An open forum with an open question: what event, creation, avatar, or personal connection centered around Second Life was the most profound to you, and why?
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Hearing Komuso Tokugawa live for the first time. A genuinely awesome live musical performance in a virtual space. It opened my eyes to the wider social/cultural possibilities of Second Life and virtual worlds.
Posted by: Morris Vig | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 07:23 AM
Two things spring to mind. First the vbusiness expo, april 2008, which was the first large scale, multiple day event which I attended. Lots of interesting speakers and experiences!
Second: flying! More specifically, flying a Spitfire, something which I would really like to be able to do irl, but can't.
Posted by: Sered Woollahra | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 07:56 AM
Burning Life 08--I'd missed it in 07, my first year in-world. It showed me not only the talent of performers & content-creators but also how SL enables new forms of art not possible IRL. It might have been laggy at times, but BL was social and full of dedicated--even fanatical--SLers. I'd never before had such a keen sense of the indigenous culture here.
Posted by: Iggy O | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 08:11 AM
It was the moment I first created something in world. Just after I first logged in and made it to the welcome island. It is profound when ones "reality" becomes "software" and can be manipulated with a thought and a hand gesture.
Then, not 5 minutes later, I was griefed for the first time and had the profound realization of what that profound realization really meant.
Posted by: Eye Ree | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 08:35 AM
Oh, it must have been a couple of days after I created my account and by chance happened to attend Lawrence Lessig's presentation about his book Free Culture. I got the first virtually signed, and bugged, version of his book. I could make as many signed copies as I wanted and thought that was really neat. Anyway, this event got me hooked to SL and made me more interested in VR-environment in general, realizing they have some great potential.
After that one mixed reality event by electric sheep company had a big impact on me. They made a copy of some cafe in the states (san fransisco perhaps? there was a huge white naked baby with funky hair there, anyone remember this?) and showed live feeds from the real place, and Sl-people could interact with the RL-people.
And many dark smokey nights in the Gibson sims, aaah.
Posted by: gustav | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 09:54 AM
I suppose I have two contenders for that honor.
One would be the attempt at 24 hours that only made it to 18 hours that I blogged about and am still digesting to some degree. A more detailed report is forthcoming.
The other I've detailed http://cyfishy.livejournal.com/11870.html>here.
Posted by: CyFishy Traveler | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 10:01 AM
I've had a few profound experiences, some I can't mention as they involve details some would prefer I not discuss. One of my earlier ones was the end of one of my first hangouts, the STA. To many of my friends whom had always held their parties and fun there, their view of Second Life was turned upside down as their center of it was gone, and afterwards, a number of friends I seldom or never did see again.
Posted by: Bixyl Shuftan | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 05:23 PM
Rather early on, coming upon the Ginny Gremlin memorial in the park at NCI Kuula. Feeling a faint touch of the loss her friends felt; even though I didn't know her or them.
Posted by: Corcosman Voom | Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 05:20 AM
Robbie Dingo and his "Watch the World(s)" machinima.
Also, Eshi's one-hour-builds in Desperado sim every day were amazing fun, although I'm sorry I was able to be in-world every day as she sent invites, so I saw some of them only on YouTube. :(
Posted by: Domchi Underwood | Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 06:49 AM
there are a few profound events.
1) When i realised i was reliving my childhood with new friends. I never even considered it was possible to relive those days until others like myself appeared on my island wanting to hang out and play. It made me realise there was something really special that could only be done in SL.
2) accidently stumbleing upon a meeting about the creation of a new steampunk themed SIM, and grabbing a square on a map. That SIM later became New Babbage.
3) A meeting with Dusty Linden that lead to the Drama over SL5B. the following weeks was a time where LL's changing outlook on SL was most visible. It also caused a major shakeup in the child avatar community kick starting many new ideas. It was also a time where for the first time i felt the child avatar community had support from other SL communities. This was one of the most profound times for me in SL, as the whole SL world seemed to change for me then.
Posted by: Loki Eliot | Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 10:11 AM
oh i forgot probably the most PROFOUND moment in my SL life was the death of someone known in SL as Dummie Beck.
Dummie spent his last months in SL as a kid avatar, spending his last days as a young boy playing with new childhood friends, innocently pretending to be a pirate, exploring and going to beach parties.
And his friends in SL treated him with love and tenderness and were there for him.
And when he finally passed away, i was amazed how many people from around the world had been touched by his brief existence in SL. He was a regular at my clubhouse and so it was not long before there was a huge amount of objects from people wanting to pay their respects to Dummie.
That was a very powerful experience to me opening my eyes to the power of second life. Those who still have not been enlightend to the way SL can be used to share experiences and memories that can be just as powerful and important as physical world, i pity them, as they are waisting their time in SL.
Posted by: Loki Eliot | Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 10:31 AM
My most profound SL personal experience is still happening right now. It's the Hobo Island Block Party. It started on Friday, and won't end until around midnight.
Posted by: Bacon Hellershanks | Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 03:43 PM
I had only been in Second Life for a couple months when I received a life-changing email outside of SL. My birth-mother had located me via my personal website. Through the course of our initial email only communications, we discovered we were BOTH enjoying exploring SL and decided to have what we determined was the first ever adoption reunion in-world. We had fun checking out mutual favorite spots and showing off our homes. I feel meeting her in SL first, made our eventual face-to-face meeting a lot easier. We already felt somewhat familiar.
Posted by: BAY | Monday, March 02, 2009 at 02:03 PM