Tag: SL News

Linden Lab announces 2K Bakes on Mesh support on Aditi

Posted on by Inara Pey
2K Bakes on Mesh. Credit: Linden Lab

One of the most popular technical requests for Second Life in recent months has been to extend 2K texture support to the Bakes on Mesh service, so it can be accessible for use directly on avatar clothing layers. During the Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting of September 10th, 2024, Pepper Linden indicated that an initial release of 2K Bakes on Mesh support could be forthcoming within the next week or so via the Beta grid – or Aditi, as it is called.

In an announcement posted of September 1th, 2024, Pepper confirmed that the capability is now available on Aditi for testing – and that accessing Aditi had now been simplified. To quote from the announcement:

Previously, residents were required to submit a support ticket to manually copy their accounts to Aditi. This process is now automated. Upon your first login attempt to the beta grid, your account will automatically sync, significantly simplifying access. Please be aware that the initial login may experience a brief delay as your account is copied over, but subsequent logins will proceed without delay.

And:

Inventory Synchronization
Each night, the beta grid will sync your inventory from Agni, provided you have logged into the beta grid within the past 24 hours. If you encounter issues where inventory items appear to be missing after synchronization, clearing your viewer’s cache should resolve the problem, as it may have cached your old inventory.

2K Bakes on Mesh Notes

In order to reduce the rendering impact in using 2K textures on system layers (skins, tattoo layers, clothing layers), there are limitations imposed on the system, whereby bakes will only be made at the highest resolution texture used in the avatar layers. So, for example:

  • If all the layers are at 512×512 resolution, the resultant bake will be 512×512.
  • If the majority of the layers are 512×512, but one is at 1024×1024, then the resultant bake will be 1024×1024, with the 512 textures upscaled to 1024×1024.
  • If the layers are all 1024×1024, the resultant bake will be 1024×1024.
  • If the layers are predominantly 1024×1024, but one is 2048×2048, the result bake will be 2048×2048, with the 1024×1024 textures upscaled to 2048×2048.

As Pepper revealed at the SUG meeting, the exception to this is eye textures: these are capped at a maximum resolution of 512×512, no matter what the resolution of the rest of the bake.

Issues and Feedback

Again to quote the official blog post:

We anticipate a temporary increase in system activity due to these enhancements. If you encounter any issues with these new enhancements, we highly recommend attending the Server User Group meetings held every Tuesday at 1 PM PST in the Denby region. Alternatively, you can submit a bug or feature request on feedback.secondlife.com. Your feedback is essential for refining and improving our services.

I’ll also continue to update this work through my SUG meeting summaries and, should the topic be raised at them, my Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting summaries.

 

 

Linden Lab promotes updated SL Combat System 2.0 with video

Posted on by Inara Pey
Combat 2.0, courtesy of Linden Lab

As regulars to these pages are probably aware, I covered the Combat User Group meetings from February 2024 through until late July, 2024, during which Rider Linden worked with members of SL’s widespread community of combat enthusiasts on an initial overhaul of Second Life’s combat system (SLCS). The aim was not to develop a new combat game or combat system, but to provide combat enthusiasts with a much improved box of tools (scripted capabilities) for better, more immersive combat experiences within Second Life.

Details of what many hope will be the first phase of the Combat 2.0 project can be found in my Combat User Group summaries.  However, two spin-offs (so to speak) of this work have been the Combat Partnership, and the return of three much-loved combat regions (which were originally part of the Teen grid): Concord, Lexington and between them, No Mans Land, with the promise that the latter would undergo a facelift and act as a new nucleus to help encourage combat enthusiasts – both within Second Life and those who may have departed the platform – to give the new and updated capabilities a go.

An inaugural (and informal) meet-up within the regions was initially held on July 25th, mainly featuring those combat enthusiasts who had participated in the user group, the session being to mark a wrap on the first phase of work and to put the Combat User Group on hiatus for a time.

Combat 2.0: Concord (with personal EEP setting)

Now the facelift work on the three regions has been completed, and on September 5th, 2024, Linden Lab launched a new promotion for Combat 2.0 utilising a video produced by Vrutega‬, expressly aimed at encouraging people to come back into Second Life and give things a go. And going on preliminary responses, it has been well-received. 

Concord and Lexington act as the base locations for two teams for those wishing to engaged in team-based combat, but the regions are also open to more general player versus player (PvP) or player versus environment (PvE) combat. They each have  dedicated landing point:

No Mans Land is the epicentre for combat. It includes a network of WW1 style trenches, open land, for PvP and cover for PvE against the roaming armed aerial drones. For team-based combat, Red and Blue flags are also located in the region, ready to be attacked / defended. Nor do those wishing to join in have to equip themselves before joining in – those who are new to Combat in SL or are making a return out of curiosity, can obtain various free weapons, generously provided by creators with the Second Life combat community. These can be found within the hangers at Concord and Lexington, and some might be floating around elsewhere.

As well as the showcase regions at Concord et al, the updated Combat 2.0 capabilities are available to all combat regions holders in Second Life to leverage. As a very, very small thumbnail of the updates, the following are now available with Combat 2.0:

  •  Damage events (llDamage) and healing (incl. objects having health).
  • Better control over what happens on death.
  • Spawn points.
  • A new and dedicated combat log – “Brigadier Linden” combat region owners can leverage in administrating combat in their regions.
  • region-wide settings available to combat region owners.
  • new LSL functions and events.

All of these are covered in much greater detail via the dedicated Combat 2.0 SL Wiki page, which also includes links to specific information on things like the Combat log and updated / new LSL functions.

Combat 2.0: No Man’s Land (with personal EEP setting)

Combat Partnership

With Combat 2.0 becoming available, Linden Lab has announced the Combat 2.0 Promotion Partnership Programme has been launched.

  • The intention behind the Promotion Partnership Programme this is to give those actively involved in combat activities in Second Life the “opportunity to help us spread the word across the grid about Combat 2.0 in Second Life”.
  • Participants will have their regions / communities included in a Combat section of the Destination Guide. There may be other benefits for participants as well.
  • Those interested can sign-up via this Google form.
Combat 2.0: Lexington

So, if you’re curious about combat in Second Life, why not hop over to Concord or Lexington and have a look around.

SLurl Details

The showcase combat regions are rated Moderate

SL21B: SecondLifeTime Premium (+Upgrade), SecondLifeTime Premium Plus limited Offers

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Update: following the publication of this article, Linden Lab published their own official announcement blog post.

In 2023, at SL20B, Linden Lab announced a pair of “limited availability lifetime memberships”: Second LifeTime Premium and Second Lifetime Premium Plus. As I reported at the time, these accounts:

  • Featured a one-off payment and provided all of the benefits applicable to either the Premium Account subscription package or the Premium Plus Account subscription package, depending on which LifeTime membership is applied for.
  • Would remain in effect:
    • Even if the account holder cancels their membership – if they re-join later, they will be able to continue with their Second LifeTime membership.
    • As long as Second Life remains operational.
  • Were offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

On June 28th, 2024, Linden Lab announced these Lifetime Memberships are once again available on a first-come, first-serve limited number basis, specifically:

  • 121 applications for SecondLifeTime Premium.
  • 21 LifeTime Premium upgrades to LifeTime Premium Plus for those who took out a LifeTime Premium membership in 2023.
  • 21 applications for SecondLifeTime Premium Plus.

These packages are offered at the following on-off payment prices of:

  • US $859.00 at the time of upgrade for SecondLifeTime Premium.
  • US $1150.00 at the time of upgrade to go from Second LifeTime Premium (2023) to SecondLifeTime PremiumPlus
  • US $$1,899.00 at the time of upgrade for SecondLifeTime Premium Plus.

As with the original offer, Lifetime memberships:

  • May not be available to upgrade to other account types (e.g. from SecondLifeTime Premium to Premium Plus). However, requests for upgrade can be submitted via support ticket for case-by-case review.
  • Will not be available for downgrade, but will become the base-level membership account type for the holder.

Further Details & How to Apply

Applications can be made by Support Ticket only.

  • Go to the Second Life Support portal.
  • Click the orange Submit A Ticket button on the top right of any page of the support portal, and sign in if you have not already.
  • In the support ticket form, select the ticket type Account Issue, and choose Request SecondLifetime Premium Account from the second drop down that appears.
  • Select which membership type you would like – SecondLifeTime Premium, Second LifeTime Premium to Premium Plus upgrade or SecondLifeTime Premium Plus.
  • Check the box that states, I accept the fee. This will be required for support ticket submission, and will allow your membership to be processed as quickly as possible.
  • Fill out any additional necessary details in the description section (e.g. if you have recently renewed either your Premium or Premium Plus subscription, add the date of renewal) and click Submit.
  • Allow up to 10 business days for Second LifeTime membership support ticket requests to be processed.

Linden Lab announces venue for 1st Second Life community Round Table

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Following recent announcements about efforts to improve communications and engage with the users, and to provide the opportunity to ask questions of members of the Lab’s senior leadership (see: Linden Lab: updates to policies and new initiatives on community relations (May 2nd, 2024) and Summary of Tilia acquisition Lab Gab + SL Round Table News (April 24, 2024)), on Thursday, May 16th, 2024, Linden Lab announced both the venue details for the the first Community Round Table and those from the Lab’s leadership team who will be attending.

You can read the full details in the official blog post: Community Roundtable on May 20 – Your Chance to Help Improve Second Life. However, and in brief:

In addition the the above, the post provides details on how users can engage with the Lab through the Feedback Portal and Support Portal, and by attending the regularly scheduled User Group meetings held in-world on a range of specific subject areas. For details on the latter, please refer to the SL wiki Official User Groups page, and for dates and times, please see the SL Public calendar†.

The official post concludes:

We understand that agreement on every idea or suggestion may not always be possible. However, we can assure you that your ideas and suggestions matter deeply to us, and those perspectives help shape our decisions. Your voice is valued in our ongoing journey together.
We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with each and every one of you in shaping a world that is not only enjoyable and prosperous but also vibrant and flourishing. Your presence here means the world to us, and your contributions are invaluable in making Second Life an exceptional place to belong. Thank you sincerely for sharing your time with us and for being an integral part of our journey towards creating something truly special together.

Again, please read the official blog post for all information on the meeting.

 

†While they are not officially representative of the Lab or these meetings, please note that I attempt to provide summaries of a number of user group session within these pages, and Patera Północy provides video recordings of the meetings she is able to attend via her You Tube channel).

Linden Lab: updates to policies and new initiatives on community relations

Posted on by Inara Pey
© and ® Linden Lab

On Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, Linden Lab issued the promised updates to both public-facing (i.e. linked to the Terms of Service) and internal policies.

These updates, together with additional internal changes (as noted below), have been made in the wake of investigations carried out in the wake of allegations made pseudonymously in February via the social journalism website Medium (and since removed).

In March, Linden Lab Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager (Oberwolf Linden) made a public statement on these matters indicating as much as was deemed necessary at the time (see my own reporting here, if interested), and that a further statement would be made in due course. It was further indicated by Keira Linden, speaking during a Lab Gab session released on April 19th, 2024 (and summarised in my own words here) that updates to policies were (then) being finalised, so the May 2nd statement – entitled Enhancing Our World Together – comes as no surprise.

Within it, Mr. Oberwager provides a short summary of the outcome of the investigations into the allegations made, before going on to summarise actions that have been / are being undertaken in the wake of those investigations, stating:

The investigation determined that all Lindens and contractors have stayed in compliance with our own community guidelines, as well as unwritten, ethical guidelines. I do not make this statement lightly, and I know there will be plenty of discussion. What I can say is that there is no incentive, monetary or otherwise, for me to mislead the community. At some point, the community has to trust that we, the Lindens, do well when the community thrives. We may make mistakes along the way, and we know that our community will engage with us when we do. Second Life is an enormous virtual world and we have to walk a very fine line between policing and preserving freedoms while also protecting the future growth and health of Second Life as a platform that respects diversity and creative expression among our community.
The findings did highlight opportunities for improvement. As a result, we are making updates to our internal policies to raise the standard for how Linden employees should respectfully engage with community members. This addresses multiple forms of engagement including how we present ourselves, how we interact with the community (even in moments of conflict), and how we minimize the perception of conflict of interest and favouritism in our interactions. 

As a result, the Lab has:

  • Updated the Child Avatar Policy related to the Second Life Terms of Service (ToS) – hence the need to re-accept the ToS on accessing Second Life or its related web properties.
  • Updated internal Policies and Procedures
  • Implemented personnel changes
  • Initiated management improvement programs
  • Committed to Community Roundtables (see below)
  • Committed to increased transparency and accountability

In terms of the the changes to the Child Avatar Policy, the statement notes:

We know that this update has the potential to cause confusion or concern in our community, so we’ve prepared an FAQ which we will continue to update as questions come up.

Community Round Table

  • The first of the Community Round Table events, as referenced in the statement and as previously announced by Linden Lab, will take place between 09:30-11:00 SLT on  Monday, May 20th, 2024, although the venue still to be announced (at the time of writing).
  • The event will feature Mr. Oberwager among those taking part from the Lab. It has been indicated that this event will have a focus on the acquisition of Tilia Inc., by Thunes, but also that reasonable questions / concerns on matter such as this might be addressed.
  • At the time of writing, and anonymous form for those wishing to ask questions of the Lab / offer feedback / suggestions on improving Second Life remained open (but I would advise using it sooner rather than later, if you intend to do so).
  • There will also be a Q&A portion during the Round Table at which questions  / ideas can be put forward.

Please note: if you opt to comment on the Lab’s statement, as outlined in this article, please refrain from discussing / naming any individuals, whether or not they may be related to the matters pertaining thereto.

 

Summary of Tilia acquisition Lab Gab + SL Round Table News

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Friday, April 26th, 2024, Linden Lab issued a pre-recorded Lab Gab session featuring the company’s Executive Chairman, Brad Oberwager (Oberwolf Linden) discussing the recent news concerning the acquisition of Tilia.io, the all-in-one payments platform established by Linden Lab in 2019 and which manages payment processing and cashing out for Second Life, by Singapore-based business-2-business (B2B) payments infrastructure firm Thunes, and which I reported on here on the acquisition.

At the same time, the blog post promoting the Lab Gab session provided further information on the upcoming Community Round Table event, first informally announced on April 19th, 2024.

The following is a brief summary of the Lab Gab session, offered as a quick reference summary for those interested. In addition, a brief summary of the Round Table event news is at the end of this article.

Lab Gab – Thunes and Tilia

General Points

[Video: 1:00-4:00]

  • The news of the acquisition has been the subject of considerable commentary on the official forums and elsewhere, and the concerns voice are seen as “understandable”.
  • Summary of Tilia (as clarification):
    • A payments company which (for Second Life) allows users to use credit and debit cards and PayPal to buy Linden dollars;  tracks the use of those Linden dollars and support the sale of those Linden Dollars, and allows users to cash-out the USD value of those Linden Dollars [after fees] to their bank accounts.
    • However, Tilia is not the LindeX itself – that is separate technology specific to Second Life.
    • In order to function under US regulatory law, Tilia requires money transmitter licenses (MTLs) [and is classified a Money Service Business or MSB]
    • Running Tilia costs “millions and millions” of dollars to run, so the decision was taken to spin it out as a business in its own right so that it could support other customers / platforms, and thus alleviate some of the costs faced by LL.
    • However, this has not worked out as well as had been hoped. While Tilia has a modest client list, it still relied heavily on Linden Lab to meet its costs, thus detracting for finances which could be used within Second Life.
    • The decision was therefore made to seek an organisation which might – “under guidelines” acquire Tilia and make it profitable.

Tilia and LindeX Demarcation

[Video 21:00-23:24]

  • The LindeX is a core part of the Second Life services, operated and maintained by Linden Lab.
  • Tilia is a regulated entity / financial institution which:
    • allows Second Life residents to hold US dollar amounts in an account;
    • is allowed to run a credit card;
    • is allowed to make pay-outs.
  • As such, Tilia has no influence upon the LindeX, and has nothing to do with pricing, exchange rates, etc., that are the remit of the LindeX.

Requirements for Acquisition

[Video: 4:41-5:28]

  • First criteria: any company acquiring Tilia must to commit to continuing to support Second Life, and the relationship between Second Life and Tilia is continued.
  • Second criteria: what could any company acquiring Tilia bring to Tilia and thus to Second Life?
  • Additional criteria included: how much were companies willing to pay; what would happen to Tilia staff, how fast could a buyer commit to completing the deal, etc.

Thunes – Who and Why

[Video: 5:35-8:18 and 11:00-12:30]

  • Thunes is an international money movement company “missing one piece of a very interesting jigsaw puzzle” – the United States.
  • In short, Thunes does not have MTLs to operate in the United States, although they had begun the process of applying for them.
  • Brad Oberwager was introduced to the CEO of Thunes right at the time thought was being given to selling Tilia, and Thunes were starting on the road of  applying for MTLs in the US.
  • As both parties recognised the value in reaching an agreement, they were able to rapidly enter into an exclusive agreement for the sale of Tilia.
    • Tilia gives Thunes the ability to operate in the United States in a more cost-effective manner than Thunes could otherwise achieve.
    • Tilia (rebranded as Thunes) will effectively become Thunes’ centre of operations for expanding its business into the US.
  • [As noted in my article] Thunes allows for a range of payment methods direct to customers in multiple currencies and to bank accounts, to virtual wallets, etc., with payment made in real-time. These are abilities Linden Lab has not been able to build-in to Tilia, as they are both complex and expensive.
  • As Thunes integrates Tilia into its business model, Second Life will be able to access Thunes’ global network and services.
  • [From 11:00] While there were other suitors for the deal, Thunes was the company with which Brad Oberwager felt most comfortable.
  • Thunes also demonstrated they really want to invest into Tilia and grow it as a business.
    • They weren’t simply looking at Tilia as a means to gain the MTLs.
    • They didn’t see Tilia as a one-stop solution; rather it is a merging of capabilities neither Thunes nor Tilia have individually.

The 5-Year Partnership and Payment Options to Second Life Users

[Video: 8:23-10:59]

  • The Thunes press release on the acquisition references a 5-year partnership with Linden Lab.
  • This is in reference to the business agreement between Linden Lab and Thunes, which is “so good” for both, the two companies wanted for formalise it beyond just the acquisition of Tilia, thus meeting the first criteria within the Lab’s requirements for any Tilia acquisition.
    • Any offer made for Tilia which had not provided the ability to meet the first criteria set by Brad Oberwager would not have been accepted.
  • There will be “a lot of things offered” to Second Life users, but what cannot be committed to as this point in time is when these things might be offered, simply because Linden Lab will not be involved in the day-to-day management and development of Tilia, post-sale. However:
    • “First on the roadmap” is better pay-outs and more pay-outs.
    • There will also [likely] be more options for purchasing L$.

Regulatory Approval and When Will SL Users Notice the Transition

[Video 12:32-15:33]

  • The acquisition is being handled as a reverse triangular merger [in essence, Tilia is both the subsidiary and the post-acquisition entity].
  • The company will be rebranded, but all the technology and data will “remain Tilia”. As such, Second Life users may never know that the transition has happened; all the things that are important in terms of data are staying the same; all of the things in terms of the technology are “only going to get better”.
  • What will change in Tilia’s owner, and this is where the regulatory approval comes in.
    • MTLs cannot simply be handed over to a new owner when a company operating them is sold; the new owner has to be approved by the state (/territorial) regulator(s) responsible for issuing the MTLs.
    • While regulators work at different speeds [and Tilia is licensed in 48 US states and territories), the process of gaining all the required approvals could take “from 5 to 9 months”.
    • Confidence in a buyer being able to gain all this regulatory approval was another criterion for any sale of Tilia. Thunes give him that level of confidence, because it has gone through similar processes elsewhere in the world.

Benefits, User Data and Fees

[Video: 15:33-21:00]

  • Proceeds of the sale will [obviously] go to the owners of Linden Lab. They will then determine how much of those funds are invested back into Second Life.
  • The better Second Life (or aspects thereof) do, then the greater the amount of money put into Second Life. Cited examples:
    • If SL Mobile sees high adoption and use, if it becomes successful on the Apple / Google app stores, etc., then more money could well be put towards further development / enhancement of the mobile product.
    • If SL sees increases in retained new users as a result of initiatives, with the daily average usage of the platform increasing, then more money will go into further improvements in that area.
  • A key point with the acquisition of Linden Lab [by Oberwager and Waterfield in 2020] is the company spending has increased, which has “proven to be a good thing” for the platform.
  • User Data Security: An important point to note with the acquisition of Tilia is that Second Life user data is not changing hands.
    • Tilia will have new owners and will be renamed, but the lock-down of Second Life user data resides in two places: Tilia (for financial information) and Second Life (actual user data).
    • As a financial services company, Thunes is required to keep financial data as secure as it currently is with Tilia, and the data will not be removed from the current Tilia systems and moved elsewhere.
  • User fees for payment processing, cashing out, etc.: Brad Oberwager has “no intention” to change fees “any which way” as a result of the deal with Thunes.
    • Pointed out that LL does revise fees, but tends to do so in a manner intended to reflect the value of the services they provide. So, while fees for payment processing, etc., have increased in the past – they have generally been as a result of lowering fees elsewhere (e.g. in reducing land tier).
    • Also made clear that while there are no plans to increase payment process / cashing out fees as a result of this deal, the LindeX is expensive to run and maintain – and so he is not saying there will “never” be any fee increases; changes will be made on a business benefit basis.

On The Future of Second Life

[Video 23:25-26:11]

  • Views Second Life as a “moral imperative” – it is so good for so many in the world for so many reasons, that there is a moral need that goes beyond a financial reason to have Second Life continue.
  • The only connection between selling Tilia and Second Life is that, under Linden Lab’s ownership was not “financially good” for Linden Lab, but is a potential financial powerhouse for Thunes.
  • The Thunes deal has gone ahead purely because it is good for Linden Lab, for Second Life and for Tilia and its employees; therefore there is “nothing negative” about the deal.
  • He remains fully supportive of Second Life, and – per the earlier examples – willing to put the money raised from the sale back into Second Life.

Round Table Update

  • As per the original April 19th informal announcement, the Round Table event will take place on Monday, May 20th, 2024, commencing at 09:30 SLT, and will be the first in a series of such events, which are defined as:
An opportunity to connect directly with our top executives, share your input, and discuss ideas on enhancing Second Life. This initiative represents another step in our efforts to improve our community interactions, ensuring that your voice is more directly heard and valued. 
  • The location for the event has not (at the time of writing) been stated, but will be announced “closer to the date”.
  • This first Round Table will feature Linden Lab Executive Chairman Oberwolf Linden and Senior VP of Product & Engineering Grumpity Linden. Plus:
    • The session will include further discussion of the above Tilia acquisition, and on upcoming Linden Lab / Second Life Policy updates.
    • There will be an open Q&A portion of the event (which is not for airing individual support issues or personal grievances and subject to the SL Community Standards.
    • In addition, questions and  / or feedback can be provided to the Leadership in advance of the event using this anonymous form.
  •  Future Round Table events will feature other Lab executives participating on a variety of topics, and the scheduling of these events will likely vary to be more accessible to other time zones.
  • Please see the official blog post for more.