New World Notes

Top Five New World Notes Posts from Last Week

Along with the sudden news of Rod Humble's departure as Linden Lab CEO, here's the other top posts from New World Notes last week:

• Inside High Fidelity: Quick Peek at Philip Rosedale's New Virtual Reality Startup
• World of Warcraft is Updating Its Character Models -- Should Second Life Do The Same?
• How to Recognize 3D Renders in the SL Marketplace (And Save Yourself From Second Life Scammers)
• Marc Andreessen Thinks Bitcoin is Gaining Adoption Even Without User Growth - We Once Said That of Second Life Too

Indie Sandbox Phenomenon Starbound Promises No More Character Wipes... Ever!

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

If you've been putting off buying into the Starbound beta (which now has over one million players) for fear of losing all your hard work to a character wipe, I have some very good news for you. The latest patch for the two-dimensional space exploration sandbox game included some significant changes to the way the game stores and handles character data, with the intention of eliminating the need for character wipes after major tweaks are made. I'm inclined to take this promise with a grain of salt -- betas are betas after all -- but given that there have only been a couple wipes since the beta launched in late 2013, I'm optimistic.

The new file structure also means that some mods may have to be moved around, including any custom music you've loaded into your game.

Thankfully this patch comes with much more than just that dash of inconvenience. The Starbound devs are incredibly aggressive when it comes to adding new content (and improving what's already there) so be sure to check the patch notes for a complete list of the changes made.

Rod Humble Leaving Linden Lab CEO Role to Start New Art/Entertainment Company, Reports Rod Humble

I'm seeing social media reports that Rod Humble, who has been Linden Lab's CEO for about 3 years, is leaving the company to start an art and entertainment company of his own. I just contacted Linden Lab for an official statement on this, and will update this post soon. Meantime, you can read this interview from when Rod Humble started in 2011.

UPDATE, 3:48pm: Just got Rod's permission to share the Facebook update he made about an hour ago. He also gave me a message to relate to NWN readers:

Good Advice from a Second Life Veteran - What's Yours?

Here's some good Second Life advice from a 7 year SLer and longtime SL blogger Eddi Haskell worth sending to people just starting to explore. Here's just three from there worth repeating here:

• "There is no such thing as a Second Life secret. In the world of instantaneous IM's, and virtual avatars, there are very few people who can keep a secret in Second Life.
• "You are never going to get rich in Second Life. You probably cannot make a full time living out of being here either. The days or making a fortune in real estate, gambling, or running a rigged 'pay for votes' beauty contest ended about 6 years ago.
• "Anyone can look fantastic in Second Life; beauty should not be skin deep. However, few have the talent to look great without some outside help from professional Second Life designers... And guys -- most male avatars have legs that are too long and heads that are too small for their bodies. Make sure you are in proportion if your shape is mod."

Much more here. SL oldbies -- by which I mean (let's say), anyone who's been doing this for over 5 years -- what advice would you add?

Listen This Weekend: The Drax Files Radio Hour Interviews Celebrity Griefer Esteban Winsmore

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

If you're a virtual world enthusiast who's not keeping up with virtual world documentarian Draxtor Despres' new podcast, The Drax Files Radio Hour, then you're absolutely missing out.

The latest episode is packed with some pretty controversial content headlined by the notorious Esteban Winsmore, who has developed a reputation with some as a griefer, while others find his voice chatting antics downright entertaining. Draxtor and co-host Jo Yardley (known for her work in SL's 1920s Berlin sim) also discuss net neutrality, Oculus Rift augmented reality, Second Life's HTTP Project, and more.

If you go for the Esteban interview, just be sure to stay for the new virtual world documentary by Loki Eliot. "The Lost Virtual World" examines the ups and downs of virtual worlds, painting a picture 2 decades in the making. Check it all out for yourself here.

Inside High Fidelity: Quick Peek at Philip Rosedale's New Virtual Reality Startup

High Fidelity is the latest chapter in Philip Rosedale's decades-long quest to make reality not strictly relevant, and it's developing as you read this in a South of Market loft in San Francisco, right next door to a tattoo parlor. While the VR company has released a lot of videos showing off their technology and is now accepting Alpha user invites, I recently stopped by the office and got a demo from Philip. And while I'm sworn to secrecy about what I saw, I will say this: They're doing some amazingly innovative things with virtual world and virtual reality tech that will probably surprise you.

Let's take a brief look inside:

World of Warcraft is Updating Its Character Models -- Should Second Life Do The Same?

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Whether or not you're interested in World of Warcraft, this recent post about their reworking of the female human character model is worth a read. Blizzard's artists have been hard at work updating the earliest avatars in their decade-old MMO to bring them up to the same detail level as models from more recent expansions, increasing texture resolution (which controls the quality of the model's "skin"), upgrading their skeletons (which allow a model to be animated), and in some cases quintupling the model's poly count (which represents the level of detail in the model itself). All in all it's an impressive undertaking, and something that Blizzard is very wise to do to keep their aging MMO looking fresh.

It made me wonder, though. Second Life is around the same age as World of Warcraft, so wouldn't it be possible for Linden Lab to revamp our rickety old avatars in the same way? In my opinion the answer is both yes and no, and here's why:

How to Recognize 3D Renders in the SL Marketplace (And Save Yourself From Second Life Scammers)

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Stories of Second Life shops using misleading images to sell stolen or shoddy virtual items pop up almost weekly. The latest is a skin store advertising their stolen skins with equally stolen 3D renders from DAZ and Poser, and even a few digital paintings thrown in for variety. Now obviously the idea of someone using completely unrelated digital artwork to sell something is old news in Second Life, but whenever a story like this breaks it just drives me crazy how many people fall for it. If customers could just tell the difference between Second Life pictures and high-end renders, they'd be instantly immune to these sloppy, lazy scammers. Then again, given the rising popularity of mesh parts and the increasing sophistication of Photoshop editing techniques, it's harder than ever to make the distinction.

So today I've gathered a half dozen images together. Some of them are rendered art, others are Second Life snapshots that have been polished with Photoshop. For some of you this will be a total cake walk, but for others... Well, I want to know: Can you tell the difference? 

Let Caitlin Tobias Discover Great Second Life Works for You

In my search for new ways to find great and beautiful locations in Second Life that still exist, the blog/journal of Caitlin Tobias is now a top-notch resource. Frequently updated, gorgeously photographed, Ms. Tobia has your album of sims and builds to discover (or remember). Like this installation above (now gone from the virtual world, alas), dubbed "The Cosmogony of Rafts and other improbable floating beings".

Marc Andreessen Thinks Bitcoin is Gaining Adoption Even Without User Growth - We Once Said That of Second Life Too

I just got into an interesting Twitter conversation with Marc Andreessen, who wrote a New York Times essay on why Bitcoin is so important to the future of the Internet, because I disagreed on one point he made there:

Critics of Bitcoin point to limited usage by ordinary consumers and merchants, but that same criticism was leveled against PCs and the Internet at the same stage. Every day, more and more consumers and merchants are buying, using and selling Bitcoin, all around the world. The overall numbers are still small, but they are growing quickly.

But this is provably wrong, as I pointed out to Andreessen on Twitter: This chart of Bitcoin transactions is not only not growing, it's currently smaller than it was last year. Andreessen's reply to my point (captured above):

"I have broader definition of adoption, including new merchants, new developers, new entrepreneurs, etc."

And he is right that Bitcoin is starting to gain more and more of those things. But as I replied (and explained in detail here), this argument was also made by many Second Life boosters during SL's hype wave, when critics began pointing out SL's low user numbers. Because while Second Life usage was relatively small in contrast to the "It's the next generation of the Internet" rhetoric driving the hype, Second Life at that time also had new merchants, new developers, new entrepreneurs, etc.

Here's just a few headlines from that period (roughly 2006-2009):