Akela Talamasca
- http://akelaishowling.blogspot.com
A Force for Good in our time.
Combat Cards Revisited
It's been a while since my last (first) post about Combat Cards, the SL game of strategy and mayhem. In the intervening months, there have been a lot of changes. There are more cards to be played, more locations in which to play them, and more combatants as well. In fact, Combat Cards just finished a tournament that saw the top 4 scorers battle it out to the delight of all. If ever you were intrigued by this idea, now's the time to check it out!
I recently posed to be on one of the cards, and was told that Osprey Therian and Doc Boffin are looking for horror-themed models, so if you think you have an avatar that will fit right in with these, do contact them in-world. Here's a link to their website, and here's their blog, and here is their in-world location. Forget Tringo; this is a great example of an engaging, complex, absorbing game produced entirely within SL! Check out the tutorial here, then go fight the good fight!
Daniel Terdiman's VGVC Interview
Following up on yesterday's post, here's a link to Daniel Terdiman's interview with the Video Game Venture Capital interview, in which he's asked ten (actually 11) questions about entrepreneurship in SL. Despite usage of the word 'disconnect' as a noun, there are things of value here to be had. Again and again, Daniel emphasizes hard work, talent, commitment, and having a plan. This flies in the face of what I'm sure the uneducated believe about building a business in SL -- that it's about having a big brand and just showing up. In fact, we've seen that happen repeatedly, and this is social Darwinism in action. I can vouch for the fact that those who work in SL do work very hard to keep afloat, but this is balanced against the sheer love of the platform. Is it all worth it in the end? Those of you who have a business in SL, I'd love to hear your answers!
(Via VGVC)
Kelly Services in SL
Kelly Services, a human resources employment resource, has opened its own island in SL, making it part of what seems to be a growing trend of such businesses attempting to shift around the way we think about seeking work. I started to wonder, though: isn't part of the evaluation process how someone presents themselves, how they perform? Or is it all taken on faith after receiving an applicant's resumé? How much of this can be done virtually? I'm sure Kelly's a worldwide business, but is there an expectation of physical presence at some point? Do papers need to be signed? I've been extremely fortunate to have had a fairly steady job for the past few years, so I've not been keeping myself up-to-date on job seeking practices. Is this the new way?
(Via CNN)
Daniel Terdiman's Entrepreneur's Guide to SL
Daniel Terdiman of CNet has always done well by SL. He writes with honesty and compassion, which is always refreshing when it comes to SL. So, in the deluge of new books coming out on SL, I'm glad he's taken the time to write one of his own. It's called The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life: Making Money in the Metaverse. It's geared toward analyzing businesses that work in SL, and how you can create a business that will become successful.In the referring article, Daniel says that while it's true he's not an SL entrepreneur, he does qualify to some degree in being an authority on his subject. In fact, I'd argue that by not being an entrepreneur himself, he brings a much-needed perspective to the subject. And in seven months, too; that's pretty damned quick. Go check this book out here, and its related blog here.
Alcatel-Lucent's New Contest
Alcatel-Lucent, the networking services provider, has opened an island in SL. To celebrate this, they're offering 50,000L to the winner of a new contest that asks residents to design the applications and gadgets of a future time when high-speed access to always-on networks is readily available.To this end, Alcatel-Lucent is providing use of their sandbox, which, according to the referring article, will feature " ... application development tools and simple user interfaces to help contestants bring their ideas for 4G services to life." If anyone's going to give this a shot, do let us know what these tools and interfaces are. The deadline is December 1st, and three runners-up will be awarded prizes of 20,000L. Good luck everyone! Bring us the future!
(Via sys-con.com)
Canada Post Brings The Great White North to SL
Canada Post, the shipping and delivery company, will be opening Maple Grove, a city of commerce within SL that will hold many of the RL stores and brands that Canadians know and trust, including Toys'R' Us, Sears, The Shopping Channel, Brookstone, SkyMall, Red Canoe, Everything Olive, and Hudson's Bay Company."Today's net savvy consumer values convenience and relevancy in today's market," says Laurene Cihosky, senior vice president for Canada Post's direct marketing division. "Maple Grove is our way of meeting those expectations; a virtual place for friends to meet, shop, and enjoy the culture that Canada has to offer."
On Saturday, November 3rd, Maple Grove will officially launch in Second Life with a six-hour virtual live music festival, from 3 to 9 PM SLT. On the bill will be Grace McDunnough, Montain Gulruth, Juel Resistance, Rosedrop Rust, Shiger Seattle, and Louis Volare. You can get more information about the event here.
(Thanks, Schuyler!)
The Ed Wood Machinima Festival
This October marks the third year anniversary of the creation of Alt-Zoom Studios, BuhBuhCuh Fairchild's answer to the growing phenomenon of machinima. The Ed Wood Festival was set up to celebrate machinima that's so bad it's good, an homage to the famously awful movies of that director who gave us Plan 9 From Outer Space. In that spirit, this weekend will see a couple of events that aspiring machinimists will want to check out. Friday night at 7 PM SLT, in Lukanida, Alt-Zoom Studios will present the Ed Wood Festival Highlights of Yesteryear, showcasing the 13 past entries into the contest. That will give people an idea of the kind of quality that wins dubious awards. Saturday the 27th this year's contest theme will be announced, giving creators 48 hours to film their movie and submit it to Moo Money before 11:59 PM, for inclusion in the contest.
Finally, at 7 PM on Halloween, contestants will gather to watch all submissions, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. For more information, contact Moo in-world, or go to the website. Filmmakers, don your angora for inspiration and prepare yourselves!
(Thanks, Moo!)
New Species of Sunfish and Albatross Discovered
Cube3, creators of the CubePODz, have updated their recreational vehicle line with the new Sunfish, a 2-seater, and the Albatross, a 10-seater. I loved the Syd Mead-esque design of the CubePOD, and these new additions have some of that going on, as well as a sleek retro feel to them. From the press release:
"We should take this opportunity to make the virtual worlds we'll live in optimistic and suggestive of a new frontier. Many of the tired cyberpunk visions that made good fiction 20 years ago are horrible places to really spend our time in. To me that's maybe fun for an RPG, but not for a world we're spending hours in daily now" says designer Larry Rosenthal.
The three vehicles sell within SL for base prices of 600L, 1200L, and 2000L based on the model and style. To see some screens of the new vessels, check out this gallery; for more of a look, go in-world to Theta.
(Thanks, Larry!)
(Ricardo Montalban voice) Welcome ... to Orange Island!
I was invited to an early peek at wireless service provider Orange's new island, and man, it's beautiful. This is a build that you can spend some quality time in, whether it's by taking a stroll to look at the sights, playing with the many little fun interactive toys, checking out the streaming music available at the listening stations, or dopping in tomorrow, October 26 at 8 AM PST for the Grand Opening, which will feature live music from up-and-coming indie band Clint.
MDC Metaversatility really made some magic with this build, and their commitment to quality shows. It's an elegant combination of nature and technology that blends well. The best part? Orange built this island just to connect with the community; you won't find any hard or soft cells for products or services anywhere! This company Gets It.
Part of the fun of this place is exploring it on your own, so I'll just leave you with this gallery of shots. Go check this place out tomorrow morning!
Gallery: Orange Island
Avatars Across Worlds: Nay, No, Feh
IEEE Spectrum has a piece available decrying the need, and even the desire for the concept of avatar portability -- the idea that it's possible to take your favorite avatar from one virtual world to another, and have it keep its attributes. They've enlisted a four-point set of reasons why this can't and shouldn't work. Their ideas are cogent, but do make a few assumptions. "A company wants people to stick with the game that funds the company, not play games by other companies." Well, if you port your avatar to someone else's game, you ARE playing that game, with its associated fees. I'd think this would be a good way to experiment with a different platform, leavening the risk for those typically fearful of change.
"Games have different purposes, and thus different requirements of the art." Part of the point of developing portable avatars means that by the mere ability to enter a different space, they will already be equipped to deal with the rigors and strictures imposed by the game's mechanics. I'd imagine that IBM and LL are aware enough of the need for this that they'll work it into the standards.
More after the jump!
LL to Help the Library of Congress Preserve Videogames
This one has to warm the cockles of your heart. Linden Lab, in conjunction with other entities including Stanford, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, will be working on an initiative called the Preserving Virtual Worlds project.The article has all the details, including all the headaches revolving around intellectual property, copyrights, and the best way to preserve digital media that's contained in a variety of rapidly obsolescent formats. Suffice it to say that it's a huge job, and part of the problem is figuring out just how to go about preservation in the first place.
Regardless, this is a huge step for the Library of Congress to take in its admission that videogames are worthy of being preserved as cultural artifacts, and LL will be fighting the good fight right alongside.
(Via Kotaku)
'Til the Money Runs Out
So, here's something to chew on. This article talks about how parents might not be aware exactly how expensive virtual world items can be, and how easy it is to just keep buying things. After all, it's not Real, is it?But here's what opponents of the Age Verification service have been saying all along. Anyone can use a credit card, even if it doesn't belong to them. There's just no good way to verify that you are who you claim to be. What's needed instead? A random monitoring system? Someone to come along and ask generation-appropriate questions? "Who were the Mamas and the Papas? Who was Taft? Don't know? You must not be old enough." I'm just throwing it out there. That's obviously not a good method either, but at least it does require more than static information presentation.
How many teens do you think are on the Main Grid? How easy was it for them to get there? Is it time to collapse the Teen Grid yet?
(Via stuff.co.nz)
Petition LL for Improved Animal Rights
Industria Dowler brought this to my attention. This will go a couple of different ways, depending on your personal viewpoint, but it's something that needs thought. I haven't confirmed this, but this is the story: Essentially, a photograph was found in a sandbox recently that apparently depicted RL photographs of a woman crushing a cat's skull with her high heels.This was brought to the attention of LL as some form of moral violation, something that isn't covered in the SL TOS. The Lindens have said there is nothing in the Community Standards against the photo. Feeling this wasn't right, a petition has been set up here. If this is something you feel strongly about, please go and sign the petition. At the time of this writing, the number of signees stands at 328; the goal is 2,500.
Now, I'm not going to take this at face value. I haven't seen the photo, it could be a fake. I don't know who found it, or where it was found. Regardless, this is the sort of measure that, just as with photos of pornography that go against standards, should be examined to prevent recurrence. Even with a faked photo, it's a disturbing-sounding image, and one we can do without. I'm interested to see whether this petition will carry forward. It's up to you all.
(Thanks, Industria!)
MMO Watch: Bunnytown
All right! More ways to keep your kids indoors and quiet! Disney has announced that its upcoming variety puppet show Bunnytown will launch with its own virtual world, presumably eponymously named. So children can go straight from tv screen to computer monitor with needing to interact with their parents at all. Fantastic.
I'm being slightly ridiculous, of course, but it's all too easy to imagine this happening. In 50 years' time, our bodies will bloat, our limbs will wither, and our eyes will enlarge to better receive visual signals from the virtual worlds that we will all inhabit as a matter of course.
Seriously, this is a huge win for the marketing team responsible. Direct merchandising and monetization of your television show in one fell swoop! Bravo, Disney. Pretty soon, your living room will be the Happiest Place On Earth.
(Via Virtual Worlds News)
5 Companies Who Need Virtual Worlds
Over at Tech Digest, Stuart Dredge makes his case for 5 companies who ought to have virtual worlds of their own. It's an interesting list, and one could argue back and forth the benefits of any of the 5. Being a fanboy, I'll admit to being excited by the thought of a Nintendo space, and an Apple space.In fact, the Apple thing could be its aborted 'eWorld' with a new lease on life. Nintendo could have a ton of different areas themed after any number of their more popular franchises: Mario, Metroid, Pokémon, Zelda, etc. Google is something I think everyone's curious about, and Microsoft is fearful of. The BBC has been interested in the whole virtual worlds topic for a while now, witness their various SL events. Nokia? Ehnh. Any companies we should add to this list? Send 'em in!
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