{"id":3986,"date":"2014-06-05T19:26:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T18:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sl.governormarley.com\/?p=3986"},"modified":"2014-06-05T19:26:44","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T18:26:44","slug":"the-empire-strikes-back-as-linden-lab-sponsor-the-drax-files-world-makers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sl.governormarley.com\/?p=3986","title":{"rendered":"The Empire Strikes Back As Linden Lab Sponsor The Drax Files : World Makers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linden Lab have announced that they are proud to sponsor The Drax Files : World Makers<\/a>. When I read this blog post I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if a million voices suddenly cried out in terror.<\/p>\n

I’m told that during the meeting to finalise the deal Draxtor was told : “You may dispense with the pleasantries, Draxtor. I am here to put you back on schedule.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Ok ok on a serious note, this does not look like a bad deal at all. The Drax Files : World Makers<\/a> is an excellent series that gets to the parts Linden Lab have never ever been able to with their video promotions of Second Life.<\/p>\n

I’ve said this often enough but one of the reasons Draxtor Despres has been able to do this is because he has an editorial impartiality that Linden Lab do not have. Linden Lab have been accused of playing favourites in the past, indeed at times they have clearly played favourites, but generally, they need to have an air of impartiality. Draxtor doesn’t, so it’s somewhat reassuring to read in the blog post :<\/p>\n

This sponsorship has no impact on Draxtor\u2019s editorial independence; we\u2019re not taking control or trying to dictate what stories are told or how they\u2019re presented in the series<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The importance of this production to Linden Lab though, and probably one of the reasons for their sponsorship deal is highlighted within the blog post regarding the revamped Second Life homepage<\/a>. There’s a trailer from The Drax Files : World Makers on the new homepage. As Hitomi Tiponi\u00a0over at SLUniverse said<\/a> : “Great to see that Linden Lab are sponsoring this series. It is the best advert for Second Life.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The success of The Drax Files : World Makers is due to the variety of use cases Draxtor highlights, there’s art, magic, merchants, theatre productions, Dwarfins, Fantasy Faire, health, education, community yadda yadda yadda. To cut a long list short, Draxtor highlights the areas of Second Life that in the main, the mainstream media have ignored.<\/p>\n

The sponsorship deal does not cover The Drax Files Radio Hour<\/a>, which again highlights excellent use cases of Second Life, the radio hour goes beyond Second Life too. However the radio series does involve some very positive views on Second Life and has already attracted a whole range of sponsors itself, including SL Go<\/a>\u00a0and Leap Motion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the years there have been many people who have actively promoted and fought the good fight for Second Life on behalf of Linden Lab. There are many sims in world struggling or that have disappeared that could have done with a helping hand too. However The Drax Files : World Makers is the right sort of production in the right media to reach people inside and outside of Second Life circles, so this deal makes perfect sense, until of course the day comes when someone from Linden Lab says to Draxtor : “I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it any further\u2026<\/em>” (**EDITOR** Seriously, no more Vader quotes or else! \/**EDITOR**<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

As long as Draxtor is able to continue to produce these shows without Linden Lab exerting editorial interference, this should be a good deal for Linden Lab, Draxtor Despres and fans of the video series.<\/p>\n

I’ll end with the new Second Life homepage video trailer based on The Drax Files : World Makers, it’s short but makes an excellent advert for Second Life.<\/p>\n