New World Notes

Lyric's Desire: Erotic SL Machinima From Lyric Lundquist

There are many Second Life machinimas that aim to titillate with sexual imagery, but for my mojo, at least, few are actually sexy. Then there's "Sideways Time", the latest from Lyric Lundquist, whose expressionist machinima I've celebrated before, a geometric burst of sensual imagery. Possibly unsafe for work viewing, but more evocative, than explicit:

"Although there are sensual undertones in a lot of my machinima," Lyric tells me, "I really wanted to take it to another level with this video." She was inspired by the discovery of Igor Ballyhoo's latest creation [SLurl teleport link here]. "I was floored with how sensual and powerful it was. I was also hanging out a lot at Selavy Oh's installation while obsessively listening to the 'The White Flash' by Modeselektor." Both builds are featured in "Sideways Times", Ms. Lundquist's attempt "to create something that would evoke the viewer to feel the emotions that both installations made me feel."

Second Life Stat of the Day: Only 6% of SL Land Is "Adult" Rated For Pornographic Content

Awhile ago I mentioned the invaluable work of Tyche Shepherd, a Resident who meticulously tracks in-world Second Life data such as "Incident" reports. In a recent report posted on the SL Universe Forum, she has exhaustive details on the full scope of Second Life land, summarized according to content rating (PG, Mature, and Adult, a relatively new designation for SL content with graphic sex and violence). Here they are:

• Estate - Adult: 1303
• Estate - Mature: 19264
• Estate - Offline: 9
• Estate - PG: 3222
• Linden - Adult: 348
• Linden - Mature: 3835
• Linden - PG: 1422

"Adult regions," Tyche notes, "grew by 27 to 1651 (5.6%), PG Regions grew by 5 to 4644 (15.8%)."

Is Virtual Romance Too Powerful For You?

Emerald Wynn eloquently explains why she's steeled her heart against SL-based romance, and contrary to what some might think, it's not because she thinks it's fake, or silly, or anything like that. Rather, it's too powerful for her, and she speaks from experience:

To me, love in Second Life is like a sweet, sweet drug. When I'm with a man I adore there, I feel warm and wrapped in affection. I see his arms around me and I feel it physically. I really do. Countless scientific studies show that the mind cannot tell the difference between detailed visualization and reality... Think it and think it hard enough and the mind starts to believe it.

That's where the trouble obtains, because in fact, you do eventually need to log off, and that's when the mismatch kicks in:

And I'm left staring at this cluttered room, this messy turtle tank, this mountain of laundry, a calendar full of RL obligations, a list of deadlines, a stack of bills, the prospect of a date this weekend with a man who only knows how to send text messages and won't stop talking about his ex-wife. The fantasy abruptly has come to a screeching halt and I'm left with the cold reality that currently is my life. And wow, does it feel cold.

Now, she concludes, "The only relationships I can sort of understand are those people who are hoping to find SL love that'll one day blossom into an RL future." And coming from where she is, I can sort of understand her take.  Do you?

"Adult" Rated Areas Blocked (And Accessed) By Web-Style Content Warning

Evidently I haven't visited an "Adult"-rated Second Life sim since content filtering regulations went into effect in recent weeks, because I was just flying along last night, when this dialog box took over my viewer. It appears when you reach the border of an Adult sim, making it impossible to do anything else until you close the dialog box and back away. Entering the Adult region, however, is easy enough: You just select Change Preference, and assuming you have a credit card or other payment form registered with the Lindens, you can fly right in. It's actually about as seamless an experience as you'd experience on the web, when you come across a site with adult content.

In the months after the Lindens announced the new regulations, last Spring, there was much protest and kvetching from some in the community. Since the rules were put into practice, however, I've observed little sustained dissent -- no new petitions, or march announcements, etc. I wonder if that's due to exhaustion, dull inertia, or if it's mainly an interface issue. If you want Adult content and can get to it with a single extra click, is the idea of storming the barricades as appealing as it used to be?

Second Life Couple Have Real Life Baby, Name Him "Linden"

Washu and Damien in 2004; in real life with baby Linden, earlier this week

Meet baby Linden, above right, citizen of the United States and child of Second Life, born in the early hours of August 17, all of 9 pounds and 13 ounces, new son to a young British-American couple, famously known in Second Life as Damien Fate and Washu Zebrastripe. Among the very first members of SL (Washu's account goes back to 2002, shortly after which she became an early avatar fashion innovator), I wrote about their metaverse-driven courtship in 2004, which began virtually but moved fairly rapidly to real world meetings via international flights, and a marriage that moved Ms. Zebrastripe from the American Midwest to the UK, and together back again to the States.

This child will be raised in part from funds earned in Second Life's economy, because Washu and Damien have long made their real world living through SL, via their content creation and real world contracting assignments; currently, their main business is Loco Pocos, a collection of insanely adorable avatar creatures. (Want to help pay for young Linden's college fund? Buy a Loco Poco today.)

