Thanks, Chestnut

Written 8 June, 2009

Comment

I thank Chestnut Rau for making the following comment:

I was nodding in enthusiastic agreement with your post until I got to this:

"Get wings or pointed ears or a tail for your avatar. Live in Babylonian or Victorian splendor."

Wings, elf ears and neko tails are completely ubiquitous in SL. Slapping on some freebie wings is not fabulous and I am not sure how Victorian splendor can be considered breaking away from earthbound ideas of prestige. 

Is it great to break away from the confines of RL - absolutely. Is the antidote to RL to assume the uniform of some SL "counter culture" - meh.

I think we all should dig deep in our own imaginations and come up with something new and different and uniquely our own.

Chestnut is right, of course (thanks for commenting!); my examples of fabulosity were pretty lame.

I can only attribute my lack of imagination to the lateness of the hour and the fact that I was thinking about ways Second Life's yuppies might venture out of their own buttholes.

So let me amend what I wrote:

Get fabulous! Rez a 10 meter spherical prim, turn it physical, sit on it with your friends,  and type 4000 in the Z box for position. Set up giant physical dominos, covering an entire sim, and knock them over. Extra points if they make particles as they fall. Be the first Second Life musician to play the pan flute. Fly to 50,000,000 meters and watch your avi fall apart. Design a dress made of mousetraps. Fire yourself from an avatar cannon and see how many sims you cross before you land in someone's beach house while they're making love. Build a tribute park for Jerry Garcia. Make a cheese doodle avatar. Fill your virtual mercedes full of cement. Set fire to the freebie UPS truck. Make your shoes squeak.Make a house that looks like an Altoid tin. Or be serious. Raise 50,000 Lindens for your favorite charity. Earn a master's degree. Build a gadget that helps people with real life disabilities navigate the grid. Write a novel based on your Second Life.

And finally: make a good supply of donuts and place them randomly around your property.

A Second-Rate Second Life: V. Get Fabulous

Photo 1: Second Life mundacity


Photos 2-5: Second Life Fabulous (Airship Caravan, Immersiva, Vernian Sea, Golgothica)


Written 5 June, 2009

A Second-Rate Second Life

V: Get Fabulous

When I was new I ran into another newbie at the trivia lounge at the Shelter at Wingo. She was bragging about having a house in Second Life with a three car garage with two Mercedes parked in it.

As I said, I was new, but not THAT new. I asked her what was the advantage of having the cars in the garage eating up script time when they could be parked more advantageously in her spacious inventory. She had no answer to that. And she got mad when I asked her what was the use of a Mercedes when you couldn’t really drive it anywhere, especially when it was parked on a 2048 lot with stupid mainland castles and sex clubs on all four sides.

When I was in world three weeks, I hired another newbie (I didn’t know how inexperienced he was) to build a house for me. When I saw him laying in a primmy staircase, I suggested he remove it and we go with teleporters. He doggedly kept on making risers.

When she bought her property, one of my neighbors inherited a McMansion and two huge boats. One day when we were talking, I told her the story of the woman with the Mercedes and asked why, in a world in which almost anything is possible, that woman was so limited to Earthbound ideas of prestige. It was as if a light went on in my friend’s head. Before the month was out the boats and the big house and formal gardens were gone and she had transformed her property into an eccentric paradise full of underwater grottoes, African wildlife, tree houses, improbable foliage, and stunning Asian gardens and waterways.

It makes sense for architects to build houses in Second Life that would be feasible on Earth. It makes sense for corporations and universities to have buildings and campuses that facilitate learning and business (crazy whirling fluorescent flexible rotating prims and particle explosions don’t quite make the grade). It makes sense for people to have warehouses or garages full of cool cars because they like cars. But it DOESN’T make sense to seek status in Second Life by replicating status symbols from Earth. That free Lamborghini isn’t a quarter-million dollar sports car; it’s a rudimentary virtual auto available to everyone free of charge.

