Category: Second Life

Patch Linden departs Linden Lab

Posted on by Inara Pey
Eric Nix (aka Patch Linden, in-world). Via Linden Lab

On Tuesday, May 5th, Linden Lab announced that Senior Vice President of Product Operations, Patch Linden (known in the physical world at Eric Nix), is to depart the company after some 20 years.

No precise reason for his departure has been given, other than the fact it comes as part of a reorganisation of the Product Operations and Customer Success divisions, both of which have been under his remit.

Patch originally joined Second Life as a resident user in 2004, running his own business in-world. In September 2007, he officially joined the Lab as a support agent, rising to a support liaison. From there he moved to the Concierge team, and was gradually promoted to manage that particular team. Following this, he shifted his focus to the role of Operations Support Manager for around a year before joining the Product division, which has the responsibility for defining the features, etc., found within Second Life.

Whilst a part of the Product division, Patch developed the Land Operations team, which includes the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW). He also became the prime mover with the Land Operations team and LPDW in establishing and expanding the Linden Homes offerings for subscriber users, and developing the Bellisseria content land (and water) masses.

Patch Linden, circa 2017, via Linden Lab

In 2018, he established the company’s support office in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2020 he oversaw the move to larger office space in Atlanta, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and then in 2019, he was promoted to Vice President, Product Operations.

In this role he became part of the troika of Senior Vice Presidents (along with the Senior VP of Product and the Senior VP of Engineering responsible for overseeing Second Life’s continued development on behalf of the company’s most senior management and board. As Senior VP of product Operations, he has been responsible for managing some 5 teams, including the LDPW.

Path has generally enjoyed popularity among many Second Life users, often appearing at public and special events – such as Meet the Lindens sessions at the Second Life Birthday celebrations, as well as the likes of the annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) event, and has been featured in a number Lab Gab sessions. As such, he will be missed by many.

Whilst the blog post implies Patch will be departing the Lab, a check on his account in-world suggests he may already have actually left (or at the very least, the Patch Linden account has been “retired”), as it appears to be no longer available – which is generally a sign an employee has left the company. However, whether he has departed or has yet to, I wish him well in his future endeavours.

Update: not long after this piece was published, Eric Nix’s name and image were removed from the Lab’s About page, further confirming his departure.

Be ready: WebRTC goes grid-wide in Second Life, May 5th, 2026

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

As indicated in a recent official blog post, the WebRTC voice service is due to complete its deployment to the entire main grid (Agni) on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026.

Currently available across around 25% of the grid on RC channels, the full deployment of WebRTC will see the completion of the initial phase of converting Second Life to a Voice service that is not dependent on a third-party supplier (Vivox) and can be directly maintained and enhanced by Linden Lab, opening the door to a potential range of new capabilities in the future (such as voice-to-text).

The WebRTC project started roughly two years ago, when the Lab first publicly made known it was looking to move Voice services away from a reliance on Vivox and the SL Voice plug-in for the viewer to something more modern and potentially capable. WebRTC (RTC=”real-time communication”) was selected as it is something of a “defacto standard”, being built-in to most web browsers and supporting  wide range of real-time communications tools in common use.

Since then the project has taken time to mature and reach a point where the Lab is confident it can be fully deployed across the grid without too much risk of disruption, particularly now that people are increasingly using viewers which have adopted WebRTC in their more recent versions (which was a particular problem for Firestorm with its large user-base, where because WebRTC was somewhat linked to the arrival of PBR and the performance impacts that caused, many users opted to remain with “pre-PBR” versions of the Firestorm viewer which also did not have the requisite support for WebRTC).

