Nemo Sinking: Second Life's Jules Verne-ian Steampunk Masterpiece Closing on October 29!

Steampunk clock says time is running out to see Nemo!

Click this SLurl to visit NEMO in Second Life, which you will want to do by October 29. That's because the beautiful 3D tribute to Jules Verne (which I wrote about here), will close on that date. The creator, Sextan Shepherd, tells me he needs to close it for cost and creative reasons. For one thing, he says, "I put my business aside during these last six month, to focus on Nemo, and renting two full sims is something I can't afford for the moment." For another, he has done with it all he set out to do:

"I am a creator and once the creating process of a project is over, I don't have much interest left in it. Nemo never had a commercial purpose neither, so there are no reason why I should keep it."

However, there's good news to this ending: "I will create a new sim, a more improved one, in terms of build and design. I have learnt a lot while creating nemo and there are many mistakes that I will avoid. Nemo was nice, OK, but not immersive enough and absolutely not interactive, there was nothing to do there but watching what I have done, I will correct that for my next project..." So keep checking back for news of Sextan's next project, tantalizingly codenamed Machina Humanun Est.

Hat tip: Ms. Ziki Questi.

Comments

[ColeMarie Soleil]

Shame but looking forward to the new stuff

[Leondra]

I heard this last night. It is a real loss to what SL can, and is, about. It is a testament to what art/experience individuals can create and share.

I look forward to what's next. I am sure Nemo will remain forever in the peoples' memories who visited this awesome sim and it will be preserved in cyberspace video. I came into SL because of seeing the Youtube video of Starry Night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV1YbWBSXS8&feature=related . I am sure there were many that 1st stepped into a VW after seeing Nemo.

[Remington Soup]

Where's the Linden Endowment for the Arts when you need them?

[Renmiri]

renting two full sims is something I can't afford for the moment." For another, he has done with it all he set out to do

Same reasons I closed my Final Fantasy sims 2 years ago. I had made them to commemorate 20 years of Final Fantasy and we had a good 6 months life and parties doing just that.

Sims don't make money. What SL business can guarantee 50,000 lindens every month ? LL prices their sims to keep SL small and kept in a way only hobbyists or people with grants can keep them for more than 3-4 months. Is it any wonder they are not getting the explosive growth they wanted ?

Marketing 101: High cost = low volume business. Mass markets require low cost of entry.

[Isadora Fiddlesticks]

Renmiri, you got it exactly.

If only I have money in SL and RL to donate to keep this going forever, I would. But I don't...:(

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Entire sim on private grid hosted by Reaction Grid--costs me $20US per month.

Just sayin'

[Leondra]

Art + business = oil and water (but don't tell BP that's a dumb idea).

If everyone paid, say $10 USD?, a month as "subscribers", would/could that ensure preservation of such "art" sims?

I so want to keep SL "free", but maybe the management should look at levels of accessibility in order to fund the preservation of builds that in RL terms would be termed "historic neighborhoods".

-MHO
Leo

[ColeMarie Soleil]

Yeah they really should lower sim purchase costs for real. They are OBNOXIOUS. Just sayin.

[Lucius Nesterov]

LL's business model seems to be stuck in an era where people will pay for a small patch of land, build a house, and remodel their kitchen. That impressed 10 years ago, but it's not impressing anyone any more.

The only thing that will draw people now is content, like Nemo, but it won't pay. The only things that pay are sub-cultures that people buy into like Gor. Gambling paid, but was stamped out. Businesses paid, but didn't see returns and left. Universities paid while debating esoteric returns, but have been badly treated. Rezzable's pay-to-access seemed like a good idea, but was like trying to sell copies of Microsoft Office at an open source convention.

I don't know what the answer is (universal subscription with returns for popular sim owners?), but I don't think that Linden Lab will find it.

[It'd be cool though]

Entire sim on private grid hosted by Whatever Grid--nobody ever visits it, apart friends.

Just sayin'

[Flo2]

Tragic news, I'm almost shocked, and I think this loss would be a good occasion to re-think the whole model of SL economic system.
Whose interest is content-creation, apart from Linden Lab? What's the purpose of creating masterpiece regions at all? Seriously.
... At this moment, in my anger, I even think that Linden Lab should pay to creators like Shepherd for their work like creating these must-visit regions - LL should pay for every sim or region that is showcased in their Destination Guide!

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

They'd rather have more bunnies than art.

[samlowry hawks]

Certainly one of the most amazing builder of SL, Sextan Shepherd is one of the guardian of the temple: Always straight and always helpful. His work is sign of many hours of designing, sign of an artiste perhaps revealed in Second Life. Surely he will build another place as any of his creations never last, and it's the sign of great artist: Things are faddish, only creation is present. Congratulations dear friend for all your work and please continue to please us with your amazing creations and machinimas.
Yours
Sam

[Leondra]

Ignatius, LMAO, I have never understood those breedables either,

[Breen Whitman]

@ It'd be cool though - "Entire sim on private grid hosted by Whatever Grid--nobody ever visits it, apart friends. Just sayin'"

Well, for very little he could host it on an Opensim grid. He could build it in a standalone Opensim grid, in readiness for giving it more exposure, if he wished. Given that Opensim allows full region backups on a USB stick.

But, agreed, perhaps no-one visits because nobody knows. This blog could have easily run this story and given an Opensim address. But yes, where is the money in that.

Second Life is to Persistence of Art as what Rust is to a car - corrosive and eventually one realizes it is slipping into oblivion and nothing can be done about it.

Just sayin'

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

@Breen, I should clarify what I mean by "private" here. Jokaydia Grid, where we are rebuilding our work that is leaving SL, is not"invitation only." It offers hypergrid access (unless you are in a walled-garden grid) as well as the ability to create avatars.

It's "private" in the sense that it's not run by the company, merely hosted.

Lots of educators I know are going there, either to give up or reduce their SL presence. It's PG-only and already permits students under 18 to create accounts. Before LL gutted their commitment to education, there was talk of an edu-hub or even continent in SL; now it's arising elsewhere.

What's most exciting is that those who say such grids are empty deserts are wrong. I've been on the grid for a few days and can hardly get any building done, because old colleagues and new friends keep stopping by our region to share stories, ideas, and inventory.

I would think that artists might be likewise considering their own archipelago against the day when Linden Lab's pricing and policies drive them to leave the Mothership.

For many of us, virtual worlds are about community, and if Linden Lab could recall that is what built their metaverse, they just might get the rust off their classic car before it is too far gone to restore.