New World Notes

Last 2 Days to Visit in Second Life: Igor Ballyhoo's Latest Installation, and the (Apparently) Closing Inaka Sim

At the end of this month (that is to say, when Saturday becomes Sunday), two great pieces of Second Life content are going away:

• Acclaimed SL-based artist Igor Ballyhoo has a new installation at the Linden Endowment for the Arts sim, running until the end of May: Click here to teleport.
• Inaka, a beautifully constructed sim simulating modern Japan, is reportedly closing this month, reportedly due to Copybot problems. (Details are sketchy, and in Japanese.) Anyway: Click here to teleport there while it yet exists.

Inaka hat tip: Puma Jie.

Should the SL Secret Series Be Moderated Better? Hint: Yes

Here's a survey from Shopping Cart Disco asking whether its weekly series SL Secret (sort of like the awesome blog Post Secret, only hatier), should change. Personally I'd say the moderation option is the best one to choose, though that probably won't curb the worst of the rancor.  (My opinion here, Iris' opinion here.) If SCD had asked me, I'd say the best way to change SL Secret is this: Only secrets about the secret submitter will be published. Because the SL community is so small, most of SL Secrets are not really secrets at all -- instead, just destructive, poisonous, passive aggressive slams directed at others who are sure to read them, turning what could be a great, revealing, often moving series into a sad and frenzied circle jerk of hate.

Oculus Rift Users Skepticial Second Life Part of VR's Future

The good news is, Reddit's large Oculus Rift community is talking about Palmer Luckey's thoughts on Second Life in the future of VR-powered virtual worlds. The bad news is, they're even more skeptical than Palmer SL even has a place in it. (The most upvoted comment being, "It's kind of incredible how obsessed second lifers are with keeping second life alive. Let go already! It didn't catch on then, and it won't catch on now.") My take:

When it Comes to Games like Watch Dogs and Grand Theft Auto V, What Makes an Open World Feel Real?

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

If you're a fan of open-world games, sometimes it feels hard to articulate what makes you click with one game's world while another leaves you completely cold. There are a lot of intangible qualities that factor into how immersive that world is.

At least they seemed intangible to me, before I saw Danny O'Dwyer's latest video in Gamespot's ongoing game analysis series The Point. In it, he does an excellent job of solidifying so many of those little je ne sais quoi points many of us have struggled to put into words, in this case specifically about why the world presented in Ubisoft's Watch Dogs just isn't up to snuff. It turns out that a lot of what makes an open world feel truly open (and for that matter, interesting) is in the presentation. Watch the full video on Gamespot here.

What to Look for This June at Popular Second Life Shopping Event The Arcade

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

The latest round of seasonal Second Life shopping event The Arcade will be opening its doors (and undoubtedly filling its sim) this weekend, with approximately one hundred gacha machines packed with exclusive item sets. There'll be an overwhelming amount of content to choose from. Accessories inspired by melting ice cream, puffy-cheeked fairies trapped in glass terrariums, velveteen kittens to perch on your shoulder, and collectible plates adorned with sassy bug ladies (which you can also buy real life prints of on the designer's Society6 storefront). The glitzy, glimmering enamel cocktail rings from esoteric accessories brand Yummy are also guaranteed to be a focal point for many shoppers perusing the event, if the gif that designer Polyester Partridge shared recently (above) is any indication.

Be sure to check out The Arcade shopping guide to see everything else that will be available at the event and, if you're not exactly sure what the "gacha" craze is about, read up on it here.

Pitch Perfect: Hold on to Your Eaves Because The Sims 4 Will Revolutionize.... Your Roof

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

This week we finally got a closer look at The Sims 4's Build Mode, right on the heels of the recent peek at the upcoming game's character creation tools. It doesn't look like Build Mode, which allows players to build up or tear down their Sim family's accomodations, has received as dramatic a facelift as its avatar-building counterpart, but it definitely seems to expand upon some of the foundations added to The Sims 3 via patches post-release. For example...

It Took Me 7 Months to Give Girls' Fashion Shoot a Chance, but I'm Glad I Did

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

When Girls' Fashion Shoot was initially released last fall, I remember being intrigued... And wary. With a name that uninspired (along with the fact that physical preordered copies came with a baggy of plastic rhinestones as a bonus) it was easy to imagine there wouldn't be much to it. The trailer made its way around a handful of gaming sites, sometimes presented with a bit of editorial snark, but little seemed to come of it. It released with a pop and a fizzle. I assumed that meant it was as bad as I thought.

I was wrong.

Palmer Luckey on the Future of Second Life & Other Virtual Worlds in Oculus Rift & VR in General

I just had a short exchange with Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey on the future of Second Life and other virtual worlds in VR, following up on his comments at SVVR. Did he have anything to add about Second Life's specific role in Oculus Rift's future?

"I think that virtual worlds are going to play a big role in the future of Oculus and VR on the whole," Palmer Luckey says, "but it remains to be seen how big of a part of that future Second Lift will be."

What's Second Life most need to transition to the Oculus/VR age, and be relevant in it? Palmer's reply was pretty interesting, when you think about it:

Brilliant Petrovsky Flux Steampunk Installation Needs Donations to Survive in Second Life

Click here to visit and help preserve the Petrovsky Flux, which is easily among the most works of strange brilliance ever created in Second Life. Formerly known in 2008 as the Bogon Flux and invented by Cutea Benelli and Blotto Epsilon, it's a self-creating, self-destroying steampunk city in the Second Life sky. But here's the problem: It's on a sim hosted by the University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art, and the owners need donations to stay in-world. (Ziki Questi has more explanation here, which was where I learned Petrovsky was in peril.)

Donating Linden Dollars to support land costs is easy: Click here, look to your right, and you'll see the donation box right there (by the rusty sign). You should see the Flux in person, you really should. For that matter, you should see it in some of great machnima that's been made around it. Like this one below:

Around the World in 80 Clicks: Highlights from My Sightseeing Tour of Sandbox MMO Landmark

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

When I started playing Landmark (formerly EverQuest Next Landmark) a few weeks ago I was eager to cut to the chase and start building things for myself. That doesn't mean I didn't take time out to explore what other players around me were building on their own claims of land, though, and I spent more than a few hours playing tourist. 

Since I've already written about my own little cottage claim, it seems fitting that I share some of the most impressive and unbelievable things made by others that I've stumbled onto, starting with...