| On Friday, June 30th, 2023 saw the fourth in a series of Lab Gab special events take place for the SL20 Birthday celebrations, featuring featuring Patch Linden and the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW). | Table of Contents |
Unlike the other summaries in this series, this article focuses on the work of the Moles and the projects they are currently working on and which have recently been launched or will be launched in the near future. Broader questions on individual interests, hopes for the future of SL, subjects (such as the SL20B Sweepstakes) covered in more depth in other Sl20B Lab Gab sessions are not included below. As always, timestamps to the video are included within each topic / sub-topic, allowing comments made to be heard in full.
Meeting Some of the Team & About the LDPW
- Short interviews with a number of the Moles covering what they do and how they became members of the LDPW team. These discussions fold-in to them some of the points below.
Who or What are the Moles?
- Officially called the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW), originally formed in 2008, Moles are residents from all over the world hired by Linden Lab as independent resident-contractors to undertake Lab-led projects.
- Their work was originally focused on the Mainland, adding the infrastructure – road, bridges, etc., and the landscaping, as noted in the official LDPW wiki page, although they actually do a lot more than this.
- Notable major projects carried out by the Moles include:
- Development of residential centres such as Nautilus City and Bay City and Bellisseria; development of the Lab’s various games accessible through the Portal Parks.
- Involvement in special development projects for both Second Life (e.g. Bento, Animesh, EEP, PBR), and partnership developments (e.g. Zenescope and Motown Experience), that latter under the banner of Second Life Studios.
- In keeping with their name, Moles were originally given a mole avatar, complete with hard hat. However, over the years, most have moved to having a more individual and personal look, although some say with their Mole look.
- As well as being paid for the work they do, Moles also receive and allowance from the Lab, which is primarily intended to go towards the cost of uploads (texture, animations, mesh objects, etc)., but which can also be put towards developing their individual looks.
How to Become a Mole
- Positions in the LDPW are open to application by residents who believe they are qualified to work in the team, and the team may also approach specific residents and ask if they would consider joining them.
- Applications are made by dropping a résumé (note card or email) of qualifications / experience (including links SLurls, Flickr, You Tube, etc.) to Derrick Linden (derrick.linden-at-lindenlab.com) or to Patch Linden (patch.linden-at-lindenlab.com).
- Applicants have to go through a former interview process.
- Successful applicants get to pretty much choose their hours of work – providing agreed tasks are completed on time.
- As they are from around the world, this can allow some projects to move forward on almost a round-the-clock basis.
- Those who are more fully-rounded in skill sets – content creation, scripting, etc., – are encouraged to apply, but LL will also take on specialists.
- Motivated, outgoing, communicative people with a passion for SL and willing to self-teach themselves new skill sets are particularly considered.
About SL20B
- Missy Mole:
- Planning for SL20B started during SL19B, commencing with a review of what worked / didn’t work at SL19B, and initial discussions on the 20th anniversary theme.
- The initial planning process for the theme (/build aesthetic) and size of the event took around 3-4 months.
- The size of the event means there are 321 exhibits – many of them interactive -, compared to 150 just five years ago. The increase in event space has meant some exhibit parcels (around 100) could be offered at 4096 sq m.
- The focus for the last few SLB events has been not only to encourage people to share in the theme, but to present exhibits that reflect their passions / interests: art, music, community activities, etc.
- SL20B is also the first SLB event to include the Adult community (also at the Shop and Hop as well). To achieve this, there was a lot of direct canvassing / encouraging of Adult communities to come and participate, rather than just leaving it to people to apply. As well as the Adult region exhibits, there have also been events hosted on them.
- Discussions within the LDPW team are already in progress to discuss how the Adult presence can be grown in future SLB events, including the possibility of having an “official” event stage within the Adult regions.
- Patch Linden:
- Given it is the 20th anniversary, the decision was decided to refresh some of the “core” SLB builds (such as the Tapestry of Time) and also the Shop and Hop regions to be more in keeping with the event theme and also to offer fresher designs for future events.
- The New Shop and Hop region design will be retained and “themed up” for future events.
- Dreaming Mole:
- The concept of the Welcome Area was to present a setting which reflects both the theme of the event and suggests important factors for the future – sustainability, etc., whilst also acting as a natural information hub and viewing area.
- The landing point was placed so that people would see the structure before them and be encouraged to walk towards it, along the Community Gallery Walkway.
- The overall inspiration for the build was modern architecture and the work of architects such as Oscar Niemeyer.
Current LDPW Projects
- Linden Homes – with additional content and themes.
- User experience – the experience user have when the come into Second Life, as distinct from the Senra Starter avatars [see below].
- Further entertainment partnerships “in the works” similar to the Motown Experience.
- The TV show tie-in [mentioned in Patch’s SL20B Lab Gab session].
- Further Linden Games are also in discussion.
- LDPW also developed the Social Casino, including the games and the gaming HUD, and which will be expanded on with prizes, rewards, leader boards, etc [see Grumpity Linden’s comments in the Lab Gab session featuring her and Mojo Linden as well].
Senra Starter Avatars
- Senra is the brand name giving to the upcoming new Bento / Bakes on Mesh complaint starter / new avatar series specifically developed via the Moles as a Lab project, and which were initially previewed at SL19B in 2022.
- Come with a complete set of accessories: hair, skins, clothing, attachments, shoes, etc. All of which will be presented as a full library of content within the viewer (as a part of the overall Library).
- The first phase of the release will feature two human avatars + accessories, etc., referred to as Jamie (female) and Blake (male).
- The second phase of work has already started and will include anthro, allowing Senra to cross over into “other areas.”
- The launch is provisionally targeting middle-to-late-July.
- Prior to the launch, effort will be made to get the developer’s kit (devkit – covering clothing, accessories, skins, etc.) and licensing agreement made available to SL content creators who wish to develop content and sell it into the Senra ecosystem.
The BelliHub and Welcome Hub
[See also: A look at the new Belli Rub – I mean BelliHub – in Second Life]
- Abnor Mole:
- Initially grew out of a need to have somewhere to demo the Liden Home themes and styles for those wishing to “try before they buy” a Premium / Premium Plus account.
- The grew into an idea to also provide further information on Bellisseria and from there grew into a complete Welcome Hub for new users.
- However, the primary focus is to provide information on Bellisseria for existing resident and give insight into Premium Subscriptions via an in-world means.
-
- As they were in development at the same time, some of the work put into the BelliHub Welcome Area was used to inform the design within the the Welcome Centre at the new Welcome Hub.
- The Welcome Hub with its nine regions is designed to provide a more complete experience for incoming new users, which in part came off the back of the fact that many people coming into SL will go through the older Welcome and Social islands and think that that was all there is to SL, and leave.
- So the Hub is intended to both introduce new users to both the viewer and using an avatar and to encourage them to understand there is much more to discover about Second Life and the events and activities which take place in SL, while at the same time not locking them into a specific path or hierarchy of things they have to go through in order to better understand SL.
- The above is very much assisted through the presence of mentors and the video and general info boards they can opt to use or skip over, depending on their knowledge and abilities.
- The only really “key lessons” within the Welcome Centre of the Hub are moving, talking, and interacting with objects. The rest is intentionally free-form.
- [Video: 50:23-51:00] The overall design of the Welcome Hub is intended to be modular in that options, features, areas, can be swapped in / out with others, and the overdesign expanded, etc., as required.
Who is Magellan Linden?
- Magellan Linden is The Great Explorer of Second Life (who was once said to have vanished during his explorations, but does pop-up from time-to-time) is a construct, rather than an individual, but as revealed in the session, Abnor Mole loans his voice to Magellan!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 