What This Means

  • Firstly, if you do not use Voice at all, then probably not a lot.
    • If you are using a recent (i.e. from around mid-2024 onwards) viewer version, you’ll most likely already have WebRTC support even if you never actually use it.
    • If Voice has never been a part of your SL and you’re on a viewer version without WebRTC support, you can allow other factors and viewer updates determine your upgrade path.
  • If you do use Voice, and again are on a “recent” version of a viewer, then you again don’t need to do anything; the change to grid-wide availability of WebRTC occurs on the simulator / server side of things, so there is no need to upgrade your viewer.
    • That said, if you want to have the latest bug fixes for WebRTC, and are not already using it, then you should consider updating to the latest release version of the official viewer, or whether your preferred TPV has incorporated the fixes in either a release or beta/RC version.
  • As the legacy Vivox system is decommissioned, viewer versions reliant on that service will lose all Voice functionality. This is a mandatory backend change by Linden Lab that cannot be altered or bypassed by third-party viewers. So if you wish to continue to use Voice and are on an older version of your preferred viewer, you should update to a WebRTC-capable version in order to smoothly continue using Voice.
  • If you regularly use the SL Mobile App, again there is nothing you need to do; the App already supports WebRTC.
  • One of the more noticeable impacts of the full deployment will be with peer-to-peer (P2P) Voice communications. During the transitional period, when both WebRTC and Vivox have both been operational on the grid, cross-system P2P communications between WebRTC and Vivox have not always functioned correctly. With the full deployment of WebRTC, this will no longer be an issue.
  • Similarly, other points of confusion (and possible disconnects) as a result of moving between regions running the two services will also be eliminated, as WebRTC will be the primary service across all regions.

Adding Capabilities

Moving forward, the WebRTC service will continue to be enhanced. In fact, as a part of this work, WebRTC viewer-side voice moderation capabilities are already being tested on the grid using the Second Life 2026.02 Release Candidate (RC) viewer available via the Alternate Viewers page.

Voice moderation provides the following capabilities to authorised users (e.g. Group moderators): mute or unmute individual participants; mute or unmute all users in a voice channel; manage disruptive or unintended background noise. Further:

  • WebRTC voice moderation is already available in some TPVs, so check the release notes on the most recent versions (including any beta/RC versions) of your preferred viewer to see if this is the case.
  • The official 2026.02 RC viewer with the voice moderation capabilities will be promoted to release status in the near future, allowing the code to be picked-up and incorporated in all TPVs as and when they update.

As well as voice moderation tools, and as noted above, WebRTC offers the potential for other capabilities such as voice-to-text, etc., to be added. In fact, experiments with voice-to-text have been underway within the Lab for some time, although the focus on getting the initial WebRTC fit for full deployment means that this work is far from complete and has yet to make it to a publicly-accessible project or RC viewer. Given this, it may be a while before the capability surfaces for public testing.

In the meantime, if you wish to keep up-to-date with WebRTC development, it is frequently a subject for discussion at the following user groups:

2026 SL viewer release summaries week #18

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Sunday, May 3rd, 2026

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy.
  • This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Outside of the Official viewer, and as a rule, alpha / beta / nightly or release candidate viewer builds are not included; although on occasions, exceptions might be made.

Official LL Viewers

  • Default viewer  – One-Click Installer = 26.1.1.23806384790 – April 10 – No change.
  • Second Life Release Candidate (RC) viewer: Flat UI – 26.2.0.25021396775, April 29 -“flat” UI and font update – New.
  • Second Life Project Viewers:

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V7-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • SL Mobile iOS version  0.1.163391, April 28 (Android update pending at the time of writing).

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

A reacquaintance with Missing Melody in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Missing Melody, May 2026 – click any image for full size

It’s been nigh-on three years since I last dropped into Missing Melody, the always eye-catching Full region held by Bambi (NorahBrent), with its regularly changing settings. As such, I felt it was high time for I reacquainted myself with the region to see what Spring and Summer 2026 have brought forth.

What is a Missing Melody? It’s that song in your head that you can’t get out but not sure how it really goes. It’s that temptation you want to have in your life so you can fight to resist. It’s that place in your heart that is always waiting.

– Missing Melody About Land / Destination Guide description

Missing Melody, May 2026

For this iteration, the region presents a small island lying to its eastern side and with an east-west orientation. In fact, such was the body of water within the region’s boundaries, I did wonder if Bambi had taken a dive underwater to present an aquatic garden or similar. But this is not the case; the island is presented on its own as a place ideal for photography and scene-setting.

On arrival, the Landing Point one is surrounded by the sound of bees going about their business among the flowers growing tall on either side of the footpath running through the Landing Point. Following the orientation of the island, this path is also lined on one side by a line of powerline poles, although these now seem to serve as a means of draping hanging plants along the side of the path to add a further touch of overhead colour.

Missing Melody, May 2026

The eastern end of the path provides access to a small teahouse formed from a converted greenhouse. Noticeboards at the gateway provide information on The Nature Collective and an opportunity to join the local Missing Melody group for rezzing rights which can be used for photography props. The teahouse itself is a cosy little setting, a small semi-wild garden growing outside and plenty of little treats to be found inside.

The teahouse and Landing Point lie on something of a grassy, shoulder on a hill which continues to rise to the south. Heavily wooded, the hill, together with the trees on the north side of the path, serves to give a sense of seclusion to the treehouse.

Missing Melody, May 2026

The ground on three sides of these uplands drops away sharply to the waters below. However, at the western end of the path, the land slopes away more gently, dropping down past white dry stone walls to where Sakura tress mark the path down to a coastal stretch of lowlands rich in flowers and where someone has established a little artistic retreat.

Close by this little retreat stands a small cabin on the edge of a little southern inlet.  It has the look and feel of a single-room accommodation – perhaps where the artist rests when not painting, and a couple of small rowing boats (one in somewhat better condition than the other!) sit on the waters of the little inlet, watched over by the local deer.

Missing Melody, May 2026

Overall, this is a very modest design when compared to past iterations of Missing Melody – but that is not to say it is without merit. It is as picturesque as past designs, and finished in a rich soundscape that is not overbearing. As noted, opportunities for photography await discovery and the tea house and cabin offer quiet retreats for those looking for somewhere to simply pass the time.

As always, Missing Melody makes for a gentle, unhurried and pleasing visit.

Missing Melody, May 2026

SLurl Details

April 2026 SL Mobile User Group meeting summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Campwich Forest grounds: location for the Monthly Mobile User Group (MMUG)
The following notes were taken from the Thursday, April 30th 2026 Monthly Mobile User Group (MMUG) meeting. These notes should not be taken as a full transcript of the meeting, which was largely held in Voice, but rather a summary of the key topics discussed.

The meeting was recorded by Pantera, and her video is embedded at the end of this summary – my thanks, as always to her in providing it.
Table of Contents

Meeting Purpose

  • The Mobile User Group provides a platform to share insights on recent mobile updates and upcoming features, and to receive feedback directly from users.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
    • The last Thursday of every month at 12:00 noon SLT.
    • In Voice and text.
    • At Campwich Forest.
  • 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.

Core Mobile Team

The following are core (but not necessarily the only) members of the Mobile App team:

  • Bridie Linden; project manager.
  • Radix Linden: Mobile engineering manager. A new Linden, he has a strong Unity development background and his initial focus at LL is ensuring that Mobile is a smooth, seamless experience.
  • Adam Sinewave: lead developer.
  • Beanie Linden: QA.
  • Brad Linden: developer.
  • Stray Linden: back-end infrastructure engineer.

Resources

Current Releases

See notes below.

Recent Updates

  • A release was made on Tuesday, April 28th – Apple version number given as 0.1.163391.
    • At the time of writing, the update did not appear to be available for / had not fully propagated through the Google Play Store; my Android version had no update option from 0.3.1089, and any removal + reinstall still left me on 0.3.1089.
  • This release adds:
    • Display of, and interaction with, LLDialog support, allowing in-world object interaction dialogues to be displayed and used (e.g. pose menus for chairs / seats, etc.).
    • French UI support.
    • Improved Voice services – clearer microphone status; better spatial audio positioning; more consistent mute controls; user blocking / unblocking; removal of unnecessary prompts; clearer messaging when Voice or the device microphone is not available; users should be able to hear other users whether their avatar is sitting or flying, etc. (both of which could cause Voice to cut out for the seated / flying avatar); and to ensure privacy, the device microphone is off by default in the App when logging-in or re-logging.
  • Bug fixes:
    • Favourites (locations) no more duplication; no more to tap favourites to get them to respond; users new to Mobile can now Favourite a location.
    • Streaming audio: shows the correct status (e.g. only showing the streaming audio as muted when it is actually muted, rather than showing it as such when the audio is still playing), however, there still may be intermittent cases of this bug appearing, so if you encounter it, please file a report. Steaming audio should also be consistent across sessions (e.g. if it is turned off in one session, it should remain off in all subsequent sessions until turned on again, and vice-versa).
    • Multi-factor Authentication: no more need to input and authentication token every time the Mobile App is used.
  • Crash rates: crash rates have been greatly decreased. On Android they were above the thresholds set by Google, and have now been brought down to be well within them. There is more work to be done on iOS, but this is on the radar.

General Q&A

  • Chat, chat storage and chat history.
    • Work on “modernising” the chat UI is in progress, but is a long-term project.
    • Mobile has the capability to archive chat sessions – but only Mobile-to-Mobile (as indicated in past Mobile User Group summaries) and there have been requests to make this more cross-platform (e.g. combining Mobile archives with Desktop chat histories). Mobile retains chat histories on the server for up to 90 days – and a little longer locally.
    • The plan is to have more integration between the two, including similar storage times between the two, with full integration of chat histories between both Mobile and Desktop.
  • Camera movement: there are some conflicts between camera movement and Vstick tap / movement. This is something still to be addressed, although a degree of user interaction (such as how taps / touches are performed when attempting to move the camera) which can also cause the conflicts.
  • It was asked if there is / could be a setting to adjust the Vstick sensitivity (some someone isn’t always running everywhere). The reply was “kind-of but not quite”.
    • There are a couple of settings which can affect the Vstick.
    • However, the overall problem is that SL doesn’t have linear motion – you are walking or you are running; this results in a little too much use of the Vstick on Mobile triggers the avatar to switch from walking to running.
    • As such, there is no means to really make adjustments within the Vstick code; instead, the Mobile team is looking to make running a separate toggle button.
  • Streaks / Achievements: will be continuing for the foreseeable future.
    • LL would eventually like to get to incorporating Special Achievements into the App – a rotating series of “novel” things to do / discover in Second Life.
    • Some of these may include Linden Dollar rewards when built. If this is the case, Streaks could be phased out of the App.
  • The question on why more existing users haven’t come over to Mobile (asked during the March meeting) was asked again. Responses were pretty much the same as in the March meeting.

Date of Next Meeting

Woodland Reverie: an artist’s homage in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
IMAGO Art Gallery, April / May 2026: Sethos Lionheart – Woodland Reverie

In January 2026, and on the recommendation of Cube Republic, I dropped into Whithermere, a Homestead region designed by Dargason L’Ardente (rlhaydenfield) as both her home and a public space open to visitors. I was immediately taken by the setting, finding it a rich, evocative and highly photogenic, as noted in Of Whithermere’s ancient beauty in Second Life.

Unsurprisingly, given the region’s beauty and sense of peace, I’m not the only one who has been drawn into its sheer beauty and touches of fantasy. Take Sethos Lionheart for example: he has been so captivated by the region and Dargason’s work that he has dedicated an entire exhibition to the region’s beauty in the form of Woodland Reverie, which opened at Mareea Farrasco’s IMAGO Art Gallery on April 15th, 2026.

IMAGO Art Gallery, April / May 2026: Sethos Lionheart – Woodland Reverie
In Whithermere, Dargason L’Ardente has created a woodland sanctuary of remarkable beauty and enchantment. The region unfolds through winding paths, shaded glades, waterfalls, streams, and hidden woodland spirits, offering visitors a place that feels both immersive and touched by quiet magic. At its heart lies Sedany Woods, shaped by Dar’s vision as the designer behind Moss & Fern Landscape Design. Her work reveals a rare gift for creating landscapes that feel alive—places of wonder, stillness, and discovery, where every turn of the path invites deeper wandering.

– Sethos Lionheart on Whithermere

IMAGO Art Gallery, April / May 2026: Sethos Lionheart – Woodland Reverie

Set out in 20 images, each perfectly framed, edited and carefully enhanced through the considered use of post-processing, Sethos’ images bring home the richness and depth of Whithermere so vividly, the desire to go from the exhibition to the region exerts a powerful pull. This is further encouraged by the provision of a landmark to Whithermere within the notecard accompanying the exhibition (touch the introductory wall, complete with a portrait of Dargason herself (which forms the 21st image in the collection)).

However, as well as celebrating Whithermere, these are images which speak to an artist dedicated to his work, who uses the tools at his disposal – Second Life, EEP settings, post-processing techniques – to craft images that both capture the heart and spirit of the locations they depict and offer a unique perspective on those locations, coloured by his eye and the mood invoked within him on capturing them. Thus, Woodland Reverie speaks both to Dargason’s considerable skill as a landscape creator and to Sethos’ own skills are an interpreter of such landscapes through the lens of his imagination and mood.

IMAGO Art Gallery, April / May 2026: Sethos Lionheart – Woodland Reverie

In all, a most excellent exhibition and homage to Whithermere, and one well worth visiting.

SLurl Details