Reader Submitted: Letter to The Editor - The Death of SL

 

From Magnus (Magnustemporal Resident)

as of 11:22:47 am on Tue 11/26/24 there are currently 17,560 active users in Second Life.

"The death of SL."

The title of this does sound very dismal does it not? It makes one think that perhaps the grid will shut down tomorrow, or next year....it just sounds dreadful, however it's not quite what you think, In fact there's a lot more to the picture than you think....read on to find out more.

I have been around in SL for a very long time, 17 years in fact....maybe not on this account. But on total it's been about 17 years.

At one point during this time, when content creators failed to gain protections for their IP from LL....a lot left SL in almost a mass exodus....and this is when I started seeing this pattern...I'm not sure what to call it other than a cyclic event, and it works like this:

Whenever a major content creator leaves SL, or a major DJ or venue switches platforms and leaves SL for whatever reason, there is a exodus of people from the grid. This lowers the number of citizens in world, I have seen it happen time and time again, a major club or person or DJ leaves SL and others follow suit, in time the grid does recover some of the numbers lost, however they're never as "good" as the numbers before.

SL is made or broke by us the citizens, with the content we create, the people we help, or the friends and family we make, when people have pleasurable experiences in world, they are much more apt to come back. At some point when the numbers above get small enough SL probably will go offline for cost reasons. But seeing the impact that a single citizen can make in world. I know the power of good things. And of good causes.

I have seen this cycle repeat it's self so many times, and I have no idea how many have caught on to it. The solution however does start with us citizens. We need to be more active in getting people to try the game, to look around and experience all the great and awesome stuff people make and things they do, 

I used to own my own business in real life, and I never paid for advertising. My customers had good experiences and I was referenced soley by word of mouth. In time I became rather successful.

The point of that is, that we can grow SL's numbers and draw in content creators and new citizens simply by word of mouth alone.

The next statements are more personal views than anything else and are not intended to offend at all but give cause for thought.

For a lot of people, SL starts with finding out the game exists, either by search engine advert, or you guessed it word of mouth from a friend. 

So the experience, the first experience a person has with SL is dependent entirely by the viewer they choose to use. 

What I noticed with the PBR based viewers is that there was a rush to be the first to produce one, and with disastrous results. 

The first few viewers where atrocious as the different viewer makers struggled with the new technology, there where bugs, but some rushed to press to be one of the first to produce a PBR viewers. 

Did anyone stop and think for a moment, how this open experimentation might effect first time users? 

they create an account, log in and......lag, missing textures, stability issues.....all sorts of things....what will these people think these potential new citizens? They may have been referenced to a particular viewer by a friend only to have a first time substandard experience, some may try again while others might quit entirely.....this is not good at all for the grid. 

I think that more and through testing before releasing a version of the viewer on the grid, to ensure that new and seasoned users have a pleasurable experience. When they do, they talk, and for SL talking is good. it brings people.

Content creators and venues should give careful consideration about quitting SL before doing so because that can also have a grid wide impact especially if the person or venue has a lot of support from the community...

I get people are gonna quit, but there's things even then that can be done to reduce the loss of citizens on the grid, and maybe the cycle that I see everytime a big person or place or club or what have you leaves, there won't be such a hit on the grid, and that 17,560 people could become 100,000.....in fact I think we were somewhere near or over that number of people at one point. and it was awesome.

But things start and end with us, so what are we gonna do with our future?

Magnus.

Extra

Reader Submitted: Community Roundtalbe for May 20

 

By Zada Bury

My opinion about the "Roundtable" and around ... special at the moment.

It is awesome, Linden Lab remembers some of the good things from before around 15 years. Okay, there are still the user-meetings, but this makes me feel welcome. Anyway it's good for informations or an update about things ... and brainstorming - but less for some productive work.

It is the same as with "Forums": You might have a good idea (in your point of view) ... but first you have to dig trough 5 pages, if somebody was bring it up before (and how the reactions was) ... then you make your comment, head to sleep ... and can next dig trough 3 pages, if somebody was react on it.

I was came 60 minutes late to this event and was only read the last 30 minutes. The flooded chat was make the following difficult ... and participating would be even more hard. For luck there are some recordings. I took a few pictures.

A friend was comment it to me with the words "90% age-stuff, 5% Tilia, 5% mobile app". And the "age stuff" (foremost the updated ToS) is what put also some annoying load into these meetings lately.

There are 3 kind of people or groups ...

1) There are the users of Anime-Avatars, and I can understand their concerns.

Anime and Manga is an often false interpreted art-style. Here it needs some broadly open communicated "guidelines" or similar by the Governance-Team - maybe not hard "rules" but more a list of ideas, so you can get the meaning right. Oh and if your character is a "1000 year old demon that lives in the body of a child", you are still violating the ToS.

2) There are the creators of Child or Teenager Avatars and the problems with the "Modesty Layer".
And I can understand their mutters.

In my eyes, the "Modesty Layer" is a "toothless tiger which causes many problems and work with no real success". It is one of these "good thought at first", but "the results may vary" ... or not pay out.
Each layer on the body can be "overwritten" by worn clothes ... or putting a texture on without the enforced undies. Even one solution to "let out the sections in the mesh" (there would be a hole in the body) could be overwritten with a fitting mesh-item. There would be a clear rule like "painted or structured genitals or body-openings and so on" are not allowed,  and done.

And there are ...

3) People in child-avatars, which whining about, them are not longer allowed to enter adult-rated lands ... and I lost any understanding for them.

First at all: Maybe them need a reminder, it takes maybe 30 seconds to open the inventory, right-click an outfit and change to an adult appearance. There is the "General" and the "Moderate" rating, you still can play a child.

About these people, that are whining "their family home is on adult" or "their store": It comes at first in my thought "Why is that on 'Adult'?" No idea, how to describe it, but maybe "over-rating"? For a normal,  full adult but private experience, "Moderate" fits well and is enough. "Adult" is only a must for advertised adult stuff and businesses. Why are you choosing for your family-home "Adult"? Also "our shops", most would fit on mature - and the last I would want is an adult person represented in a child-avatar, which does the customer-support in some store for adult stuff!

Ok, maybe you were choose a home on Adult because of "whatever".

Option 1: The family-kid fast turns 18+ ...
 

Option 2: Move to Mature-rated lands - there are massive places available, even also abandoned lands, which often can be bought for only 1L$/m2 trough the support.

This doesn't feel good? I have been running since 15 years a place for adults, and in this time I was need to change or move 3 times about "changes" - so stop whining! If you wanna cry about your freedom and so: The (equaly) adult areas in real-life, you would be faster tossed out as a child than you can say "I only wanna look something" ...

But there is one last thing, which goes under since a while, and that is dangerous: "Sharpening the age verification" to ... "protect the (underage real-life) kids".

Sadly anytime there is discussion about "child avis," it's messed up and merged with "protection of (real-life) kids." I would guess, 99.9% of the users of child avis (so: affected by the ToS-change) are adults, which Roleplay as a child - and I will not judge them ... getting the youth back, get the intact family them never was have or to early lost in real life ... all are legit reasons. But they have nothing to do with RL-kids!

I must say, here we are sadly back to the time before,  15 years ago. Around 15 years in 2009, there was also the discussions go on, how to protect kids from adult stuff with verifications. That time was a lot tried out - but the problems have not changed. But now the ideas have the ability to destroy and might cause Second Life to close!

First at all: With the so called "Industrial standard" ... eg "Yes, I am 18"-Button you can gain on the Internet access to more explicit content, than SL might offer. Most don't know this, but behind this "Button" is more going on than you think - Protection Software on the Computer can read so called "Metadata" out and block even unknown pages ... surely the parents have to activate it. A normal (adult) user without such software will experience no blocking.
 

Blocking kids from content they should not see are honorable intentions. But: If Linden Lab decides to make the access for users more difficult, here is a reminder: We are not longer in 2009.
Nowadays there are a lot of, and also on the same level, if not also above, competitors against Second Life. Why should someone offer massive critical personal data to gain adult access in SL, if them can get it everywhere else with just the "industrial standard"?

"VRchat" for example is "beloved" by everybody. Steam loves them, because them have no adult content. Twitch loves them, because them have no adult content. The parents loves it, because their ToS say, them have no adult content (if them read it). But surprise: There is adult stuff! Sure, it's forbidden by the ToS, and everyone loves VRchat about this forbidding. But it is still there.

If Second Life now makes it more difficult to access, at all the competitors' offices, the champagne bottles will popping, and SL might die out and close.

Also this "sharpening" does not solve two issues: 

 

1) No matter, how difficult SL will make it, people that are aware about possible data-loss will be scared away or have more problems with it, but the kids will find it it almost easy to break it: Them just need a short moment to borrow their parents data, ID, whatever ... and then they are in. And them have a super-easy access to this stuff.

2) Parents expect from "the Internet companies" to protect their kids. But it is the duty of the parents to lock their kids computer. It is the duty of the parents to take care for their kids activities. The "child protecting parents" which demand by Internet companies to protect their kids, they just expect from 8,000,000,000 people, these raise their child - but it is the duty of the parents directly ... and not for all other people on the Internet!

So Linden Lab would be good at the point to take care, their page is detected by such protection-software. They also can "aggressive" communicate it to present them done something and being a good company which takes care for that theme. But beside of that, better hands-off from the actual verification way.

Otherwise Second Life might not make the quarter century mark. It's been 21 years now and it's still alive and it is working - a sharpening might close it before the 25th birthday.

(click here if the video does not play)

Zada Bury

Opinion: The Kids are Alright

 

By Any1 Gynoid

 

This dress is a “thoub”. It’s a classic traditional Palestinian party outfit for women. I’ve been wearing this dress all week at dozens of Second Life venues. Nobody noticed. Would kids even notice if a real Hamas terrorist pillaged their home town? I doubt it.

So I am searching today in-world in Second Life. Search term Palestine? Nothing. Palestinian? Nothing. Hamas? Nothing. Gaza? Nothing.

So why are all those kids protesting on college campuses and getting arrested as we speak?

I have a theory. ATTENTION. How else can they get it? Presidential Scandals are not shocking. Pr0n is not shocking. Mass killing is the new normal.

I deplore the double standard in society. It’s NOT OKAY to be a misogynist. Me too! NOT OKAY to be a racist. NOT OKAY to be anti-LGTBQ. (Nor Anti-FURRY! LoL)

But ANTISEMITISM! Somehow it’s okay to hate Jewish people. To quote Dana Horn’s book title… People Love Dead Jews… Jesus H you know the most popular! The 2nd most popular is Anne Frank… And thems fighting words. You are messing with the wrong biatch! Now you have my ATTENTION!

So I’m just saying. Society is really messed up. And it’s getting worse for our kids generation. Declining economic prospects for young people and marriage. It’s okay to work at home in your mom’s basement and be socially isolated. Okay, I get that!

The kids are protesting the hypocrisy of modern society. So the kids picked the most divisive issue possible to get our attention. Okay kids we hear you.

I don’t believe the protestors’ antisemitic rhetoric on TV for even for a second. I don’t believe that kids are so disgruntled that they turned into screaming racists overnight. A nation of college campuses populated by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s yelling at Stonewall Douglas victims. I’m not buying it. Whatsoever. The Kids are Alright. 

Any1 Gynoid

 

Commentary: The Staying Power of Second Life

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

As a Gen-Xer, most of my earliest memories about home video entertainment involve the Atari and it's games that the household had. We got it around Christmas 1979. Four years later, I was playing the Atari games less and less. A better videogame system had came out, the Colecovision, plus the house now had a compuer, an Apple II plus. I can't remember when the last Atari game had been bought, maybe around that time or shortly afterwards. But less than five years after my household had gotten the Atari, I had stopped playing the games and they were shelved.

So what happened? Atari had gotten somewhat complacent over the years, and others began coming out with systems that could play better games, such as Intellivision and Colecovision. And then there were the makers of videogames that were soon flooding the market with them, some that were more or less cheap knock-offs of similar games. Eventually came the "crash" in 1983 in which demand for the games dropped. I myself still liked games that were coming out, but they were for the newer Colecovision the household got. In a couple years, our Coleco console would break. There were no more being made, and Atari games were no longer being sold. Not that I was overly interested as their appeal was waning on me, and went to just the computer games. And so that was my end of playing the home video games. It would be just the games on the Apple II.

Two decades later, it was a different world in regards to home entertainment. The World Wide Web had been around for about a decade. It was around December 2006 when I finally got high speed Internet. I soon checked out two places friends had been talking about: World of Warcraft and Second Life. World of Warcraft with it's simpler goals was easier to make sense out of, so I got into that one almost right away. Second Life took longer. After some looking around, after which the person who invited me over was suddenly too busy to help much, I only came on once every three to four weeks, until I found out about the Relay for Life track. That got my attention, and I began logging on more often, started meeting people, made friends, got a better avatar, began learning more about the place and where more interesting places and events were.

A year after my arrival, I'd gotten an SL job and a purpose here, had a group of friends, and all looked well. How long it would last, I didn't know. I'd been part of an online sci-fi roleplay that lasted for several years before it closed down. And then of course there were the Atari games that lasted for a few years before things went downhill with the company.

Sixteen years later, I'm still around. It was nine years ago that I let my Warcraft account expire. While I would get back on a few more times, the last time three years ago, I didn't stay for long. But Second Life I'm continuing to log on regularly.

So why the difference between my time here and Warcraft, and that of playing Atari games? Well, it the case of the Atari games, the answer is more obvious. There was no social aspect to the games, the technology of gaming progressed so that others were offering better products, and the company ran into trouble after a few years before it's new and improved gaming system caught on. With computer gaming, there were more possibilities as computers could be upgraded as games got more detailed and sophisticated. And with the Internet and World Wide Web came more and more of a social aspect. Those two developments would allow for MMORPGs and public virtual worlds.

My personal experience with World of Warcraft, I got into it fairly quick and got into an Internet friend's guild. But he and his wife would need to log off after a couple years due to real-life troubles, and eventually the group closed and my group of friends became fewer and fewer. In contrast, in Second Life I kept making friends and kept finding places, and experiences, to go to. Probably the only reason I stuck around in Warcraft for a while was because some SLers I knew also enjoyed the game. But after several years, my interest waned to the point I would come on only for short periods. Part of the reason was it's monthly fees. There would be other MMOs such as Rust that got my attention over time, but once again I would mostly playing with friends from Second Life, and eventually be taking breaks when their interest waned.

I would also give a few other virtual worlds a try. Early on, there was InWorldz. But if it wasn't for my Second Life friends, it wouldn't have gotten more than a passing interest. And when they paid less attention, so did I. Later on, some began checking out VRChat. Two keep going back there, a late Gen-Xer and a Millennial. It does seem this next-generation virtual world attracts mostly computer users not yet in middle age. But Second Life continues to get numerous residents in their 30s, 20s, and younger.

So what is it about Second Life that continues to attract people twenty years after it's creation? I once stated I came here to see the places people had been making, but I stayed because of the people. Like elsewhere on the Internet, I found interesting people, some like-minded and some a bit different but still interesting. There are others who came here for different reasons. Some came to see what they could build here. Some came here as it can be a great place to hold a roleplaying game in the style of "Dungeons and Dragons." And yes, there are those who were attracted to Second Life because of the "cyber noogie."

But in the end, what keeps us here, at least in my opinion, is the social aspect, the people. 

 

Yes, social media such as Facebook and Twitter has proved more popular. But some of us want and feel we need more than just a space to chat. We desire a three-dimensional landscape to interact on. Plus in recent years there's been growing concerns about social media's willingness to respect privacy and that it may be bad for the mental health of some people and be toxic to America's political discussion.

As to why Second Life and not VRChat? Well, the newer virtual world is in a different style. There is no "mainland" or any  other group of directly connected areas. All locations are basically islands onto themselves that one can easily portal to, but not directly connected to. Also, there is no inworld economy, no currency. Everything at "stores," at least that I've seen, is for free. If one wants to sell an avatar, one has to work out the deal outside VRChat and convince the interested party you're not trying to cheat him or her. That and wanting your own unique look can be much more expensive. And aside from a few places that set something up, there is no texting. You have to up and speak and not type. If you really don't want to, or can't, use your voice, you're out of luck. That likely discourages some, especially women, from going about there.

 

This isn't calling VRChat a bad virtual world, it's still good. One regular user I talked to told me it seemed more alive to her, enjoyed the option for full body tracking (which needs special gear) and she found it easier to find places where people were active and not just AFK. It's just that (in my opinion) Second Life has aspects it doesn't, and is more versatile.

Twenty years later, Second Life is still, in my opinion, the best virtual world available to the public.

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: Someone contacted me saying recently VRChat has added more options for texting, notably a "chatbox" about a year ago.

 

News and Commentary: On The Spotlight

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Yours truly has been writing about Second Life and Linden Lab for fourteen years. Needless to say, it's a surprise when the Lab writes about you. 

The "Second Life Spotlight" has been a relatively new feature in the official Second Life blog, around since November when they wrote about noted artist Bryn Oh. I figured I didn't have much to lose by applying for it myself in the Newser's behalf. So it was a pleasant surprise when I was contacted by one of the Lindens and interviewed.

The interview appeared yesterday, Wednesday January 5, on the Linden blog. There was also a link to it on Facebook. Word of it quickly spread around, and I got quite a few complements that day.

The article was a complimentary one, and I was able to mention some of the people who helped and inspired me all the way. There wasn't enough room to mention all of them, so I'll have to find a way later on. I did notice the first picture that appeared after the lead was Alleara Snoodle's drawing of my avatar done as a present soon after the Newser's start. As Allie and I were good friends up to her passing away last month, it was nice that she gets some more recognition. 

I also noticed that the picture of my avatar at the top, it appeared to be glancing at the "Spotlight" label. Nice touch that she made.

I wasn't sure if the Lindens would consider me for their Spotlight feature. I don't always describe the Lab in a positive light, and there have been some times in the past I've openly stated they were acting greedy, incompetent, or both, such as the content creator Terms of Service controversy and the SS Galaxy closing. When I carefully brought up my past complaints following the end of the interview the Linden made, she just smiled, "We're willing to accept constructive criticism."

Perhaps I'm getting a little soft in my old age, but it's my observation in the past few years the Lab hasn't made the kind of blunders they did earlier in the Newser's history. Plus we've also given some compliments over time, such as the late Ebbe Altberg while not perfect being a good CEO for Linden Lab. And of course, in the end we all want a healthy Second Life.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop holding the Lab's feet to the fire if I think it's called for. If I see a problem, I'm going to respond (and so will the rest of the staff). 

In any event, thanks to Linden Lab in granting this little publicity, which in the end as Second Life is what I write about, helps us all out. 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Commentary: A Few Words on "My Little Pony"

 
by Nydia Tungsten

I have never been what one would call a “Brony” I have never even watched the show when I was little or even a full episode. But I have interacted with some MAJOR fans of the show in Second Life and they did their best to try and teach me about their passion for “My Little Pony.” They even took me to one of the many MLP sims, some stayed in character as this bipedal fox wandered around (I have to say I enjoyed that). I even got a bipedal version of “Vinyl” when I DJ’d a party for some of the MLP’s in Second Life.

There is a LARGE fandom in Second Life, been there the entire time I have been in SL and I have gotten to know many fans of the show. I have even visited a Minecraft world built to scale. After all that I had still never watched an episode of “My Little Pony” So I decided to finally sit down and watch it, since it is on netflix I figured “Why the hell not?” I started at the beginning and I am currently in the 7th season, (I had no idea there were so many).  There has been a LOT of “art” shared on common Discord servers I am on, and I am glad to say it is not like the art, that it IS a children's show (LOL). I like some characters more than others, Luna, Zacora, and Twilight, but the main story is around Twilight and her five friends teaching about “The magic of friendship.”

But for the life of me I can NOT see a reason for the hate people have shown for those that like the show. I know of a lot WORSE shows that I won’t mention. I find them stupid, inane, and just down right drivel.  But I would never look down on someone enjoying that crap. We just agree to disagree. Well, for most of the time. I have come across people that if I didn’t like their favorite show, I was an idiot and had no education or appreciation for the more “sophisticated”  shows….. Bleh. But I see people actively “Shaming” those that enjoy the show, I am a bit familiar with this since I do count myself a furry and have felt that sting myself.

But what really surprises me, is that I have heard of Furries and Bronies attacking each other, Seriously? What the heck is wrong with them? They come from a similar spectrum of fandom (Goddess I know I am going to get a lot of hate for that one).

Live and let live is my opinion, it is something they enjoy, not hurting anyone. So why bother them? I know you're asking “Are you a “Brony now?” Well, to be honest I don’t know how to answer that. Do I enjoy the show? Yes. Am I going to adopt pony speak and make my own pony? No, I don’t think so, because I like who I am.

We all like what we like, and as long as you’re not hurting anyone, what's the big deal? Some people compare this to a “Sick fetish” and my answer to them is a resounding… So? There are a lot worse ones out there, they aren’t hurting anyone. They are enjoying their lives so leave them alone!

Just relax, have a cup of coffee and relax, all our lives would be better if more people did this.  As for me, I am going to get another cup of coffee and finish season 7. Until next time, Enjoy your life and let others enjoy theirs.

Image Credit: Wikipedia, DeniseUnicorn Toonie, Deaflegacy

Nydia Tungsten

Reader Submitted: The Cloud Move

By Kἶէმƈεlἶმ Lմἶղƈօɾἶმlօէε Kεlνმɾl (Kitacelia Resident)

The first thing I have noticed, is much slower rezzing sometimes taking as much as 20 minutes to rezz an area and some items still not rezzing no matter how long you wait or leave or relog that weren't blocked or blacklisted.

The next thing I have noticed is that DJ streams seem to hiccup or skip quite often now, regardless of their internet, PCs, DJing program or location. I notice this because I host quite often so listening to DJ streams is  a large part of that. I hate to imagine what a DJ goes through trying to run a DJ  program and Second Life with all the current SL issues.

I have also experienced increased logging in times, as much as two to three times longer at times.  I have experienced increased lag and crashing as well.  I have major cable company high speed internet and while my PC isn't top of the line it is fairly decent and relatively newish.

Another issue, while I am uncertain it is related, is that I had once experience several months ago where all the scripted objects on land I rent broke, and had to be reset. Some permanently broke, and had to be replaced or were gone forever.  Several other times the same land my avi wouldn't rezz and nothing could be rezzed.

Several items that were scripted seem to have broken in some fashion due to updates and often it was up to the creators to fix them or not as LL apparently did little to nothing to deal with the script issues on certain items caused by these updates.

I have also noticed more bugs, and it taking longer for them to fix them. One especially annoying one that apparently took two weeks to fix was the recent timestamp issue on group notices where they looked like they were all sent the exact min, second, hour, day etc you looked back at the notices.  There were also issues with flickr and other things that came up and didn't seem to be resolved in a particularly timely manner.  

Increased scheduled and unscheduled maintenance has also been happening, which makes it difficult to do much in Second Life, much of it during prime time hours for the US and/or Europe. Also, it seems the servers either have a very small limit or aren't good at keeping track of blacklisted items.

While they have introduced some really cool new projects in the last few years, I hope they will reconsider this cloud move as it seems to be not only hindering the application of the cool new additions to a degree but also making more traditional applications/objects difficult as well to a point Second Life is sometimes barely playable and possibly not playable at all for some.   I have been in SL almost daily for nearly eight years. So while I am not one of the first or close to it, I am not even remotely close to new, recent, or a casual user.

I think Second Life has the population they have kept going mainly because they have had no real competition. If these issues persist or worsen I wonder how many will remain here post Covid-19.

Kitacelia

Reflections: Ten Years Ago ...

By Bixyl Shuftan

I forget the exact date, but it was one weekend a decade ago that the decision was made by it's editor to close the newsletter I worked for at the time, the Second Life Newspaper.

It had not been the best of times. Second Life's Golden Age was behind us. This was partially due to the hype from the 2006-08 years having faded as stories in real life media about the possibilities of what could be done here such as the Relay for Life became replaced by tales of marriages broken by virtual adultery and "flying penis" griefing attacks. So fewer people were signing up. The global economy was still sluggish after the 2008 crash, and it was reflected in Second Life with fewer people having plenty of money to spend. The number of private sims down began a long slow decline, and it was harder to make good money.

For the Second Life Newspaper, we had our own troubles. One of our sponsors had suddenly up and went under in a very public collapse that angered many of his customers and some of it went our way due to his sponsorship. There were also fewer reporters on the staff. The owner of SLN, JamesT Juno, had left Second Life for personal reasons. Editor Dana Vanomer was in charge, but was also being dragged down by real life matters. Fortunately, the paper had a short-term contingency plan for times she wasn't available for a day or two. The "office manager" of the newsletter, me, would post articles when she couldn't. So we continued on.

But eventually, Dana came to a realization. So it was one weekend in early April 2010 that we met for an "emergency meeting." I had hoped it was a new sponsor. But instead, she told us the newsletter would be closing in three months. I was, stunned. For over two years, most of my time here in Second Life, I'd spent my time as a reporter, and it had become my online identity. And now, we were faced with it coming to an end. Gemma Cleanslate was the most outspoken of us, saying there had to be a way to keep things running. But the way Dana saw it, it was James' paper, and she had no right to give it to anyone else.

And after that, some of the team dropped out. The rest of us continued to do what we'd been doing, reporting the news about Second Life. But we talked to one another. And four of us came to a conclusion: start a new paper, a new newsletter. And the very day Second Life Newspaper folded, the Second Life Newser would begin.

If it was in my power, I would have taken the chance in an instant to be the owner of the old Second Life Newspaper. But after a rough start, we continued to do well under the new name. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned here. Life, virtual and real, is full of change. But life goes on. Sometimes it means saying goodbye to something, or someone, you've cherished. But still, life goes on. It always has.

Ten years later, Gemma Cleanslate and I have been part of the Second Life Newser, having worked with some fantastic writers over time, Grey Lupindo, Shelly Sands, DrFran Babcock, and many others. Numerous sponsors have backed us over the years. Times have changed, both in virtual reality and real life. But our mission remains the same: reporting the news big and small about the people, places, and events across Second Life. And we have every intention of keeping it up.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Second Life Is Dead, Long Live Second Life

By Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich)

Over the past two years, I’ve struggled to honestly see the point of Second Life, but for some reason I keep logging in and stay logged in. I believe that mostly has to do with me now owning a store (as well as being in a long distance relationship). I’ve always looked at Second Life as a social platform, and as I’ve witnessed the social aspects of Second Life dwindle, I’ve equated that to Second Life dying out. I mean, it would make sense. Social networks come and go. Since the Internet’s inception, the popularity of platforms seem to dwindle over time in favor of new platforms.

This begs the question then of why people still log in. Sims sit empty while Linden Labs collects on the rent. Clubs seem to pop up overnight just to go away a few months later. There doesn’t seem to be a point in trying to build a social space anymore unless you’re already established and have the equity to ride things out. But I believe that everything has shifted to creation rather than it being a social platform. Even though the bulk of my sales are on Marketplace and I just view my in-world stores as advertising, people still line up in droves outside of big shopping events like the Gacha Guild.

You see, Second Life has something that many social platforms don’t have and that’s a near boundless ability for talented creators to create and have others enjoy their creations. This is why it has survived this long. The Marketplace is still popular and the viewer itself has become just a way for many people to enjoy those creations and to create things for themselves and others.

Cyfir

Commentary: Has the Collapse of InWorldz Stopped Many Second Life Residents From Considering Another Virtual World

By Bixyl Shuftan

When there were a number of residents raising serious questions about Linden Lab and the future of Second Life in late 2013 and early 2014 during the ToS Content Creator controversy, when it looked like Linden Lab was reserving the right to take any content it's customers uploaded and use it for it's own purposes or even sell, some started making plans to leave. While a few talked about leaving virtual worlds altogether, most comments I heard were from people saying they planned to head to another virtual world. Of these, some talked about an Opensim world, but most talked about one particular one: InWorldz, the second-largest of the grids in population. The concerns got to the point a number of my neighbors got a few sims in InWorldz as a "lifeboat" in case Linden Lab shut down our virtual world. It was stated at the time that if Second Life folded, about a third would head to InWorldz, a third would head to OpenSim, and a third would give up virtual worlds altogether. But eventually, Linden Lab responded to the residents about the Content Creator controversy, and the plans to head to InWorldz were put aside. But still, if anything happened to Second Life, InWorldz was still around as our "backup."

