Month: April 2025

Fantasy Faire 2025: your (almost) complete unofficial guide

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fantasy Faire 2025 – Izumo
If you are just after links and Surls, click here to jump to them!

The largest fantasy-related event to take place in Second Life, Fantasy Faire 2025, opened its gates to Fairelanders at 12:00 SLT on Thursday, April 17th, 2025. It will remain open through until Sunday May 4th, 2025 inclusive, once again raising money for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) efforts to bring about a World Without Cancer.

 Table of Contents

As with previous years, 2025 will see a wide range of activities and events taking place at the Faire, with role-play, parties, Jail & Bail, the LitFest, live performances, auctions, and more, together with the using multiple opportunities for fantasy- focused shopping.

The notes below are intended to get Fairelanders old and new up-to-speed with a one-page look at the event as it opens.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Holi

If You Are New to the Faire and Other Notes

If you are new to Fantasy Faire, the many regions it encompasses can be overwhelming to the point where you might fill panicked into trying to see everything at once.. But – the Fire is here for two weeks, so you have lots of time to visit, and remember: shopping and sightseeing can be much easier once all the initial rush is over!

The best place to start a first-time visit is Fairelands Junction. From here you can reach all of the regions via the teleport portals, so it makes a good hub for exploring. You can also grab a Fantasy Faire teleport HUD from here (or at the region landing points).

Also:

  • Keep up-to-date with the Faire and all that is going on through the official Fantasy Faire website.
  • The Fairelands have their own mythology and history. If fantasy is your thing, be sure to read about the History of the Fairelands.

Enjoying a Better Experience / Performance

  • For the best visual experience:
    • Make sure your viewer is set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment) as the regions all have their own environment settings, and several have dedicated day / night cycles.
    • Try to travel light! Remove heavily scripted attachments you do not require for visiting the Fairelands – including any HUDs you don’t need while visiting (thus reducing things like the texture footprint they take up on your computer and the resources they might claim on the simulator, making the latter a little better for everyone).
    • Please don’t use particle-generating attachments / effects, they may look pretty on you, but they can really impact performance.
    • If you use them, turn off Shadows rendering.
    • When there is no Linden Water visible, set Water reflections to None: Opaque.
    • Reduce your Draw Distance to lighten loading.
    • If you’re familiar with it, use the Improve Graphics Speed floater to adjust your viewer’s rendering and performance on-the-fly.
  • Regions can be busy! So if you teleport into one, be sure to move a little way from the landing point as soon as you can to avoid becoming part of an avatar tower!
  • And, despite the comments about HUDs above, don’t forget to pick up the Fantasy Faire Teleport HUD for quick and easy access to all the regions!
Fantasy Faire 2025, The Wraithwoods

Shopping

Fantasy Faire is very much about shopping. Merchants from across SL can be found in the shopping regions, all of whom offer some of their items through official RFL of SL vendors, so that proceeds of sales go to RFL / ACS.

Parties, Entertainment and Performances

The Fairechylde: DJ Events

The Fairechylde will once again be docked at the Faire, spending her time within The Golden Hour region, hosting DJ parties to keep Fairelanders entertained. These parties – live or via Fantasy Faire Radio – will be running right throughout the Faire.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Xalren

Live Performances

Throughout the run of the Faire will be live performances by musicians, singers, dance troupes and more from across Second Life. Performances will be hosted on the Arts and Performance region of Pixieland.

The Fairelands Masked Ball

Fancy a more formal soiree where tuxedoes and gowns are encouraged and an air of mystery is added with eyes behind masks? Then head for the Fantasy Faire Masked Ball. This will be hosted on The Golden Hour on two dates, so as to suit multiple time zones:

  • Saturday, April 26th – Noon through 14:00 SLT.
  • Friday, May 2nd – 18:00 through 20:00 SLT.
Fantasy Faire 2025, Misplaced Melody

Events and Activities Highlights

Literature, Theatre and Film Festivals 2025

Now in its 11th year, the Fantasy Faire Literary Festival is  being hosted at The Golden Hour, and brings with it a celebration of fantasy in the form of story. The LitFest offers many ways to experience the stories of the Faire and inspire your own tales of journeys, wonders, and adventures.

Once again, the Festival will include a special Guest of Honour, English author Genevieve Cogman, and include the region tours to encourage the inner writer / poet.

The Theatre Festival is a new event for Fantasy Faire. It will feature Talks, Practical Sessions and Rehearsals all focused on stage productions in Second Life, and will include the premiere of a new play, 310788, at the end of the Faire!

The Film Festival is returning for its fourth year at Fantasy Faire. Led by Chantal Harvey and Saffia Widdershins, there will be an almost daily event at 11:00, including talks, discussions and retrospectives of the works of different machinematographers.

Role-Play Activites and Classes

Role-play lead by  Astrium will be taking place between April 19th and 22nd. In The Echowrite Quill, travellers venturing into Obsidian Sanctum, under the watch of the Dragon Council, they may find a gate that is not locked. Whilst they may enter expecting to find treasure, they may instead find themselves entrusted with a wondrous, and terrifying, secret.

Lost to time and swallowed by the stars, a quill drifts between forgotten realms and the world of now. It is no ordinary instrument, but a relic of boundless creation—capable of scripting entire realities into existence with a mere flick of its tip. For centuries, the dragons of Obsidian Sanctum have guarded this quill in secret, watching and waiting. Only one deemed truly worthy may claim it. But first, they must solve three ancient puzzles… and restore the Ink of Forever.

– from The Echowrite Quill

Find out more via these links:

Fantasy Faire Quest: The Dreamcaster’s Cauldron

This year’s chapter of the Fantasy Faire adventure quest series is The Dreamcaster’s Cauldron. Once again the Bard Queen will call upon adventurers bold of heart to purchaser a Quest HUD (also proceeds to RFL / ACS) and follow the clues in a quest of two parts.

You don’t have to join the Quest as soon as it opens; the prizes are for everyone who completes the adventure, and the Quest will be open right through until the end of the Faire.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Gwath

And There’s More

Don’t forget, all the staples of Fantasy Faire will again be available, including the live auction, the silent auction and jail and bail – see the Fantasy Faire website for details on these .

Links and Region SLurls

Website Links Event Region SLurls Shopping Region SLurls
Website Home Page

Social Media

Albane’s Secrets in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025 – click any image for full size

I’ve often said that to create a special place in Second Life other people might enjoy doesn’t actually require holding an entire region – Full or Homestead. It’s not even necessary to have a half or even a quarter of a region; beautiful little spaces can be created almost anywhere.

Not only have I said this but over the years I’ve delighted in visiting such corners, whether as a result of discovering them through the Destination Guide or by referral or simple serendipity or personal invitation.

Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025

My latest discovery came via the Destination Guide in the form of Les Secrets d’Albane (“Albane’s Secrets”), a beautiful little garden tucked among the lakes of the Moon region of Sanara.

It’s a place created by Albane Claray, a landscape artist and the vision behind the of Village de Roqueblanche, and which I visited and wrote about in 2022. As a public space, Les Secrets d’Albane is truly tiny – just 3280 sq metres of land caught in the arms of two of Sansara’s roadways. But as the saying goes, small it may be, but it is perfectly formed.

Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025
[The] Whisper of the wind in the trees, the scent of flowers. The friends corner, gossip with no tomorrow. At the crossroads of our lives.

Les Secrets d’Albane About Land description

Visits commence at the entrance to the garden, and a detailed description really is not required; the setting clearly speaks for itself; simply follow the path through the garden to the caravan and decide where you want to go from there.

Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025

You might, for example, opt to sit outside the caravan and enjoy tea and cake, or slip inside and enjoy a game of chess from the sofa or sit at the windows and look out over the gardens. Or there’s the board game set-up outside and the reading nook and fountain further along the path.

For those who prefer, there’s a waterside area and also a boat on the water where time might be spent. My one minor niggle here is that, with a little linking to help free-up some LI, a hedge or ivy-covered wall could be placed between the road it it sits alongside the road, might help increase the sense of peace and beauty within the garden.

Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025

However, such a niggle shouldn’t be taken to mean the garden is in any way spoiled. With its richness of colour, blossoms, flowers and attention to little details, Les Secrets d’Albane is entirely pleasing. Despite its small size, the places to sit and pass the time are spread far enough apart to give a sense of privacy when more than one couple (or individual) is visiting the garden and wish for a little peace and quiet.

An altogether delightful visit, and ideal for those seeking relaxation and  / or the opportunity for personal photography. Don’t forget that should you also fancy a visit to Village de Roqueblanche, you can do so via the teleport board outside the caravan trailer.

Les Secrets d’Albane, April 2025

SLurl Details

Linden Dollar Buy fees reduced to US $0.01 for 50 hours

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Wednesday, April 16th, 2025, Linden Lab announced that Linden Dollar buy fees are reduced to US $0.01 per transaction for all Second Life users in a “limited-time offer”.

When and What

  • Offer commenced: 12:30 SLT on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025.
  • Offer ends: 14:30 SLT on Friday, April 18th, 2025.
  • Offer duration 50 hours.
  • Any purchase of Linden Dollars made during this period (within the required trading limits), whether through an Instant (Market) or Best Rate (Limited) Buy (https://secondlife.com/my/lindex/buy.php) or through the viewer (Buy L$, top right of the viewer window), will incur a transaction (Buy) fee of just US $0.01.
  • Normal L$ Sell fees still apply.
The limited-time L$ Buy fee offer applies to in-viewer L$ purchased and both Instant and Best Rate buy via your Second Life dashboard

From the official blog post:

Times are tough for a lot of people, so we’ve come up with one way to make things a little easier: Second Life is launching a special LindeX limited-time offer – a chance to make Linden Dollar (L$) Buy fees nearly disappear for a limited time! 
While the global economy wrestles with rising tariffs and tense trade talks, we’re responding with a bold, Resident-first promotion: we’re charging just a penny for your LindeX buy fees for the next 2 days. We’re committed to you – our Residents – through these challenging times, and we will continue to stand by you as we have over the past 22 years. 

For further information, please refer to the official blog post.

2025 week #16: SL SUG meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
Simurg, February 2025 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 15th, 2025 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript, and were taken from my chat log of the meeting and Pantera’s video, embedded at the end of this piece.

Meeting Overview

  • The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
  • 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.

Simulator Deployments

  • This week will see all channel restarted without and deployments.

Upcoming Deployment – Recap

This next simulator update will be called Elderberry. Among other things, this should include:

  • A new option to llDerezObject – DEREZ_TO_INVENTORY, which returns the targeted object to inventory and saves its current state (e.g. has the same behaviour as Build → Object → Save Back to Object Contents.
  • llIsLinkGLTFMaterial  – which can can determine if a face on a linked prim is PBR.
  • REZFLAG_DIE_ON_NO_REZZER – which will cause a rezzed prim to die if its rezzer is no longer present in the region.
  • Updates to llSetAlpha will have a caveat: if alpha  is set to >0.85, it will switch the overrides to opaque; setting under that value sets them to blend. This is because there seem to be some serious rendering issues with blend mode and an alpha near 1, per this image.
  • llSetGLTFOverrides, rather than changes to llSetColor and llSetAlpha to work with PBR, as changing the latter was “starting to lead down some very scary paths WRT ‘What is the right thing to do'”.

SL Viewer Updates

  • Default viewer: 2025.03 version 7.1.13.14343205944, dated April 9th, 2025, promoted April 15th, 2025.
    • New UI element for water exclusion surfaces: Build / Edit floater → Texture Tab → Hide Water checkbox.
    • The maximum amount of Reflection Probes can now be adjusted to better accommodate low VRAM scenarios.
      • Values will be set automatically depending on your chosen graphics quality. OR
      • Use Preferences → Graphics →  Advanced Settings →  Max. Reflection Probes to manually set.
    • An issue with being unable to see Sky Altitude values in the Region/Estate window has now been resolved.
    • Preferences → Graphics → Max. # of Non-Imposters has been renamed Max. # of Animated Avatars for clarity.
    • Bug and performance fixes and memory optimisations.
  • Second Life Project Lua Editor Alpha, version 7.1.12.13907344519, April 2nd.

In Brief

Please refer to the the video for details on the following.

  • A general discussion llDerezObject and whether an object being taken back by an object has been renamed will result in a copy being generated, or the original still replaced (answer: still replaced).
    • As a result, a DEREZ_TO_INVENTORY_COPY parameter has been requested, and could be suppled in the simulator update after Elderberry.
    • Rider Linden also noted he may need to disallow a reclaim on coalesced inventory objects, as once in-world, acoalesced object becomes a grouping on independent objects, with not connection between them or any means to re-group them.
    • Discussion around this functionally and iiDerezObject continued through most of the meeting.
  • Progress on SLua is described as being “good”, but as per the pervious meetings (SUG and TPVD), there is more back-end work to be done before the SLua project moves to a “beta” on Aditi.
  • Following the discussion on World → Show → Land Owners has been broken since the release of PBR such that all owners, regardless of type are only shown as red, rather than in different colours based on ownership (see Land owners colour),  it was noted that a fix for the issue should be in the next RC viewer update – 2025.04.

† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.

A look at the Aspen Ridge Linden Homes theme in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Aspen Ridge Linden Homes: Highpoint (front right) and Elkridge (front left)

The newest Linden Homes theme – this one again for Premium and Premium Plus subscribers – was launched on Tuesday, April 15th, 2025. Entitled Aspen Ridge, it has something of the Log Homes combined with the Newbrooke Homes vibe about it in terms of the general appearance of the six styles of Home offered in the theme.

With a stone base and partial stone walls mixed with wood, the theme is described as a “new chapter” in Linden Homes, and the designs appear to leverage PBR materials. The six styles within the theme comprise:

  • Parkstone – a large, lodge-style home, with a grans L-shaped main room with front and rear access, a centre-rear dogleg stairway and a small rear box room with a window to the rear aspect. Exposed beams support the ceiling, with a large, single open-plan upper floor with two under-eaves balconies to the front aspect, large windows to the rear and skylight windows.
  • Ridgeway – similar to the Parkstone, but with the upper floor divided into three areas: a large landing / hall with a balcony to the rear aspect, a small box room with balcony to the front right, and a large room to the front left with roof extension with panoramic window.
Aspen Ridge Linden Homes: Parkstone
  • Highpoint – an A-frame unit with a large main lower floor room with front access and a smaller rectangular room with view to the front and rear opening off of it. Dogleg stairs provide access to a large, open-plan upper floor.
  • Summitview – a split-level lodge-style home with the upper gallery space overlooking the main front room with panoramic windows to the front and rear aspect. Two small rooms are located under the gallery floor, both access via a short hall.
Aspen Ridge Linden Homes: Summitview
  • Elkridge – a cabin-style house with a square main room and smaller box room to the front. Stairs front the main room rise to a single rectangular upper floor room.
  • Crestwood – a single-storey cabin-style home with a awkwardly-shaped main room complete with two front entrances, with two rectangular rooms opening off of it, one to the rea and one to the front right aspect.

In terms of being a “new chapter”, this seems to reference the fact that the homes appear to use PBR materials as noted, and, in an interesting move, the fact that the ground on which they sit changes to match the northern hemisphere (North American?) seasons – this being spring at the time of writing. This is certainly a new tweak to Linden Homes, and it will be interesting to see if anything is done to retrospectively update past theme to offer the same – if possible.

Aspen Ridge Linden Homes: Crestwood

As far as the overall design, I’ll be honest, I found them a mixed bag. If I were to go for one of them, it would most likely be the Parkstone or Ridgeway, whilst the Crestwood strikes me as a missed opportunity. But that said, the use of PBR and the magic of changing seasons likely aren’t enough to crowbar me out of my Log Home. I also had to (again) question what it is about Linden Homes and back doors – or the lack thereof in many of the styles.

It’s a question I’ve often pondered, and it came to mind again in looking at the Aspen Ridge, of which only two have doors to the rear (and they are, ironically, the two with perhaps the largest footprint for any 1024 sq m parcel Linden Home – limiting the garden space front and rear). It’s not exactly a big thing, but if your house happens to be in a position so as to encourage having both a front and rear garden, having styles that require traipsing around to the back garden from the front door tends to get … old.

And with that off my chest, I’ll note that the Aspen Ridge theme can be previewed at the BelliHub Linden Home Demo area and at the demo area within the Second Life Welcome Hub.

Aspen Ridge Linden Homes: Ridgeway

Retirement of “Old” Linden Homes Announced

The release of the Aspen Ridge homes brought with in confirmation that the original 2010 Linden Homes (now referred to as “legacy Linden Homes”) and their mini-continents are to start to finally be retired. This had been indicated back in 2019, when the current Linden Homes launched with the Traditional and Houseboat themes, but the actual retirement was repeatedly delayed as the older Homes appeared to remain fairly popular among those disinterested in moving.

With the confirmation the legacy Homes are now to be retired, those still holding one are strongly advised to upgrade via the Linden Homes page.

Additional Information

Linden Lab announces AI Town Hall with Philip Rosedale

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Town Hall meeting space

During the March 2025 Community Round Table / Town Hall meeting (which I have summarised here, complete with the official video of the event†), there was a peaceful demonstration by some Second Life users on the use of AI / generative AI within the platform. Such concerns have also been formulated elsewhere, such as this document outlining objections to AI on the Feedback Portal.

At the time of that meeting, Lab CTO, Philip Rosedale stated the company would look to hold an open Town Hall meeting to discuss concerns about AI, together with the opportunities it might present, and on community values around the use / presentation of AI in Second Life.

On Monday, April 14th, 2025, the Lab officially announced the event, now entitled Second Life Town Hall on AI & the Future of Our Virtual Community.

Meeting Date, Time and Location

Meeting Purpose

To quote from the official blog post:

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly present in both our physical and virtual worlds, the Second Life community is coming together for a Special Town Hall event to explore its evolving role and impact within our shared metaverse.
This special event will include an open and interactive conversation focused on the opportunities, concerns, and community values surrounding AI in Second Life. We’ll be diving into topics that matter deeply to residents—from identity and authenticity to economic impact, creative ownership, and the future of social interaction.
This event will be hosted by Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, who will facilitate a lively discussion with the community on all-things-AI.

Topics under consideration for discussion are listed as:

  • How AI-generated avatars may affect identity and trust in social spaces
  • Generative AI and the Second Life creative economy.
  • Emotional manipulation, consent, and transparency with AI-driven characters
  • Use of AI in customer support and other non-in-world services
  • Balancing creative opportunities and responsible use of emerging AI tools

Participation

The meeting is open to all Second Life users and will  – I presume, as there was no direct mention of this in the official announcement when I read it – be livestreamed. Direct participation in the event is being offered in one of two ways:

  • Those who have questions / comments / thoughts on the potential / current use of AI in Second Life can submit such questions or comments for consideration during the event via this form.
  •  Those wishing to make an initial brief presentation or give prepared comments on the subject should submit a request via this form.
via Linden Lab

†While they are not officially representative of the Lab or these meetings, please note that I attempt to provide summaries of meeting such as these, and for a number of user group session within these pages.