops has over the other stores featured is that it has it’s own firing range. You are welcome to go to the range and test your weapons out, provided you can abide by the few rules they have in place.

If firepower isn’t for you and you wish to recreate some epic moves with the shiniest and sharpest blades you can find you mustn’t miss out on Samurai Island – House of Blade Mall.

A vast array of shops awaits you here in a beautifully created, themed sim. From blades to Kimonos and other outfits this sim has it all. As well as a shopping destination and a visual delight, this island also has a growing and popular community complete with combat areas. Contained within one of the larger structures here are a few blade specialists. On my list for here is Musashi Blades. I am the proud owner of some blades from Mushashi and can report the quality of these weapons is unmistakable. With various outfits and 6 diverse Katanas on offer, at Mushashi you won’t be stuck for choice. As well as the high quality of these blades they also have arguably the best packaging I’ve ever seen. Each blade opening in it’s own unique way which is quite compelling. I have recorded a short video of the Sizuka naru Shi Blades, which I own; you must see it to believe it!

Leaving Samurai Island behind I pop over to Hanzo Blades.

Hanzo is a sizeably growing popular collection of Samurai outfits and armour. Coupled with the work from DirtyLynx, Hanzo offers eleven blades currently and numerous outfits and armour parts. Interestingly Hanzo also offers a full permission Katana, complete with scripts, for you to create your own custom blade. Most certainly not a shop to be missed if you seek Samurai.

The last place on my little whirlwind tour is TalTECH Weapons. TalTECH is a massive vendor location for pretty much any weapon you can find in Second Life. There are quite literally hundreds of vendors on location here. Featuring the likes of Omega Concern, aubreTEC, Galiko and some of those featured in my list above. Personally I prefer visiting the main stores where you can obtain more information generally, but this vendor location is a very good place to start your search for any Second Life weaponry. TalTECH also have firing ranges available to be used and even bought. So if you find your addiction to weapons in Second Life grows you can furnish your own land with an arena.

So, if you seek some protection, or accessories for your virtual life the places above are essentials not to be missed on your mission. Your mission (should you chose to accept it) is to use the list above to match yourself with your perfect Second Life weapon.

*** Please bear in mind that weapons support different systems for combat. Please be aware and check these details prior to any purchases.

SL Essentials for..... Comic Fanboys

2009-03-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

The subject of Superhero Comics and MMO's is currently big news, with comic fans eagerly awaiting the upcoming release of DC Universe Online and the recent announcement that Marvel are planning to try again to get a some multiplayer online goodness flowing, now that they have struck up a new partnership with games company Gazillion. With all of this in mind, I decided to have a search around the grid to find the must see places that any wanabee superhero really should check out.

There are several superhero roleplay areas in SL, but one of the most popular and most established is Gotham City, a condensed version of the crime riddled home of everyone's favourite dark knight, Batman. The sim features many of the landmarks you would expect, from a suitably creepy Arkham Asylum, to the impressive Wayne Tower. The roleplay is very loose, with not much in the way of structured story, with the sim more dedicated to action and combat, utilising the DCS2 Combat system. So, if you're looking for a ruck, you can throw on your tights, and head on over.

For those who prefer their Superheroes a little more cosmic, you can check out Beta Quadrant, a Green Lantern themed RP sim. With some truly stellar builds, the sim is constructed over several levels, with giant power batteries, Guardian's council, and also some battle spaces, with automated laser firing robots for you to duke it out with. While there, you can apply to join the GL Core, a fan group that has grown to also live up to their namesakes, patrolling SL, fighting crimes like griefing, helping noobs in need of guidance, and even raising money for charity. You can applications to join up at the Beta Quadrant sim itself.

Marvel based roleplaying areas are unfortunately a little more hard to come by, although currently under construction is an area titled X-Men Armageddon Aftermath. This place promises to be very much concentrating on story lead rp, themed within a world when the evil mutant Apocalypse has taken over, and Professor X is gathering together the scattered mutants, to fight back. Many of the roles of the established characters have already been taken, but contact Niklaus Cuttita if you wish to get involved, being in mind that they only want people who can fight and RP, and they can then organise a role for you, either of an existing Marvel Character, or one of your own creation.

For those looking to do a little shopping, the mall at Aftermath 2 has got a lot on offer, with branches of some of SL's most reputed superhero costume makers, and hero themed gadget creators (I found some particularly good Green Lantern rings there which can shoot, sheild, and create coloured objects, and with the current war of light going on in the comics, you can find the Sinestro, Star Sapphire, Red, Blue, Orange and Violet rings on offer). Once you have shopped til you drop, you can then check out the builds of the Daily Planet building or the Hall of Justice, or maybe cause mischief by shooting down some of the sci-fi flying cars zooming around.

Of course, if you want to show your love of caped crusaders, while still keeping and element of fun and cuteness to your look, you are gonna LOVE these Tiny ChibiBat and ChibiCat avatars available from United Dealerz

Of course, you might be looking to fill some gaps in your collection, but can't tear yourself away from the fun you're having inworld long enough to get down the comic shop. In which case, fear not as the BBR Comic Shop has come to your aid, touting themselves as "the 1st fully functioning comic shop in Second Life." You can order your comics from the store by clicking the book you want, which will then take you to their website, and they will then ship your titles to your RL door. Just another reason to never leave the house then!

And finally, I would be remiss to do any piece for comic fans without mentioning the comic writer who got me into SL in the first place, all that time ago. Warren Ellis, writer on Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Astonishing X-Men, Anna Mercury, Freakangels and many more titles besides, has been known to spend a fair amount of time in SL, even writing about the subject for the Reuters website. Inworld he goes under the name Integral Danton, and has a home base in the Wastelands. If you are a fan, you can also join his inworld group, the Army of Filth to keep up to date on the latest news on the Internet Jesus, and also to pick up some very cool Warren Ellis themed freebies from time to time.

Excelsior! (sorry, always wanted to say that)

Trin & Voo Discuss: Grid Merge

2009-02-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

Voodoo Buwan: Time in Secondlife can be charted on a scale of landmark changes that rock the grid. From the ban on gambling to age verification to the clampdown on in-world banking, these are the things that send shockwaves through our virtual world, and if the hysteria is to be believed, threaten to almost end Secondlife. The latest of these spawns from an announcement by Phillip Rosedale that there is a dedicated plan within Linden Labs to do away with the Second Life Teen Grid, and cast the doors of main Secondlife open for our teenage brethren to come and join us. Trin and I have decided that this is a suitably dangerous topic that we should cast our knowledgeable eyes over this, and consider what the impact of this imminent change could well be.

Trinity Dechou: Well of course this is a concept that many people have mused over for a while, and has been mentioned in passing by M Linden himself. The interview with Philip on Metanomics did of course send a rather large ripple of fear through the residents of Second Life and many issues, observations and foreseeable problems have been sited. I think firstly this would be the affect of having minors in a world dominated by mature adult content.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, exactly. I've recently been having a look around the grid to find film related sims, and if you've ever tried to do a classified search for "movies" then you will know that there is a great deal that is not suitable for minors in this world of ours. And for those that think that filtering out mature content will save you from finding listings for voice escorts popping up in front of you, then you would find that you are quite mistaken.

Trinity Dechou: Well I think this whole issue raises a couple of important questions, the first of course being what is exactly mature? In a world where LL allow a massive amount of free reign no one will step up and define what is PG and what is Mature. I'm sure many of us remember such issues as the 'nipplegate' fiasco at Burning Life 2007 for example.

Voodoo Buwan: That was the situation where at one of SL's biggest annual art events, one sculptors’ piece was in threat of being removed from the festival, as it featured a topless lady, and the feeling from the Lindens was that a female statue with nipples was too racy to be placed on a PG sim?

Trinity Dechou: Yes and of course, in its usual nature art raises such an interesting and fraught topic. As an art gallery owner what is acceptable for me to show in a PG sim and what isn't. It's very much down to personal preference in relation to art. We all have differing views and as art gallery owners (for example) there is a minefield of a topic. What about other residents and business owners?

Voodoo Buwan: Well, I think one larger point on that whole scandal, and I think it's a big point when it comes to the proposed merge, is that actually the main reason people were so shocked by LL's decision to enforce rules about what is and isn't acceptable in a PG sim, is that only ever do seem to enforce these rules at such high profile events, such as Burning Life or the SL Birthday Celebrations.

Trinity Dechou: LL enforce exceptionally strict background checks on adults merging into TeenSL as it stands, I wonder what has changed within Linden Lab to drop those floodgates and bring teens into Second Life, when as you've said they seem blatantly uninterested in policing everyday life for us all.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, the initial principle, as it was put across seems sound. Phil was talking about the fact that there are so many great educational opportunities in SecondLife, but as the system currently stands, a teacher and their students would not be able to be on the same grid, enjoying it. Now, I'm a great believer in "thou shalt not think that every single man over 30 who talks to a kid is a pedophile, some people are just nice" (to quote Scroobius Pip), but for some years now the main grid has been an adults only zone, and as with almost any adult's only social space on the net, people have used this, not exclusively, but definitely to a great extent, to explore and experiment with their sexuality, and basically bonk their virtual little bums off. Just because Phil has a love of the educational uses of SL, and delights in exploring these personally, does not mean that the whore houses, strip clubs and porno theatres disappear.

Trinity Dechou: Exactly, but it comes across that sometimes Lindens don't appear to realise what is in our world. For example one of the most highly controversial RP setups within SL is age play and mixing an age play environment with adults playing children and children coming across as adults is quite frankly, an exceptionally worrying thought. As things stand in the SL we all know and love, there are some things that no minor (and many adults) should not see but can be found as a neighbour to the sweetest, educationally friendly establishment you will find.
Voodoo Buwan: I suppose one of the biggest worries seems to be that Linden Labs will just shut down the Teen Grid, open the gates, and say come on in to the kids. And as you say, even if precautions are taken to make sure that, for example, a teen can only step onto a PG sim, the way that the grids have been organised means that some PG sims on the mainland are surrounded by Mature sims, so that as soon as the SL teen learns how to cam into the sim next door, they may well get entirely the wrong kind of education.
On top of this, we can step back to our point about the fact that even on PG sims, there might well be things that are not suitable. I recently, while again researching a story, ended up on the sim for US television company Cinemax. They were promoting a new show, which is shown as part of their after dark lineup, and you can view the first episode on a big screen in the middle of the town square. About 3 minutes into this episode, there is a soft-core scene of a couple making love on a piano, where the woman is visibly naked. I then spotted that this was in fact a PG sim.

Trinity Dechou: Which brings in another very interesting thought I looked into while doing a bit of research into this discussion. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is in place to rate many of the games we, and our children play. Similar to television shows, games can also have ratings, will we in the future see Linden Lab apply for a rating under this scheme and if so what will it be given? Under ERSB there are a few ratings including Teen, Mature and Adults Only. Games like Doom fall into Mature and of course controversially many Grand Theft Auto games fell into Adult Only. The guidelines in place give ideas for how ratings are applied. Themes such as animated blood, violence, simulated alcohol, smoking, crude humor, sexual content, gambling and language (which are apparent in the vast majority of sims in Second Life) all contribute to a high age rating for a game. If Second Life as it stands right now cannot be granted a Teen rating and it is something that Linden Lab still want to pursue then realistically we're brought back to the ineptitude to police our world. As sim owners we are not here to police ourselves and our sims, we are not here to decide what is mature and what isn't, right down to things like having voice enabled and even streams playing potentially risqué music. We are also not in place to be parents for the teens invited into Second Life because of a tunnel vision goal to educate whilst ignoring the rest of the world that would need restrained and/ or policed.

Voodoo Buwan: I think one thing that has become painfully evident, and my recent article about inworld gambling highlighted this, is that Linden Labs is, let's face facts, a software company. The Lindens are pretty much without exception, either programmers, developers, or Public Relations or Customer Services representatives. They are neither lawyers or policemen, and therefore do not have the manpower, skill sets or possibly even inclination to patrol such a vast space that the Secondlife grid has become, investigating what someone may or may not have put on their land, or what they are saying, doing or watching inworld. Which again leads us back to how they are going to deal with the integration of underage residents into what has become a largely adult orientated society.

Trinity Dechou: We've all been made aware of age verification and of course this is a subject I have also covered in a previous Rez article. Age verification was the hip new thing that would clean our world up, it however seems to have died a death and hasn't been implemented to the extent that Linden Lab made us believe it would. Will now be the time for LL to panic and hit the big red 'verify' button in a hope that it cures these woes. Of course verification is certainly far from a perfect strong defense for these issues.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, this is the thing. Age verification was introduced as something that land owners could turn on to restrict access of users, and keep unverified people out of sexually explicit areas. The reason it hasn't taken off is that most of these sexually explicit areas, for example places like webcam island, are in actuality businesses, and it doesn't really make massive sense for businesses to actively try to cut down the amount of people entering, especially when so many people didn't want to age verify for logical reasons such as US companies having such a lousy track record for keeping personal information securely. And, as we've discussed, even if now Linden Labs said that if your area is sex related, you MUST make the land age verified, we still end up with the issues of (a) what would be deemed as explicit and therefore age verification necessary, and (b) would anyone even notice if somewhere that was specifically designed as a sex area wasn't using the system, since no one appears to be patrolling the grid to enforce these rules?

Trinity Dechou: With this proposal being such an obvious minefield with the points we have already discussed, why do we actually think Linden Lab decided this would be a good move in the first place?

Voodoo Buwan: Well, the educational justification alone doesn't hold enough water to balance out this, and Linden Labs simply cannot have been naive enough to not have seen at least some of the potential issues above. Some people have been suggesting that with the current global economic crisis, that the grid merger would have two advantages for LL. One being that the cost of maintaining two grids is simply not cost effective, and that this would allow them to lower their costs, protecting LL as a company in this time of recession. The other is that the influx of teens to the main grid would be an added source of revenue to the main grid economy, meaning that any downturn in inworld spending in the main grid, caused by residents having to tighten their belts, could be cushioned by kids with plenty of disposable income to fritter away.

Trinity Dechou: It is suggested by many that many children have more disposable 'incomes' than adults in fact and that this can, as Voodoo suggests, boost the economy. Many TSL residents are known in TSL as excellent content creators and can also therefore boost the ranges of products/ services on offer in our Main Grid. Another potential reason for Linden Labs decision could be related to the RL news media networks we all love to hate when it comes to SL. According to many in these networks SL is filled with lunatics and pedophiles. Perhaps this move on Linden Labs behalf is, at least in part, an act to 'clean up their image' in the face of RL adversity. However if this is the case, then as above we've shown it could catastrophically backfire on them. One main reaction which has been apparent is many adults saying that teens are already in the main grid and that in fact many teens are actually more adult than many adults here. I must say that saying 'they're already here' is a frankly weak arguement. Because these children have broken the rules already it does is not acceptable to lay down and say, "oh fine then". It is not acceptable as an arguement to say that children in many cases are more mature than many adults here. There will remain at risk children and these are the children that should be protected, however who will be responsible to protect them? I am not a parent in RL and I certainly don't want to become one in SL.

Voodoo Buwan: I suppose the point with that is that, since the kids are here, at least if we make it official, then it can be more regulated. But then, that assumes that someone will be regulating, and apart from age verification, how will you really be able to discriminate between the teens who say they are teens, and those who still choose to be seen as adults. It's a fairly unique problem to sl really, as the other games you mentioned earlier with their ratings have the regulation all at point of sale. If a 14 year old gets onto Call of Duty on XBox Live, it's because a retailer sold it for them when they shouldn't have, or because an adult bought it for them when they shouldn't. Microsoft and Activision don't have to regulate this, because the regulation is done at the store level. Since SL is free to enter via online registration, it has left itself open to these kinds of headaches.

Trinity Dechou: As we have seen from the past, Linden Lab make a stance, take an angle and follow it through. This merge WILL come to Second Life, we do not know exactly when, but we know it is no longer an 'if' situation. The changes that should be adhered to for this to be effective would completely change our Second Life; Your World Your Imagination would become Your World, Our Governance.

Voodoo Buwan: Or alternatively, if Linden Labs mismanage this and don't regulate the merger properly, they potentially put us all on a road that could mean that simply by being second life users we could be branded as corrupters of the innocent, or worse, and Second life would end either by a government stepping in to force it's closure, or due to the fact that residents would leave in droves, fearing that they could end up on a register.

This has been a highly controversial decision by Linden Lab, Voodoo & I have outlined our fears for this change to Second Life. We would invite you, if you feel so inclined, to leave comments with your worries and observations, and if you feel strongly enough, please remember to voice your concerns to a Linden Labs representative. At this point, it can’t hurt.

Pimp my Prims

2009-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

For those of us with motor oil in our systems instead of standard blood, Second Life is a wondrous place to discover the petrol head in us all. The array of bikes and cars in Second Life is of course staggering, but from my own personal preference (and collection) AM Pro Rides has got to be pole position for the top detailed, true to life representation of vehicles in this virtual world.

With each new release, Abacus Mimistrobell (CEO of AM Pro) seems to slipstream into the creation of these vehicles. One of the latest releases is the 1964 AM Pro Impala which amassed over 220 hours of garage floor work and is arguably one of the most talked about cars in SL. Standing with 688 prims, it's certainly no lightweight, but upon closer inspection you see just where these prims went, and more importantly why they went there.

I managed to grab a very busy Abacus Mimistrobell to discuss his business and his passion for racing in SL.

Trinity Dechou: Did you have any 3D modeling experience before you joined SL?
Abacus Mimistrobell: Nope none actually went to school for ecommerce business.

Trinity Dechou: Have you experience in RL of cars and if so how has it helped you in SL?
Abacus Mimistrobell: Well since I was eight years old up until I was about 18 I worked in my fathers automotive shop where we specialized in technical diagnostic equipment and tuning high performance cars.

Trinity Dechou: The cars you make in SL are RL cars, can you tell me how you get the information
Abacus Mimistrobell: In order to build the ones I have I get as many pics as I can of the RL models and for all the little tidbits I cant see I assume based on my automotive history, so more or less build with no blue prints just assumed dimensions, based off images.

Trinity Dechou: You are heavily involved in racing in SL; can you tell me a bit about that?
Abacus Mimistrobell: Since the time I was only a few months in SL I noticed there were some racing leagues beginning to form and decided to join a team. After going through a 3 month season I had already begun to build my automotive company so generally going into the next season, it was a no brainier to get myself my own team.

Trinity Dechou: Where do you usually race?
Abacus Mimistrobell: I race in a league called RaceSL, which is in my personal experience SL's premier race league. We do rotating seasons of moto style races ... to formula one style races to make for a more individual team event type of racing. The formula one-style races work, as a manufactures series in the way that each team is given certain specifications and guidelines in building their own F1 model which are then retrofitted with the same scripts. It has been a passion of mine since I got into it as it give me an escape form building all the time and at the same time allows me to sink my teeth into all aspects of SL's ever expanding auto industry. We have 4 dedicated sims that host our tracks, which are all track, no buildings or laggy shops with vendors. The series also allows me to pay drivers and gain greater talent, which in turn allows me to seek sponsors that I wish to promote. I personally have been working with the creator Les white to figure out new ways to make the series that much more rich in its context by adding depth of business.

Trinity Dechou: You recently opened your sim, so business is going well? Did you expect it too?
Abacus Mimistrobell: Business is definitely better hen it ever has been but I have also been preparing for a very large new release of vehicles that have yet to be announced … but always with the dawn of new releases comes the prospect of new market growth and saturation. With that come new customers, so I am always looking ahead for expansion. The production side of these kinds of vehicles with the kinds of marketing initiatives I pursue are definitely a huge undertaking so it boils down to quality over quantity for my company.

Trinity Dechou: Do you have any building contributors?
Abacus Mimistrobell: In the past my cars were solely "built and produced” by myself ... I have always hired out the work of scripting animating and particles to other more seasoned professionals for the fact that I know to produce the best possible product I can’t always assume myself the best in every category but recently I have come to enlist the skills of 2 extremely talented sculptors in order to expand the range of cars possible to my line as most forms of cars and bikes are not possible with prims alone. Even in doing this I have still stayed true to myself and not made only sculpted cars but a combination of sculpt and high prim that I truly believe still defines my creations as supremely detailed. With that said, my passion for the building and business sides of this endeavor have not much faltered ... I still do at least 50% of the building myself… now that I’ve become more proficient in texturing I also do more of that and a few other things ... even though the production and back end of the business side of things will always be undertaken by myself. So its a lot of work to produce exactly what I want but at the end of the day I’m very proud of the work my "team" accomplishes and the fact that they have piece of mind knowing that every thing they help me do they receive full accreditation on… as well as knowing my customers are always taken care of personally.

Trinity Dechou: Any clues as to future releases?
Abacus Mimistrobell: As to future releases there are many! I’ve yet to officially release which ones I’m doing b/c as I’ve learned so far that until its about to hit the show room floor keep your mouth shut especially if things about it are up in the air. For example, the build of my last car the 1964 AM Pro Impala was done in only about a week so as a teaser I put it in my showroom so people would see it. Well, my scripter Les White and I went off on a bit of a tangent to make it so totally rich with content including 120 hours of scripting 20 hours of build revising and another 80 hours of custom animating done by bits and bobs designer Yawneeb Grommet … that the car took 4 months to release. So long story short I was getting around 5 -10 IM's a day about the release of this car for about 3 straight months.

AM Pro Rides: http://slurl.com/secondlife/AM%20PRO/53/128/41
Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/786265@N25/
XstreetSL: http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=57165

Pics 1-3 all used with Abacus Mimistrobell's kind permission.
Last Pic taken by Trinity Dechou

A merchant's view: SLX, OnRez and the alternatives

2009-01-21T13:23:00.000-08:00

In a world where we all see different angles and perspectives I have invited Peter Stindberg, owner of Babel Translations (Second Life’s premier translation company), co-owner of GREENE Concept sculpt furniture and also the business analyst for ~flirt~ fine jewellery, to give us his take on these events. -- Trinity Dechou

At the time of writing of this article, I have 150 items listed both on OnRez and XStreet SL, spread among 3 companies I own or am involved with. Those items generated a 5-digit revenue during the time they were listed and therefore selling on OnRez/SLX (as I still am inclined to call them) is a not-to-be neglected part of my business endeavours. One of the businesses I am involved in does not offer transferable items, so we officially encourage users to use one of the web portals to gift someone with our creations. Some merchants report that OnRez performed better for them, some merchants reported that XStreet SL provided better results - for my businesses both performed more or less the same.

Using OnRez and XStreet SL as a merchant

One of the biggest problems using the web services however is creating the listings. Dropping the items into the dropboxes provided by both seems easy enough, but the task of making the product description and web listing is immense. I would not call either web backend ideal, but the OnRez backend is way more advanced compared to the SLX backend. With the OnRez backend, you can easily bulk-edit product listings and the use of AJAX technology allows for parallel image upload. The dropboxes themselves try to detect duplicates, which is meant well but if you offer two versions of a product with different permissions, you need to use two dropboxes - that took us some time and a support call to find out. The only real downside I found in the OnRez system was that offering an updated version of a product requires you to make a completely new product listing. Last but not least, OnRez did not charge commission from merchants, and their advertising options were not only lower priced but also ran twice the time of the comparable Xstreet SL offerings.

The Xstreet SL interface on the other hand looks a bit outdated. Bulk editing items is not really possible, but at least you can adust some parameters on an overview page. Managing large amounts of items was really a stressful task - the implementation of the "templates" a while ago was a little remedy. Still doing mass-listings on SLX requires some planning to make it halfway managable. Mass edits on SLX are a task you really don't want to do... Updating an item on SLX wiht a newer version is pretty simple though, as you only need to select the new item from a drop down list in an existing listing.

Both platforms miss a tool to cross reference listings (for example multiple pieces of a jewellery set) - it's a tedious process to first publish the individual listings, then copy all their listing URL'S, and then going back into the individual listings and add the cross references.

From a merchants point of view my hope is that Linden Lab will incorporate the best features of both platforms, so that listing items will be a less time and work consuming process. From a shoppers perspective there is in fact not much difference between the portals - OnRez looks nicer but is rather slow, Xstreet SL looks more homegrown but has more merchants and the site is much faster despite OnRez using Akamai global caching services.

My wish list for Linden Lab would be:

Create powerful bulk-editing tools, so that listing and editing of multiple items gets easier
Eliminate the need for users to sign up or verify with XStreet SL
Improve the transaction download or...
... splice the XStreet SL transactions into the regular transaction history of SL
Link the L$ balances in-world and on SLX
Make uploaded textures on SLX available in-world, and make in-world textures available for web-based product listings on SLX (yes, you can keep your 10 L$ fee for that)
Maybe think of ways to tie classified listings into the process

From a business person's point of view I am not too happy about this turn of events. The reason behind this is most likely the wish of LL to control the largest 3rd party currency exchange and - as speculated in the SL Herald - to offer inventory "transfer" options across several grids - which goes in fact hand in hand with the announced plans of XStreet SL mid last year to expand into other grids as well. However, buying OnRez and SLX borders to a monopoly, and I firmly believe that monopolies are bad. So what are the alternatives?

The alternatives

First player that comes to mind is Apez.biz - a web portal you probably have never heard of, but which in fact is older than XStreet SL (which started in December 2005). Apez offers a wide range of services and their website is quite confusing, but in fact the timing could not be better for them as I got word from Apez that a relaunch is imminent. Submitting items to Apez reminds a little bit of submitting items to a HippoVend server. The backend process could be streamlined a lot, but the technology is all there and in place. With over 15,000 registered merchants Apez.biz is in fact about twice the size of OnRez, but it seems their PR got neglected a bit in the past as they are not very well known. However their web backend offers many useful features, for example maintaining several virtual accounts (e.g. "personal", "business A", "business B", "alt") or the ability to send L$ from your own account(s) to any avatar in world - a feature I had missed dearly in the past. What is even more important is that via the apezAPI, a merchant can incorporate their own personalized webshop on their own website, and by this offer offline-selling right from the branded website.

I did not have many items listed on Apez, but those I had sold steadily. I shunned the work of listing 150 items on a third portal, but this work seems now to be much more well invested. A merchant who does not want to keep all their eggs in one basket is well advised to take a closer look at Apez, and in fact, during the time I was writing this article the number of merchands on Apez.biz jumped by over 30.

Some number crunching on the official merchant directories of XStreet SL and OnRez - courtesy of Rika Watanabe - provides some astonishing results. In public, it is always speculated that SLX is much larger than OnRez. And with 16,683 merchants featuring 705,252 products - an average of 42 products per merchant - this is truly an impressive size. In contrast, OnRez features 8,718 merchants with 337,427 products and an average of 39 products per merchant - so more or less exactly half the size in merchants and products, but the merchants on OnRez seem to be more the "power merchants". The picture gets complete if you look at Apez.biz, which features 15,934 merchants - almost as much as SLX has - but only lists about 100,000 products, equalling a meager 6 products per merchant.

But maybe competition might arise from a sector that is on nobodies radar - from one of the large vending system manufacturers in SL. I recently spent a lot of time adopting the HippoVend system from UK based Hippo Technologies. The process of filling the vendors and managing product listings on a web backend is very similar to the process required for the web portals. Since Hippo Technologies system is used by a large number of merchants in SL, an open web frontend offering the items of countless HippoVend systems would start with a massive number of objects. Andy Enfield was kind enough to answer to this suggestion on my behalf, but - for now - his answer is little encouraging:

"The purchase by Linden Labs of both OnRez and XStreetSL leaves a huge gap for a potential competitor to come into the market. Web stores are something I've stayed away from, not wanting the headache of dealing with running the financial services required, but it'll be interesting to see if some new company emerges into the potential gap. Collaboration may be the way to go --- it might be interesting to see what would happen if a new web store partnered with an existing vendor maker (either Hippo (one of the Grid's most popular) or any other) to marry inworld and offworld merchant services."

Tapping into the thousands of merchants and the millions of products being offered in Hippo vendors should be an attractive asset. I really look forward if this open invitation by Hippo Technologies gets taken up by someone.

Conclusion

So what is the bottom line? For the time being, I think it wll be business as usual. Most serious merchants are represented on XStreet SL anyways - so nothing changes for them unless Linden Lab changes the way in which XStreet SL works drastically. And I doubt they will. Currency traders, for which SLX was an "insider's tip" in the past, will focus on other 3rd party exchanges trying to get a better deal there. The Electric Sheep Company who operated OnRez was rumoured to abandon SL for quite some time. Of the merchants who were on OnRez but not on SLX, a portion will transfer, and another portion will use the opportunity to stop web sales altogether. For shoppers, not much will change - there might be slight improvements down the road like syncing the user databases so you automatically have an account on XStreet. For merchants, most likely all will stay the same, but ther eis potential for improvement. For market sanity however I hope a new competitor will arise, and my money is on Apez.biz. And therefore my encouragement goes to the readers - merchants and shoppers alike - to sign up with Apez since a market (any market) needs competition.

Opinion: Acquisition of Xstreet SL and Onrez by Linden Lab

2009-01-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

A very controversial and hot topic at the moment is the Linden Lab acquisition of Xstreet SL and OnRez. Arguably I think that this manoeuvre by the owners of Second Life could prove to either be on of the best (or worst) things they have done.

Apotheus Silverman the owner of Xstreet SL, along with 8 members of his staff, will be employed directly by Linden Lab to integrate the Xstreet platform into Second Life. On February 11th trading on OnRez (originally developed and maintained by The Electric Sheep Company) will cease and the site will close. All OnRez only merchants are urged to create Xstreet accounts asap to make the changeover as easy as possible.

With approximately 120,000 avatars registered on Xstreet SL (formerly SL Exchange) and an undisclosed (yet considered smaller) number of OnRez users this move affects the majority of Second Life merchants and web shoppers.

All of the preceding information is fact. From here on in, the facts are mixed with my opinion, as a Second Life/ Xstreet SL/ OnRez shopper.

One of the most common complaints about this development is the stronghold monopoly situation that LL now appears to have. I don’t personally subscribe to this opinion, as Linden Lab did not have (until now) any web based merchant system in place. Encompassing the largest sites under their wing is a sound move by Linden Lab, to offer web based shopping (which we know as a popular alternative method to teleporting and visiting shops). Indication stands that OnRez would be closing in February as The Electric Sheep company continues to withdraw it’s prescence in Second Life, therefore for the purposes of the monopoly analysis, OnRez should be therefore discounted. Alternatives are in place for those who don’t want to use the integrated machine that Linden Lab will no doubt build. On the shopping side, smaller popular sites like apez.biz should be able to capitalise on being a truly independent site. Predicting a new ‘all worlds’ merchant site isn’t too far fetched either, considering XStreet SL themselves investigated coverage of other worlds, and one would certainly think if there was a ‘good’ time to launch it, that time would be now. Lastly, the forums on Xstreet have quite an avid following, I would expect them to become a casualty of this buyout since their independence is lost, however sites like SLUniverse should bear witness to a rejuvenation of their forums.

Speculation surrounding Xstreet SL of late has been that the site was troubled. With falling sales and commissions the site was deemed, by many, to be in trouble. Perhaps these rumours had more weight than many of us thought. If Xstreet SL had collapsed it would have caused a cataclysmic wave in the economy of Second Life. If this conjecture is true, Linden Lab may have stepped in to stop this from happening.

Xstreet SL, and OnRez were well known and respected institutions in-world, with good coverage on many sims with terminals, and box hosting sites popping up left, right and centre. One institution with more coverage than these two companies put together has to be of course Linden Lab. Once the initial furore has calmed, providing Linden Lab put the necessary resources behind Xstreet SL, this site with the in-world backup could increase users, items and ease of use immensely.

Talking about ease of use, I perceive the biggest advantage of this development as being the potential to streamline the systems. One problem many ‘high users’ had with this site was the time it took to list items online. With a Linden Lab incorporated Xstreet SL, merchants, may, find selling their items get easier. Currently deliveries depend on the blackbox/dropbox systems, which of course rely on the hosting sims of these boxes being online and responsive. With the potential for streamlining and direct inventory transfers the future of these sales is an interesting and greatly anticipated one. It’s also been cited on the SL Blog, that the potential for sharable wish lists and, I’m sure popular, scheduled deliveries are amongst some of the possibilities for future innovation.

It would be business suicide for merchants listed on these sites to leave, therefore without a mass exodus; everyone will sit back and watch the developments unfold with great interest. One of the biggest areas to watch will be the future of Xstreet’s own Linden Currency Exchange, although Linden Lab promised nothing will happen to this until they watch the intricacies of this system in the coming months, I suspect this will be the biggest casualty of this buyout.

This of course is my personal opinion about this matter, it is based from facts, but the opinions formed are mine. In a world where we all see different angles and perspectives I have invited Peter Stindberg, owner of Babel Translations (Second Life’s premier translation company), co-owner of GREENE Concept sculpt furniture and also the business analyst for ~flirt~ fine jewellery, to give us his take on these events. (A merchant's view: SLX, OnRez and the alternatives)

Baked Avatar Anyone?

2009-01-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly one of the most common complaints on the Second Life JIRA is the ability to have a separate body art/ tattoo layer. Of course this is not the only JIRA request regarding clothing layers on avatars. However, recently at Nyx Linden’s office hour, information was released that could dramatically change the way we wear our clothes.

Currently the clothes we wear are baked together and uploaded as six textures (head, eyes, hair, upper body, lower body, and skirt) to the servers, from where our friends and fellow residents download them to render our appearance. As well as this being done, a fail-safe has been in place, which also downloads from the server the separate layers, in case a baked texture is not available (this is why editing appearance can help you bake for other residents). Obviously downloading the unbaked layer textures, which are rarely used, is a demanding resource hog. However Nyx and BigPapi Linden are implementing changes to address this. In the future, hoped for release in RC 1.23, when you change your outfit, your client will bake one complete version of that entire outfit (including skin) which viewers will download only instead of that and the individual layers, as it does now.

Not only will this improve the speed at which you download clothing textures, as layers won’t be downloaded as well, it will also open the door for major future developments. You will be in control of how your avatar looks and in the future you will potentially be able to wear anything you want in a tiered manner. At the moment, if you wear tattoo’s on your ‘under’ layers you can’t wear actual underwear. Once the baking developments have been implemented and completed with a rollover period for older clients, you should be able to wear clothes anywhere, even if you wish, wear your underwear outside your pants.

Nyx also announced that as part of these changes, Linden Lab will also look at having a 4th channel in the baked textures, allowing for alpha masking (also another common JIRA request), meaning parts of your avatar will be able to be hidden. This development will hopefully stop transparency issues on many attachments, for instance sculpt shoes and prim avatars, providing you can remove the invisi-prims they currently use.

Content theft is one of the biggest problems facing Second Life. With the current system, all layers being downloaded as well, it opens the doors to special clients built to steal textures. Once these changes have been implemented single layer textures of other avatars will not be sent to the viewer, therefore clothing content theft will be made harder.

In an environment where Linden Lab are often brought into question over the grids stability and ongoing improvements, these developments (which should start rolling into place soon) will effectively kill two birds with one stone.

The Happy Tale of Grim Bros

2009-01-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

As anyone who knows me, or has even bumped into me wandering around the grid, will be able to tell you, I like my fashions a little bit on the quirky side. From the pulsating heart on my sleeve to the voodoo doll on my belt or even the myriad textured tentacles that often protude from my back, if I can find something a little bit unusual and twisted to wear, then I am a happy Voodoo. Therefore, you can understand why, when glancing through the Second Life Flickr Pool, and saw the pictures from one designer, who is making dresses made from fingers, rifles and syringes, and spinal attachments that give the look of exposed wiring sticking out of you, I needed to pop along and have a look.

The shop in question is Grim Bros and the designs there are uniquely unusual, but created with an attention to detail that really grabs your eye. As I wondered around the shop, I became nervous as to exactly how much money this little trip was going to set me back, but was pleasently surprised that the prices are very reasonable, meaning that there are now quite a few peices created by designer and owner Cutea Benelli in my inventory. Another happy hapenstance was the fact that Ms Benelli coincidentally turned up while I was browsing the store, so I made the most of the oppotunity, and sat her down for a quick chat:

Voodoo Buwan: So, how did Grim Bros come into existance?
Cutea Benelli: Umm.... it actually started with a horror shoppe called Low Prim & Grim. It was a b-movie thing, but by definition simple, very low prim stuff. Grim Bros more or less was a spin-off of that, the first items very bloody. So about a year ago, we bought the plot and i started to build.
Voodoo Buwan: So, as your building skills increased, so did the company?
Cutea Benelli: Well I still consider myself a beginner in terms of building. So much to learn. Actually i built a building far too big for the stuff i had and I don't like building architecture. So i decided to instead fill the building with wares:) The company still is rather small compared to most serious designers out there.
Voodoo Buwan: A lot of your merchandise is very detailed and unusual in it's styling. Where do you get your inspirations from?
Cutea Benelli: I don't know, they just happen really. I talk to somebody and they use a phrase and poof there is a picture in my head of a hat that has that name, stuff like that.
Voodoo Buwan: Making a name for yourself in SL can be very difficult. Are you using any methods to try to get yourself out there?
Cutea Benelli: Not much apart from the obvious, such as classified etc. I am a lazy marketer in sl:)
Voodoo Buwan: So, hoping that having good products will be enough to get customers in?
Cutea Benelli: Works for me. I think for now, word of mouth is the biggest marketing asset in sl. I do sponsor events occasionally and there will be a shakespeare play soon, the costumes of which will mostly be by me. A steampunk rendition of "the tempest", with the avatar repertory theatre.
Voodoo Buwan: How has the consumer reaction to your items been? With items like the syringe spine there could be adverse reactions from people who might see it as condoning drug use?
Cutea Benelli: So far I haven't experienced any serious bashing. No wait, there once was a woman announcing a boycot for my store because i was ...ummm.... glorifying communism, as i had a che guevara shirt there. She never saw the flea market soviet hat i guess. But anyway she was throwing a tantrum as if i had a Stalin altar
Voodoo Buwan: Do you bear these criticisms in mind when designing, or is it more important to be true to your creative vision?
Cutea Benelli: well i stick to my own ideas, i suppose, but i don't see a lot of designs that i would consider offensive. Provocative, perhaps. It would be hard to comply with everybody else's standards, but as i said, i haven't had many complaints about concepts yet. I did get rid of the che shirt at some point but just because it seemed so redundant.
Voodoo Buwan: What's next for you and Grim Bros then?
Cutea Benelli: i don't know. i just created my first full-fledged avatar, and also there were quite a few cyberpunk designs in the last few weeks, so who knows. i don't plan:) I will go where my mind takes me.
Voodoo Buwan: And is there any advice you would give to any would be designers out there?
Cutea Benelli: i am tempted to say "don't listen to other designers' advice" except there are a lot of practical things to consider :) I think the most important bit, at least for me, is to create stuff i enjoy myself. One of the reasons i hardly ever do custom builds. I have more fun building if i love the idea:)
Voodoo Buwan: And is there anything else you wanted to add?
Cutea Benelli: Perhaps I could just mention that people should visit the Bogon Flux, the bastard lovechild of blotto Epsilon and myself. It is a house that builds itself and destroys itself again. It was created for burning life but has found a permanent home in China. There is a video about it, created by Mescaline Tammas, and it even made it on www.boingboing.net :)
Voodoo Buwan: So, you've got your fingers in a few pies then?
Cutea Benelli: Well yes, I'm insatiable;) As i said, i go where my mind takes me.

Voodoo's Christmas List 2008

2008-12-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is coming, and the goose is... well, the goose is hoping that the cost of food continues to rise. You see, it's fast becoming a tradition for me that once a year, I come up with my Christmas gift guide, spotlighting some truly superb consumables you can find inworld, that could well be the perfect pressie for one of your many second life pals. However, when approaching this years price guide, I was aware of two things. Firstly, with the papers and newsmedia shouting and screaming that we are all descending into the abyss of recession hell, the idea that I show you all the sparkly high cost treasures inworld seems a little, well, irresponsible's a strong word, but you get my point. The second thing relates to a story of a friend from not long ago, who had a stand at an sl trade show, and wanted to give away a promotional gift. She got a lot of flack, since this "gift" was set for sale at 1$L. Her reason for the price was that, as she apparently said, that if you offer a freebie, that everyone will think it isn't very good. So, with these two factors in mind, I present to you the 2008 Christmas gift guide, with every item being an example of cool design, funky ideas, and would bring a smile to anyone who received it. Oh, and every one is free!

To hunt down these items of frugal fun and frolics, I went to the sl shopping website, http://www.onrez.com/ and started browsing. The reason I went to this site, as opposed to http://www.xstreetsl.com/ (or slexchange as it used to be called), is that unlike xstreetsl, when using the onrez site you are able to buy freebie items as gifts for others, with the item being delivered straight to your pressie recipient inworld. And here, is what I found:

For the Steampunk Aristocrat:

The RCR Unnecessarily high prim monocle by Spindle Vlodovic
This gorgeously crafted eyepiece has fantastic high tech looks, but still has the quaint Victoriana styling that would not look out of place gracing the face of any steam powered mad scientist. With precise and minute detail, the high prim nature of this piece may be described as unnecessary, maybe because of the addition of an arm and nose bridge to make the monocle a kind of half spectacle, but whether unnecessary or not, it's certainly appreciated.

For the Wannabe Rockstar:

The Xcentric Rock Stage by Jamiecat Janus
This item screamed out of for included, for although it's described as "Freeshit", it is in fact 228 of pure rawk joy. Torn straight out of the filthy dive of your dreams, you can now drop this grunged up stage onto your land, and kick out the jams to your heart's content. The stage comes complete with mics, a drumkit, monitors, a wall of amps for you to throw your guitar at, and a ton of spotlights hanging above it all. LET THERE BE ROCK!

For the Tiny on the move:

Tiny Skateboard by Nanjido Oh
2008 has been the year that the Tiny revolution has really taken over SL, meaning that chances are that you may well have a cute vertically challenged buddy, with a stocking that needs filling. And what better than this funky skateboard, stylishly produced, for them for zoom about on. Good looking and containing the needed animation to make you look like a pro skater, this allows you to thrash in the cutest way possible!

For the Glamourpuss:

2007 BijouxOr Design Freebie Jewel set by Alienbear Gupte
This well created and beautiful set of jewelery, complete with necklace, earrings, and navel ring, manages to be stylish with a splash of sparkle, but since it's bling can be turned off, you can avoid being hunted down by the "blingtard police". The detail in these items means that they will add that little extra glamour to any outfit.

For the Artist:

(Shiny Things) Freebie Painter Shoes by Fallingwater Cellardoor
Is your best friend one of the many artists filling the galleries of SL with their creations? Then why not get them a pair of shoes that reflect the number of hours they spend tirelessly working on pieces of beauty and meaning. Splattered with virtual paint, these comfy looking slip-ons have a sense of Bohemia and childlike enthusiasm to express yourself that should bring a smile to any inworld Pollock.

For the SL socialite who doesn't want to be bothered by just anyone:

Miss Gadgets Personal NoEntry by Maeva Anatine
Do you know one of the many divas, the kind of person seen at all the very best and high class parties, with a friend's list containing anyone who's anyone in SL? Why not give them a little personal space, since they will no doubt be besieged by hapless newbies trying to make a name for themselves amongst the glam and gorgeous. You can bet their land is surrounded by a security barrier, showing that only their prestigious inner circle are allowed access, so why not give them this cute little attachment that puts just such a barrier around themselves, to show everyone that only a select few get access to a person of such stature.

And finally, if your friend is one of those people that just loves this time of year, and would be happy with anything Christmassy, you can't got far wrong with the Giant Sculpty CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE with 2 animated poses by Minke Bailey, but act fast, as this item is only available for this Christmas period. So there you have it. A selection of high quality and creative items to regale your buddies with, and none of them costing a single Linden Dollar. I guess there's still an argument to be made for the best things in life being free. Happy Holidays!

Listen to this Crap

2008-12-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

In a quandary what to give this Christmas? Without doubt gift vouchers are as popular now as they have ever been. However as the times have changed, so have our vouchers. No longer are you given a giftcard to buy your own hideous woolen jumper, but you are given a giftcard to purchase the latest and greatest tunes.

The two major players in the internet shopping world are of course iTunes and Amazon. Both companies of course offer gift vouchers and allow shoppers to buy the music from their vast catalogues; these catalogues include some of the SecondLife resident musicians.

Crap Mariner, a keen supporter of live music in Second Life and regular voucher shopper has created two locations in-world for the promotion of music purchases and support for SL musicians. Crap offers us a project focusing on the wonderful and talented SecondLife musicians as well as a new and inspiring way to support them. I managed to catch up with Crap and ask him how this project came about initially and how residents and musicians can get involved.

Trinity Dechou: Tell us a little about Tunes inSL, what set the ball rolling?

Crap Mariner: Last year at SLCC 2007, the musicians, deejays, venue owners, and Lindens were at the business track arguing over shortcomings in the platform and business model, but not coming up with many solutions that resulted in "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I took a lot of notes, studied things for a while, asked a few music performers and promoters in RL, and let it stew for a while as I hosted live musicians in my own venue. While I was saying "I support live music in SL" I constantly asked myself "What can I do to support it more?"

When the holidays rolled around, I got a few iTunes gift cards. Instead of wasting them on ungrateful overhyped tabloid trash like Madonna and Britney Spears and rappers who shoot at each other while shooting up the charts, I wanted to use them to support live musicians in SL.

That's the heart of this project - if you get gift cards, how do you use them to support live music in SL? Everything comes back to that statement. Anything that gets in the way of that or adds unnecessary bells or whistles or drama - slice it off and get back to the heart of the project.

So I had these gift cards, but who can I use them on? I already had the albums by Cylindrian (Grace Buford), Kaklick (Bryan Baker), and Louis Volare (Louis Landon) - who else was in iTunes that I could buy music from?

I posted a call for names and links on my blog, and I got a great response. I picked up Tallguy Kidd (Dale Marsh), EvaMoon Ember (Eva Moon) and a few others.

People who read my blog let me know they used their own iTunes gift cards to buy SL music, so I know this was something that might work if there was more lead time.

As November rolled around, I wrote up a quick notecard, a few blog posts, and spammed my friends lists on various networks.

Keep it simple - one prim per album, link off to the download/review site on iTunes or Amazon. Nothing fancy that can break or go wrong.

Trinity Dechou: How do people purchase their music through SecondLife?

Crap Mariner: There's a few in-world systems like TRAX and SecondTunes, and God bless them for coming up with elegant solutions to allow in-world purchases, but they don't have as wide a footprint as the big players like iTunes and Amazon. They also don't have the userbase, communities, or review/ratings systems that can possibly lead to wider exposure of these talented people in RL.

Most musicians use CDBaby.com to get their music out there. It's quick, easy, and they give a good commission compared to iTunes or Amazon. They'll also burn copies of the music and ship them for live performers in their RL gigs.

But no gift cards yet. And the gift cards are the heart of the project - getting people to use whatever cards or credits they get to support live music in SL.

The industry standard for gift cards, community, reviews/ratings, and a simple storefront is iTunes, Amazon in second place and coming up quickly. If someone wants to make a CD Baby catalog site and build, more power to them. I'll help promote and link them as best I can.

Trinity Dechou: What sort of feedback have you had, both from shoppers and artists?

Crap Mariner: The response so far has been overwhelming - performers volunteering to join in, music fans wanting to see their favorite performers listed, people saying that they're having to cut back on holiday expenses with the recession so they're looking for inexpensive gifts like music, suggestions on how to improve the galleries and the website... Vint Falken made an awesome poster, Hulaboom Voom offered up space for the Amazon side of the project, venue owners and friends offering up space to put up the posters.

Yeah, I started it off as iTunes inSL Project, but since last year, Amazon's built up their site and service quickly, and they also have made a better effort to offer DRM-free music than Apple has.

Quite a few musicians who aren't listed in either iTunes or Amazon have told me they're going to make it a priority to get listed very soon - they've been meaning to get that done, just haven't had the time or motivation. Well, HOWDY BE! GOOD OL' MOTIVATION KNOCKIN AT YER DOOR! HOOHAH! Heh.

Someone suggested that I put out a Subscribeomatic to avoid using up a group slot and make it easier to get the word out, so I set one out there. Quite a few people have signed up for it, and they're going to be entered into a giveaway of at least 12 iTunes/Amazon gift cards. I also got an unexpected bonus from work for an article I wrote, so if things work out I may toss in a few 2GB Shuffles or an iPod Touch.

Another suggestion was to make a website to catalog the music and archive a few helpful hints/announcements. So I repurposed http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/ to handle the catalog, rigged up a Movable Type template, added Vint's awesome art as a banner, and collected up a few tips on getting listed on iTunes and Amazon - that kind of thing. This way, if the grid's down or you know someone in RL who ought to try out these people's tunes, just point them there.

We'll see how this makes an impact on album sales when the holidays arrive and people start using those gift cards they get. If it's a useful resource beyond the holidays to everyone, then it's going to stay and grow.

Trinity Dechou: How do artists get involved in the project?

Crap Mariner: Get listed on iTunes and/or Amazon and toss me a notecard with a full-permissions texture of your album cover as well as where I can find your music. If you want to kill three birds with one stone, you can get listed in CDBaby and they have a method of getting your tracks up to iTunes or Amazon through them. (I haven't been through the process, so I don't know how many Advils of a headache it is.)

I've posted links on how to get listed on those systems on the blog sidebar: http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/

Also, join the subscribeomatic in the Edloe clocktower gallery so you can keep up with announcements of new performers, where the project is heading, any surprise promotions that iTunes or Amazon are having that will make it easier for people to get credits on their systems, etc and so forth.

Trinity Dechou: How can people get involved through using their clubs/ galleries etc?

Crap Mariner: Come by the Edloe clocktower and click the main poster - it will give you a full-permissions copy of the poster that you can display at your venue.

Join the subscribeomatic in the Edloe clocktower gallery so you can get new versions of the poster, learn of new performers, keep up with the stuff that iTunes or Amazon is doing for the holidays, and get entered in the gift giveaways.

If you want the subscribeomatic at your venue, just drop me a line via IM and we'll figure out what we need to do permissions-wise to have that dropped into place. All I need to do is be able to rez and not have the thing return.

If you're a blogger, podcaster, or SL journalist - plug the living daylights out of this thing, guys. Get the word out. Even if it's something as simple as just copy-pasting the notecard with a link to the blog. I know that everyone (but me) is busy for the holidays, so whatever y'all can do to get the word out without losing too much sleep is appreciated (those sugarplums won't dream of themselves dancing, you know)

If you don't see your favorite performer listed in the gallery and you know they have an album out on iTunes or Amazon (or even CDBaby), *politely* offer them a copy of the notecard so they know this is available. They may not be able to get listed in time for Christmas, but I have a feeling that this gallery is going to be around much longer than that.

Finally, if you're a RL journalist, quit chasing down the sex angle of SL for a few seconds and drop me a line. I'll show you how SL can bring people together, inspire, entertain, and make a difference. And, yes, this project has a lot to do with that. Otherwise, well, I guess I'm right when it comes to thinking all of you reporters are just a bunch of worthless sex-seeking perverts trying to cover your asses when your editors catch you poseballing with a half-llama stripper. "Um... I was just doing research for this story about how SL is just a bunch of sex and weirdos!" Yeah, right. We believe you. NOT.

That's right, Guardian, BBC, and The Register. I'm calling your punk asses out.

Both images taken from Crap Mariners Flickr stream with his kind permission. Logo image created by Vint Falken.
More information and some valuable tips can be found on: http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/ The flickr pool for this project can be seen on : http://flickr.com/groups/963660@N21/ iTunes Gallery: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Edloe/128/111/81 Amazon Gallery: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Selby/151/213/53

18 & Life

2008-12-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

With over 3 million accounts, Teen Second Life is in place for the younger people (13-17) in our world to enjoy the possibilities of another world. A safe environment where only teenagers, Linden and approved adults may enter the Teen Grid (TG) is a growing community of our young adults and future Main Grid (MG) residents.

On the brink of his eighteenth birthday I caught up with Teen SL Community manager, Daniel Voyager to asking him his thoughts about Teen Grid and his hopes and fears about his forthcoming move to the Main Grid. A hot and controversial topic at the moment is the merging of the two grids, I also took this opportunity to ask Daniel his thoughts, and gauge feedback from others about the proposed merge.

How long have you been playing Teen SL?

I've been playing Teen Second Life, since 31st of October 2006. For the first 2 months, I did not play much, but then in early 2007 to present, i've been playing alot. I've had 2 amazing rezz day anniversarys so far in Teen SL, which was 2 big milestones for me. The first rez day (31st October 2007) was excellent because my friend was a DJ in TSL so we had a big party underground, Blue Linden and Claudia Linden attended. The second rez day (31st October 2008), was full of parties. Here are some snapshots of my rez days

What appeals to you most about TG?

I love that the Teen Grid is a friendly 3D environment to be part of. I like the way people help each other in Teen Second Life to build, script, texture and mentor each other. There are some great places in Teen Second Life and some really historic locations worth visiting which keeps TSL active, I think. The education in Teen Second Life has really improved since beta stages of TG because of growth and opportunities this provides teens to learn and share ideas. Educators can benefit from this because this would leverage the power of new digital online media to engage students and provide opportunities that might otherwise not exist if there were no virtual worlds.

As you prepare to move to the main grid what are you looking forward to the most?

Well, I'm looking forward to a new exciting adventure, that's for sure. I can't wait to explore the all famous and interesting landmarks on the main grid, which i'm looking forward to at the moment to do. I'm looking foward to see what opportunities and possibilities there are over there, as well as content creations because I love seeing interesting builds and being inspired by that :). I can't wait to join the new resident experience help programs/groups on the main grid because I like mentoring new residents and I love giving out helpful knowlege to others on the Teen Grid. Finally, I'm looking forward to meeting new people (friends) in the adult world and socializing with them. WoooT. :)

Is there anything you are worried about?

I'm mostly worried about about leaving Teen Grid because I fear that the TG community will fall apart once I leave and it will be be hard for TG to pick up again, because i've helped the community in so many ways possible. I'm in the process on selecting residents that can take over and make TSL sucessful I hope. I'm also worried about what kind of adult content/mature/bad content there might be lying about on the main grid. Except from that i'm good.

What will you miss from Teen SL?

Firstly, I will miss all my TSL friends because they have been so helpful to me over the past 2 years in TG and I know that they will miss me badly, :(. I will miss helping people to build, script, learn the basics and knowlege of TSL. I will miss helping out with management for groups and land across TG. Because I won't be able to send group notices out to let people know the very latest news and helpful tips anymore.

I will miss TSL Linden Lab office hours because they are so much fun to go to, because the community and Lindens discuss really interesting topics. I will also miss mentoring and greeting new people at the Welcome Areas and new resident TG areas. The last thing I will miss would be not be able to upload any more TSL snapshots of my travels in the community onto my TSL flickr stream, keeping people informed on what's on. I have taken more than 6,000 TSL snapshots since early 2007 and I hope I have inspired people to carry on when I transfer.

There is speculation at the moment the two grids may soon be merged, what are your thoughts on this?

At this stage, I think the grids will be merged next year or by the very latest 2010/11.

I think Linden Lab wants a grid merge to happen...why?..because on July 3rd 2008, M Linden came to TSL to for the 5th birthday celebrations event saying this; "there have been alot of conversation about the topic about grid merge" and there have been alot complex issues to consider first before merging the grids". M Linden also said "We are working on it.", "And our goal is to better incorporate teens in a much broader way in the future".

This month Blue Linden said this at a recent TSL Office Hour saying "in the past year teens have given LL tons of great feedback on the idea of grid merge", "it's come in handy....we've gone over all of it here at the Lab and some of the idea are perfect" and finally "it's just a difficult process and we'll have to take the time to do it right".

I recently created a survey using SurveyMonkey in TSL called "Should TG be merged with MG", the survey was created for both MG and TG residents to have their say about the issue. In total, 100 residents undertook the survey and here are the results; 85% of residents want the grids to merge compared to 19% saying No it should not be merged. Teen Grid residents have now set up a group called "Grid Merge" in TSL, with over 400 members in the group and it's growing each day. There is another group set up in TSL against "Grid Merge" too. Finally, Linden Lab have been thinking also about a "All Areas Area" in TSL or something on them lines, nothing yet has been announced about that. We will have to see if Linden Lab goes ahead on this idea or not.

You can check out Daniel's TSL Blog on his blog.

I hope to interview Daniel again in the course of 2009 and find out how has move to the main grid has gone, and if his hopes and fears have been realised.

Photographs all used from Daniel's Flickr stream with his kind permission, more images can be seen here.

Tinies With Attitude!

2008-11-26T05:03:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has seen me wandering around the grid, either hanging out or searching for my next story, will know that if there is one thing I don't really try to achieve with my "look", it's cuteness. However, with the current love affair that SL is having with the Tiny avatar, I, like everyone else, want to get involved, especially with all the great things and adventures that are available within the tiny community (much like the Loco Poco's treasure hunt that we explored recently). So I decided I would go on a bit of a shopping spree, to see if I could find myself a tiny avatar that was not quite so, well, cute. A badass Tiny, if you will.

The first thing that caught my eye was Tedwood Portsmouth's "Death of Tinies costume" (200$L). However, while this neat little outfit, with it's Terry Pratchet inspired name, has a superb gothic charm, and would make the perfect Halloween costume for any Tiny, it still requires wearing a frankly adorable animal avatar underneath, thus making it not exactly what I'm looking for.

I decided to move away from the gothic, and try out something a little more funky and futuristic. After much searching, I found the "Tiny Kabuki Robot" by AKIBE Sixgallery(300$L). This highly detailed avatar combines intricate traditional Japanese patterns and costume, with funky neon robotic styling. However, maybe it's the fact that it's samurai blade is purely decorative, or perhaps it was the quirky cartoon blinking eyes, but when I took the avatar down to the neon city of Insilico, I felt that, although it looked fantastic, it was hardly intimidating and wasn't really making anyone take me very seriously.

Maybe what I needed was something with more muscle. More macho. So what could be better than a tiny wrestler! "Mary's Tiny ;; Fukumen" by makitan Kidd(110$L) matched the bill superbly, turning me into a mini-luchador totally ready to mix it up with any other Lycra clad warriors. I felt the need to try this out, so I headed down to Second Life Championship Wrestling's Ambrodome Arena, where there happened to be a match on. I hung out amongst the audience and the other wrestlers, thinking, "Well, Rey Mysterio can be short and a champion?". But the nail was hammered into my badass wrassler image when Katheryn Blackadder, winner of the match that night, spotted me, and said "Check out the lil luchador! How Cute!". Failed again, I guess.

Back searching again, I decided that if anyone could make a tiny avatar with attitude, it would be a brand called "Fucker Family". "Skeleton Boy" by Karshr Demonia(150$L) mixes urban street style along with a dark supernatural monster charm. An undead dude with punk sensibilities. You can even buy a rock and roll guitar or bass, that plays a kickass riff when you type. What could be more badass than that! I was all happy to call it a day there, and say that I had found the avatar I'd been looking for, but it just so happened that I had bought a gift for someone that I couldn't transfer. I called the creator over to my land, and was discussing the problem, and once I'd finally come to an agreement with her, as a parting comment, she turned to me, and said "btw, your avatar is very cute". ARGH!

So, I decided, I needed something that could never be called cute. Something that, regardless of size, would strike fear into the heart of any avatar. I needed to get properly scary. And then I found it:

"Evil Clown Tiny Avatar" by Jenne Dibou's Mechanical Toy Factory(490$L) is NOT cute. From it's automaton metal skin, to the burning red eyes and little razor sharp teeth, and the fact that it is an evil clown, it has everything you need to intimidate any avatar you bump into. Pleased that I had finally found something that no-one could call cute, I started showing off my find to my friends. And they all agreed that it was indeed a completely uncute tiny. They also agreed that unless I changed out of the avatar, they might feel the need to run away screaming.

So, in conclusion, it is possible to find a tiny avatar that is not cute. However, whether it is possible to find such an avatar, without your friends hiding behind sofas and pretending not to be around when you call, is quite another matter. I guess there are worse things than being cute.

Box Office Dreams and the Virtual Curriculum

2008-11-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, November 24th 2008, marks the beginning of the week long film festival, Admit One, which brings together audiences in Second Life and Real Life, to experience some promising short films by up and coming film-makers, hungry for their big break. What make this even more interesting is that this is a project of the Mexican university, Universidad Anahuac Cancun (http://www.anahuaccancun.edu.mx), with the films provided by students, and the event itself completely organised by pupils on the Mass Media course there, all under the watchful eye of Mildred Milev, teacher at the university, educating students in uses of technology, and in this case, Secondlife. I managed to get some time with Mildred, not only to talk about the festival, but also to putting SL on the curriculum:

Voodoo Buwan: So, How did the Admit One festival come about?

Mildred Milev: Well, it's the final project of the class I give at the university. The class is about subjects related with Information Era and new technologies so students learn what's new and how to use the new tools online. It's not only about tools, we also bring theories and based on them we develop online strategies. So, this festival is the final test

Voodoo Buwan: Are the films made by the students too?

Mildred Milev: Yes. All the short films are made by students of Mass Media career, obviously developed in other classes.

Voodoo Buwan: And the festival occurs in RL as well as SL?

Mildred Milev: Yes, the whole festival embraces a lot of different skills and knowledge the students have got through this years at the university. It involves 3d building, marketing, publicity, new technologies, movie making theory and making events (public relations). The event then has to be made simultaneously RL and SL to show their skills to manage all that

Voodoo Buwan: So, will the film-makers be coming inworld as well as their work?

Mildred Milev: Well not all are in this class, at least not this semester, so I'm trying to, yes. At the RL event we will have computers projecting inworld event, so, if some of the film-makers don't manage to make their avie, we will give them support in RL to be around in SL.

Voodoo Buwan: So, as well as organising events like this, you generally use SL as a teaching tool on your course?

Mildred Milev: every semester that i give this class, we use SL as a tool.

Voodoo Buwan: And how do the students react to SL when they first experience it?

Mildred Milev: They get excited about it, because its a fun way to get along with all theory stuff.
I believe that if you only learn theories but you never get them into practice, that knowledge is meant to be forgotten and not useful. Some of them also, had never heard about virtual worlds and they are all OMG! Is that possible? Is that real?

Voodoo Buwan: So, as a teacher in new technologies, and someone who studies the cutting edge of media and communication technology, do you feel that SL is being everything it could be, or do you foresee more applications for virtual worlds as we go forward?

Mildred Milev: The wonderful thing about SL is the amount of possibilities you have as a user. It's curious u say that because, most of the new technologies have lots of uses. The gadgets, they are new and get updates all the time, but the thing is that the user is always behind technology. They dont really know its potential and usually, users are buying stuff just because its glam or cool or nice. Technology gives status. So, my point here is that SL is a tool, an amazing one, that also allows the user to do whatever. If SL keeps living or dies depends of the users themselves. If SL goes up or down, its also users. As a new tech tool, virtual worlds must change, quick, every second, but it's on the mix the users give to the tools provided and how much users involves with the technology that will make it grow

Voodoo Buwan: Unless it's Linden Labs? A lot of people keep complaining that their administration curbs inworld freedoms more and more. Do you feel the freedoms given still outweigh the rules in place inworld?

Mildred Milev: Yes, as long as they still let us do our own creations, but is obvious to have limits somewhere. Even here, we are a mirror of RL, and people need rules, its a common cultural thing, human nature

Voodoo Buwan: So, you can see SL being something that is taught, and in fact used to teach, well into the future?

Mildred Milev: Totally, for many disciplines and areas. Last year, there was an event at Trent University (UK) sim and they had a nutrition center, DJ center, etc. Lots of law trials are practiced here inworld. SL gives us, teachers, an alternative, kind of a real laboratory. For example, with this event, students know the local market and know how to do a good job there, but inworld, I, as a teacher, and them, as students, have the opportunity to work on new markets., from UK-Europe and USA-Latin American. International markets are not always handy for university students projects, and also for the film-makers it's nice that not only their family and friends look at their work.

Voodoo Buwan: So, Do you think that in the future there could even be completely inworld universities?

Mildred Milev: Well there are online universities already, and the big difference from a real one is the interaction, which is provided on virtual worlds. The thing here is that the world recognizes and give the credibility for someone that studies inworld. Somehow, real life on those kind of subjects has a lot more weight. So maybe, that will be possible, but I guess if more RL universities dare to have an inworld department that it would be more possible.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, I'd like to wish you all the best with the festival, and your future classes.

Mildred Milev: Thanks a lot, Voodoo, well we will be waiting for you on Monday :)

It’s an SL Buskers Life?

2008-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

By Allanah Tomsen

We all need to have a few Linden dollars in our SL life. Without them, the creative residents of this artistic haven, would be unable to or possibly less inspired to design and produce the incredible array of fashion, furniture, vehicles, games, entire sims, that make the majority of residents, keep entering that log in password. If your new to this strange and alluring world, looking to progress your avatar and lose that freebie fashion attire (although there are many wonderful freebies out there), or whatever it is you want to buy on SL, there are loads of different money making activities to be had. Of course I would say that probably buying your lindens is the easiest option and to be fair they are very cheap, 1000 lindens costing around £2.40 ($4), but I was a newbie once and was wary of putting my card details online, or sharing my information with someone calling themselves a Linden, and was in fact a cheap skate to start with, although I blame my Scottish heritage for that:D

Camping…..ah the sweet memories. Probably the most boring and mind numbing experience I have ever had the misfortune to try. You can plonk your avatar on a bench and basically sit there…….and sit there…….and Aaaaarrrrgh!, sit there, and after an hour you may just have the enthusiasm to take your 8 lindens (earning 2 lindens for every 15 mins) and head over to the Yard Sale to grab that bargain! If having your av sitting all day bores you, then there are dance pads, although there’s something very wrong and embarrassing about being chatted up while your both doing the Chicken dance. I should really include Zyngo in this list since I am myself an addict of this “while away the time” game and have won many a linden on it. Of course you could “Just get a job” or get creative and build and sell your fine artistic ideas. There are many many ways to earn your living in SL.

Now I am a music lover and it wasn’t long before I had my first taste of what SL had to offer and attended my first live music event. I stood mesmerised by the very talented and amazing Djai Skjellerup singing songs he had himself written, he sang from his soul with a passion that touched my heart and I have somewhat become enthralled by the endless musical talent accessible in SL.

It occurred to me recently that I’ve never actually come across a busker on Second Life. I’m sure there are some, but they are obviously few and far between and this got me wondering how much a busker could actually make using their singing and musical talents, turning up here and there, putting down their tip jar if the sim allows and just singing and playing his/her heart out? Now I have a love/hate relationship with my RL guitar, I love it and it hates me, but I know enough chords to strum a tune together so decided to give it a wee shot. Firstly I needed a guitar and managed to pick up a lovely Martin D35 acoustic guitar from Nortique Musical Instruments, found a cool guitar case tip jar and was set for the life of an SL Busker. Where to busk was my next dilemma and decided that if anyone would accept me it would be the Hobos and off I teleported to The Hobo Island Sandbox. There were about three avatars in all, standing around building and creating.

I was actually petrified since I am very mediocre on guitar and my voice is less than mediocre, but I decided if I was going to write this article I should at least have the guts to be a part of it. So guitar in hand, strumming animation on, tip jar rezzed, I clicked voice and started singing and playing the Streets of London, which I thought was quite apt for the place I was currently at. Within about 3 seconds a very scary gesture of “I will KILL you” could be heard echoing around me, geez knew I was bad, but give a gal a break. I carried on regardless, sang a few other little ditties and could not believe, when the same person who I thought was out to get me actually turned out to be a lovely guy and tipped me 20 lindens (still trying to convince myself he actually liked my songs and didn’t tip just to get rid of me).

I thanked him rather enthusiastically and with a new found confidence headed off to my next pitch in Central Park. I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn’t actually based on the real Central Park as I had been planning to do a whole repertoire of songs by Phoebe Buffay from Friends, which both suit my guitar playing and my voice. Sadly there was no-one about and was just about to take back my tip case, when I noticed someone lurking about, obviously intrigued at what I was up to. Soon found out it was the owner of the Sim, JadzOr Conover. Got ready to be sent straight home and banned with no chance of showing off my Pheobe skills, but to my delight he seemed quite keen to have a wee listen. My Smelly Cat tune went down pretty well I thought and he had invited a friend of his to eavesdrop by phone to my obviously delightful, enchanting tones. Did the Grandma song, Cow in the Meadow (my personal favourite) and the Shower Song. It wasn’t long before another of his friend’s teleported in, which hilariously was a cat avatar named Ed Bumstead. I of course did an encore and readily dedicated my Smelly Cat song to him and between them they tipped a nice 300 lindens.

So all in all, I earned an impressive 320 lindens within approximately 50 minutes of busking. Not bad me thinks considering the quality of play on offer. So, from this I have proved that it could very well be an SL Busker’s life.

So if you feel that you may have what it takes to whip out your instrument and give it some and I’m speaking about artistic talent here, give it a try, who knows, you may even get some recognition and move on to the big time and I will be standing at your gig, secretly wishing it was me. If you already feel that you are ready for the stages of SL, then check out this link http://slmc.myfastforum.org/about2137.html where Djai is eagerly awaiting to hear from you to take part in a very special Christmas event, which is a collaborative recording project, although he does stress “no comb and papers please”, so sadly that leaves me out.

The Business of Crime

2008-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

New ideas can sometimes feel like they are hard to find in SL. Maybe it's that I'm not the wide eyed noob who once signed up with a sense of wonderment to this virtual existence, but more likely it's caused by repetition breeding contempt. No sooner am I amazed by a sim that feels like I've stepped straight into Blade Runner, than I find that over the next two weeks, I find that I can't move for places doing the same thing. And Linden Labs don't help matters. "No, we don't want well built distopian refuges as welcome areas! What we need are Castles! And Beach huts! Cos we there's hardly ANY of them, are there?" So, when you find someone with a new idea, it's always worth looking into.

A hobo friend of mine hooked me up with a SL content creator by the name of zeegan Inshan, who is putting together Raven City, a new kind of Roleplay sim. Built as a sprawling and varied city, complete with suburbs, docks, shops, and a bank; this sim designed to host the struggle between various crime gangs, and of course a police force trying to thwart their exploits. What make this sim different to many other roleplay sims is that there is actual money, well Lindens, that are being stolen and fought over as part of the roleplay here. In fact, the cities bank can be robbed for a haul of 5000L$. To try and find out some more about this place, and how this new type of roleplay is meant to work, I met up with Zeegan, and his SL daughter, Cindy Malibu:

Voodoo Buwan: OK, so what was the inspiration behind the creation of Raven City?
Cindy Malibu: My dad
zeegan Inshan: Well... The real star here that without whom it couldn’t happen at all is my daughter here, Cindy. She’s the quiet key behind it all
Cindy Malibu: But my dad is the best
zeegan Inshan: She’s basically the owner of raven, me being the creator. Its a family business. I'm kinda new to SL. I found it in Feb of this year. I started by looking for a job...got one in a club, manager it was called spells night club.... it was next door to a GOR rp half sim. The relationship turned sour... I got into gor, and a relationship with this lady, sl relationship...and we adopted Cindy....
Cindy Malibu: They had a child. I was small.
zeegan Inshan: And me and Cindy jumped ship. We decided to invest in nech business and create custom concepts being allied with some rp mobs we found that there was no RP city for organised crime, like something that don’t exist, but is in demand. the only thing stopping the rush of demand is the fact of its non existence yet. we decided that.. Within our group type.. we would create a place.. that ppl could come and live in...rp in...that fit there sl life style
Voodoo Buwan: So, there was a gap in the market, so to speak?
zeegan Inshan: Yes, totally that. Not just the place, but what the place offers, and its limits as far as mafia and organised crime/government/business/law rp goes. Things like the robbable bank, offering a max of 5000l$ to the robbers.
Voodoo Buwan: So, people can actually earn real Lindens for rping here?
zeegan Inshan: Very much so, like rl, u can work for l$ or u can be a criminal, have wars with other gangs, fight for business, protection rackets, extortion, run a club and hold lots of power, good or bad. You can grow to be THE boss of the city or full citizens can run for mayor of the city.
Voodoo Buwan: How will that work? Will you not get residents just coming in to get the money, rather than rp?
zeegan Inshan: The key thing here is you have to spend to make. Nothing for free like in rl, but processes will produce profits. E.g... Did u see the Wendy burger and the docks?
Voodoo Buwan: Yes
zeegan Inshan: They are both rp businesses... You come to the bank, pay a small lease, monthly, you then buy stock from the dock. The dock buys stock from our vendors, then sell burger meat, buns, etc. The lease holder buys the stock at whole sale prices and sells to a 300% profit. This is mixed rp with what we have named 'HANDS ON RP'. A mix of rping and actual interaction.
Voodoo Buwan: And then gangsters will try to rip off the businesses?
zeegan Inshan: Yes...but the city police work just like a mob, takin businesses back under the cities control
Voodoo Buwan: One question to do with this example. Who buys the burgers, and why?
zeegan Inshan: Ok.. good question.... The guy that lease the business...he has paid a small lease of a business... the stock that he must sell for his profit... is like the testament to him network... what I mean is that small business in the rp acts as his own hang out, and he works with the community to bring them in to his store. Oh… I forgot to tell u what it was about the burgers and all the food in the city. Ok, if a gang want to make it there hang out our food scripts to them, and protect the business, then they will be the burger buyers... the burgers are like tipping the guy in a club and he has to get as many tips as he can. There is city help: ads, billboards, things like that
Voodoo Buwan: So, there's a lot of money flying around, and obviously with the gangsters trying to rip off your bank, and the cost of the sim in the first place, is the cost of this project not a concern?
Cindy Malibu: We have home and stores for rent
zeegan Inshan: Our mall, homes, apartments are all for rent. These even 1/2 full will pay the tier for the sim alone...on top of this... to become a full citizen means you need to buy a licence to shoot and drive... this is done buy buyin into the land group. As a 'full citizen' now u can rezz objects/shoot/drive. Also to rob the bank u have to buy the robbery kit. Inside is all u need to pull off one robbery and also mess one up. So if u imagine, a robbery costs u almost 1000k to pull off. So in a successful robbery, u make a profit, not a killing, and one person can’t get 5000k alone. For every crime role, there is a kit you must buy. The mafia kit has a mix of all kits like a hit man kit, robbery kit... along with the gang system. Mafia bosses buy this kit and add there gang to it. They are added to there system so businesses can be taken over in there gangs name. Same with the police, owned by the chief, and they will re-take businesses and territory in the name of the RCPD.
Voodoo Buwan: Moving away from the financial side, a lot of crime based sims, such as the crack den, have a lot of controversy with things like human trafficking, rape and other such sexual crimes being roleplayed. Do you have a policy on this sort of behaviour?
zeegan Inshan: we do not condone it what so ever. We go as far as allowing pimping/prostitution rp, as a business/crime rp sim, but we have strict laws/rp rules and sim rules. They work to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all raven city’s rping communities and a NO TOLERANCE action is inplace for those that want to mess it up for all.
Voodoo Buwan: Many of the mafia groups in SL seem to have differing attitudes towards what constitutes roleplay, and what is greifing? Have you had any problems with this?
zeegan Inshan: I allied myself with the more classic mobs.. The Corleone mob...and the Irish Syndicate. These guys are known to many for mixed reasons, but one thing that has remained, and still makes them the bench mark for rping mafia in SL, and that’s their boss, zito, and the personality and aura he casts over SL. This guy don’t use griefing to get ppl. Words work like weapons. Other mobs can’t wait to crash our sim, but that’s easy to defend. Trouble is easy to spot
Voodoo Buwan: Well, thank you for taking the time to speak to me, and best of luck with Raven City.

Many of my articles would finish at this point, but I feel that would leave this particular one incomplete. You see, it would be remis of me to leave this with the idea that this is a surefire winner. At the end of the interview, I wished zeegan and his daughter the best of luck, and to be honest, I think they'll need it. On paper, the infrastructure of this entire setup seems to make sense, but the number of people required to make it truly work, will probably kill almost anyone who attempts to get to the city under the sheer weight of lag. And I remain unconvinced that anyone will eagerly be wanting to roleplay as the owner of a burger bar, in the hope that gangsters will hang there, and maybe buy a few burgers to say "Thanks for being here", giving you a meagre few Lindens for the time and effort you're putting in. Although, It's always possible I might be proved wrong.

And there might be why people stick to the tried and tested formulas, rather than trying to come up with something truly different and the added risk that comes with it. But to be honest, if my cinema choice was another bloody remake of, or sequel to, a film that was made over 20 years ago; or a film that has a clever and innovative inspiration, but that might have some clumsy execution... I know which one I would choose. And at the very least, Raven City is a truly gorgeous city and well worth a look around. But maybe do it now.