Category: Second Life

2025 week #26: SL SUG meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
Pususaari, April 2025 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript. The notes were taken from my chat log of the meeting. No video this week.

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

  • There are no planned deployments to any channels this week, only restarts (RC channels subject to confirmation at the time of the meeting).
  • The back-end work which had stalled simulator updates over the last few weeks is now coming to an end.

SL Viewer Updates

In Brief

  • The subject of holding the meeting every other week was raised again, somewhat supported by those who have only been attending since the simulator release cycle had been put on hold. The majority still favoured a weekly meeting, with the chair possibly rotated between those Lindens who regularly attend.
  • Leviathan Linden:
    • His work to try to fix the “sometimes not all content shows up at login” problem is awaiting review. If it passes, it could be in the next simulator update (Fig Newton / Fig Pudding – whichever name is now en vogue).
    • Has an idea as to what might be causing missing content on sim crossing and inter-sim TPs, but needs time to dig into it and try to come up with a solution.
    • Also hopes to finish working on a slight speed-up of the code that generates full object updates so that SLua scripts don’t seem slow when processing such updates.
    • Further noted that reports that the new version of Firestorm causing the server to suffer low FPS (45 → 35) for 1 – 4 seconds, every 60 or 90 seconds when driving a vehicle might also be related to object update issues, although he has yet to carry out a detailed investigation to determine a) if it is real; b) what might be causing it.
  • Monty Linden:
    • Has been tracking down the cause of the issue of corrupted Linden grass on and simulator restart (see this report as a reference).
    • Is doing some maintenance work on the Key Value Pair (KVP) store (associated with Second Life Experiences), but noted there are currently no plans for more in-depth work on the KVP store at present, although some plans are being considered.
    • Responding to
    • Allow llHTTPRequest to request application/x-ndjson, noted it would have to be reviewed and that LL’s  http library insists on interpreting response bodies even though it shouldn’t (e.g. can’t do ‘Range’ if a fragment of json or other structured language is to be returned).
  • A request was made for a native HTTP library for SLua, with Leviathan Linden noted there would probably be no special path for SLua http; rather, the plan is for any custom script callback operations to be uniform across the various script engines.
  • A further discussion on issues of people being being able to select non-owned vehicles / having a scripted ability to report when someone else touches a person’s vehicle / attempt to interfere with vehicles.
  • A further discussion on SLua capabilities, with a comment from Leviathan Linden that Rider Linden (on vacation) and Harold Linden (not available for the meeting) would likely be better placed to answer in detail.

† 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.

SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations – summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations: (l to right): Squeaky Mole, Missy Mole, Patch Linden, Keira Linden and Izzy Linden
On Monday, June 23rd, 2025, Linden Lab held the first of the SL22B Meet the Lindens events, featuring personnel from the  Product Operations teams. The session was a live event  and featured:

  • Patch Linden – Senior VP of Product Operations, Customer Support & Trust & Safety.
  • Keira Linden – Manager, Customer Success & Trust & Safety.
  • Izzy Linden – Creative Producer.
  • Missy Linden – Linden Department of Public Works.

This is a summary of the majority of topics discussed at the session, and the official video of the session is embedded at the end of this article.

 Table of Contents

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

Linden Homes

Plans

[Video: 4:21-7:19 and as noted below]

  • LL recently released the Premium Aspen Ridge Homes and new styles for the Premium Log Homes.
  • As well as updating theme with new styles, the work also involves updating the back-end technology and improving the overall look of the Linden Homes.
  • The size of Bellisseria makes updating all Linden homes to things like PBR “a challenge”, but will be “chipped away at” as things progress. Updates will continue through the year.
    • [Video 16:19-17:52] Updates will be made on an ongoing basis, notably with PBR improvements, but it might not be possible to implement the seasonally changing landscaping across all of the Linden Home regions.
    • [Video 1:14:15-1:14:30] There have been requests from content creators to be able to hook-into the Linden Homes season changing capability, and this is being worked on.
  • By the end of 2025 the Linden Homes offerings should be: 10 Premium themes (with Trailers also supporting Plus); 5 Premium Plus themes and 1 theme of mixed Premium / Premium Plus.
    • This last mixed theme is scheduled for later in the year and will include “some exciting features”.
  • [Video: 1:16:57-1:19:39] Why does the Lab move on to a new theme of home before an existing theme is “finished”.
    • No theme is every really considered “complete”; while there is an initial map, the Lab is more driven by a mix of demand and diversity.
    • Demand: rather than deploy a “complete” build involving (say) 50 regions, only a handful might be initially released, and those then added to over time based on the popularity of the theme.
    • Diversity: additional themes are released whilst others are still available / not fully occupied to give users an broader choice of themes / styles.

Next Theme – Ridgewood Enclave

[Video: 5:37-6:40]

  • The next theme will be Premium Plus Homes and is “right around the corner” and will be offered under the name Ridgewood Enclave.
  • It will “be separate and kind-of its own thing” and be LL’s first foray into offering allowing commercial activities (which has long been requested).
  • Those obtaining a parcel within Ridgewood Enclave will have the option of devoting their parcel to a home, or splitting it between home and commercial.
  • The roll-out will likely be the homes first, followed by the ability to split parcels between home and commercial.

“Game of Homes”

[Video: 21:03-27:52]

  • Will the selection process for Linden Homes within a theme be improved to that the system does not re-select a parcel a user has already rejected in their current batch of searches (limited to 5 per 24 hours)?
    • Not really. The system is a) old; b) as random as it can possibly be.
    • However, it is recognised it will keep serving up specific parcels, even if far more are available, and may only move on when the parcels it keeps offering are all taken.
    • If a user finds they are constantly being re-offered the same parcel within one of their 5-picks periods, they can contact support, who can reset the user’s number of picks once for any given 24-hour selection period.
  • Premium Plus users have the ability to place a ticket with support to obtain an available Linden home parcel they would particularly like to claim (outside of the initial 24-hour after the release of a new theme).

Land

[Video: 7:43-14:30]

Discounted Homesteads for Premium Plus

  • There are no plans to offer discounted Homestead regions to Premium Plus account holders.
  • As a reminder, it is possible for Premium Plus users who also hold a region (or regions) to pay their tier to LL in Linden Dollars.

Land Capacity

  • The Lab is constantly experimenting with Land Capacity, and has tested Full regions with 40K-80K Land Capacity.
  • However, increases have to be considered alongside a host of other issues (load balancing across instances, impact of simulator performance, etc.).
  • As technology does improve, there may be opportunities in the future to increase Land Capacity as the Lab gains confidence in doing to.
    • IF this does come to pass, it will be announced through the usual channels.

Region Management and Region Server Options

[Video: 12:07-16:19]

  • Are there plans to offer region holders more autonomy over managing their regions?
    • LL has already added the option to restart regions to the holder’s secondlife.com dashboard.
    • Allowing regions holders to take other actions – renaming a region was given as an example – is under consideration, but no time frame as to when such options might be delivered.
  • Are more server options going to be made available for hosting regions?
    • LL already off a bonus Land Capacity option for Full regions and offer both the Event and Elite Event region products, all of which are also available as upgrades.
    • All three cost extra in tier, the Event and Elite Event regions are underpinned by more performant AWS hardware, allowing them to support more agents (avatars) per region, etc.

Themed Mainland Areas

[Video: 17:56-20:48]

  • Mainland has always had a “free to build” outlook, without the imposition of zones, covenants, etc., by Linden Lab.
  • A frequent request to the Lab is to offer such zoning / covenants within Mainland to allow people to build themed communities there.
  • This idea is seen as potentially having merit and benefits, and is something the Lab has considered, and tends to revisit as an idea. However, it does have complexities:
    • Should it be a full covenanted Mainland area (like Bellisseria, but without the Linden Homes)? Is it something on a smaller scale? Is it something primarily aimed at stopping specific activities – e.g. preventing ban lines?
    • How would the model work / impact private estate regions offering their own models and covenants, etc.
  • As such, the idea is not rejected, but it is not on the current roadmap, and if it to reach the point of being actively considered, then it would be a topic to bring back to the community for a more focused discussion and to gain feedback.

Support and Customer Success

Governance and Abuse Reports

[Video: 28:54-32:08]

  • Adult-rated content an images can be seen within moderate rated Mainland regions, often simply by using the road system. What is being done to remediate this?
    • It is acknowledged that this does happen, but given the size of Mainland, LL often rely on users reporting instances where it can be found / seen via the Abuse Report mechanism.
    • The above also applies to avatars behaving in appropriately as well.
  • The name of the avatar account filing any Abuse Report is never revealed to the subject of any subsequent investigation.

Support Ticket Responses / Support Availability

[Video 33:49-38:50]

  • There has been a delay in responding to support tickets. This has in part been due to a reorganisation of the support teams at the end of 2024, which resulted in a backlog of tickets.
    • The estimate was that in January, the backlog stood at 7,000-7,500 tickets, and this has since been halved, with the remaining number being rapidly reduced.
    • Older tickets in the backlog are being addressed in order to clear them as quickly as possible.
  • This, and the nature of more recent ticket that have been coming into the system, has meant that certain cases have taken much, much longer to resolve.
  • LL have been recruiting-in new support personnel, and has almost completed this, to make the customer Success and Trust and Safety teams larger than they were previously, by around 10 people.
  • Currently, most areas of support – tickets, live chat, phone – are back to within their 72-hour SLA requirements.
  • To further help with support matters, weekend support is being re-introduced as from Saturday, June 28th, 2025 (phone and live chat).
  • [Video: 1:21:51-1:23:25] Could live chat support be extended into the evening (SLT)?
    • There are currently no plans to change support hours.
    • However, as more of the new staff come on-stream, it is possible that times can be reviewed and adjusted to better meet the needs of users.

Support and Thunes (Tilia)

[Video: 39:17-42:38]

  • With the sale of Tilia to Thunes now complete (see: LL completes Tilia sale to Thunes: What you need to know) work is underway to streamline handling of support issues over things like cashing-out from SL between the two companies.
  • Those experiencing delays or issues should always submit a support ticket to Linden Lab first, to see if the issue can be addressed directly, and to allow LL to deal directly with Thunes.
  • Going directly to Thunes first can lead to greater confusion and delays.

Account Holds/ Banning Copybotters

[Video: 43:18-44:42]

  • Should someone who has had their account placed on hold receive notification that this is the case?
    • When an account is placed on hold, an e-mail is sent to the address specified in the account. This should include the hold notification and the reason for it, and a timeline as to when to expect access to be re-enabled (if available).
    • These notifications can end-up being steered towards spam or junk or promotions-type folders, so be sure to check these in case filtering has misdirected the e-mail.
    • Those who are sure they have not received any such notification, but have found their account on hold should contact Support.
  • [Video: 44:49-47:54] Can more permanent action be taken against copybotters – e.g. IP bans?
    • Instances of copying content should be reported by the creator of the original content, who can supply LL with all the relevant data (e.g. item location, UUID, etc.), and information on the original.
    • To assist in the process, and if required, LL might additionally request the creator to file a DMCA Notice, if they have not already done so.
    • In terms of preventing repeat offenders returning, LL is always evaluating how to better prevent this / slow repeat offenders from being able to quickly re-access SL.
      • This work also involves evaluating various tools that might assist with investigations into these types of issues.

Account Security

[Video: 49:55-52:50]

  • Malicious messaging, scam links, phishing e-mails are very much an issue.
  • This has been the subject of recent official blogs posts, and posts from bloggers like myself (see: Linden Lab: keeping your Second Life account safe).
  • In short:
    • Never share your account password with anyone.
    • Never supply your log-in credentials in reply to any e-mail, no matter how official-looking; LL will never ask you for them.
    • Be wary of any e-mails or links promising cheap or free Linden Dollars, they are most likely phishing traps.
    • Don’t click on links in group chats, IMs, etc., unless you are absolutely sure of their origin.
    • Strengthen your account with a strong password + the use of the Lab’s Multi-factor Authentication option.
  • LL is actively looking at tools to identify and prevent malicious activity within the platform, and making some basic changes to alert people to the risks in clicking on links, etc.
  • In addition, the Trust and Safety are looking to implement a new Trust and Safety User Group meeting to replace the old Governance User Group, so that matters around account security, etc. Can be discussed.

Payment and Billing

[Video: 1:04:34-1:07:00]

  • More payment options (e.g. Google Pay):
    • Payment and billing is now handled through Thunes, per the links concerning Tilia, above.
    • Thunes is looking to make additional payment options available to SL users, but which options in particular might be put forward is not yet clear, but will be checked.
    • Any new payment options agreed to between the Lab and Thunes will be announced on the Second Life official blog.
  • Can an option be provided to allow those paying tier directly to LL to do so early, if required (e.g. to cover for when they might be on vacation, or in hospital, etc)?
    • It would require extensive programmatic changes to achieve.
    • However, would appear to be a good idea, and a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.

Lifetime Premium and Premium Plus Membership Offers and SL22B

[Video: 1:10:30-1:13:49]

  • There will be no Premium or Premium Plus Lifetime membership offered at SL22B.
  • Such offers are now being reserved for special events (e.g. with partners such as the American Cancer Society), where it is specifically possible to have the funds generated through such offers donated directly to charitable organisations.

General Questions

  • [Video: 32:31-33:26] Does Support hire people to operate remotely?
    • Depends on the position: Customer Success & Trust and Safety operate out the Atlanta offices, and so people working on those teams are based there; Product Operations and its related teams does have the potential for remote working.
  • [Video: 53:02-54:43] Removal of Voice capabilities from InfoHubs
    • This was a difficult decision, given InfoHubs are intended to be newcomer-friendly social gathering spaces.
    • However, too many people were using Voice within these places to harass and cause disruption, so in the interests of the larger community using the InfoHubs the decision was made to disable Voice.
    • The Lab will continue to monitor InfoHubs and may revisit this decision in the future.
  • [Video: 54:54-56:49] Do the Shop and Hop events complete too heavily with user-created shopping events held at the same time (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc.).
    • LL are always “cognizant” of the potential for such impact, but thus far has not directly received any complaints from the organisers of other shopping events or the creators attending them.
    • Shop and Hop is perhaps a broader tent than other shopping events, many of which are geared towards specific genres (sci-fi; fantasy; adult; etc.).
    • Shop and Hop is intended to be seasonally limited (with the special SLB Shop and Hop being an exception), and not driven with the intent to “blot out” other shopping events.
    • If people do feel it is harming other events, then feedback is welcome on that.
    • Creators selected for the Shop and Hop events are selected more-or-less on the basis of a lottery, not based on how quickly they apply.
    • Not everyone who applies can automatically be granted store space at a Shop and Hop, as they are limited by scale and manageability. For SL22B, for example, there were over 840 applicants – doubling the overall logistical requirements for hosting, running and managing the event.
  • [Video: 1:07:15-1:09:49] Is it possible to use the Name Change capability and not have the new name linked to previous names?
    • Currently no, for assorted reasons (e.g. to prevent someone doing something nefarious and then using the Name Change capability to hide their guilt).
    • The above was also something the community was worried about at the time Name Changes were introduced.
    • If attitudes have since changed, then the suggestion is to raise a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.
  • [Video: 1:19:50-1:21:24] Will Cape Ekim (read: Saying farewell to the original Linden Homes – and a Second Life mystery?) be preserved when the old Linden Home mini-continents are retired?
    • Cape Ekim has been considered “very, very seriously” in terms of preserving the history of Second Life Linden Homes.
    • Once all the old Linden Homes have been retired, the plan is to make a special area paying tribute to them, and as such, Cape Ekim, “isn’t going anywhere”.
  • There was a final question on AI tool for translation services, and a full answer on the subject was deferred to the Operations and Engineering session.

MarVayu’s Ipseities at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

Currently open within The Annex at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, operated by Dido Haas, is an engaging and provocative exhibition of photography by artist-photographer and poet, MarVayu. It is also one with a curious origin, because unlike most exhibitions offered within SL, the images on display are not a selection of pieces specifically made to be exhibited as a self-contained collection, but have been drawn from an archive of discarded work, having originally been made at various times with the idea of being used to accompany MarVayu’s poetry.

Which is not to say that there are an entirely random selection either. Rather, they are reflections of thoughts on identity and self, of who a person is when they realise they exist in more than one reality, be it physical or virtual. In being drawn from multiple projects for which they had never been used, the images both have a unique dynamic one to the next when viewed,  and offer threads of ideas and narrative on how a person and their sub-personalities might be informed as much by their presence within Second Life on a subconscious level as much as they consciously seek to influence and control the perception they and others have of them through the platform.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: MarVayu – Ipseities

In reflection of this, the exhibition is entitled Ipseities, the plural of Ipseity, a term derived from the Latin ipse – “self”, a label, if you will, used to define who we most broadly are when all the aspects of our “self” are taken into account – physical, mental and – in this particular case, virtual.

In philosophical terms, ipseity is the foundational quality that makes an individual unique, influencing their perspectives, decisions, and interactions with the world. As such, given the thread and ideas MarVayu presents within the exhibition, its use is well-chosen on two levels. The first of these is that idea of exploring the multiple facets of who one is in oneself; and secondly, and more esoterically, because of the aforementioned way the pieces within the exhibition have been drawn from other aspects of MarVayu’s work – of her own self, if you will.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

 Ipseity is also used to reference a psychological phenomenon: that of self-disorder, or ipseity disturbance. This is a condition in which a person’s fundamental sense of self is disrupted such that they believe their internal experiences – thoughts dreams, emotions – are actually external, bringing the condition close to schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

I raise this latter point because while the artist does not expressly indicate an intentional to explore self-disorder, I personally could not help but find it relevant to this exhibition for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because some of the images do strongly lean into the nature of the condition in their presentation; secondly, because involvement within Second Life can be a form of ipseity disturbance: we involve ourselves in a non-physical world, one in which we can experience so much, which can become so personally real, whilst at the same time being entirely divorced from the physical world we also inhabit.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

I’m intentionally not going to it offer personal interpretations of individual pieces within Ipseities; it is far better that people follow the threads MarVayu offers to reach their own destinations / conclusions. This is an exhibition with a lot to say, and the monochrome images are exquisite in their depth of emotion, ideas and presentation, and are perfectly complimented by the lighting and 3D elements within the Annex.

SLurl Details

Hera’s Goa Beach in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Goa Beach, June 2025 – click any image for full size

Hera (Zee9), working with collaborator, Kacey Stratton (KaceyStratton) – who has in the past assisted Hera by provisioning AI-backed characters to add depth to Hera’s environments such as Brutal City (see: Hera’s Brutal City AI in Second Life) is back with an enticing build. This time the two present Goa Beach, another visually stunning setting presumably inspired by (even if in name only!) India’s famous tourist region, world- renowned for its beaches and places of worship.

Epic, Beautiful Beaches, clothes optional, Indian temples, Shiva shrines, clubs, bars, Nude, Sun, Sea, Sex Sand. Peace, Love!

– Goa Beach About Land description

Goa Beach, June 2025

The note in the About Land description brings me neatly to a couple of points worth raising in advance:

  • Goa Beach is adult-rated and nudity and adult sexual activities are allowed – so be advised (although on neither of my visits were there any apparent sign of bonking going on). Also, be aware that given this, Hera and Kacey request adult human avatars only are used during visits.
  • Secondly, Hera’s builds tend to be mercurial; they can arrive and vanish within a very short space of time. So if you intend to visit, sooner rather than later is the key.
Goa Beach, June 2025

Actually, there is a third point of note: the Rules located at the Landing Point note that “Only Goa Beach is open to the public. All other areas are private”, with a warning to keep out.

When I first arrived I wasn’t exactly sure as to how and where this warning applied; there are a number of islands sitting off the main bulk of the land, and one of these, to the south-east corner, is a private residence sitting within its own parcel. I assumed the rest of the islands were similarly off-limits, but didn’t realise how literal the phrase “only Goa Beach is open to the public” would literally be until my second visit!

Goa Beach, June 2025

If you’re one who visited Hera’s 2022 India (see: Hera’s touch of India in Second Life) there will be much about Goa Beach that may well be familiar – particularly the main structures, the bar area and some of the carved works to be found around, such as the cobras. This is not a critique of Goa Beach; one of the things I always find attractive in Hera’s builds is the manner in which she constantly recombines and redresses elements of past builds to offer something entirely new to explore – and such is the case here.

The main landmass is surrounded by the beach (allowing for a couple of rocky areas), making it possible to walk all the way around – or if you prefer, rez a wearable horse and trot around. Following the beach is one of the ways to reach the west side of the island from the Landing Point and what might be regarded as the grand entrance to the terraces and towers of the main temple complex. Those looking for a quicker route to this space from the Landing Point should hang a right and a left on leaving the latter and follow the stairs down.

Goa Beach, June 2025

Directly opposite the grand entrance, on the east side of the island, is a bridge providing access to a tall tower with a small dock extending to one side below it, complete with a sloop-style sailing vessel alongside. A smaller deck extending wharf offers the opportunity to rez a sailing boat, and it was this that gave me my answer to the private areas.

Mid-way though gently sailing around the main land-mass I found myself (albeit briefly) some 10 metres above the boat, which continued a short distance, before I was back in the surf. So yes, “only Goa Beach is open to the public” can be taken to literally mean, keep yourself to the sands when near some of the nearby islands! With this in mind, if you do rez a boat, it’s probably best to keep your sailing to the east side of the main land area (but well clear of the already noted private residence in the south-east corner).

Goa Beach, June 2025

Returning to the larger siling vessel for a moment, this has a large bed / sitting spot suspended from a yardarm, one of several such elevated paces for singles and couples to pass the time to be found suspended at several points around the setting. Nor are these the only places for sitting and relaxing or – to borrow from a Roy Scheider film, “getting it on” – which might also be found.

As noted above, there is much here that visitors to the likes of Hera’s India will find familiar – such as the club / bar area with its décor, the tigers gathered around the west-side grand entrance, the pavilions and so on, but so is there much that is (I believe) new to this setting. With so much to see and photograph, I’ll leave it to you to discover more for yourselves – but (again) as already noted, don’t leave it too long before visiting, lest Goa Beach vanishes!

Goa Beach, June 2025

SLurl Details

SL22B: your completely unofficial pocket guide to the celebrations

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Second Life marks its 22nd anniversary in 2025, with a month of activity kicking-off on Friday, June 20th through until Sunday, July 20th. Celebrations will be taking place across the Birthday regions in Second Life, and and with previous years includes live music, DJ sets, art, shopping (via the dedicated Shop and Hop event), exhibits by Linden Lab and – particularly – exhibits by Second Life residents and communities.

The following is intended to provide a general overview of the celebrations and provide calendars, SLurls and anything else that might be useful to you when visiting the regions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: many of the builds at SL22B, particularly the stages, etc. have been built using PBR materials, and the skies are rendered as HDR. Therefore, to see the regions at their best, you should preferably be running a viewer that is “PBR enabled.”

SL22B: The Welcome Area – Portals

Theme

This theme for 2025’s celebration is Myths and Legends, which the Lab describes thus:

It reflects the Second Life experience because we are all the heroes of our own adventures! The emphasis is on the characters and stories people create in SL both personally and within their communities. 

However, as has been the case over the last several birthday events, exhibitions are not confined to the theme itself, with the Lab additionally noting:

Share your Second Life passions with us. Your interests. Your communities. Your world! Every year we celebrate because of you, the amazing and creative Residents who have chosen to call Second Life home. What has drawn you into this world, and what keeps you here? These annual festivities are an opportunity to show us what fuels your Second Life. Let’s celebrate that together!

SL Birthday Calendar

The best way the stay abreast of all that’s going on is via the official calendar of events, which I’ve embedded below.

  • Use the Week / Month options, top right to change the calendar view.
  • Click on any given line item on any given day of festivities to view more information, including teleport SLurls.
SL22B: The Observatory Stage

Key Events

Shop and Hop

The SL22B Shop And Hop event is taking place across multiple regions, and features many creators and merchants. The best way to find out about this event is via the Shop and Hop Destination Guide entry and via the SL22B Shop and Hop Participating Merchants list.

Meet the Lindens

As per usual, SL22B will feature a series of events featuring various members of the Lab’s management team and those from front-line teams. The sessions will be a mix of live sessions at the celebrations events and pre-recorded sessions. They will take place per the schedule below.

SL22B: Astral Athenaeum
Day (Times SLT) and Event Featuring
Monday, June 23rd, 13:00
Meet the Product Operations team		 Senior VP of Product Operations, , Customer Support & Trust & Safety Patch Linden;  Manager, Customer Success & Trust & Safety Keira Linden; Creative Producer Izzy Linden.
Tuesday, June 24th 13:00
Watch the Product and Engineering teams (pre-recorded)		 Senior VP of Product & Engineering Grumpity Linden; Director of Engineering Web & Platform Kali Linden.
Wednesday, June 25th 13:00
Meet the Founder of Second Life		 Philip Rosedale.
Thursday, June 26th 13:00
Watch the Marketing team (pre-recorded)		 TBA
Friday, June 27th 11:00
Meet the Moles.		 The Moles are builders, scripters, and content creators employed by Linden Lab to work in the Linden Department of Public Works.

Meet the Lindens SLurl:  Astral Athenaeum

If you cannot attend a session in person, you can watch it on the Second Life YouTube channel.

Entertainment and Performances

Live performers from across Second Life and around the globe are lined-up to perform  at SL22B between Friday, June 20th and Sunday July 20th. The complete schedule can be seen below.

 

SL22B: The Royal Keep

The Welcome Area

Never been to an SLB event before? Try starting at the Welcome Area where you’ll find lots of help, things like the SL22B Hunt HUD, teleport boards and teleport portals to key event areas, and more!

The Tapestry of Time and Gift Area.

First presented in 2018, the region-wide Tapestry of Time presents visitor with a walk-through of Second Life’s history from 2003 through to the present day using images, text and videos. True, not everything has been recorded, but there’s enough within the region to be of interest to the historically minded.

within the Tapestry of Time can be found the SL22B Gift Area, offering gifts from the Birthday exhibitors and from merchants participating in the Shop & Hop event.

Exhibitor Regions

via Linden Lab. Click for exhibitor list

As is common for SLB events, the mix of content is varied, and the representation of interests broad. Role-play groups, arts, communities, are represented across the nine regions open to exhibitors; some are static, others are interactive in nature.

  • Direct links to the exhibitor regions can be found in the SLurls lists at the end of this piece.
  • Information / SLurls for individual exhibitors can be found in the SL22B Exhibitor Showcase.

Note that teleport boards are available at the centre of all Exhibitor regions for easy of moving between them.

Adult Exhibitor Regions And Adult Shop and Hop

2025 sees the Adult content and groups exhibitor regions combined with the Adult Shop and Hop regions.  Once again, the celebrations include Adult content and groups, with exhibits at the event, with the Shop and Hop taking place across four dedicated regions separate to the main exhibitor regions. I’ve also included individual region SLurls at the end of this article.

Advice on a Better Experience

The SL22B regions can get exceptionally busy. To help ease the pain for you:

  • If you have a high draw distance, reduce it to  as low as is comfortable for your enjoyment.
  • Turn off shadows in your viewer if you usually have them enabled.
  • Go to Preferences → Graphics and reduce the slider Max # Non-Imposter Avatars to a minimum and dial-down your Complexity slider.
  • Remove texture-heavy HUDs to free-up more texture memory.
  • Remove unnecessary scripted attachments and dress lightly, avoiding accessories of high complexity.
SL22B Adult: Odin’s Bar and Grill

SLurls and Destination Guide Links

Core Event Region SLurls

General Rated Exhibitor Region SLurls

SLB Beguile SLB Blissful SLB Breathtaking SLB Captivate SLB Celebrate SLB Delightful
SLB Electrify SLB Enchant SLB Fabulous SLB Glamorous SLB Incredible SLB Marvelous
SLB Outgoing SLB Sparkle SLB Spectacular SLB Stupendous
SL22B: The Observatory

Adult Rated Regions

Odin’s Bar and Grill Stage Pod Tours
Exhibitor Regions: SLB Alluring SLB Daring SLB Euphoric SLB Irresistible
Shopping Regions: Buttercup Goldenrod Freesia Trillium

Web URLs

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.