Press Release: Sereph Club

Once a part of the now gone Seraph City, the Seraph club will officially reopen tomorrow at 6PM SL time.

Among the attractions will be a special live performance by Phil Mayo.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Old%20Time%20Prims/222/79/1007

Seraph City Is Gone

In February came news that the retro 30s or "Dieselpunk" sim of Seraph City was in trouble, about to vanish the following month. But some fans stepped in, and the builds were moved to a new sim, so it had been saved, so it appeared.

Alas, it was not to be. After reading on Jo Yardley's blog that Seraph City was gone, I headed to the Symbiosis sim where I last saw it. And indeed the city was nowhere to be seen. 

It is sad that these plans now officially seem to have failed, the land has been sold, all prims returned and a new owner appears to have completely different plans.

Farewell to this tribute to the retro-future black and white movies.

Seraph City is Saved, Moved to New Sim

Good news for fans of the "retro-future" city area, Seraph City. Once in danger of fading away from Second Life, it now has a new home in the Symbiosis sim. On Wednesday night, I was invited to Club Seraph where some of the location's friends, including some involved with it's rescue, had gathered to celebrate with a few drinks at the bar.

Read Bixyl's article in Places.

Has Seraph City Been Saved?

On February 27, it was announced that Seraph City, the "dieselpunk" sim made in the style of how science fiction from the 1930s saw the future, was all set to close (link). Edward Pearce wrote in his blog that the sim's owner Bromo Ivory had decided to shut the place down on March 21st. A few days ago, the show Designing Worlds dropped in for what looked like a final look at this unique city area before it was gone.



But word is, someone has stepped in to help. Chatting with Fuzzball Ortega of the Steelhead Community, he told me someone from the Steampunk community was about to take ownership of the place. If the plan goes through, fans of the sim will be able to keep on visiting. Second Life Newser will have more once we have talked to the new owner.

Bixyl Shuftan

Seraph City and Dryland, to Close

Yesterday came some news that two places in Second Life would soon be closing their doors, Seraph City and Dryland.

Seraph City was made in the style of the early 20th Century view of the urban experience of the future, or "Dieselpunk" as it was branded. There were numerous buildings, such as shops, as well as a train and a couple cars. The main buildings were the town hall, located next to the SURL I came across, and the "Seraph Club," a place that could easily hold a crowd  and was made with live events in mind.

 There was quite a bit to see. The old fashioned advertisements and signs added to the feel of the place.

Seraph City was one of the locations in "The Blackened Mirror" Second Life show, as well as where one of the characters came from.

It is still unknown as to why Seraph City is closing, which is set for mid-March. The group for it's fans has been closed to new entries. It did state, "Please direct any questions to Bromo Ivory or Edward Pearse."

More pictures of Seraph City can be found on Daniel Voyager's Flickr. There is also a Seraph City blog (link), but it hasn't been updated in a while.

Seraph City (113/149/106)


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"Dryland" is located in the Mado sim. In January, Second Life Newser was here when the "Lost Second Life" (link) exhibit by Ziki Questi was set up here. And now irronicaly this sim itself will soon be lost.

Designed by Anita Witt, a notecard I picked up stated she was, "Inspired by the man-made disaster that is the giant dried out Aral Sea in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan" caused when the body of water shrank after rivers feeding it were diverted by the Communist government for collective farms. The result was that towns and villages that once depended on the sea were abandoned when their source of livelihood dried up.

The sim has a sense of being an abandoned wasteland, with scattered abandoned ships and buildings, and numerous other wrecks and debris. A lighthouse was still running, providing light for sea traffic that no longer existed. Not far from what was left of the water was a small carnival of some kind.

Inara Pey says the sim will most likely close in late March, quoting Anita, "I thought I’d give you all a fair warning in case you have photos or machinimas to make that requires a Dryland background, or if you’d just like to hang out one last time before it’s all gone."

Mado (125/172/38)