News and Commentary: Sansar Update: Plans For Release Date, Minimum Requirements, Allegation of Content Theft

By Bixyl Shuftan

A few developments about Sansar have come up in recent days. One is an answer from it's developers via Twitter when asked about when it would be ready for release. The answer was, "Plan is this summer, specific date (to be announced)." This is a little different from when in interview last month Ebbe Linden stated they would release Sansar this Summer. Now, they say their plan is to release it this Summer, but can't give a specific date. Another sign that the development of Sansar is seeing more difficulties than anticipated.

Another development was when the developers, also on Twitter, answered a question about Sansar's requirements. What the minimum requirements were, they stated they couldn't say what they would be, but "current recommendation is aligned to Oculus/Vive specs."

Taking a look at oculus.com, there was the following minimum specs:

Graphics Card    NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 470 or greater
Alternative Graphics Card    NVIDIA GTX 960 4GB / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
CPU    Intel i3-6100 / AMD FX4350 or greater
Memory    8GB+ RAM
Video Output    Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB Ports    1x USB 3.0 port, plus 2x USB 2.0 ports
OS    Windows 8.1 or newer

On vive.com, these were the minimum specs posted:

Processor: Intel™ Core™ i5-4590 or AMD FX™ 8350, equivalent or better
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce™ GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 480, equivalent or better.
Memory: 4 GB RAM or more
Video output: 1x HDMI 1.4 port, or DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
USB: 1x USB 2.0 port or newer
Operating system: Windows™ 7 SP1, Windows™ 8.1 or later or Windows™ 10

Hamlet Au, who also wrote about the recommendations, summed it up by saying "so basically, if you're not a hardcore PC gamer already, you're probably not ready to jump into Sansar when it Alpha launches ..." In the comments following the article, Ckara Seller commented, "when I did a quick check on upgrading prices to meet specs on Occulus and Vive I was coming up with numbers ranging from $2500 to $5000 depending on how much you need and want. I'd say that most people will need a new system if they are going to meet specs for processor alone. There's the cost of the VR equipment, a powerful graphics card, power supply and the required USB ports. It makes no sense to spend a hefty minimum to upgrade to minimum when you know it's inevitable that minimum will be a dinosaur within months. So my amateur take is that you will need to spend a few thousand to get what you need to carry you for awhile. It's going to hurt your wallet like a bad trip to the dentist. Calling for financial pain is where Sansar is going to begin their introduction to new customers. ... I think this message is so untimely and they all know it. ...."

It's looking less and less like Sansar will be the highly successful product Linden Lab hoped it would be.

Also in the comments was what might be the first accusation of content theft in Sansar. Someone found what he identified as a BonHuit cottage from M and M Creations. If the name seems familiar to longtime Newser readers, it should. M&M Creations, owned by Marcthur and 10 Goosson, was one of the main longtime sponsors of Second Life Newspaper, the predecessor newsletter of the Second Life Newser and has bought some advertising time in the past. In the past, they had an inworld mall and at one time offered building lessons. Sadly real-life troubles have caused them to scale back on their activities. But they do offer some great products.

I messaged Marcthur, and eventually got an answer. The owner of the cottage did buy it from him, and does have permission to use it in Sansar. So apparently there was no content theft after all. This is a reminder though that Linden Lab will need to police it's new grind for real cases of stealing.

Sources: New World Notes, vive.com, oculus.com

Bixyl Shuftan

"The Quest" at M&M Creations

By Bixyl Shuftan

M&M Creations has a long history of offering quality goods to Second Life's residents. In the past, they were noted for quality sculpted items. Then they began offering mesh products. Recently, they've offered a challenge for residents, in the form of a "quest."

 This quest is not an easy event. It is meant to be challenging, rewarding & fun.

This Quest contains 20 Questions.
With every Question you can gain a different amount of points.
The more difficult the Question, the more points you get for the right answer(s).
Some Questions have an 'open answer' which means you need to describe something, the answer on these Questions can't be 100% correct. A top score of 100 points is impossible.
The possible answers on the multiple choice Questions can have more then 1 correct answer,

but 1 is always better then the 2nd best. Name only the best answer possible.
Some answers will be a guess, approximately....

You can leave Questions blanc, it will only cost you some points. The perfect score doesn't exist, no worries. Better to work together and use the hints if you really get stuck...

The contestant with the highest amount of points will win a 20.000L$ Voucher.
Second Best a voucher of 8.000L$ & Third Prize is a voucher of 4.000L$!
If 2 best contestants end up with the same amount of points, they will share the prize.

I talked to 10 Goosson, one of the coowners of the store along with Marcthur Goosson. She told me people could play either by themselves or as part of a team, "they can pop in, click the jigsawpuzzle and try to beat the rest or cooperate to have an equal amount of points in the end. (The contest) will be exceptional, it's not an easy event. And it suits us, Marc's work isn't so easy done too and our customers really appreciate that."

"(We've been) in SL for 7 years now Bixyl, people keep coming back for our consistency on quality." A number of goods were for fellow content creators, "the creators who have been so loyal, they have seen all changes, just as we've experienced the creators world of SL. Only the 'oldbies' know how it was when the sculpts came in here. They are still a very important part of our range of products that people still use for their creations."

Of the quest, they, "made this quest winter last year, but didn't dare to launch it, not for easy consumers, not a hunt, just something born at M&M. Everybody can try to do this quest!! there are hints available, and oldbies can help out."

"All these years we've build up something with the creative core of SL, the people who make the world as it looks today, the content all users see and take often for granted. have they any idea what's behind all the creations? For the ones aware of it; this quest is not so difficult and fun to do. It's an event with a small wink ofcourse, no need to get all 100 points. (Is it) impossible... ehm, nope, but hard to get there."

"The point is, M&M are doing their things (for) 7 years the M&M way ... And I dare to be proud to present a different kind of thing to keep up the fun, give something back a challenging way and to get back in touch with all people still hanging around to provide good content in here."

For those interested in taking part, head to M&M Creations at DoubleMM (193, 81, 76). You can also learn more about 10 and Marcthur Goosson and their store at their website:
http://www.doublemcreations.org/ .

Bixyl Shuftan

"Creator's Cafe" Opens in SpotOn3D Grid

10 Goosson, an old friend of Second Life Newser whom was a sponsor of JamesT Juno's SL Newspaper, invited me to the opening of the "Creator's Cafe" in the SpotOn3D Grid last week on February 25th. In recent months, she and her partner Marcthur Goosoon have set up shop in this alternative world to Second Life. Like other alternatives, it's population is tiny. But they see good potential in it's future.

It was my first trip to this Grid, so I spent a little time downloading the viewer, and getting the hang of things. The selection of starter avatars was a fair one. I missed my foxboy appearance, but at least I didn't look like a noob. Like in Second Life, sometimes the music and Voice player needed a double-click. But I managed to get to the cordinates 10 had sent me, to the London sim.

Getting there, there were close to a couple dozen people with 10 and Marcthur. Given the small size of this virtual world, they were possibly a few percent of those logged on at the moment. The people were a mix of ordinary residents, land owners, and content creators. Among the latter was one anthro bunny whom had started one of SpotOn's first furry avatar lines.

There was a bit of initial confusion as my Voice player wasn't working. But once that was taken care of, things went much more smoothly. I had arrived just in time for a building contest, which I went ahead and entered despite being outclassed. We were given the prims for a figure seated in a chair & desk. At least I managed to get the chair together before the winner was finished and the contest called.

After that was time for a dance party, with a DJ and lights on the floor, which most of us joined. We had a good time, and it was over an hour before it was time for us to go our separate ways.

The Creator's Cafe in SpotOn 3D is at London, (40, 50, 22). 10 and Marcthur's SpotOn 3D store is at DoubleMCreations (124, 128, 22).

Bixyl Shuftan