So with Inworldz itself folding in July this year, how has this changed the answer to the question "Where would you go it Second Life shut down?" If Linden Lab was hoping for some to consider their "Next Generation Virtual World" Sansar, they're in for a disappointment. I've only heard of a handful of people saying they go on Sansar regularly, and only one region from the older grid has moved there. Sansar has more going against it besides the people here already having a virtual home. While Sansar looks good, you can't really interact with objects and people like you can in Second Life. And even among next-generation worlds, Sansar is far behind VR Chat in popularity. Some of the comments I've read are from people who remark that socially it has more of the feel of the early Second Life.

Listening to friends, some stated they would head to Opensim. But there's no one world that people seem to favor. When InWorldz fell, there was a great diaspora of the residents among a number of places, Kitely, Sinespace, DigiWorldz, Discovery, Tranquility, The Great Canadian Grid, and many others. When talking to my virtual neighbors, many commented they'd spent more time with friends in games, such as Ark Survival Evolved or Fortnight.

So with no "second place" virtual world, it appears instead of an exodus mainly to one destination, a shutdown of Second Life would mean a virtual diaspora with it's residents heading to a number of far smaller worlds and a number of MMOs. Once seen as "Internet 2.0," it would be the end of an era when a virtual world could hope to have thousands of active residents.

There is one thing to consider. At this time while many residents still have the love-hate relationship with Linden Lab they've had for years, it's much better than the days of 2013-2014. While a number grumble that the Linden's effort on Sansar could have been much better spent here, there's no crisis of confidence like there was in the ToS CC Controversy, no big worries that Linden Lab is going to steal the content of it's users, or that they plan to up and shut down this world. If there were, they'd start making more serious plans for exit strategies again.

So while today things look like the sudden end of this virtual world would mean it's users would be scattered in the wind, perhaps five years from now, the answer will be different. That is, unless the big fear is realized and Second Life really does end up shutting down.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Ten Years of Writing About Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

For most in Second Life, their big day is their rezzday. For me, I've had other milestones. There was when I first began logging onto the Grid on a regular basis, when I got my fox avatar, and most importantly, when I first became a journalist here, in November 2007.

My journey to Second Life actually started almost a year earlier. Although I'd been told about Second Life before, notably by an online friend who went by Kamilah Hauptman here, telling me how great the place was, that unlike an MMO one could build their own place and look how they wanted. But as I only had dial-up Internet at the time, I didn't think I could access the place. Finally in Dec 2006 I got high speed Internet and came here. Unfortunetly, Kamilah was suddenly unavailable due to new responsibilities. Going around, I found mostly just homes and ban lines, with no idea where the events were or how to find interesting places. There was no Destination Guide back then to look for them. So my visits became few and far between, spending more time in "World of Warcraft" with friends whom were available.

Things began to change in July 2007. Kamilah told me about the Relay for Life, and gave me the landmark for the Relay Track. Seeing many interesting builds, my interest in Second Life was rekindled, and I began to both learn more about how to go about and look around. I came across Luskwood, and began finding friends there. I soon ditched the starter ringtail for a red Luskwood Fox, and began looking over newsletters and blogs about the virtual world. The most interesting of these was "Second Life Newspaper," owned by JamesT Juno and edited by Dana Vanmoer. I found it more informative about what one could see and do in Second Life than certain other tablodish webpages. After reading it for a while, I saw a call for readers to send them stories and interesting pictures. So I sent in a few, feeling at least it would get me a little attention. It got me more than a little; James and Dana asked me in for an interview. During the chat, they were satisfied with what I could offer, and I was invited to join the team. With my first payment for a story, I bought an overcoat and a fedora, the classic reporter's garb. Combined with my avatar, it made for the "Fox Reporter" look that I continue to wear to this day as my everyday look.

I would write about all kinds of subjects in Second Life, it's people, places, and events. There were popular places and noted personalities, and there were out of the way locations that I found interesting and relatively unknown people whom had done things I felt were worthy of attention. There were many events, such as holiday celebrations, openings and the anniversaries of locations, the Second Life Birthday event, Burning Life, which was later changed to Burn2, the Relay for Life, and many more. There was the occasional personal experience that I found noteworthy. And there were the screenshot cartoons that I would send in every week. I was always able to find something noteworthy to write about every week, covering a little bit of everything, and was always finding scenes with potential humor. And we were a team, were I made friends such as Gemma Cleanslate, Grey Lupindo, Covadonga Writer, Shelly Sands, Nazz Lane, and many others. Eventually, I was giving the position of "Office Manager," which meant updating the paper when Dana couldn't.

Not everything went well. Sadly one of the first things I would write about in 2008 was the closing of my first hangout after Luskwood, the STA, and over the next few months many of my friends at the time would drop out of the Grid. Over time, I would be invited to be a part of other places and groups in Second Life, the Fortunas Club and Fortunas Estates, the Woodlin community (not to be confused with Woodland which had a different atmosphere) and the Star Tails club, the Foxworth community and the Blue Parrot Club (later known as the Bahama Beach Club or BBC). But all of these locations would eventually close and fade, with nothing left but screenshots and memories, and the treehouse I would take with me from Woodlin. It wasn't until Spring 2010 that I finally found a place that lasted, and became a part of the Sunweaver and Angels community, where I remain to this day.

By this time, my role in virtual journalism was about to change. In Fall 2009, JamesT Juno had to depart Second Life, and Dana Vanmoer wasn't able to give the time to the paper she once could. So she reluctantly made the decistion to close Second Life Newspaper. I along with the rest of the team was shocked and saddened. The newspaper had been such a big part of our experience in the virtual world, we couldn't imagine life here without it. So I talked with the others, and three others, Gemma, Grey, and Shelie, agreed to join me in the founding of a new paper that would take over from where James and Dana left off: The Second Life Newser. With the new paper starting up in June 2010, my role changed from being just one of the reporters to the editor and head of the publication. The Sunweaver/Angels offered us a place for the office at the start, and we soon had an inworld office. Under a new banner, we kept on covering the people, places, and events across the virtual world.

Over the past ten years, much has changed in Second Life. I came on when it was the darling of the tech media, considered "Internet 2.0," and mentioned in big media, including newspapers and TV news, even prime time TV shows. By the time the Newser took over from the old SLN, it was already fading from public view and the public was changing it's attention to other computer applications it could easier understand, such as Facebook. Many places here have come and gone. A few such as The Lost Gardens of Apollo have been lucky enough to be brought back by Linden Lab. Second Life's media has changed as well. Treet  TV used to do live programing across the Grid, viewable on inworld TV sets. Today, live programing is a rarity, reserved for a few special events. Shows like "Tonight Life" and "The 1st Question" that went on for a number of years are gone.

But while some things have been lost as time has gone on, there have also been some additions. Over time, new people have come to Second Life and made their own marks on the Grid. New places and builds have been constructed, giving those here new areas to explore. There's always something new here. One just needs to know where to find it.

Of "The Lab," as the residents call Linden Lab, the owners of Second Life, the love/hate relationship the residents have with them is still there. When I first came on there was some interaction with the residents. But after Linden Lab's founder Philip Rosedale/Philip Linden stepped down, they seemed to become more distant. Then with the appearance of the current CEO Ebbe Altberg/Ebbe Linden, there was more interaction again. But while the increased interaction helps, the view the residents have of The Lab is still mixed. They appreciate it's founders inventing Second Life, and the present company maintaining it. But at the same time they groan, sometimes curse at it for it's blunders. It seems the Lab puts developing new bells and whistles to getting rid of bugs and glitches. When it comes to banning people, there's a general feeling that the Lab has a way of being unable to stop a location from being repeatedly griefed by day-old alts made by the same owner, yet accounts that have lasted for years end up banned for trivial infractions. And then there is Sansar. While a few people here see promise in the "next generation virtual world" as it was originally called, at least some years from now, most residents see it as a waste of Linden Lab's time and their money, feeling all Sansar does for them is delay the amount of time bugs and glitches get fixed and raise their fees.

For myself, there have been ups and downs along the way. Old friends have stopped coming on, often when real life demands their full attention or otherwise makes it impossible to be here. This includes some hands at the Newser staff, of whom we've had to say goodbye to some talented writers such as DrFran Babcock. But new ones have continued to come in to bring in their own skill at reporting, such as Deaflegacy and Klaus Bereznyak. My home of the Sunweaver and Angels Estates has seen some changes, sims vanishing and appearing, clubs closing and opening, and people leaving and coming in. Club Zero Gravity for instance had to close it's doors for a time when finances forced it to, but recently reopened back and as good as ever. I myself have been helping Nydia Tungsten and Skylark Lefavre manage the community's beach club the Happy Vixen.

So what's ahead? Ten years ago, I had no real idea what my future was here beyond the next year or two. I never saw myself two and a half years later heading the publication that would replace the one my old employers had then. Despite Linden Lab's heavy handedness at times, it's a safe bet the Grid will still be around for a few more years, probably several more years, unless there's a major catastrophe such as a devastating earthquake in California that takes out the Lab and it's servers. I have expanded my writing beyond the virtual world, doing a blog about matters outside of Second LIfe, which I named "Food on the Table" on hopes it will eventually lead me to a writing job I can make a full time living on. I've also been writing a science-fiction novel on the side, the working title being "The Corsean Encounter." In the story, two humans end up on a pre-Industrial alien world, followed later by others with hostile intentions. If it does modestly well, I'll write more.

But I have no plans on stopping my reporting on Second Life, and the good this virtual world can do for people. As long as you keep reading, as long as I have a team by my side and as long as I'm able to, I'll keep on writing about the news here..

Bixyl Shuftan

Little Issues: Explaining The "Fox Reporter" Look.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Most of what I write about is at least mildly serious, such as charities, or a location someone spent a great deal and time and effort to make. But occasionally there are certain trivial but amusing, nagging, or both, issues that aren't going away from your mind. Especially when someone keeps reminding you.

As a fan of science-fiction and fantasy, I've had as my look a "furry" avatar from the start of my Second Life experience. Initially, it was the starter "ringtail" that was available as an option for a beginning avatar at the time. But once I had the cash for another, after some thought I chose upon the Luskwood red fox avatar. I had roleplayed a felinoid in a sci-fi game a few years before. But after reading Tiffany Ross' "Cyantian Chronicles" in which the foxfolk in her story universe had one of the more detailed and interesting, sometimes tragic, histories of the peoples there, perhaps it was time for a change. That the red foxes in the Cyantian stories were traditionally soldiers or blue collar workers was the reason for the fur color.

At first, I would wear a green shirt, which was a leftover from my days in the "Runescape" MMO (what I played before "World of Warcraft"), along with clothes similar to what I wore in real life, a brown jacket and slacks. I had to skip the shoes as my feet were just too big. But after I landed a job in James and Dana's Second Life Newspaper, I used my first pay to get myself a white fedora and tan leather overcoat. Since I was a reporter, I wanted to look like one. And so, I went about in the classical 20th Century reporter's look. And with the most popular news channel being Fox News, well, that helped add to it with the "fox reporter" catchphrase.

Over the years, I would get other avatars, from Lusk stripped skunk to Kani bunny to AX hyena, to black human, and many others, which I change to on occasion. But the Luskwood red fox has continued to remain my main avatar. I sometimes change to other clothes while still being foxy, such as the red Victorian era suit I occasionally wear at the Steamlands, or a black jacket and jeans while on a motorbike. But usually I can be found with the fedora and overcoat. Although all of my avatars, aside from the human, are PG nude due to the coat of fur, I always go about with at least a pair of shorts in them, except for the mesh tinies and micro fox, which I have yet to find pants for.

Most people are happy with this look, calling it neatly dressed. But one friend for some time has been nagging me a bit, "Why do you wear clothes?"

Although she on occasion has on a full dress, she prefers going about with very little clothes. If someone had a coat of fur, even a short one, she feels realistically would mean he or she couldn't wear much for long. The overcoat and long slacks, she feels, would realistically lead to me quickly overheating. So she feels the coat and pants have to go.

I disagree. For one, this look was popular even indoors in the days before air conditioning. People just dealt with the heat. And in the colonial era when Europeans went to travel about, or take jobs, in places in the tropics, while a few were "going native," most continued to wear their existing clothes meant for a much colder climate in the hot tropical sun. Even if they didn't see the locals as "savages," it was simply the thing to do.

Tiffany Ross would also say a few things on the matter in her comic forums some years ago. The furry people of her fictional world of Cyantia didn't have a nudity taboo, but most who lived in cities and towns still wore clothes in public. As she saw it, clothes allowed her Cyantians, as well as humans in real life, a chance to distinguish themselves as individuals, even for those who aren't fashion snobs. Plus it helped distinguish themselves from those who went "feral" and abandoned civilization, and their clothes.

And of course, if you're standing upright, your "family jewels" are more exposed to things like low branches and flying rocks. So some kind of cover is needed to prevent what realistically would have you bending over in pain.

So the clothes stay. While you may see me in something other than the coat and fedora on the fox on occasion, or an avatar other than the fox such as the skunk at some Relay events, if anyone sees me stark naked in public, it's from a computer glitch.

As for why always a male avatar, aside from when my friends raise an enormous amount of money for charity, that's an issue I've already discussed in December 2013. As for why I haven't replaced this avatar that's been around for over ten years, that's another story.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Will Linden Lab Not Allow Adult Content in Sansar?

By Bixyl Shuftan

With the development of Sansar, Linden Lab is once again getting some attention from the media of the kind they enjoyed in their glory days of 2006-2008. They promise a virtual world rich in detail. But one thing that has almost never come up are questions about what rules and restrictions will it's users will be under, such as that of adult content. It's an issue that while some argue a libertarian approach is best, "let the customer decide," others feel the controversy generated by stories of virtual strip joints and pranks of flying genitalia attacks hurt Second Life and hindered it's acceptance by the general public, and Sansar allows for an opportunity to appeal to people wary of adult content.

About a decade ago, Second Life was the darling of the tech media. Computer magazines, business publications, and even mainstream media newspapers and television programs wrote about it. TV dramas had Second Life as part of an occasional plot. Politicians came to the virtual world. Major corporations had places here. But eventually the wonder people on the outside were expressing began to change, to the confusion about what to do and how to do it, the glitches and lag, and whispers about the adult content. Two infamous examples of the latter were a video of a child rape roleplay and the "flying penis" attack during a live interview of Second Life real estate baron Anshe Chung.

The result was that some considered Second Life an "adult" area, even though most places didn't cater to that kind of activity. One notable example is the "Twitch" live streaming service which considers broadcasting from Second Life a bannable offense. When I talked about Second Life with friends and coworkers, the majority brought up the porn, or "cyber noggie" as they sometimes called it. One writer I talked to about the matter called it part of a sad reality of human nature, that it is so much easier to get people to read about controversy than a story where people are doing something constructive.

When you allow people a great deal of freedom, for better or worse some healthy young adults, and some not so young, are going to take advantage of it to express or at least find a release of their more hormonal side. Fortunately most are willing to follow some rules about it, though as some women can attest, there's always a few whom seem to think of nothing but their baser desires and don't particularly care where they are or if others around would rather not deal with it. And of course there are the griefers whom get their jollies by harassing and shocking people, and a barrage of flying dongs or pictures of an obvious sexual nature will certainly do it.

As Linden Lab had created Second Life to be "Your World, Your Imagination," they didn't have any rules about sexual content at the beginning. Perhaps being computer programmers and engineers they never took into account how much people would take advantage of the freedom to create and engage in virtual porn. So it was simply a case of taking actions against griefers when enough people complained. But when the controversy of the child rape video came along, they realized they had to do something out of both personal revulsion and fear about their product getting blacklisted. So came the first rule in Second Life concerning adult activities: none concerning child avatars - period. There was enough paranoia about the matter for a time that some were wondering if Linden Lab was trying to discourage all use of child avatars, and to this day some in short but still adult and tiny avatars grumble about not being allowed in some areas where the rules allow adult activity but don't necessarily cater to it. But that's another issue.

In 2009, Linden Lab began taking another look at rules concerting adult content in Second Life. It established the "Adult" rating for areas allowing explicit content and activity, where before there was simply two ratings "PG" and "Mature." Their Adult Content Policy also affected the "Search." The result was large numbers of residents expressing concern, some alarm, that this was just the beginning of a widescale censorship campaign by Linden Lab, some suggesting that the newly created continent for adult-themed residential areas, Zindra, was actually a Trojan horse, saying that the Lab would soon restrict adult content and activity to the continent, and then get rid of it as a "cost saving measure" like they did with the Teen grid. Some even wondered in it's paranoia that Linden Lab would disallow nonhuman avatars out of fear they'd be used for exotic fantasy screenshots of an adult nature, or just simply out of meanness. Linden Lab got the message, and stepped back from enacting further rules rather than risk further alienating it's customer base.

So today, the issue of adult content in Second Life has more or less long been settled. But with the development of a new virtual world, Sansar, it's just a matter of time before it comes up there.

At the VWBPE conference in 2016, Ebbe Linden stated that Linden Lab had "no plans to disallow" adult content. But many of Second Life's core user base have continued to express skepticism about Sansar, and it's my observation more are feeling it's not a place they'll be spending most of their virtual world time in. So perhaps seeing the opportunity for a fresh start and that they don't have much to lose from a customer base that's happy with what they already have and reluctant to move over to their new product, they may decide to make rules discouraging, if not outright banning, adult content and activity.

Banning adult content in Sansar would mean that people with an attraction for that sort of material, and perhaps the more libertarian-minded, would be disinclined to try Sansar. But Linden Lab could easily argue if that's what they want, they can head to Second Life and say that by making their new virtual world free of it, they're doing a favor for those whom would rather not be exposed to it. Freedom from "flying penis" attacks by griefers. Freedom from Flashers. Freedom from horndogs rubbing up against you. Well, perhaps not 100% Freedom. Hackers whom are determined enough no doubt would be able to find a way to bring adult content in and grief with it. And of course it's possible the ban would not be widely enforced by Linden Lab so those whom searched for it long enough would eventually be able to find adult content and if they were careful would avoid being banned from Sansar.

Something else to think about is whom will Linden Lab be marketing Sansar to. In Second Life's early days, the majority of it's customers were from Generation X. While some Millennials have come to the virtual world over the years, they never took to it like the previous generation. While young adults in general have a reputation for having a taste for adult content, Generation Xers had a reputation for seeing it as less of a big deal when they were, and today are more in favor of more libertarian approaches. Millennials in contrast have had a reputation of having their parents looking over their shoulders a lot more and having monitors and "net nannies" restrict what they can and can't see. While no doubt there are still plenty of Millenials just as hard-nosed as the previous generation, the stories of "Safe Spaces" on campuses these days suggests a new generation with lower tolerances, or rather a reputation of such.. So while Second Life remains the virtual world where one can see it all, for better and worse, Sansar could become Linden Lab's "Safe Space," where users will be free from the sight of huge breasts, gore, and Donald Trump.

Or perhaps Linden Lab will simply carry over their adult content policy from Second Life to Sansar, either having forgotten the earlier controversy, deciding it's best to let individual customers decide and deal with the choices of others, or simply hoping for the best. We won't really know until we see it for ourselves.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: "Drawing Board"

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

  Our adventure today is not about a sim or group of them. It is about all of the SL World Grid. We will be looking into the heart and soul that animates this world. Last month, we wrote about Creations for Parkinson's and became friends with Barbie Alchemi, it's creator. Since then, I have been attending their Sunday night dances which, in addition to the inspirational music, always includes a topic for things of a spiritual nature. My companion, Erik, has attended and the guests all love him. His comments, on the topic, were well received and they thanked him for his "wonderful insights"

   In private chats, Barbie and I talked of our experiences with the therapeutic uses of Second Life. We both knew of people whose real lives had been improved because of their SL experiences. We both admitted that as a major part of our SL Raison d'Etre. We come here to bring Love, Light and Healing, in service to others. I explained my evolving theory, that Second Life was like a drawing board for the new Age of Aquarius. Meteorologists use computer modeling to track and predict storms. They can run many variations of data to get the most likely prognosis. Have you ever noticed that time seems to flow at a different speed in SL? The six plus years I have been here, feels more like decades. We'll leave it to the accountants to figure out how much that is in "dog years". The thing is, regardless of the time difference, we still learn the same lessons from our experiences. Because of our hyper time, we can test out one "happily ever after" theory after another, until we get it right, in far less than the many life times it would take in real-life. We learn quickly, the difference between what is good and what is better.

   In real life, you have, no doubt heard that we are entering "The Age of Aquarius," a cosmic upgrade of the world's OS, which will make life, as we know it, a whole lot better game. What will the new age world be like? Well that answer would fill a shelf of  books, but fortunately, a good friend of mine, J.J. Dewey, has just published his "quick list" and it is a good summary of things i have heard over many years. The items on the list are not for debate. We are all entitled to our own opinions. Any disagreements with the ideas would only happen if the author's definition of terms are not understood. You can read more of JJ's writings at www.freeread.com

The World to come

(1) A world without borders – no passports needed
(2) One where brotherhood, goodwill and inclusiveness set the tone so we have right human relations.
(3) One where the Haves share with the Have-Nots so extreme poverty is abolished.
(4) There is to be a one-world government that unifies the world without becoming a tyranny.
(5) This will lead to a secure peace on earth.
(6) There will be a one-world religion which will basically be the world acknowledging through free will that certain universal principles are true.
(7) People will be influenced more by mind and reason than by lower emotion and being reactionary.
(8) People will becomes less materialistic and focus more on the spiritual.
(9) Christ and his associate Masters of Wisdom will walk openly among us as teachers of the human race.

   Personally, this sounds like a good plan and I have spent many years trying to help bring about this new OS for Earth. I also do my small part in getting these ideals tested by the residents of Second Life. I could go down the list and mentioned ways I worked them into the minds of others, but this is not about me. Instead, I will turn these questions to the readers.

Do you think this sounds like the kind of world you'd like to live in?
Are you willing to help build this world?
Are you willing to be it's beta tester in Second Life?
   If you have any ideas on this new world topic and would like to share them with us, SL Newser welcomes Reader submitted articles for publication.

  When I mentioned that I was about to write this article, to the dancers at Creations, Erik made a comment that I wanted to quote.
"I actually thought that SL is more like a world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it is the part of the hopes and dreams of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries."

I couldn't have said it any better,"

"Sha"

Commentary: Misconceptions About Virtual Worlds

By Wesley Regenbogen

You might be wondering why my last article was many months ago.

I was trying to get in contact with real-life organizations for a fundraiser that I wanted to start up in Second Life. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a positive reply from the real-life organizations. So I’m calling it a day with my fundraiser idea. This is sad, because I wanted to start a fundraiser for the real life research on real life genetic disorders. Since I have beta thalassemia trait ( minor ), I wanted to support the research on it. But not only for blood disorders, but for general research on genetic disorders in real life.

But, due to misconceptions that are in the real life world about virtual worlds ( Second Life, InWorldz and others ) it’s not easy to convince real life organizations to let people fundraise for their cause. The most common misconception is that they think it’s a “game.” Or more frequently they think it’s all about “porn and sex." The result of these preconceptions that the real life world has towards the virtual worlds, is that most people don’t know what virtual worlds are and what their potential is.

I refer to my first article for the SL Newser. It was about my vision towards virtual worlds. I don’t see virtual worlds as being a “game.” They are much more than that!!!

If organizations and other people with preconceptions would be more open-minded about the virtual worlds, then they would see what potential that those virtual worlds would have and that might change their minds. Rather then thinking that virtual worlds are just a “game” or only for “porn” and “sex” stuff, it would be wiser to take a leap and see further than what reaches your mind. Because virtual worlds offer much more than the above mentioned “activities.”

If the real life world would embrace virtual worlds and see their possibilities, they would be even more successful as they are today.

So, it’s better to look at Second Life and other virtual worlds as being a “virtual world” and not like yet another “game.” Because virtual worlds lack the need to fulfill objectives and stuff like that. This makes virtual worlds not to be defined as being “games.”

Let me know what you guys think about this in the comments, please.

Wesley Regenbogen

News and Commentary: Political Opposition Against Trump HQ Continues

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last week, I wrote more about the "Trump Wall" erected towering over the Sanders HQ by Trump supporters, in what the head of the Trump HQ JP Laszlo called a prank. Since then, there's been more written about the drama between the two groups of supporters, and the Trump HQ. The "Washington Liberals" blog  posted about the wall and people griefing the Sanders HQ, as did Motherboard. One picture posted by Washington Liberals which has been reprinted in several other articles, including a New World Notes article by Hamlet Au last week, shows "demons," which are among the "vampire" avatars available to newcomers to Second Life on day one, described as harassing people there with "Trump! Trump!" spam.

Jeff Grubb of "Venture Beat" was also curious and went inworld to check out the Trump HQ, "Second Life is still weird. The 2016 United States Presidential election is weird, but the Internet is doing its best to prove it can always get stranger." Comparing the people he met in the place to 4chan users, "... it's not offensive when it's sad. ... They think they are so brash, and they are if you take them at face value. But mostly, they just seem lonely. You can laugh at that. I certainly did. But that wears off quickly....You can tell all anyone in the Trump HQ wants is to offend people. I have that desire as well, but it’s something that I’ve tried to outgrow." Despite being briefly banned after a joke, that had nothing to with politics, taken the wrong way, he stated that overall he was seen as okay as long as the subject of politics didn't come up. But when on to say when he took people to task over certain issues, the mood turned defensive, "Predictably, the Trump fans went with their well-worn defense mechanism: 'Every example of racism is a joke or a liberal troll trying to make Trump look bad.'"

Another issue that's come up is the use of a flax mixing the Nazi swastika with the Trump name, which Sanders HQ owner Macaria Wind snapped a picture of, "There is a picture I managed to capture of one of the flags spewing from a particle dispenser at HQ," she told Hamlet Au, "Left there by one of Trump's supporters when no one was around." JP Lazlo has previously admitted such trolling takes place, but "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie." There's also that the Nazi flag is universally reviled by liberals and conservatives alike, appealing only to a tiny few reactionaries who dismiss both of them. Since the individuals displaying such banners are unnamed, it's less than clear whether it's by some extremist acting out for reasons of politics, or by a troll who just wants to cause trouble.

For some however, they have seen enough and feel it's time for Linden Lab to take action. This week, Hamlet Au wrote a commentary stating that Linden Lab needs to shut down the Trump HQ for repeated violations of Second Life's community standards. Hamlet made a comparison to the Confederate flag controversy last year (of which I had a differing opinion than his). But Linden Lab didn't ban the flag from the virtual world, just quietly remove it from the Marketplace some time since he and I wrote about the issue (NWN article), though stores were sill free to sell it inworld. Banning the Trump HQ and it's group like it did the Woodbury group which had become infamous for being a griefer hangout (especially among my furry friends) years ago, would be difficult for Linden Lab to pull off without looking like it was taking sides in politics, and could risk alienating it's more conservative members, even those who have problems with the brash candidate. Hamlet's argument that these are not supporters of a political candidate but trolls using politics as an excuse to grief can easily get lost in the passions of an election campaign, particularly those of recent years in which people whom once saw supporters of the other party as simply having a difference of opinion are increasingly questioning their judgement, ethics, sanity, and intentions.

With Trump's remaining opponents for the Republican nomination dropping out last night and today following the results of the Indiana primary, the candidate's victory there is simply a formality. Sander's victory there over Clinton is a needed morale boost to the "Berners," and a reminder to the Democrats' own establishment they intend to take the race all the way to the last state. So it's likely for a few more weeks the tension between the political groups in Second Life will continue. But with the Democratic front-runner having such a huge lead in pledged and unpledged delegates combined, the best he can reasonably hope for is a brokered convention. Most likely the nomination will go to Clinton. As she has failed to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm Sanders has, it's possible rather than change the names of their locations from Sanders to Clinton, Second Life's "Berners" at the Sanders HQ and the new "Feel the Bern" hangout in the Young sim may simply take down their political banners and devote their Second Lives to other activities. And deprived of a target, both the Trump group and the trolls acting in the candidates name could get bored and lose interest. Which is probably what Linden Lab is hoping for. But if the Sanders HQ and "Feel the Bern"can be convinced to get behind the establishment Democrat, it's going to be "interesting times" in Second Life for those with a taste in politics, and a headache for the Lab which no doubt wanted people to pay attention to the virtual world for reasons other than "cyber noogie," but not like this.

Sources: Washington Liberals, Motherboard, VentureBeat, New World Notes, CNN 

Bixyl Shuftan