New World Notes

Listen: Philip Rosedale & I Talk About Transforming the Future of Second Life & Making a More Humane Metaverse

Wagner James Au · Philip Rosedale & Wagner James Au on the future of Second Life & the Metaverse

On the day when Philip Rosedale announced his return to Second Life and his plans to compete with Big Tech's "ad-driven behavior modification" would-be Metaverse projects, he and I had a long chat about just that subject -- listen above. This audio is actually a rough cut for an upcoming podcast series that Philip and I are developing, but he very coolly gave New World Notes readers this exclusive early listen sneak preview.

Here's some highlights from our chat:

0:00 - 2:45 : How I become Hamlet Au and Second Life's embedded journalist, and meeting the legendary hacker Catherine Omega in one of my very first visits. (Who Philip recently reconnected with in-world, as she still visits from time to time.)

2:45 - 4:50: Walking across the single-shard world of Second Life -- and the missing opportunity of missing serendipity of metaverse platforms without a single contiguous world.

Today's Flickr Pick: Wry & Rousseau-Like Images Created by Bianca in Second Life

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Bianca’s “Who’s Crying Now” is accompanied by Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now?” and she has the sassy, I-figured-it-out look that might ask that question. It’s a lovely pic with plants and a ladder shelf, and I like the bold, rich colors. 

For more great pics, click here:

ROBLOX Website Usage Has Been Flat Since Its Spring 2021 IPO

Data via SimilarWeb

ROBLOX enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2021, with a spectacular IPO last March and increasing talk that it's the leading metaverse platform, with growth to 43 million daily active users late last year.

According to SimilarWeb, however, there's one thing ROBLOX didn't grow in 2021: Website visits.

Since at least June 21, visits to the official site have remained flat at around 1 billion visits per month, give or take. (Which is, of course, an insane number of visits.) Unlike most other metaverse platforms, the ROBLOX experience is very tightly integrated with the website, with an online shop and a directory of popular/engaging/recommended worlds. So web traffic offers a pretty accurate insight into overall ROBLOX user activity.

And to go by that standard, ROBLOX usage is stable -- but not growing.

Why? The likeliest answer is something I've discussed before:

This Artist Turns SL Screenshots Into Evocatively Conceptual Images

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Aurelia von Troubles posted this sample from a recent exhibit of her work. The project is called My Seven and this particular picture is “Wrath”, one of the seven deadly sins. They occupy Dante’s Fifth Circle of Hell. Dante saw wrath as the desire for justice perverted to a desire for revenge. Her epaulets suggest her wrath began with justice or at least the approval of society. Her legs are scratched and covered in mud, fitting for those who eternally drown in the River Styx. She is Wrath embodied. 

For more thoughtful and emotionally evocative images, click here:

Survey: How Does Philip Rosedale's Return to Second Life Change Your Outlook on the Future of the Platform -- And The Metaverse in General?

Note: Take this survey on laptop/desktop for best results!

Now that everyone has had time over the long weekend to process the news of Philip Rosedale's return to Second Life, here's a survey to express your sense of how that will shape the future of Second Life -- and other metaverse-type platforms. If history is a guide, Philip's return to active virtual world/metaverse development will make him a leading voice in the industry, while his last startup High Fidelity has technology being licensed to other metaverse platforms.

 So what's your high level sense on this move?  

Diagonal Compositions Done Well Add Drama to Lishy's Charming SL Photos

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Lishy’s untitled avatar pick looks ready for her action movie. She’s all dressed up and ready to save the world. She comes with an accompanying action-appropriate song called String Theory that is definitely not up my alley but difference is what makes the world exciting. I just know that she is a defender of truth and humanity. She looks like one of the good guys. I can’t wait to see the movie. 

For Lishy living her secret identity, click here:

Microsoft Buys Least Metaverse-Friendly Game Company to Boost Its Metaverse Plans

This is one of those surprised/not surprised news items:

Microsoft Corp. plans to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc. in its largest deal yet as it looks to boost its gaming business and capture opportunities in the metaverse... “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in the release. 

The deal definitely makes sense for Microsoft's gaming war chest, but talk of the metaverse makes me wonder if Microsoft actually grasps the concept. (I mean if I were head of Microsoft's metaverse strategy, I'd spend less time trying to acquire legacy old school game companies, and more time updating and rebooting Microsoft's Minecraft into a full-fledged metaverse.)

And yes yes, Activision Blizzard has a great track record of creating hugely successful mass market games (good relations with its employees, not so much) with highly polished UX and deep narrative/world building. What Activision Blizzard is not especially well known for is the key feature that comprises any metaverse platform worth the name:

Top 5 Posts Last Week: Philip Rosedale Re-Joins Second Life, a Fun Experiment in Metaverse Teleportation & Much More

• BREAKING: Philip Rosedale Re-Joins Second Life As Strategic Advisor To Grow It Into Inclusive Metaverse Competing With Big Tech's "Ad-Driven Behavior Modification" Metaverse
• Should Second Life Have An Export / Licensing Option So Creators Can Sell Their Massive Trove Of Content To Other Metaverse Platforms?
• Watch: Metaverse Experiment Creates "Portals" From NeosVR To Anyland To Mozilla Hubs To Gorilla Tag
• Cajsa's Choices: Stunning, Painstakingly Posed Action Images By Artemis Fate
• Does VRChat Or Second Life Have Better Avatar Options? New World Notes Readers Debate The Pros & Cons

Listen: I Talk Second Life, The Metaverse, and the Metaverse's Killer App on CBC Radio's "Sparks"

Click here to listen and read the article summary, my chat with Nora of "Sparks", a tech show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (basically the NPR/PBS of Canada) about Second Life and the Metaverse. Some of my answers seem a bit stumbly to me (I blame my morning coffee for not kicking in soon enough), but it was fun to delve into some areas I haven't discussed as much before. For instance:

The looming question as to whether the Metaverse has a "killer app", My take:

Apple XR Headset Not Likely to Come Out in 2022 (Like I Said In 2021)

Just posted my 2022 predictions just last week, and this news already dropped this week:

Apple was reportedly planning to put the headset on sale sometime after the [June 2022] WWDC announcement.

Now, however, Apple is said to be exploring the possibility of delaying the announcement by at least a few months, or potentially pushing it back to 2023. If the iPhone maker goes forward with the plan, the device would reportedly start shipping to customers later than planned as well.

According to today’s report, Apple’s hesitance to debut the headset at WWDC in June is the result of ongoing development challenges related to the device’s software and cameras. Additionally, there are reportedly overheating issues caused by the onboard processor.

I don't doubt the hardware issues are an issue, but as I said, "I still fail to see why Apple would risk its brand on a still-niche product as yet." (If Meta announces much greater Quest 2 sales than expected, I would expect Apple's hardware challenges to get solved right quick.)

But even beyond sales, there's the other virtual shoe that hasn't dropped. If Apple has an XR headset... who is making the content for it? Because like I wrote:

SL Fashion Friday: Male Metaverse Style from Blogger Jakobat Bergan

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

The World That I Would is Jakobat Bergan’s fashion blog. I like his style. It’s relaxed and comfortable, but not sloppy. He looks like he thinks about what to wear, but not so much it distracts from more important things. I love this look with the shirt peeking out from the sweater, not tucked in and most importantly, with a straight hem. This tells you it’s not meant to be tucked in, it’s not sloppy, it’s style. This is all featured in his recent post 2560.

[ ERAUQS ] - Ben Sweater and Shirt @ACCESS (Jan 12 - Feb 8th) by Renan Mckeenan

There is so much to like about Jakobat’s blog, his consistency not just in blogging regularly, but he has a coherent style. You don’t see him looking out of character just to blog something. His blog is simple with few bells and whistles, maybe too few, because he doesn’t promote himself very much. There are no links to his social media or even his Flickr. But he has many sponsors and blogs for several events according to the Events and Sponsors pages that are listed in the footer, so perhaps he doesn’t need to promote himself more. 

For more great men’s style -- plus more of review of Bergan's blog -- click here:

BREAKING: Philip Rosedale Re-Joins Second Life as Strategic Advisor to Grow It Into Inclusive Metaverse Competing With Big Tech's "Ad-Driven Behavior Modification" Metaverse

Update, 8:05pm PT: For context on this move and what Philip might advise on the future of Second Life, here's a recent  interview with him suggesting Meta shouldn't be the one making the Metaverse and that it's not for everyone anyway, my post on how he started integrating High Fidelity spatial audio in virtual worlds like Breakroom, and (watch below the break), his chat on the Metaverse with Sine Wave's Adam Frisby.

Just got this message from Philip Rosedale, about the future of Second Life:

"I'm not back full-time, but it feels great to get to be talking to Lindens about design! I think the vital thing to focus on is demonstrating that a virtual world can scale to greater capacity while being inclusive and fair and safe for humanity."

He's saying that because yes, Second Life founder Philip Rosedale is now officially back at Linden Lab as a strategic advisor and an investor though this company High Fidelity, which will also share resources and technology with the Lindens:

Today's SL Flickr Pick: Iolande Weidman Turns Nude Avatar Photos Into Abstract Art

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Iolande Weidman, aka Rania Adjani, shoots some of the most extraordinarily beautiful aesthetic nudes.

So when I saw “Naked” I snort-laughed, because it reveals such a great sense of humor behind the avatar. Ah, yes, when the notorious nipples are printed on a shirt, they are perfectly safe, unlike their appearance, however, subtly and carefully shot in her other pictures. 

For more stunning photos, click here:

Should Second Life Have an Export / Licensing Option So Creators Can Sell Their Massive Trove of Content to Other Metaverse Platforms?

Here's a really interesting editorial video from veteran Second Life advocate Luca, arguing that Linden Lab and the user community are sitting on a goldmine: Nearly 20 years of 3D content, much of which could be exported and licensed for use in other platforms. "There's no way," as Luca puts it, "for any company on Earth right now to be able to match Second Life's existing diversity of assets." 

This idea, as you might imagine, has some hurdles to overcome. For instance: Wouldn't optimizing and wiring up an SL avatar be really time consuming and difficult? And maybe even impossible for the top mesh bodies -- most of which are very poorly optimized?

Luca think it's possible:

Kai Wirsig Makes Second Life Screenshots Look Like Action Movie Stills

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Kai Wirsig is wearing some serious body armor in this picture. I like the form of this picture, how it’s cropped and framed so the gun is pointing just past the viewer and the end of barrel is cropped out. ("I only changed the saturation," Kai notes in the image description. "No other photo processing,") He also makes great use of light and shadow. Bonus! In Second Life, he can wear his body armor without a shirt and there’s no chafing. 

Kai makes the diagonal frame work for him, see how here.

Watch: Metaverse Experiment Creates "Portals" from NeosVR to Anyland to Mozilla Hubs to Gorilla Tag

Update, Jan. 12: This demo by @TheRealKoolala is part of an Open Metaverse Interoperability Group project led by longtime Metaverse evangelist Evo Heyning -- follow the group on Twitter @open_metaverse.

Here's a fun experiment in Metaverse teleportation from "Koolala" on YouTube, who's created "portals" that enable him to seamlessly travel from XR-based virtual worlds/online games -- specifically from Neos VR to Anyland to Mozilla Hubs, and finally to Gorilla Tag. I say "portals" in quotes because if I'm watching this right, Koolala cleverly launches each individual world in the background, out of sight from the user (obscured by a closed elevator, in one case), until they're ready to make the leap. Which is a very clever hat trick, though not a literal portal from one code base into another. (Then again, why split hairs if it looks and feels like a portal?)

Hat tip longtime reader "Adeon", who I'm currently talking with on Discord, trying to figure out what is actually being carried across from world to world:

Second Life's Top User-Run Fashion Blog Attracted 20 Million Pageviews in 2021 -- More Than Many Real Life Fashion Blogs!

Seraphim SL traffic stats via Similar Web

Seraphim SL, the top user-run Second Life fashion/shopping blog, is reporting that the site attracted over 20 million pageviews in 2021 -- that's doubling its traffic from 2019, when it earned 10 million pageviews for the year. This is noteworthy, because actual overall Second Life usage has declined slightly in recent years. 

To put that traffic in broader perspective, this Second Life fashion site gets more pageviews than many top real life fashion sites, like Fashionista.  Related to Second Life as a virtual world community, this suggests that users are spending less time in-world -- and more time consuming virtual world content on the web and across social media. 

Kess Crystal attributes this pageview growth to curation, and regular discount events:

Cajsa's Choices: Stunning, Painstakingly Posed Action Images by Artemis Fate

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Artemis Fate is excellent at capturing a moment. Take “Downhill Slide” for example. Her avatar is leaning as she skateboards down a hill, her hat falling off from the wind that blows her hair. It’s a magnificent picture. That little bit of bokeh doesn’t hurt either. 

Of course, there is nothing more difficult to shoot in Second Life than a shot that looks like it was captured spontaneously, in the moment. In her description she says it took several days to tweak the pose to her satisfaction: 

“This one ended up taking a lot longer than I expected it would as every part of it was hard to do. I had to work on it over multiple days with a few shoots, primarily because the pose was a real pain to make. I feel like I could have tweaked it endlessly though so had to draw the line somewhere. Action shots are just really hard to do.” They sure are, so let’s celebrate those who do them so well. 

For more skateboarding (because why not), click here:

Does VRChat or Second Life Have Better Avatar Options? New World Notes Readers Debate the Pros & Cons

Good reader discussion in last week's post about VRChat's new peak usage numbers. This growth inspired "Timo" to ask why so many VRChat avatars seem so low detail, as compared to Second Life:

I read many comments here recently about how VRChat uses more modern technology, custom shaders from Unity etc. Which is supposed to be light years ahead of SL's dated engine.

So I was wondering how come VRChat looks so terrible? In the screenshot in this article, shading is so bad it's almost impossible to see anything. All characters seem to be completely flat shaded.

I understand that everybody likes to use cartoon shaders on VRChat, but even for cartoon [avatars] the quality of shading I see seems awful, dark and flat. In addition to shading, the quality of models is also not looking good. Low poly to the extreme.

Does anybody know what is the reason for that? Is it just because everyone on purpose choose shaders that look flat? Or is it because of the technical limitations? I can't understand how the game based on 15 years newer engine can produce results that are so much worse visually than Second Life. 

Longtime reader Adeon, who was very active in SL before jumping into VRChat, makes a case for the latter, arguing that it's more a matter of the VRChat user community preferring non-realistic avatars:

Top 5 Posts from Last Week: The Rise of VRChat & The Niche-ness of NFTs, Plus 2022 Predictions & 2021 Highlights

• My 12 Favorite New World Notes Posts On Metaverse Culture From 2021
• My Metaverse Predictions For 2022: Likely Partnerships / Acquisitions, VR Headset Sales, Scandals & Much More
• Six Surprising Ways Using Second Life Improved Users In Real Life
• VRChat User Concurrency Hit Nearly 90,000 Last New Year's Eve!
• Shock Stat: More People Own Items In Second Life Than Own NFTs

My 12 Favorite New World Notes Posts on Metaverse Culture from 2021

New World Notes has always been focused foremost on the cultural component of virtual worlds, or what we breezily now call the Metaverse, telling stories of the people who create, grow, and evolve in them. (For better and sometimes worse.) From that perspective, here's my very favorite stories from 2021:

ROBLOX YouTuber & Taiwan Supporter Breaks Through Great Firewall To Connect With Players Of China's Heavily Censored Version

"Getting over the firewall from the US is easy because most Chinese websites don't refuse connection to American IPs... It's mostly the other way around where Chinese ISPs refuse to connect their own customers to American servers." ... And while ROBLOX the company continues talking about becoming the Metaverse, it's worth noting that Ruben's video is much more faithful in spirit to the original Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk classic.

Watch: Matthew Ball's Metaverse Fireside Chat With WaPo's Gene Park & Myself In Breakroom -- Topic Timecodes In The Post!

Watch above!

Inside VRChat's Informal Economy: An Estimated 1000+ People Make Real Money From That Metaverse

"On YouTube, twenty channels devoted to VRChat content have subscribers in the six figure range or higher -- roughly speaking, a target range for being able to earn a good full-time living (i.e. $50,000+/year) via YouTube ads and direct subscriptions. That includes the two VRChat YouTube gods with over 1 million subscribers: Drumsy and local New World Notes favorite Syrmor. (Read my profile of Syrmor here.)"

This New VRChat World Is Created By Someone Whose Game Worlds Are So Popular, She Now Makes A Full-Time Living Via Fan Donations

"Overall though, my heart and mind are at ease, having saved a bit of money from my first year on Patreon in my bank account, and knowing that the patrons who support me now do so because they trust my creative decisions."

Sub-Orbital Galaxy Still Floating Above Second Life After 14 Years, Still Inspiring Virtual & Real Communities

Twelve years ago, Bonny Greenwood was floating in outer space on an asteroid doing tai chi to trance music when she struck up a conversation with a friendly passerby. (As one does.)...

Seven more after the break!

Cajsa’s SL Blog of the Week: Friday Fashion for Furries

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Caladreis' blog is called Cala’s Second Life Furry Fashion. Her recent post Cute Quicky is one that reveals her excitement about a new set on sale at Belle Epoque. She quickly got dressed, took a picture and posted it. She didn’t include any other credits because she was excited about this one thing, the set of a man and woman’s outfit just perfect for Bridgerton. 

• Belle Epoque Duchess of Devonshire Set - by Janire Coba

For a modern look, click here:

My Metaverse Predictions for 2022: Likely Partnerships / Acquisitions, VR Headset Sales, Scandals & Much More

Better publish them now before we get even deeper into 2022:

Apple will not announce AR/VR products this year.

I still fail to see why Apple would risk its brand on a still-niche product as yet. Also, look at the lame prototype.

Second Life finally gets an official mobile app.

Risky prediction, given a previous SL app project was put on pause last year -- but that was also when a new mobile project was strongly hinted at.

Quest 2 Install Base Remains Under 20 Million in 2022

We'll likely see relatively strong holiday 2021 sales in upcoming earnings reports, but I'm assuming we went into 2022 with a Quest 2 install base of about 6-8 million total, and that the holiday sales brought in 6-8 million more.  

There will be major government involvement over one or more Metaverse platforms.

Since we keep reading stories like this, and most Metaverse platforms are used by children and teens, the chances keep increasing that Metaverse execs will be forced to testify before Congress (or an EU governing body).

Several more after the break!

Today's Flickr Pick: Clifton Howlett Uses Depth of Field to Give His Second Life Screenshots Added Drama

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Clifton Howlett captures me first thing every morning. I really cannot function without my coffee. I love the concentrated look on his face. It’s very “don’t bother me until I finish my coffee” which is good advice for everyone in the morning. All his pictures are black and white, giving them a classic feeling of power and permanence. He also uses Depth of Field beautifully.

For a look at one of his rare color pic, click here:

Six Surprising Ways Using Second Life Improved Users in Real Life

This is a pretty fascinating thread on /SecondLife where community members answer the question, "How has Second Life helped you sharpen for any real life experiences?" 

The examples given range from the funny:

Fashion. I used to dress well, then during lockdown started dressing like a trash pile, but dressing up my avi made me want to get my nice things back out in RL too. - greeneyedwench 

To the poignant:

I started playing SL in 2004. 6 years later I was in Afghanistan and another year and a half after that. SL put me in contact with fellow Vets and helped me relearn how to adjust to Civilian life and how to cull my social anxiety. - HellHoundActual

Several more of my favorites after the break: