New World Notes

Top Five New World Notes Posts from Last Week

The Sims 3 is notoriously unstable the more you plug into it. And then there are the load times... Even when it's running smoothly, the game itself is sheer chaos. A simple trip to the grocery store can lead to werewolf fights and paparazzi snaps and a curse from a witch and a close encounter with an alien who's parked their space car just around the corner. Read the rest here.

• Linden Lab Amends Draconian Clause in SL's Terms of Service (Months After Anyone Was Really Angry About It)
• The SIM-ple Life: Here's Why I'm Looking Forward to Losing Everything in the Transition to The Sims 4
• People Paying $200 Million a Year to Live Kim Kardashian's Virtual Life -- Just Wait Until an Oculus Rift Version Hits
• Kickstart This Retro Arcade Game That's Actually a Turn-Based Tactical Shooter (Developed by a Linden Vet!)
• Improved Permission System May (Finally) Make Second Life a Decent Game Platform

Linden's Revised ToS for SL Still Troubled, Says RL Lawyer

Though Linden Lab amended its controversial Terms of Service which made draconian claims over SL-created content, real life lawyer and SL Bar Association member Agenda Faromet says the changes merely muddy the situation. Writing on the blog of her alt, Vaki, Agenda has a detailed analysis, and gives the TL;DR version too:

Really, not much has changed as of today. We have a poorly-written, overly broad ToS without much in the way of limitations, and we have a whole lot of reassurances from LL that don’t mean a lot (other than serving as an indication that their legal department is apparently not very good at translating the company’s intentions into legal terms)... It took LL a year to come up with this much. I don’t have high hopes on getting a revision any time soon.

Read the rest here. I don't have high hopes another revision will come, but perhaps not for the reasons Agenda has:

The Perfect Male Avatar Might Not Look Exactly Like Nomak Nyoki, but it's Probably Very Close

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

In case you were wondering, in case you somehow fell out of the loop in the interim between now and one of my previous posts about him, Second Life artist Nomak Nyoki continues to be the absolute gold standard for male avatars. His styling? Still flawless. His photography? Beyond compare. His boston terrier? Well that's a new edition, but I love it just the same.

Nomak shared a few new pictures on his Flickr this week, and they're just as stunning as you'd expect -- even more of what has made his face and name a force to be reckoned with in the world of men's fashion in SL, even if he isn't the most prolific artist in the scene. Whether you're looking for a dash of modern style, or you want to motivate yourself towards a head-to-toe male av makeover, his Flickr stream should be your number one source of inspiration.

The Glossy, Voluminous (and Free) Virtual Moustache You've Dreamed of is Now a Reality at Hair Fair 2014

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

Second Life bloggers aren't the only ones having a little fun with their Hair Fair 2014 photography. It's no surprise that hair designers themselves have been cranking out some stunning images to promote their new releases.

A lot of the focus is on glitz and glamour (as is so often the case) which is why this snap of INK's immaculately groomed moustache, available for free at their Hair Fair booth, stands out so much. That's not to say that these handsome handlebars aren't glitzy or glamorous in their own right of course, but they certainly offer a welcome change from all the smoky eyes and smouldering gazes. 

You can pick up INK's free moustache at Hair Fair 2014 [SLURL] until July 27th.

Linden Lab Amends Draconian Clause in SL's Terms of Service (Months After Anyone Was Really Angry About It)

Way back in olden times (by which I mean last September), some Second Life users said they were very concerned and angry about a newly added clause in Second Life's Terms of Service, because it made draconian claims over content created in Second Life:

[Y]ou agree to grant to Linden Lab, the non-exclusive, unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, and cost-free right and license to use, copy, record, distribute, reproduce, disclose, sell, re-sell, sublicense (through multiple levels), modify, display, publicly perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, translate, make derivative works of, and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your User Content (and derivative works thereof), for any purpose whatsoever in all formats...

