June 2024 will mark the 21st anniversary of Second Life opening to public access – and to mark it, Linden Lab has announced the 2024 Birthday celebrations as being marked across an entire month – from Friday, June 21st through until Sunday July 21st, 2024.
Theme
This theme for Second Life’s 21st birthday (SL21B) has been given as Elements, which the Lab describes thus:
This theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, “Elements” is a celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second Life.
The announcement also notes that applications for those wishing to host exhibits within the Birthday regions are now open, with the following notes:
Applications will be accepted through until Sunday, May 12th, 2024.
There will be both General and Adult rated regions available to exhibitors.
Exhibits do not have to be in keeping with the Elements theme – LL are keen to showcase the passions, interests and creativity of the platform’s users and many groups and communities.
In 2023, Exhibitor parcels were expressly stated as being 4096 sq m in size, with a Land Capacity of 1872 LI. While this is not stated in this year’s application form, there is no direct reason to suppose this will not be the case this year as well – although clarification from LL would be welcome.
The following notes cover the key points from the Web User Group (WUG) meeting, held on Wednesday April 3rd, 2024. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the meeting, recorded by Pantera Północy, is embedded at the end of this summary – my thanks as always to Pantera for recording it and making it available.
This meeting was more a seeking feedback type of discussion than it was an update on web project projects, etc.
Meeting Overview
The Web User Group exists to provide an opportunity for discussion on Second Life web properties and their related functionalities / features. This includes, but is not limited to: the Marketplace, pages surfaced through the secondlife.com dashboard; the available portals (land, support, etc), the forums.
As a rule, these meetings are conducted:
On the first Wednesday of the month and 14:00 SLT.
Meetings are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.
Official Viewer Search
It was noted by some users at the meeting that the official viewer takes longer to index new users so they appear within the web search People tab, whereas TPVs using the legacy search seem to index them a lot faster.
It was similarly noted that very short user / place names (3 letters of less) don’t always show up in search results.
It was asked why there is a L$30 fee for creating a Classified ad in a user’s profile / Search (short answer: to provide an additional search service of more “curated” locations over general search) and why such classifieds are not categorised (short answer: they are, via a pre-defined drop-down).
There have been some reports of the viewer search constantly requesting cookies be accepted, either on every use, or the first time Search is used during a user’s current log-in session.
In Brief
Ability for MP merchants to have their own “featured items” display pinned to the top of their store page on the first page of their MP store.
This idea has been floated by Sntax Linden a couple of times, and would allow Merchants to select items from their store (e.g. new items, best selling items, etc.) highlighted in some manner as featured items (possibly in a similarly distinctive manner to the Featured Items displayed on the MP home page).
It was met with broad approval / agreement.
LL are still looking at the way thumbnails of products are selected for display within users’ Favourite Stores lists on the MP, with a view to making it more useful to Merchants. This might be by:
Displaying thumbnails of their most recent releases, so people can use the list as a quick reference to what is new in their favourite MP stores.
Tying the selected thumbnails to the store “featured items” capability discussed above (if implemented).
General discussion on in-world store activity.
Some felt that the large volume of shopping events is having a negative impact of in-world store footfall, as people are event-focused, rather than opting to visit stores directly.
Some reported experiencing a steady decline in footfall within their stores, others no change / a potential increase in recent months.
It was pointed out that besides events, creator-merchants don’t necessarily help themselves by not updating the SLurls to their stores / items as listed on the Marketplace when they move (probably in part because there is no easy mechanism for them to do so on the MP if individual listings include SLurls).
The above led to a broader discussion on market forces, such as the fact that content creation is now for more the purview of these wishing to do so on a full-time basis (in order to remain competitive) rather than something the “hobbyist” creator can enjoy as a means of generating revenue as a means to help support their in-world activities (land tier, etc.).
Th question was raised as to whether CasperVend should / will be remained as it is now a LL property (just as OnRez and XStreet SL were purchased, with the latter going on to become the SL Marketplace).
The above included comments relating to the unfortunate / unwarranted knee-jerk reactions some users have had towards the Lab (and CasperVend users) in the wake of a certain article published within the social journalism website Medium, and which has been officially commented upon here (and, if interested, I’ve offered my tuppence worth of commentary here).
It was asked whether people have made any attempt to use generative AI in their content creation. The broad feedback was – no. This saw a series of follow-up questions:
Do people think AI tools could be useful – possibly, but not far enough developed to be sure.
Should content produced using AI tools and sold on the MP be marked as such – yes.
Are there any preferred tools already in use with content creators – not really.
This lead to a subjective (i.e. only a handful of creators) discussing how AI tools are viewed / currently used within SL (e.g. to generate vendor images).
Sntax noted that feature requests made via the Feedback Portal board for the MP /Web are recorded and used to help inform and direct WUG meetings, particularly where it is felt broader / deeper feedback on ideas is required.
A further request was made for store / brand names on within SL to be unique (as with avatar account names), to both help secure branding against copycats and also to make it easier for users to find the content they want when searching the MP.
A suggestion that when there are Marketplace issues and updates, a mechanism is put in place to pop-up a notice when users access the MP, rather than replying purely on GridStatus (+ its outlets on Social Media), as many users aren’t even aware of the latter, whilst having notices actually on the MP means they are eyeballing them directly.
Memories of Dreams, April 2024 – click any image for full size
Susann Decuir is responsible for drawing me to Memories of Dreams, a marvellously Japanese-themed Homestead region design by Yxes (Yxes Evergreen). she did so when I caught her write-up on the setting in her blog whilst I was largely outworld of SL during March 2024. As regulars to these pages know, almost anything with an Oriental theme will pique my interest, so I noted the SLurl and at the first opportunity on getting back in-world, off I toddled (or rather, my alt toddled!) so I could poke my nose in and have a look.
Spring in a Japanese styled sim….a place to sit and reflect once you’ve explored all the small nooks and crannies. Be sure to notice the Orcas migrating along the coast.
– Memories of Dreams, About Land Description
Memories of Dreams, April 2024
The setting is one of those which amply demonstrates the adage “Less is more”. Yxes has used a little of 50% of the region’s Land Capacity to produce a wonderfully evocative setting that does not need to be filled to the brim with objects in order to achieve its stated goal.
At least partially surrounded by off-region mountains (I’m actually not sure if it is supposed to be entirely surrounded, because for some reason the 3070 GPU on my current PC has a devil of a time rendering region surrounds where my old 970 rarely worked up a sweat in doing so), the setting is suggestive of a quiet retreat located on a (little-visited?) islet within the Japanese archipelago. The summer retreat, perhaps of a once-powerful Shogun.
Memories of Dreams, April 2024
The island’s rugged form is dominated by a large pagoda-like building. Perhaps once a home perhaps once a temple, it surrounded by a variety of trees – Japanese maple, Sakura, plum trees and more – which give colour and vitality to the knobbly and uneven mass of the island’s central knoll in a manner flowers and shrubs would not be able to manage. In addition, the trees obviously provide shade and a sense of coolness for those wandering this wildling garden as it sits around the main building.
Below the main structure, to the north-west and north and both sitting withing the island’s shallows, are two further structures. The each sit at the end (or start, depending on your point of view!) of a stone stairway set into the island’s slopes.
Memories of Dreams, April 2024
Located at the end of the potentially grander stairway – it being quite broad at its lower extent and semi-defensively boxed-in by walls on three sides – is a single-roomed building set upon stone slabs set above the coastal waters. Now a place to enjoy a quiet meal, it’s general design suggests that it may have once been where boats bringing people to the island came alongside.
The second building is also single-roomed, but sits slightly off-shore within the walls of what might be a man-made island. Torii gates and stepping stones over the shallow waters provide access to its gates, and the structure itself, located in a formal sand garden crossed by further stepping stones, has the feel of perhaps once having been a walled temple or shrine, but which is now given over the the art of the tattooist.
Memories of Dreams, April 2024
Close by this walled setting, and sitting on a low-lying headland, is a Japanese Zen garden offering a walk around its gravel paths and a way down to the island’s eastern beach, where visitors might to watch passing Orca as they frolic off the coast. A second arc of sand lies on the south side of the island. Located within a shallow cove, it is reached by walking down the grassy slopes from the main building.
Throughout all of this, subtle depth is added through the placement of small artistic touches – umbrellas apparently caught on a mysterious updraft so they hover above the entrance to the main building; a broken Torii gate with payer papers still pinned to it; Toro and other lamps scattered around to help hold the night at bay from the paths and steps; sculptures giving further voice to the presence of human hearts and minds on this little isle; and the gentle, watchful eyes of Buddha observing all who come and go, and the dance of Japanese Crane.
Memories of Dreams, April 2024
All told, a beautifully idyllic and beautifully relaxing (not to mention utterly photogenic) location, and once well worth visiting and appreciating.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 