Cartoon of The Day: A Nest With Legs

 

 

 Picture taken by Charlee Shuftan (Charlee Amethyst). At the Quest for A Cure camp, there were some things that looked like birds' nests with legs. Guess they wanted a kick-butt design.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of The Day: Practicing For Horizons

 

Taken at VWEC Eduverse. Those weren't Elli Pinion's exact words, but when someone pointed out her lack of legs, she did joke about a certain virtual world in which players are half the person they were. 

By Bixyl Shuftan
 

More April Foolery, Including Themed Last Names

 
The reaction to the Newser's April Fools article a few days ago was mostly positive. "Well played," one put it in one Discord thread. Another responded "Joker!" In Cyrillic. Still, I did get one mild complaint about the time the hack started not being right, and one angry reader whom felt I was making light of the Ukraine invasion. The answer is no I wasn't, but poking fun at the dictator and his trolls. I did think the joke had some risk, though felt just as many would appreciate an oppressor being made the butt of a joke. Still, it wasn't the one parody over the years that had gotten the most flak. Those that describe Second Life as about to be shut down due to glitches tend to get the most chuckles and the most boos.

And I'm sure the Uighurs and the people of Hong Kong appreciate a good "Winne the Pooh" joke.

As for Linden Lab's April Fool, what they did this year was more clever than their "Rick Roll" a few years ago. It was a step above their "Pandemonium" avatar insurance joke, this time poking Facebook/Meta in the ribs with it's virtual world Horizons having a very obvious flaw - nothing below the waist. They did three Youtube shorts, and mentioned them in three forum threads. The reaction to them was very positive. In my opinion, they were Linden Lab's best April Fool joke ever: a poke at the obvious flaw of the other virtual world that was genuinely funny. 

Besides the April Fool joke in the form of a few videos and forum posts, Linden Lab had something else on April 1st, They had six new last names, with a humorous theme.

Happy April Fool’s Day! The following Limited Edition last names are available until April 15th:

Joker
OwO
UwU
Hoax
Quirky
Shenanigans

Some may remember OwO and UwU from last year as the April Fool themed limited edition surnames for 2021. It seems they proved to be popular enough for the Lab to bring them back. But they won't be available again for too long. As the announcement stated, after April 15th, they'll be gone.

There were more examples of funnery. The Juicybomb blog posted a joke article of Linden Lab being bought by Facebook/Meta. The news was delivered by a Half Linden, “This transition will take place over the next few months, and we will do everything we can to make it as smooth as possible. Don’t be alarmed if you notice your legs disappearing; this is a new user function.”

Some games also had some April Fools stunts. Among them, the WW2 shooter "Enlisted" had a "Battle For The Moon" campaign. 

That's all for now with the April Foolery. Hope yours was a good one.

Source: PC Gamer

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Andrea's Place in Caledon. Someone was dancing in a barrel. I could think of a few ways how that could have happened.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Facebook Announces Upcoming Virtual World "Horizons"

 By Bixyl Shuftan

Today, Facebook announced it was in the process of making it's own virtual world: Horizons.

Today at OC6, we unveiled Facebook Horizon, a new social VR world coming to Oculus Quest and the Rift Platform in 2020. A culmination of what we’ve learned so far about virtual spaces and communities, Horizon is the first step into an ever-expanding world of connection and exploration where anything becomes possible.

... Starting with a bustling town square where people will meet and mingle, the Horizon experience then expands to an interconnected world where people can explore new places, play games, build communities, and even create their own new experiences.

With the announcement there was a youtube of a spokes-avatar showing off the place.



"Beyond our world, there's another world. And it's right here, on my face!"

"Horizon's filled with possibilities. We can play stuff, make stuff, fly stuff. ... Horizons isn't about rules or limits ... It's about getting out there and trying new things, making your mark, making friends ... And you can even build a world of your own. In Horizon, the world is your lobster. ... So come join us, a never-ending, ever-changing world beyond your world."

Horizons will be playable with Facebook's Oculus VR headset and controllers. It was not specifically stated that the virtual world would be playable without a VR rig.

Judging from the pictures, while there's things to do, including able to build things, and places to go, the Horizons is still very much in beta. The most obvious example of this is the legs for the avatars haven't been designed yet, so they just float over the ground instead of walking.

As part of their announcement, Facebook announced they would be closing Facebook Spaces and Oculus Rooms in one month, October 25.

The announcement stated Horizon would be open to play, in beta, "early next year" in 2020. There was a link for people to sign up for access to the currently closed beta.

Hat tip and image credit: Ryan Schultz

Bixyl Shuftan