Daniel Voyager, ever-roaming, lifts the lid to take an initial peek at the upcoming SL8B sims for the forthcoming 8th anniversary celebrations. Not too much information is available right now – although it appears that it will run across some 21 sims this year, albeit sims with slightly twee names – “Astonish”. “Impressive”, “Beguile” and so on.
Details are currently thin on the ground – no word from LL on the event as yet. However, kudos (once again) to Daniel for getting the inside scoop on what is coming down the road. Look forward to finding out more on the events,
This week is Fantasy Faire week – and quite possibly one of the best-organised events in SL for 2011. A multi-sim celebration, the fantasy covers all aspects of fantasy RP in SL, with sims themed in terms of look and vendors, to present a stunning visual experience that could be heavy on the unwary Linden dollar account!
The tower at Dark Mirage
The aim of the event is to explore the RP themes available in Second Life while at the same time raising money for Relay For Life (and nigh-on $7000 USD has already been raised, with some $1600 of that coming from just the first day).
Events are planned through the week at the faire, with tonnes of live music each and every day, plus some “special” events: such as top creators and sponsors of the event being thrown in jail, where they cannot be released until their bail is paid (all donations to freeing them go to RFL)!
While it may get a little laggy given the amount of attention the event is getting, spending time wandering the sims is more that worth the effort. Not only are thy amazing builds in and of themselves, there are some remarkable creations on sale as well.
Navigating around the sims is a joy: There is a central “hub” sim called Fantasy Faire Central, which acts as the focal-point for arrival. This has a central teleport gazebo, with charity information clearly displayed, together with adverts for the various sims and a teleport board that takes you directly to any of the other sims – where you arrive at a similar gazebo, centrally located and themed to sim, which offers the same facilities. This makes sim-to-sim teleports quick and simple from those not wishing to trust region crossings.
The themes in the sims are nicely carried through: Sea of Mer, for example, features stores with an aquatic fantasy bent – mermaids, and so on; in the Forest of Shadows, stores are all built from the wood of the surrounding forest, while in the Forest of Light, they have almost a fairy-tale look. Dark Mirage features a town build with a stunning tower as its visual focal-point which looks dramatic framed against a burnished sky at sunset.
Another view of the tower at Dark Mirage
Alongside the shops in each sim is a low-key RFL kiosk, allowing donations to be made quickly and easily wherever you are in your travels. Sims are also set to specific times of the day to enhance their appearance, and I’d strongly suggest that you leave your day times settings on Regional Default to fully enjoy this.
Getting around all of the sims is a work of perseverance; even in quiet times, the lag can hit hard – and stands as testament to the fact that Linden Lab really need to put effort into getting this sorted as a matter of course, rather than it repeatedly coming up as a “special focus” for action. However, it really is worthwhile making the extra effort as a lot of time as effort has gone into developing a look for the Faire that puts it head-and-shoulders above others. Certainly it is worth a visit – if only to drop a donation into to a very worthy cause.
Don’t forget to take a look at the Fantasy Faire website – which is packed with information, and take a look at the wide range of photos coming out of the event!
The fabulous tree house in Fantastical and Magical
Pop Art Lab have announced the winner of their Machinima Expo music video, and the video is amazing. Edits are so precise and worthy of the best today’s video editors can offer via pop and music videos, and the attention to detail is incredible – just look at the way the dancers throughout are on-beat to the music.
“From Saturday April 2nd to Sunday April 10th 2011, thousands of Second Life residents and creators are coming together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer. Friends Fighting Cancer (FFC) have transformed nine sims of Second Life into a fantasy wonderland: the Fantasy Faire 2011 to benefit Relay for Life of Second Life (RFL of SL).
“The Fantasy Faire 2011 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. Ten days of commerce, special events, live music concerts, exclusive items auctions, RFL ribbon hunts and fundraising to benefit Relay for Life and the fight against cancer. Avatars, clothing, furnishings, gadgets, goodies and exclusive items are available from top SL Fantasy Creators in stunning sims designed by builders creating some of the most noticeable fantasy spots on the SL destination guide.”
These are the opening pragraphs of the official 2011 Fantasy Faire press release.
It promises to be one of the largest user-organised events in Second Life, and it is all in a very good cause.
Just when LL appear to be doing something right for once, and taking steps to address upset and concerns over the future of youngsters and educational activities in Second Life – they then go and do this…
While it is an enormous relief to the majority of us that our tiers are unlikely to increase as a result of LL hiking up the (already exorbitant) cost of sim rental, the second part of Nelson’s post must come as a real kick where it hurts to educators and non-profits alike, specifically:
2) We will adjust how education and non-profit advantages are provided, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
All education and non-profit private regions of any type, purchased after Dec. 31, 2010, will be invoiced at standard (i.e. non-discounted) pricing. All currently discounted renewals which occur after Dec. 31, 2010, will be adjusted to the new price at that time. To continue to provide entry-level, private spaces to educators just launching their programs, we will be providing Homestead and Open Space regions to qualifying organizations without their meeting the retail full-region criterion. Customer Support will be available to answer any questions that you may have about these changes.
In a rough translation, this could, together with the blog post on 13-15 year olds entering SL be taken to read, OK, we’ve heard the pleas from you educators, and we’re going to provide a means for youngsters to join you on the main grid by limiting them to your private sims…but we’re going to foist a drastic price increase on you at short notice for those sims because or forcing you to take a product we’ve already severely capped in terms of usage, really guys, we don’t want you or your kids here.”
As has been pointed out in many of the (unanswered) replies to this post, this is a double hit from LL that is going to trigger a further migration away from the platform to other environs: not only does it hit educational institutions, but it takes out non-profits as well. what’s more, both types of institution generally set their budgets well ahead of time…and what amounts to a tad less than three-month warning of a massive price hike means that many are likely to be caught out by this move.
It’s a shame this move has been announced as it really smacks of nothing less that giving with the left hand and taking away with the right…
