Mobile App for Second Life Approved by Apple

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

At the Web User Group Meeting moderated by Keira Linden on July 7, Keira had some details on several issues. But the most notable one was about Linden Lab's mobile app for Second Life. She announced that it had been approved by Apple for it's App Store. It wasn't currently in the store as the Lab wants to add a few things before it gets posted. It will just be the iOS version as Android still needs more work.

The app is just a chat app only with no 3D view, for now. For now, one can only directly IM others with it, though group chat should be available later. One can search names on the app, but it can't access notecards (or anything else in inventory). Keira Linden thought it would be particuarly useful for Second Life merchants to keep in touch with customers away from their computers.

Keira Linden brought it up around 10:45 in the video made of the event by Pantera Polnocy, "I can give you a little info on the mobile app. We do have a version that we submitted to the App Store and did get approved, which was great because we've been having issues with approval. That has all been solved. But it's not yet in the App Store. We have a few more features that we want to put into it before we actually post it up on the App Store. And for those of you who maybe don't know about the app, the mobile app ... we are working on an iOS only mobile app right now. Android is kinda on the heels of that, but we need to get the iOS one out first. We have a little more work to do before we can do Android. And it is only a chat app. It's just a companion app for Second Life where you can keep in touch and chat with people inworld without actually being logged in. So we are working furiously, trying to get the next set of features into it before we actually put it onto the App Store. And I think that is the bulk of what we've been working on for the last 30 days.

When asked it's concurrency, Keira answered, "For the app, we don't have very many people with it now. There's maybe 40 or 50 people who have it. So we don't really have concurrency numbers on it. We haven't done widespread testing on it yet. We didn't have any trouble when we all jumped on with it. But we'll be taking a look at it before we post it obviously. Basicaly what you do is your presence is logged into one of our mobile regions. So you're kind of inworld, kind of not. It's not on a region anyone else can get to. As long as there is space on those regions, which we make sure there is, there won't be any problem.

When asked if the Lab had "any plans for a full mobile viewer with 3D view, Keira's reply was, "For the mobile viewer with 3D view, that's going to be down the road, if we do get there. We have talked about that in the past. It's going to take a lot of work. I know we have some other full 3D viewers out there, mobile viewers out there, and everybody's really anxious to get one. and I would love to have one as well. But it is going to take quite a bit of work, and it is something that we have on our road map. But it is way down the line."

When asked "Is a contained environment the norm going forward past beta, Kiera had the answer, "Yes it is, the contained environment is what we're going to be looking at, going forward."

When Keira was asked, "Why can't I use the app at my SL home," her answere was, "So we don't want you out in public because griefers like to do weird things to people. That would have introduced more complexity in trying to decide 'Are you on desktop or are you on mobile?' when you're on, whereever your home region is. So we just have a set of mobile-only regions that, as I was saying, unless you are on the mobile app, you won't be able to get to them. It was just a little easier to do it that way. Obviously, if we go 3D, that's going to change. But for now, that's what we're sticking with.

When asked about "localized chat on the app, ie inworld chat outside of IM," Keira's answer was "No, there's not. It's only IM at this point and time. We're going to be introducing group chat. But there's not going to be any local chat within those regions. Group chat I think is a couple of releases down, we're actually going through the road map and deciding which features are going to go where. Group chat is going to be a priority. Right now, it's just individual. it's just direct IM. We'll have group chat, and then we can take a look at adding, creating a chat room, grabbing two or three friends and putting them into a room."

Keira was asked if the others in the IM region could be seen, and she answered, "You do not see the list of people in the region. Nope."  

Then the question was, "How can anyone find each other on this, without already knowing a contact?" Keira responded, "So, the idea behind just having the chat app was, our main precident was for merchants to be able to keep in touch with their customers. So if you have a customer IM you, and you're not online, you have the option for it to it your app as opposed to going to email. So you can then jump in and direct chat with that customer through the mobile app instead of having to log inworld to talk to them. So you'll have your friends list, you'll have (your) group list. It's not meant to be able to find new people to chat. It's meant for you to be able to chat with people you already know. And you'll actually be able to search. So if you know somebody's name, if you know the name of someone you want to go find, you will be able to search it, search for their name, and find them that way."

"I get it," the Linden was told, "but it seems casual chat with new people would seem interesting." Keira responded, "That might be something we can impliment down the road."

When asked if people could see notecards in the app, Keria answered no, "Right now, you're not going to be able to see a notecard in the mobile app, because you don't see your inventory right now. Inventory is a whole other bucket of worms that we are going to need to tackle at some point. It would be cool, yeah, to be able to pull notecards up, yeah."

Discussion on the app concluded at about 19:00 in Panthera's video. There were other subjects covered, such as new Welcome Islands for new residents. But for most, it's the mobile app, which has long been in development, that will be of the most interest.

To view the video, (Click Here)

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager, Inara Pey

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Rolling Restart Issues Trouble Second Life

By Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich)

For nearly a day, some sims seemed to be down and my viewer showed a weird error whenever I tried to teleport to them. The error read: “Teleport failed. Routed to wrong region. Please try again.” This seems to have happened to both my personal parcel on an Azure sim and my Second Life home (which I believe is part of the mainland). It also seems to have been an issue for other sims such as TWI, the Safe Waters Foundation, and possibly others. This error also caused some huds and chat groups to stop working. This does not seem like it was a typical outage although Linden Labs seems to have blamed it on the sims not coming back up after rolling restarts. At least some of the sims are now back up. Both my parcels and TWI came back online around the same time.

In addition, Matoazma Kazyanenko had some trouble with their sim; The Hidden Valley Community. “[The] sim automatically restarted three times.” She said. “One at the usual 3AM time, but then unexpectedly restarted about three hours later when I thought everything was all done for the day. So we had to flee again. Then it happened again five hours after that. So yeah, it was pretty jarring when the sim kept restarting unexpectedly. We had begun to speculate that LL had messed something up with the restarts somewhere along the way and had to roll back.”

This may be a none-issue by the time this article posts. However, I believed that this event was particularly notable because in my seven plus years on Second Life I’ve never seen an issue where so many sims just refused to come back online after the rolling restarts. It’s a reminder of how much a disruption in services can effect users. I guess we should be thankful, though, that the grid doesn’t go down nearly every month like it did in the early years of Second Life. Most users seemed to be pretty chill when dealing with the issue believing that Linden Labs was working on it and would take care of it. I guess that’s a testament to how much Second Life has gained a hold on these issues over the years.

Cyfir

Review of Lab Gab Episode Two With Reed Linden

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Wednesday September 11, the new "Lab Gab" youtube program by Linden Lab featuring Xiola and Strawberry Linden had it's second episode, airing at 3PM SL time. The guest for this episode was Reed Linden, the Product Manager.

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(Click here if the video fails to play)

 Xiola and Strawberry admitted to Reed, whom stood out in his tiny penguin avatar, that he had been asked to appear as their guest at the last minute. But he didn't mind, especially as he was number one, "Am I the first one? Oh wow! That feels amazing." Reed told that he had been with the lab for "a little less than nine years." He started in frontline support, "so some of your viewers may have talked to me before." After three years, he was moved to the engineering team. Soon after, Grumpity Linden decided he would make a good product manager "so here we are."

Reed described himself as having seen Second Life from a few different angles. Of who knows the most about SL, he felt it's the users. Among the Lindens, he thought it's the frontline support team.
"The path I've taken is uniquely responsible for ... I have a very user focused perspective. Of his favorite thing about working on SL? He answered, "It's got to be the community, hands down." He enjoys stories about how Second Life brings people together, "Every week we hear a story about people that for whatever reason weren't able to make connections in their real life, but on Second Life they can. ... every time I hear stories about that, it makes my heart grow."

He described much of his work as a focus on web projects. Of what he called the the web profile "experiment," he stated it would "go away. and we shall no longer speak of it." He stated there would be a return to "old school" viewer profiles and "update them completely." He stated there would soon be further. changes to Marketplace, but wouldn't give any estimates of when they would be in effect due to the team working on profiles, destination guide, and events in the last couple months. He did discuss the recent release of a Marketplace feature, Shop Managers, which "allows you as a store owner to nominate other residents to be managers for your store," different abilities and manage them "basically allows you to have assistants." One upcoming feature was the Gifts Received Page, "something that people have been asking for for I think, forever." There would also be purchase notifications, specifically for store owners. This feature would be one they could opt-in or not, as owners of larger stores could be spammed with notifications. They would also be overhauling Marketplace for mobile use.

Other things discussed included the Last Names issue, which was "still in the works." Land pricing was also discussed, Reed feeling further reductions anytime soon were unlikely. Someone on the Youtube live comments asked if it would be possible for the viewer to have pop-out panels. Reed answered he wasn't sure how feesable it was, but it was worth pursuing a JIRA on if it hadn't been already. In the Youtube comments feed, Inara Pey answered that a third-party viewer had tried it, "It is *not* easy to achieve." Reed also stated the Lab was considering a level above Premium that would come with more benefits.

The Linden homes were brought up, Reed saying, "the response to the new Linden Homes has been absolutely just overwhelming and wonderful." There was some talk about the Bellisserian community, with some residents roleplaying certain community roles down to someone collecting the trash.

Of the recently released Bakes on Mesh, Reed stated he was, "super encouraged from the engagement we've been getting from the community ... already seeing a lot of mesh jumping." He was hearing about products in development, or already out and "excited about the flexibility this is going to give our residents." He felt content that was sitting around in inventories unused for years would soon be able to find new life, "our hope is that this will allow people to start making much more lightweight content ... in terms of graphic resources that are required to display it." He was looking forward to having his penguin avatar updated with BoM.