Some SLers saw the dubious clause as a sneaky bid by Linden Lab to re-use user content from Second Life on other platforms without their permission. But months and months after any SL user has expressed any concern over this clause -- seriously, hardly a peep about it all this year-- Linden Lab has amended the clause:

My Five Favorite Styles (and Snapshots) from Second Life's Hair Fair 2014

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

I have a confession. Whenever I set out to take pictures for a Second Life event like Hair Fair, I get absolutely overwhelmed by the amazing work that other bloggers and photographers are doing. To be entirely frank and only marginally self-deprecating, at the end of the day I'm a million times more interested in showing off what others have been doing than adding my own (comparatively worse) work onto the pile. Here's what I mean...

The SIM-ple Life: Here's Why I'm Looking Forward to Losing Everything in the Transition to The Sims 4

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

Fans of any series are surely familiar with the excitement leading up to the release of a new installment, and likewise the concern that somehow, at some point, the developers will mess it up. Maybe it won't be as good as the previous games. Or maybe it will be a million times better. It's an emotional push-and-pull that many Sims fans are experiencing right now, but with an added layer almost unique to them.

Between the base game, the expansions, the stuff packs, the store content, the mods, and of course the sim lives created, every game in the series can be a tremendous investment of both time and money. And then the new game comes out, and you're back at square one. Even though it is a brand new game, even though the older game doesn't go anywhere, it still feels like (and is most often described as) a loss. It's a huge mental hurdle for many players to get over, and one that I personally struggled with when The Sims 3 came out back in 2009.

But this time around, I'm not. I'm actually, strangely enough, looking forward to losing it all. Here's why:

People Paying $200 Million a Year to Live Kim Kardashian's Virtual Life -- Just Wait Until an Oculus Rift Version Hits

An analyst estimates people are will pay $200 million a year to live Kim Kardashian's life in a mobile game, and I didn't believe that figure at first, but App Annie confirms that "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood" is a top grossing game across the world, currently among the top five grossing apps in 46 countries.

What are people paying for? Stuff like this:

While the game is free to play, the goal is to get users hooked on in-app purchases such as clothing or a burst of energy needed for traipsing through Hollywood. Users can spend as much as $99.99 for 175,000 virtual dollars. A trip to Beverly Hills costs 4 game “dollars,” while 400 will buy a necklace. Kardashian’s voice guides the uninitiated through casting calls and parties, while users dodge surly tweets from rivals.

Because mobile games are relatively cheap to develop ($1-3 million is typical), a lot of that forecast $200 million is going to be pure profit for the developer and Ms. Kardashian. So expect many more virtual celebrity experiences like this in the future. Expect them to get even more immersive:

It's So Great Google+ Finally Dropped Its Real Name Policy, Said No Pseudonymous Internet User Ever

After years of contention and careful exceptions, Google finally dropped its "real names only" policy for its Google+ social network:

 

It's possible that this move will make Google+ appealing to people who want to disguise their real life identity online. But highly doubtful. Google+ has long ago been remanded to a ghost town, engagement-wise, and despite (fairly paranoid) concerns over Facebook, lots of pseudonymous Internet users have signed on with Team Zuckerberg. The official Second Life page on Facebook, for instance, keeps growing, and at its current rate, will in a year or two have about as many members as Second Life the 3D world has actual users.

Kickstart This Retro Arcade Game That's Actually a Turn-Based Tactical Shooter (Developed by a Linden Vet!)

Mighty Tactical Shooter is easily among the very coolest Kickstarter game projects I've seen in years, and I'll tell you why: It's a somewhat bizarre idea that probably never occurred to you, but once you see it in action, it seems totally, badassedly obvious. Watch:

As the title suggests, Mighty Tactical Shooter is a turn-based shooter, which is a pretty rare beast, but to give that extra appeal, it's also a retro 80's arcade-style side-scrolling shooter. So all that crazy real time old school action suddenly becomes thoughtful, complex, strategic -- and still explodey. So go here to help Kickstart this already.

There's an added incentive for NWN readers: The project's the brainchild of Johnny Marshall, who SLers might remember as Johnny Linden. During his Linden Lab days, he worked with the Babbage Linden team in the company's Brighton office, helping develop the Mono scripting core. (He has a background in working on other MMOs.) In Second Life itself, he was the guitar wearing werewolf avatar who often hung in the Welcome Area.

"So why would any SLer want to help out?" he asks rhetorically, when I ask, and puts it this way: