Press Release" Bay City Announces Anniversary Celebration

Mainland community turns nine this May

BAY CITY, SL (9 May, 2017) - As the Second Life® mainland community of Bay City turns nine, its Residents are once again hosting their annual parade through the city, followed by a live music event in their fairgrounds.

The first project of the Linden Department of Public Works, Bay City opened in May of 2008 to initial viewing, with auctions for land in the city beginning soon after. It has developed into the largest community-focused virtual urban area in Second Life.

Participants in the annual parade are asked to gather at noon SLT/PDT on Sunday, the 21st of May, to lineup at the band shell in Bay City - Harwich. The parade will wend its way down Route 66 beginning at 12:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, and will conclude at the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel region.

A live concert will kick off at 1:30 p.m. SLT/PDT at the Fairgrounds with DJ Marx Dudek providing music leading into the event until 1:30 p.m.SLT/PDT , followed by Christov Kohnke from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, Winston Ackland from 2:30-3:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, and Oblee (Obeloinkment Wrigglesworth) from 3:30-4:30 p.m. SLT/PDT.

All Residents of the Second Life grid are welcomed to participate. Celebration goods, including parade float bases and ideas, are available at the Bay City Community Center, in the Daley Bay region for those who wish to be a part of the parade. Ample viewing areas are provided. The music event is also open to all who desire to attend -- not only Residents of Bay City

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life® and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

SL Machinima: "SL9B - The Angel Of Death #5"

Crap Mariner does another of his "Angel of Death" SL9B machinimas, in which he thanks the various blogs and newsletters, Second Life Newser included, for getting the word about the anniversary event, as well as trying to get Marx Dudex to perform there, "The Angel Of Death tries to recruit Marx Dudek from The Listening Room to perform at SL9B, thanks the many blogs that have gotten the word out about SL9B, and... and... um... maybe you don't want to watch the ending."

I remember Marx performing at the SL8B Bay City exhibit, so maybe the Grim Reaper won't have to work so hard to persude her.

Opinion: Why Second Life Isn't Going Away (and Why It Doesn't Appeal to Everyone)

Some of you may remember CNN iReporter Any1 Gynoid's article predicting Second Life's doom last month. Marx Dudex recently wrote an opinion piece in response to the "doomsayers." Marx commented that there was reason to feel pessimism for the past couple years, cluelessness at the Lab, talk of Second Life being sold, some noteable departures from the Grid, etc. But he feels more confident about the future, signs including a CEO who actually uses the virtual world, and a number of disgruntled residents who left coming back.

Why haven't the alternative virtual worlds been able to draw more people from Second Life. One reason Marx felt was the small market of goods available to buy. There weren't enough to convince many to stay. Then there was that Second Life had emerged as "McDonalds" of virtual world with no one else coming close. Timing also had part to do with it's success, he felt ...


Second Life came into being in the waning years of the dot-com bubble, and I think that it will be quite a few years yet before we see the advances in technology and new ideas that could bring about another such ‘goldrush’, if ever. Second Life came along at just the right time. It doesn’t necessarily matter that it did not become the game-changing ‘killer app’ that many had hoped.


I share Marx's optimism about the Grid's future. Although the sim closings still going on are sad, things are looking up compared to 2010. Although I know a few people who invested in Avination and Inworldz, they never really left Second Life but logged onto both worlds. One will probably still keep his casino in Avination due to his love of gaming and gambling, but he still comes back to the "Mother Grid" regularly.

And why hasn't Second Life caught on with the public to the extent World of Warcraft and Facebook have? Many have put the blame on the Grid's learning curve for new residents. But Marx saw it as more than that, "Second Life requires an investment of time, dedication, and most of all, imagination." The Grid's "core membership" he felt were more imaginative, and broad-minded, than the general public.

Marx hits the nail on the head here in my opinion. MORPGs such as World of Warcraft, while often flexible, offer pretty simple goals compared to Second Life. Go on quests, whomp the bad guys, maybe raise your crafting skills on the side, pretty simple. Second Life on the other hand is a blank slate ready to be drawn on, or in Marx's words, it "provides the canvas for our imaginations." Not exactly the ideal place for an intellectual couch potato, those who look for easy entertainment in which they don't have to think too hard. With Second Life, either you find your entertainment, or at least know someone who can find it.

Of Linden Lab on its way to shifting focus to other products, Marx felt that at most there would be fewer performance improvements and bug fixes to the Grid, but they would still continue. He saw two possible outcomes. Either Linden Lab would make something that would finally catch on with the public and Second Life could ride it's way of popularity, or the products would fail and the Lab would fall back to it's mainstay. This is something I've written about before. As a company, diversifying into multiple products is better business sense for it. And one doesn't just up and abandon the product that got you going, especially if it remains profitable.

Despite some rough times in the past, Second Life will not only survive in the years ahead, but thrive. And that's something we both, and others, agree on.

Source: Inworld

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