Endangered Second Life Sims Need Other Options Than Just Non-Profit Preservation (Comment of the Week)

While it's great that Linden Lab swooped in to save the much-loved private sim of Tempura, there are still concerns as to whether that's the best way to preserve great virtual locations. Echoing thoughts from her own blog, longtime reader Nodoka Hanamura reflects on some of the challenges, citing an SL community project inspired by New York's legendary Hotel Chelsea arts nexus. 

In real life, unlike in SL, cities do not exist within a vacuum. They rely on state and federal funding as well as local taxes and other things such as Occupational License fees (OLF) and other financial endeavors to survive. They also depend on regional and federal agencies and entities to do things such as maintain the power grid, build and maintain roads, establish and regulate infrastructure. To run a city in Second Life is a wholly independent endeavor, which is offered little to no support by Linden Lab. Now, some will point to the SL Region Preservation Society, or SLRPS, but the reality is that SLRPS does not support infrastructure in Second Life in any capacity outside of the protection of historically important properties.

Which brings us to Second Life's Chelsea Hotel project:

Hotel Chelsea was such an example, owned and operated by the late Enola Vaher. The Hotel was a replica of its real life counterpart which hosted great artistic and musical minds such as Stanley Kubrick, Andy Warhol, and Pink Floyd.

In SL, [the virtual Chelsea] did much of the same, offering room and board to Second Life artists, Hotel Chelsea became a hub for the cultural arts in Second Life.

When Enola died, the Hotel entered into dire straits, and Linden Lab stepped into defer it from being seized, and in turn, the property was handed over to SLRPS... Now, this is great for historical builds and preserving SL history.. but not so much for keeping cities operational. When SLRPS is transferred control of property, you are not allowed to make income from it. You can't even modify it without Linden Lab's overt authorization.

This should be a last resort for cities to preserve at least part of their land for historical purposes should they become as historically valuable as East River was. While Tempura was easily eligible for SLRPS protection, it shouldn't be the only option.

Agreed to all this. Perhaps instead of turning SLRPS sites into completely non-profit regions, they could be rented out for short-term events, or allow a management group to earn revenue from a site like Tempura in exchange for hosting regular specified events.

Image via chelseahotelsl.com

Comments

[sirhc desantis]

(This may come across harsher than intended - apologies)
The company gives us a framework to build on. We build stuff. Time moves on and things change. And are lost. That is SL.
Happy to see Tempura in amber.. well, whatever.

Its the Hotel Chelsea bit though. 16 years or so knocking about in SL I never heard of it until a few years back. Looked, nice, not my cup of tea and found by accident. Rechecked the website and yep still no SLURLs to be found. At least its in the destination guide. And shows up on the map.

How the hell do you expect people to care if you are only found by happenstance? Oh and as for 'historic' - where Sid murdered Nancy would be more of a draw and thats from me being old enough.

[Nodoka Hanamura]

Sorry for the late response, been all over lately with insurance issues which I am still straightening out. Thanks Wagner, for spreading my comment around!

@Sirhc

I understand that places come and go, and I do get that it's not financially feasible to maintain every single little place, and I'm not - it's just that there are projects that take an immense undertaking to accomplish and sustain, and having a helping hand from the lab to help keep those projects going financially through discounts on tier or other initiatives, including possibly so far as promotion, as was done with Hiraya Village, which is also known as the Bedstraw Project.

Hiraya Village has, for example, seen consistent activity, with rentals in the area being mostly booked and used by residents. It offers a important road connection between two of Heterocera's major roadways on the east coast. It is part of the SLRR, and acts as a hub for rail traffic in its' eastern lines.

Also, I understand you may be trying to be polite, and I appreciate you not being overtly impertinent with me - Second Life has a massive userbase. Disregarding the CAU count of around 40K daily, we have a MAU of around approximately 300K. That is HUGE, and on par with other virtual world and even MMO and Triple-A games. And yet, when people hear about Second Life, they say "What?" or "That still exists?"

What I'm getting at is that opinions such as "I never heard of it" unless in the clear majority are irrelevant, as they are just that - subjective opinions that serve nothing more than to be non-constructive criticism, consciously or otherwise.

[Jessica Fox]

I think this is fantastic LL has stepped in and saved these places from becoming a picture in someone's profile and lost to the community forever. However, on the subject of "Not for Profit" and using it to do events and collect money to pay for them...this is not how a non profit works...to have a tax shelter from IRS anyway no income can be on the books or it is no longer no profit. Donations can be taken to save these areas can be offered as it is something different but not in any other category. Even religious sects involving churches must follow guidelines or face the wrath of tax collectors.

[Nadeja]

Tempura is arguably a special case. Visitors know they can meet someone always there, so the traffic has always remained high even without any event (25K today).
It is also a romantic place with a nice atmosphere, but it has a good design that seem to encourage meeting and hanging out: it's spacious, there is a large tai-chi area where many people go, someone meet at the mediation circle, the bridge with a spot with sits (and divination) in the middle, and so on. Also a bunch of people at the entrance; but there are quieter spots here and there, for couples or to relax by your own, some even cute/funny such as the giant nest.

If I'd ever make a SL town, I'd start with the town square and I'd make the square a meeting place. This alone won't make a place popular, but I think it would help.

Still other options may be a good idea. Different preserved places were meant for a different usage, they were interesting or fascinating, but left to themselves they died out.
Svarga stopped working correctly.
The SS Galaxy was also a mall, with rentals and DJs in the ballroom and the pool. After the preservation, the mall and the rentals were gone, obviously, as well as the DJs and dancing and clubbing. The traffic is about zero now.

Maybe they could make a preservation ring, with a sign or a column that links to the other preserved places, explaining why these places are significant for the history of SL and what they mean to the community, offering a tour, etc.
It could be also a tour-event. Or a game-tour (the virtual archeologist or anything you can imagine).

At first glance, this might seem niche interest or just for nostalgic oldbies; but even not taking SL too seriously, SL has about 2 decades of history and the Lab could showcase and give value to it.
"Look at the wonders our users have created over the years! What you can do with Second Life"
It may be even inspiring.

In a more general perspective, we can see what happens when you let your history to be forgotten: any random Zuck can tell that no one before had ever done what he has done now, he's the first and the inventor of everything.