Montecito Bay's Roller Club

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

Montecito Bay has changed much over the years. Originally designed with a mid-20th Cenutry feel, since then most of the sim has come to resemble a futuristic city. But recently, one place from a bygone time opened up there: the Roller Club. On Wednesday August 4, Moff (MoffettMephit Resident) announced it's opening.

It's time to get your skate on! Tonight, 7pm SLT, the Roller Club is officially opened! Come by for music, fun and of course, skating! Rental skates are available if you don't have your own!

Dropping by, there was a small but active crowd. Moff, in a skunk avie wearing a "Frankie Says Relax" t-shirt, was playing the music as "Super Rockin Magic" DJ Moff. Others were listening to the music, with one ottergirl, Emmy, skating around. The skates were available on a counter to the right of the entrace (walking in), with three choices available: white, black, and tan. Next to that was a currently unoccupied DJ booth and three inactive tip jars - Moff was playing tunes on the house. There were a few posters on the wall, and a Pac-Man arcade game.

Over time, others dropped in. At one point, Moff announced, "By the way folks, I found the real-life model for this rink!" He then put up the weblink to the Dreamland Margate Roller Disco in Margate, Great Britain, "Clearly a place Moff must visit one day!" Twocoin commented, "Oh look at that-that. Even has the name of Moff's favorite skate song on wall!" "Yes it do!"

At one point, Moff joined Emmy in skating around. Moff was doing just fine. Emmy usually did well, but once in a while took a tumble. But the ottergirl didn't let the occasional stumble stop her. She got up, dusted herself off, and resumed.

Eventually came Nine o' clock, and the scheduled end of the event. But after the planned last tune, Moff wasn't quite ready to call it quits, "Would anyone complain if I played just, one more song?" He then grinned, "Cuz this last song is about Moff." He then started playing "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls, "... hot like Moff ... " Emmy responded with giggles. And finally the song ended, "That's all I got for tonight," Moff told the crowd, "So! Thank y'all for coming to this soft-open! I will fix the booths and - " Then Emmy placed a chocolate on his nose. Moff reacted by crossing his eyes, "....uh...uhhhhh uhhhhhhhhh ..." He then flipped it into his mouth, "Oh Emm Gee!" Emmy giggled again, "Hehehehe!"

"Anyhoo," the Dj finally announced, "thank y'all for coming out tonight. Great seeing ya. Magic Moff is gonna sneak on out for the evening. Y'all have a great night!"

The Roller Club would once again have an event on Wednesday August 11 at 7PM. Join the Montecito Bay group to keep notified of events.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Red Rocket Cola

  
By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday May 23, Montecito Bay held a release party not for an avatar, but a brand of Second Life vending machine: "Red Rocket Cola."

We're having a unique party on Sunday! An awesome beach party with a special guest, Red Rocket Cola, bringing you some ground-shattering Vending Machines for sale at the event! These neat little objects allow you to choose your cola of choice, drink it, and throw it away! It's a fun addition to literally every walk of life in SL, and we're happy to raffle off a few of the vending machines through out the beach party! Come join us for awesome summer tunes and a chance at one of these awesome soda vendors!

The party itself was a hit with about fifty people attending at the skybox above the Bay. It was a beach area with a walkway of planks leading to the party area. To the left were displays of information about Red Rocket Cola, and a couple of the machines up for people to use, as well as a pile of "twelve pack" boxes people could also get drinks from. The boxes and one of the machines gave out cans. The other machine gave out larger cups of drinks, and slushies - slightly frozen soda. Besides Red Rocket Cola, there were five other brands of soda: Kiwi, Popping Cherry, Limmy, and two with rather odd names: "People Like Grapes" and a blue raspberry soda named "Blue Balls." For those outside English-speaking countries, the name of the last one can also be a slang term for the feelings of a frustrated guy after he's told to expect a very enjoyable time with a lady and then gets told it's not happening.

Also to the left, there was a table of free goodies from hats, pins, earphones, MP3 players, toothbrushes (appropriate for a sugary soda company), mousepads, and more. On the other side were three game booths with games one might find at a carnival from popping balloons with darts to squirting thirsty slimes with the right kind of soda to ring toss to knocking down cups with balls. Up ahead was DJ "Magic" Moff whom was playing to the large crows, who cheered, "EPIC SET MOFF!!!" The white Crux DJ smiled, "Magic Moff aims to please." In the middle of the crowd was a huskygirl wearing a Red Rocket Cola-themed swinsuit, baseball cap, and headphones and had a plate full of sodas ready for anyone to take. This was Eliwood407 Resident, the person behind the soda dispenser.

I would message Eliwood, whom was pleased to talk about the soda machines, "I would love to! You flatter me." Of where the idea came from, "The idea started when we needed a vending machine, but most of the vending machines on SecondLife had knockoff brands on it, or simply sent a item to your inventory you then attach, we thought we could make it more intractable!"

Of it's development, "Oh the development was rough. Fun but rough! Once we had the original machine working, we added more and more flavors. So I had to redesign parts of the touch screen multiple times. Testing the machine was not a  breeze either. Since you can drop the cups, and other players can pick it up, we had to make sure at no point the script would fail or shout an error. But eventually we ended up with a solid machine that could do soda and slushies! Then we used that code to make a simpler can vending machine, and then we used that code to make an even simpler 12-pack box! But I think the worst part was the SecondLife server to cloud update. Suddenly the machine would not work reliably anymore because of bugs that thankfully have now been fixed, after we found a way around them. ... Yeah it was devastating. All it took was a simple bug; scripts would 'wake up' two seconds after being rezzed, made it very complicated."

I went ahead and asked about the "Blue Balls" soda, asking how could it be advertised? Eliwood responded, "That's a thinker! 'You won't get blue balled with the flavor of Blueballs Blue Raspberry!' I need to hire more consultants and marketers for that flavor name!"

So what new flavors were coming in the future? Eliwood answered, "Oh for sure, I keep getting great suggestions, so there is no lack of ideas. I also think a energy drink variant of the current flavors may be neat! A friend of mine is also pushing me to make a sister brand of sparkling milk in a can. I've never had it and it sounds weird, but apparently it's big in Japan! ... Yeah it sounds weird right?"

Of future plans for Red Rocket, "Aside from the new flavors, I definitely want to make more dispensers. Perhaps ice cream may be something I want to focus on, and definitely food related items. That still feels like a big missing piece to the puzzle. But in the meantime, between working on bigger projects, I like to make silly small stuff that usually end up in the goodiebags! If I feel like making headphones, or a oldschool mp3 player, I make neat Red Rocket Cola texture for it and add it to the goodiebag. I think building up a brand people like is just as important as the products themselves!

"I just hope that word spreads and the brand becomes something great! I really enjoy seeing people wearing the brand and enjoying it! I want it to become something bigger than just me and my ideas. I think something fun people share on SL is most important, because in the end we made these machines for fun, and it should stay that way."

The party went on for a while, Moff playing tunes for a while after the scheduled end. And once he finally stepped down, people continued to talk about goings on such as the Fantasy Faire's Jail and Bail, "That's a lot of people on one simulator." There was also talk about old Second Life games. And there was some joking around about a possible new flavor of soda, "Red Rocket Rainbow Blast." "Red Rocket Rainbow Blast will send you to space and beyond." "Taste the rainbow, but it's better than skittles." People also played the games some, including me. A few were joking around with the soda squirter game, turning the gun around to the crowd. "You are gonna get us all sticky," Eliwood chuckled. As it turned out, the scores were also worth points that meant a prize depending on how high you got. The top prizes were solid gold soda cups, with the second highest being pet slimes. "Weird afterparty." "Best afterparty!"

