Return Of Sonic’s New World: An Interview With Shadow and Kono

By Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich)

The original Sonic’s New World (a Sonic The Hedgehog inspired sim) started back in the fall of 2009 and had a run of about two years. It returned in 2011 after an almost one year absence and ran for another two years before shutting down again. Those who were fans of SNW may be pleased to know that it’s back for version three and currently being built. What has been built so far has impressed me and being a Sega and video game fan in general, I had to interview Shadow (Shadow Hepzipig) and the builder/co-owner Konohatu Lahamaras Kalantu (kono.moonites) (known as Kono).

Cyfir: What inspired you to start the sim originally and how long have you been a Sonic/Shadow fan?

Shadow: I grew up playing the Sonic games from back in the days of the original Sega Genesis when I was a kid, so I have always been a fan of the characters. When I heard of Second Life and the different worlds available, my first stop was to find out if there was a Sonic themed sim, and it was in a Sim called SRPS - Sonic's Role Play Sim - run by ZoraSlade that I bought my first avatar Shadow the Hedgehog. It was also this sim and SCU - Sonic's Classic Universe- that I fell in love with the idea of opening my own sim and providing a place for others to call home.

This became the main concept behind SNW, but I had no idea how or even what I would build for our new home. One day I came across Kono Moonites as he was just relaxing in SCU and asked him if he knew how to build. Now I didn’t really know the guy mind you. To him, I was just another schmuck wearing a Shadow avatar that was wanting to get something from him. But he said that he did know how to build. My response was "Good. You're going to build me a Sonic sim." More than a little pushy I know, but it kicked off a friendship and partnership that has spanned the past ten years.

Kono: For me it was simply being asked. I was just a nobody with no skills but a want to build and the Sonic community had been very accepting of that. I actually wouldn't be as much of a fan if it wasn't for Metal Knuckles from Sonic R. I grew up with Sonic but something about Metal Knuckles' design really stuck with me so much. So I've made my own and to some extent became known for it.

Cyfir: For Kono, what got you started building?

Kono: Want. When getting into Second Life, I took notice of how most of the things I could buy or wear weren't always from one company or creator, but from many. And freebies were everywhere. If anyone could do it, why couldn't I? So I did.

For the sim, it was being asked, Shadow bought the first SNW and paid for it on his own. I couldn't let him down. Even if he did come out of nowhere and 'Tell' me I was doing it. You tell me how many people out there get the offer to just build a sim based around something they like with someone else who enjoys it footing the bill.

Cyfir: Also for Kono, what are your inspirations?

Kono: To make a community and perfect my skills. I love people. Time after time I have been given chances I didn't deserve. SNW is a perfect example.

Shadow was the inspiration. He wanted a home. A place to hang out with people who wanted to hang out and trusted a stranger enough to help him do it. We knew there would be problems, drama, trolls, but I think it's important to understand that me and shadow had NO standing in the community and no SL experience. We were nobodies who just wanted a place to belong. Seeing someone with a goal like that, I mean it sounds simple. Never is though and that inspired me to get it done.

Cyfir: Why did you decide to bring back the sim again?

Shadow: The previous two times that I decided to close SNW was not due to hardships or because of drama as many sims have been prone to do, but because during those days, the Sonic community was flourishing. There were several other Sonic themed sims that had opened or were being run by close friends that I felt that we could close our doors on a high note. Our safe home was no longer needed. The community had grown to the point that many had found new homes and moved on. So it was time.

But this time, I came back after nearly six years to the Sonic community, and found that it had fallen on hard times. The community had shrunken greatly. Instead of the several sims that I had left behind, there were only two left that had the main focus for Sonic, or three others that only had one or two builds themed for Sonic. ALL of them were labeled as Adult. SNW had always been a moderate sim, mainly because many guests would use foul or other inappropriate language that would not be reasonable for a G rating, myself being the main offender for the language part. But it was still somewhere that everyone could come and feel welcomed and safe. But there wasn't anywhere like that anymore.

I actually had gone to Pixel Hills, just to see what build they had for it when I ran into a few new friends; Rapptor and Matchada, that led me to the Chao Gardens that were there. And it was there that I found an old friend and former admin of the original SNW, Blueblur Chrome. Within minutes I found myself surrounded by ten or more old and new friends, all of us having an amazing time and it reminded me of the joy that we all shared back in the day, and it reignited that spark, that drive to create a place where we could all call home. It was time for SNW to return. My first move was to call Kono once more, and shared with him the feeling I had, being surrounded by our old friends and just joking and laughing all night. It was during that talk that I learned that Kono had been feeling the same, that it was time for us to return to the Sonic community, though I think he expected me to take some time to think on it. Instead, though, that night I purchased the sim, nearly giving Kono an aneurysm in the process as he rushed to log onto Second Life and start work on building us our new home again.

Cyfir: What have been the challenges of bringing it back now as opposed to originally starting it?

Shadow: Surprisingly it hasn't been challenging to bring back SNW as it was when we first started. I still had the old group with still over one hundred members in it from the second iteration of the sim, so I was able to let everyone know that our home had come back the same night as I purchased the land.. much to Kono's dismay because he didn't have any builds barely started yet, but I just couldn't hold in my excitement in knowing that our home was here again. So I guess the biggest challenge was more for Kono feeling rushed in getting some of his old builds set up so that we had something here for people to visit.

Though this was par for the course. The first time we opened the sim I did the exact same thing, however Kono was not as skilled as he is with his builds today. Our first ever build was "Angel Island" which was supposed to be a floating island in the sky with a shrine that housed the seven chaos emeralds and the master emerald. Instead, we had several prim platforms with a pile of rocks to make a cave so we could set up a mall type area. The other challenge was learning on the fly how to deal with griefers and trolls. I remember that at one point a petition had actually been started on change.org, attempting to close SNW and remove me from Second Life entirely. This sort of set the precedence on just how we would handle such issues, because I signed that petition myself and told them "Good Luck." After that it became a game of almost cat and mouse. Griefers would come to try and crash our sim, so my admins and myself would notify the whole sim that the Griefer hunt was open, and end up crashing our sim ourselves with explosions and gunfire and Dragon Ball style attacks on them instead. Good times.

So it has definitely been easier this time than the original opening with one exception, the avatar limit of owning a homestead sim. The sim has been growing in popularity rapidly and I have seen more times than not where the region will be too full and others can not come visit. This has kick started a number of conversations amongst ourselves about moving to a full region. However, those can get pricey and we would not want to risk closing due to funding. So it is still a possibility that we may upgrade, but just not at this time.

Kono: People, like it or not throughout SNW's history the team-up works as such, Shadow takes the front of everything and I attempt to fix the fallout. What it lead to was leadership that was balanced out. Shadow wanted a stress free home and I wanted a happy community , but shadow was always shoot first ask questions later . I knew in the long run that it would eventually run everyone out and though I wanted to be left in the background to build I couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get banned or arguments be allowed to blow out of proportion over nothing.

Because of that undying need to help people and keep a happy home I became known to the sim members and now more then ever trying to find some time to build in peace, make textures in peace, and script. It's impossible but they are happy here. That speaks volumes for the sim.

Cyfir: From what I’ve seen, your builders are doing some pretty amazing work so far. I love how you can collect coins, jump on enemies, and get thrown by the bumpers. Can you tell us what people can look forward to in the final build?

Shadow: Now this has been one of the best attractions for the sim in the past. There will never be a "Final" build per say. The builds almost have a life of their own under Kono's eye, always evolving, growing, or being changed out for whatever new idea we have cooked up this time. The only reason the sim is still labeled as 'Under Construction' is because we have only been open for nearly a month now, and we haven't completed enough to feel that the builds can stay the way they are for the time being. However some of the features we will have is going to be a nice mall section on the ground floor build which Kono and Zenzen have modeled as a mixture of Marble Gardens and Emerald Coast from the games, as well as Blueblur's corner build of a level from Sonic Lost World. We will also be setting up a night club that will offer Live DJs to come and have a party, and we will be setting up a hub of sorts that will allow people to teleport through the sim via Second LifeExperience, as well as portals to the other sims that wish to be affiliated with us.

Kono: "Final?" (smile) What is final? The sim is a piece of art and I imagine it will continue to grow steadily for a long time to come. There is a lot to look forward to mainly all the changes. If I can manage the big plan is to make things a lot more interactive and make new builds whenever possible or recreate current ones if it fits.

I hope that what can be looked forward to is just more or [a] better path of what is already here; a happy community and a calm sim that feels like home.

Cyfir: Who else is involved in bringing back the sim?

Shadow: I have to say that the credit for inspiring me to reopen the sim would have to be Sonikku, Blueblur Chrome, Zetsae, and some new friends Rapptor and Matchada who showed me the Chao garden to spark my desire to bring the sim back.

For the actual development of the sim it has been Kono Moonites, Blueblur Chrome, Zenzen, and Wolfy Zemenis who have either brought back old builds or been working on new builds to give us the main foundation for our home once more.

Though he may deny it sometimes, it is myself and Kono though that are the owners of the sim. He mainly prefers to stay in the background as sort of the head builder, letting me take the credit for owning the sim instead so that way he can try building in peace, though that still doesn’t always work out for him.(laughter)

Kono: It's more a question as to who isn't? While yes that comes down to me and shadow paying for it, our friends and the community in it are what from day one got it off the ground.

Builders: Myself , ZenZen , Blueblur.chrome , Wolfie Zemenis.

Owner: Shadow,  but cheesy as it might sound to some, the members, Sonikku, Zetsae, Sykes, Matchada, Rappy, Sen , Wendi , Razor [here at time of typing] are what help us feel like it is a home and them being here at the start and even before are the who and what that are involved in bringing it back.

Cyfir: For Kono, what is most rewarding about your builds?

Kono: Learning. This community has taught me everything I know or at the very least taught me the basics and then also beat me over the head about the details to do things right. A lot of people don't realize how relevant Second Life is to making an actual game, or learning animation. The reward is learning and getting to enjoy what I create, alone or with others.

Cyfir: Do you know when everything should be finished or are you just taking it one day at a time?

Shadow: Well, like I said, the sim will never truly be finished as we always seem to come up with new ideas for builds or ways to improve existing builds. But even with the current builds half finished, we opened our doors to everyone and anyone who wants to just come home, hang out, and feel a sense of safety and companionship that you would as if you and your best friends were just relaxing and gaming at home. As for the date for when we feel ready to remove the 'under construction' label from the name, well that one we are taking one day at a time until we can at least finish our landing hub, mall, and club.

Cyfir: Will there be any other Sega or other video game inspired features on the new sim?

Shadow: I can't say for absolutely certain on this one, but as the name implies, Sonic's New World will most likely remain true to the Sonic universe. However, we never know what the future may hold.

Kono: Yes and no. It really depends on the builds. It's a Sonic sim and I would like to keep it that way to an extent. I love mixing ideas and a personal long term goal of mine is to make Shibyua Terminal from JSRF with a sonic twist to it. We will have to see what happens . Luckily SEGA IPs all have a 'sega' style.


Cyfir: Will there be events?

Shadow: Yes. Our main event will likely be once we finish our club for live DJ shows. Our main DJ so far is Raiyn Delwood with her Manic Monday radio show making its comeback. We have yet to look into other DJs yet until we get the club closer to completion and set up our server to allow music to be played in-world.

Kono: YES! I hope. I want to plan some but the main things for now will be the DJ club and maybe some hidden item scavenger hunt type things. The way things are right now . We need to get a bigger sim to do events. I would have never dreamed SNW would become so popular that at least four times a week if not once a day maybe the sim becomes full.

Cyfir: What else can people look forward to on the sim when they visit it now and in the future?

Shadow: At this level of completion, what people can expect is to be able to call this sim home. Having good company, good friends, and be able to relax in safety. We have no tolerance with griefers and trolls and deal with them as they come. As long as those who come and respect the sim's M rating and treat others with respect, then we are more than happy to welcome anyone home. They don't have to be a Sonic character to come. Just be themselves as long as its M-rated.

In the future they can expect ease of access to the different builds with a teleport system thanks to the Second Life Experience. A mall with cheap rental spaces, a club with live DJs almost weekly, and still a fun place to call home.

Kono: Bigger sim? More builds? Sweet Rave Party!?!? Who knows! Hopefully now and always what they can look forward to is a home . A place where people come to actually have fun and get along. Look, real life sucks that's why we're all here. Come in and chill out and relax while you're here.

Or you can look forward to being the center of attention in one of our sim wide troll hunts if you decide being a decent person is just too hard. What a fun past time.

We'll be here a good while, so let’s take the future as it comes to us.

---

I honestly believe that Second Life needs more experiences like this sim to provide users with things to do. At the risk of sounding corny, it’s creative experiences like these that really show off the art of what’s possible in Second Life while providing a social setting that can foster friendships that help everyone grow.

Landmark to SNW: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bandits%20Beach/103/89/24

Cyfir

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

Games in Second Life: Linden Realms and 7Seas

By Gemma Cleanslate

Bixyl asked what games do we play. I looked back in my life in sl and I still miss the old casinos , especially the camping casinos ,sorry to say. Sigh. I am not fond of the new gaming possibilities. So far I have not attempted any mostly because of laziness.

One game I still like is chasing crystals in the Linden Realms. It is "stupid fun" to run and escape the rumbling monsters that watch over the crystals and will get you if you are not fast or careful enough. That is okay because there are resurrection sites where you go after they kill you and begin again from there. You never lose the crystal points you have captured and when they are enough to matter you can go and exchange them for lindens. 

Each part of a realm is large and encompasses many adventures to run through. When you first arrive in the realms for the first time you will be asked to complete a quest. I did that years ago, but then you are free to run to any area of the forests, caves, mountains, hollows and find the varied colored crystals that stick out of the ground. Each color offers certain points to exchange. Not only do you have to watch the rock monsters but watch for falling rocks and many other very scary dangers. Try it for yourself. Read the rules and follow them or you will find yourself at home once in a while. 

You will automatically be wearing a hud that keeps track of your crystals while you are in the realms but don’t worry if it does not appear, your points are still added. The entrance is by teleport through a blue arch found at the Linden Portal Park.    

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Portal%20Park%201/69/66/23

Another game I play almost every day I am in Second Life for at least 30 minutes or possibly more if I have time is 7Seas Fishing Contest. I have been fishing for almost 10 years and not only fishing in contests but hosting them for various places. It is a social activity as well as a contest. All the fishers who are mostly too lazy to hold a rod so fish automatically with invisible rods. It is all random. 

As soon as the cast begins the fishers begin to collect various fish with points that are registered on a leader board that keeps track of the points of the top 5 fishers. At the end of the contest the top winners are rewarded with lindens and possibly trophies and other rewards. Bait is used in almost every contest and we must purchase our own bait. There may be a lot of grumbling taking place as time passes and the fish are not biting. 

Trivia questions play at some of the fishing holes and help pass the time. Conversations can range from fashion to food. Greedy game is available at some of the sites but I have never tried that. And there are many Krafties (another game I have not tried) enthusiasts who come fishing too and have their battles while there.  

There are other forms of fishing in sl but this one is my favorite. There are custom fish to be caught at many of the sites that people love to collect as well as the trophies. Those trophies belong to Grey Nacht who collects them and more. 

You can learn about 7seas Fishing at the website  http://www.7seasfishing.com/  or you can visit the headquarters inworld.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Flotsam%20Beach/39/104/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Star Hunting

By Theonlyjohnny Resident


    A creation of the Rise Gaming Association, Star Hunting is a scavenger hunt, consisting of various colors of both gems and shields.

    Each color gem, as well as each color shield, awards different amounts of unpaid earnings. Unpaid earnings can then be traded for linden, at the ATM, equaling the amount of unpaid earnings that the Rise Player, someone who plays Star Hunt, has at that very moment.

    However, it is a scavenger hunt, so most of the shields and gems are hidden, the ones that are hidden very well are the ones that give a greater amount of unpaid earnings. There are, however, shields that are out in the open, since the creator of Star Hunting, as well as the owners of the sims that participate in Star hunting, are some of the most respectful, down to earth, and thoughtful people that you will ever have the chance of meeting.

    When asked why Star Hunting was created, the creator responded with the following statement, "We've seen many games like this. I decided to make one because I have seen games of similar degree that is taking money from players. Those games aren't for the fun factor. Those games are just for the owner's favor. Rise Star Gaming is one of the first that would feature fun factor as a major factor. If there wasn't a game that has a fun factor rather than a money factor, it does not deserve to really be a real game. A game decides to only be fun if they are owned and managed by a friendly group of staff or owners."


    When asked why the name Star hunting, the creator responded by saying, "We didn't name it anything else. We wanted players to feel like Stars. By "stars" they are referred as Superstars, and players that reach certain feats in Rise's community receive actual stars on the floor, similar to a walk of fame at the new Rise Headquarters building. If they felt very honorable and treated well, it makes them feel like a true star when they play along with me instead of something else that usually gets ignored."

    Of course the owner isn't the only one that I talked to. When asked how she found out about Star Hunting, Emerald25 responded by saying, "I was here as staff in the beginning because I knew Warden from another game." Her favorite part of Star hunting is, and I quote, "The diversity, the colors, the happy community and that everyone can reach the same achievement levels i their own time:)"

    I am a Star hunter, myself, and I can vouch for the integrity, the diversity, the excitement, and the happiness, that Star Hunting brings to its players. There are no lies when it comes to Star Hunting. There are no catches either. It's simple and easy to follow, and because of the major outcome of the game, it's a wonderful game to participate in. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves to travel to different sims, as this game is played in many sims, all of these sims have the same idea for Star Hunting.

    Every sim, involved in Star hunting, plans to bring happiness to all those that visit, no matter who they may be. Everyone is welcome to every sim involved, even Roma Zona, the headquarter of the Rise Gaming Association. A visit to Roma Zona, is one that is worth it, and really makes a grand beginning to all people just starting out, in Star hunting.

TheonlyJohnny

Game Review: Borderlands2

The new first person shooter offered by Gearbox Software is an excellent game in my opinion. The first Borderlands is and was a good game as well. The sequel follows from the original where the vault hunters Roland, Brick, Lilith and Mordecai from the first game discovered the vault. The Vault was an amazing treasure trove of weapons and riches on the planet of Pandora. Disappointed that there was no treasure they wandered off not to be seen again. 

The second Borderlands follows five years later as new vault hunters come to Pandora in search of a new vault. There’s an introduction to the plot before you can pick a new character. The prologue explains that a rare element eridium now is on the surface of Pandora and the Hyperion Corporation is now mining it on the planet.  Handsome Jack runs Hyperion from his spaceship a large H covering the moon. The characters this time are Maya the Siren, Axton the commando, Salvador the gunzerker, and zero the assassin. Each character has a special ability. Maya can phaselock a single enemy and keep it from attacking for a short time. Axton can summon a turret to shoot at enemies for a while. Zero can turn himself invisible. Salvador for a short time can wield two weapons of any kind at once. The other three characters are only allowed to equip a single weapon at any one time. Over time you’ll learn to hate Handsome Jack as the main villain in the game as he does atrocious things.

Borderlands 2 allows character customizing like World of Warcraft. For each of the four characters there are three skill trees you may distribute your skill points that you start to gain at level 5 and up. Maybe I’m nitpicking but gearbox soft could have automatically given your character his or her special ability at level 5, but instead you have to use your first skill point to gain your special ability. However it’s a small thing. As an example the Siren character I play as grease711 her skill tree is geared in Harmony. Harmony lets her bring back other characters in a co-op from dying to getting back on their feet by using her phaselock ability. Overall it’s slanted to being a healer player and helping other players by keeping them from death. I even have the option to shoot other players to refill their hit points or health. A player was shocked that I deliberately shot him and his hit points went back to full. I also dabbled in her elemental damage tree apocalypse. My damage improved as I killed baddies quicker but I lost a lot of my healing abilities. Don’t worry though if you want to reset your skill points for your character it doesn’t cost a lot of money.

The game itself has wonderful graphics and fun gameplay. You start out with lousy weapons but as you progress through the game mowing down baddies you gain bigger and better weapons like an RPG game but with black humor along with a western feel of first person shooting. Once in a while you’ll see treasure chests with either meah or something worth your time or something that makes you go wow!

Also like World of Warcraft your character is asked to do quests helping out various npc/s you gain experience and sometimes a new firearm. It’s your choice whether you want the weapon or just to sell it for money in your pocket. 

The color of rarity goes from white, green, blue, purple, and the very best is orange. The firearms are pistols, shotguns, smgs, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and launchers which fire rockets. The weapons have attributes like reload speed fire rate and how much damage the weapon does per shot and accuracy. Also your character uses shields like a smaller version of energy shields from star trek shows. You’re your shield goes to 0 then you’re vulnerable as any attack hits your flesh instead. You’ll see blood splattered when your shield is off when you’re hit.  Launchers are slow to reload but pack a nasty punch. Pistols do their fair share of damage too and fire faster. Right now my commando has a blue pistol off a quest. Also the weapons that you find have different elements. Fire is very effective against flesh. Shock guns knock down shields fast. Corrosive destroys armored or robotic enemies swiftly. It helps to have elemental weapons in store to wipe baddies out quickly before they have a chance to overwhelm you.

As you progress through the game you’ll meet the characters involved in the story. Each time you meet a new character there’s a dramatic introduction of the character and his or her name. One character an npc you can buy guns from is introduced in a very funny way. A good laugh is a woman npc who you do quests for. A man taunts her for being the leader when he is very sexist against her being a woman. Don’t worry she gets him back.

Eventfully at the end of the game you’ll fight Handsome Jack. The boss fight is an excellent medium between easy and hard so long as you work together with your teammates you’ll down him. And there is a lot of treasure when you defeat Handsome Jack in the final fight so it’s certainly worth your while to fight him over and over again if you want to look for better guns.

After defeating the game there’s a “True vault hunter mode”. It’s a much harder version of the normal game and was very frustrating. Every time your character dies you lose 5% or so of your total wealth as you pay Hyperion to create a clone of yourself. If you’re not careful you could lose a lot of money quickly. One thing an npc says which makes sense in the game, “Money isn’t worth a thing if you don’t spend it.” Don’t be afraid to spend money on something that will greatly improve your character like a new weapon or shield. You’re better off buying upgrades than dying and losing your cash. The more cash you have the more cash you lose per death so hoarding your money is counterproductive.  When you have the chance shop around for a better shield or new weapon. The money you spend will help out your character making the difference between dying once in a while to dying a lot.

The plot itself is fun to follow and adds to the gameplay. Even if you beat the game there’s always the option of trying a new character of a new skill tree to make your character very different. There’s certainly replay value when you play co-op with others. Another neat thing is the voices from your character and the bad guys you fight. The bandits in the game will constantly taunt you or npc/s will ask you to go on a quest in a live voice. The voices sounds legitimate no corny voices in this game. My character the siren will say things like “Cool!” or “I love my powers! “When you phaselock bad guys.

I highly recommend Borderlands 2 to anyone who is a fan of first person shooters or an RPG sort of game. Even after beating the game there’s things for your character to do like leftover quests or the boss from the original borderlands that’s only fightable when you reach the maximum level 50. You can choose to fight him below level 50 but it’s a poor idea as he is impossible to fight and you’ll just lose money dying again and again. 

I haven’t reached level 50 yet, but with the game being fun to play and a joy to look at graphically it’s only a matter of time. 

Grease Coakes

Byngo is Booming Again

After several weeks of angst among the byngo fanatics, it looks like the game is flourishing again. There was a period of withdrawal that had some lovers of the game panting for its return. To satisfy the Linden Lab, the creator of the game, Dazzo Staheli, has redesigned the Super B Bonus game so that there is a decision making element. I watched as some of the players tried out the new game, and learned how to play it properly. After several days of trial it looks like the nearly finished product is back on line at all the byngo places in Second Life. 

Dazzo is hoping that this is the end of the changes. I talked to two of the byngo place owners. Both seem to like it. Bold Baddingham said, ”It's going good, Super B bonus plays a lot differently. But once people of gotten used to it, I’d say feedback is great, players like it. It`s more of a challenge to play. There a sense of achievement even if you don’t win in a lot of cases.” Felgood812 Solo remarked, “Well they seem to like it. ... just one I talked to don’t like it. .... too hard for her but everyone else does. ... just a little slow getting them back here to play.” 

I also talked to several players.  Alyssa Darwinian told me, “Yes I have played it, but only once. And I was confused. I did not know about the changes and when my game was over after only 1 line I was bummed. I have since read the new rules, which I should have done before playing the game, and it looks like it is going to be fun.  I see myself back to playing the game as much as ever. And I used to play all the time, which means everyday (laughter).” and Cassie  Broadfoot told me she loved it and likes that it “requires more concentration and strategy,” and has already won quite a few times. 

If you like to play bingo in real-life try byngo in SL. Check out the Byngo Bonus group for more information and places to play. 

Editor's note: Be sure to check out Gemma's earlier article about the Byngo controversy Here. 

Gemma Cleanslate

Virtual Medical Doctor

Among the games at Madpea, one of the newest is the Virtual Medical Doctor game, sometimes called VMD for short. For gamers even slightly interested in medical fields and the human body, this game is a must. Even if you’re not, you may find yourself dropping by time to time. The plot: pilot a medical probe called a “Cheiron” which is miniaturized with you in it, and placed inside the patient where you work to cure the illness from within.

Whenever someone has a little pain in Hoshi, they come to the Tupol Hospital. You might not believe it, but there are a lot of patients in the hospital and we simply don't have enough doctors to care for each of them. That is why we need you - help us to get our patients home. We will equip you with the latest medical devices and Poseidon, who speaks 6 different languages, will help you to become a VMD.

Set at Tupol hospital, there are four levels in the building accessible by the elevator. One level is for new residents of Second Life, a guide on how to go about the Grid. Another shows examples of body organs. Another floor is one players will keep coming to: one with the background of the several missions and their patients. One also gets a HUD to help with playing the game.

To head to the game area, one needs to use the teleporter. Then head down the walkway to the scrub room for decontamination. After that, head to the one of three capsules, the game calls them “Cheirons,” programed for the location of your mission. The first two missions are in the brown-coded capsule straight ahead.

The first mission is simple, taking care of a 68 year old man with an upset stomach, "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome." The real purpose is for you to learn how to control the probe. The Cheiron’s computer will guide the user on how to proceed. It is possible to lose by depleting the battery through too many laser shots. The second mission: to get rid of parasites from a case of bad sushi. From there, the cases get more serious, Mission Three for example involving a heart condition.

For players with slower computers, one may have to wait a few moments for the control panel to rez enough to be able enough to read, for those moments you need to inject a drug (for the first two missions, it’s the one on the bottom-right). And once when playing, I didn’t appear back at the hospital right away. But there’s not much to complain about what I can only call a great Second Life game.

And oh yes, one can pick up a doctor's coat and set of medical scrubs while here.

To get to the Virtual Medical Doctor game, head to Tupol Island at (120, 131, 0).



Bixyl Shuftan