Based on social shares and/or total pageviews, roughly arranged in chronological order, here's the most read New World Notes posts of 2024. Overall, these also posts happen to be a pretty good reflection of the year that was!
Midjourney Metaverse? CEO David Holz Confirms AI Startup is Building "Real-Time Open World Holodeck"
I received a late-night reply from Midjourney CEO David Holz himself, in answer to my email with the subject line, "Confirm Midjourney holodeck announcement?"... Holz's one sentence reply: "roughly correct quote yes".
Confirmed: Linden Lab Investigating Serious Allegations Recently Posted to Social Media, Say Sources
I can now confirm through at least two highly credible sources that the company is indeed investigating these claims -- both the accusations themselves and whether they have defamatory intent.
CONFIRMED: Adam Schiff's Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act Would Apply to Video Games, Virtual Worlds & Metaverse Platforms
I contacted Adam Schiff's office [asking:] "Would the Act apply to 3D models, i.e., content in video games, virtual worlds, and metaverse platforms? So for instance, 3D models of castles, heroes, user-generated 3D models, and so on."
Rep. Schiff's communications officer confirmed to me that indeed it does: "Yes, it would apply to any copyrighted material."
With Real Time Mirrors Officially Part of Second Life, Here's a Tutorial for Reflecting Your Virtual World
More than just a fun visual effect (as amply demonstrated by Gogo of JuicyBomb), mirrors are likely to alter the culture of Second Life. We've already seen that happen in VRChat, where mirrors are central to the social experience. That said, setting up your own Second Life experience for mirrors takes some work...
What Went Wrong With WoW? A Blizzard Veteran’s Theory on World of Warcraft’s Fall From Its 12 Million Subscriber Height
“This is a classic blunder that game studios make -- they feel they need only to throw more content at players, more storytelling and more narrative. I love storytelling, narrative, don't get me wrong. But the whole point of a great open world is for you to explore it at your own pace, not to be compelled to do things in an order.”
Four more after the cut!
The New Second Life Shoes of Hanna Lindberg Tell Two Amazing Stories
This also helps explain why her workstation is in the kitchen, and not, as you might assume, in the basement: "We don't go down to the basement anymore. From the time the shell left until it landed, literally a couple of second pass, so you won't have time to hide. And during shelling you can't leave the room. We had cases of death from shrapnel."
BREAKING: Second Life Mobile Finally Free to Play By All. Linden Lab Execs Explain Their Goals & Strategies With This Long-Awaited Milestone for the Virtual World.
“The world is not as yet and may never allow everyone to be an avatar in a world like SL,” said Philip. “We're very respectful of that distinction.” So the goal with mobile is not to turn Second Life into a simpler mass market experience like Fortnite. “We're not trying to design the mobile client to replace the desktop."
After Yesterday's Election, We Need Better Virtual Worlds More Than Ever
"I'd like [virtual worlds] to be a positive experience, without evil advertising or surveillance or whatever. Without needing to read a Cory Doctorow book, we know that could get pretty bad with virtual worlds."
[Philip is] right. We need virtual worlds designed to elevate the best versions of ourself -- now more than ever. And no, not just as an entertaining "escape" from our offline troubles (though we will surely want them for that to).
14 Second Life Creators Became Real Life Millionaires Last Year -- And Other Surprising Economic Stats Linden Lab Just Revealed
Yes: There are 14 Second Life creators who've become real life millionaires from their virtual world business, just during 2023. We know some land barons like Anshe Chung have already achieved this status, but I doubt all of these 14 are also in the virtual real estate industry -- at least some, probably half of these 14, are very likely to be in the mesh body/avatar enhancement business. (Which may be the most surprising revelation to me in all this.)
Finally, a bonus 11th:
Give New SL Users Their Own Private Second Life Instance or Noob Continent
An instanced mini-continent optimized for noobs, one with high quality mini-games that introduce new users to the core interactions of Second Life: Building with prims (remember those?), communicating with other SLers, exploring, and (of course) shopping and spending Linden Dollars, and so on. This continent would also include copies of classic SL sims, woven together into a cohesive experience.
As it happens, something like this may be created in 2025 -- but more on that in the New Year!
This post brought to you by Dream Seeker Estates, the second largest real estate service in SL, operating since 2007 -- offering competitive rates, multiple region customization options, and a sales/support team available 24/7 fluent in English, Spanish, German, and Dutch.
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