RFL 2022 – Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

The 2023 SL Renaissance Festival for MSABC in Second Life

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Inara Pey

*via the 2023 SL Renaissance Festival website. Note image is not representative of the event, but is provided “for ambience only”*

The 2023 SL Renaissance Festival is currently open to visitors through until the end of Sunday, October 1st, 2023. Coordinated by the American Cancer Society, the Festival is in support of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC), an RFL of SL signature event aimed at raising awareness of the risks of breast cancer and funds to support research into, and treatment of, the disease.

Taking place across multiple regions adjoining the core American Cancer Society’s SL base of operations, the festival carries the theme Coming Home and presents a range of merchants, activities and entertainments linked to the medieval / renaissance periods, for visitors to peruse, participate in and enjoy.

Please refer to the official SL Renaissance Festival website for:

A list of all participating merchants who have shops in the main shopping regions, together with exclusive offers.
The entertainment schedule, for music events at the Minstrel’s Corner Stage.
The schedules of all tournaments at the tournament arena.
Details of all participation by Lindens and Moles.

As well as the above the festival includes both standalone and mega raffles, together with a special Linden Lab sponsored Silent Auction with the following items open for bidding:

One year Premium Plus membership, including a Homestead region for the year (existing Premium Plus members will have 12 months added to their account).
One year Premium Plus membership (existing Premium Plus members will have 12 months added to their account).
One year Premium membership (existing Premium members will have 12 months added to their account).
Two options to change your name free of charge (from the available Last Names list).
A 1-hour photo shoot with Patch Linden.

Note that the Auction will close at 18:00 SLT on Saturday, September 30th. The raffles and Auction area can be found alongside the main landing point.

Those interested in role-play in Second Life can use the Festival to visit the role play pavilion and traveller’s camp, while those who enjoy a good hunt will be pleased to know the events Stag Hunt once again returns. Just visit participating merchants in the shopping regions and the role play pavilions in the Traveller’s Camp region, locate the special Strides Stag Hunt statue, and the goodies each statue contains can be yours for just L$25 (all proceeds to MSABC). You can preview the available prizes here.

All of which adds up to a lot to see and do! So why not don ye best olde worlde outfits and drop into the Renaissance Festival? Who knows what marvels you might purchase along the way, the tales of triumph with which you might later regale your friend or the trophies and rewards you might obtain!

URLs and SLurls

All of the RenFest regions are rated Moderate.

SL Renaissance Festival website
Selected RenFest SLurls:
- Main Welcome Area
- Tournament arenas
- Minstral Corner – DJs and live entertainment

SL Fandom Con 2023 in Second Life

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Inara Pey

Now open through until the end of the month is the SL Fandom Con, a new Mega Event for Relay for Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society, and one not to be confused with the Sci-Fi Expo / Con events many of us are likely familiarly with – although there is a good degree of cross-over.

SL Fandom Con is using the love of stories, comics and all forms of art to bring people together in the virtual world of Second Life while supporting the American Cancer Society’s mission to lead the fight to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. The SL Fandom Con is a fan event bringing you various roleplay groups, resources, shopping, and entertainment from across all of Second Life and we are proud to be part of a community of courage and caring in Second Life.

[It is] A social event focused festival with wider inclusivity for all genres of anime, comics, movies, RL & SL artist creator content, video and tabletop games, pop culture, SL Film Festival, and a specific emphasis on RL & SL Costumes and Cosplay.

– From the SL Fandom Con website

Active across seven regions circling out from and back to the American Cancer Society 2 island (which itself forms the convention’s eighth region), the SL Fandom Con mixes the “traditional” SL approach for such events through the use of sponsored / themed / entertainment regions, with something of a physical world convention feel. By this I mean that as well as American Cancer Society 2 forming the primary landing point for those visiting the convention, it also presents two large convention halls of the kind generally seen at sci-fi, comic, gaming, and so on conventions in the physical world. As with their physical counterparts, these two halls offer a mix of exhibitor booths as a part of the Rep Your Fandom contest, together with activity space.

The main landing point includes information boards where people can obtain teleport / guide HUDs, links to relevant parts of the event’s website where information on shopping, activities, etc., can be found. Experience activated teleport portals flank one side of the landing point, awaiting those who wish to get on with their wandering through the rest of the event regions, while on the other side of the landing point sits the Memorial Garden, ready for those wishing to remember someone they’ve lost to cancer.

Foot access to the adjoining shopping regions – Space and Underwater – can be reached through the two convention halls. With clear roadways / footpaths directing people through each region and on to the next. The region names themselves tend to give a clue as to their main focus (e.g. Space includes a heavy space-based sci-fi focus; New Tokyo a lean towards Japanime, Japanese franchises, etc.) – although none are entirely exclusive to a specific theme of store.

Most of the shopping regions also offers a themed mode of transport as well – little flying saucers at Space, for example. These can be used to travel through each region, with rezzing points at either entry / exit point to a region, with some regions offering additional vehicle rezzing points for those who hop out of their vehicle to explore the local shops, but wish to resume their rides afterwards. Some of these vehicles, frankly, work better than others, but they all offer a potentially different means of skipping through regions.

Entertainment stages are located throughout the regions and feature a range live performances, dance troupes, DJ events, whilst the Con also includes its own auction, hunt and contest (the Rep your Fandom Contest, mentioned above). The auction – which can be entered at the main landing point – includes a series of special prizes courtesy of Linden Lab, comprising:

One annual Premium Plus subscription.
Two annual Premium subscriptions.
A Full private region (20K Land capacity) for 6 months free tier.
A Homestead region for 6 months free tier.
Two Name Changes (using the currently available last names).
One Name Change as a gift for a friend (using the currently available last names).

In addition to the above, some of the folk from the Lab will be participating in the event along with some of the Moles from the LDPW participate in the Fandom Con Fashion Show on Thursday, July 27th between 13:00 and 15:00 SLT, when they will be joining residents in showing off their favourite fandom-inspired look.

Full information on the event can be obtained via the website, but the following is a list of key SLurls and URLs.

SLurls and Information

SLurls (all event regions are rated Moderate)
- SL Fandom Con main landing point (including auction and teleports)
- Lost in Time (Fracti Tempus – shopping)
- New Tokyo (Akira – shopping)
- Noir New Orleans (Aldermore – shopping)
- Size is Relative (Magnitudo – stage and activities)
- The Kraken (Octololligo – stage and activities region)
- Underwater (Le Mertica – shopping)
SL Fandom Con website
- Schedule of Events
- Rep Your Fandom Contest (registrations closed)
- Lindens at the Con (auction prizes and Fashion Show details)
  - Fashion Show Registration (still open at the time of publication)
- General region information

Your pocket guide to the RFL Xmas Expo 2022 in Second Life

Posted on December 2, 2022December 7, 2022 by Inara Pey

The annual RFL Christmas Expo opens its gates on Friday, December 2nd, 2022, and will run through until Sunday December 11th in support of The American Cancer Society and RFL of SL.

This year the Expo takes on a tales and fables theme entitled The Magic of Holiday Stories, and in keeping with this, with 11 of the 12 regions presented as “Chapters” in a storybook, with each telling its own story to visitors and landscaped by a guest designer. Rounding out the dozen is the Linden Lights of Hope region by Linden Lab, highlighting Linden Homes. Thus, the full dozen region comprise:

SL Christmas Expo hub: What Snowmen Do At Night by Darkstone Aeon.
Chapter 1: The Gingerbread Pirates by Allie Munroe.
Chapter 2: Aliens Love Panta Claus by Drummer Jollycane.
Chapter 3: The Elves and The Shoemaker by Royal Shippe and Mina Ancio.
Chapter 4: Letters From Father Christmas by Bayliner Bob and Abi.
Chapter 5: Night Before Christmas by Madame Gyre.
Chapter 6: Polar Express by Teyla Smith.
Chapters 7 & 8: The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Bambi (norahbrent).
Chapter 9: The Colours Of Christmas by Darkstone Aeon.
Lights Of Hope: The Nutcracker by SkyeRyder Varriale.
Linden Lights of Hope (Linden Homes) by Linden Lab (no SLurl available at the time of writing).

Notes to the above list:

Links provide SLurls to the regions.
Chapters 1 through 6 are the main shopping regions.
Chapter 7 and 8 are the Breedables / Pets regions and auctions areas.
Chapter 9 is the Expo Market.

As with past years, the event enfolds Fashion & Accessories, Home & Garden, Animations, Breedables and Pets, together with entertainment, auctions, hunts, special events, and more. All to help raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Childhood Cancer initiatives, where they will be used in support, research and palliative efforts to help children with cancer.

The best way to get all the information on the event is via the official website. Here you can find a complete on-line shopping directory for direct SLurls to stores; the full schedule of entertainment for the entire event; the Breedable Faire and Auctions; a breakdown of all major events (outside of entertainment) with SLurls for teleporting; the event sponsors and more. The following highlights some of these activities and the special events for the Expo.

Auctions and Raffles

Breedable Auctions

A rolling series of breedable auctions, commencing on December 3rd and running through to December 10th.
- All auction details.
- Breedables auctions landing point.
One of a Kind Breedables Special Silent Auction (bidding open December 3rd through to December 11th.
- OOAK Breedable action details.
- OOAK Breedable auction landing point.

Linden Special Auctions

One of a Kind Auction Package: TWO 12 month Premium Plus Subscriptions (one for the winner and one to gift to
a friend,) and a Homestead Region with no monthly maintenance fees for 12 months.
Linden Holiday single item auctions:
- 1 x 12-month Premium Plus Subscription.
- 1 x 3-month Premium Plus Subscription.
- 1 x 1-hour hang-out / photos with Patch Linden.
Linden Holiday auction package: 1 x 12-month Premium Plus Subscription; 1 x free Name Change; 1 x 1-hour hang-out / photos with Patch Linden; 2 x limited edition Patch Linden Bear (1 to keep and one giftable).
Linden auctions landing point.

*RFL Xmas Expo 2022: 3 of the Linden Lab auctions*

Raffles

TWO L$50,000+ Shopping Spree Raffles: to be drawn on Sunday, December 11th. Tickets L$100 or L$200 for three. Also available at kiosks throughout the Expo.
Linden Holiday Raffles a set of individual raffles:
- 1 x 3-month Premium Plus Subscription.
- 1 x 12-month Premium Subscription.
- 1 x 3-month Premium Subscription.
- 1 x free Name Change
Raffles landing point.

There are also daily Jolly Holly Raffles.

All proceeds from the auctions and raffles go to RFL of SL / The American Cancer Society.

Special Events

Lights of Hope landing point: once again Second Life’s premier builders are joining the SL Christmas Expo to present the 5th Annual Lights of Hope Home Decoration Contest, and this year, the region has been been playfully designed based on The Nutcracker story by SkyeRyder Varriale, of Varriale Designs.

Each of the builders has decorated the outside of one of their stunning houses in holiday style and brought it to the Expo. Stroll the Holiday Road neighbourhood at the Expo and vote for your favourites by donation to the American Cancer Society kiosk in front of each home! 100% of all donations go directly to the American Cancer Society. You can even purchase some of the homes and / or decorations from the American Cancer Society Christmas Expo vendors some of the builders have placed in front of their homes.

Linden Lights of Hope landing point: an adjunct of the Lights of Hope events, featuring Linden Premium Homes decorated by Lindens and Moles.

Build a Snowman Contest: get rolling those prims and build your snowman (build dates: December through 6th, inclusive). Plots are L$50 each (100% of all donations go directly to the American Cancer Society). original and unique snowman designs are encouraged, if prefab snowmen are used, they must include unique elements added to them. The best builds will be decided upon by popular vote, which will be open between December 7th and 10th, 2022, with the winners announced on December 11th.

*RFL Xmas Expo 2022: Build a Snowman Contest*

Photos with Santa: Santa and the Elves are at the Expo – see the schedule of their appearances and visit the Photos With Santa area and snap your holiday picture. 100% of the donations go to the American Cancer Society.

Santa’s Sleigh Ride Tour: join Santa in his sleigh at Tour Ride 1 or Tour Ride 2, for a reindeer powered flight around the Expo regions (optional donations can be made via the kiosks alongside the tour start points).

The 7th Annual Stocking Stuffer Hunt: find the Christmas Stockings hung in participating Expo merchants shops. Pay L$25 (all donations to RFL of SL / The American Cancer Society) and claim a copy of its contents. And take note – there may be more than one stocking in a store!

Don’t forget – full details of all activities and events at the Expo can be found in the SL Christmas Expo website.

*RFL Xmas Expo 2022: Linden Lights of Hope*

SLurls and Links

All regions rated Moderate.

RFL Sci-Fi Expo 2022 in Second Life

Posted on October 15, 2022March 28, 2023 by Inara Pey

The 2022 Second Life Sci-Fi Expo launched on Friday, October 14th, 2022, and will remain in orbit through until Sunday, October 23rd, in aid of The American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) campaign.

Active across four regions located alongside the American Cancer Society Island, this year’s even carries the theme of Voyage Through the Stars. These four regions are arranged as a single structure representing The Nexus, a massive space vessel and “crowning jewel of the United Earth Council fleet as it explores the vast reaches of interstellar space.”

The core of the build appears to be the vessel’s propulsion system, around which the almost spherical ship is constructed. Level with the mid-point in this vertical core is a broad deck ring running around the the circumference of the ship, which serves as the shopping precinct and home to the main event locations.

The latter form a set of four smaller domes, comprising the the main landing point and information centre; the Raffle and Silent Auction, the ACS information hub and Memory Crystal garden, and the entertainment dome. All of the domes are connected via the shopping precinct, while the landing point dome has a set of teleport portals that can deliver visitors directly to any of the other three domes or to the main ACS island.

As with previous years, the expo presents a broad range of science-fiction related merchandise and daily entertainment and activities. The website sees a change in approach this year, with some information coming in the form of re-directs to Facebook pages, however, for ease of reference, here are the core links:

The website is perhaps a little light on specifics in places – a list of SLurls on the home page would be nice, as would actual details on the Quest – I can tell you it is called The Captain, the Governor and the Greslock, but little else other than you can join this in-world via the Quest vendors and point you to the list of prizes on Facebook, per above. Similarly, while events in the calendar can be clicked on for more details, a SLurl to the entertainment dome is sadly absent. But that said, the best way to appreciate the Expo is to pay it a visit, and I encourage all sci-fi fans do so!

About Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the American Cancer Society’s premier event to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. But it’s more than just the name of a walk – it describes the amazing progress we’re making together to defeat this disease. Since 1993, four million walkers have raised more than US $280 million through Making Strides. Learn More.

SLurls and Information

SLurls (all event regions are rated Moderate)
- Sci-Fi Expo landing point (Sci-Fi Expo)
- Entertainment dome (The Nexus)
- Memory Crystal garden (Aperture)
- Raffle and Silent Auction (Meridian Point)
Sci-Fi Expo website

The 2022 SL Renaissance Festival for Making Strides

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Inara Pey

The 2022 SL Renaissance Festival is currently open to visitors through until the end of Sunday, October 2nd, 2022. Coordinated by the American Cancer Society, the Festival is in support of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC), an RFL of SL signature event aimed at raising awareness of the risks of breast cancer and funds to support research into, and treatment of, the disease.

Taking place across multiple regions adjoining the core American Cancer Society’s SL base of operations, the festival carries the theme The Silk Road and presents a range of merchants, activities and entertainments linked to the medieval / renaissance periods, for visitors to peruse, participate in and enjoy.

Please refer to the official SL Renaissance Festival website for:

A list of all participating merchants who have shops in the main shopping regions.
The entertainment schedule, for music events at the Minstrel’s Corner Stage.
The schedules of all tournaments and King’s Court Academy classes.
Details of all special events.

*Making Strides Against Breast Cancer SL Renaissance Festival 2022: entertainment area*

The event tournaments include rounds of jousting, archery, mounted archery, and mêlée, all of which are open to anyone who’d like to try their hand at any of them. In particular, and for those who wish to try their hand at jousting there is the added attraction of jousting against staff from Linden Lab and Moles from the Linden Department of Public Works.

Advanced Tickets to joust in this special event, which will be held between 12:00 noon and 14:00 SLT on Thursday, September 29th, cost L$1,000 (proceeds to RFL of SL / Making Strides) and are available via kiosks within the Welcome Regions and at the Joust Arena. Advanced Ticket holders will have priority Joust time, but if time permits, the Joust will be opened to those watching the event, on payment of a L$1,000 donation to Making Strides. Experience in jousting is not required, and mounts and lances are supplied.

If jousting isn’t your thing, then perhaps ensuring the more rambunctious Lindens and Moles are held to account might be, because as the event website notes:

The Lindens & Moles have escaped the hordes who chased them down the Silk Road and have arrived safely at the SL Renaissance Festival. However, they had a few, shall we say, “incidents” along the way whilst visiting the village taverns and partaking in local merriment. Some, more so than others it appears. Reports of table dancing, chandelier swinging and loud singing in the streets in the wee hours have reached the Festival Queen. They must be held accountable for their loud and rambunctious behaviour, and have been ordered to the pillory.

By Royal Decree, Second Life Residents are to be the judges as to who spend time in the pillories by voting for the Linden / Mole team they feel should be held to account by making a donation to the kiosk representing that team (all donations to MSABC).

Voting will close at 13:00 SLT on Wednesday, September 28th, 2022, and it is understood those accused will be skulking around the voting kiosks in an attempt to proclaim their innocence and encourage the voting for rival teams to face time in the stocks! Don’t be fooled and vote with your conscience – the pillories will be locked after the final tally has been taken, and the winning – err, losing – team will face the rotten vegetables provided for the purposes of pelting, and (good-natured!) jeering.

If all this sounds like fun, then why not also become a medieval fashion model and walk “Ye Olde Catwalk” in the RenFest Fashion Show? Model your favourite look in any or all of the these categories (L$100 donation to MSABC required for each costume entry): Medieval Royalty; Medieval Dinky; Viking; Pirate. The show will take place at 10:00 SLT on Sunday, October 2nd, and if you wish to participate, sign-up here.

And of course there is the Renaissance Raffle and the special Linden Silent Auction, the latter with some very special prizes, including:

Premium Memberships:
- Bid for one year Premium Membership or Premium Plus Membership (if you are already Premium or Premium Plus, you can bid for a free 12-month renewal).
- Both bring you all the benefits of Premium / Premium Plus and if you’re feeling generous – the prizes can be gifted!
Change your last name for free, using the list of available Last Names available at the time.
A one-hour photoshoot with Patch Linden and a chance to chat.

*aking Strides Against Breast Cancer SL Renaissance Festival 2022: Linden silent Auction and Jousting entry kiosk*

Bid for your Linden Prize here! Note that the auction closes at 13:00 SLT on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022.

All of which adds up to a lot to see and do! So why not follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo et al, and tread the route of The Silk Road? Who knows what marvels you might purchase along the way, the tales of triumph you might later regale your friend with – or a trophies and rewards you might obtain?!