Virtual Worlds

Articles from my voyage through the virtual worlds of Second Life, Kitely, Avination, Inworldz and others.

  • Virtual Worlds

    What price to recommend Second Life to others?

    Linden Lab have begun their (extremely) low key advertising in an attempt to increase their userbase.  In the last 24 hours I’ve seen the new YouTube ad [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHx__AVAsD0] and now I’ve just seen the Winterfest push. Want to win 100,000L?  … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Early Adopters? My F#^%ing A#%se

    These people are the early adopters of Second Life: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHH2CAE9Y6o] not those who came in anytime before today.. The platform is almost legacy FFS! But then Linden Lab have never been good at understanding things like the importance of credibility.  M said it* and the minions are parroting it.  … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    When the two worlds collide… The Second Death of Caspar Helendale

    You may have seen this blogpost https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2009/11/24/the-second-death-of-caspar-helendale.  When I saw it, I certainly couldn’t resist grabbing a ticket and allowing myself a chance to see the production from both sides of the divide. Tonight I went to the real life premiere, tomorrow I’ll be inworld for the second performance.  … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Making a profit from charity Linden Research style

    Linden Lab are once again asking the content creators in second life to give their time and creativity to support their Public Relations marketing and bottom line.  The majority of which have just been told they’re to pay more for the same substandard marketing/sales service offered by XstreetSL.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Update: The latest data security breach in Second Life

    orignal post here: http://theriseofthesurreal.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/you-think-your-real-life-data-is-kept-safe-by-linden-lab-think-again/ In a nutshell:  No substantial action from LL and they claim that someone being able to log in as someone else isn’t a security breach. The two people who were involved in it talk about it here: http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/37048-new-linden-lab-account-security.html… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Where are they now?: Second Life

    Even the BBC can’t muster any enthusiasm for Second Life anymore: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8367957.stm Some of the comments explain the lack of retention rate… Second Life is boring! You can’t do anything without spending money, so for the person casually checking it out, there’s absolutely nothing to attract them.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    You Think Your Real Life Data is Kept Safe by Linden Lab? Think Again

    https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/38377#38377 and because the likelihood is that Linden Research will delete this thread to hide the evidence, I’ll repost the salient post here:   1. 19-Nov-2009 19:13 in response to: xxx Re: Office Hours and Policy Making   This assumes they’re actually interested in what the population in-general wants instead of them being interested in having the decisions they already made get validated.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Second Life Viewer 2.0. How to reduce that first hour problem

    LL have come up with the perfect solution to the first hour problem.  They’ve reduced the window to 10 minutes, well if I were a newbie and was confronted with this when I came inworld I would think 10 minutes would be about all I’d stand before going for the x and looking for something less user unfriendly.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Second Life: So Near And Yet So Far

    Near is preparing to release a 3D shopping area called Near London.  When I came inworld in 2006 , this kind of marketing and selling struck me as being the most optimal use of the platform for retailers. In 2006/7 there were a few token efforts at catalogue selling but the idea was never developed to anywhere near its potential.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Tweet of the Day

    A tweet (From a non LL employee of course) XStreetSL currently unavailable – We’re adding a category for Stolen and Ripped content, labeled “Bargain Bin.”about 6 hours ago from web  There’s nothing like a good reputation now is there?

  • Virtual Worlds

    WTF? Second Life – A Thieves Paradise

    So, Linden Labs are running true to form with their response to content theft on a grand scale.  4hrs after a major theft was reported to them they have still taken no action.  Situation normal I suppose.  From their behaviour you could quite easily believe that they don’t actually want anyone inworld to be under the impression that they care and that all the talk is just for the press.  … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Using the word “Lame”

    I’ve never been a big fan of the word as I’ve always thought there are better descriptions.  I finally understand how appropriate the word can be. To me, the epitome of lame is those people who keep turning up in your life with different avatars and think you don’t notice.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    WTF? XStreet SL and the Halloween Spotlight Promotion

    https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/commerce/blog/2009/10/22/halloween-spotlight-offers-virtual-tricks-and-treats Am I the only one that thinks it’s a bit tacky that LL organise a marketing event for Halloween and use items in their publicity pics from a merchant who didn’t even know the marketing event was happening because LL didn’t tell him? … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Shop Closure

    The shop has closed.  Most of my items are available through XSL and there’s a selection on Apez.  If you fancy being an affiliate then in the next couple of weeks I’ll post the link to the affiliate vendor that you can grab and set up. … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Second Life SL6B – Now We Are Six

    With apologies of AA Milne of course 😉  © Alexia Cournoyer. 2009  All rights reserved. So, Second Life has reached its 6th birthday and once more the residents have come together to provide most of the content. I was invited to the press preview and managed to spend 4 almost lag free hours roving my camera over the builds.… Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    Templum ex Obscurum

       © Alexia Cournoyer. 2009  All rights reserved. I went to Templum ex Obscurum. I didn’t realise just how many years it has been since I was last at Relic and it appears it has well and truly gone now 🙁   It seems that somewhere on The Nameless Isle is this organ but I couldn’t find it. … Read the rest

  • Virtual Worlds

    *NDC* Big Bear Hug

    He’s designed for those days when only a big bear hug will do. 🙂 He’s big at around 4m high but can be resized.  There’s nothing nicer than plonking yourself down on his knee and giving him a big hug. The animation is specially made for this.… Read the rest

  • Miscellanea,  Virtual Worlds

    Just A Random Thought On Art in Second Life And In General

    If your only motivation for making art is to sell it and your main intellectual preoocupation is not the work itself but how to productise it, then you’re not an artist. You’re just a self-stocking shop. Hazel Dooney: How Not To Sell Your Soul http://www.homepagedaily.com/Pages/article6793-hazel-dooney-how-not-to-sell-your-soul.aspx… Read the rest

  • Etiquette Guides,  Virtual Worlds

    Grid Hunt Etiquette Pt 2 – Merchant Etiquette

    There are two parts to this guide; Part 1: Hunter Etiquette and Part 2: Merchant Etiquette (this post). Following on from Part 1, let’s talk about merchant behaviour… The reality is that for the majority of hunters they’re unlikely to ever remember your shop, what it sells or even upack the item you so carefully created. … Read the rest