Cat Face Gaming

 

A friend told me about a gaming place located on the SL mainland, "Cat Face Gaming." Located near "The Shelter," it offers a large variety of games. Bixyl Shuftan went over to check the place out. 

 

Read more in Places. 

 

Reader-Submitted Commentary: Linden Lab's Continued Greed

  
Due to the recent increase in purchasing lindens an added 7.5 percent, which is higher than the sales tax in my state which is neither zero or low, I am forced to cancel my premium account. They cap it at $9.99 however, all this does is make it so those who buy over $150 USD lindens aren't charged more who could probably more afford it.  This mostly effects those who buy between $100 USD and $140 USD, which is what I think a lot of regular users may purchase. Buying more frequently in smaller increments won't help as you are charged $1.49 per purchase on top of this new charge.  

I know Linden Lab seems to think that most people who play Second Life are some kind of at least middle-class pay pigs with huge sums of expendable income. But the truth is, many of us are in fact either working class, unemployed, or like me on a low fixed income due to disability, retirement or similar.   They have raised the cost of premium in the past 2-3 years. They have raised the cost of buying lindens for the 4th time in five years, and they raised the cost of selling them at least once. They have also raised the cut of MP sellers that they takem forcing them to raise MP prices.

I feel that in addition to just plain greed, we are being forced to pay for their failed projects (Sansar) and poor choices moving the servers to Amazon business cloud servers, not even the gaming ones, to save money, which has resulted in a number of bugs and issues. To those whose stores or groups I left, please understand I had no other choice.  

Linden Lab gets away with this kind of horrid move and generally poor customer service to a large degree because they are somewhat of a monopoly in complex immersive adult virtual worlds.  IMVU is geared more towards teens and not really competition.  Avakin seems similar to IMVU.  Inworldz is long dead.  I have tried some other grids but never logged in more than a few times.  I have too much time, relationships and money invested in Secondlife anyway to start over unless forced to do so.  Many people they know who have been here for years almost daily are in a similar position so the Lindens know they can charge whatever they like.   

Oh and the increase on buying lindens comes  right at the beginning of the annual Fantasy Faire, which benefits Relay For Life, an organization that raises money to fight Cancer. So I hope that doesn't affect them raising money.

Kἶէმƈεlἶმ Lմἶղƈօɾἶმlօէε Kεlνმɾl (Kitacelia Resident)
  

Boardgame Beach

  

There's a lot to do and see around Second Life. You can explore around sims. You can take a leisurely sailboat ride down the ocean. You can relax to the music and socialize at a club. But sometimes you just want to sit back and play a game. There's many kinds of games in Second Life, En Garde, Greedy, and more. But there's a place in the virtual world with dozens of many different games: Boardgame Beach. Yours truly had a talk with Aries Oh who owns the area, and she talked about what's there.

Read more in Places.
  

EA's Star Wars Battlefront II's "Lootboxes" Stir Controversy, Calls For Government Regulation

It used to be if we paid money to play a game, whether all at once for a console game or monthly for an MMO, that was it. If a game was free to play, that the makers would offer a few items to make gameplay easier for a few bucks was accepted. So what happens when a game noted for it's multiplayer mode with player versus player combat, which you have to pay sixty to eighty dollars to play to begin with, starts offering people the chance to buy the loot boxes needed to advance? A lot of controversy, comparisons to online gambling, and talk of the government getting involved.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Club Zero Gravity Update: Gaming Room

 Since the reopening of Club Zero Gravity, work on the space station club has continued. Nydia Tungsten installed a gaming room with games to play between events. For now, the games are Parcheesi (sometimes called "Cheesy"), Greedy, and Cards Against Humanity.

Of the three, "Cards Against Humanity" is less about strategy and more about having a warped sense of humor, or at least having a good knowledge of how one works. Personally, it's a game I have mixed feelings about winning, considering some of the definitely adult-rated questions and possible answers. But it's all in the name of fun.

There's also a poker game, though it's in a side room on the main floor and not the game room.

Club Zero Gravity currently has three events a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10AM to 12 Noon SL time.


Sunweaver Space (179, 69, 3599).

Press Release: Greedy For Tatas

                     ~Greedy for Tatas~
     
      Greedy Tournament benefiting Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 2015.
Hosted by *The Club*

Pre-register at:   http://bit.ly/1GvuHQJ

Pre-lim rounds held October 10, 2015 starting at 10:00 am SLT 

200$L donation or more appreciated.

Championship round held October 10, 2015 at starting at 2:00 pm

Yes (74, 45, 21)

Grand Prize: Basket full of amazing Gift Cards.

Tournament Rules:

1. Each player must purchase seat for a recommended 200 L$ donation to the  Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Kiosk
2. Each table will have a minimum of two players and a maximum of eight. 
3. Zilch Rules will apply with 1000 minimum score to get on board. 
4. Each table will play 3 games. 
5. The individual with the highest score overall from each table out of the three games moves up to Championship Round
6) If there is a tie at one of the tables for high score there will be a tie-breaking game (1)  between the players at the table(s) in question.

Championship Round - October 10, 2015 at 2pm slt.
1. The winners from each tables will play 3 games.
2. The  winner of the tournament is the player that has the highest overall score for all games of the championship round.
3. Zilch Rules will apply with 1000 minimum score to get on board.

All winners will be determined by high score.

If any player fails to show up at the said time of the championship round they forfeit their seat.
Players will be allowed 5 minutes if they crash to return. 3 crashes and they will be eliminated.
All judgment calls are determined by the Event Host.

Contact TS Darrow or Dianna Wycliffe with questions or concerns.

Marketplace Problems

The Marketplace isn't always what it's cracked up to be. But sometimes one has to worry more about glitches. Theonlyjohnny has a few things to say about the trouble he had with shopping via the Marketplace from his search jammed full of demo items to being outright scammed.

Read Theonlyjohnny's article in Extra.