Sad news for fans of JIAN pets. A few days ago, the owner, Kalia Pawtato (formerly Kalia Firelyte),
announced on the store blog she was closing her store and departing Second Life.
I also wanted to offer a fond, long time coming farewell as I step away from Second Life and Jian to take new chances, make new mistakes and make fun messes in new places.
Second Life has for the past 20+ years been a major part of my real life. Professionally, it's where I got my start all those years ago and continued to iterate in what I did ... I'm grateful for all the people I've met who also all carried lessons I'll take with me into the future.
Her inworld store at Pounamu Island is mostly closed. All that's left is an inworld redelivery terminal for resending any past purchases made. Although at (
64/153/22), it seems trying to teleport anywhere near it will result in you appearing over a thousand meters above the sim, plummeting downward. Her Marketplace page is still up and running:
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/170150 . She would also have a blog page, Bearpuppy, at
https://www.bearpuppy.gg/ .
Where she is going may surprise some residents, Roblox.
For the past four years I've been working on Roblox and a couple other platforms both for myself and others. My life has changed over the years and so have my interests. It is a natural evolution of my professional trajectory to move to new places where I hope to develop new, fun things.
A thread about her departure was started on the Linden Forums by Prokofy Neva, "this is sad news, for those of us in SL that bought and enjoyed these pets." One poster remarked, "Pets and breedables in SL are laggy and obnoxious! They don't belong here, because SL can't handle it. People who make them should go to another platform, where their creations will perform better, and annoy the rest of us less." Others expressed sadness, "Sad to hear another talented creator is departing."
One would say, "Jian is one of the contributors that has made my SL infinitely better. ... I will miss Jian. It has been a part of my many weekend jaunts inworld for so long, I cannot recall when it was not. I have the cutest worn pets that I have grown attached to. And I am incredibly grateful they are leaving a redelivery terminal available. And for all they have contributed here and to my inworld experience, I wish Jian great happiness and fun wherever they are!"
Nobody on the Newser staff has a Roblox account, nor do I personally know much about it. While it has a much larger user base, as it's mainly children and teens, it hasn't been thought of as competition for Second Life like VRChat has.
In any event, the Grid has one less longtime talented content creator.
Hat Tip: Linn Darkwatch
Image Credit: Kyrie Deka
Bisyl Shuftan
