Lab Chat Draws The Crowds And The Format Works

At LEA Entrance

Lab Chat took place today at the LEA Theatre in Second Life. I’m not going to delve into the details of what was said in this post, I need to listen to the recording again when it’s available, but I do want to talk about how Lab Chat draws crowds and the format works well.

Lab Chat 6th May 2016

Saffia Widdershins and Jo Yardley ask the panel questions that have been submitted via the Second Life forum. This format means that there is not a lot of shouting at the panelists and gives them time to answer the questions.

Saffia Widdershins at Lab Chat

The panel today included Oz Linden, Ebbe Linden and Troy Linden and they all sit in comfortable looking armchairs. One complaint may be that the seats spectators sit in don’t look quite so comfortable!

Continue reading “Lab Chat Draws The Crowds And The Format Works”

Linden Lab’s Grandfathered Tier Offer Shows Early Signs Of Promise

On April 4th Linden Lab made an offer many estate owners couldn’t refuse : Want Lower Tier? Now You Can Get Grandfathered Land Rates! The offer, which remains on the table until at least October gave estate owners to permanently lower their tier rates for an upfront fee :

Full Island:

  • One-time buy-down fee: $600
  • Grandfathered maintenance fee: $195/month (regularly $295/month)

Homestead:

  • One-time buy-down fee: $180
  • Grandfathered maintenance fee: $95/month (regularly $125/month)

So how is this going? Well Tyche “Statto” Shepherd has been on the ball and reveals some of the progress in an awesome Private Estate Survey April 2016. The survey revealed that since the March 2016 survey there had been a net loss of 35 regions (down 0.2%). However when it comes to the new buy down rate, Tyche reveals :

20.8% of Full Regions of all types are now at Buy Down tier rates while 3.8% of Homesteads are now Buy Down, homestead uptake of this offer has been low because most homesteads are already grandfathered (85% of them) .

Overall to date I estimate there are 1960 buy down full regions taken up since announcement and another 302 Homesteads , the margin of error on these estimates is +/- 145 and 117 regions respectively.

As Tyche points out, there were already a high number of Homestead regions with a grandfathered rate, to be honest I’m surprised that 302 have been converted to the new rate. When it comes to full regions, 1960 is quite an impressive figure.

Continue reading “Linden Lab’s Grandfathered Tier Offer Shows Early Signs Of Promise”

Le Monde Label Second Life “Absurd, Creative and Debauched” But Still Alive

Notre Dame Cathedral

Over at SLUniverse Tatiana Dokuchic explains how an April 1st contact turned out to be no fool :

I was interviewed for this article and didn’t really know what to expect. It didn’t help that the journalist, Morgane Tual, just happened to contact me on April 1st. I had already received an invitation to a new “Marquis de Sade” roleplay that morning and was on the lookout for more April Fool’s fun so when she said she was from Le Monde I took it with a grain of salt.

The article by journalist has now appeared on the website of the famous French Newspaper Le Monde :Absurde, créatif et débauché : dix ans après, « Second Life » est toujours bien vivant, or to put it another way, “Absurd, creative and debauched: ten years later, “Second Life” is still alive“.

Those of us who use Second Life know very well that it’s still alive. Alas I don’t speak French, which is a shame, so my take on the article is based upon usage of Google Translate, which means something may very well be lost in translation. The article does start quite well and this exemplifies that Morgane Tual did actually enter Second Life and take a considered look around :

I expected to find , a decade later, a deserted world, aging technology and a few cobwebs in the corners. It was exactly the opposite.

This is a warts and all article, it doesn’t shy away from the adult content in Second Life and yet it manages to get beyond that and not run screaming that everyone is a freak because adult content exists.

Continue reading “Le Monde Label Second Life “Absurd, Creative and Debauched” But Still Alive”

Roleplay and Experiences At Fantasy Faire

NeoVictoria Roleplay

Roleplay plays an important part of Fantasy Faire and this year is no exception with four groups roleplaying within the Fairelands.

The Neo-Victoria Project are offering dark steampunk roleplay by way of The Sidhe and The Soul-Eater :

Thousands of years past, a sidhe failed in their duty and let a nameless terror into the worlds. It cost them their life, but not their soul. That was put into a mechanical marvel, and so began their long service as a sentinel against the darkness.

But after so long, their mechanical body has begun to fail and that nameless evil escapes its bonds. The automaton sends word to the Sidhe Empire for assistance.

Will help arrive in time?

Here’s a video trailer :

Whereas the roleplay has already begun, you’re not too late if you want to catch up. The next scheduled event is Scene 4 – Battle Against the Soul-Eater and takes place between 6pm-9pm on Wednesday April 27th at The Cathedral on The Serenity region.

SLURL : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/FF%20Serenity/127/45/68

Continue reading “Roleplay and Experiences At Fantasy Faire”

The Drax Files Episode 37 – The Nonprofit Commons

Nonprofit Commons

Episode 37 of The Drax Files opens the door on The Nonprofit Commons in Second Life. The episode opens with Drax asking Rhiannon Chatnoir (AKA Joyce Bettencourt) to quickly explain what the Nonprofit Commons is. The answer is that the Nonprofit commons consists over 60 global nonprofit organisations using the virtual world to fight for social good. This sounds very noble.

We get to learn a little about the sort of organisations that are part of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life with people talking about organisations such as :

Transgender Veterans

Transgender American Veterans Association, which plays a role in ensuring transgender veterans receive care for any medical conditions that may arise and that they are treated with respect and dignity.

Continue reading “The Drax Files Episode 37 – The Nonprofit Commons”

Follow

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox: