New World Notes

Flickr Announces It Won't Delete Creative Commons-Licensed Images -- Escape Hatch For CC-Tagged Virtual World/MMO/Game Screenshots?

Above: Political satire image created in Second Life, given a Creative Commons license, and uploaded to Flickr before November 2018

Many virtual world users who upload mass amounts of screenshots to Flickr are concerned that many of them will soon run afoul of the company's new policy limiting free accounts to 1000 images, with images over that number to be deleted (unless a user becomes a Pro subscriber). However, it looks like there's a possible escape hatch for at least some of those images -- the Creative Commons license. As Flickr's CEO just put it in a blog post:

We won’t be deleting anything that was uploaded with a CC license before November 1, 2018. Even if you had more than 1,000 photos or videos with a CC license. However, if you do have more than 1,000 photos or videos uploaded, you’ll be unable to upload additional photos after January 8, 2019, unless you upgrade to a Pro account.

So that implies a Second Life-based image like the one above, by Cajsa Lilliehook, won't be removed. In my observation, most SL screenshots on Flickr ironically carry the default "All rights reserved" tag, however, so this conversation wouldn't apply to them. But a substantial number have a CC tag -- partly because Creative Commons founder Larry Lessig was an early adviser to Second Life, and even appeared in SL on occasion, so the CC concept is fairly well known within the community.

The next question, of course, is if this policy applies only to photos and videos, or also to screenshots and video. And that raises a whole host of follow-up questions:

Upgrading Your Flickr to Keep Your 1000s of Pics? Try This Discount Code

Since a lot of New World Notes readers are avid Flickr users and because Flickr is going to remove photos from free accounts which exceed a new 1000 image limit and because NWN readers typically have thousands of virtual world images on their accounts, here's a discount code for upgrading to Pro: If it's still valid, entering "FLICKRPRO30" will get you $15 off the first year.

Give it a try and if it's no longer valid, please let me know in Comments! And yes, as noted on Monday, virtual world/game/MMO screenshots are totally welcome on Flickr as long as they're tagged as such.

Question for readers: How many are planning to pay $50 a year to upgrade their Flickr?

Hat tip: Carl Thibodeaux and MangroveJane.

SLer Confusion Over New Flickr Announcement Leads to "Witch Hunt" Fears

Last week's widespread concern that Flickr's new policies would lead to virtual world photographers being booted off the platform were so acute, Flickr's support team was bombarded by pleas from Second Life users, some fearing they were about to be victims of a "witch hunt". That's literally the words from a Flickr support rep contacted by NWN correspondent Cassie Middles-- see message at right, with reassuring words that virtual world photographers are very welcome on Flickr, as long as their images are properly tagged.

This is similar to what Flickr's own CEO said in a message board and on Twitter (below) -- that the company fully supports virtual world photography. So basically, the SL community was unnecessarily roiled by a panic over a non-existing policy, apparently by the words in this Flickr blog post announcing a new effort to curb Spam:

Flickr has always been a vibrant, photographer-focused community. And we want it to always be a safe place for our members to share and appreciate images they love. Flickr is not a place for people who have nothing to do with photography to sell things or otherwise influence our members.

However, nothing in Flickr's statement says anything specifically about virtual world screenshots, and the overall context of the blog post is about minimizing Spam. When I started looking into allegations that Flickr was planning to ban virtual world photographs, it quickly became evident an updated version of the telephone game, except with avatars, was taking place. And so the last people to learn about Flickr's supposed plans were Flickr staffers themselves. ("I don't know where the idea that you aren't 'real' photographers," Flickr's clearly bewildered CEO told one SLer, "or that virtual photography is somehow spam, came from but that's not from me.")

Takeaway from this totally needless Sturm und Drang? On the positive side, this suggests how tight-knit the Second Life online community is, that a rumor could spread so quickly. By the same token, it also suggests how vulnerable it is baseless conjecture or, dare I say, fake news.

And for the future?

Flickr CEO Confirms Virtual World Photographers "Are Photographers" -- But They Should Still Check Flickr's New Policies Against 1000+ Images, Commercial Promotion

Flickr CEO Don MacAskill just confirmed in an online forum that virtual world photographers "are photographers". This statement clarifies Flickr's new policy announcement suggesting that non-photographic images would be removed from the service. Second Life and other virtual worlds/games have strong sub-communities of people who upload beautifully composed and lit screenshots to Flickr. SL's Flickr presence in particular seems largest and the most thriving, counting dozens of groups, some with nearly 30,000 members each, but groups dedicated to screenshots they took in The Sims, World of Warcraft, and other MMOs and virtual worlds are active there too.

Unsurprisingly, in recent days the SL community on Flickr has been roiled with concern and confusion over this new announcement, fearing it means their images would be removed. But MacAskill just made it plain that they're here to stay on the platform, responding to a question from one SLer: 

Virtual photographer are photographers. You care about photography, so we care about you. It's that simple. I don't know where the idea that you aren't "real" photographers, or that virtual photography is somehow spam, came from but that's not from me. You are welcome at Flickr.

In this, MacAskill is actually being loyal to Flickr's origins -- it was first created in 2004 as a tool for a virtual world called Game Neverending, and co-founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield are quite familiar with Second Life and SLers using their service. (I was still at Linden Lab when one staffer shouted excitedly, "I saw Catrina and Stewart logged in!") 

All that said, virtual world photographers who do use Flickr should read this announcement and the updated community guidelines, because it's still probably relevant to them, especially these sections:

What SL Screenshots Look Like When Taken in the Black Dragon Viewer

Via ellapinellapin's Flickr

There's been lots of interest in my post about how Black Dragon, the third party Second Life viewer, can make SL look like a AAA videogame in terms of graphics detail and framerate. Reader Ella points out it's also great for screenshots, and comes with a Poser tool that helps with selfie pics. By way of evidence, here's her Flickr page with pics all taken with Black Dragon, without any post-processing, as she explains on her About page:

The photos I take within Second Life are taken at up to 6K resolution within the Black Dragon viewer. Photos are resized to 50% to reduce resolution and size of file for upload to Flickr. Downscaling these photos from such a large resolution adds a sense of clarity (but not excessively) to the picture. I consider this an exception and it helps the appearance of SL in general. Third-party tools/addons such as ReShade are not used and photos are not manipulated unless noted in the description.

Still skeptical? Here's some more pics by Ella that seriously rock:

Still more below!

Ashley Carter Tells Epic Space Force Stories With Second Life Screenshots

Sci-fi action movies have been pretty sparse this Summer, but into that breach comes Ashley Carter, who's created on Flickr an ongoing story of epic space battles (with intermittent, somewhat NSFW sexy romance) in a series of vividly colored, beautifully composed Second Life screenshots, with accompanying narrative in the description box. As above:

There was an idea, to bring together a group remarkable people. Sadly they couldn't make it, so instead you're stuck with us.

We landed at our destination with... relative ease. Our mission was simple: get in, find Aster, collect the suit and if anyone happened to get in our way... teach them a quick lesson.

Album with the most recent seasons (yes, she has seasons!) below, along with some selected gems.

Hat tip: Cajsa Lilliehook, who's taking a brief (hopefully!) hiatus from Cajsa's Choices.

Challenge to Create SL Couple Pics Inspired by RL Photos Already Amazing

Thought it was only announced last week, the new challenge for Second Life photographers from Lawrence G. has already attracted a flurry of impressive and sexy images that depict two avatars in poses inspired by RL photographs. I particularly like this one (above) by UnaMayLi, which has more personality than the RL photo that it's based on (at right). I wish avatars would be more responsive when touching each other, so we could see how skin and clothing subtly shifts under the pressure of fingertips and limbs, but that's a pretty difficult physics challenge. 

Many more here on Lawrence's Facebook page. All the guidelines for submission here and on his Facebook page. Lawrence is the guy responsible for that amazing body challenge from last April, featured here by Cajsa for New World Notes, and we definitely plan on featuring our favorites from this new challenge soon.

Photo via Pinterest.

SL Image Challenge: Couples Images Based on Real Life Couple Photos

Here's a new challenge for Second Life photographers from Lawrence G.:

For the month of August, this edition we will celebrate the beauty of the human body and expressive moods shared between"Companions" . Within each image the photographer will either set a mood, provoke an emotion or entice a provocative thought. This challenge is NOT about nudity/sex but sensuality, affection, compassion and connection. We will explore through illustration the raw emotions of these subjects and enjoy the story captured within each image. Each photographer may choose an image from the selected pool.

All the guidelines for submission here and on his Facebook page. Lawrence is the guy responsible for that amazing body challenge from last April, featured here by Cajsa for New World Notes. "The inspiration for the Couples Edition of the Body Language Challenge is mostly due to request of past participants," he tells me. "As well as the first Edition was such a success. I am really hoping this one takes off as the first. Fingers crossed."

Thanks to Cajsa for the tip. See some pics from the previous challenge that she blogged about below to see how great they were!

Flickr Gallery: Heartbreaking Second Life Images of Staggering Genius

"Heartbreaking Works of Staggering Genius II" is an incredible Flickr gallery of Second Life-based images curated by Nadjanator, and true to her title, just about every one of the dozens of images are masterpieces. That includes, of course, this one above by Kiana Jarman, sort of a Fortnite-meets-SL fashionista battle royale, but many more are just as wonderful in their own unique way.  (Though mysteriously, includes no Dave Eggers tribute.)

Hat tip: Cajsa Lilliehook, who knows a great SL image when she sees it.

Look: Collection of SL-Based Images Better Than Most RL Paintings

This is an amazing collection of Second Life-based images created by Kimeu Korg (IRL the Spanish artist Luz de Gas). Cajsa profiled Mr. Korg on New World Notes last year here, and since then, Kimeu has kept creating imagery with the rich textures and wry, smart compositions of excellent paintings. And while you might assume so -- no, there's little or no post-production additions to these pics. As Korg told Cajsa last year: