Happy birthday to Truth Hawks! Without your presence in Second Life, we would all be a little less stylish, so naturally, your birthday should be celebrated grid-wide.
I went to The Arcade. I recently told you how burned I felt after the last round, but apparently, I don’t learn my lesson. I went again and found so many schoolgirl outfits, which is perfect for the back-to-school season. As if I don’t already have 100 schoolgirl outfits in my Second Lifetime, but I played, and I conquered.
My friend says I look like a bad schoolgirl, but whatever could she mean? Gogo is so sweet, definitely not a mean girl. The Seniha Back to School outfit is actually pretty reasonable for a gacha. You can easily put together a complete outfit with just a few plays.
I also love everything Movement makes, so I was happy to see their darling gacha offerings. If you love accessories, check out the Movement Zodiac Girl set. The set includes a planner, bag, and tablet.
It’s officially autumn in Second Life! The Bellisseria regions have changed seasons, and the best season has arrived. Bring on the cozy vibes and pixel sweaters.
At the height of Bellisseria, I started attending the Concierge & Land User Group meetings because I wanted the latest tea on what was happening with Bellisseria, Mainland, and land in general. The meeting has since been renamed the Land & Support User Group, and in the beginning, I actually thought it was pretty productive. The Lindens in charge listened to feedback, answered questions, and residents had a chance to bring up things that mattered to them.
Over time, though, I started wondering how much these meetings represent what the average Second Life resident actually wants. The people who attend regularly are obviously going to have the loudest voices, and sometimes those voices result in things the rest of us have to live with. I will never get over the ugly bridges connecting parts of Bellisseria. Instead of one long ugly bridge, couldn’t we have had a cute little island between the two themes, with little boats or walking paths connecting everything? There were so many ways they could have made it cute, but somebody wanted bridges, and now we have bridges.
There are actually a lot of official Second Life user group meetings happening regularly, and I think more residents should attend them, especially if you care about where Second Life is headed. You might be surprised by what other residents are asking Linden Lab to change, and some of those changes will eventually affect YOUR Second Life.
I’ve also been watching recordings of some of the other Second Life user group meetings on Pantera’s YouTube channel, and that’s actually where I first heard some of the discussions around the recent Marketplace changes. One of the new policies will automatically unlist products that haven’t sold in a year AND belong to a merchant who hasn’t logged in for a year. I think requiring both conditions makes the policy way too lenient. In my opinion, it should be products that haven’t sold OR merchants who haven’t logged in. Otherwise, we’re still leaving a lot of unpopular products and potentially unsupported products sitting on the Marketplace.
Sometimes I listen to these meetings and think Linden Lab may be listening a little too closely to whichever residents happen to be the most vocal in the room. Maybe some of these ideas will work out, but I suspect they’ll eventually find out that a few of these policies didn’t accomplish much, or made things worse overall. That’s also why I think more people should attend these meetings. If only the same group of residents shows up every week, those are naturally going to be the opinions Linden Lab hears the most.
My look for the recent Land & Support User Group meeting reminded me of a peasant, which felt very appropriate for a land meeting, LOL. Landed Peasants, reporting for duty! If you own land or care about what happens to Second Life, I really do encourage you to attend one of these meetings sometime. The more residents who show up and speak up, the more voices Linden Lab gets to hear.
A friend asked me recently, “Gogo, why do you ask so many questions about how much designers are making on Facebook?”
Yes, I ask a lot of questions on Facebook. I’m on pretty much all of the social media sites for Second Life, but people are especially chatty on Facebook, and I’m always trying to get a temperature check on the SL economy. Are people still making money? Are they making less than they used to? Is Second Life going to survive long enough for my Lifetime Premium Plus accounts to pay off, or will SL die before I’m profitable? So many questions.
I think about the SL economy probably more than the average resident does. Besides being an SL nerd, I’m also a bit of a finance enthusiast, and I love reading about the economy in RL and apparently analyzing the SL economy too. I think it’s smart to know when something is still worth your time and when it’s time to move on. If you’re no longer making the money you used to make here, there’s nothing wrong with finding somewhere else where your time and talent are worth more.
Another reason I ask these questions is because despite some designers doing very well in Second Life, I often see some saying they’re on the verge of being evicted or facing some other financial emergency nearly every week. There’s always a Second Life GoFundMe, and sometimes it’s from designers I would consider fairly successful from a distance. They’re talented, they have a recognizable brand, they have customers, so why are they still living paycheck to paycheck?
I’ve watched a lot of designers come and go over the years, for all kinds of reasons, and I actually think there’s something admirable about knowing when it’s time to leave. If you used to make good money in Second Life and you’re no longer making what you need, why cling to it until you’re completely broke? Find greener pastures. Maybe that means another virtual platform, maybe it means taking your skills and working for a company in real life, or maybe it means doing something completely different. At some point, if something is no longer working financially, you have to see the writing on the wall and bounce before you’re broke. There’s no prize for hanging on the longest.
Jian Pets announced last week that they’re leaving Second Life, and you can read their farewell message here. I think it’s smarter to move on and explore other opportunities than to cling to something that is no longer serving you. Second Life has been around for more than 20 years, but that doesn’t mean every successful SL business needs to stay here forever.
Speaking of being financially well, I went to the FLF Bday Bash and came home with a bunch of goodies for FREE! Gogo may be loaded in SL, but I still love freebies. I didn’t grab every single gift, but out of the ones I picked up, these are my favorite things:
Movement – Ladies Handbag
ALT3 – Afterparty FX Shine
Exile – Jordan Hair, Birthday Confetti Edition
Glam Affair – Manu Skin (Summer Special L005) – The rain on the face is awesome!
This whole thing is going to go down as Gaeta Gate in Second Life history, the time Linden Lab tried to remove a small, unfinished continent, only to completely reverse course a few months later. I waited forever to be relocated from Gaeta 1 to New Zindra, but it never happened, so I eventually started selling off the land I’d bought there piece by piece because I’d already acquired quite a bit of snow land and figured I was simply going to move on.
Then on Monday I received an email from Linden Lab basically saying, “We’re giving you some money for your pain and suffering, and by the way, Gaeta 1 isn’t closing anymore.” Suddenly the whole situation changed. You can stay if you want to. You can still move if you’d rather have a parcel in New Zindra and keep Gaeta 1 too. If you’ve already moved, you cay stay or come back to Gaeta 1! I have to admit I’m pretty happy with the outcome, even if this has been one of the biggest rollercoasters I’ve watched Linden Lab put residents through. From the original announcement until now, it’s been one surprise after another, and I still don’t think the ride is completely over.
If you look around Gaeta 1 today, a huge amount of land is marked “On Hold,” which most of us assume means former residents are deciding whether to return. I’ve already noticed some of the larger land barons making their way back, but it does raise an interesting question about whether people will end up keeping both their new land or coming back to their original Gaeta 1 land. After all, the original reason Linden Lab gave for closing Gaeta 1 was the massive amount of abandoned land, and that problem isn’t automatically solved just because some previous owners decide to move back.
I think Linden Lab knows they need to move quickly, and the August 17 deadline they gave everyone in the email makes that pretty obvious. I didn’t wait around because I’m easy. I replied immediately and told them I was staying, mainly because I have absolutely no interest in moving to New Zindra. I was originally interested, but have you seen the horrendous new grass texture? No thank you! My guess is they want to wrap this entire situation up as quickly as possible so Gaeta Gate becomes nothing more than a strange chapter in Second Life history, after which they can start selling and auctioning parcels in both Gaeta 1 and New Zindra again. I could even see them experimenting with more double-prim parcels if it helps encourage people to buy mainland, although I don’t expect they’ll spend time finishing the unfinished west coast of Gaeta 1 when they already have so much abandoned mainland elsewhere on the grid.
I love land, so after all of this, I decided to officially move into my little Gaeta 1 parcel instead of letting it go. My friend Malayaa decorated the cozy 1,500 sqm oceanfront property for me, and it’s exactly the right size. As long as my neighbors don’t move back in tomorrow and completely ruin my view, I think I’m going to be pretty happy here.
What I’m Wearing: Exile – Prisma The Kiwi Co – peaches Set (Top, Shorts, FlipFlops) Sparkle Skye – Emily Pearl Headband Glam Affair – Gwen (L003) LeLutka – Ubon Mesh Head
One of the greatest mysteries in Second Life to me is why so many Third Party Viewers eventually stop development. I wasn’t always looking for something beyond the official Second Life Viewer, so I stuck with that for years before finally giving TPVs a chance. The first one I really used was Black Dragon Viewer, and while I eventually figured out things like the annoying WASD controls, I could never get rid of that music that played every single time the viewer launched. Maybe there was a way to disable it, but I never found it, so when Alchemy Viewer came along, I happily switched over. Alchemy ended up becoming one of my favorite viewers, but then development stopped. After that I moved to Aperture Viewer, and wouldn’t you know it, development there stopped too. Just recently I told you all about AyaStorm Viewer because I thought it had a lot of potential, and now they’ve removed the Windows version, so I guess you can consider that one effectively dead for most people too. At this point I’m starting to think TPVs are cursed. Every time I get excited about a viewer, development suddenly comes to an end. So now I’m sitting here wondering what I’m supposed to use next. How long do you keep using an abandoned viewer before enough little things break that you finally give up and go back to Firestorm?
The curse of Third Party Viewers continues.
Another mystery to me is all of these collaborations Linden Lab has been doing lately with residents and community groups. We’ve had SeraPlus, MadPea, Essential Inventory, and now The Collab Circle. The whole point seems to be adding value to Premium and Premium Plus memberships by giving members exclusive freebies. I’m Lifetime Premium Plus, so maybe I’m the wrong person to judge whether these promotions are working, but I haven’t been impressed with probably 90% of the gifts. The funny thing is, when an event has freebies, I’m so focused on grabbing them that I never actually shop. I teleport in, collect everything, teleport home, open all the boxes, decide what’s worth keeping, and delete the rest. It gives me the exact same dopamine hit as shopping because, really, shopping is just acquiring stuff. By the time I’m finished opening gifts, I’m completely over it and have no desire to go back and actually spend money.
One of the gifts I did like was the balloon pack from SKVOST. The balloons themselves are really cute, but they’re meant to be rezzed as decorations. The only attachable version was the boxed package, and that included a no-transfer attach animation script, so I couldn’t even modify it the way I wanted. I ended up resizing one of the decorative balloons, wrote my own animate on attach script, and now I have a holdable balloon in exactly the color I wanted. It just made me wonder why they didn’t include a few holdable versions in the gift package to begin with.
I do hope these collaborations work out because Linden Lab is obviously putting money into them. I came across a Facebook post from one of the Seraphim founders who mentioned they were paid by Linden Lab for SeraPlus, so these aren’t just casual community projects. That makes me wonder if Linden Lab is tracking conversions from these collaborations. Are Premium memberships increasing because of them? Are people actually spending more money after visiting these events? I honestly don’t know. When I visited The Collab Circle on opening day, I was literally the only person there. Even with Second Life promoting these collaborations constantly across social media, I wonder if residents are simply burned out on shopping events. At some point, another event with another gift bag just doesn’t feel exciting anymore, especially when so many of the freebies feel more like promotional add-ons than gifts people genuinely wanted.
That brings me to the bigger issue that keeps sitting in the back of my mind. Concurrency has been trending downward for a while now, and I really appreciate Daniel Voyager for continuing to track these numbers because it’s one of the few ways we can see the long-term trend instead of just going by how busy our favorite regions feel. Whether Linden Lab wants to acknowledge it or not, the charts are showing fewer people online, and if that trend continues through the rest of the year, I think Christmas is going to be a really important test. Hopefully things turn around, because I’d much rather see those numbers climbing again than continuing to slide.
This isn’t a subtle dusting of sand. It looks like Gogo has been stranded on a deserted island or crawling through the desert for three days. Compared to Izzie’s previous Beach Sand tattoo add-on, this one has a much finer texture, and I think it’s cuter too.
Each Sandstorm tone comes with four different shades, ranging from a light coating of sand to a much darker, grittier look. The darkest shade is my favorite. If you’re into roleplay or just want your avatar to look like they’ve been through something, this is a fun little add-on. Pair it with some dirt or blood layers and you’ll fit right in. There’s a whole segment of Second Life residents who seem determined to look like they’re permanently in combat.
My outfit today is another free find. Analogic has the Grazy Set (top and skirt) available as a free group gift, and the group is free to join. I’m also wearing the Abby Headband, which is another free gift. I only found this store because I follow TeleportHub on X, where they post freebie updates all the time. Freebies have always been a big part of Second Life, and sites like TeleportHub and FabFree have been covering them for years.
Which is why I still don’t understand why Linden Lab thinks access to freebies is a worthwhile Premium perk. It isn’t. I’m already drowning in freebies. This was my first time visiting Analogic, and I found around 30 free group gifts that I could grab immediately. The store looks like it’s built around full-perm mesh products from a bunch of different creators, so the branding is kind of all over the place, but there’s a lot of stuff. I’m not really a snob about whether something started as full-perm mesh. It was free, and it was cute enough.
I stopped by Shop & Hop to pick up some of the latest free gifts. At this point, it’s become a bit of a tradition for me. Every time the event comes around, I’m always curious to see which creators put real thought into their gifts and which ones are simply tossing something out to satisfy the participation requirements. There were quite a few pleasant surprises this round, and if you’re a fan of freebies, it’s definitely worth a visit. As always, FabFree did a fantastic job covering all the gifts, so be sure to check out their SL23B gift guide for a complete look at what’s available.
I didn’t make it to every booth, but after spending way too much time teleporting, touching vendors, unpacking boxes, and trying things on, these were the gifts that stood out to me the most:
• LeRoux – Lois AO • SLC – Bento AO Doubleyou • Softie – Nylah Skirt • Ade – Sunny Hairstyle • Alaskametro – Gemini 2K BOM Makeup Set • MUHO – Deva Shoes • Seeker – Remy Shoes • Cococat – Store Credit • Navy+Copper – Store Credit
As I was making my way through Shop & Hop, I found myself thinking about how many free gifts there are in Second Life these days. It feels like every event has gifts now, whether it’s because they’re collaborating with Linden Lab, celebrating an anniversary, hosting a birthday round, or simply running a promotion. Free gifts have become so common that I don’t really understand why Linden Lab still seems to view them as a major incentive for Premium memberships or resident engagement.
In fact, I sometimes wonder if all these gifts are starting to work against the events themselves. Right after leaving Shop & Hop, I teleported over to ACCESS and discovered their birthday round was packed with gifts as well. I happily collected them, took everything home, unpacked it, tried it on, kept a few items, deleted the rest, and never felt the need to actually shop. The gifts became the entire experience, and I still got that little rush that comes from finding something new without spending a single Linden dollar.
That’s why I’ve never been convinced that giving away more gifts is the answer to attracting new residents or keeping existing ones engaged. Second Life already has an incredible freebie culture, and anyone willing to spend a little time exploring can put together a fantastic avatar without opening their wallet. If Linden Lab wants to attract and retain new users, I think their resources would be better spent making the platform easier to understand, improving the onboarding experience, and connecting newcomers with friendly, knowledgeable residents who can help them navigate the world. New residents don’t need another gift bag nearly as much as they need guidance and a positive first experience.
Maybe that’s what’s been frustrating me lately. From my perspective, Second Life feels a little directionless. So many of Linden Lab’s recent efforts seem focused on giveaways, promotions, and perks for people who are already here, while some of the issues that residents talk about year after year continue to linger. I don’t think most long-term residents are asking for more gifts. We’d probably rather see faster support response times, better covenant enforcement, stronger account security, and leadership that demonstrates a deeper understanding of the people who continue to invest their time and money into this platform.
Of course attracting new residents is important, and every online world needs new people to thrive. At the same time, it’s hard not to notice that some of the residents who have supported Second Life for years are becoming increasingly frustrated. The people who own land, maintain communities, support creators, pay for Premium memberships, and spend thousands of dollars annually are just as important to the health of the platform as the next wave of signups. Sometimes it feels like Linden Lab is working very hard to attract new residents while overlooking the people who have already proven, year after year, that they’re committed to staying.
What makes this change difficult for me to accept is that the core benefits haven’t really changed. The stipend is the same. The land allowance is the same. While there are some additional perks and gifts being added, they’re not benefits that I personally value enough to justify paying more each year.
Whenever a company raises prices, I take a look at my spending and decide what’s still worth keeping. That’s exactly what I’m doing now. Over the years, I’ve accumulated several Premium accounts, mostly to hold extra Linden Homes. After thinking about it, I’ve decided I don’t really need all of them. I’ll be keeping the two accounts that I previously upgraded to Lifetime Premium Plus, but the extra accounts are becoming much harder to justify.
The same goes for land. I’ve acquired quite a bit of mainland recently, and this price increase has me reevaluating how much I actually need versus how much I’ve simply gotten used to having.
One thing about me is that I’m usually willing to spend money on Second Life. I enjoy supporting the platform, and I’ve never been afraid to invest in the things I love. But I also believe it’s important to periodically review our subscriptions and spending habits, especially when prices go up.
If you’re maintaining multiple Premium accounts, now might be a good time to ask yourself whether you’re getting enough value from each one. Do you really need that extra Linden Home? Do you use all of the benefits you’re paying for? Maybe the answer is yes. For me, the answer was no.
At the end of the day, every resident has to decide what makes sense for their own budget. My decision is to scale back a little. Not because I’m leaving Second Life or because I suddenly dislike the platform, but because I don’t think every account I currently pay for is worth the new price.
Sometimes the most effective feedback we can give isn’t posting on the forums or arguing on social media. It’s simply reevaluating our subscriptions and spending accordingly.
Most people know this iconic line from Gone with the Wind, but have they actually sat through all four hours of the movie? If you haven’t, you should at least once. Scarlett O’Hara isn’t exactly likable, but she was a survivor, and that’s probably why she’s remained such a memorable character all these years later.
I recently rewatched Gone with the Wind to get in the mood for photographing my current obsession from this round of The Arcade.
My friends were absolutely gushing over the Monique dress from PurpleMoon, and of course we all wanted the rare Floral version. With the right styling, it looks like something Scarlett herself might have worn while dramatically descending a staircase at Tara. As you all know, I have a weakness for period-inspired fashion, so even though the print does remind me a little bit of a floral sofa, I was willing to overlook that minor detail. The gloves are a lovely touch, and I’m even wearing the matching heels underneath the dress, though you can’t see them in these photos.
I normally don’t pay much attention to gacha these days, but once in a blue moon I’ll keep playing until I get exactly what I want.
Speaking of that famous line, let’s circle back to it for a moment.
The thing amusing me this week is watching some designers encourage other creators to drop support for LaraX, while also suggesting customers should simply switch bodies instead.
This dress is made for LaraX. I bought it because it’s made for LaraX. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have.
I’ve never switched mesh bodies just to wear a particular outfit, and I probably never will. If something isn’t made for the body I’m using, I move on. There is so much talent in Second Life that no single brand is irreplaceable.
Until something better comes along, I’ll continue wearing Maitreya LaraX. It does everything I need it to do. It’s funny to me that there are still residents happily wearing system bodies, yet some people act as though using a mesh body that’s still one of the most widely supported on the grid somehow makes you outdated.
I’m not resistant to change. I’m not afraid of trying new things. I’m just not interested in switching to something that doesn’t offer me anything better than what I already have.
This “currently crashing out” print on the Honey Cropped Tank from The Kiwi Co. feels a little too relatable right now, because mainland has been testing me lately.
When I first went Premium back in 2019 to get a Linden Home, it was also the first time I could finally own mainland. I eventually bought a snowy parcel that I absolutely loved and kept it from 2022 onward. It was extremely landlocked and surrounded on three sides by massive ugly ice walls from neighboring parcels, but somehow I still made it work because I liked the region.
Recently, several abandoned coastal parcels nearby became available after a former neighbor left. I submitted support tickets hoping to expand naturally into the coastline, but instead the parcels were sent individually to auction. I managed to buy some of them, but after getting outbid on the final piece, I realized I was done fighting with the region. The walls finally won.
I still wanted snow land though, so I moved a couple regions over and spent a pretty significant amount acquiring new coastal land through auctions and direct purchase from a land baron. In total, it probably cost around $500 USD worth of Lindens, but I was excited to finally own a beautiful coastal snow parcel.
Then I discovered a 32m micro parcel sitting directly in the middle of my new land.
The owner had no other land in the region and was asking L$32,000 for it.
That isn’t normal land use. It’s extortion.
I submitted another support ticket hoping Linden Lab would step in, especially since Second Life already has a policy against land cutting practices. Unfortunately, my request was denied, and no discretion was used to resolve what is very obviously a bad-faith micro parcel situation. That part is what disappoints me the most.
As someone still relatively new to mainland ownership, I’m starting to understand why so many residents say mainland can be incredibly frustrating. One bad neighbor or one strategically placed micro parcel can completely ruin an otherwise beautiful area.
And if anyone is wondering how my planned move from Gaeta 1 to New Zindra is going, it isn’t. I bought Gaeta 1 land back on April 15, but after realizing I’d likely be at the very end of the migration queue, I decided to put everything up for sale instead. At this point, I’d rather just settle into my snow land and enjoy it in peace.