Culture in Second Life is different from culture on Earth. Owning a sim is a sign of status. owning a garage full of freebie Mercedes’ isn’t. Being beautiful has advantages on Earth; in Second Life you’re just another hot bod in a world full of hot bods—unless you have the courage to build an out-of-norm avatar.

Let’s face it—considering all the great things with which you can surround yourself, an Earth-normal existence in Second Life is pretty boring.

So don’t give yourself a second-rate Second Life. Put your mundane Earthian beach house or skyscraper back in your inventory, roll up your sleeves, and get fabulous. Live in a blimp high in the sky, or on a submarine. Buy some remarkable plants and animals. Get wings or pointed ears or a tail for your avatar. Live in Babylonian or Victorian splendor. Be whoever you want to be. You won’t miss that beach house at all.

A Second-Rate Second Life: IV. Tunnel Vision

"May I Bite You and Take You Away to Vampireland, Never to be Seen Again?"

Written 5 June, 2009

A Second-Rate Second Life

IV: Tunnel Vision

Awhile back I wrote about people maturing in Second Life, finding place. It’s a natural process, and one followed by most of us. I’m all in favor of it.

But sometimes, without really thinking about it, people shut themselves off.

Not long ago, at Gurl6, I was having a good time eavesdropping, listening to two female newbies work on their appearance while shopping for their free (courtesy of Six Kennedy) hair. They were befriended by a vampire who straightaway began to coach them about the stereotypes of avatar decoration. You know: “See that slider? You can make your breasts bigger by moving it to the right.” “You need an AO. It will make you sexy.” “Here’s a thermonuclear-powered face light.” “You need some Moody Stilettos and some bling.”

Before long she had bitten them and led them off to vampireland.

Now I’m not saying Second Life vampires have less than fulfilling second lives or are in any way inferior or bad—but I’m sure these recruited women—for that’s what they were—were from their first day immersed in vampire culture and lore. I’ve no idea how their second lives turned out, but I imagine them with vampire skin, vampire clothes, vampire hair, vampire friends, and vampire lovers (and maybe even making [perish the thought!] vampire prim babies). I see them lying about drinking blood and talking about whatever it is vampires talk about it. I’m utterly unable to see them partaking of the rest of the rich feast of Second Life. I don’t see them having friends who aren’t vampires or doing things vampires typically don’t do (like having a bunny rabbit shoulder pet, perhaps, or a garden filled with bright pretty flowers, or going to a country-western concert).

In truth I don’t know what became of those two women—but it really doesn’t matter, because I’m making a point. Some of us become so involved in our own little projects and our own little corners of this virtual world that we blunt ourselves. We develop tunnel vision.

Many and perhaps most of us wind up in one of the various cultures in Second Life—for instance, GOR and other role playing communities—or we find community as furries, tinies, dragons and goths, or as part of virtual communities like Caledon and other virtual estates like d’Alliez or Fairchang. Or we use Second Life exclusively for sexual gratification, or to get virtual face time with remote lovers.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things, and in fact it’s healthy to explore and become part of something larger than oneself—but I suspect that for too many of us our particular microcultures comprise virtually our entire virtual lives. Our friends, the places we visit, our appearance—everything— is keyed to one tiny corner of Second Life, and we rarely venture out into the larger virtual space.

I can’t say I’m not guilty of that myself. Sweetie and I both spent a great deal of—and perhaps too much— time on our sims Whimsy and Whimsy Kaboom. But we DO attempt to expand our lives. We go to concerts, art shows, museums, and special events. We shop. We visit friends. We browse the internet and pick the profiles of avatars we meet to find beautiful and exciting places to visit. Even so, and as rich as our lives are, we sometimes feel we’re missing out on something.

And indeed we are. There is SO VERY MUCH to do in Second Life that an army of a thousand alts couldn’t possibly do and see it all.

I think reaching out beyond our levels of comfort is important. We should be open to making friends who aren’t vampires, or aren’t Gorean, or furry. We should leave our property and explore the world. We should experiment with our looks, attend cultural events, develop alternate interests and tastes. Doing so will make us more rounded and more interesting and open new possibilities for our virtual futures.

QUESTION TO MY EVER-FAITHFUL READERS

Here’s are a couple of question for my readers: do you know or have you met someone whose interests and activities in Second Life became so focused that you became concerned for them? Did this affect your relationship in any way?

Your comments are appreciated.

A Second-Rate Second Life: III. Lost in Virtuality

Written 2 June, 2009

A Second-Rate Second Life

III: Lost in Virtuality

I’ve met more than a few people—some of whom have been in world a long time—who seem to have no aim or purpose in Second Life.

Sometimes people just need a kick start. When we lived at Pele, there was a guy would hang out at our tiki hut, playing trivia. That’s all he ever did in Second Life. Sweetie and I eventually rescued him, buying him (as I recall) a Mystitool and taking him out to buy a skin. Then we took him to hear live music by our friends Bill and Pam Havercamp.

That was enough to wake him up. Within a month, he had a fairly well-developed Second Life and a month after that was juggling three girlfriends. Now, nearly three years later, we run into him from time to time at Havercamp concerts with his Earth wife on his arm.

Sometimes kick starts don’t work. We’ve known another avi for at least two years. He used to visit at Pele regularly, and has been to Whimsy several times. We’ve introduced him to friends and taken him with us on some of our adventures, and I’m sure we bought him a Mystitool.

Sweetie and I still talk with him from time to time. After all these months he’s become skilled at controlling his camera and building, but he’s not particularly engaged in Second Life. He logs in, gets bored of rezzing his cop car and wandering about, and logs out.

For a long time my major topic of IM discussion with this guy has been his inability to find a girlfriend. He’s single, smart, well-educated, not bad looking, and lives in a big metropolitan area, but he just has no luck in romance in either of his lives. In a virtual world where you stumble over willing women just about everywhere you go, he has never even had a girlfriend. In his second life, as on Earth, he seems lost.

I’ve met some people who seem to have an utter lack of imagination. They can’t think of a thing to do here. Imagine that, in a world where you can skydive, be a dragon, fly to 5,000,000 meters, become a vampire, hire (or be) a prostitute, start a magazine, own a slave, or build a palace, they can’t think of a thing to do.

Yet other people, after months in world, are still newbies, unable to control the camera or work the interface. They have no friends, no home, nothing to engage them. When I meet such folks I talk with them and give them landmarks and a notecard to help them make sense of Second Life. In most cases, probably, I’ll not make a difference, but perhaps some people have just had the bad fortune to not have been helped before.

Perhaps many of Second Life’s lost people are similarly lost on Earth. Perhaps they lack social skills. Perhaps they lack imagination or passion. Perhaps they’ve just not had a second life-changing experience. Whatever the reason, they miss out on a lot.

A Second-Rate Second Life: II. Ugly to the Bone

Written 28 May, 2009

A Second-Rate Second Life

II: Ugly to the Bone

Second life is so resplendent with beautiful


and beautifully ugly content


that it’s difficult to understand why some people surround themselves with ugly ugliness like this.
 
I should point out that I’m not talking about mere tackiness in this post. I’m talking about fugliness—vomitous shapes and textures that crush the spirit and dampen the soul.

When we lived on Forsaken, a Polish couple lived in a broken-down house with a jar full of eyeballs in the refrigerator. Their property was ugly, but deliberately so, and not unpleasant to look at (well, except for the eyeballs). It was well-made ugliness.

Here’s a photo of WELL-MADE ugliness.


But there’s so much UGLY ugliness. There’s nothing well-made about this. It’s just butt-ugly, with no redeeming aesthetic value. I’m talking ugly, ugly to the bone.


Why, one wonders, would someone make and spend time in something so jarring to the eye? It’s not as if there weren’t warehouses full of nicely-made freebie houses, castles, and dungeons!

Could it be that the folks with stupid ugly builds just have no taste? None whatsoever? Maybe so. Maybe back on Earth they live in apartments with Day-Glo walls and virulently-colored chairs and are oblivious to passing drivers who drive into trees, ogling. Maybe they’re simply unaware of the ugliness with which they surround themselves.

And who know? Maybe they LIKE it!

Living in ugliness—and perhaps more importantly, living without aesthetics—well, it just makes for a second-rate Second Life.

A Second-Rate Second Life: I. Introduction

Written 1 June, 2009

A Second-Rate Second Life

I: Introduction

Second Lifers find fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness in nearly infinite ways—but I’m continually running across people who just seem lost here.

Some of these lost people are new, but some have been around a long time. They have one thing in common, though: they don’t seem to know what to do, where to go, how to make friends, or even how to behave. They just seem to have second-rate second lives.

Having a great second life isn’t necessarily about acquiring things, or having a beautiful avatar, or being popular or famous or being trendy or conforming. It’s about building a life that excites and gratifies.

Whimical Mischief Returns

Written 1 June, 2009

Whimsical Mischief Returns

We’re happy to announce we’ve filed a ticket for the return of Whimsical Mischief. The sim, to be placed two squares north of Whimsy Kaboom, will be the home of Michel Runningbear and Ankhesenpaaton Kas.

How Tiny Empires Nearly Cost Me My Relationship

Written 1 June, 2009


How Tiny Empires Nearly Cost Me My Relationship


Or


Be Careful Not To Type Things In the Wrong Box

Sooo, Sweetie and I were building at 4000 meters.

No, no, no, it all began yesterday, when we visited friends who had just acquired a homstead sim.

No, I take that back. It began the day before, when we were supposed to visit them and they got crazy stupid in a frenzy of decorating.

I guess it doesn't really matter when it started.

But it nearly ended today, and all because of Ta Ta DAAA!  Tiny Empires.

I played the HUD_based game  T.E. for a while a year or so ago, but eventually put it away. Our friends play, and we talked about it a bit during our visit. While we talked, I put on the HUD. I was happy to see I was still a countess and astonished I had a subject!

But when I checked again that evening, I had been demoted to a marquise! A marquise! Dammit!

So I was wearing the HUD tonight while Sweetie and I worked on an orientation and visitor center high in the sky above Whimsy. I bought two acres and became a countess again (whew!). As soon as I got my promotion, I received an offer to abandon my leige and move my little virtual virtual fiefdom from the house of Lothlorien to the house of Avondale.Simultaneously, I got an IM telling me a bribe was on the way.

I said no, then thought about it, and IMed my briber,  "If I come, will those under me come too?"

Except I typed it into an open IM box with Sweetie.

If Sweetie had been anyone but Sweetie, I would be a single woman right now.

The Lindens Do It Again

Defiant openspace owner faces down Linden robot police

Written 1 June, 2009

The Lindens Do It Again

At the eleventh hour, ack Linden has announced a reversal of the previous reversal of the previous previous reversal of policies (whew!) for openspace sims. 3750-prim openspace sims purchased before 1 July, 2009 will be grandfathered at the $95 USD tier rate until 1 June, 2010—and those who abandoned their openspaces because of last fall’s reversal of the reversal of the original openspace policy will be able to reactivate their sims without charge.

Ya gotta wonder—why this announcement?

* Was Jack feeling guilty?

* Was Linden Lab in a panic over the impending return of thousands of openspace and homestead sims on 31 May?

* Is Linden Lab, despite its repeated pronouncements about how well it is doing, broke and in need of more cash from tier?

By his poor decision-making, Jack Linden has caused an immense amount of drama. He has done harm to Second Life, caused thousands of sim owners grief and loss of money, made bad PR for Linden Lab, and worst of all, made cynics of tens of thousands of people (like myself) who used to support Linden Lab.

And it was all so needless!