Category: Opinion

Firestorm on the Official Viewer download page: tipping the balance?

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

I’ve been a user of the Firestorm third-party viewer (TPV) since its inception (and was a user of its precursor, Phoenix). It’s a viewer which offers a comprehensive set of capabilities – those also available in the Official Viewer; those otherwise tucked away in the debug settings and brought to light through the building of UI elements; and those developed by members of the Firestorm team and those contributing to it down the years.

True, it may not run well on all systems – indeed, it may not run as well as other viewers on the same computer; but it offers such a range of capabilities that it is practical for anything a person might want to turn their hand to in SL, from simply pootling around and having fun, to photography, building, scripting, and content creation. Hence why it has become the most widely used TPV in Second life (and, quite likely, Open Simulator worlds).

Given the large percentage of users engaged with SL through Firestorm can clearly present LL with some major headaches, particularly when it comes to matters of support and the deployment and adoption of new capabilities within Second Life. For example, in the six months or so prior to this article one of the main hold-ups in allowing LL to completely switch Second Life over to the WebRTC Voice service and finally turn-off the outdated, troublesome (and potentially costly?) Vivox service, has been the fact that many Firestorm users still use versions of the viewer without the necessary WebRTC support (although that number has been declining).

As it does have such a large percentage of the the total SL user base means it cannot simply be ignored by LL on any level. In this, I do applaud recent moves on the part of the Lab to allow staff to become more au fait with Firestorm and its capabilities, and in publicly recognising the sheer weight of user numbers Firestorm has. Not only does this potentially assist in terms of support issues, it allows Lab personnel more readily understand where people like content creators are coming from when discussing options and capabilities that may have been exposed within Firestorm but may not be so readily apparent in the Official Viewer.

However, what I don’t think is particularly fair is the for Lab to promote Firestorm to the exclusion of all other TPVs. At the June Web User Group it was stated that Firestorm would be added to the Official Viewer download page, and this was due shortly thereafter.

The updated official viewer download page with Firestorm

What I find unfair in this move is not the inclusion of Firestorm on the Official Viewer download page per se. As noted, there are good reasons for LL to acknowledge it. Rather it is in the fact that in doing so, all other TPVs are completely ignored to the point where they might as well not exist. Even the one link referencing third-party viewers goes to the Firestorm Viewer download page, not the Third Party Viewer Directory. There’s not even a statement as to what a TPV actually is.

Worse, the appearance of Firestorm alone on the Official Viewer download page can so easily be interpreted as meaning Firestorm is now “officially endorsed” by Linden Lab as “the” alternate viewer for accessing Second Life; or for those relatively new to SL, that Firestorm is the only TPV on offer.

As such, I cannot help but find this move to be demeaning towards the developers of other third-party viewers. Yes, they may well have a smaller overall percentage of users when compared to Firestorm, but this doesn’t invalidate them. What’s more – and as I’m sure the Firestorm developers will agree – many of the people behind those other viewers have contributed to the success of Firestorm and the Official Viewer through code contributions (direct and indirect).  Thus, to ignore them entirely is to do them a disservice, however unintended.

The point here is that all of the above could have been easily addressed from the outset by including a section on the Official Viewer download page below the one for Firestorm, outlining what third-party viewers are, and which provides links to the TPV Directory and the TPV Policy. Nor does such a statement have to be complicated. For example:

Third-party viewers are developed by users of Second Life. They are based on the core code from the official viewer but offer additional options and capabilities to users. Third-party viewers (including Firestorm) are not endorsed or supported by Linden Lab. However, those recorded on our Third Party Directory have been self-certified for their compliance with our Third Party Viewer Policy to provide a positive and predictable experience for all Second Life Residents.

Such an inclusion would only be fair an appropriate – as I hope that if anyone from the Lab who might read this piece would agree. All TPV developers put in considerable amounts of their own time and effort into developing viewers to offer users a broader choice in the software they might opt to use. As noted, numbers of active users employing them might pale in comparison to Firestorm, but this does not make them any less deserving of a similar degree of recognition by LL.

Linden Lab: statement on recent allegations

Posted on by Inara Pey
© and ® Linden Lab

In February 2024, an article was published on the social journalism website Medium¹, making various allegations against Linden Lab and some of its employees and contractors together with various users on the Second Life platform, as well as claims relating to some of the services provided to users of the platform.

At the time of the article’s publication, I contacted the Lab concern its claims and allegations, but other than referencing a broad statement being given to those contacting Support on the matter, and an off-the-record comment, there was no official response for the purposes of quoting. As such, I decided not to comment on the claims or the Lab’s response until such time there was any formal statement on the matter, rather than writing on the basis of pure speculation.

Such a statement was made on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024 (when I happened to be away from Second Life entirely, dealing with an exceptionally hectic personal life, hence the somewhat belated nature of this piece). It came from company owner and Executive chairman, Brad Oberwager, who is, as many know, extremely hands-on with Linden Lab and its products.

If you have not already done so, you can read the full statement from Mr. Oberwager here.

For my part, I’ll simply highlight the core part of the statement, coming as it does after numerous in-world and on-line demands that the Lab publicly respond to the piece published via Medium’s website:

I promise you that we are taking this very seriously. Very. Full stop. 
I promise we hear you. We know you’re angry and you’re confused. We are working to do our best to resolve your concerns and restore your trust in us. These are complicated issues and we want to do things right. We will make mistakes along the way. I wish I could say we will not, but we will. 
As owner of Linden Lab, I have initiated a thorough investigation, both internally and with external partners, to review whether or not there have been any violations of our company and community policies by employees, contractors, or community members. While early preliminary internal investigations suggest that some of the accusations are unfounded, I want to make sure that we get additional investigative support externally to ensure that the process is fair and thorough.
One of our top priorities has been to ensure the safety of our residents, moles, employees, and families. There are real people behind the avatars, and it has been important to confirm that nobody was in actual physical danger. 
Additionally, I am taking proactive steps to review and revamp many of our policies, including a comprehensive review of our Community Standards, Content Guidelines, and Ageplay Policy. Any violation detected will be met with swift enforcement actions to protect our community. We’ll be sharing these revised policies in the coming weeks and, critically, we are turning to the community to help us shape the future of how governance operates within Second Life. 

While there were almost immediate calls on on social media and in-world for the Lab to make known its response to the allegations made and provide “full transparency” (or even a basic “we are investigating”), they were perhaps premature.

Given the seriousness of some of the allegations made (including the potential for them to be defamatory towards the company and the individuals named), caution of approach in even the most preliminary investigation was bound to be required, together with legal circumspection on what the Lab might or could say. This is further compounded by the fact the Medium piece brings together numerous different claims and allegations, some of which are perhaps easier to verify (e.g. issues within the Marketplace), others of which are not (including obtaining some veracity concerning the author of the piece, particularly given its pseudonymous nature²). Ergo, any investigation, either preliminary or in-depth, would / will take weeks (even months) to complete.

Nor, frankly, should there be any expectation that – given a statement has now been made – that the results of any investigation will be publicly disclosed in full once completed. There may well be legal or other ramifications which preclude this from happening.

That said, I do welcome the statement by Mr. Oberwager; it actually speaks well of the company that as soon as they have been in a position to respond to user sentiment on the matter, they have done so, and through the voice of their owner .

Footnotes

  1. At the time of writing this piece, the article in question has been found in violation of Medium’s rules of publication, and is subject to further investigation, and thus suspended from being viewed.
  2. The Medium piece was published under the account name “dantesedmond1844”.This appears to be a intentional reference to Edmond Dantès, the protagonist in Alexander Dumas’ 1844 novel of revenge / vengeance, The Count of Monte Cristo. Which, given the overall nature of the article, to me would appear to be a very curiously coincidental choice of account name (or possibly a contextual choice).

Note: as this piece is related to an on-going investigation onto an article containing unproven (and potentially questionable) allegations against specific individuals, it is requested than any comments offered in response to this piece forgo naming or otherwise discussing those individuals.

Second Life Mobile App enters “private” Alpha testing for Premium Plus users

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL Mobile, December 2023 – screen cap via Linden Lab

Update, December 13th: – the Lab now has an official blog post on the Alpha.

Linden Lab have announced – by way of a You Tube video (at the time of writing, I’ve not seen any official blog or forum post commentary  to accompany it) – the launch of a Second Life Mobile “Private Alpha” allowing Premium Plus subscribers to sign-up for the opportunity to take the app for a test drive and provide feedback to help with development.

Narrated by – I believe – user Boston Blaisdale, the short video (just over a minute in length) introduces the features and capabilities those accepted into the alpha will be able to try. These include:

  • See your avatar & edit appearance / change outfits.
  • Explore the world via the Destination Guide, mobile showcase, teleport, deep links, TP offers.
  • Interact with the world through a limited set of movements (walk, run, fly, sit, stand) and object interactions (touch, sit) – or park your avatar and explore via flycam.
  • Socialise and stay connected (nearby chat, group chat, IM, group notices, find contacts, inspect profiles).
  • Create and log in with a new account.

The app is currently available on the following platforms:

  •  iOS (minimum: iPhone X running iOS 16.6.1).
  • Android: mid-to-high-end Android device (comparable to Google Pixel 6 or higher) running Android OS 13 or higher.

Those participating on iOS will also require the TestFlight app for testing and feedback, whilst Android users will need to provide feedback through Google Play.

Premium Plus subscribers can find out more by following this Support Page link and (I believe) submitting a support ticket. There is also a link on this page to a FAQ  on the Mobile app. It is not clear if this testing is subject to any form of NDA.

SL Mobile, December 2023 – screen cap via Linden Lab

Commenting on more general availability for the app, Linden Lab state:

It’s still early days for our mobile app. Our mobile team has been hard at work building a mobile-centred design and foundational features so that we can all enjoy Second Life anywhere we want. We’re ready to share what we’ve built so far with our most dedicated residents and we ask for your help as we continue to develop this project through this early Alpha stage, but we do not have a date for the next phase of testing or full release at this time.

Using Premium Plus members for initial feedback is an interesting choice. On the one hand, it would appear to greatly limit the potential resource pool of people willing to work on the app and give objective feedback; on the other it does allow Linden Lab to manage the size of the pool of likely applications at this point in time. Whilst some might feel snubbed at the restrictive nature of this initial Alpha, it is probably worthwhile noting that the SL Mobile app has already had input from users and will continue to do so; so will hopefully include more broad-based Alpha and Beta testing using an expanded pool of users in 2024, as LL continue to develop the app.

In the meantime, here’s the video.

Seventeen years in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
 My SL island home, as rendered on the PBR Materials viewer

So it’s another year and another pair of birthdays, physical and virtual – although I admit as the time passes, I get more and more envious of my avatar’s youth; she remains eternally young, trim and fit. Me? While I admit to still being vain enough to work out and maintain something of a trim figure (home rowing machines and exercise mats are both a godsend and a means of home torture), I have to admit that each year I find the back complaining a little more, the feet and knees getting more resentful when I go for walks or spend 20 minutes on the rowing machine…

However, be that as it may, December 5th saw my avatar reach 17 years of age. I actually had to be reminded of this by Johann Neddings (who always sends rezday greetings, bless him!), as I’d totally missed the fact for myself. I guess that as with the physical world, the older you get the harder it is to mark the passing birthdays with any enthusiasm!

2023 has been an interesting year; events in the physical world have – and continue – to mean that my ability to spend time in-world has become choppy. This is somewhat reflected in the number and frequency of posts appearing in this blog decreasing through the year as I’m just not had time to even begin to keep on top of things in Second Life. Sadly, this is likely to continue through the first part of 2024, largely as a result of one set of contractors messing a project up so badly, another project had to be postponed and cannot now commence until the end of January / start of February 2024. However, on the positive side, the project to switch to solar for the bulk of the house’s electricity requirements did go ahead without fuss or bother (although very nearly derailed by the aforementioned mess-up), and in the last 2 months alone has seen a reliance on the national grid for electricity drop by some 40%.

Anyway, what time I have had in-world has largely been devoted to various personal projects and following the ongoing updates to the platform  – particularly that of PBR Materials and the Lab’s work to adopt the Khronos glTF 2.0 specification. With the first phase of the PBR Materials work now live across the grid (see: A simple introduction to PBR materials, reflection probes & glTF in Second Life), I’m looking forward to getting the home island updated with reflection probes. I’m also eagerly awaiting the availability of the PBR Materials terrain work Cosmic Linden is working on, to see what that allows.

Another view of the island home, with two copies of the No Cottage Bazar used to form the “pool house” (lower left) ad “main house” (behind it, upper left) overlooking the old “castle courtyard”, the two linked via a small walled inner courtyard and be dint of swapping out windows on the upper level of the “pool house” for a door

In terms of the home island, Second Norway remains my “home” estate, but time being what it has been, I’ve not had the ability to fiddle-fart around with trying out new island designs and kitbashing houses as frequently as I’ve been known to do in the past. There are certainly a lot of house designs I’ve encountered whilst wandering SL and reporting on public regions, but even if I’d had the time to start playing with ideas, I’m not sure I would; a good deal of available effort this year has been in putting together a home design based on what remains one of my favourite models to be offered with Second Life: Marcthur Goosson’s NO Cottage Bizar, which I first obtained in January and initially kitbashed into – of all things – a home swimming pool and lounge area (see The NO Cottage Bizar in Second Life).

Since then, that build has gone through a couple of iterations, but remains very much in use, becoming the nucleus for a scratch-build home design using renovated ruins as a theme before I finally opted to simply bring two copies of the model together to form a single extended home. Although me being me does mean the layout has had a couple of updates since I originally blogged about it (notably swapping the positions of the “house” and the “swimming pool” with one another).

Under full sail

Due to the lack of time, sailing & boating – a particular pastime I enjoy in SL – has also taken a back seat in 2023, whilst flying has been almost totally absent my SL. However, I would like to again thank Spartaco Zemenis and Analyse Dean for their individual generosity in supplying me with versions of the ’86 Domino cruiser and Skûtsje Barge respectively. I’ve enjoyed taken both out on the water (even if the ’86 Domino is by far the largest vessel I’ve operated in SL!) and equally enjoyed modding them to suit my needs.

The other thing I’ve continued to enjoy / appreciate is Second Life is the art exhibitions and installations I’ve been privileged to be invited to view. I haven’t always been able to make every invite  – and certainly not every exhibit or installation; but the fact that my opinion is actively sought and artists and gallery owners take the time to write to me either via the blog comments or directly after I have written a review, is both greatly appreciated and genuinely humbling. Thank you to all of you for this – it genuinely keeps me engaged in SL and wanting to see (and often learn about) more art and expressionism in SL.

And, of course, there are all the marvellous public builds across the grid I’ve been invited to visit. Again, apologies to those who have sent an invite I’ve been unable to follow-up on for one reason or another; as noted already, time has often and quite genuinely often been against me. However, the fact that folk do take the time to offer a personal invitation is deeply appreciated, and I do try to respond whenever I can by paying a visit, even if time later conspires to prevent me from offering a writing-up.

A final but by no means lesser thank you to everyone who does continue to read this blog, comment on articles and who suggest ideas for articles and / or pass on news and pointers; all of you genuinely make these pages what they are as much as I (only with fewer typos! – I’m still exceedingly lazy in checking my own pieces after a day of checking other people’s written work; my apologies again for that).

Each time my rezday rolls around, I tend to wonder about the portion of my life spent in Second Life, and whether it has been a meaningful, worthwhile effort, and whether or not I should continue to devote time to it. But the flipside to this is just where else is it possible to see such a rich and diverse gathering of creativity, companionship and artistic outreach and expression from the comfort of an armchair and in the company of your own cats (yes, both of mine will actually sit on my lap / on the desk and watch SL on the screen in fascination – and occasionally try to paw something so it will stop moving!)? As long as all of that remains available, it’s kind-of hard to imagine stopping altogether.

Besides, next year my avatar will be old enough to vote! 😀

Looking at the Second Life Senra avatars

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Tuesday, August 1st, 2023, Linden Lab officially announced the release of the first of the Senra brand of starter avatars for Second Life. The announcement came perhaps a little later than had been planned – at SL20B, Patch Linden indicated the hope was to launch them in July – and more than a year since they were initially previewed at the SL19B event in June 2022.

Of course, the release of new “starter” avatars for Second Life is nothing new; there have been several such releases over the years – some of which have been covered in these pages. However, particular excitement  / interest has surrounded the Senra project, because it is the first time LL has developed a start avatar making full use of “modern” capabilities within Second Life, including the use of mesh bodies and heads, the rigging and animation capabilities presented by the extended “Bento” skeleton and capabilities such as Bakes on Mesh.

More particularly, the Senra avatars are coupled with a new approach to introducing new users to their avatars and to customising them, using a web-based process integrated into the overall New User eXperience (NUX), which commences with the sign-up process and continues through to bringing new users into Second Life via Welcome Hubs and Community Gateways.

The Senra folders in the System Library

Sadly, I’ve been unable to test this customisation process myself, so for that, I’ll have to direct you to the Second Life University video released alongside the formal announcement (and embedded at the end of this article). What I will say about it is that it is very mindful of that used with Sansar. Whether this is a result of taking lessons learned and replying them or purely coincidental, I’ve no idea; but if it is a case of the former, then I say good on LL for doing so, as the Sansar system always came across as easy-to-use.

For those who wish to try the new avatars directly, then as the official blog post notes, they can be obtained via the System Library. However, and if you have not yet done so (and while it may well be obvious to most) – do be sure to copy the folders from the Library into your inventory.

While it is possible to Add / Wear items directly from the Library, this will result in them being copied to your inventory anyway – but rather than remaining together, they’ll simply be placed in the system folder corresponding to their item type (eyes, shape, object, skin, tattoo layer…) thus scattering them throughout your inventory, rather than keeping them all nearly together.

This initial release for Senra – emphasis here because again, it is important to note that work on further avatars in the range, including anthro, are in development, as per Patch Linden’s comments at SL20B – is referenced as “Beta”; in other words, while it is officially released, feedback and lessoned learned from it will be applied to the new versions of Senra avatars as they are released.

In the meantime, this “beta” comprises two avatars: Jamie (female) and Blake (male).

In keeping with most avatar bodies and heads, they are supplied Copy / No Transfer + No Modify, and each, as supplied with this release, comprises:

  • A separate body and head. Both use the standard SL avatar UV Map using the universal channels and are fully BoM. Thus, they are reasonably compatible with most skin, tattoo and clothing layers.
  • A total of six shapes, skins (from bleached to really dark) and nail layers, eight eye colours and nine hair styles (a mix of hair objects and tattoo hairbases).
  • An identical range of clothing (tops, bottoms, skirts, etc.) for each avatar, sized to suit their basic shapes & with alpha layers for the fuller body forms.
    • Note that free additional colours of some clothing can be found at the kiosks within the SL Welcome Hubs (at the Avatar area inside the Second Life Academy).
  • A basic, HUD-style animation system with single-click stop / start capability.
The Blake and Jamie starter avatars

I don’t want to go overboard in discussing these avatars in detail; we’ll all form our own opinions on them over time – and there are others far better qualified to dig down into them than I. As such what I have to say here is somewhat subjective and intentionally limited.

The splitting of the avatars between head and body – given they were originally described as “all-in-one” back around the time of SL19B – is a good move. It allows those transitioning from these avatars to third-party options to split the expense (and learning curve) in doing so over an extended period (e.g. purchase a body first, get used to using it + its HUD, then later decide on a head), rather than having to do everything at once.

Whilst six shapes are provided, these actually split between three body sizes (which for ease of reference, I’ll call “thin”, “medium” and “broad”), and two facial feature shapes (again for ease of reference: “thinner” and “fuller”) to provide two broad sets of appearances: the “thinner” face with each of the three body sizes (shapes 1 through 3), and the “fuller” face with the three body sizes (shapes 4 through 6).

What a difference a skin makes. Left: Jamie with her default shape 4 and skin 4 (l) and the same shape with the skin supplied with the Monique starter avatar (r)

Some have critiqued the avatars  – notably the female – for not supporting heeled shoes. While Patch has indicated this may be added as an option in the future, not doing so actually makes sense in the context of new starters: have to reference a HUD system and find the option to angle the foot for a specific hell height isn’t entirely intuitive when the aim is to keep things as simple as possible.

For me, the weakness visual part of these avatars les with the skins, which lack a degree of depth and  – for Jamie at least – could have been much improved by the simple application of decent makeup in the texture, as demonstrated in the image above, which uses one of the older starter avatar skins suppled by LL (“Monique”).

Again, I can understand LL wanting to minimise items they provide so as to keep the door as open as possible for third-party content creators to join the Senra ecosystem; but surely something a little more attractive could have been provided for new users when it comes to Jamie;  something which lets them feel there avatar is at least reasonably attractive when compared to others. As it is, the blandness of the Jamie skins could leave those using it like they must immediately start spend, spend, spending to “get up to par” with others – or (as bad) feel their avatar is inadequate.

Additional Senra avatar items can also be found at the SL Welcome Hubs

My other niggle is with the animation system; I cannot fathom why LL felt a need to change a term that has been in use for almost as long as SL has been around (Animation Override). True, “Animation Controller is a more accurate term, but it still runs contrary to accepted terminology and could led to some confusion for new users – which Senra is supposed to minimise. Also, could not the animations be a little smoother or more natural?

With regards to third-party creators entering the Senra eco-system, applications for the Senra SDK, intended to allow them to obtain the SDK and do so opened a little ahead of the formal release of the avatars via a forum thread announcement.

This has prompted a lot of feedback related to the design and construction of these avatars which I’m far from technically competent to comment on. However, my own rough-and-ready comparisons using the Improve Graphics Speed floater – whilst not totally ideal in making such comparisons – suggest that overall, these avatars are not that bad when compared to other systems in terms of their overall load, even if they are perhaps not the most efficiently made.

The Jamie head (top) compared with the Lelutka Simone head (bottom, minus its separate eyes and teeth). Note the comparative faces / vertices  / VRAM counts which allow for a number of calculations by which to compare the two heads

The thread on the license agreement has also led to a degree of discussion on the extent of the requirement laid out in the agreement and its associated documents. I don’t want to drag this article out further by diving into things here, but I would say that some of the concerns raised (e.g. LL not allowing content for other head / body ecosystems) is born of a misunderstanding of Senra’s function (the system is for those new to SL and intended to offer a simplified road into avatar customisation – and providing multiple items for multiple bodies or heads could confuse new users), and a degree of over-wrought mistrust of LL born of a misapprehension around legal terms. However, for details, I’ll leave it you to to follow the thread and draw your own conclusions.

Conclusion

As with all avatar systems, Senra has its positives and negatives. What these are seen as will largely be a matter of personal experience and subjective analysis by most – as is the case with some of my comments here. As such, I’ll just close with a handful more of personal observations:

  • Are the Senra avatars an improvement on the “classic” ranges of starter avatars – absolutely.
  • Could the possibly be better? Well, most likely, yes. The devil is in the details, and I do feel this skimp on the most important detail – the skins.
  • Would I personally use one? No. But that’s because I have two bodies and four heads to play with on my main account and two heads and a body on my alt account, and they are more than enough.
  • Would I suggest friends still firmly glued to the the system avatar give Senra a go and see what they can make of them, mix and matching with items already in their inventory? Absolutely.

 

Slink et al: Siddean shutters her brands in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Siddean Munro has been a long-term content creator in Second Life, having joined in 2007 (and as a point of trivia, is one of the few Second Life residents to have to also have an entry in IMDb!). She has perhaps been best known for the Slink mesh bodies, which have been popular among many Second Life users, myself included for that least few years.

As a brand, Slink has always been at the forefront of innovation in Second Life – notably with regards to mesh: in 2011/2 she released her mesh hands and feet – the latter of which, replacing the system feet, did much to ignite the mesh shoe market in Second Life – and the release of the first of her mesh body types, Physique Original, in 2014.

As such, the sudden announcement made on January 1st, 2023 that, with immediate effect, her Slink brand, together with her more recent Cinnamon & Chai body and her One Bad Pixel brand, have been shuttered, and Siddean herself has withdrawn from Second Life.

As a Slink Hourglass user myself – I moved to Slink from Maitreya on account of Slink being somewhat kinder on the viewer when it comes to rendering the body (and allowing for the complexities and quality of attachments and rigged meshes also worn, of course) – I admit to being shaken by the announcement. For those who made the move to Cinnamon and Chai, launched just 12 months ago, the news is likely to be even more of a gut-wrenching lurch.

However, before, anyone starts stamping feet or getting upset at the apparent forewarning (although I could be wrong about the latter), as Siddean offers good reason for why she has made her choice, and there are also a couple of points to bear in mind.

Following two stressful years of pandemic which I am sure we have all been affected by in one way or the other, I suddenly lost my mother in September of 2021, my grandmother in January of 2022 and my cat Cleo in June. I have been unwell and enduring a lot of chronic pain. I have to be very honest, my spark has dimmed a little and I no longer have the energy to pour into this business like I once did.
I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last 18 months and have come to the very difficult decision that for my own physical and mental wellbeing, I need to move on from Second Life.

– Siddean Monro

In coming to this decision, Siddean also notes that the break is needed as she wants to focus on a new endeavour – as is her right, and we shouldn’t begrudge her this change in direction.

This latter point is doubly true in that while her decision is somewhat sudden in its implementation, it does not mean that it is the end of the road for the Slink ecosystem as a whole; the bodies still work, and there is a wealth of mesh and applier-based clothing still available on the Marketplace and in-world, the bodies still work with Bakes On Mesh, and so on. This isn’t all just going to vanish – so there’s no need for panic.

Of course, there is a risk that a major change with the avatar skeleton will “break” Slink avatars somewhere down the road on the basis that the avatars are no longer maintained – but there is as yet nothing on the horizon that threatens to do this – and it may never happen; as such, things are not going to vanish overnight. There is also a risk that creators entering the mesh clothing arena may opt not to support the brand and focus on Maitreya and Kupra, etc. However, the entire mesh clothing ecosystem has been skewed towards Maitreya, so this will unlikely make things any worse for Slink users. That said, things may be somewhat different for Cinnamon and Chai users, simply because of the newness of that brand; however, I’m simply not familiar enough with that body to know the potential repercussions, so will not speculate here.

As it stands, I don’t plan to move away from my Slink Hourglass any time soon – although I’m fortunate in that I have a Maitreya body “in reserve”, so to speak, so swapping away from Slink isn’t hard for me were I to decide to do so.

But what I will do here is pass on my thanks Siddean for all her work over some fifteen years in supporting Second Life users. I hope her new endeavour brings her as much success and – despite the rigours of the last 2+ years – all the enjoyment most of her Second Life has brought her.

With thanks to Soft Linden for the pointer.