New World Notes

Second Life Fashion Friday: Detail-Rich Style Shots from Filthy Imouto

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

お休みなさい or Good Night is the fashion blog on Tumblr of Filthy Imouto. Her style is fantastical, out of anime graphic novels or tv shows. Her pictures make me think she’s playing a find-the-avatar game. The picture above comes from Number 91 Ichigo.

Unlike most bloggers, she provides more complete credits on Flickr with more pictures (a close-up) on Tumblr. I love how she is falling into a bed of cherry blossoms and strawberries that so perfectly matches her outfit that you have to look closely, a clever way of getting you to stop paging down. Besides, doesn’t this make you think of a confection, like a strawberry trifle?

• dress [NEW] • FenDuDu ʚ Dessert Princess @arcade ends September 30th
• gloves & choker [NEW] • FenDuDu ʚ Dessert Princess @arcade
• fork & hat [NEW] • FenDuDu ʚ Dessert Princess @arcade
• shoes & socks [NEW] • FenDuDu ʚ Dessert Princess @arcade
• nutcracker [NEW] • FenDuDu ʚ Dessert Princess @arcade
• hair • MIWAS ʚ Hair #Minji @mainstore
• bangs • MIWAS ʚ Hair #Daily Bangs 3 @mainstore
• necklace • Insomnia Angel ʚ Psyche rose n

For more tasty style, click here:

Emojis Finally Coming to Official Second Life Viewer Thanks to Community Developer

Finally bringing Second Life to the modern age of online communication, emojis are coming to the official Second Life viewer. You can even start playing with them now via this release candidate.

As befitting its status as a metaverse platform, this addition didn't come directly from Second Life publisher Linden Lab, but from a community developer: Kitty Barnett, who co-develops the third party SL viewer Catznip.

Kitty tells me her addition should support most every character from Twitter's open source Twemoji font.

"Aside from the multi-character emojis," she clarifies. "So yellow default smiley, not skintone-tinted emoji, or flags, or some of the job emojis will come in female and male variants, which is actually two characters joined behind the scenes -- which wasn't easy to jury rig on top of the existing SL font system - or at least not on an initial go." It will also support shortcodes and non-English languages.  

Even better news, Kitty was able to get Linden Lab to incorporate this addition simply by mentioning it and @-ig Second Life's official account on Twitter:

As Epic Lays Off Employees in Metaverse Transition, Nearly 400 Community Creators Earning $100K+/Year from Fortnite Creative. Over 60 Earn Millions.

Infographic via Game Discover

Hard news from Tim Sweeney at Epic:

As we shared earlier, we are laying off around 16% of Epic employees... For a while now, we've been spending way more money than we earn, investing in the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators. I had long been optimistic that we could power through this transition without layoffs, but in retrospect I see that this was unrealistic.

While Fortnite is starting to grow again, the growth is driven primarily by creator content with significant revenue sharing, and this is a lower margin business than we had when Fortnite Battle Royale took off and began funding our expansion. Success with the creator ecosystem is a great achievement, but it means a major structural change to our economics.

To see the other, more hopeful side of the structural change, take a look at his infographic from analytics firm Game Discover, tracking the size of the Fortnite Creative economy. As you can see above, nearly 400 user creators are now able to earn an annualized income of $100,000 or more, while 61 creators are earning seven figures. On the very high end, five are earning eight figures.

None of this is meant to take away from the pain that Epic's now laid off full-time employees are feeling. (Fortunately Epic is giving them extremely generous exit packages.) Many of them, however, will now probably become Fortnite Creative creators themselves. So we should also note the impressive growth of this grassroots creator economy emerging:

These Utterly Stunning Images Look Like Wyeth & Hopper Paintings. They're Actually Screenshots from Second Life.

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Claire Vuissent’s depiction of Wuthering Heights character Catherine Linton is so magnificent, I didn’t have to glance at the title to know she was running “out on the wily, windy moors.” (Yes, I know this is the original but I prefer the cover.) Claire embodies the spirit of Cathy searching on the moors for Heathcliff. To be honest, I love the song, admired the book, but have always disliked Cathy and Heathcliff. They are not good people. 

For more fantastic images from Claire Vuissent, click here:

Meta's Quest 3 Shifts Focus from VR to Tag After Apple's Mixed Reality Vision -- Despite Little Evidence of Mass Consumer Interest

The Meta Quest 3 is here, with a starting price of $499, and before I begin ranting, let me start with the positive: It's launching right out the gate compatible with Roblox (along with Quest 2 and Quest Pro), so it's immediately metaverse friendly. That's good! 

Now to rant -- or maybe "stand there, utterly confounded and amused " is a better way of putting it.

The Quest 3 launch reflects a complete shift by Meta, openly imitating Apple's Vision Pro launch from early this year. You can see that in the product trailer above, and it's heavy, near-complete focus on Mixed Reality experiences.  

Contrast with how Meta launched the Quest 2 in 2020:

Oculus Quest changed the game for wireless VR. It delivered fresh experiences for enthusiasts and new opportunities for developers, all while introducing immersive gaming to newcomers across the globe. Today, we’re excited to announce Oculus Quest 2, the next generation of all-in-one VR. Quest 2 pushes the state of VR forward with a redesigned all-in-one form factor, new Touch controllers and our highest-resolution display ever.

With Quest 3's marketing, VR is far less mentioned. Just read the announcement:

Immersive experiences like virtual reality can transport you to fantastical worlds that defy the laws of physics, but the physical world — and the connections you’ve made there — are pretty important, too. We believe you shouldn’t have to choose between them. That’s why Meta Quest 3 features breakthrough mixed reality that enables a spectrum of experiences.

This paragraph is actually the only time "virtual reality" is mentioned in the Quest 3 announcement.

Mentions of "mixed reality": FIVE.

On the one hand, this reflects the reality that the Quest 2's VR-forward approach has failed to gain mass market traction, with only 20 million or so units sold. Further, I wouldn't be surprised if this is partly an attempt to shift away from the nausea effects from full VR experiences that I mention in the book. 

On the other hand, small problem:

Today's Second Life Flickr Pick: Puckishly Humorous Pics by Megs

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

~♡~ Megs ~♡~ has a fun stream with an assortment of mise en scène pictures of her enjoying her Second Life. Here she is in “As far as I know, I’m delightful” in which she embodies the saying “If life gives you lemons, make limoncello.” She paired her picture with the delightful song “Lemons” by Brye. 

For more pics in complete settings, click here:

Generative AI's Inevitable Rise Suddenly Stopped By Pesky Human Creators at the WGA

Hey remember reading about how AI will destroy Hollywood as we know it and change Hollywood forever? Of course you do, people have been making bold assertions like that since, well, yesterday.

And then those darn pesky humans at the Writers Guild of America organized, went on strike, and in a few months, got the world's largest film and TV companies to agree to these highly restrictive terms around AI:

We have established regulations for the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on Minimum Basic Agreement-covered projects in the following ways:

AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights. 

A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services. 

The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.

The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.

So I'll just call it right now: The WGA agreement signals the end of generative AI having any chance at becoming a disruptive force in the creation of intellectual property.

Linden Lab Looking for Engineering Intern to Help Enhance Second Life's Web Experience

Interesting new Linden Lab job listing which strongly suggests the company is adding more web functionality to the OG metaverse platform:

We’re looking for a Web Engineering Intern to make a significant impact on our virtual world platform, which has been at the forefront of innovation for almost two decades. We are seeking a highly motivated individual who can help us reinvigorate our passion for virtual worlds and our culture of learning by asking insightful questions and collaborating with our talented team of developers.

This role reports to the Senior Engineering Manager of Web and will use AWS and modern web technologies to enhance the Second Life Resident experience.

Unlike the Senior Product Manager job opening, this one seems ideal for an established Second Life user who knows what web tools need improving/enhancing.

Downside:

Look at These Marvelously Meta Pics of Avatars from Second Life Using Computers to... Log Into Second Life

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

“Figures laying on a giant computer keyboard…l” from Torley is almost nine years old but still captures the feeling of despair when our electronic companions are being repaired. 

This was me since last Thursday waiting for my laptop to be repaired. My warranty expires in nineteen days and cannot be extended, so at least the timing was good. But still, I was a regular fretnik. Which made me think about folks and their computers and what Second Life artists had to say. 

For more computers, click here:

"I'm not sure Unity's really learnt their lesson" -- Veteran 3D Developer Adam Frisby on Unity's Pricing Changes

Above: Adam Frisby in the Unity-based Breakroom (with Philip Rosedale)

In case you missed it, after a couple weeks of volcanic pushback against a price increase announcement, Unity on Friday published details amending that quite a bit:

Now, users on the Unity Personal subscription plan will not be charged the new fee, and Unity will increase the revenue cap on games made with that plan to $200,000. Furthermore, any game made with Unity that makes less than $1 million in 12 months will not be subject to the fee. The company is also changing what games can be assessed with the new fee. Previously, the fee would have applied to all games that met the specific download and revenue thresholds. This applied to games both in development and released.

Now Unity is saying that the fee will only apply to games made with the next version of Unity that is expected to launch sometime in 2024.

Emphasis mine. So for example, the much-anticipated, already-in-closed Alpha Second Life mobile app will not be impacted by this new fee. 

As for what Unity's new price policy means for developers in general, and metaverse platforms in particular, I reached out to Adam Frisby, CEO of metaverse platform developer Sine Wave Entertainment. Adam's been developing in Unity pretty much since the engine existed, so is the ideal person to analyze the new situation:

"It's the way they should have done this in the beginning," Adam tells me. "No retroactive amendment to terms, that was the element that got everyone up in arms." (Unity's CEO had previously promised not to raise fees.)

But Adam goes on to suggest Unity's walk back doesn't instantly put the company back in the good graces with developers who've come to rely on the 3D engine: