On Friday January 17th, 2025, Linden Lab announced improvements to the financial and billing systems used by Second Life as provided by Tilia, the Lab’s trusted billing partner- see: Enhancing the Financial Experience in Second Life.
In the interests of clarity and first-hand reading, I’m not going to list everything in here; better than people read the Lab’s own post. However, the following points are worth highlighting:
All USD balances are now securely managed through Tilia Wallet, providing a centralized and compliant way to handle fiat currency transactions.
Whilst maintaining all current pay-out connections:
Pay-out transactions should now process faster through Tilia.
There will be an introduction of direct bank deposits for the receipt of pay-outs (exact implementation time frame for this still TBA at the time of the update)
Updates to the Second Life Marketplace, Cashier, and Account dashboards to make managing payments smoother and more intuitive.
Enhanced Security & Compliance: Tilia is a fully regulated financial institution, ensuring that all transactions are secure, fully tracked, and compliant with global financial regulations.
This upgrade also marks a significant step forward in enhancing the financial and billing experience for all residents, ensuring greater security, reliability, and flexibility. Tilia has managed payments, tax forms, and KYC processes for Second Life for a while now. With this upgrade, they now also handle all fiat currency transactions, including securely holding USD earnings in Tilia wallets and processing credits (pay-outs).
This upgrade also brings both familiar and new pay-out options, including PayPal, Skrill, and the newly added MassPay.
Comparison (not overly great) between 2K BOM (l) and current maximum of 1K (r). Credit: Girl Crush (Zipper) via Linden Lab
Following Pepper Linden’s statement at the Tuesday, February 4th, 2025 Simulator User Group meeting that Second Life 2K Bakes on Mesh support is now grid-wide, Linden Lab posted an official announcement on Thursday, February 6th, 2025.
Residents, the wait is over! We’re thrilled to announce that as of February 3rd, 2025, 2K Bakes on Mesh (BOM) is now officially live!
After an exciting round of testing on Aditi, where many of you helped us refine this feature (thank you, beta testers!), we’re now rolling it out to the main grid. That means higher-resolution baked textures are here to take your avatars to the next level!
This is the service that allows compatible wearable textures – skins, clothing layers, tattoos – to be baked at up to 2048×2048 resolution, which should lead to them appearing crisper and sharper on avatars (system or mesh with Bakes on Mesh enabled), although the following should be noted:
Bakes will be to the highest texture resolution in the bake composition (e.g. if the highest resolution among the layers – skin, clothing, etc – is 512x512K, then the overall bake will be 512x512K overall; if the highest resolution is 1024x1024K, then the bake will be 1024x1024K; if just one texture is 2048×2048, then the entire bake will by 2048×2048).
The exception to this is eye textures: these will never be bakes any anything higher than 512x512K (so there is not need for creators to start producing 2048×2048 eyes).
This blog post include sample shots- one of which is included in this post – and people should read the official post for full details.
Feedback is requested via the feedback portal, or via the weekly Simulator User Group (SUG) meetings, held Tuesdays at 12:00 noon SLT at this location.
Streak rewards are available to some users of the SL Mobile app as an experiment
The most recent update to SL Mobile – version 2025.01.538 Android) / 0.1.530 (iOS), dated January 14th, 2025 – introduced an experimental rewards scheme for some of those those using the app to log-in to Second Life, in order to encourage daily engagement through the app.
Encouragement of this kind is referred to as “streaks”, and can be used as a form of incentive to encourage or maintain specific routines or achieve daily goals through game mechanics, or some form of reward in return for engagement. Snapchat for example offers “collectible” emojis to users who exchange Snaps through the app with one another on a daily basis; meanwhile Roblox includes the ability for users to build their own streaks rewards systems into their games. With SL Mobile, the rewards take the form of modest (and incremental) offerings of Linden dollars.
The idea behind the experiment with SL Mobile is to see how rewards might influence people’s use of the Mobile app – particularly those referred to as “lapsed” Second Life users; those who have walked away from the platform and who have, according to Brad Oberwager, cited a lack of Mobile access as being one of the contributing factors for them doing so. This aim was also reiterated by Bridie Linden, the Project Manager for SL Mobile during the inaugural Monthly Mobile User Group meeting.