When talking to new people in real life, his "icebreaker" is that he works for Linden Lab, "The stories you can tell about working here, particularly in some of the fields that are closer to the residents themselves are just as wonderful and amusing." Of his real-life hobbies, Reed enjoys "miniature painting," or painting D&D figures and diorama.

No date has been set yet for the next "Lab Gab." Episodes have been on Wednesdays "every two weeks or so." So the next may be on September 25 at soonest.

Bixyl Shuftan

Behind The Scenes of the Second Life Birthday

By Gemma Cleanslate

I went over to check out the layout of the birthday sims.The opening is getting close so activity is going on behind the scenes to make sure your experience will be a memorable one. I always like to see the builders throwing their prims and never being satisfied or finished in their minds although to the viewer it all looks perfect.

I ran into Yavanna setting out her pods to take you on tours of the whole area and took a ride to check out the route . It is a great way to learn about the installations . As you pass by the pod tells, you left or right, what the creator had in mind. You can hop out any time to go through the parcel and hop back in again when you want. I like to take it all the way around its meandering to get an overview and then go back.

I spotted several moles working feverishly on the decor. Alotta Mole was suspended high above the trees as he worked. on another sim Squishy Mole also took to the air to look down on her job.

Squeaky Mole was down on the ground placing her decor. Someone had been eating ice cream and dropped it nearby.

I love to see some of the place holders that builders set out on their parcels to show they have been claimed . This one looks like the artist is really thinking hard about their work.. Sher told me she was!

The greeters’ class was in session off sims to get us all prepare for the onslaught of visitors , distribute gifts, guide them on their way to the stages or auditorium . There are many greeters ready to roam and help. Look for them anywhere to ask for help. We will be waiting for you ! I have that job this year.

The celebration will go on for over a week so save time to get to every part of the huge display. I was an exhibitor assistant for some years and never saw everything though I was on the sims for weeks before the openings each year. This year it looks like it will be a little easier to be able to keep track of where I have been and where I need to go . All the installations are to the west of the map. Take a look at your map and you will get the idea before you go.

Here is a large display of the Linden Homes where you can get to see all the models that will be available. Looks like one of the moles was in a hurry. I give the moles so much credit. It looks like double duty is going on to get more homes and houseboats out as fast as they can and also working on the birthday. If you see one thank them!! See you around the regions ....

Gemma Cleanslate

Editor's Note: Originally, this article went up Thursday June 13, after getting an okay from one of the moles. But when one of the Lindens saw the article, we were told to take it down. 

A Look At Linden Realms

By Gemma Cleanslate

I don’t know how many of you have tried the new Linden Realms game yet:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Linden_Realms_-_The_Search_For_Magellan .

Bixyl gave it a try, so I decided I would too. I loved the old Realms. I started doing it years ago when it appeared and kept going occasionally over the years when I had time. I knew those hills and hollows and waters like the back of my hand. I had run over every inch of it. I was actually friendly with some of those rumbling grumbling Rock Monsters and used to push them if they got stuck. I liked the cavern and learned to avoid many falling rocks by running along the edges . I tried the glitches game but just left that alone and went back to chasing crystals. Oh, memories.

So , off I went to try it out. Change number one was a shock! Instead of qualifying to play one time by completing Tyrah’s quest in the realms, now she wants you to qualify every week by re-completing the quests! And, let me tell you these quests are infinitely more complex that the old ones. Before you even try the game read all you can in the wiki ( link above). Watch the video at the workshop on arrival. Inspect the rules in the workshop. Practice running. More than that, practice jumping... a lot! Learn to read signs on the run. Learn to stand in a safe place, as the resurrection circles are called now. Never hang out in a bush .Start collecting crystals, just run through them. Then begin your journey on the pathways that guide you to each part of the quests . You are facing many challenges.

The moles did this! Much as I loved the moles and celebrated Mole Day at Bay City every year. I planned on some sort of retribution after I had spent a few days there, especially in the swamp!! I even warned some of them ahead of time.! Abnor, Ancient, Alotta and LR Linden too they were all in trouble!. Oh, I know other Moles were in on this too. I saw pieces that were made by Naughty, Magic, and other Department of Public Works members.

The first part of the quest took a little time but I completed it. I learned on the way that the new Rock Monsters, who look so cute and goofy, are horrible things. After getting to know them intimately I know they need dental work and eye drops! No wonder they chew so long. They grab you from 5 meters away sometimes. Once they set their sights on you they do not give up. The chase is on. They even jump off cliffs to follow you if you try to avoid them by diving over .Then they chew and chew and belch you out . Yuck! Take heed! To me they sound like corn popping . I think a sim line stops them, as well as any safe place.

As I went along into nooks and crannies of the new realms I found remnants of the old Rock Monsters, one in water, one embedded in the cavern walls looking so forlorn. There are few pieces of the infrastructure sticking out of the ground here and there ,just to remind you of the good old days I guess. Regardless, I found my first amulet part in good time as I followed directions and learned where to go and what to look for.

Quest two,the desert with new horrible experiences: getting caught in a whirlwind is the worst and really takes care to get by one if you see it. Wearing the goggles that you must find and use  is not easy but they are so helpful. Mouse look  needed but keep looking around for monsters. Finally I saw the amulet part and grabbed it.

And then, the Swamp. I spent five days in the swamp! If you cannot jump and control your jump you are in deep toxic trouble. I would have quit then and there after the second day if a friendly avatar who shouted “Go Go!“ had not listened to my wails of agony and frustration and given me courage to go on, Mak (Makkie Riegler). Finally I got to that piece after gallons of poisonous water!!

I did leave there with the idea in my head that nothing could be worse than the Swamp, even though Abnor Mole had sort of warned me. Wrong. Ancient Mole has created something even worse. The Mountain is the last part of the quest. All the dire circumstances and experiences of the other quests are surpassed in the journey at the mountain. I tried running along the walls as I made my way into this new Cave Labyrinth to find Magellan and the final amulet piece.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not. Back to the entrance more than once! This is a long road with so many obstacles. It is a dark and foreboding place. Magellan is long gone when I did reach his suspected location. But he left a hint.

There should be blue crystals everywhere on the mountain just to get you into the sim, I was almost glad I had all that jumping trouble in the swamp. It guided me at the end when I needed it most in the burbling lava pits where the last amulet piece was visible as I tried over and over to reach it. I did!

When I was having all these experiences( and many more you will discover ) I was sure I would never do it again and just wanted to finish it one time to say I did. Well, after a day of rest and reflection I realized, hey, I did it once I can do it again.

And I did! I was able to encourage another avatar, Natalina, so she would not quit. It is satisfying to be able to collect crystals and turn them in for lindens.

I still love the Moles. If not for them our second life would be pretty flat  and the oceans and waterways empty. I sat down to apologize and let them know I am still on their side. No rocks in snowballs at the snowball fight.

Portal Park is where you begin your journey to the New Realms.

Do your homework! See you there ! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Portal%20Park%202/39/141/53

Gemma Cleanslate

Review: The "Tyrah and the Magical Glytches" Game

By Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life isn't a "game" in itself, although people call it one for simplicity as "virtual world" can confuse a few people. Still, one can play games in it, and over the years people have come up with many from inword versions of chess to fencing games, to jousting, to combat roleplays like New Bastogne and Aria Clash, to fishing games like 7Seas, and many more.

For a time, Linden Lab was content to leave the game making to others. Then it began making some of it's own. First came "Linden Realms." Then came "The Cornfield." Following that were "Paleoquest," and "New Horizons." These two gaming adventures had plots, a reoccurring supporting character, Magellan Linden, and a villain.

Then in September 2017, Linden Lab announced "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches." The plot is a sequel to the events of "Horizons." Magellan is dead, and following a funeral for him given by his former assistant Punkee and Tyrah, the girl held hostage in "Horizons," a new threat emerges. Ruth, the original avatar, appears. Furious at being all but forgotten, Ruth decides to take advantage of Magellan's absence by unleashing magical creatures called "glytches" to interfere and mess with the Grid. Not good at catching things, Punkee decides to rely on his former boss's old tactic: get the residents to help.

The object of the game is to capture these glytches in the various places in Second Life they are. To start playing the game, head to Portal Park, Portal Park 01 (175/118/52), and find the doorway named "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches." Going through, you end up in the village of Hartyshire. In front of where you appear are displays of the two videos for the game, one explaining the plot and the other on how to play the game. Beyond that are a number of buildings in a circle, around a fountain and statue of Tyrah. What you will need to do first is head to the Gem Apothecary. There, you will find several things. But for beginners the most important one is the starter kit on the counter in front of the door. This contains three items, the game HUD, the starting weapon glass jar, and a notecard explaining more about these and the game. Add both the HUD and the weapon to play the game.

The HUD has several buttons/interfaces. The top left one returns you to Hartyshire. The center left button takes you to the wiki webpage of the game. The top right button gives you the option to mute the HUD's sound effects. The center left button takes you to a location where glytches are, and is the button you will be using the most in the game. On the bottom is a button to display the map of the sim, which shows you where the glytches are, and tells you if you've caught one, swung your weapon and missed, and if you've caught your limit. On the far right is the gem counter, displaying how many blue, pink, and green gems you have. Get 100 green gems, and they're exchanged for a pink one. 100 pink gems will be exchanged for a blue.

There are many kinds of glitches, the names of which you'll see in the Gem Apothecary back in Hartyshire. Among them are the cloudlike Flumpies, the Frosties which look like ice and snow. the Gardeners that look like plants, the Shamaniacs that look like teddy bears from the circus, the Naughties that look like red imps. the Primsies that look like people made from wood blocks, the Keirapillars that look like a cross between cats and caterpillars, and many more. There are three varieties of each. Each that I've come across, many of which are distinctive to one kind, "Mommy, where do prims come from?" "Click on that link, it'll be fun. What can go wrong?" "Miya, miya, you can't catch me." "Leave me alone!"

To go glytch hunting, press the "Next Location" button on your HUD. You will then be teleported to a sim where three glytches are. Many of the sims are Linden-owned or managed, such as Linden Relams or Bay City. But Linden Lab is also inviting the owners of privately owned sims to take part, so you'll come across some of them. Some places I was at had tall grass which can hide glytches until you walk too close and your hunt turns into their ambush.

On your HUD map, you'll see the glytches' locations marked with tiny red circles. To capture one, go up to it in mouselook, then left-click your mouse to use your weapon on it. The glytches don't seem to notice you until you're almost right next to them, even if you're in front of them. Still, I try to sneak up behind them by habit before pressing the button. If successful, the critter is caught, appearing in a cage. You're awarded a small number of green gems and the game will ask you to accept the captured glytch into your inventory. Do so quickly before you lose it.

Unfortunately, you have a good chance of missing. This invariably alerts the glytch who will then get away, but usually not before casting a spell on you. These can be just annoying such as being compelled to cluck and strut like a chicken, being made to listen to a horrible cell phone ringtone, and others. Some involve the weather turning on you, such as being sucked up in a tornado or a blast of cold wind knocking you down. Some turn the tables on you and put a cage on you or have a UFO abduct you. Some are hurtful such as having a tree fall on you or a bus drive by and hit you. And some are downright nasty such as being set on fire or being enveloped in a deadly toxic mist.

If you have enough gems, you'll be able to upgrade your weapon. Head to the Gem Apothecary, and to the right of the door when entering, you'll see the weapon upgrade platform. Get on and you'll get a chance to upgrade to a glytch net if you have a glass jar and 75 green gems. Still better weapons require more. The platinum flyswatter will set you back 75 pink gems, and the glytch gun will need 15 blue gems. Next to the weapons upgrade is the lost HUD vendor where if you happen to lose the HUD you can get a new one.

Besides upgrading your weapon, you can trade your gems for gifts. To your left when entering the Gem Apothecary is the "Gem Lottery." Here, there are three platforms, one for exchanging a green gem for a common prize, another for exchanging a pink gem for a rare prize, and a third for exchanging blue gems for epic prizes. As the name "lottery" implies, what you get is determined at random in these three categories. Common prizes include balloons and alien shoulder pets. Rare prizes include jewelry and hats and holdable pet dinosaurs. Epic prizes include ridable dinosaur pets, vehicles, and dinosaur avatars.

The other building you can enter in Hartyshire is the gift shop. Here, you can get free items such as cups and commemorative t-shirts. To your left upon entering is the "Hatchery." To use this, you need to have gotten the SL14B gift avatar during the event. Add the egg from the avatar to your inventory, then touch the hatchery. You then get what hatches from the egg, which you need to accept. What your gift will be is a glytch avatar called a Revwyn. The avatar comes with a small HUD that will allow you to make four sounds. You can go on the hunt in the avatar if you like, but the glytches will attack you just the same. Since the game's release, I have seen *exactly one* other one besides mine. So it's fair to say you'll have a rare avatar.

There are also three portals to bonus areas. The one on the left of the three is The Forest of Gathering, in which players can capture glytches, including possible rare and epic ones. You need to pay a blue gem to get in. The one in the middle is The Sanctuary of Wind. There are no glytches here, just gems you can collect. But you still need to overcome and avoid obstacles. You need to pay three blue gems to play this area. The third area is The Rusty Cauldron. This giant tavern area us available only to Premium players. Here one collect gems and capture glytches. Among the possible prizes here are glytch avatars, which unless you have the egg from the SL14B is the only known way you can get one.

As mentioned before, once you capture a glytch and accept it, it's yours to keep. They can be worn like shoulder pets, and when clicked on will make a noise.

How entertaining is it? I've had fun playing it, the the glytch attacks can be funny, even if they're on me. The bonus levels could use less of a fee in my opinion, though it's a small minus in an overall great game.

That's the rundown on the Glytch game from Linden Lab. If any players have a story about the one that almost got away, or a particularly hilarious spell attack, please let the Newser know. Happy Hunting.

Bixyl Shuftan

Editor's Note: Although I planned to do this review just after the announcement, a friend of the paper told us he'd do a reader submission on it. But events on his side of the computer intervened, and kept him from doing so. Sorry about the delay.

Gaming Island

By Bixyl Shuftan

Recently on the official Second Life Blog, Linden Lab announced the creation of an area to inform residents about "skill games," Gaming Island. They called it a "region dedicated to educating Residents about skill games in Second Life." Deciding to see what exactly the place was like, I went over to check it out.
 

To begin with, it used to be that games which were outright gambling were available to play and common in Second Life. There were virtual casinos in Second Life in which people could play blackjack, poker, roulette, slot machines, and more. But in 2007, Linden Lab banned gambling on the grid, saying there were laws against it on the Internet. And the games and casinos vanished. Some time afterward, new games such as "Zyngo" appeared. The makers claimed that some degree of strategy was involved, and play did not rely entirely on chance. Despite their similarity to gambling machines, Linden Lab allowed the games, although could and did demand changes in a game's internal programing. Some residens saw little difference between these games and other forms of online gambling.

In July 2014, Linden Lab updated their policy on "skill games," saying they could only be in designated areas of which the owners had applied to the Lab to house them and pay fees. The makers of such games also had to be approved by Linden Lab and pay them fees as well. Critics charged Linden Lab was trying to squeeze a few extra bucks from the residents out of greed out of an industry of which the legality was based on technicalities in the law. But a number in the business paid the fees and a number of residents continue to spend Lindens on the games.


As it turned out, there is more than one "Gaming Island" on the map, Gaming Island and Gaming Island 2, presumably in case Linden Lab anticipated anticipated a large number of residents checking out the place. A third, Gaming Island Build, was blocked when I tried heading over. Heading to one, the area is made up of a welcome area for landing on, a "Play" area for the games, a "Learn" area to find out the basics of the Lab's policies on the games, and a portal area to one of several gaming areas.

There were several different kinds of games there, all in "free to play" mode. There were instructions nearby explaining how the games are played. I found the games rather simple enough. While they offered a prize for getting to a certain score, I never did reach it in any of the games.

The "Learn" area was were the policy of Skill Games was explained in brief. The definition of a Skill Game is describes. Another sign mentions the eleven US states where residents living cannot take part, which ironically includes Nevada despite it's gambling mecca of Las Vegas.

The last place was a portal area which would teleport residents to one of several areas with skill games. For some reason, PI Games, which did have machines in the "Learn" area, did not have a portal leading to their place. In the past, PI Games temporarily closed and halted operations of it's machines due to Linden Lab but has since come back online and their gaming hall is up and running.

Despite the controversy, it seems unless there are some changes in the law, Skill Games will continue to be a part of Second Life. And it's up to residents to decide whether or not to play. Just keep in mind in the long run, the House always wins.

Bixyl Shuftan

Review of PaleoQuest

By Gemma Cleanslate

 The evil Dr Talpa is on the move again to destroy the grid and Magellan Linden needs our help. That is the billing for the new inworld game called "Paleoquest." I enjoyed the Magellan quest a few years ago,  the Linden Realms, the Cornfield, earlier inworld games that I still visit occasionally so was quite interested in trying this one. 

The entrance is at the Portal Park 1 where I ran into a few friends immediately as I landed. Kiera Linden was coming to try it and Marianne McCann and Uccie Poultry, both of whom were there yesterday already. The entrance path, lined with prehistoric ferns and other lush foliage leads to a tall golden entrance where my window donned a hud I and teleported to the visitor center. As I approached I was graced with the voice of Magellan welcoming me with a thank you for coming. There is a background video to bring you up to date on why you are here and a tutorial video for help, and an information card to pick up. And then, you climb the stairs to catch the monorail that circles the entire region with stops at the each quest location. If I waited to write this until I did the whole sim you might never hear from me again! 

Be prepared! There is danger everywhere you go from the volcanoes, falls off the mountain, holes in the rope bridges, and from above the flying dinosaur who is protecting her nests in one of which sits the prize. Any one of the obstacles can kill you! Along the way I collected dinosaur eggs that were added to my hud. None of this is easy and I died and resurrected six times and lost all my eggs !!! 
 
I am sitting at the resurrection platform now to tell you my story.  I thought it would be better if I told you all this now so you can begin your quest if you like! So many dangers and I have so much to do!!! if you see me along the way say hello! I was going to stop there but after I sat for a while I went to bring back the prize and made it. I entered the pyramid, made my way through the dangers and returned the prize to the rightful owner !! I have no eggs but can go back for more later. 

Now I am off to the monorail to get to the second quest which I understand involves toxic water and other goodies .  All these collections involve prizes and Lindens at the payout stations at the visitor center so it is not just for nothing! Read the notecard . 

 I will let you know if I ever complete the game or perhaps if some part of it is so interesting I need to tell you more. Beware! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Portal%20Park%201/136/136/23

Gemma Cleanslate

A Visit to Linden Endowment for the Arts 17

The Greatest Story Ever Told—The History of Second Life™ 1999-2015

By DrFran Babock

Perception is Everything

Over the years there have been numerous displays that covered the history of Second Life. It’s hard to deny that SL was and is something new and different and completely different. A lot of the past has been destroyed and built over, but the facts remain, and they chronology of this virtual can be laid out. What differs in each presentation that has been created is perspective and viewpoint. Different displays have focused on different aspects of the evolution. This is perfectly understandable. At the risk of getting too philosophical, it has to be said: The way in which a person sees things is clearly their truth and their reality.

Marianne McCann’s Second Life Tenth Anniversary (SL10B) build (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html ) focused a lot on the early days. There is hardly anyone around who has a bigger collection of SL memorabilia than Marianne, nor anyone who can speak to it with as much eloquence.

That said, there is yet another display now that focuses on the history of Second Life™, and it opened February 8^th on the LEA 17 sim. It is the work of Sniper Siemens, who had attempted this challenging task once before on very short notice in LEA6 last year and was determined to try again.

I ran into Sniper, perched on an interesting armchair at the entrance to the installation, and she told me that she was very pleased with how this year’s version had turned out.

What about perception? Well, I found that a lot of the time, as I walked through this amazing installation, that I thought I might not have covered things the same way. Everyone loved the Greenies, but Sniper spent a lot of space covering them. It could have been that she had a lot of content from that time, but I can’t really know.

From 1995 to 2015

I loved the intelligent design of this exhibition. There is a definite path (a beautiful stone walkway that has outstanding specularity, created by Kriss Lehman of Botanical) that meanders from 1995 to 2015. The specularity is important, because it adds to the overall look of the build. As I wandered from year to year, the gleam on the ground and the trees that surrounded the paths created a sense of unity that was artistic at the same time that it decreased some of the confusion that often occurs when trying to get the sense of a large installation.

I won’t spend a lot of time covering the individual exhibits, because I just noticed that genius writer and blogger Canary Beck has discovered this gem of a build, and will focus on the history details and the quiz contained on the sim. (http://canarybeck.com/2015/02/08/take-the-second-life-history-quiz/ )

What I Noted

The installation is a knockout for those of us who love and appreciate the history of this virtual world. One thing of note: If you don’t like to read a lot when visiting, you will miss a lot. There are many signs with a lot of writing on them. I don’t know how to get around this, when there is a detailed story to tell, but I am not sure many will stop to read unless they want to complete the History Quiz.

The only other comment I have is that Sniper is a good builder. Her mesh seemed to add a lot to the build, especially when there is not a lot of 3D content about the early days. 

For anyone who has ever built a history build (as I did for SL10B and SLL11B) the big problem is always how to represent residents, because the human/furry, etc. form has a high land impact. Sniper’s solution was to use these bean type cartoon characters along the paths to represent the human aspect of SL. They added color, and another level of uniformity to the build, but they didn’t really seem to be part of SL history, so they struck an incongruent note to me.

What I Loved

It is clear that this build is a labor of love, and that Sniper poured her soul, and her time into its creation. I especially loved the Linden Lab San Francisco build, and the silliness around the Zindra build.

This build is a must for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Second Life™. Sniper had a vision for creating this history, and it is accessible and understandable.

The build focuses a lot on the financial aspects of the history, and for me, it provided a revelation. I never knew that the “haptics” equipment that is now becoming so popular with the current virtual reality craze, was actually the catalyst for Phillip Rosedale to create Second Life™. The Rig, as its called, supposedly still sits in boxes in Linden Lab.

There is a great display for those of you who don’t remember a time when Burning Life was very much a part of the culture. I have always thought, along with many others, that Phillip Rosedale was trying to create a virtual Burning Man when he first envisioned Second Life™.

The Greatest Story Ever Told—the History of Second Life™ 1999-2015 will run through the end of May of this year on LEA 17, allowing you plenty of time to learn about what came before, and what might come in the future.

LEA 17: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/26/237/22

DrFran Babcock

Gracie Kendel's "Goodbye to Second Life Stuff"

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday October 20th, Gracie Kendel, known as Kristine Schomaker in real-life, ended her "Binge and Purge" art exhibition. Originally done for artistic reasons, with the Terms of Service controversy, the exhibit was taking a new meaning. It could also very well be Gracie's last exhibit within Second Life.

The event for the exhibit's close was announced on her blog for 10 AM. At the time, a number of residents dropped in at the LEA16 sim where "Binge and Purge" was. Gracie was in her "painted maniquen" skin which she started wearing when her "This is Not a Painting" exhibit was up. Among those attending were Any1 Gynoid, Crap Mariner, Fuchsia Nightfire, and Tuna Oddfellow, whom earlier had made news by moving his "Odd Ball" performance from Second Life to Inworldz. Without terrain, the sim was just open ocean with a barrier for walking on, and of course Gracie's inventory.

Not all of her inventory was rezzed. Landmarks and notecards, which often make more than half a resident's inventory, of course could not be brought out into the open. She would delete those last. But her list of friends, she would certainly not erase. She also planned on keeping her skin, shape, and AO.

What was in her inventory? Much of it was what one would expect in that of most resident's, vehicles such as a dune buggy and a place, Christmas decorations, furniture, etc. But there was some Relay for Life related items, and an award given to her. Among those objects she considered important, one was from the late Artistic Fimicloud, a pink foxgirl known for her work with the Relay for Life.

For a while, we hung around with her as she went around deleting objects. There was something odd going on at first as only those near us could be seen, even if we extend our range. Someone poked fun at Crap Mariner's name, by joking Gracie was eliminating the "crap" from hers, which got chuckles all around.

I had to leave before long, but came back a few hours later to see everyone but Gracie was gone, and she was still getting rid of her inventory. She explained she was still rezzing items, and it could take many hours before only Landmarks and notecards were left.

Gracie explained this art project started out as a statement about consumerism and dieting, hence the name "binge and purge." But after Linden Lab's recent moves, It became a statement against the TOS. This was the last exhibit she was planning to do within Second Life until Linen Lab changed their Terms of Service to remove the language content creators found objectionable.

Gracie explained she was standing up to support fellow artists whom had taken actions in protest. But she had some genuine concerns as she worked in Second Life as well as real life. Could the Lab sue her for duplicating content in real life? Maybe not, but she didn't want to take chances.

So what would get her to do another performance? Linden Lab would have to change it's terms. While They did issue a statement, it wasn't legally binding. Would she move to InWorldz? Gracie answered she had no plans to make performances there, as that alternative world lacked the history Second Life did, "I've been where for seven years. I love Second Life. … I'll come in socially, but I won't be creating in Second Life any more."

Before I left, Gracie expressed hope the Lab would change it's mind, "I hope they realize content creators are the ones who make Second Life what it is, and they're just shooting themselves in the foot.."

On her blog post for October 24, Gracie announced the job was done, her inventory was finally empty, aside from what she planned to save. "It was a rather liberating feeling letting go of all the stuff," she wrote, "I felt like I did when I had my hair shaved off. I felt free." But looking back at old photos, she felt sad about some things what were gone.

And so, Gracie Kendel joins the list of those making a statement against Linden Lab's new Terms of Service. Will the Lindens be persuaded to change? Time will tell

Bixyl Shuftan

Content Creators’ Conflict Leads to Fundraiser

     A conflict involving allegations of copyright infringement and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have resulted in one resident’s creations being removed by Linden Lab, and her friends and fellow content-creators holding a fundraiser to assist in her.   They also hope to focus attention on the issues raised by the DMCA.   The One Voice Fundraiser is being held at Mesh (18, 131, 22).

     The controversy is between Gala Phoenix, owner of Curio Skins, and Hush Darkrose, owner of HUSH Skins.  The issues involve not only copyright and DMCA law, but also international law and the impact on SL.   The RL people behind Phoenix and Darkrose live in different RL countries.   

     According to information posted by Gala Phoenix at http://curioonline.org, she initially filed a “take-down” notice against Hush Darkrose because she believes Darkrose’s skins infringes on her copyright.   Darkrose filed a counter-notice and also copyrighted her skins in her real-life country.   Darkrose then filed a lawsuit in her country against Phoenix, and filed a notice of the action with Linden Las.   Phoenix failed to take any further actions after filing her initial  take-down notice.  

      If all of this sounds really complicated, it’s because it is.  Once court actions are initiated, the law requires specific responses, usually within certain time limits.   In addition, under the DMCA process, when Linden Labs receive notice of a lawsuit, they require that the products at issue be removed while the court action is pending.  The result is that Gala Phoenix’s skins have been removed from SL, even though she was the one who initially filed a “take-down” notice against Darkrose.   Darkrose was the one to filed in court, and sent notice to LL of that action.    At this point there has been no decision as to which party infringed, or if there was, in fact, any infringement at all.

      Many content creators are taking part in the fundraiser to help Gala Phoenix and also to let the SL community know about this process.  They feel the action taken by Darkrose is unfounded, but the process to fight it is expensive and it could happen to any of them.   Eku Zhong provided the location for the fundraiser.  Over 50 different creators are taking part, with 50-100% of the proceeds going to help with legal fees.   Gala Phoenix estimates those legal fees will be over $20,000.00 (US).   The fundraiser will be held from July 9-16th.

Grey Lupindo