As you might have guessed by now, the baby's name is not coincidental. "The word Linden has a lot of meaning to Washu and I," Damien tells me. "Through Second Life we have found each other, our livelihoods and now our son. I couldn't think of a more appropriate name with such meaning for us." Photo courtesy Mr. Fate; Loco Pocos pic via locopocos.com/blog

Charlanna Tries To Understand Gor (Do You?)

Charlanna Beresford has an extended, though-provoking interview with an active member of Second Life's Gorean community, a subculture inspired by the potboiler fantasy novels of John Norman which existed prior to Second Life, but now has a strong following in-world. (By one educated guess, there are some 50,000 active Goreans in SL.) On the surface, it's fantasy roleplay with heavy BDSM elements, where men are masters and women (mostly) slaves, but Charlanna's interview draws out the deeper social mores involved. I'm surprised to read how closely they follow the text of the Norman novels. (Most roleplay groups in SL are inspired by an existing franchise, like Star Wars, Dune, or Joss Whedon's Firefly, but heavily embellish and improvise around its framework.) The negative connotations around the community, Gorean Sheraka Sirnah suggests to Lanna, emanate from roleplayers less dedicated to the Gor text. "They are solely for the pew pew or sexual entertainment of the players. Nothing to do with the philosophy or the books at all." Or as she calls it, "Disney Gor". Image: Avatars in Wonderland.

Tonight: Adult Content Community Celebrates "Zindrapendence Day"

Tonight at 9pm SLT, to celebrate their independence from the rest of SL, the Zindra Alliance, a community affiliated with Second Life's new Adult-rated content "Amsterdam continent" are having a "Zindrapendence Day" party. In fact, Alliance co-founder Jago Constantine tells me, "The theme is Banned On The Mainland, so come in something you couldn't wear to SL6B (remember that naked is not a costume!)" Give them your tired (of getting Community Standards penalties), your huddled masses yearning to breathe free (in public orgy rooms), they lift their [censored] besides the golden door, or something. Direct SLurl teleport at this link.

Alien Behavior: How Moral Panic Over Second Life Policies Confuse the Unitiated

Here's a fascinating example of user behavior, virtual world management policy, and moral panic all colliding together in an amusing if somewhat irksome way. Back in 2007, after some widely publicized cases of simulated pedophilia (or what's sometimes called "age play") were discovered in Second Life, the Lindens issued a policy forbidding the behavior (even among consenting adults), with a threat to ban violators from SL. While applauded by most of the community, this policy has also caused numerous landowners to employ draconian measures to prevent any perception that age play is tolerated on their property. This often means ejecting from their land not just sexual ageplayers from their property, but avatars who even seem underage, for totally non-erotic reasons -- women in "Gothic Lolita" fashion, for example, or adult Residents seeking to recapture an innocent childhood through roleplay. Or as we saw last weekend, even avatars under 4'9", spotted and then chased off a nude beach -- even if they happen to be squat green aliens without genitals. (See screenshot.)

Normally, long-time SLers would read about this instance of misapplied Community Standards policing with tickled annoyance, or affectionate frustration, or maybe both. But the thing is, last weekend the above screenshot wound up on the front page of Digg.com with 2500+ votes. (Which in my experience, roughly translates into several hundred thousand page views, if not more.) Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming reaction there, from readers who know nothing of this backstory, is confusion and contempt. And in this way, moral panic over a totally reasonable policy has led nearly half a million people to conclude Second Life is rampant with green alien discrimination. (And all the strangeness that seems to suggest.) Image source.

What Would Google Do If It Was Linden Lab?

Writing about the ongoing controversy over the Lindens' imminent "Adult" regulations, which will (among other things) remove Adult-rated content from default search queries in-world, Cieran Laval of Your2ndPlace makes this keen analogy:

Linden Lab wouldn't be happy if Google decided tomorrow that you could only find Second Life if you had Google safe search turned off, yet this is the logic Linden Lab are applying to their search and it is not good for business.

A point worth thinking about. I actually didn't even know Google had a "Safe search" mode, until now-- here it is. (Which suggests that I'm behind the curve -- or that it's function rarely used outside of kid-oriented contexts.) In any case, following Google's success, wouldn't it make more sense to offer a non-Adult search filter as an opt-in feature, rather than a default?

Virtual Love Economics: What Sells Better In Second Life, Romantic Poses or Sexual Positions?

Leila Carroll is one of Second Life's most talented content creators; her brand !Meya! (official site here, xStreetSL shopping channel here) specializes in customized poses for amorously-inclined avatars.  All of them are sensual and beautiful, and suggest a wide range of explicitness, from the dreamily romantic to the sexually carnal (as here, and here.) She's also quite successful in this economic niche; her top six pose configurations, she tells me, have sold seven figures in Linden Dollars (L$1M converts on the open market to nearly US$4000.) Her Second Life business, Leila adds, "has been my sole source of income since May 2008 (I opened in February 2008)."

That's impressive in itself, and it also offers us an excellent data point on the Second Life market for virtual lovemaking. Put another way: What sells better, sexual positions, or romantic couplings? When I asked her that, Leila generously offered to let me report and display her top-selling poses this year -- see for yourself and read her conclusions after the break.  Some images below quite possibly NSFW, of course, but tasteful and gorgeous to behold: