This year’s Birthday theme is Elements. This
theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our
vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the
fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our
social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the
fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, "Elements" is a
celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second
Life.
As in the past few SLB events, exhibits are not required to be in theme. There will also be a separate adult-themed exhibition area apart from the main general-audience rated area. In the application form exhibitors need to fill out, it was stated exhibits cannot be commercial, "this is a party, not a mall or sales fair," gifts were okay, tip jars are not, bots are not allowed, political themes and what the Lab considered "hate material" are not allowed, and more.
Applications need to be turned in by Sunday May 12. The event itself lasts from June 21st to July 21st, a full month of "fun-filled days of live music, performances, shopping, and amazing community exhibits!"
We're excited to announce the launch of our new Starter Avatars! These
avatars, called Senra, are a fresh mesh take on the classic Second Life
avatar, with a customizable modern and stylish look. These avatars will
give new residents the opportunity to get started with a mesh body and
personalize their own unique look the very first time they log in to
Second Life and get a taste for the endless possibilities of avatar
customization available to SL Residents.
The Senra avatars come with a variety of body shapes, skins, and hair
styles. We've also created a whole new wardrobe of clothes that are
specifically designed for these avatars. There are more than a billion
possible combinations, so you're sure to find the perfect look. The
Senra avatars and clothing have been designed so that any avatar looks
great with any clothing. Mix and match to your heart’s content!
We're also pleased to announce that we'll be providing dev kits for
creators to make their own clothes for the Senra avatars. That way new
and established residents alike will have plenty of ways to express
themselves and create amazing new looks for the Senra avatars.
For newcomers, the avatars are now available at the start, as demonstrated by this SL University Youtube video. For existing residents, the avatars are already in inventories (those who have left their avatars inworld for a few days may need to relog), "Search for 'Senra' and you will find the full variety of clothing and bodies."
How well will the new starter avatars do? Will they get more use by residents, or be just that to most, a start that will soon be replaced after a few days? Time will tell.
The SL19B Shop & Hop event is the official multi-region shopping event of the 19th annual Second Life birthday celebration. This event brings together many of the top merchants across SL for exclusive items and discounts on some of the best creations in Second Life.
Shopkeepers wanting to take part will need to fill out this form on Google Docs. The set-up period for the stores is June 3-8, and the blog announcement stated that all goods need to be at least 20% off regular price, must be "appropriate for a moderate audience" (no sex and adult nudity), and there has to be "a new and exclusive" gift available to everone throughout the event. The application would also state there should be no items referencing politics or political figures, and the Shop and Hop could not be used to advertise items at other events. It was also stated applying doesn't mean being guaranteed a spot.
All applications need to be filled out by May 8, "We will be filling in stores as we receive applications so please apply sooner rather than later."
There was also a reminder that applications for performers, exhibitors, and volunteers would also close down on May 8. Applications to apply for tryouts for the Music Fest have already closed.
The Second Life Nineteenth Birthday celebrations take place from Thursday June 16 to Tuesday July 5. The theme this year is Steampunk.
Our annual multi-region inworld birthday shopping event is coming back this summer -- and we’ve just opened up the new application form for merchants who want to participate!
The SL17B Shop & Hop event, to be held June 19 through July 12, is
the official multi-region shopping event of the 17th annual Second Life
birthday celebration (SL17B). This event brings together many of the top
merchants across SL for exclusive items and discounts on some of the
best creations in Second Life.
Are you a merchant or creator that wants to participate? If so, then please fill out this form
before Monday, June 8th, 2020. We will be filling in stores as we
receive applications so please apply sooner rather than later.
As stated, sellers wishing to take part need to fill out this application form and send it in, the deadline being Monday June 8. Those taking part will be required to have a twenty percent discount on all items at the event, no clearly adult items are permitted, and stores should not be completely full of gacha items. Participants are also "strongly encouraged" to have a new item exclusive to the event that will no longer be available after the conclusion. Gacha reselling will not be permitted at any of the stores.
Merchants will have from June 10 to 15 to set up their stores at the designated area.
The announcement also had a "last call" for those wishing to take part for exhibitors, which originally had until May 18 to apply. So it seems there's still some exhibitor plots available.
For those of you waiting to be one of the volunteers for the Second Life Birthday, good news. A few days ago, Linden Lab announced they were accepting applications to be part of the volunteer staff for the SL17B.
Do you love Second Life? Do you love to party? Do you love to help? Join the SL17B Volunteer staff and you can do all three!
We’re looking for volunteers to help people celebrate at the upcoming
17th annual Second Life birthday celebration (SL17B), held June 19-July
10. We are seeking Residents with great people skills and a love and
excitement for Second Life to help us make SL17B a huge success! If you
like the idea of promoting Second Life in a positive way to thousands of
people in a celebratory atmosphere, we welcome you ...
Those wanting to be volunteers are asked to fill out and send an online application (link). People have until May 18 to sign up.
The notice also had reminders that the Lab was also accepting applications for performers and exhibitors for the SL17B, and applications for the Music Fest auditions.
There's been some talk in the past several months about Linden Lab coming out with an app for mobile devices, such as iPhones and Android phones. During the "Meet the Lindens" events at the Second Life Birthday in June, Ebbe Linden stated the Lab was "thinking hard about mobile." In August, Linden Lab had a job opening for a "Senior Mobile Engineer."
...we discussed at our Town Hall events last year that we’re actively looking at ways to extend the reach of Second Life to new audiences including mobile platforms. For example, we’re in the early stages of work on an iOS companion app for Second Life.
Right now we’re focused on getting a prototype out to our Residents, at which point we’ll be looking for feedback and suggestions. In the early stages, we will not be tying the app to a streaming service. However, we don’t have anything to formally announce yet about the specific features, capabilities, and availability.
Inara felt this wasn't much information to go on. But it did say they were in the early stages of the project. When they'll have something to release for the public is still unknown.
On Friday, Oz Linden announced that the Android application "IM to Second Life" was being blocked. Oz cited "serious violations" to the privacy of users and account security. Linden
Lab has blocked the third party Android client “IM to Secondlife”; it
may no longer be used to access Second Life. We did so due to serious
violations of the Policy on Third Party Viewers relating to user account security and user privacy.
If
you have ever used that viewer, Linden Lab strongly suggests that you
secure your Second Life account, beginning with updating your password
on the Second Life account page:
"IM to Second Life" as it's name implies is not a true viewer, but allows someone with a handheld device to access Second Life to just send and receive Instant Messages. Oz stated, "We
may need to temporarily hold some accounts in connection with this
incident." The reasons for this were not given.
It's rare that Linden Lab announces it's blocking a third-party client. It was September 2010 that Linden Lab announced it was blocking the Emerald Viewer. Image source: Google Play
Linden Lab is looking for an innovative mobile app engineer to deliver a compelling, responsive mobile interface into Second Life. If you’re passionate about the latest cross platform mobile technologies and would be psyched to wake up every morning knowing that your efforts will enhance the largest, most successful virtual world on the Internet then we want to hear from you!
Among the knowledge and skills needed for the position is "Experience developing consumer-oriented mobile applications for Android and IOS." This would suggest that Linden Lab is getting back into making a viewer for mobile devices, possibly for Android phones and iPhones, but at least for Android-run tablets and iPads.
Inara Pey reminded her readers that Ebbe Linden talked about the issue during the SL15B, saying the Lab was "seeking the right approach for investment in a mobile solution ... we're thinking hard about mobile." Oz and Grumpity Linden did as well, saying "The potential for some kind of mobile solution for Second Life is being discussed." Grumpity had also mentioned the cost to users was a concern, saying the Lab didn't want a moble viewer that would require charging it's viewers a lot. When New World Notes brought up the issue, Will Burns responded in the comments that he had asked Ebbe Linden in his visit to Linden Lab why they didn't buy up OnLive themselves, and stated the answer was that "At the time ... Linden Lab didn't get hands-on with the process. ... it would seem at least *something* I said up there sunk in during my visit." New World Notes would also speculate, " If they're only hiring a Senior Mobile Engineer now, it's probably going to be at least 8-12 months before we see an Alpha version of a mobile viewer for SL."
The Second Life Birthday celebrations aren't for another four months, in June. They don't even have their logo yet. But already preparations are being made for the event.
In group chat of the Second Life Birthday Volunteers Group, Doc Gascoigne (doctor.gascoigne) announced the theme for this year's SLB: "Carnivalesque." Doc went on to say, "and we are thinking of having a masked ball."
We are looking for people who are able and willing to build a sim-wide
stage or welcome area for SL14B. The ability to create original content
in mesh is required, though additional purchased elements are
acceptable. We need the builds to connect to our theme and have to be
done before the first week in June.
If we are interested, we will contact you via email and in-world to set up a time to talk. Please be prepared to provide a sketch of your planned build.
Deadline for sign up is April 1, 2017, 12 pm SLT.
Probably the most noted SLB infrastructure builder has been Mikati Slade, the three-time builder of the "Cake Stage."
Further details will be announced as they come in.
We are so excited! Planning for the Big Burn we've all been waiting for is now getting well underway. As is often our custom, we follow the theme that Burning Man announces, and this year it is "Da Vinci's Workshop." You can read the full description of the theme as written by Larry Harvey and Stuart Mangrum at Burning Man's Website.
We had a poster contest and the posters were all so good that four
winners were selected rather than just one, shown below. We will use all
four posters for distributing the news inworld and online.
More Burnin' News
The plot sale opened Sunday the 17th of July and
plots are being reserved. Plottery and Juried Art camp applications are
coming in. It’s really going to happen! Support BURN2 and reserve YOUR
plot! Can’t buy one? Apply for a Plottery plot, or take on the creative challenge and apply to be a juried camp artist at Octoburn! Note: These plots will be in limited supply, however...
Now
then, all you primslingers and meshers, script wizards and graphics
imagineers: Get inspired by visions of Renaissance ingenuity, Medieval
machinery and the artistic, eclectic, multi-gifted genius of the great
Leonardo da Vinci, and bring those creations to the virtually dusty
playa - come in world and get your plot reserved as soon as you can!
A Call for Volunteers
Teams
are forming up, leads will be identified, and we will need volunteers
to help with greeting, building, creating, performing, dancing, and
sharing the news about the happenings on the virtual playa! If you think
you might be interested in joining us in a lead, co-lead or key role
capacity, be sure and fill out the BURN2 Application for Key Roles form. We’ll be in touch right quick. If you don’t want to be a lead but you do want to help out, fill out the volunteer application and our volunteer coordinator will help get you started!
While We Wait...We Ain't Waiting!
We’re
not just sitting back and twiddling our thumbs. We are planning all
sorts of fun little things to do together. Watch for notices in the
BurningMan 2.0 group - be sure you’re in that group! - and join in with
your fellow Burners to participate, collaborate and just plain celebrate
the fact that we are Burners!
Then, when the sims come in, let the building begin! Burn On!
In a recent Press Release, Linden Lab announced that it was now accepting applications from content creators to test out their next-generation virtual world under development, Project Sansar. Called a "Creator Preview," the Lab states they will began inviting over "later this summer" the first of those applying.
“Creating social VR experiences is too hard and expensive today, and that limits the value and growth of this incredible new medium,” said Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab CEO. “Creating your own VR experience shouldn’t require an engineering team, and Project Sansar will make that possible. Over the past few months, a small number of creators have already made an impressive variety of awesome social VR experiences with Project Sansar, from virtual versions of real-world locations to fantasy worlds and stylized game-like environments, and more. We’ll soon be ready for many more creators to join Project Sansar, and we can’t wait to see what people will create.”
The application itself is a short one, asking for name, email, any website, what type of content the person intends to create, what tools they use to make it, what computer operating system they use, what type of headset they use, if any, and if they use Second Life.
There have been only occasional peeks into Sansar so far. On the Project Sansar News Facebook Page , one Israeli user posted two screenshots following a post by Daniel Voyager, which were later reposted on his blog,"On the right hand side there appears to be Sansar user interface buttons seen for the first time."
As of now, Linden Lab states Sansar will not be available for the general public until "at the end of 2016."
Users of Facebook may be familiar with "Bitstrips," cartoons that some used posted on their pages, and would appear on their friends' public feed like other posts. Unfortunately, it seems the Bitsrip fun is over. Someone who was a regular user posted this on her page on April 25. Yesterday, there were questions out of surprised confusion about the BitStrips situation.. the BitStrips app on Facebook has been stopped and it's over.. to dispel any doubt, and to provide a promised update, here is the picture that greeted me when i tried to access new BitStrips yesterday. sorry, folks.. and thanks for following with me. I hope you got as much enjoyment out of seeing them as i had making them.
But the bitstrip pictures she had already done and saved as pictures were still in her pictures section, as were those done by SL Enquirer editor Lanai Jarrico. The one she did of me as a joke was still on my page.
Bitstrips were created by Jacob Blackstock, whom described himself as having a "lifelong passion" for comics. He came up with the idea for Bitstrips in 2007, and launched it as a mobile app in 2008. With it, people can create "avatars" of themselves, then put them in customized comic-strip scenes on the Bitstrip site to create their own cartoons, with no drawing skill needed, "We kind of saw it as a Youtube for comics." Originally for mobile devices, when the Facebook application was made available in October 2013, the number of users jumped from 2 million to 30 million in a month. Bitsrtips user were at first able to create avatars of their friends, but after Facebook changed it's Terms of Service in regards to privacy, after April 2015 they were no longer able to do so.
Last month, Snapchat bought up Bitmoji, the company that owns Bitstrips, for $100,000. It's possible that the company is integrating the technology in it's own products rather than let it continue as a separate app on Facebook.
No doubt Facebook's bitstrip fans will miss doing the comics. Perhaps They could continue to do so using Second Life and MORPG screenshots using graphics programs.
Bill Glover, the founder of Bright Canopy, credited Inara Pey's post on her blog, about SL GO's shutdown and suggestion that someone else could provide it's service, for his decision to post a survey asking if anyone would be interested in helping him start such a streaming service. The response was the founder of a company handling streaming for some of the largest companies in the world, Nikola Bozinovic, offering to help him out, and "over one hundred SL and OpenSim residents ... offering to help with testing, docomentation, bug tracking, and even development. ... With a team like that, it's no wonder we had the core features, working in beta in less than seven days."
The monthly fee, at least for the first 90 days, will be $17 a month, "Our early bird price is going to be an experiment for 90 days. If
you’ve been following the blog, you know we’ve seen price fluctuations
on the back end, and we still need to watch actual usage of the service.
$17 is a sustainable price if the instance costs return to their
typical, historical values. It is not a sustainable price with the
current spike in instance price. We may need to get creative with how we
split instances, or we may need to raise prices. We intend to remain
transparent as always and will keep you posted. Our goal is to continue
to maintain a sustainable, affordable service."
The company plans to soon have an "East Coast Cloud" for faster ping rates for users on the eastern time zone of the US, and is offering free time for those whom have friends sign up. They are also planning a release party.
Like SL GO, the company says Bright Canopy will improve the Second Life experience on older computers.
Many of you have IMed us saying you need more time Captain. We heard you!!! We will extend all applications till Monday May 18. More time to plan your build, where you want to volunteer, your DJ set, your auditorium presentation, what songs to sing for your performance.
SL Go, the application that allows Second Life users to access the virtual world via a tablet, had been offering users a trial period to allow residents to use it for free to see if they liked it. But at 20 minutes, people complained it was far too short. Beginning on June 3, residents would have much more time to figure it out. The trial period had been expanded to seven days.
Onlive, the company that cooperated with Linden Lab in making and running SL Go, made a statement through it's senior product manager Dennis Harper, "Onlive will now be offering new SL Go users a 7-Day Fre Trial with sign up for an 'unlimited access subscription package. A valuable piece of feedback from the Second Life community has been that the 20 minute free trial is not sufficient to get a true experience of SL Go. Now new users can try SL Go free for an entire week, experiencing Second Life on their Androis tablets or seeing how SL Go can render ultra-high graphics even on a lower powered laptop computer. Impressions of SL Go from the Second Life community have been brilliant so far, and this new 7-day Free Trial will hopefully encourage even more players to check it out."
Last month, Linden Lab and Onlive announced the launch of "SL Go," its new application which allows Second Life to be played on tablets, as well as enabling fast rezzing on older computers. Those trying it out liked it, but there was one problem: the price. At $3 US dollars an hour, most were saying they wouldn't use it if they had to pay that much, or do so only for emergencies.
A few days ago, Linden Lab announced the price was going down, a lot.
Since launching the beta of SL Go
about a month ago, OnLive reports they’ve seen a very positive response
to the Second Life® Viewer for Android™ that allows users to access
Second Life over wifi or 4G LTE4G LTE on tablets and laptops. Today, OnLive has updated the SL Go beta with new pricing ...
Users had the choice of paying 1 US dollar an hour, or paying $9.95 a month for unlimited use. The 20 minute free trial remains. SL Go is also available in more countries, much more of Europe, plus Canada, Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel.
Jo Yardley also had a few things to say about the price cut ( link). There was also this thread in the official forums (link). The SL Universe forum thread began discussing the price drop here (link).
It was Wednesday March 5th that Linden Labs announced the release of SL Go, it's new application which allows users to access Second Life via a tablet. Since then, a number of people have tried the product. Some like it, some have reservations.
Inara Pey gave a little history of the app on her blog. She stated the idea first came not from Linden Lab or then CEO Rod Humble, but cloud computing and gaming company Onlive and it's chairman Gary Lauder, "Lauder made his approach because third-person adventure games have been
particularly successful for OnLive. As such, Second Life was seen as a
logical choice for extending OnLive’s reach into more immersive
environments while at the same time potentially offering Linden Lab
with a solution for providing SL to tablet devices and to low-end
desktop and laptop systems." Among those working on it's development were Nick Barsetti, whom was "a former Linden Lab employee (Scout Linden) and a long-time
Second Life resident who has been actively engaged ... for
seven years, notably as a community leader in a Star Wars role-play
group." The SL Go service is "provided entirely by OnLive," Inara felt this may have been one of the reasons for Linden Lab's controversial change in it's terms of service in regards to content creation.
For now, SL Go is designed to run on tablets powered by Android, though plans are in the works to include the iPad. Of the display, "for convenience, the log-in fields are displayed at the top of the
viewer’s splash screen. Tapping the Username field will display the
tablet’s on-screen keyboard (note you can also use a suitable bluetooth
keyboard as well), allowing you to enter your avatar name. Tap the
Password field to enter your avatar’s account password, then tap Log In
to log-in to SL.
The Tablet overlay provides a means of carrying out routine
interactions with the viewer – walking, turning, flying, jumping, camera
movement and zoom, closing floaters, and so on."
"According to the supplied reviewer notes, double-tapping the avatar
icon in the middle of the movement keys is supposed to enter flight
mode; however, this consistently didn’t work for me, and I found flight
could be enabled much as when using the viewer on a computer – tap and
hold the Jump icon. Movement can be achieved either by using just the movement controls
in the overlay (think arrow keys / WASD on a keyboard), or through a
combination of using the 'up' key to walk forward and the joystick
control to adjust your direction of travel. This takes a little getting
used to, but isn’t that hard to grasp."
"Tapping the camera icon shifts the overlay to the camera options, All of the menus and toolbar buttons are accessible via tapping the
tablet’s screen, although keyboard shortcuts are not enabled (even when
using a separate keyboard). To assist with using the buttons and menus,
pinch-zoom motions are fully supported, as is the ability to 'drag' the
viewer across the tablet’s screen using a two finger gesture when
zoomed-in. To help prevent the overlay getting in the way of things, you
can tap the “Power” icon to collapse the overlay into a single icon; a
second tap will expand it again."
Inara had some doubts about the app seeing widespread use, "I do wonder as to the potential impact SL Go will have on established
users. From Nate Barsetti’s comments, the service appears to be aimed
towards a niche set of uses (thus helping justify the cost). Frankly,
for many users, there are alternatives when presented with most of those
niche uses."
Draxtor Despress gave SL Go a try, his efforts recorded on video.
Draxtor was among those whom gave glowing reviews, "Seriously: the user-generated universe known as Second Life -
beautifully rendered in the cloud - runs BETTER at times on an Android
tablet than on my PC: I am thoroughly impressed ... for SL professionals and enthusiastic residents this is a must IMHO: SL
GO is not only running on 4G on the road but is instantly upgrading
EVERY OLD machine in your household by using OnLive desktop app = pretty
darn good!"
Hamlet Au also expressed enthusiasm, saying that he'd been using SL Go through being a tester was the reason he was reporting more about Second Life from in inworld perspective lately, "SL Go feels like a new era of Second Life ... here is the thing that makes all the
difference for the world: SL Go works, and almost
paradoxically, is the first platform to present Second Life as it really
is. It eliminates almost all of the lag and load times most SL users
have learned to accept, and presents to you a Second Life at its best,
and purest form. If you couldn't see dynamic shadows, you can see them
now; if your draw distance was small, it's now broadened to the sky. ... it's probably not ideal
for new users (at least not in this early stage), but I do think it will
bring many back to Second Life, to see the world as they've always
wanted -- and as they've always wanted to share it with their friends --
but up to now, have never had the means."
Ciaran Laval thought the technology was good, but felt the high prices limited it's potential, "The pricing would get very expensive very quickly for anyone who used
the service often, which means it’s unlikely to be used often by
anyone. ... like tier, the SL Go pricing is a tad on the high side. Used
infrequently there’s a lot of potential here but for a regular service,
it’s a very expensive proposition."
Jo Yardley blogged that SL Go vastly improved the appearance of Second Life on her old Mac Laptop. But the high price bothered her, "Would you pay 3 bucks to go into SL for an hour? I would only consider doing that for emergencies, when I need to be
inworld for a few minutes to fix something or kick a griefer in the
unmentionables. Having said that, the OnLive experience is impressive, there is
almost no lag, it loads a lot faster than most computers, it is mobile
and it allows you to use your TV for SL. So although I am very impressed with SLGo, I fear that the costs may
keep a lot of people from using it more than just occasionally."
For more comments, one can check the thread in the official general discussion forum: (Link). There's also a thread in the Second Life Universe forums: (link)
Pictures provided by Inara Pey , Hat tip to Daniel Voyager for blog links
Yesterday on March 5, Linden Lab announced a new application on the market, this one for Second Life users: SL Go. This product allows residents to run Second Life on tablets. It is currently in open beta.
OnLive, the leader in cloud gaming, today released an exciting new service for Second Life users. SL Go,
now in open beta, is a mobile Second Life viewer for Android that
delivers a fully immersive desktop-like experience on tablets.
With SL Go, you can experience Second Life from anywhere
you have Wi-Fi or 4G connectivity, with ultra high-quality graphics,
full shaders, shadows, and the Advanced Lightning Model on Android
devices. Not only can you get high-quality graphics on a low-powered
device, but you also don’t have to sacrifice frame rate or draw distance
for high fidelity inworld explorations. Thanks to super-fast gigabit
connections with OnLive’s high-performance gaming servers, objects and
textures rez quickly when logging in and teleporting. OnLive has clocked
the SL Go viewer at upwards of 200 fps set to Ultra with Maximum Render
Distance, allowing people to participate in events, engage in combat
games, and generally enjoy immersion in Second Life at a level never
before possible on a mobile device.
With SL Go, OnLive has brought touchscreen interaction to
the Second Life experience, but if you prefer keyboard and mouse, you
can opt to connect these devices and interact with your friends in the
same way you always have. SL Go gives you access to edit menus,
inventory, preference settings and chat management just like the Second
Life Viewer on your home computer.
To use the application, one needs an account with Onlive. New users get a 20 minute free trial, after which residents need to pay to use it, from $3 an hour, to $8 for three hours, to $25 for ten hours. For now, it is limited to the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.
This is clearly a major move for Linden Lab and Second Life, one in development for many months.
More information later on SL Go and what others are saying about it.
Last month, New World Notes reported that Blocksworld, the building game bought by Linden Lab earlier this year, had become number three of the most popular iPad apps, "For the first time … Second Life is not Linden Lab's sole hit product." A few days ago however, the reports were less rosy. It wasn't in the top 100 in either the "Overall" or "Games" categories, where the big bucks were made. Where it was showing up was in the "Family" selection of apps. A small source of revenue through parents making purchases, though not nearly the amount top apps like "Candy Crush" make.
Ener Hax's "Iliveisl" blog did a post with a graph showing one reason why many feel it's important to Second Life that Linden Lab gets another product bringing in money: declining tier revenues. From it's peak in 2011 when nearly 25,000 private sims were raking in over five million US dollars, the number has shrunk to less than 20,000 private sims with an income of less then four million US dollars. While the rate of decline seems to be slowing down, it's still a shrinking source of cash for Linden Lab.
Fortunately, there's still Linden Lab's indie game distribution site, Desura. And there are hopes that Oculus Rift could give Second Life a second wind. But it appears the earlier hopes about Blocksworld have been cut down to size.
Yesterday on September 18th, Linden Lab announced two of the four projects outside of Second Life they've been working on. The one that was described with the most detail was "Creatorverse," an application for the iPad.
Become an inventor as you design unique creations and then set them in
motion. You’ll never know what to expect as you watch your creations
bounce, roll, tilt -- or even accelerate on the screen. Let your
creations come to life as you play with different joints, forces,
motors, and teleporters and then watch what happens next. From the
simplest bouncing ball to an elaborate pinball machine, the
possibilities for tinkering are endless on Creatorverse.
In their press release, Linden Lab stated it should be available from the Apple App store in a few weeks. There's also a video narrated by Rod Humble (see below), "Here at Linden Lab, we make shared creative spaces." He touted the ability to upload creations for others to use, and edit into something different.
The second thing Linden Lab announced was a 3-D environment named "Patterns."
Imagine a 3D Universe of creativity ...
Explore caverns and valleys, while you harvest substances
with real world densities. Build large scale structures that reach the
sky or bridges that traverse chasms. Challenge real-world physics to see
which creations will tumble -- or withstand -- the power of gravity. It's your universe to shape.
"Patterns" bears a resemblance to Minecraft, though there is the promise of gravity having an affect on what's built. Creatorverse drew some comparisons to a program called "Crayon Physics Deluxe," with it's brightly colored shapes. Prim Perfect called it "very firmly targeted at the tablet market."
Reaction to these products seems mixed. The thread in the official forums is short with a few posts expressing cautious optimism. The SL Universe thread did as well. Those commenting in response to Prim Perfect and Hamlet Au in their articles were less cheerful. Crap Mariner commented until Linden Lab found a way to make money off the, "your SL tax dollars are paying for others to play Gummy Minecraft and Crayonland." Shockwave Yareach commented of the two, "One is a clone of Crayon Physics Deluxe, which was sold more than half a decade ago. And the other is a clone of Minecraft."
The same day these new products were released, Hamlet Au noted something interesting on Linden Lab's website at http://lindenlab.com/. There were the words Rod Humble used in the earlier video used as a slogan, "Linden Lab, maker of shared creative spaces." He noted how different it was from the old mission statement, "It is our mission to connect us all to an online world that advances the human condition," saying they had become much more modest in this respect.
Hamlet Au called this "A second life for Linden Lab" No longer do they have the idea that they should be "building the metaverse," he felt. Instead, they would be in multiple projects while not loosing sight of Second Life, making products that would allow users to express their creativity. How successful they'll be with these first two products remains to be seen.
