New World Notes

Listen: Inside The Infamous Second Life Episode from The Office -- And the Disastrous "Dwight Schrute Echo Chamber" That Followed

Office Ladies is a podcast from Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey recounting their behind-the-scenes memories as ensemble stars in the beloved TV series, and their latest episode (stream above) delves into the "Local Ad" episode from 2007 -- or as New World Notes readers might refer to it, "the one with Second Life". (Starting at around 9:24, but of course listen to the whole thing.)

From my own behind-the-scenes memory, I recall that the show's writers called Linden Lab for fact-checking purposes -- which is probably why they wrote Dwight basically reciting the company's official messaging at the time: "Second Life is not a game. It's a multi-user virtual environment, it doesn't have points or scores, it doesn't have winners or losers."

But as it turns out, the Office team worked even deeper with Linden Lab on the episode beyond just the writing: 

Fischer reached out to producer Kent Zbornak (aka Kent-a-pedia) for the details. "Kent reached out to the developers of Second Life, Clear Inc., and Linden Labs, and we entered into a license agreement with them," Fischer explained. "They ended up creating all of the avatars and animation for us. Kent had to send pictures of John and Rainn over to those guys, and they drew out little avatars of them based on Jason and Greg's direction. And that's how they made it." 

Fans of Second Life were likely pumped to see the virtual world appear on the show, but Second Life employees were thrilled as well.

"We got a letter, Angela, from Cyn Skyberg," Fischer said. "And listen to this: 'I worked at Second Life when this episode came out and we were so excited. I was the head of customer service at the time and I got all our team together virtually to watch the episode. Second Life was and is a crazy place and so much really nutzo stuff happened in there. This was a big highlight for all of us.'" 

More from Mashable, which thoughtfully extracted the podcasts's Second Life bits here. 

I don't know if The Office team knows this, but the episode went on to help crystallize a major conflict within Linden Lab itself, which at the time was pushing for an IPO -- and as part of that effort, was trying to re-frame Second Life as not being a game, but as a development platform. Even though roughly 95% of the userbase play it as an Adult-rated Sims/Minecraft-type sandbox construction game. (Something I wish Jenna Fischer had been told, seeing as she's a fan of The Sims.)

So as Linden Lab suggested how Dwight should describe Second Life, the company itself was spending millions and millions to try and make Second Life actually resemble Dwight's vision -- which led, a few years later, to a massive layoff in the company. It was, as I wrote back then in 2010, a result of "The Dwight Schrute Echo Chamber":

Watch: Carmen King Keeps Streaming Second Life -- And Has Advice for Players of The Sims In Giving SL a Second Chance

In the latest hilariously ribald video from Ms. Carmen King, YouTube gaming doyenne and unofficial queen of Second Life, we find her searching for a mansion to buy in Second Life as only Carmen can. (NSFW of course, unless I guess you work at a tattoo gallery.)

"[My SL] apartment is beautiful," she announces at the start, "but I am grown, and I am ready to have a grown bitch's house." Then actually goes and finds and actual (virtual) real estate agent. (That's a thing in SL? TIL there are actual ass real estate agents in SL.) 

While her videos are gaining popularity among the SL community, I notice that a lot of her endemic subscribers are leery to try Second Life, either because they were overwhelmed by the UX (can't blame them there), or they tried it once and got overwhelmed.

So for all of them them, you're in luck: I reached out to this queen named King and asked for her own personal tips for people thinking of trying out SL now -- especially those coming to it after playing The Sims:

Profile of Kim Kardashian's Second Life Social Media Campaign Creator

She's @lizmilanwest on Instagram, lizzylo1212.xue in Second Life and on the SL Marketplace -- and IRL, Johnathan Ramirez, a twenty-something makeup artist based in New York City -- and urban fashion magazine Ozon Magazine has the first interview with him. Interestingly, the profile suggests Ramirez first created a Kardashian-themed brand in Second Life before being approached the actual Kardashian team:

LMW (Liz milan west) cosmetic store was created on SL because I was extremely inspired by Kim Kardashian West’s beauty line along with other people who inspired me in the makeup industry... 

The ideas for the [campaign] images were to “create a world using the Kimoji fragrance in different settings and reflect Kim’s lifestyle”... I loved working on this campaign with Kim and her team. A game that I played normally opened my eyes to so many possibilities….. 

Read it all here. Ramirez also replies to complaints that his avatars depict an unrealistic image ("It’s a 3D inspired animation of Kim Kardashian West. Some of the depictions are exaggerated for fantasy!") and hints that more is to come. As for Kim Kardashian herself, she's still integrating her real life avatar with her SL one -- see above, on the Instagram account for her fragrance line.

Second Life Gachas Likely to Face Government Regulation of Online Gaming Lootboxes

PC Gamer just published a good story on the SL Gacha duping controversy featured in New World Notes last month. Reporter Steven Messner quotes me a few times, including my comparison to the CopyBot controversy of 2006, and does a solid job explaining the complex topic to non-SLers. 

Speaking of which, what many Second Life users might not know is gachas have strong similarities to lootboxes in other online games -- most especially Star Wars Battlefront, which have faced recent controversies of their own, in great part because they have a gambling element. (I.E. pay real money for the chance to win valuable virtual goods.) The controversy is so great, in fact, game lootboxes may soon be regulated in Belgium, and a US Congressman is calling to regulate them in America, too.

Which is a long way saying this: If these and other governments do impose regulations on gaming lootboxes, expect these regulations to impact SL gachas too. In fact, the sale-ability of Linden Dollars for US dollars means that SL gachas are even more like gambling, than other games' lootboxes. As Messner writes:

On the surface there's little difference between gachas and the controversial loot boxes that are appearing in many games like Star Wars Battlefront 2, but there's several key distinctions. For one, these items have tangible value. Each play is always rewarded with an item, and any you win can be resold on Second Life's Marketplace for Lindens and then converted into US dollars. Secondly, the proceeds of these items goes to their respective creators, not Linden Lab (though it does collect a small transaction fee for items sold on the Marketplace). And for those who hate the gambling aspect of gacha games and loot boxes, many creators also offer a buyout price to purchase the set in full.

I'm not a lawyer (but I play one on the Internet), but if any major market regulated lootboxes, I'd suspect Linden Lab would just outright ban gachas from the SL Marketplace before government agents even came calling. Seeing as how huge a part of the SL economy gachas are, the impact would be pretty massive. Which is to say:

Avatar Owners in CA, NY & DC Wanted: Major Media Brand Looking for Subjects of Photo Series on Virtual Identity

First Look Media, a new cross-medium brand that includes The Intercept news/opinion site and is funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is looking for people in California, New York, and D.C. who have a second life and are interested in being photographed in real life:

"To put it broadly," project coordinator and freelancer Maddy Crowell puts it to me, "the project will explore themes of identity and disguise, and the power of virtual identities. We'd like to make a photo-driven story about people who have virtual identities that are substantially different from those in their daily lives, and talk with them about their second lives - how they invented their second lives, what their second lives have brought their 'personal' lives; whatever they are comfortable with, really. Also, if anyone prefers not to use their names, pseudonyms are completely fine."

A bit reminiscent of Robbie Cooper's Alter Ego from a decade ago, but the concept could use (so to speak) a second life. Interestingly, one of the best people to be in this photography series would be... eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, who used to semi-anonymously explore Second Life.

Anyway, if you qualify geographically and you're interested in participating, here's how to get involved:

London-Based SLers: Want to Be in a Radio Segment?

Tom Gerald Roseingrave ("swimmingwitheels" in SL -- that's his avatar at right) is a grad student at London's prestigious Goldsmith's school, and he's interested in interviewing London-based SLers in-person for an ambitious radio project he's producing. He's also promised to let me broadcast some of it on NWN!

"I'm hoping it will be quite a personal portrait of the SL player," Tom tells me, "and I'll do some sound design-y things to make it sound good." Sounds good to me. If you're interested and fit that bill and want to talk to Tom, e-mail me, post a comment below, or send an IM directly to Tom.

More on his project:

High-Profile Performance Art in Second Life Subverted by Emergent Community, Force Field Drama, Robert Redford

Indie pioneer in film Bob Redford boggles at indie art pioneer in Second Life

In 2008, I wrote about "Invisible Threads: Sweatshop Jean Factory in Second Life", a mixed reality performance art project featured at the famed Sundance Film Festival. In it, two artists created a textile factory in Second Life, dubbed it Double Happiness Jeans, then invited Residents to roleplay as low wage, poorly-treated employees working on the line, while a foreman in a 19th century top hat oversaw them. At the time, I thought it was clever if overly-obvious satire of post-industrial capitalism in the digital age, somewhat at the expense of Second Life users. (I.E., "Haha you silly losers, willing to work in a virtual sweatshop for less than $1 an hour.") Now a recent talk in Brooklyn by one of the artists, Jeff Crouse, just uploaded by The Story Collider, gives us the rest of the story, and it's fascinating, surprising, and turns out much differently than what Crouse expected.

Set aside 15 minutes and watch below:

In essence, here's what happened:

Article: How Second Life Romance Can Ruin Families & Bring Them Together (With Little Linden Update!)

Washu and Damien in 2004; in real life with baby Linden in 2009

Here's a good article on Second Life relationships by Elise G. McIntosh for the Staten Island Advance. Elise interviewed me at that length about the phenomenon, and I offered observations such as this:

“Just like in the real world, there’s the entire spectrum. There are families ruined and families that come together."

As an example of the former, I told Elise about the RL/SL couple whose infidelity problems led to the hiring of a private virtual detective. As an example of the latter, I mentioned the family above, Damien Fate and Washu Zebrastripe, who not only first met in Second Life, but got married and named their baby Linden. Speaking of which, here's an updated look at little Linden, now two and intrigued by airborne frogs (after the break):

Top Architecture Journal Lists Second Life Avatar Among World's Noteworthy Architects

One of the world's most noteworthy architects is known only by the virtual buildings he (or for all we know, she) creates, and the 3D digital image of his avatar. Though few people know who the real person behind Scope Cleaver is, the work he created for Princeton University's island in Second Life is acclaimed throughout the metaverse community. It's quickly gaining attention among people who may have never heard of Second Life, too, because Scope's work was recently featured in a story on SL architecture by New York Times magazine -- and now, in a feature for the latest issue of Architecture Now, a highly regarded series from German publisher Taschen, offering a survey of important architects from around the world. So architecture aficionados reading over, say, Architecture Now's section on Daniel Liebeskind, acclaimed designer of Berlin's Jewish Museum and the architect who'll rebuild New York's World Trade Center, may also find themselves happening upon another architect who, in the strictest sense, doesn't exist.

How did this happen? Scope's terraforming partner  Poid Mahovlich put me in touch with Scope, who in turn put me in touch with Architecture Now's author, Philip Jodidio.  He saw an item about Scope's Second Life work online somewhere, he explained, and figured out how to get in touch with him. 

Second Life as 2007 Google Trend: Slowing Locally, Growing Globally

Here's an interesting big picture point/counterpoint, gleaned from two parts of Google's world mind.  According to Google Trends, as a search term in 2007, Second Life reached a plateau point (much like the world's active user base) and is now slowly declining.  But Google's Zeitgeist metric tells another story: Second Life is one of 2007's fastest rising search terms among non-US Internet users.  (Along with two other virtual worlds, Webkinz and Club Penguin.)  The pessimistic interpretation is that the rest of the world is trailing a year behind the US, where mainstream interest in Second Life arguably peaked in 2006.  A more optimistic view is that international Internet users, as evidenced by countries like Holland, Japan and Brazil, are adopting Second Life more rapidly than their American counterparts.  What's your take?

Hat tip: e-Discovery Team.