The beach area (with the games removed) should be up for a little while at Montecito Bay (43/157/902), for those wanting to see, or for those wanting to learn more and buy one of the drink machines. They're also available on Marketplace  (cans) (cups) (boxes). They should soon be available in other places as well.

So for the latest in carbonated beverage machines in Second Life, there's Red Rocket Cola.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

The Firecracker Arcade Updates It's Games

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last year as part of Montecito Bay's renovation, among the new buildings was a video arcade. The games were provided by Mateo Firecaster, and there were a lot of them. There was one not so small problem though. The majority of them relied on Flash to play, a program that would no longer be supported after the end up the year. So Mateo has been updating them.

In late December, the following games no longer needed Flash:

Killer Instinct, Puzzle Bobble, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Splatterhouse 2, Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World 2, Yoshi's Island, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III - The Manhattan Project, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time

More recently, it was announced a second set of games were ready to play:

Kong Classic, Altered Beast, Sonic The Hedgehog, Dr. Mario, Moonwalker, Castlevania Bloodlines Special Edition, Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Jurassic Park Rampage Edition, Metal Gear MSX, F-Zero, Breath Of Fire, Sailor Moon R, Metroid, StarTropics, SimCity, Kid Icarus, Super Tetris 3, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challenger, Final Fight 3, Thunder Force IV, Ms. Pac-Man, EarthBound, Tetris, Mega Man X, The Lion King, Dragon Quest IV, The Revenge of Shinobi, ToeJam & Earl, Jurassic Park, and Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension.

As mentioned before, many of these games weren't in real-life arcades but in home console systems or from 21st century app gaming. Sim-City is really a strategy game that one could save some progress on their cartridges, but that's not an option here yet.

Mateo also had some instructions on how to play the games.  

How the arcade games work: A̲r̲c̲a̲d̲e̲s̲ ̲n̲o̲t̲ ̲w̲o̲r̲k̲?̲

Our arcades works without Flash Player, games are now playable perfectly without lag, but you have to update your viewer to the newest EPP release.


H̲o̲w̲ ̲t̲o̲ ̲p̲l̲a̲y̲:̲

Right click the cabinet and select "Sit Arcad", your camera will automatically focus on the screen.
A menu at the right top of your screen will open, you can choose your gender bento animation, adjust the pose or close the menu.

C̲o̲n̲t̲r̲o̲l̲s̲ ̲S̲e̲t̲t̲i̲n̲g̲s̲:̲

By default, keyboard controls are "z, x, c, a ,s d", RETURN and ← ↑ → ↓
You can customize your own controls by click the gamepad icon at the bottom left of the cabinet screen.


M̲u̲t̲e̲ ̲s̲o̲u̲n̲d̲:̲

Click the music note icon at the bottom left of cabinet screen.


R̲e̲s̲t̲a̲r̲t̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲g̲a̲m̲e̲:̲

Click the arrows in a circle icon at the bottom left of cabinet screen.


H̲o̲w̲ ̲t̲o̲ ̲s̲t̲o̲p̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲a̲r̲c̲a̲d̲e̲ ̲c̲a̲b̲i̲n̲e̲t̲s̲?̲

You only have to turn off your media player of your viewer.

 Have fun playing the games you spent hours on in your younger years, or want to take a crack at the classics.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Montecito%20Bay/39/29/23

Bixyl Shuftan

Montecito Bay's NuYu Modtacular Event

By Bixyl Shuftan

There's a big event going on in Montecito Bay this month: the NuYu Modtacular. The main feature is the number of booths in the northern part of the boardwalk. Dropping by there recently, I had a few words with one of the women behind it, Becky Nosferatu. Not far away was Magpie Hyena (VesperBloodwing Parx), whom was also it the event.

"The NuYu Modtactular event is a mod-exclusive gacha event!" Becky told me when asked to describe it,"It's main goal is to help people find one-of-a kind, unique and new mods! Hence the awesome auctions and all the exclusives we have." When asked how long it took to organize, she answered it was about three months, "It was pretty back-to-back for most of the staff coming up with ideas, took us a good half a month to come up with the name. The auctions were purely Mag's idea and we ran with it!"

There were almost two dozen booths on the boardwalk, eighteen tents and several smaller stalls, each representing a vendor. "The center tents, near us here, are the premium vendors," Becky explained, "The booths here in the center, these four? They're the sponsors. They were randomly picked. The different sizes were how many prims were distributed to each, with the sponsors getting Entertainment events."

Magpie chuckled, "Well the folks that couldn't show up, we decorated with various furniture. But one of them we went crazy with. That's our crazy corner I guess. Everyone needs a crazy corner. Don't, look too deep into it. Me and Brae don't even know if Becky's seen it yet." Becky gave a snicker, "Yeah, a few had to back out last minute. Some are still empty and were planning to make it. They ended up having family emergencies and such. Hopefully we'll see them soon."

Becky did say a few backed out, "But it happens," Magpie commented, "We ended up with nearly everyone here, which is honestly incredible." "It wasn't a lot we lost," Becky added, "I was really impressed with how many we ended up keeping." "We did have some late folks," Magpie stated, "but they both were super communicative. One of em's already up." "Honestly if it wasn't for Brae (Brae Vaher /Braelynn Darkstone) and Mag's help," Becky commented, "it probably wouldn't have gotten done at all, Bixyl. The three of us busted our (behinds) getting this event on time, and it's really proving to be a great idea." "We all had our parts," Magpie remarked, "plus helped each other with certain things. It was definitely a group effort, and the Montecito Bay staff as a whole should also be recognized for their patience and support."

I asked if anything in particular stood out. Becky answered, "Well the auctions, of course! Really, every vendor has unique stuff. Most are for the Regalia body currently, that's super popular right now." Magpie commented, "I was shocked how many worked with Regalia (chuckle). But it's definitely an up and coming avie. Plenty did omega compatible mods and Kemono, and some feral stuff too here and there." When asked more about Regalia, Becky responded, "The body is from Sugarcult. It has bodies that fit existing bodies clothes and is aimed at furries with digitigrade legs and a long neck for alternate heads. It's main draw is it uses a very simple UV, so a lot of modders have been working with it easier than (other) SL UVs. The Regalia is a lot cheaper than mainstream bodies, too, which is a big draw for the cheaper furry crowd, as human skins and heads tend to be a lot more." Magpie commented, "I think modders are attracted to the Regalia because the UV unwrap is way easier than the typical Omega unwrap, but it's got multiple bodies that seem to fit just fine with nearly every article of clothing made for some of the popular current omega bodies." "She's been updating it like mad, Bixyl, so there's a lot of stuff." "Yeah I think it's gonna catch on. She literally is keeping track of all the bugs."

My next question was about the auctions. Becky answered, "They're still taking bids, and will be all month. Mags can tell you more." Magpie responded, "Getting the script made by our scripter was terrifying but he worked damn well. I don't know JACK about scripts, so Becky and Trevor helped me a lot through the process of getting the script to do what we needed it to do. I love that it ended up working to where customers could bid on a mod they wanted, it'd instantly take their Linden, and if they got outbid, it'd be refunded back. Anyone had the choice of making an auction mod, but in the end we ended up with the five current ones you see at the front. It's only day three, and every single mod has had at least one bid. They all worked SUPER hard on their auction mods and I'm extremely proud how successful it's been. The auction was something I wanted us to do because it was basically like selling off a character. A new look that would never be sold again, not even as a recolor. It's like getting a custom from a modder, but it's already done. Some of them even gave their Auction mods a cute name and personality in their ad images and information."

I saw a schedule with several music events and asked about it. Magpie told me, "Those are the Sponsor events! All sponsors get their own show with the Entertainment department! (grin)" Becky added, "Yeah! so part of being a sponsor for the event, they get an event dedicated to them and their store by our entertainment staff. Think Mod Monday, but for them only." Among then was an event DJed by Sheba Metaluna of the Bay's Flying Pickle Lounge. Becky told me, "She actually sponsored us using AllFur Radio! They've been advertising it a lot for us, and in return, they are played here." Magpie added, "She did. AFR's on the sim too for the duration of NuYu I believe as our music channel when shows aren't happening? Sheba's been helping out a ton too with some cute as heck ads during her shows."

This being December, Becky reminded, "We have a lot of Christmas themed mods to this event too." Magpie stated, "... all the gacha machines at NuYu are at or below 100 Lindens." Becky then directed out attention to a nearby boat, "I should add, the events are also going to be in one new location. On the yacht! We're treating all our sponsors to an awesome boat party. (smile) Whiiich that reminds me, we'll have to move some of the hardware around to the boat. Heh."

Before we parted ways, Becky stated, "This is going on all month and we hope people will enjoy it enough that they come back next year! Or maybe for even a summer time event. We haven't decided that yet."

The event goes on to Tuesday December 31st.

Montecito Bay (31/128/26)

Bixyl Shuftan

The Yinglet Avatar Release Party

By Bixyl Shuftan


Some might be surprised to learn that not all comics are in the newspaper's "funny pages" or in magazines. Some you can read online. Some are good enough to be in a real life newspaper with good art and clean humor, and some are done by beginners with not much of a plot. Occasionally, an online comic gets something based on it in Second Life. One example was "ZZ Studios" which was a tribute to Eric Schwartz's "Sabrina Online." Another was a rideable mount I once got that was based on those in Tiffany Ross's "Pure", although it could also be considered one of the "Shiave" of her "Cyantian Chronicles" which had more readers.

"Out of Placers" (http://www.valsalia.com/comic/prologue/01/), or "OOPs" as it's sometimes called for short, is a Fantasy webcomic by an artist known as Valsalia that began in April 2015 in which humans share their world with other intelligent races, including Yinglets. What is a Yinglet? Probably the simplest definition I've come across is "Like the kobolds of D&D, but more comical." They're small furry bipeds that average three to three and a half feet tall (add several inches if the ears are erect), thin arms and legs, large ears and eyes, and a snout with a large single tooth in the front. Although they can speak the same language as humans, the "shelltooth" usually results in a lisp. The majority aren't quite as intelligent as the average human, though there are some exceptions, and they tend to be easily amused and distracted. Most humans in the world see them as pests or amusing distractions themselves. They prefer shellfish for dinner, their large front tooth handy for opening clams and oysters, and are often seen at riverbanks and beaches scavenging for them and anything else that might catch their interest, getting the less than flattering nickname "scavs" from the humans. They have a different sleep cycle, while sleeping fewer hours a day overall will take naps about three to seven times in a 24 hour period.

In the story's world, they are the youngest of the races, having been first recorded by human history there only several generations ago. They also age faster, reaching physical maturity at three years and considered elderly at twenty-five. They also have a severe gender imbalance, with most populations having just one female for every several males (what some guys in real life complain is the ratio of those single and looking in the "Sexual Recession"). So usually females stay in their enclaves. Enclaves are typically led by the dominant female, the matriarch, with those in larger ones having the assistance of the several more competent males or patriarchs. Between their having fewer among their numbers who can think clearly for a while and their being around for only a short time, Yinglet enclaves are not as developed technologically or socially as human settlements. The most advanced ones do so by dealing with and learning from the humans, though this has led to questions by some that this is leading to a weakening of their more traditional ways, as well as some wondering if any human can truly be trusted as so many treat them like pests.

In the online comic, the main character, Kassen Akoll, gets changed from human to Yinglet by some means he and those around him have yet to figure out. But now you can take on the look of these (usually) amusing fuzzballs here in Second Life. But on Saturday March 16, the residents of Second Life had the ability to take on the look of one as Montecito Bay hosted the release party of the Ynglet avatar, by Raphie Jular of Evil Turtle Productions. The avatar is bento rigged, and both male and female chests are included. Two colors are included, and the avatar has bento rigged mesh with bento rigged jaws, ears, tails, and fingers.

Sorry to all the newcomers who are just joining us and are probably wondering WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON! We're hosting the release of Evil Turtle Productions very own Yinglet avatar!

Do you like eating clams? Do you like talking like 'zhis'?! Do you enjoy being a short little cute ball of fluff who's always finding trouble around every corner! Then be sure to pick up this well created little avatar!

The event was held in the Avagora mall well above Montecito Bay, at it's disco dance floor set up in the middle of the place between shops. Dropping by early, some of the staff were already there, having gotten the avie a little early. But as the hour approached, more showed up. And the Yinglets looked pretty small next to the regular-sized furry folk, "normal sized avatars look like freakish giants now!" The maker of the avatar wasn't there at first, "Raphie (the creator) is having a nap because our time zone is crazy." Then he appeared, "Raphie's back (smile)." The avatar's maker waves, "Weh! Okay zhen, I'm a little less half-dead after nap. Hello all." Someone mused, "One of the best things about being a yinglet would be the naps." Raphie agreed, "Oh yes. Nap for an hour, can go ADHD for six again." "Then they can go 'eeeee' again."

It didn't take long for the place to fill up. And finally at 6PM SL time, "Hello everyone that's here so far! We're just now OFFICIALLY starting things off! Thank you all for showing up early to support the lovley Raphie Jular and their release of the Yinglet avatar!! If you take a look  to the right of the stage there's already a nice little board for you to purchase your own Evil Turtle Productions Yinglet!" Becky greeted, "Welcome everyone! Glad to see you! So the rules are as follows; if you want to join zhe raffle, ya must be here the WHOLE event, no join and run. That's the only rule! so click that raffle ball, floating above the dance floor when it opens!" "If y'all have friends who are fans of yinglets or looking for a really cool avatar, be sure to invite them along!  Raphie put their blood sweat and tears into this wonderful little thing, and I'd absolutely love to see it flourish! ...There's also an event currently on the board for 1,500L! ... The theme is 'Fantasy.' ... And you can 100% spend that on Yinglet and Yinglet accessories! ... But let's be serious, any money they get is going to clams more than likely!" Later in the event, it would get raised to 2069 Lindens.

A number got in character with the characteristic Yinglet lisp, "Zhing!" I'm hearing zhe musics." Becky Nosferatu, in one of the avatars was also giving out buckets of their favorite food, "Who wahts a bucket of claaams?! ... Seriously, who wants clams?" "All zhe clams." Apparently with not that many takers, yet, Becky went in character, "They're clams, so, I'm just gonna keep eating them." Ralphie laughed, "You're gonna get so high drunk," mentioning what happens when the often hungry Yinglets finally manage to stuff themselves on their prized food. "Come to Mont Bay and win lots of clams," someone mused. Becky responded, "I mean, we *are* on zhe bay. Zhey're fresh, okay! Caught zhem myself." Someone joked, "Hmmm...never zhought we'd find a way to 'clam' Becky up, but zhere you go (grin)." Eventually, more buckets were passed around, "Scav life." "*noms on clams*" "... Welcome to zhe Scav Life." "Yinglets' stilt legs and hand-like feet are for walking zhe beach, feeling for clams and oysters in zhe sand, and picking zhem out to eat." "It's not our faults are fur smell like low tide or swamps."

With the Yinglets just a few feet high, it was commented those used to being in very big avatars might find them disorienting, "You know, as disorienting as going from human to yinglet must have been for Kass, can you imagine a massive dragon getting Ying'd?" Jasmine Dawn commented, "Here's my take on the Ying, change to one, go home, can't reach 'nuffin."

Magpie Hyena (VesperBloodwing Parx) had a gift for people attending the party, skins to change the appearance of the Yinglet avie a little, "Raph, I have three skins I can do for this av. I don't have time to set up for selling so, I was thinking about just giving them away." Raphie agreed, "Sure thing Magpie."

Some had a little trouble with dancing. Raphie admitting, "To be honest, Yinglet's won't dance better zhan zhis." Someone else joked, "Friendly warning: Swinging Yings does not mean to zrow zem, as light as zey are. Ying not meant to fly."

Another mused, "Dancing chickenlegs even." Becky commented, "Chicken legged, but far to small to eat! You won't get any meat off these bones." She herself later got hungry, "Be right back, I need another taco." This being the favorite food of the Crux avatars that Montecito Bay is fond of, someone commented,"Seriously, you're going to cruxify your Yinglet at this rate, Becky." Emorald surprised Becky by popping a taco into her mouth, "Ack! Hey! I had zhree dammit!" Emo chuckled, "Eat a fourth one!" Eventually, someone asked, "Becky can I haz some clamz?" Someone responded, "I don't think Becky wants to share her clams, or her tacos."

It didn't take long for a lot of the people there to buy and wear the avatar, "Jesus. The Yinglet group really grew!" "Oh my God the yinglets dancing at the front of the dancefloor are *adorable*!" Raphie grinned, "Thank you, enjoy being a birdrat." Someone pretended to be upset, "How dare you call me a birdrat!  I'm a ratbird!" A third mused, "Anozher birdrat for ze birdrat collection yes." Someone joked about a scene with these and another avatar that was selling well, the Chibi Noodle Dragon, "Imagine a Yinglet sled driven by four Noodles. That is a sugar shock." "I saw ***** and was all 'what is zhat big dragon-cat-zhing?  Oh, is a noodle!'" "Suddenly, for some reason, I'm imagining a Yinglet riding a Chocobo."

Raphie continued to get praise, "Thank you for making them a real thing " "Gotta spread Val's awesome creation!" Raphie responded. "SL real at least! Though I still want a plushie Yinglet at some point." "Oh my God, I want a Yinglet plushie too." Raphie responded, "I believe a plushie skin for the Ying is already in-concept." Someone grinned, "Just barely released and already getting modded." Apparently some had already made adjustments to their Ynglets, Magpie saying, "I am so shocked that there are so many modded yinglets in existence before this avatar even happened. I am sure these yinglet avs will do well." Someone commented, "I've been in a Yinglet avatar for about an hour and I already managed to sell ad space on zhirty percent of my body like a race car!"

Besides myself, a number from the Sunweaver community dropped by Montecito Bay for the party. This included Jasmine, Gil Ottared, Alleara Snoodle, and a few others. Gil mused of the numbers, "Just wait until we get our enclave togezher and start laying eggs."

The contest was won by Iexo Bethune!.

With the party over, people began heading out. "Have a wonderful evening everyone! Thank you Raphie for letting us host your wonderful avatar!" "Yall be safe and good. Don't OD on clams!" Someone responded, "Awwwww! OD'ing on clamz iz de fun part!" Some would say they'd return, "I'll have to come back here, this place is HUGE." Raphie commented, "I will tell (Valsalia) zhe tale of zhe SL Ying takeover, Zhe mighty tale! ...Zhank you all for coming!"

I had been told that in the rush to get the avatar finished by the release party, there were a few bugs in it. But the only person concerned about it at the party seemed to be Raphie himself. They should be ironed out and those who already having brought the avatar getting updates in a week or two. It was also commented that the avatar might have a lasting effect on Montecito Bay, remarking things were crazy enough with the Crux avatars, but with Crux *and* Yinglets, things would be truly insane.

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: Some time later, Valsalia would message me, "... just gave the article a read. I was really surprised by how much customization has already gone into these, like the bucket-o-clams object (smile). That was a really solid article, and did a great job of both explaining the creature concept and the SL implementation of them. The way people describe these little things is always both fun and valuable for me to read, as it gives me a more solid understanding of the way people are perceiving these little things, and what aspects about them stand out to people the most"