The Pokemon Sim of Ravenlock

By Bixyl Shuftan

With the smash hit "Pokemon GO" game making news, it's attracted the attention of many. This includes Second Life users, some whom have been playing the game. But for some residents, playing Pokemon is nothing new. They've been doing it here in Second Life at a sim called Ravenlock. With the game in real life news so much, I decided to take a look at the place, and the people who run and play there.

The sim is owned by Mindy Runo, a six-tailed foxgirl. She has the help of two friends, Ivy Kirax (Ivy Steampunk) and Casio (Casio2000) with running the place. I ended up meeting with both Mindy and Ivy on two different occasions. "I love both Ivy and Casio," Mindy told me, "This sim wouldn't be here without either one of them."

Asking her how the place got started, she told me the original idea wasn't about Pokemon, "The idea was originally going to be a carnival game. I was making small toys, and was going to make one of those duck shoot games where the creatures would move, you shoot it and get a prize. Well, during the creation of it, a friend passed me a squirtle.The initial squirtle was not animated, but it did move about. We were laughing and playing with it, till several others said it would be nice to have the others as well. So I worked on the bulbasaur, squirtle, and charizard lines, and eventually got to creating several things Pokemon.

"I started on the homestead Joep, and at the time once we got houses and such made, we had a total of four areas you could visit. Not very many pets though, but it was already starting to get popular. When they were 'Waving the Setup fee' for new sims eight years ago, we decided to go ahead an get a full sim. At the time we had just over 30 catchable pets. The sim has been rebuilt, and redesigned at least seven times now. And we're working on the eighth, and now harboring at least 800-plus unique catchables. We have Pokemon, Minecraft, Mario, My Little Pony, and several other game and user created creatures. We find though Pokemon is fun, people do like being able to catch there favorite game or movie character as well."

As time went on, they improved the pokeball thrower, added a money system, and multiple levels, "Use to (be) we had roughly five levels that would take up all our prim count. Now we have over 15 levels, and room to spare. The next rebuild, I plan on over forty different areas, though smaller. I hope to prove that it will keep people happy being able to literally be in a game."

When I met with Ivy earlier, she had told me the "thrower points" box people to keep track of their score was just a few Lindens. Captured pets were tradeable between players, "In 2012 we started making holiday events for Halloween, Christmas and Easter where people can collect holiday rares as well. As for a battle system it is still in the works however, and many activities are tried and tested with the visitors to make more stable and workable activities.

"Our one and only scriptor Casio2000 has been very busy this year though to make the battle system active, new activities using the sim's roleplay currency for Halloween, and improve the safety system against griefers and harassers. Mindy and myself are also in the process of revamping the sim from a 'Japanese pokemon' theme back to the old firered/leafgreen style. Now that the sim uses the new experience key program, we're able to make a more authentic game experience with many effects for players. There's many ideas left to implement and probably many more to come."

Of the in-game currency, Ivy stated, "the roleplay money hud and the currency was implemented in recent years. Players can collect various currency that spawn along with the pets and be able to buy things from the shops around the main town should people wish to sell things using the roleplay currency. Mindy's shop, 'Nook-Fu,' is a dedicated shop for the pokedollars. The item system there is set up to be like Nook's store from 'Animal Crossing,' so it will cycle it's content every in game day (4 Ravenlock days in 1 real-life day). Other renters have taken a liking to the gatcha system where customers can use Pokedollars on them instead of Lindens. The money system can only be used in Ravenlock or any potential sister sims of course, and is all free and found while wandering the sim. The hud will also be expanded to have things like inventory, map, your Pokemon team when we implement the battle system, game clock, and the battle system itself. So it's very much still a work in progress."

So what were some of the challenges? Mindy told me, "The biggest challenge was getting the proper scripts to make everything work. The thrower system alone has came a LONG way. Used to be, to throw a ball, you would attach a thrower, throw at a pet, then whether you caught it or not, to throw another ball you had to detach the thrower, and attach a new one. Thanks to Cassio we now have a completely automated thrower that can be refilled by anyone." One other problem, which they've been working on recently, allowing the gamers to have their Pokemon fight each other in matches, "we are STILL working on a battle system, the test which is this 'rock paper scissors' game here." She pointed to a box next to the statue near the main entry area, "The thrower actually happened on the third rebuild when I went and found Casio at a script library when I was going there to try and learn how to do better pet scripts, since the ones I had would only let you do legs a certain way. we had some derpy pokemon back then."

Asking if there was any roleplaying, Mindy answered, "Yes but not nearly as much as I would like, I do want to get an actual RP system in place, which with the new rebuild, I plan to head this section myself. In the past I relied on others who said they wanted to create the groups and such, but it never got further than that." With Renemon and other avatars resembling Pokemon, I asked if any residents were roleplaying the parts of Pokemon themselves. Mindy answered, "I have actually seen several doing such. I have seen Trainers and Pokemon RPing together in mock battles."

Ivy told me a little more about roleplaying here, "we do help supply the RP tools, faction groups and such for people to continue on personal roleplays around the sim. More often than not you're sure to find someone from a faction roaming around in full uniform. There's been a lot of funny roleplay stories that have occurred, and a lot of fan made stories too. Even though we don't have a full scale roleplay going on currently, there is also many secrets around the sim that people can find relating to the factions. While the teams like Rocket, Magma and Aqua have become a household name you can find entrances to their current team bases around the main town. However there is one new shadowy faction said to be run by a band of Yokai Pokemon lurking around, for the curious trainer they may stumble upon an old shrine in a magic infused forest. This shrine is said to be the entrance to the Yokai Pokemon base."

