New World Notes

Firestorm Streaming Survey Results: Most Aren't Interested... Unless It's Free.

Here's the results of my New World Notes survey last week, asking SLers what's the most they would be willing to pay for the new Project Zero option of streaming Firestorm/Second Life on a browser.

As you can see above, a strong majority aren't interested in any option, even one that's free with advertising. About 15% were willing to pay $.50 cents/hour to $2/hour, but the most popular "paid" choice by far was the ad-supported, free version. (The Patreon member version of this survey garnered pretty similar results, with 32% preferring free with ads.)

Which is somewhat surprising, from one angle. Rather than pay, say, $2500 for a high-end gamer laptop that runs Second Life pretty well, why not get a low-end $500 laptop and stream a highly optimized version of Firestorm by the hour? Even at $1/hour, this would be more cost effective for most SLers.

However, from another angle, these results point out another reality: By and large, Second Life users are core gamers and/or power users who already own and prefer a high-end PC for many other applications beyond SL.

As promised, I showed these survey results to Linden Lab:

Cajsa's Choices: "Wishing On Airplanes" is an Impressive New SL Flickr Photographer to Follow

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

Wishing On Airplanes has a very new photostream with less than 100 followers, but her talent is so mature, I speculate there might be another account that is full of photos. Of course, she could be magical right from the beginning. She doesn’t say. But look at this seascape. I can almost feel the rocks poking my feet, the cool water, and most of all, the temptation to sit on the rock next to the mermaid and bask. It so beautiful composed with the curving line of the rocks meeting the water. It looks so real. 

If you wish for more from Wishing, click here:

How Feedback Loops & Interest Algorithms Hurt Metaverse Platforms (Comment of the Week)

Commenting on my post about the failure of Meta to grow Horizon Worlds, longtime reader/veteran technologist Martin K. offers a big picture view impacting multiple metaverse platforms, relating it to recent trends in US society. It helps explain, for example, why Second Life merchandise seems to be 80% fashion/home decor-related, and why VRChat seems largely to be comprised of furry/anime avatars: 

Why does Horizon Worlds not succeed in the same way as Facebook did?

Why is Second Life not able to grow its user base?

Why do so many talented creators leave Rec Room?

Let me zoom out a bit and look at a bigger picture.

Horizon Worlds, Rec Room, Second Life and other metaverse-apps with user-generated content are struggling with growing their user base.

One of my favorite concepts to think about some of these problems is laid out in the book The Big Sort by Bill Bishop published in 2008. One of its themes is political polarization of neighborhoods in the US. The idea is that there are several feedback loops at work that attract more politically aligned neighbors and push out people who don't "fit" into a neighborhood. This results in increasingly homogeneous neighborhoods.

My hypothesis is that there are analogous feedback loops in many UGC metaverse apps that lead to a rather homogeneous user base of each of these apps.

Typically it works like this:

Is This List of Sunsetted Virtual Worlds From Habitat On Missing Any Titles?

I'm working with Julian Reyes and the Virtual Worlds Museum on compiling the most complete list of sunsetted virtual worlds that have existed since the groundbreaking Habitat* in 1986.

But are we missing any? You can see the full still being revised list with descriptions and links of sunset worlds here on the VRM site, or review them in chronological order below.

We're defining "sunsetted virtual worlds" as platforms which are a) a multi-user but non-MMORPG virtual world depicted in 2D or 3D graphics, b) where users can customize their own space/room/realm/etc., and c) are no longer generally or commercially available to access online. 

Here's our list, nearly 50 in all, so far:

• Habitat (video game) - 1986 to 1988
• ‍MicroMUSE - 1990 to 1994
• CitySpace - 1993 to 1996
• Horseland - 1994 to 2019
• The Palace  - 1994 to 2001
• Active Worlds - 1995 to 2010
• Cybernet Worlds - 1995 to 2010
• CyberTown - 1995 to 2012
• KidsCom - 1995 to 2019
• Starbright World - 1995 to 1997
• OZ Virtual - 1996-1999
• WorldsAway - 1995 to 1998
• SAPARi - 1997-2003
• Forterra Systems - 1998-2010
• Worlds.com - 1998-2020

Virtual world titles from 2000 onward below:

Cajsa's Choices: In Praise of PK Singular Aesthetic for Second Life Imagery

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

PK’s could be called the power of looking away. So many of his pictures show him looking away from the camera, around corners, into the distance. Just one picture could be intriguing, but if you look at a page of him looking away as on his About Page, the effect is exponential. It makes me swoon, especially with his pop art sensibility, his fascination with the geometry created with light and shadow, his love of duotones that distill a screenshot to its essence. It is all just wonderful. .

For more from PK, click here:

Top 6 Posts Including: Ex-Meta Devs on What Went Wrong With Horizon Worlds & Linden Lab Shifts Marketing to Feature User-Made Content

• Anti-AI Backlash in Second Life is Out of Control (Comment of the Week)

• Linden Lab Hiring Director of Strategic Insights to Help Grow Second Life, Identify Features / Products SLers Actually Use
• What Went Wrong With Horizon Worlds? Former Meta Devs Share Surprising Insights -- And a Solution to Still Save It
• Watch: Upcoming Firestorm Viewer Comes With Powerful On-Screen Avatar Poser Feature
• BREAKING: Linden Lab Updates Second Life's Official Flickr Group to Leverage ONLY User-Made Images/Video for Future Marketing, Chair Confirms
• Sannyのおすすめバーチャルワールドニュース : 2025年2月 Sanny Reports For Virtual Japan

SL Survey: What's the MOST You Would Pay to Regularly Stream Firestorm on a Browser, to Get High Quality Graphics on Even Low-End Laptops & Smartphones / Tablets?

Project Zero now has a Firestorm option, so you can stream Second Life on a browser using the virtual world's most popular viewer, with an introductory discount price of 5 hours for L$250: Go here quickly to get the special offer.

However, that's not likely to be the price when this option is officially launched -- hence the survey above. What's the MOST you would pay to regularly stream Firestorm on a browser?

Try it out now, and then take the pricing survey! And yes, I'll share the results with Linden Lab, which may or may not impact the final pricing.

BREAKING: Linden Lab Updates Second Life's Official Flickr Group to Leverage ONLY User-Made Images/Video for Future Marketing, Chair Confirms

Originally published on my Patreon

The description and rules to Linden Lab's official Flickr group for Second Life images were recently updated to emphasize that user-made images and video uploaded there may be used in future ad campaigns for Second Life:

By submitting your photos or videos (the “Submissions”) to the Second Life Official Flickr feed of Linden Research, Inc. (the “Company”), you acknowledge and agree to the following terms:

You agree to participate in the Company’s marketing campaigns program  (the “Program”). As a participant of the Program, you hereby grant to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and cost-free right and license to use, distribute, or sublicense (through multiple levels), and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your Submissions, for the purposes of marketing, promotion, and/or outreach for and about the Second Life virtual world.

After top SL creator Bars Simpson noticed this change, I confirmed with Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager that the purpose is indeed to leverage SL user-made images for future marketing.

"It is correct that we only want to use Second Life content for future ads," Oberwager just messaged me. "And anyone who wants to submit ads, we will review and test." (Emphasis mine, as it bear emphasizing!)

This Flickr rules update, by the way, was led by SL social media doyenne Strawberry Linden.

This comes after a recent dust-up due to Linden Lab using AI/stock images and videos to A/B various messaging, in preparation for an official campaign, and community members subsequently outraged by the artificial depiction of the virtual world -- especially when there's so much user-created content out there that's far superior.  

"After talking to you about how people feel," Brad explains to me, "I had all our terms reviewed to make sure we did not violate anything if we used Second Life 'stock footage'."

That final point is important:

Watch: Upcoming Firestorm Viewer Comes With Powerful On-Screen Avatar Poser Feature

Courtesy Spooky Pumpkins, owner of the Wraith brand in SL (socials & links here), watch this seriously cool new feature for Firestorm, now available in preview. Explains Spooky:

"If you use their poser, you'll now see a gizmo on each bone... and on-screen selection for the bones. You can legit rotate [bones] from the joint itself ON YOUR SCREEN instead of fiddling with sliders. I don't know if this is on any other version than the newest preview build (beta viewer) which has some issues with the nested menus in the inventory window BUT this poser SLAPS."

It does sure seem slap-tastic! This is currently (and only) available in VERSION 7.1.12.77526 - BETA VIEWER.

More from Wraith's owner on how to get this bet now:

Cajsa's Choices: Tooku Fadlan's Totally Fantastic Second Life Photos

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

Tooku Fadlan shot this amazing pic at Luane’s World, a popular photo destination. [SLurl teleport link here] The sunshine beating down on the meadow suggests a hot summer day. The grass is bright green and the sky is blue and all is right with the world. And with this picture. Tooku uses the bikes and fence as a leading line into the picture creating a sense of energy even with everything is stationary. 

For more from Tooku, click here: