Update: details of the new Linden Homes Fantasy Preview have been added following their unveiling during the opening ceremony.
Second Life marks its 18th anniversary in 2021 with a week-long celebration of music, entertainment, art and more across multiple regions, eight of which are given over to exhibits from Second Life residents, and which include the companion Shop and Hop event.
The gates have now opened, but as there was not opportunity for any previews by bloggers, etc., in advance of the opening, we’re all scrabbling around trying to put things together. Hopefully, however, this will serve as a shorthand guide, and my apologies for any omissions.
The regions are, as usual, split between core event regions as exhibitor regions. The core regions include:
- The Welcome Area.
- The Auditorium – where you’ll be able to attend (among other activities) the Meet the Lindens sessions (more below).
- The Main Stage – focal point for the SL18B Music Fest.
- The DJ Stage.
- The Tapestry of Time.
- The Pod tours station.
- Gifts Area (Enchant).
- Gifts Area (Magnificent).
- Linden Homes Fantasy Theme preview area.
Key Events
In terms of major events, what does SL18B hold? Well, the best way the stay abreast of all that’s going on is via the official calendar of events, which I’ve embedded below. Use the Week / Month options, top right to change the calendar view. Major events are also summarised below the calendar.
Grand Opening
Patch Linden will be formally opening SL18B at 11:00 SLT as a Lab Gab special via the Second Life You Tube channel, after which Strawberry Linden will be hosting a tour of the SL18B regions.
Meet the Lindens
Meet the Lindens is now a staple of the SLB celebrations, and this year we’ll be hearing from – and putting questions to – the leadership team of Grumpity, Brett and Patch collectively and individually through the week at the SL18B auditorium, with things rounded-out by another session with the Moles of the LDPW. Catch the sessions as follows:
| Day (Times SLT) | Lindens |
| Monday 21st June (14:00-16:00) |
Lab Gab SL18B Special with the Leadership Team (Grumpity Linden, Brett Linden and Patch Linden) via You Tube, with steaming into the SLB auditorium – Second life You Tube Channel |
| Tuesday 22nd June (13:00-14:00) |
Patch Linden, Vice President of Second Life Product Operations – Live Stream link |
| Wednesday 23rd, June (14:00-16:00) |
Grumpity Linden, Vice President of Second Life Product – Live Stream Link |
| Thursday 24th June (13:00-15:00) |
Brett Linden, Vice President of Marketing – Live Stream Link |
| Friday 25th June (13:00-15:00) |
Meet the Moles – Live Stream Link |
SL8B Music Fest
The SL18B Music Fest will kick-off at 13:00 SLT on Thursday, June 17th, and conclude at 19:00 SLT on Saturday, June 19th. It will feature 25 artists performing at the SL18B Main Stage, with the line-up as follows:
| Time (SLT) | June 17th | June 18th | June 19th |
| 09;00 | — | — | Randy De Lucia |
| 10;00 | — | — | KATIA |
| 11:00 | — | — | SpiritLed |
| Noon | — | Seli Blackmore | Semina |
| 13:00 | Milan Zepp | Toxie | Skye Galaxy |
| 14:00 | Rogue Galaxy and The Tiny Rebel Band | Staring At The Sun | Fly Kugin |
| 15:00 | Oblee | Dandy Pianoman | Marqs DeSade |
| 16:00 | Maximillion Kleene | Mimi Carpenter | Dude |
| 17;00 | Erik Kottzen | Ruvilyn Gatchie | Effinjay |
| 18:00 | Joaquin Gustav | Wytchwhisper Sadofsky | Gabriel da Silva |
| 19:00 | — | Gabriella Rothschild | — |
| 20:00 | — | Kendall Jigsaw | — |
Shop and Hop
Sixteen regions and 320 creators, all offering a 20% or more discount on items and a free (non-group) gift for shoppers, with the event running until July 6th,2021. Shopping SLurls below!
| Aurelian | Chickory | Dahlia | Frosted |
| Gleaming | Gilded | Golden | Halcyon |
| Hollyhock | Jubilant | Lupine | Poppy |
| Snapdragon | Snowflake | Sugarplum | Tinseled |
Note that Shop and Hop regions are rated Moderate.
A full list of participating creators with direct SLurls to there S&H stores is available here.
Other Points of Interest
The Tapestry of Time
First presented in 2018, the region-wide Tapestry of Time presents visitor with a walk-through of Second Life’s history from 2003 through to the present day using images, text and videos. True, not everything has been recorded, but there’s enough within the region to be of interest to the historically minded.
Of special note this year is a replica of the Ebbe Altberg memorial, which can also be found at Altberg Island (see Paying respects to Ebbe Altberg in Second Life for more).
Linden Homes Fantasy Theme Preview
During the SL18B opening ceremony, Patch Linden revealed the next theme for Premium Membership linden Homes will be a Fantasy themed series of four styles, and the preview area at SL18B was opened to visitors. See Previewing the Linden Homes Fantasy Theme for more.
The Gifts Areas
The SL18B Gifting Areas offer gifts from the Birthday exhibitors and from merchants participating in the Shop & Hop event.
Exhibitor Regions
As is common for SLB events, the mix of content is varied, and the representation of interests broad. Role-play groups, arts, communities, are represented across the eight regions open to exhibitors; some are static, others are interactive in nature.
Direct links to the exhibitor regions can be found below:
| SLB Amaze | SL1B Astonish | SLB Captivate | SLB Electrify |
| SLB Incredible | SLB Pizzazz | SLB Sparkle | SLB Stunning |
Information / SLurls for individual exhibitors can be found in the SL18B Community Experiences pages of the Destination Guide, and I hope to visit and write about some during the week.
Advice On A Better Experience
The SL18B regions – celebratory and Shop & Hop can get exceptionally busy. To help ease the pain for you:
- If you have a high draw distance, reduce it to as low as is comfortable for your enjoyment.
- Turn off shadows in your viewer if you usually have them enabled.
- Go to Preferences → Graphics and reduce the slider Max # Non-Imposter Avatars to a minimum.
- Remove texture-heavy HUDs to free-up more texture memory.
- To assist the simulator, remove unnecessary scripted attachments.
- If you are using Firestorm and still encountering issues, try going to Preferences Graphics → Rendering and:
- If you are running a 64-bit version of the viewer, make sure Restrict Maximum Texture Resolution to 512px (will require a viewer restart).
- Use the Max Texture Quality Level drop-down to set texture rendering quality to Mid.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 