While it was a sure thing that Ravenlock had been getting more traffic since the release of Pokemon GO, she wasn't sure by how much as her real-life job has been keeping her busy lately,"I haven't had much time to spend on here." But the statistic from a few months before she was aware of, "We are at 20K traffic, which is roughly average for this sim. A low point is around 12K, and our highest point hit 43K. To put this in perspective, Help Island Public, the hub for most newbies, is only 8K traffic. So in layman's terms, your place was popular even before Pokemon Go was released."

And other Pokemon sims? Mindy told me Ravenloft "was and is so far, the only sim I know of fully dedicated to Pokemon and has a custom catch system in place. We have had MANY sister sims, which we tried to help others get started, even applying our system AND builds to their sim free of charge. But they just didnt last due to internal disputes between themselves. I still welcome anyone who wishes to start up a sim like what we have, and will still be willing to help them build it."

As Mindy and I talked, there was a crowd gathering around. Some had their own things to say about the place, all positive, "I'm a newbie to the sim and Second Life in general and this has been fantastic so far." "I'm a regular here. I love coming to this place." One had just discovered the place, "I actually only found out about this sim just a few minutes ago." A couple had a pet by their side as they went about.

Besides her six tails, Mindy's foxgirl avatar has a few other distinguishing features. One is the badge worn around her neck. Mindy explained, "The badge is something we use to do, and which I do want to bring back in a new design in the rebuild, if you click it you can get a clearer view above me." And it did, the badge listing her Pokemon as a "Vulpix," with her ability as "Flaming Ban Hammer." Mindy added, "It was a fun thing I did that let people make there own custom badges. It was just something fun to do. In the new build, I wish to bring it back, with badges for Trainers, Pokemon, and Observers." There was also a pirate ship and shark on her tails, "The ship, is the Thousand Sunny from 'One Piece.' I do love the anime and watch it regularly. The shark, I just got that recently."

Eventually, one of her tails lit up, making a musical note. She explained, "I like music, as people find out when they click my tails." And the others around began doing so more, making a few melodies causing Mindy to giggle a bit, "I think everyone who often plays here plays with my tails."

As Mindy and I were talking, one player, Asuka, came over asking where the ponies were. Mindy offered to take her to the "Neighasaki" level, "We have noticed all the names in the MLP universe are a spinoff of horse acronyms." The three of us went up there, and in no time at all, ponies started appearing around us. The area itself was bright and cartoony, Mindy telling me, "As you can see, we do design the levels to represent there respective designs, so people may RP as they wish here as well. ... You have to thank Ivy for that, she is the lead texture artist and designer. She's the one who designed most of the current levels."

Besides the ponies, I also saw a coin on the ground, "As you can see, Pets, the ponies, as well as pokedollars, the coin over there, spawn around the players. We used to use floating spawners, which would roam an area and spawn them constantly. This would actually cause lag, as well as use a lot more prims. Now we have it so that the actual people are the rezzers, threw the experience system, and will only spawn creatures out around them."

Mindy told me once they have their battle system in it's second stage, catching Pokemon won't be a sure thing, "I DO hope to have wild pets battle people trying to catch them, much like the game. The normal pokemon will have there respective moves, but for the user created creatures, we do plan to have some fun with them." Seeing a pinkish pony, she commented, "Since were in the pony level, Take Pinkey Pie for instance. A few attacks she may have would be Duplication, Suger Rush, Fourth Wall Breaking and such stuff." Asking her what the "Fourth Wall Breaking" would entail, Mindy answered, "Hopefully we'll emplement the script to beable to detect what a user has caught, has in their inventory, where they been, and even a general knowledge database about the users, allowing such fourth wall breakings to occur.Such as, we have a sim website where people add there usernames AND real-life names, we can link the database up so that the pony would actually call the user by there real-life name (we will have an opt in and opt out option)."

Asuka was happy to have found the pony area, "It's relaxing to me." Then she noticed a certain purplish pony, "TWILIGHT!" She then tossed pokeballs at it until the game announced *Twilight Sparkle is captured by aliciasilverfang* "My favorite pony!" she beamed. She would capture a few more, then "Eep! I need to get pokeballs." So the three of us headed back to the town square.

Asking Mindy what advice she'd give beginners, her answer was, "Have fun, and aim at the feet. For actual Pokemon games, put Abra to sleep before trying to catch the little squirt. (I) spent well over half my collected money trying to catch him, and he just kept teleporting away. As for the aim at the feet one, Secondlife's Hitbox for physical builds seems to be near the feet." She explained with the charlizard for instance, people would be trying to hit it's wings when only a hit at the feet would succeed. She rezzed one Pokeman as an example, a rectangle beneath it visible. She called that a "'ground box' ... used to keep them standing up right. It's actually the biggest part of the build, and has to be physical to keep pets from falling threw the floors."

I then asked about special events, such as holidays. Mindy then offered a sneak peek at the upcoming Halloween area. We teleported there, and I saw a dimply-lit fairground, "this is the event area for the Halloween event we are planning. Things are still being worked on at the time, carnival, fun house, and several other things. The stalls will be for renters to set up selling stalls. We headed to the largest building, where the first floor had a number of unfinished stations, "The second floor of the building has past events we had, past builds, events, and others we have pictures of." We headed up the stairs, and the walls had a few dozen pictures all around, "we do have a picture of the very first build this sim seen, not the one on the homested mind you." She pointed that one out.

Taking a look all around, this gallery helped remind me this wasn't just simply a place that was recently set up, but one that had been around for years, with many different players, some whom had spent a lot of time here making their own adventures and stories.

Most of the rules in the sim are common sense ones, no griefing, no cheating, no sex and nudity. Profanity is not allowed, nor are vehicles not approved by the sim administrators. Drama is to  be kept to a minimum and heavily scripted items "that can push, throw, trap, spam etc. in any part of this sim" are prohibited.

"This sim was created in the hopes that it would make people smile, the prices I have set allows even those with no Lindens at all to come and enjoy themselves, the rent here also is meant so that those who love the sim, no matter the income, can come and live here and be around the area they like ... It always is still a surprise to me (smile) being the place origionally started out with the plan that me an a few friends could have fun with. I honestly didn't think the sim would end up this popular."

More on the sim can be read on their forum at http://toxicx.net/ravenlock/ . Their town square is located at Ravenlock (128, 127, 144).

Bixyl Shuftan

Tips on Raising Meeroos

By Kitacelia Resident

Meeroos are among the most popular of breedable animals in SL. The Mainstore sells many starter packs, which while convenient offer the least sought after types for a price much higher than they would ever sell for as individual nests.  While it gives you a home and food for so many weeks, I do not recommend this package unless you happen to have a lot more lindens than you do time.  All meeroos start out in nests, which you coax, please make sure the land is set to the same group or it may not find a home.  These homes cost about 250L, and can house up to 8 meeroos.  Meeroos of different kinds coats and sizes will all share the same home.  Homes come in many shapes and designs, just make sure it is a home designed as an official home and not something purely aesthetic.




Meeroos mature in about 7 real-life days, at which point they are able to mate.  To mate their personalities must be compatible for example aggressive will not mate with friendly but will made with shy. They have seasons which differ depending on basic type and region they come from.  all meeroos can interbreed. Meeroos will stop breeding at 60 days of age, but still require food.
You can lengthen the season of a meeroo by purchasing a "battery" at the mainstore or elsewhere.

Meeroos eat four times a day and there are five types of meeroo foods, desert grass which feeds those from arid regions, berries which feed those from temperate areas, and jungle vines which feed those who come from more tropical locales. Florofruit feeds all nocturnal meeroos.  Ambroosia feeds all types of meeroos besides meepets.  Ambroosia costs a little more than the other food types because it is easier.  All food is cheaper in bulk amounts.

Meeroos will run away if they do not have food for 3 real-life days.  A meeroo who runs away or is lost some other way other than being released can be whistled back by a Customer Service Representative for a cost of about 350.  There are also toys, decorations and costumes you can purchase for your meeroos, but they are not required. Meeroos can be made into non-eating, non-breeding meepets that do not run away for a cost of 1000 lindens each.  They will then eat free honey from the mainstore. It is a little cheaper if you buy the honey-dipper in bulk. 

Meeroos come with several distinct traits. Some of the most sought after include rabbit-like or "flitter" ears and vulpine like or fox characteristics.  They come in sizes that include teacup, toy, small, average, large and giant, the sizes tend to be more individul preference than anything.   The ears can be soft, button, notched, long down, short down, flitter, upright, or normal, or fringed only in the case of nocturnals. tails can be feline, curl, long, vulpine, normal,  or in the cases of noctural lantern or brush, which is the standard for nocturnals.  Only nocturnals have bioluminescence which can be shimmer, dew or sparkling.  Nocts have a lure, unlike diuranl roos, the lure can be ancient, classic, sweptback or the much sought after "scarab" which is a double lure which looks like a pair of antennae.  Coats can be striped as in bengal, or masked, solid etc.  Nocts usually have a sort of spotted tribal pattern to their coats.  

There are limited meeroo such as dryad ,which do not pass on their traits but which have a very very slim chance of being produced by almost any breeding pair.   Clover were a beta-testing gift and also do not pass on traits.   In the next version release they are going to have wings and horns as possible traits, which is much eagerly awaited.

Kitacelia Resident

Battlebeasts' Release Party

Last week, the Battlebeasts held their launch party, with live music by a variety of residents, hunts to find things, and of course, the Battlebeasts themselves. While I didn't buy any myself (I burnt out on the Meeroos, having about 112 of the things at one point), the event kicked off strongly and everyone had fun all around.

There were some technical glitches (mostly waiting a couple hours after launch before the Battlebeasts were able to be purchased, and an upgrade to the food that was recently released because LL broke something -else- that didn't need fixing) but for the most part it looked like a smooth run. There was also a hunt going on for tiny buyable crystals with extra toys and shinies hidden in them, but my attention was elsewhere and I didn't stay long in any one place to really go looking for them.

Already there seems to be more things in the works. I saw scattered "Dragon Crystals" around and I was told their use would be revealed in a week or so. I haven't playtested the battlebeasts myself, but I may in the future once more varieties come about. Single dragons cost just shy of 700 $L, with bigger packs costing more (1825, 3600, and 5000). The dragons currently come in six scaled patterns (Orange, Green, Azure, Blue, White and Black, with Blue being more of a purplish hue than the Azure) and six "glass eye colors" (Green, Blue, Red, White, Orange and Purple). I'll be doing a follow up in a few months to see what other things are released or come down the Battlebeast line, and will write about them here.

Battlebeasts currently can be found at Divine Dragons At Omega [Serena Becuma (227, 194, 23)], GeneSys Breedables Rental Office [TK Genesys (45, 210, 21)], The Knights of Battlebeast [Amon Ambar (175, 185, 22)], Blue Fusion Lost City of Breedables [Blue Fusion Breedables (204, 127, 21)],St Georges [Britannia (181, 116, 21)], Rainbow's End Breedables [Whispering Angels (97,111,25)], Wheels Family Breeding and Auction [Seadramon (108, 72, 1001)], and Xxtreme Oasis Breedables 2, [Xxtreme Oasis Breedables2 (224, 45, 21)] --- although I am sure more stores will be cropping up soon.

Xymbers Slade

Dranopia Quest

A few days ago, something called the Dranopia Quest was advertised on the login screen, and curious, I came to check it out.

Visiting the Dranopia Quest area, you begin on a huge island in the sky, with the "rules" of the area over on the nearby wall. Your goal is to hop on a dragon, descend into the canyon below and try to collect as many gems as possible. It sounds simple enough until you remember that the physics of SL and riding flying animals absolutely sucks (I speak from my experiences as a gryphon with a saddle; if you bank, you either do a barrel roll or just tip over) and that there's an additional little difficulty spike in the game: You only have four minutes to snag the gems.

According to the wall of information, you get a choice of dragons to ride: Water Dragons add Endurance (ride a dragon for too long and it despawns; these last longer), Earth Dragons add Stability (not sure what this was), Fire Dragons add Speed, and Air Dragons add Agility (easy to control). In my first time there, I saw no difference in power, but that was just because the place was packed --- the place's a homestead, and almost at all times of the day and night it had the full 20 people on it. The whole place is a no-fly zone, fortunately there's a sign you can click for a landmark back to the top, or an "elevator" to bring you back up.

I like being able to control my character; in the various racing games I played as a kid, I always played a character with great control, not so high damage output or speed. So originally I selected Earth dragons for stability, until I found the Air dragons were much easier to control (especially at off-hours of the night when less people were around and the lag wasn't so bad). You move with the arrow keys; be sure to turn off local chat. Otherwise you'll be left typing a long string of Es and Cs as pressing E makes it go skyward and pressing C noses it into a steep dive. The diamonds themselves are worth points, with white ones (1), yellow (2), green (5), blue (10), and pink (20), and if you're thinking about flying through the same gem more than once for point-spamming, they don't register on the third fly-through (nevermind it's almost impossible to orient and do a second run through the same gem let alone a third time).

The obstacles include floating trees that make you lose control if you hit them, and the Groms --- enemies that bear a strong resembelance to the Malboros of Final Fantasy 6. Hit the former, and you'll go bouncing out of control, as they're physical objects. The same will happen if you hit the trees on the ground. Hit the Groms, and your points are blanked. This is not a good thing, as you want the most points you can in the 4 minutes alloted.

The one with the highest points by Febuary 9th wins a $20,000 $L voucher for the Dranopia sim, where you can buy the dragons themselves to decorate your home. As I understand it, the dragons are also breedables, but there doesn't seem to be much variation other than the four elements (and the fact they can be ridden).

Now, I know that flying on ridables isn't the most stable thing in Second Life. I have several quad avatars (yes, people can "ride" me) but the control is utter crap. And by that I mean there's absolutely no control at all. If you bank, you're going to tip over or do a barrel roll and then end up upside down. Control WAS crap while the place was packed to bursting, but when the place was empty it was a lot easier (not turn-on-a-dime easier, but still it's better than most flying areas that I've seen in SL).

Sniffing around a bit more, I tracked down one of the sim creators, Leni Galli. English wasn't her first language, so I have edited the interview slightly for a little bit of clarity.

Leni Galli: Hello, nice to see you.
Xymbers Slade: One sec while I get a good screenshot and then I'll ask a few questions. (smile)

Leni Galli: Sure (smile).

Xymbers Slade: Ok, the first thing I wanted to ask, for those who haven't seen the quest area yet, what exactly is the Dranopia Quest you set up?

Leni Galli: First it is a fun game, and second it is to make Dranopia more popular (grin).

Leni Galli: Do you need more information about the game?

Xymbers Slade: So I see. I thought it was just something standing alone... and instead it's something to bring attention to this sim as well. :) How long did it take to create the Quest? It looks like it took quite a bit of effort to get it underway.

Xymbers Slade: And sure, more information about the game itself would be helpful (smile).

Leni Galli: Yes you are right, the Quest should draw some attention to Dranopia and to make it more interesting. Not only for breeders but also for people which like beautiful landscapes and storylines. We love to create landscapes and items with a lot of details especially sculpted prims and now also mesh prims. We needed one year to create Dranopia itself and the game was actually just a add-on for our breeders. But we are surpised that so many people are interested in it. The game is set very simple...you just have to fly around and collect gems/diamonds in order to earn points in 4 minutes and expands the story about Dranopia itself.

Xymbers Slade: So these dragons are breedables as well? Do you find you get a lot of business, what with the other breedables in SL being quite popular (especially the Meeroos)?

Leni Galli: Yes all of the dragons are breedables but we do not mention this because the word breedables seems to have sometimes a bad reputation. We can not compare ourself to the Meeroos because they are so big and popular and have a lot more experience than we do.

Xymbers Slade: Good point. I keep thinking that with the Meeroos available it's difficult to compete. In programming the quest, what was the biggest coding problem... or was there anything you wanted to do but could not? And what are the difference in abilities of the dragons? Other than looking pretty, that is. (smile)

Leni Galli: We hope to be as popular as they are one day.

Leni Galli: Oh yes we had so many great ideas but couldn´t realise all of them since we do not have that much space and too little preems. For example we would have liked the Groms to have an AI.

Leni Galli: Not only that the dragons look different and pretty but they also have different flight characteristics. For example the air dragons has agility, fire has speed, earth has stability and water has endurance.

Xymbers Slade: What do you mean by Endurance exactly? Do the dragons die off if ridden too long?

Leni Galli: Endurance means that they are able to fly longer in contrast to others. The dragons don´t die when you fly them to long, but they get tired over time and need a rest.

Xymbers Slade: What are the prizes for the Quest?

Leni Galli: if your name is on 9 February at the scoreboard, 1st place is a 20000L$ voucher, 2nd is a 5000L$ voucher, third is a 2500L$ voucher, and fourth through tenth is one Dranopia Starter Kit with a value of about 1850 $L. The voucher can be redeemed in the Dranopia Shop or Timmi Allen Team Shop.

Xymbers Slade: Ah, vouchers for Dranopia products, I am assuming. I take it the dragons will need food/water the same as any other breedable? (smile)

Leni Galli: yes, but they only need food. Other things are available, but they are not necessary in order to keep the dragons alive.

Xymbers Slade: What's next for Dranopia? Do you have any major plans to expand or add?

Leni Galli: Next, we plan the path of the ancients, and a "release" function. There will be the ability to release your Dragon into freedom. Your Dragon will say GoodBye and leave a crystal behind in order to be remembered by you. That special crystal can be kept as a souvenir and is able to give you ongoing information about your released dragon and its ancestors.

Xymbers Slade: That sounds like it will be very interesting to see once you bring it out (smile). That wraps up my list of questions; I'll write up a little review and point you to it when it goes up on the Newser. Should be sometime this week. :) Xymbers Slade: Here's hoping you become as popular as the Meeroos (smile).

Leni Galli: Oh thats so nice. Thank you very much and thank you also for your time, interest and support! Have a great time!

I'm giving it a strong 4 Dragon Hoards out of Five. I would have given it five out of five easily: the concept works and the effort really shows, but SL's screwed-up physics and the lag of a full sim really took away from it. Of course, now that it's out of the spotlight on the main login screen, it -should- be easier to navigate.

You can find the Dranopia Quest at Virtual Services (138,140,205), the Dranopia shop can be found at Sculptie Wonder (87,74,1020), and the main Dranopia area is at Sculptie Wonder (213,12,21). Hurry before Febuary 9th ends!

Dranopia can also be seen at www.dranopia.com.

Xmbers Slade

*Note* - Dranopia Quest has a lot of mesh objects, so a mesh-capable Viewer is needed.

Meeroo Auctions

Having immersed myself into the Meeroos, I decided to head out and head for the Meeroo sim itself and check out the Meeroo Auctions they were having over there. I was surprised that such an auction house existed, but I probably shouldn't have been - I tell others "if it exists in real-life it exists in SL" all the time. I went over expecting to see a lot of shops and hear barkers giving prices for Meeroos, and I was not disappointed.

The sim is one big Meeroo store, with almost all traits, breeds, and varieties represented. I saw several places that had a lot of "rare coats" and a lot of "random nest givers" that promised good breeding lines and rare, normally-expensive 'roos at much cheaper prices... if you got lucky. Of course, seeing so many "rare coats" in one place kind of dumbed them down for me, I saw one pen filled with blue-coated meeroos that were supposed to be "very rare." Naturally, the more common the meeroo, rare coat or not, the less it would potentially be "worth."

In one corner of the sim, Auctioneer Emra Jantzen was calling out various meeroos and their bloodlines, sounding much like an overexcited infomercial. I mean that in a good way, because she had a LOT of interest and a lot of people clustered around the platform, all of them making various bids on the various meeroos presented before them. I caught up with her after her shift and asked her a few questions on the whole thing.

Xymbers Slade: How long have you been "hawking the 'roos"? Can you give a little bit of history behind the auctioneering here?

Emra Jantzen: I have been calling Meeroo auctions since late July, but Meeroo Market opened in late August. Daemon actually had a market on the sim but no auction area until August, when he decided to cash in on the growing trend of auctioning meeroos.

Xymbers Slade: Was it hard getting started? Did you just set up one day with a handful of nests and start calling them out?

Emra Jantzen: I actually started out as just a customer, new to meeroos, watching the auctions. I've been a DJ in SL for years and thought, how hard could this be? I didn't really think it through. It's a lot of work. I started at another auction house and was hooked at my first auction when I managed to sell a loch for 75000$L.

Xymbers Slade: How can you tell if a particular meeroo is very valuable, or is it just "the more traits the better"?

Emra Jantzen: It follows a simple supply and demand theory. The less there are of a coat the more valuable it is. If a rare coat has traits, that just ups the value more. If you come to one of my auctions you can hear me preach this, the more traits on a coat as possible. If a roo has just a coat the value will go down. If a roo has a rare coat with 3 good traits, its going to hold its value.

Xymbers Slade: How difficult would you say is it to get the particular traits? Is it luck, skill, patience or all three?

Emra Jantzen: Patience and skill with a dash of luck. If you know what you want and can wait it out you can get it. Knowing what is in the background of your roos genetics is key. I personally have managed to create a very reliable long mane line from two chest fluff off springs. It just took me awhile.

Xymbers Slade: How much would you say a Tribal with clear eyes, short tail, and short upturned ears would be (as that's the one I think I want the most)?

Emra Jantzen: A roo is only worth as much as someone will pay. That being said, I have seen tribals with no traits being sold for anywhere between 125k to 150k. The traits would add a significant amount to the price.

Xymbers Slade: Does it surprise you how much some of these meeroos go for? I was hearing bids of 4000, which is almost $20 USD, for 13 linked prims. (smile)

Emra Jantzen: Yes it does. You came on a bad night, we have sold roos for more then 150,000Ls here, and I have seen them priced for much more in markets. I always told myself I would never pay more then 5000 for a roo. I bought my first jubilee for 25,000. I think it gets kind of addicting at the auctions and before you know it you are bidding right along with everyone else.

Xymbers Slade: I heard the most one went for was $350,000L. What is the most you've sold a meeroo for, and where does the money all go?

Emra Jantzen: I don't have all of the high end roos that a lot have. I refused to invest in them for a long time and so I have fallen behind. The best one I sold was a Chest fluff back when they were selling for 16,000. I can't say where everyone else's money but mine actually goes to my RL. Being a single mother, the money from my auctions has really saved me a number of times. I actually paid my electric bill and rent last month with Roo money. I also pay my tier in world and pay for food for my roos. My tips last week will buy my kids Christmas presents when it gets in my bank.

Xymbers Slade: Finally, what do you think the chances are of a 'roo having "all" special traits (a hair trait, eye, rare coat... everything)... has it happened? What kind of price would it fetch?

Emra Jantzen: I have never seen a roo that had it all, but I personally know a few breeders who are trying. One in particular has come close, and you can sometimes see the results of her breeding in our auctions. We call them Callista Roos. I can only imagine how high they would go for when someone does manage to get all the traits in one roo.

Now, I've come close in my own meeroo breeding. I've gotten a couple of "short shorts" as they're termed, meeroos with the traits of "Short Tail" and "Short Upright Ears" (there are five possible "trait" slots, one for head shape, tail curl, clear eyes, ear shape, and coat). While I don't think I'll be putting them on the auction house (I want to see if I can get anything good out of my 'roos first), this is a good example of SL helping support people in real-life and what SL could be for everyone if done RIGHT. While I couldn't last more than ten minutes listening to someone bark out the virtues of something, I'm still giving the Meeroo Auction House five Dragon Hoards out of five. It can be found at Meeroo (218, 223, 25) so if you're looking for a possible bargain on the 'roo craze, that is a good place to check out and shop.

Xymbers Slade

Meeroo Madness

I normally hate breedables in SL. They're clumsily-animated given the restraints in SL, they're expensive, they eat up a lot of prims, they have more hovertext over them than are words in the English language, they are usually actual physical objects (making them lag even more when there are dozens standing around), and so on. But, curious, when I noticed a Meeroo shop behind my cave a few days ago, I went to investigate.

With lots of different "nests" to choose from, I first looked at the ones in the pen in the middle. The Meeroos look like what I considered to be a cross between a squirrel and a rodent, and were just moving around, as they were programmed to do. Every so often they'd take a nibble at their food bowl (which I learned has a finite supply of food, so you have to keep buying more), sometimes they'd dig up treasures (worth points to their owner), and every now and again they would ask to be cuddled (which you do by a HUD). I decided to wander a couple of the Meeroo-related sims looking for more information, and on visiting to the Roo and Muffin sims (where the main store and some shops are), I asked a few people "What's the appeal of these things?"

I didn't get many answers, until I ran into "The Spookster" and we had a brief discussion:

Xymbers Slade: What's the appeal of these meeroo things?
The Spookster: What's the appeal of being dressed up as a poorly done imitation of bowser?
The Spookster: There are people in this world that can't have pets. Can't have children... can't leave their homes.
The Spookster: Things like this comfort them
Xymbers Slade: Ok, that quote I'm saving. You have a good point.
The Spookster: It's a beautifully built interactive virtual pet that offers companionship, atmosphere and joy to those that can't have it in other parts of their lives.
Xymbers Slade: After looking at things I admit I caved. I bought eight. And apparently one of them is going to be "giant".
The Spookster: I have rage issues IRL. I've been sent to see a therapist. I actually showed her Meeroos and told her how calming they were for me, she said they were a positive idea.
Xymbers Slade: No kidding? Wow.
The Spookster: yes, there are some that are expensive.
The Spookster: But I can sit around with all of my meeroos, working on what I do... and the noises, the friends I've made with them.
The Spookster: It's just a really positive world for me.
Xymbers Slade: I just started. Bought eight, dumped them in my skybox where I do fortune tellings and stuff
The Spookster: -chuckles-
Xymbers Slade: Now I just need to wait for them to grow up and get into 100% comfort or something
The Spookster: I've been at it for about 15 weeks now.
The Spookster: Petting them will raise comfort
The Spookster: If they go without food, it'll drop.
Xymbers Slade: Do you think they could be a real-life business? Like selling rares enough to actually afford real-life bills?
The Spookster: There's no special requirements for breeding other than compatibility.
The Spookster: I've sold two meeroos for 20k each.
Xymbers Slade: o.O
The Spookster: but keeping up on top of the rares is hard.
The Spookster: I had a tiger ear and long mane.. back when it was one of 12 on the grid
The Spookster: Someone wanted it so badly.. and honestly, I couldn't pass up the money. (I run an SL business and needed it for rent)
Xymbers Slade: I just have common ones... gael and the wine-something skin
[The Spookster: Winecoats.
The Spookster: I have about 50 roos, but only because I can't bring myself to release them! (big grin)
Xymbers Slade: Heh. Any real rare ones?
The Spookster: Emperor, Koi, Nile, All traits.
Xymbers Slade: I'm assuming they won't come out of ones I currently have...
The Spookster: Feline, Canine, Curled, V.short, Notched, Tiger, Button, Fluff and Chest, Long Mane.
The Spookster: Did you get starter nests from the Meeroo's mainstore?
The Spookster: Or did you buy them from random people?
Xymbers Slade: No, from my friend's store. I just grabbed eight at random.
The Spookster: Well
Xymbers Slade: But they were common ones
The Spookster: Here's the thing. No meeroo is common. They may LOOK it, but Meeroos are built around the concept of Mendelian Genetics. There could be KOI in any of those bloodlines, but you won't get a Koi until you find another with the gene. Make sense?
Xymbers Slade: A little, yeah. I know the concept but I've never wrapped my head around it.
The Spookster: taking you back to the sanctuary
The Spookster: so I can show you my lunatic roos?

She took me back to her skybox where quite a few Meeroos were wandering about. I must be jaded; the first thing I thought was "the prim count must be astronomical." We talked for a bit more and I went back to one of the mainstores, where I brought up the fact I was just starting. Someone out of the blue gave me four nests, saying "Good luck with them! x3" I guess nests are common enough that they can just be handed out if you run into the right people.

I finally decided they were cute enough, and bought three houses (250L each), 3 food bowls (1600L apiece but it lasts for a while), and a total of nineteen Meeroos (between 200L and 500L apiece; individual Meeroo sellers may vary). There are other "add ons" one can buy for their Meeroos, such as a "Meeroo translator" and an "auto-petter"... THEN I had to get individual *batteries* for the petter! The people who made these things must be making a tidy profit! The translator makes them say funny phrases on occasion (which you can add to; one of mine is "Occupy Wall Street? How about I occupy your hands instead... CUDDLE ME!") and the Auto-Petter "pets" your Meeroos at set intervals to raise "regard" (which is like improving odds that when breeding you get a rare coat or trait). Now I have quite the menagerie running around my home land in a skybox, but it was at a cost --- I had to get rid of my 125-prim stargates to make room. At 13 prims each, they DO add up!

What surprises me is the sheer cost of some of these "rare" Meeroos. One of them down in the store I got my original set was $16,000L (about $64 in real dollars), about the price of one month's rent on my land. I asked several people how much some of the rarest went and they said about 150K $L to 350K $L --- in real dollars, that could go half way to paying my bills! I could see how this could become a big business or profitable side venture if done -right-... although my landlady suggested to me that the market was bloated right now because more rare coats are showing up.

The Meeroos take 5 days of real time to mature and then they enter breeding cycles that rise and fall based on their "personality". So in order to get them to breed, they not only have to be in season, they have to have compatable personalities. Their breeding longevity is limited; after sixty real-time days, they become "elderly" and unable to breed.

350,000 $L though... damn, I must be in the wrong business.

Finally, on return to the Meeroo sims I learned that "Generation 2" or something similiar is about to be released... the "dark meeroos", though I think I'll just stick with the ones I have now, both due to prim limits on my land and especially since upon telling some people I am new to the whole thing, they kept giving me "good offspring" for breeding. They gave me a "Koi" coat and an "Emperor" coat (both male, so no intermixing there); I had to buy a FOURTH house and many weeks worth of "berries" for them to eat. Did I say menagerie? I meant infestation. I meant to have 8, I ended up with 27.

You can find all things Meeroo at the Roo sim (Roo, 68,44,21), at Muffins of Doom (Muffins, 76,130,22), at Mo's Meeroo Home of the Free (Purity, 49, 221,24), and there is a small shop at Sunweaver Air (143, 140, 25),and as a self-plug my own set of pens is at Sunweaver Air : Sunweaver Air (182, 100, 1252). There must be far more places than the ones I've listed; those are just the ones I've been to.

I'm going to give this whole thing 4 Dragon Hoards out of Five. It's unusual enough to keep someone's interest, the variety of combinations is a strong selling point (nevermind the six figure value!) although in most of these stores, the nests you can buy have hovertext over them --- to the point where if you go to the stores, you can't see one individual Meeroo's traits due to the ocean of hovertext from the others.

Xymbers Slade

The Bergons: Second Life's Newest Pet Dragon

While out visiting Caledon the other day, one of the residents got into a huuuuuuuuuuuge dragon, larger than even the Seawolves I've written about before (not much bigger, but it WAS bigger). It looked like something out of the Isle of Wyrms (same visual feel at first glance, anyway), and after engaging the avatar's owner in some dialogue and doing an object profile to see who made it, headed to the EQuality and Teagan sims to have myself a look.

What I found were the Bregons, which are small breedables of the same kind of breedable thing that everyone seems to be into these days. I knew there were horses and rabbits out by various makers, it was only logical that the fire-spewing beasts of lore were not far behind. I've never understood the thrill of having breedables, as they're usually physical objects that aren't (in my opinion) animated very well and lag down the sim that they're on. Then again, I fell for the My Little Pony craze earlier, so it's pot calling kettle black. :)

The Bregons are listed as being able to grow from hatchling to breedable. All you need to start is an egg and some "food", both purchasable from the sim the Bregons are sold. After clicking on the egg, it hatches after a given amount of time (I have not experimented with it) into a female or male with a 50/50 chance of either. As long as the "food" is close by, the dragon will continue to grow from hatchling, to baby, to youth, to adult, to breedable. As the Bregons I saw roaming the sim were all the static, moving-in-spurts-poorly-animated variety (Four-legged non-avatars are not SL's specialty, it's the same reason I have yet to see centaurs done well) and I remembered from my early days in SL how much I didn't like what breedable dragons there were at the time, I was not interested in them too much.

The notecard I got for the Bregons says that it takes 12 hours after a dragon hatches (with "food nearby) to become a Baby. Babies come in 135 different random skins, 115 different eye textures, 34 spike textures (with 4 main different shapes), and 60 different wing textures. All generated randomly, therefore the chance to get the same one is very low. I went down the notecard and it looks like there are various "types" of Bregons: A, B, H, and J (with sub-types A+, B+,H+, J+, A++,B++,J++, H++, and 6 queens). What followed was a lengthy list of what happens when you cross one breed with another, which made me think of some kind of genetics chart listing -all- possibilities. Well-thought out, at any rate.

After the baby hatches, it takes 5 days to turn a baby dragon to a youth. Then another 10 days after that, from youth to adult. After that, -75- days to go from Adult to Rideable and Eternal (20% chance; Eternals don't die). The food bowls only last fifteen days, meaning you need to buy more in order to make sure the dragon grows to full size. They stop growing if they run out of food (I don't know if they can die, but I did not test them out on my own as I am not going to spend all that time waiting for them to grow).

With timers like that, I am wondering why one would go through all the patience required to get their very own breedable dragon, when there are already many breedable avatars out there (both the Seawolves and Spider Productions dragon avatars have rezzable saddles, for example). I asked the sim owner (ED Exodus), and he said "The whole point of doing them was for fun really, but I was shocked how huge the breedable market is in SL and how fast it grows. I agree with you that getting an av dragon that you can ride will be much cheaper, but I can say 90% of the people buying Bregons are not looking at them as a rideable dragon... more than just a way to do business and money."

The Bregons also have a "breeder" (which I think is sold separately, as I didn't stick around long enough to check), which naturally requires a male and a female Bregon to be close to each other in-world in order to "breed" and produce a new egg. The Bregons are labeled to be transfer, from eggs to full grown rideables, so that is definitely an unusual way to start up a business breeding different eggs and trying to catch them all, so to speak.

While camming around the sim I came across a Staff of Jewels. Apparently if you have the staff (500L) rezzed, the dragons generate points toward free Bregons products and merchandise. I could see an idea like that being very beneficial to several other businesses. I also came across a series of one-time-use jewels (100L per Jewel) that enable you to change the look and appearance of all Bregons in its radius in various ways (different jewels for wings, spikes, etc). Naturally, a hud of some kind would be easier, but sims ain't going to support themselves on their own! ;)

I'm going to give this a guarded Four Dragon Hoards out of five. This guy obviously put in a LOT of work to make these two sims work into a bustling business (he did say he was surprised by the way the breedables took off in SL). He is obviously Doing Something Right. Breedables in general are not my thing, but if you're into the breedables, then visiting the EQuality and Teagan sims, where these things are sold, might be something to check out.

Xymbers Slade

Those Magical Meeroos

Meeroos are the latest breedable “animal” to hit SL, but don’t be concerned that you’re never heard or seen one in RL. A Meeroo is the unique creation of Malevay Studios, whose official website can be found at www.worldofmeeroos.com. Malevay Studios has gone a step beyond the usual breedable SL animal with the Meeroo by incorporating social interaction, breeding limitations, and an appealing “legend” and mythology. Their goal is obvious. They want Meeroos to appeal to everyone: entrepreneurs, pet lovers, and gamers. So far they appear to be succeeding.

Meeroos became available in SL on May 21, but they were previously available to some in Beta. Wizard Muldoon and Lady Elysa were two of the lucky residents who had beta Meeroos. Both of them were enthusiastic about the new animals. Muldoon, who has raised both horses and cats, likes Meeroos because they will have personality and interact with their owners.

When I met Lady Elysa, she was sitting in a lovely, surrounded by Meeroos. She and her Meeroos are located at Elegance by Elysa, Oasis of Qaf, Rare Jewel (167, 132, 25). The Meeroos were very cute, and Lady Elysa was friendly and helpful. Not only did she spend time talking with me, she has created notecards about Meeroo breeding, eye colors, and other useful information.

Describing the appeal of Meeroos, Lady Elysa said, “The creators gave us a little creature that recognizes us. They wake up when we come into the area. They come to us. They respond when they are petted, and they beg to be picked up and snuggled.” When Meeroos are petted, they glow.

Meeroos come in different sizes, from tiny tea cup to giant, and in a variety of fur and eye colors, including dusty or clear eyes. As with the other SL breedables, some colors and types are rare and thus more expensive. What makes Meeroos most unique, however, are their personality traits, which include shy, friendly, mischievous, lazy, and aggressive. (Aggressive ones are more talkative and interactive, not mean.)

While Lady Elysa and I were talking, Mary Meeroo came up. In my chat window appeared, “Mary Meeroo whispers: Elysa Swansong will you please pick me up and snuggle me?” I was amazed! I have many animals that I talk to, but none of them has ever initiated a conversation with me. Lady Elysa explained that this happens all the time, although some Meeroos are chattier than others.

The prices for Meeroos vary. Ones with clear eyes, which are more rare, cost more. Also the tea cup and giants, being the smallest and largest, cost more than the in-between sizes. I found an auction where the current bids were $8000L each for three tea cups, two females and a male. I don’t know if that was the final price, however.

Entrepreneurs are hopeful that some of the safeguards included by Malevay Studios will help Meeroos hold their value. Unlike rabbits and some other breedable animals, Meeroos will not mass reproduce. Only specific Meeroos will breed with other specific Meeroos. It is hoped that this will keep the market from being over saturated.

Malevay Studios has also added a feature called Regard points that owners can earn. Whenever the owners pet Meeroos, they gain points, although it was not immediately clear what the points do. Owners can socialize with other owners and their Meeroos to earn points that way, too.

Meeroos are busy little creatures, constantly digging and exploring. They dig up buried treasures like broken pipes, old coins, and rotted fruit. Gold exists, too, but is rare. However, if an owner clicks on any treasure, Regard points are awarded.

So far lots of residents appear to be interested in Meeroos. At one site, seven people were looking when I stopped by. The seller, Lanier Matova, said he had sold 6 already, and it was only the second day after their release. At another site, residents BlueJeanSparx Melody and Bryan (greg1990) were hoping Meeroos were cheaper to keep than horses. Bryan told me his horses ate so much that he was paying as much for food as he did for his land rent. A typical Meeroo will eat one bowl of wild Berries a week, which will cost $63L.

For residents that aren’t interested in breeding and selling, there is an option that turns the Meeroos into an easy to care for pet. For a one-time payment of $1500L, the Meeroo can be transformed into a pet that does not require food and can be kept forever. Also, Lady Elysa emphasized that petting and interaction is optional. She said, “There's no need for anyone to stress, thinking that they will be a lot of work, because it's all totally optional.”

Grey Lupindo