The Vanishing of A Continent: Gaeta 1 To Be Phased Out By End of 2026

 

 For the first time, Linden Lab will be doing away with one of the Mainland continents. 

 

On Wednesday, the Lab announced "A new chapter for Mainland."  The plan was to open 90 sims on the Zindra continent, which has not yet been finished, while the residents of Gaeta 1 are being asked to move. The reason the Lab gave was that "Adult mainland continues to operate at very high occupancy and shows consistent demand. At the same time, some General and Moderate mainland areas, including Gaeta 1, have seen lower overall use over time." And so rather than simply just raise the number of sims on Zindra, they made the decision to adjust "existing capacity to better reflect where Residents are most active today."

 

The Lab went on to say the change will start this month, April, expected to finish by "the end of 2026," and there are no plans to close other Mainland areas. They did say the change was to start "early April," but it was already the 15th when they made their announcement.

 

 Of the Second Life Mainland areas, Gaeta 1 and Zindra are distinguished by each having unfinished look. Of Gaeta 1, the southeast and east central areas were never completed. It's north of the Mainland northeast of Bellisseria, but not connected to it by sea sims, and distinguished by it's small size, 141 sims, smaller than a few private sim continents, and large amounts of abandoned land. The SL Wiki describes the land as being created in June 2008, with the north added a little later. 

 

The Yavascript pod tours gave the reason for the unfinished business as,  "Much of the land around here was being prepared for sale, as SL was expanding, in 2009, but as land supply exceeded demand, it stopped. ... In more recent years, mainland has become more popular, especially alongside roads and by water. Nonetheless, this continent was still never finished, as can clearly be seen from the shape of the map."

 

One other detail, the SL Wiki described Gaeta as the most underpopulated continent.  

 

 

The other unfinished continent, Zindra, is more famous for being the Adult-rated Mainland continent: All the sims are Adult-rated. The first of its land appeared in 2009, "and continued a few years later" according to the SL wiki. But development stopped before the southeast was finished. 

 

Besides that the buildings and the signs on the map show residents are free to explore their sexual sides, other than the unfinished corner the land is distinguished by a larger size than Gaeta, 348 sims, and for some reason being placed *far* away to the right of the other mainland sims. 

 

And it's the second most crowded of the Mainland continents, second only to Heterocera, with little abandoned land and high land prices. 

 

Two threads appeared in the forums about the topic, one in the Land forums by Linden Lab, the other in the General Discussion Forum. Naturally, there were a number of objections. 

 

"... being a many year resident of Gaeta I's lovely north coast. Nukeing Geata to create an expanded area of adult regions (which is also disconnected) doesn't make any sense to me. None of Geata I is adult at the moment and it's not clear to me that there's a shortage of adult parcels, so I'm not sure what problem this is actually solving."

 

"I am one of two landscapers, developers, and managers for Bimini Falls, a growing community sim that currently spans over 14 regions on Gaeta. Bimini Falls has been a long-term project that has taken over a year and a half of continuous landscaping, design, and development to reach its current state. The owner has invested significantly throughout this time, purchasing additional land multiple times as the community expanded and evolved. It is also important to recognize that the foundation of this work began long before my sister (the other landscaper) and I joined the project a year and a half ago. In total, this represents years of creative development, planning, and ongoing refinement. The financial investment from the owner—covering land purchases, upkeep, development costs, and our compensation—has been substantial. What makes this situation especially difficult is that Bimini Falls is not something that could simply be rebuilt elsewhere. Starting from scratch in a new location would require another one to two years of intensive work just to reach its current level of development, and even then, it would never truly be the same. The unique character, flow, and history built into the current regions cannot be replicated. In addition, there would be a significant loss of income from renters during the entire rebuilding process, further compounding the financial impact on the community and its owner. This situation is incredibly heartbreaking and deeply upsetting for everyone involved, as so much time, effort, and passion has been poured into bringing Bimini Falls to life." 

 

"As a former Gaeta I tenant who still has affection and nostalgic memories of Gaeta I, I think its utterly shameful and a backwards move by LL that will have Residents in Gaeta I and the other Mainland continents worried and fearing for the future. Why not just keep Gaeta I as it is and where it is now? Why are LL being so heartless? Is it just a case of in order to complete Zindra, another entire continent must be sacrificed for it? Unacceptable. Just no." 

 

"So wrecking a G or M rated community in Gaeta1 (which had been there 17 years) is totally fine with you, if it benefits an Adult rated community in Zindra?"

 

"Despite what is said in the reading, it feels like a small scale tester for a larger scale version later. The writing appears to be on the wall for mainland change and not the good kind." 

 

Some were open to the idea, "Optimally it'd be better if LL could finish both continents, but idk if the demand is there for more M regions with so much abandoned land on M continents, meanwhile Zindra's basically full. So... yeah. IMO this is a no-brainer, as long as existing landowners in Gaeta 1 have some way of recovering their investment." '

 

"This action will not be taken because they have nothing else to do during their working days.
The Lab has to get rid of parts of the grid that are running at a loss month after month and try to keep SL appealing for the vast majority of users I recon." 

 

"Zindra is so fugly it baffles me what would drive a non-land hogger person to the point of insanity where they'd voluntarily buy and stay and use land there." 

 

Prokofy Neva would comment, "Watch Gaeta land prices go up so you can get a free transfer to Zindra which will go for a fortune if landscaped." 

 

 Derrick Linden would answer the concerns, "Given the sizable amount of unowned mainland, increasing our overall mainland footprint isn't really something that's in the cards right now. After careful review, this felt like our best opportunity to shift some of our existing mainland resources for the long-term health of the mainland overall."

 

The Lab anticipated there would be lots of questions, and scheduled a Town Meeting for Monday April 20 at 11 AM at Town Hall Island1 (241/15/29). 

 

Stay tuned foe more information on this developing, and major, story.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Zooby To Discontinue Support For Prim "Legacy" Babies, Pets

 

Most every longtime resident of Second Life has probably heard the expression "prim baby." These are not child avatars, but virtual babies made to look and act much like real ones. They are not new, but have been around since 2006 when Zooby (Carrie Tatsu) began offering them for anyone wanting to pay the fee. A 2013 article by the Second Life Enquirer explains them in some detail. 

 

When animesh became available, Zooby began developing new babies with this technology and began offering them around 2019. No more of the prim, or "Legacy" babies as they were being called officially were made, the focus now being on newer babies and pets, as her Spotlight interview in 2024 shows. But Zooby continued to support them, as well as the pre-mesh pets made by her. 

 

But a few days ago, there was an announcement from Zooby that the support for the older babies and pets would soon end 

 

We will be phasing out our sculpted legacy products by the end of 2025. This includes:

• Legacy Babies
• Curious Cats and Curious Canines
• Breedable Lemurs
• Trainapet Monkeys

This means you cannot rez them and they will no longer work by 2026.

We will be removing the Breedable Lemurs and Trainapet Monkeys from Market Place and the legacy sim by the end August. We will be removing all other supplies from the legacy sim and Market Place by the end of September.

All legacy sculpted products will be taken offline by January 2026.

Zooby has spent over $13,000 USD just to keep the legacy babies alive even though we stopped selling them in 2019. 

We did this for the community. We kept paying even though we earned barely enough profit to pay for the servers.

Illegal adoption agencies continued to sell the babies even though we stopped.

We believe 6 yrs of support for a product we stopped selling and over $13,000 USD was generous and it is time now to retire these.

Zooby has always done our best to support the community and we are sending out this notice now so there are no surprises next year when we take old sculpted legacy products offline.

Zooby will continue to focus, support, maintain and develop all Zooby Animesh related products. We will keep all Animesh products online until Second Life no longer exists.

We hope you understand that it is time now to move on and look to the future and keep our brand fresh and new.

 

There was nothing in the message of any kind of compensation for the owners of legacy babies and pets. 

 

One owner of a Legacy Zooby baby, wanting to remain anonymous, came to me  She was naturally unhappy about this, "It's not quite as bad to most people as the ABC horse situation but I don't know, to some it may be worse as they are their kids. I have not spent as much as some but I did spend probably 200 USD on clothes, furniture, consumables, and the babies and pets over the years. And I do have sentimental attachment to them. They are not even offering a discount or credit towards any of the animesh, even though they are still selling products related to items will cease function by their choice shortly."

 

What do you the readers think? Do any of you have an older Zooby baby or pet? Feel free to leave comments below.

 

Image Credit: SL Enquirer  

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Cartoon of the Day: Vanished Linden

 

 Taken at the "Love Train" on February 14. With all the avatars there, not even Tommy Linden was immune to being unable to rezz. So what else could be the cause of his predictiment?

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Why Do Some People Just Disappear From Second Life?

As we go about our Second Lives, we gain friends. But over time, some of them drop out. Sometimes they'll tell you they're leaving. Other times, they just simply vanish, with no clue as to why. Did they have some kind of long-lasting financial or health misfortune, or worse? With partnerships, it's even worse. The person you've invested so much time and heart with has suddenly vanished, and you can't imagine anything but something going very wrong. But maybe the reason is something else entirely. Mylie Foxclaw takes a look into the issue as to why some residents just drop out of Second Life.

Read Mylie's story in People.

Breaking News: Mos Espa Star Wars Roleplaying Sim to Close

In a story by Inkline Media yesterday, the Mos Espa sim for a number of "Star Wars" roleplaying groups was reported as closing down tomorrow, Wednesday November 28th.

Daniel Voyager gave NHC (196, 67, 34) as the teleport location for those wanting to give the place to visit before it shuts down.

Details to follow.

Cartoon of the Day

Using a Mesh-capable viewer didn't completely eliminate the "invisible pants" problem for me. But these kinds of bugs are a never-ending source of chuckles.

Bixyl Shuftan

Club Cutlass Goes Poof

Cyanthia Farshore sent me this picture of Club Cutlass during their Wednesday party, or rather what was left of it after a mishap. The dance floor was still there, but the walls and much of the place just vanished.

In addition to the picture, someone else sent me a short segment of the chat there when Nydia Tungsten showed up to help take care of the mess.

Cynthia Farshore: powder room accident
Nova Manadragon: Huricane Rita hit the club, that's what
Nova Manadragon: took half of it away
Nydia Tungsten: Damn Rita...what did you DO in the powder room to make the walls dissolve?
Nydia Tungsten: o-0
Cynthia Farshore: I guess some of it was not locked so delete struck
Sha: Bless you Nydia :)
Rita Mariner: You know, burritos and a good (windbreaking)!

What probably happened, Nydia later told me, was that the sim the club was in was overloaded with prims, and something had to give. Eventually, the club was restored, but it took returning a number of items to one parcel owner whom had exceeded his allotment.

Bixyl Shuftan

Spaceport Alpha/ISM Sim Closes

Some sad news for space fans. According to Daniel Voyager, the Spaceport Alpha sim, the location of the noted International Space Museum has vanished from the Grid.

Details are still coming in, so stay tuned for more.

What Happened to "The Wall?"

"The Wall" is missing from the map, nor does landmarks and SURLs to it work. It's website at http://www.thewallsl.com/ is also gone, replaced by something in Japanese kanji.

A faithful reproduction of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, "The Wall" in Second Life was constructed by the Meme Science group (memescience.com doesn't work either) with Corwin Chevalier and Evian Argus designing the build, with Bleys Chevalier leading the building effort. It was opened to all residents on Veterans day 2007.

A moving tribute, The Wall listed all 58,000 names of US Veterans whom gave their lives in the Vietnam War, including a few that didn't quite make the list to the real-life one in time for it's construction. Each of the names could be looked up and found, allowing visitors to find them. Also at the wall was a virtual Three Servicemen Statue, by artist Melini Fairymeadow.


"The Wall" was one of the first places I wrote about in Second Life, and to me one of the best examples as to what one could create on the Grid. I last visited it in May, and there was no sign then there was a problem. It is unclear when the decision to take the place down was made, and SL Newser heard of no call for help to raise donations for upkeep.

It's vanishing would truly be a loss for the Grid.

Bixyl Shuftan

Omega Properties’ Owner Vanishes, Renters Lose Homes and Deposits

While on the trail of another story, I ran into a former renter of Omega Properties. After he'd been living there for a year and a half, he found himself suddenly evicted even though he had paid his teir in advance. Others had been evicted too, one woman losing nearly a quarter-million Lindens. Calling the staff for help, he found the owner of the company, Chaos Ametza, was nowhere to be found.

More on the story in Extra.

Southern Colorado Sim Due to Vanish

When Daaneth Kivioq of Relay for Life’s team “Passionate Redheads” suffered a stroke earlier this month, team members gave their support to their stricken comment in both well-wishes and an event held in his honor. But a few raised one question: “What happens to Daaneth’s sim, Southern Colorado?”

Sad to say, it seems the sim’s days are numbered. Talking to team leader Sabine McGettigan and team member Nydia Tungsten, the sim was paid for another month, but after that nothing, “More renters on the sim would otherwise help, but without a way to get them into Daan’s ... account, there’s just no way.”

Southern Colorado has been the location of a number of Relay for Life events by the Passionate Redheads, from weekly meetings, to music and dance parties, and more. Nydia’s zeppelin club, Little Dove, is there, as is Fimi Falls, named after a Redhead whose battle and end to cancer continues to inspired teammates, many whom know her only by stories.

If you’ve never visited the sim, by all means do so. There is much to see there, including the rental village sometimes overlooked by Relayers heading to events. But what draws many are the falls, which were one of the favorite locations of the late Artistic Fimicloud.

To get to Southern Colorado, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan