All the latest Second Life and virtual world coverage since 2007.
There’s so many things happening in virtual reality and gaming lately, that I absolutely have to blog my opinion about it! Everything from Facebook Horizon, to the Oculus Quest headset, to the brand-new SL Blogger Network. Are you ready? Grab some tea and let’s have a chat!
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And so it came to pass after the lands of Juicy faded away in favor of nicely built houses, and the Mainland slowly became more barren, a new land rose up out of the depths of metaverse seed grants. It was fairer, and its people with new bodies milled about to create and speak to one another. They spoke of VR implementation and a Steam store page–
Sorry. I’ve been reading LoTR again lately.
Today I’m taking a look at Sansar, lovingly referred to by SL citizens as “Second Life 2.0”. I took a look at the game because my other friends on Plurk were kinda scared to, so I volunteered to step up and poke around. Yes, that was really a conversation on Plurk and I said I would go on behalf of everybody. So! Here I am, back from my trip and writing about it.
Before I begin, let me state that what I write here is my impression of the game. If I missed a fact or got something wrong, then that’s the fault of the user experience I received. I’m just going to present what I know.
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Didn’t I warn that Bakes On Mesh was coming? I did. I said this was going to force mesh head makers to revert their UV maps back to standard SLUV, too, because everyone is going to start using standard skins more and more now. If you are a mesh head developer and your heads don’t adhere to standard SLUV, get on it. You will lose money eventually because customers are going to want to wear whatever skin they want with whatever head they buy.
Bakes on Mesh (yes, plural, according to this SL wiki page) is a new feature in Second Life that automatically “bakes” your standard skins and tattoo layers to your mesh bodies and heads. Whenever you switch skins or wear different layers of tattoos on your body, your mesh will automatically update your look without you having to do anything.
Over time, there will be less and less dependency on applier routers like Omega, because now Second Life’s system is the applier. However, you’ll want to check with your mesh body maker to be sure their body is BoM ready. If it isn’t, they should be updating soon.
Only certain SL clients can render Bakes On Mesh, too. If you want to be absolutely sure you can see the new feature, head over here to download the official Second Life client.
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And so the summer rolls on and fades towards its end. With it comes Hair Fair, something I raid year after year for a pretty interesting reason.
What am I looking for there, you ask? The head wraps!
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As most people who read the news know by now, the Linden Endowment for the Arts is closing. LEA provided a space for many artists in Second Life to express themselves. For them to shutter is something truly sad, but I’m also happy to note there’s an effort to begin again–a LEA 2.0, possibly! A group in-world has formed pooling suggestions on how to change the arts program so that it lasts longer this time. I’m so happy to hear of this!
As someone who’s gone through a serious roller coaster with the last LEA council, I’ve seen the uglier side of their machinations. Hazing, bullying, and power struggles are what I experienced and saw in the short time I’ve sat on their roster. After quitting, I wrote up my experiences here on this blog. It was met with both praise and criticism, but you know what? I spoke my truth in an earnest effort to bring about change, and there’s no way I would ever let anyone invalidate my experience. And as we all know, it’s the truth that will set you free in the end.
So what’s the one simple trick I think that can save the Linden Endowment for the Arts? It’s one I’ve suggested all along.
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Why is it that whatever I say sometimes causes so much fuss? A couple of weeks ago, I compared VRChat‘s avatar grading system to Second Life’s avatar complexity numbering, stating that we should adopt grades instead because it’s simpler for users to understand.
But Second Life likes to play the telephone game with re-quotes and paraphrases. Soon, my suggestion morphed through other mouths and turned into “I want us to pare down our avatars to Ruths”, and that’s not what I said at all. Do people read around here? Do they just like being outraged over things? Make a little cash with clicks in the process?
Whatever.
In an effort to retain my goal of an ultra-chill summer, I took to the seas of the Bellisseria continent to invest in deepwater fishing. And while I’m here, let’s do that “VRChat versus Second Life” comparison. We’ve already gone halfway with it. Why not take the whole kit?
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It’s absolutely possible to get an anime-inspired eye without resorting to looking like a parody of an Asian person, or supporting a certain mesh head designer who’s known for bullying others. Let’s check out how the look is done.
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“I’m a fiend, I’m a killer, only pledge allegiance to the highest bidder. In a world with no morals and a life with no meaning, there is no such thing as a sinner.” – Ghostwerk, Corporate Assassin (Netrun)
If you love cyberpunk everything like I do, you love any themed event of such that comes along and lets you shop for all the gear you’ll need for a futuristic look. Imagine my thrill at the Cyber/Punk event happening, especially its Psycho Byts gacha. I was able to get a pair of amazing cyber bento arms from it–a rare with just a few plays! Plus, some boots, a headset, and a dope-looking bodysuit.
I mixed up my look in the picture to show the average cyberpunk berzerker and how they might look if you encountered one.
Alright, so you go shopping for all this stuff and then you say to yourself, “Where can I go roleplay as a cool cyberpunker?” And to that I tell you… yeah, sorry, those opportunities are dwindling in SL. Roleplay in SL is dwindling. Should we talk about that?
Yeah, let’s talk about that.
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I can be pretty hot when I wear a realistic skin, right? Don’t fault me for being the quirky sort that likes hand-drawn skins, though–I’m a painted skin appreciator! I love to collect them. But with this new LOGO mesh head release, I’m leaning towards photo-realism to bring out the product’s best aspects.
This is LOGO Mae, the versatile new mesh head available at Uber right now for about 500L. The product bundle comes with the head itself, several basic skins and makeups, and an animation and customization HUD. The matching body skin is sold separately for about the same price the head bundle goes for. You can basically get a new look for a bit more than 1000L right now.
This is a long and kinda technical review, so let’s dive in!
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