Some of you may have noticed we are doing an experiment that is trying to encourage follows to come back to Second Life and increase their engagement. So [it is] a log-in rewards offering. Not everyone will see the same thing, because we’re trying different variations in incentives.
Bridie Linden, SL Mobile Project Manager, January 30th, 2025
As it is currently an experiment and subject to A/B testing related to the general use of SL Mobile, not all users downloading the app or currently using it will be able to engage with the streaks rewards, as Grumpity Linden also explained during the same meeting:
Currently, log-in rewards are only available to subscribers, but not all who are subscribers will have the same experience; so I’m not going to say you should subscribe if you want to get log-in rewards in Linden dollars, because that’s not always going to be the case. But if you’re already a subscriber, you should check-out Mobile, and come back every day and see whether, maybe [you have the option]– because we’re going to continue tweaking this programme. Obviously, we want people to be happy, and we want this to be successful.
– Grumpity Linden, January 30th, 2025
To find out if you are eligible to join (and have not already done so – I am intentionally late in reporting on this scheme as I’ve been poking at it for the last 8 days), proceed as follows:
Start SL Mobile on your device and log-in.
Click the Menu button (top left, three horizontal bars) to open the menu.
If you are eligible to join the experiment, you will have a Streaks button displayed in your menu Highlighted below, left).
Tap the Streaks button to opt-in to the scheme and start the clock counting down to when you can claim your first rewards (which appears to be set to L$15 for everyone).
Those who are included in the initial testing can opt-in to the Streaks rewards by going to SL Mobile’s menu and tapping the Streaks icon (if available), to opt-in to the the rewards
Note the two sliders t the bottom of the Streaks screen allowing you toggle daily streak messages as soon as you log-in to the app off/ on, and to opt out / in to Streaks, both of which are enabled (“on” and opted-in) by default.
Once you have joined Streaks, rewards can be claimed daily, starting with the initial L$15. In addition, please note:
The amount of the reward offered each day increments (e.g. L$15 on “day 1”; L$20 on “day 2”).
The amount by which the daily rewards increments also increases the longer a streak continues (e.g. rising from a L$5 increment per day to (first) L$10 increments per day).
Streaks appear to last for 7 consecutive days before the reward amount automatically resets to L$15 (or you miss a daily log-in), and you start over again.
To claim a daily reward:
Log-in to the SL Mobile app. Your Streaks status should be automatically displayed unless you have turned off the daily login message, in which case, open the app’s menu and tap the Streaks button.
The display should tell you the amount available to claim, and the incremented amount that will be available for you to claim in 24-hours’ time (below left).
Tap the Claim button to claim the available amount and have it added to your SL amount L$ balance, and update your Streaks status (below centre).
Claiming daily Streaks is required to transfer them to your account L$ balance (left and centre). Streaks appear to rest to the baseline L$15 after around 7 days
Per the notes above, Streaks rewards appear to increment of a 7-day period, and then reset to the initial L$15 (see the image above right) and build up again. However, whether this is an infinite cycle or also limited; I have no idea.
As a means of encouraging users (current and “lapsed” to use SL Mobile, this is an interesting approach; I’d been particularly interested in how much traction it gets amount its intended primary audience – “lapsed” users – over time, and in how well it might act as incentive as new users are able to sign-up to Second Life through the app. However, we’ll hear more on both in due course.
On Friday January 17th, 2025, Linden Lab announced improvements to the financial and billing systems used by Second Life as provided by Tilia, the Lab’s trusted billing partner.
In the interests of clarity and first-hand reading, I’m not going to list everything in here; better than people read the Lab’s own post. However, the following points are worth highlighting:
The changes and updates are being deployed over the rest of January 2025, and on a rolling basis. Therefore, users will see them come into effect as they are applied.
The will result in a series of updates in how information is displayed within various web properties (e.g. the Cashier page, the Add Payment Method page, etc.).
There will be no changes to fees for existing services. However, new pay-out types and speeds that will be coming soon may have different fees based on the underlying costs involved with those pay-out methods.
From January 30th, 2025, Skrill will no longer be available to add as a new payment or pay-out method.
Those already using Skrill as a payment or pay-out method, you may continue to do so as long as it remains active in your account.
However, if anyone using Skrill removes it as as their payment / pay-out methods after January 30th, 2025, they will not be able to re-add it.
Once these changes are active, the following countries will no longer be supported with new pay-out connections: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Through our partnership with Tilia, these updates create a more modern and sustainable foundation for managing Second Life’s economy. The system now automatically reconciles transactions nightly, allowing for accurate and efficient handling of payments and balances. Users will continue to have the flexibility to manage their balances and payment methods while benefiting from improved security and reliability.
Runitai Linden in both his “Classic” (Primitar-esque) look and his more recent avatar look
Update: subject to direct correction, I believe (from comments made) that Runitai is moving to work as a paramedic.
During the Content Creation User Group meeting on Thursday, January 16th, it was announced that Runitai Linden (often referred to as DaveP) is departing Linden Lab.
One of the now longest-serving employees at the Lab, Runitai joined the company in 2005, and has been a core member of the graphics / rendering team throughout most of that time, although he was moved over to work on Project Sansar, remaining with that project through to its launch as Sansar, before transferring back to Second Life when the Lab suspended work on Sansar in early 2020, prior to its eventual sale to Wookey (then Wookey Projects Inc).
Commenting on his departure, Runitai stated:
It’s been almost 20 years, and I’ll always be grateful for the time that I’ve had here, no doubt, and everything Second Life has done; and I’ll always be proud of what Linden Lab and the residents have accomplished here. But I’ve been convicted [sic] recently to pursue a career in public service, and at the same time I felt that calling things stopped coming together in my head for doing the work that needs to be done here; I really feel that I’ve done all that I can do and it’s time for me to go on to something else.
I wouldn’t be able to do that if it wasn’t for all of you. The career I’ve chosen doesn’t exactly pay a living wage, so I’ll definitely be living off my savings! But I feel this is what I have to do. I also feel that the Second Life team has never been stronger, everybody at the Lab and the open-source community does such great work, such talented people; world-class engineers all round. I have no doubt that Second Life will thrive in my absence.
I will definitely miss all of you, I’ll miss this place – it’s been a rollercoaster, that’s for sure!
One of the things very much marked by Runitai’s return to Second Life following his time working on Sansar, has been the drive to update the visual fidelity of the platform more it towards established graphical standards. While this initiative may not have originated entirely with him, his involvement in this work has been instrumental – particularly in looking at how best to enable key aspects of the glTF specification the Lab hopes to adopt (e.g. supporting current mesh data formats over the outdated Collada .DAE, prototyping scene upload capabilities, etc.), and in driving much of the work in getting the viewer’s performance back up to acceptable standards following the issues coming out of – but not necessarily entirely the result of – the implementation of PBR materials and rendering.
Runitai did not elaborate on the specific area of public service he is moving into (or which is perhaps now claiming his full-time attention). However, everyone in Second Life who has come to know him well or distantly (as in my case) over the years cannot fail to understand the incredible amount of work his has put into the platform, or the sheer wealth of technical knowledge he has acquired and put to use throughout his time at the Lab. This along with his openness, honesty and jovial nature, will be very much missed.
For my part, I’d like to thank Runitai for all of his work with Second Life and wish him well in his new career path. Also, for those who do know Runitai and who have not already obtained a copy, his Linden Bear is available at the Hipptropolis Campsite, home of the CCUG meetings – it is floating (at the time of writing) serenely next to the table and camp fire.
On Monday, December 23rd, 2024, Linden Lab announced a special holiday gift for all Second Life users: six months access to the upcoming 2025 seasons 1 and 2 of MadPea Unlimited, which commences on January 1st, 2025. After allowing for the initial rush, I hopped over early on January 2nd, 2025 to take a peep at what is on offer.
To recap on the offer: Linden Lab is covering the cost of 6 months access to the MadPea Unlimited premium group, which gives subscribers early access to MadPea’s new games and experiences product releases, gifts, and hunts, as well as access to MadPea’s library of available in-world games and experiences. Subscriptions usually cost L$6,000 for three months – so the total value of this gift to users is $12,000 per person, and the offer runs through until the end of June 2025. An important note with the gift is that is does not require any sign-up or commitment to any on-going subscription; to participate, all residents need to do is hop along to the MadPea Unlimited region from January 1st, 2025 and join the fun.
Become Benoit Blanc (only hopefully without Daniel Craig’s accent!) and find out whodunnit in Merry Mayhem at Frostwood Manor – just make sure you don’t die in the process!
All activities and games are accessed via the Discovery hub. This provides access to all of the current in-world games and adventures, with the Weekly Drops and Monthly Collectables pick-up point lying beyond it (with the first drops of 2025 due on January 8th, 2025). One thing to note is that MadPea utilise SL Experiences, so you’ll have to accept the Experience in order for the games and adventures to work.
Each game / adventure is accessed via a dedicated portal. alongside of each portal is a kiosk offering details of the game / adventure, which includes a general rating for the activity – E for everyone (roughly equivalent to SL’s G rating), M for Mature (roughly equivalent to SL’s M rating) and M +17, indicating it contains themes such as death, murder, etc.). The kiosks also supply the dedicated HUD for a given activity, and provide information on things like the number of achievements / rewards which can be obtained. A HUD might be presented as a direct-wear / add item, or as a package giver that includes the HUD and other items. Note that while a SL Experience is utilised, this does not extend to HUD attachment – you should add them done manually.
MadPea Unlimited activity portals and information kiosks
For January 2025, the activities comprise:
Four Escape Room style challenges of varying levels of difficulty and length, comprising Ghostly Goal and Wizard’s Tower and Forsaken Funhouse (all rated E), and Deadly Dungeon (Rated M 17+).
Three adventure- style games comprising a horror story called Insidious Island (rated M) and The Kidnapping (rated E), and Jewel of the Nile (rated E)
Ascension, a puzzle challenge
Two murder mysteries – Merry Mayhem at Frostwood Manor (rated E) and The Naughty List Murders (rated M 17+), the latter forming the latest MadPea addition.
Try your hand at solving puzzles as your ascend the tower
Games are variable in length, the average being between 2 and 3 hours, with Forsaken Funhouse lasting up to around 8 hours. However, this time does not necessarily have to be done all at once, it is possible to leave, detach the HUD and leave, then wear it and return (with The Naughty Murders List, for example, you can add the HUD, open the Mad City map and click on the last location you visited and then resume).
I took a quick run-through of the two murder mysteries, and found the basics to be broadly similar: interacting with static characters who interact with you in both voice and text, as you move through a series of locations seeking clues, your progress and other information recorded on your game HUD. In this I found both a little formulaic – but that’s my fault for running through both mysteries back-to-back, rather than mixing two different game types.
One of the Game HUDs
That said, once involved, I did – as used to be the case when I was a regular at MadPea – become engrossed in working out who had done what (although in the case of The Naughty List Murders, I believed I’d figured the likely culprit roughly half-way through the game, based on a comment passed by one of the characters, and ended-up continuing to see if I was right – which again is half the fun with whodunits (and it turned out I was right, in part)).
A nice touch is the the majority of the games are geared towards group play, so people can work together on them. Check the information kiosks to conform whether group play is intended – just work in IM with friends. One thing I would say is that given these are still the early days of the gift being available (at least at the time of writing). As such, the games can get busy.
“One thing’s sure. Sebastian Blackwood is dead — murdered — and somebody’s responsible!” (with apologies to MadPea and Plan 9 From Outer Space 😀 )
When announced, the offer of MadPea Unlimited access gather some negative responses through various mediums. Personally, I don’t see the harm; MadPea have always provided engaging entertainment, and an arrangement like this is a nice way for LL to both encourage users to have a little fun and making many who many not be aware of MadPea or have never tried their Unlimited subscription to give them a try; and if that encourages some to support MadPea by taking out a subscription for membership after the gift period ends – that can’t be bad, can it?
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 