Linden Realms Upgrade!

In an effort to revitalize Linden Realms, the in-SL game where Residents run about completing quests and capturing gems to trade for in-world currency, The Lab has recently added signs with note card givers that explicitly review the game rules and, according to LR Linden, juggled about the ratio of gem colors, increasing the number of orange gems in play while decreasing the number of pink ones. Regulars know that the orange ones are worth more L$ when trading in gems at the Portal Workshop.

From what I learned in a chat with LR Linden this morning, other changes are in the works, too: new quests and increasing the number of ultra-rare blue gems, among other (read: Secret) updates. Blue gems, like the generally rare green ones, aren’t involved in quests but are traded directly for cash. What I find more exciting, however, and is totally denied by LR Linden, is the introduction of purple gems as seen in this screen shot of an in-world snap my brother made last night:

I bet they’ll be used in one of the new quests. Or maybe gathering them will provide some way to appease the Rock Monsters so you can pass them more easily. Not that this challenge is very .. er .. challenging to start with so I could be wrong. Maybe they will be extremely rare and have a high L$ value since the blue gems are changing. Maybe someone far more creative than I can come up with something far more creative than I can. LR Linden admitted that the game is being almost completely refreshed and that they had hoped to have it out for the first of the month, but like other LDPW projects, the work has fallen behind schedule. In any case, I’ll keep you updated as I find out more.

Linden Realms RULZ! [update]

My friends Kennylex Luckless and Hexapoda have been pushing hard to have some rules for the use of Linden Realms (the interactive in-world gem gathering game in which you can earn some Second Life currency) to reduce cheating (such as flying and speed enhancers). Looks like the Lindens – particularly LR Linden – have come through!

Rules for Linden Realms gameplay :

* Flying is not permitted in Linden Realms.
* Use of ‘bots’ or other automated software (internal or external) to enhance game play mechanics is not permitted.
* Use of any object, devices, HUDs, scripting, etc to enhance speed, movement and award collection rates is not permitted.

If your account is discovered operating or performing any of the above, Linden Lab may suspend or terminate access to Linden Realms, your Second Life account, and any L$ acquired via illicit gameplay, may be assessed from the accounts involved.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Rules_for_Linden_Realms

UPDATE: Check out these pix from Kennylex Luckless: One about Clouds here and a very pretty one here.

Vick’s Wish List

Too often end-of-the-year retrospectives are planned and published well before the end of the year. For example, I was watching a television news piece about celebrities and notables who died in 2012 when news hit that another famous person died just that day. And then each subsequent day saw a notable death. Why can’t reviews created when the year is over? Instead, I like previews and wish lists and resolutions. Quite a few bloggers from Second Life have published these but the wish list from Vick Forcella stuck out (see the original here). Here’s my annotated look at what Vick would like to see in 2013:

This spot needed a pic and has nothing to do with the post.

80 people in a mainland sim
No. Sorry, Vick, but avatars cause lag. I don’t want to see more avatars on Mainland, especially in areas with roads. Someone who needs to have a high avatar account should consider owning parcels on sim lines and spreading the content/avatar load like they do for big official Linden events. Long ago when my brother and I owned about 3/4 of Nangrim a Brazillian casino opened on much of the remaining land and kept the “agent limit” maxed most of the time. On the rare instances when we could enter our property, the lag was so bad from well across the region, we could barely function. Raising the limit may have seemed like a good idea, but from a functionality standpoint, it would not have worked.

Distribution quota so that each parcel (>255sqm >2) on the mainland is always accessible.
This would work, especially for the situation mentioned above. There is a club in part of Bay City that often uses the full agent limit of the region but they have only 1024 sqm of land. That is an abuse of region resources, but it not a ToS offense (many have tried filing and failed).

Tier reduction
This might work. The Lab certainly has quite a bit of unused land laying about in unsold and abandoned spaces so I see that if tier fees are reduced, folks might buy up more land.

my.secondlife.com moderation tools
Yes,  please. A lawyer would be needed, though, to decide if this would be legal or not. An abusive comment is free speech, at least to a point. MySL is public to view, like comments on news/blog posts and can be moderated by the thread originator by deleting comments (again, just like other public forums). MySL might have to be taken private to enable a more expansive tool selection.

my.secondlife.com moderation based on TOS
Again … Yes, please! I further suggest that MySL users be required to take a mini-tutorial and comprehension quiz to be able to access the microblogging service. Come to think of it, the same should be true for access to any part of Second Life. Violators should be required to retake the course after a to-be-determined number of offenses, too.

Linden Lab unmuted
No idea what Vick means here. Really, Vick? Did the whole Lab mute you?

Linden Lab finding a single platform for communicating with residents
Excellent suggestion. Several different blogs, status report pages, Dashboards, and in-world announcements that lag (I’ll change viewers, for example, and see notifications in the second viewer that never showed in the first one).

Pro-active griefer reduction by Linden Lab, policing
This would require more tools or better tools in the hands of the Residents because even with GOD powers, the Lindens can’t be everywhere at all times. And when you do see a Linden, they are often “back office” staff that may not be as familiar with Governance as we’d think they would be.

What should be implemented is a form of limited access for “free” accounts, the types that are often used by griefers. For example, limited resource sandboxes or tiered-rights to resources as an account “ages” –– this assumes that many griefers are just noobs that don’t understand now things work but also rewards learning and loyalty.

A Jira that gathers errors instead of covering them up
My opinion of the JIRA is well known. I almost believe it should be suspended until it can actually become useful. C’mon, now … why should ANY Resident be able to close my JIRA without Lab review just because they think they are smarter than me? And JIRAs can go years without being looked at … ask my brother.

A Jira that welcomes improvement suggestions
Not gonna happen. JIRA is too broken.

A new policy for the Linden Memorial Park and re-opening
Hear, hear. I whole-heartedly agree. What the LMP needs is a caretaker. Make it a fee to place a memorial if you have to, but please open the LMP.

Clean up of micro parcels
This would require a complete rethink of how land is marketed and sold. Then thousands of parcels would need to be claimed under Eminent Domain for redistribution.

Clean up of abandoned parcels
I agree, but The Lab doesn’t see an economic issue here otherwise they would have done it by now. If a Resident wants to buy an abandoned parcel, there are tools available here.

Clean up of parcels owned by inactive residents, plenty of oceans
Same as above … not seen as an economic imperative.

De-activation of new (*) accounts that do not enter world in two days
Yes and no. If The Lab wasn’t trying as half-hard as it was to be a social network, I can see this being viable. As it is, people are encouraged to have accounts whether they come in-world or not because they can still use MySL.

From the game Lili, available for iOS devices here.

Noob micro learning continent where noobs are forced to remain for one week 
The current new Resident experience is bloody awful. I had more of a tutorial from an iPad game I downloaded the other day than new Residents get now. The tutorial in Lili (see a a review here) is not only more intensive, but it is brilliantly implemented. The lessons are progressive in that they “pop up” as a skill is needed. If The Lab wants Second Life to be a gaming platform, it could create a day-long game each new Resident would be required to complete before accessing the full world and during which they would learn all the skills and conventions of Second Life.

A forum that is no longer Béta
What? The forums are still relevant? Any time I look the are filled with trolls and ‘experts’ that never seem to be in-world. Rather they seem to enjoy being big fish in the little pond of forum-life.

my.secondlife.com that is out of Béta 
My Second Life (MySL) is a wonderful tool that has been officially abandoned. I’ve been told that except for basic maintenance, no more development will be done.

Webcontent more tablet friendly 
Amen. Flash is dead but some of the world just doesn’t know it. Heck, my iPad has a faster, more powerful processor and more RAM than did the first computer I used to access the Web on “back in the day.” There is NO reason Second Life itself couldn’t run on a tablet or even a more mobile device. Scalability is the key. Oh, and effort. And caring.

Scalable sims: Optional more/less residents/prims = higher/lower price
But this would require work on the part of someone. The Lab no longer has a focus on developing the Second Life infrastructure.

Linden Lab Gaming Viewer (LLGV)
Huh? Sounds like it would be a second world. Third Life?

Resident created games for LLGV
The Moles are very clever and have a ton of game/experience content in Second Life even as I write this but it isn’t promoted. Let’s get people using the world they have before luring them away to yet another world.

Second Life doesn’t need to be a game. It is a way to have a life that isn’t possible in Meatspace. No way in heck you’d catch me dressing like this iRL and laying on a boat. Not that I haven’t, but you wouldn’t see it. You should see what I’ve done on boats.

Linden Lab Communicator Client (IM/Voice/Groups without in-world avatar)
Sooooo …. like MySL? They could just buy Plurk and be done with it.

Pro-active copybot policing (used client, use of proxies)
I don’t think that The Lab sees any economic advantage to this. At least none to them.

UDP(*) type implemented for SL (i.e. SLDP, blocking of SL ISP side)
Sound like a good idea, but I don’t know enough about it to make a cogent observation.

Life membership reward if premium >5 years
This idea works for me and I can think of lots of rewards.

Tier-free 1024 sqm when Life Member
Like this one. This is a good idea. Or even double-prims on any land a Life Member owns.

LL attaches it’s hired developers with a life maintenance contract
Not sure I understand what this is. Could you explain more?

Easier ticket escalation towards Linden Lab
I’ve told you twice now .. JIRA IS DEAD. Take its wallet and walk away.

Return of the quarterly Linden Lab report, more in depth
Yes, please. Not gonna happen, but yes, please.

Linden Lab that treats it’s residents for what they are. Owners and creators
That is done, but selectively. Look around. There is a cadre of Residents that is regularly hired as “outside contractors” to do work for The Lab … not to mention the beloved LDPW Moles.

Linden Lab that acts as a trusted provider
Again, I’m lost. Reason #9087 why folks just shouldn’t listen to me at all.

A TOS that protects the residents
Ideally, the ToS does that now, but the way it is implemented is lacking.

World peace!
Still wraping my head around whirled peas. I’ll have to get back to  you on this.

MORE RESIDENTS THAT STAY
Alas, therein lies the rub.

ETA: Flying over parcels that are Full
Allowance does need to be made for occupied vehicles to cross land that has reached its agent limit and its prim allotment. Too often I’ve crashed or had my vehicle returned or bot just because I’m travelling.

 * This is the Usenet Death Penalty (see here).

Interesting list, Vick. Thanks for sharing. I can’t add anything, really, as I’m pretty happy with Second Life overall or I’m rather accepting of the status quo. If I had to pick one item, it would be Web/mobile access to Our World. It is possible and shouldn’t be too much work. Maybe Google needs to buy The Lab. I’ve suggested it before.

The Garden Game [UPDATE]

Much to my surprise I was given an invite to do something as a Second Life blogger. Fashion designers almost never send samples and major events tend to ignore me yet a folder with information for The Garden Game (SLurl) popped up so I had to look inside to see if it was a mistake.

Whether it was or not, I don’t know, but I was given a chance to preview one of the most lush gardens in all Second Life and it actually is a HUD-based exploration and puzzle-sovling game.

The Garden Game is a clue-based puzzle that incorporates gathering, exploration, and logic. Your goal is to seek the seven Guardians and their Artifacts to collect clues and solve the current puzzle round by discovering which Guardian committed which Sin and what Penance they suffered for their actions.

Admittedly, experienced builders and explorers-in-the-know will recognize almost all of the elements used in landscaping as being from familiar sources, but the vision behind the design and the skill in the layout make the region seem to be endless. I flew up to get a bird’s-eye view and looked at a map in the press kit and couldn’t believe what I just walked through was just one region. Truly gorgeous.

And it really is a game. You can try a demo HUD at the entrance and then pay L$299 for the full HUD should you get hooked. This is a genius move as too many games make you commit before even exploring. There is no set lore to the game but it is instead loosely held together with a simple story.

The Garden is a mysterious respite full of whispers and secrets. Within its boundaries stand seven lost spirits, once charged with protecting and tending The Garden itself. Each of these fallen spirits committed a sin of betrayal against that they were bound to serve and each was sentenced to a penance for their transgression.  By discovering their fates, you can help lead the spirit Guardians toward peace and Forgiveness.

Speaking to a scarecrow (okay, clicking it) yielded a clue I could use to click various elements in the HUD to track my progress. It reminded me of the board game Clue (Web).

The Watcher:: My sin was not Pride or Wrath and my penance was not Pain of the Flesh. I know that the guardian whose sin was Lust suffered Weight of the World.

Not being much of a gamer I found myself concentrating on the landscape during this first trip but I was intrigued enough to want to visit again and soon, especially with my wife for the game can be solo or multi-player, either in partnership or in opposition. While I was confused at first, game play became much clearer once I watched the video tutorial (YouTube).

I can see myself getting lost in this landscape quite often and it may run the risk being run-over by non-players during the preview weekend. Afterward I suspect it will be open only to players, but I can’t confirm that. Of course, the game can be played over and over as there are limitless variations. Once you gather clues, figure out which spirit committed which sin and which penance is required of them, you can offer forgiveness to only one. To help the other spirits you must play again. The clues and various artifacts to same will require new searches and new applications of logic.

The Garden Game’s creator team consists of Grace McDunnogh, Trav Rexen, and Salome Strangelove. Whichever one is responsible for the haunting melody that occasionally pops up should be congratulated. Not many games use sound at all so this was a joyful surprise.

I had one problem, however. When I hid the HUD so I could better enjoy the views the button to again reveal the HUD was invisible and off-screen. I had to edit another HUD and zoom to see the game HUD and then bring it back. This happend with the demo unit and one given to me in the press kit so I don’t know if the full piece have the same issue or not.

Now go visit or check out some tips for game play.

• Upon entering the region you’ll be offered a demo HUD and a note card that is will worth reading. It has a picture of artifacts important to game play if you miss the “physical” examples in the playing area.
• Pay attention to the clues each spirt give you. They not only give information about themselves but they dish on the sins of the other spirits. Clearly a very dysfunctional family in this garden.
• Don’t click on anything unless you are within 10 meters of it as you may not “hear” the information the item imparts in main chat.
• Your mouse pointer will turn into a hand for any item that is clickable, but not all items are worth clicking on. I can think of some candles that I found that proved to be very obstinate so I left them alone.
• The female forest spirt appears to be wise but may not be of any help at all.
• Keep an eye open for the randomly appearing artifacts.

The biggest tip is Relax! It’s for fun even if you don’t compete for scores, bragging rights, and whatever wagers you can make. It’s a frickin’ garden so enjoy it!!

UPDATE
I completed a game and it turns out that the whole thing is not a complicated as it initially seemed to be, but as I mentioned, I’m not a gamer. I play solitaire on my iPad and desktop (Web).

The Naiad is easy to not find so be sure to poke in the bushes.

Take advantage of the tally function of the HUD. Once you know the two important bits about each spirit, “x” out the unimportant ones. That will make it easier to see what you don’t know.

Visit each spirit a few times, but you can’t just keep clicking on them. Once they talk to you go find another and work your way around.

Additional resources:

The Garden Game Website
Honour McMillan’s blog post about her visit

Note: All pictures taken with Lighting and Shadows enabled with region Windlight defaults.

The Sad Emptiness

Last night my wife and I sat for an interview with Ever Dreamscape, editor of the Bay City Post, and one of the topics prompted me to mention that the Premium Wilderness sims (Web) are at most any given time devoid of people. This holds true for wide swaths of Our World but it is especially sad that the Wilderness is empty since it is so beautifully executed.

The Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) provides many wonderful spaces (Web) for Residents to  use, free, and yet they are seldom used. I guess it is true that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Unless it is an Infohub, those places that new Residents are often dropped at when leaving what now passes for orientation after sign-up. Those locations are often filled with bots hawking groups and venues and with trolls who like to simply mess with new Residents. Essentially, the Infohubs have become 3-D “AOL chatrooms” instead of being truly useful. A shame as many are actually entertaining. There is only a modest effort by The Lab to direct those leaving Infohubs to better experiences or to help them answer the most frequent question: “How do I play this game?”

Maybe the release of temporarily attached HUDs/objects (Web) could help, should The Lab choose. A simple tutorial and and guide attaching to each new Resident could help answer that question. At least better than the pop-up Avatar Picker that is now the first thing to appear (you’d think that the How-to pane would be the first pop-up). And the coming addition of Pathfinding tools to create more lifelike animals and maybe Non-Player Characters (NPCs) across The Grid could make life more interesting. I say “could” because The Lab is simply releasing the tools. It is up to the Residents to use them.

What Second Life’s 9th Birthday party (Web) taught us, is that Community is the heart of the Second Life experience. That’s what makes Bay City (Web) successful. These loosely-themed regions have a loyal following of dedicated Residents and if the Role Play plans currently being discussed by the most active residents happens, then I suspect that the Bay City regions will become even more popular.

This is the sort of thing that The Lab needs to implement if they want Second Life is to grow and thus increase corporate revenue – a focused activity. A “game,” if you will. The Premium Wilderness was a good effort at being that, but once folks wandered around a bit and caught some fish, pretty much they didn’t think that there anything else to do despite the area being ripe with possibility.

Second Life Residents, in my experience after some six-years on the Main Grid, like to be led. They come from games with a defined set of objectives that lead to a goal, whether that be like Skyrim (a game that made many of my friends spend less time in SL when it debuted) with it’s 3-D world of activities or even something like Farmville. Just look at breedable pets in Second Life. The associated community is so huge that The Lab has even featured it on the log-in pages and other “soft promotion” spots. It is a game.

There will always be a core community of Residents that don’t need to be led. Indeed, many are leaders – unpaid by The Lab – to make areas like Bay City and many “private” communities thrive. What we need to reduce the problem of the sad emptiness that the Premium Wildnerness has become is such leadership from The Lab.

Bay City: Hippo Food Challenge

Pop into the Hairy Hippo Funland (SLurl) for some new fun, the Hippo’s Food Challenge!

Click the sign you see in the pic above (not now … when you get to the amusement park in-world, silly) and you’ll receive a HUD and a note card:

When you’re at Hairy Hippo Fun Land, wear the HUD you got with this notecard.

Find some food at the HHFL and ‘wear’ it to eat it. Watch your HUD, it will tell you if this is a unique food or not, and how many more you need to win.

If your gluttony catches up with you, find a restroom quickly! There’s at least one on each sim.

The LDPW Moles have really stepped up on this one!!

SL9B: Recursive Gaming

R. Crap Mariner has brought Tateru Nino‘s Second Life: The Game to SL9B!

That is Crap standing on the Community cards. I’m near the Club property. In the background is an exhibit with a tribute to Rodvik The Linden.

Come see it at SL9B (SLurl).

Zyx the Booshtopian

My “big pixy” alt, Zyx Resident, has invested in a pre-order of Booshies, a new (and still in closed Beta) breedable pet game system (as seen on my blog here) so she was thrilled when Booshtopia opened for preview visits today (SLurl). She sent me some pictures and a few comments:

On my first visit today I wore my Girecko Booshitar (a Girecko booshie avatar) so I could blend in with the natives. I think I blended in too well as I don’t remember if that was me on the left or on the other left. As the critters breed, other colorations and physical features may result so I will stand out better.

Later I bought a Relay For Life (RFL) version of the Felitera Booshitar, the purple/white one on the left. I met this wild Felitera and we hung out for a while. She wasn’t very talkative, but she kept nosing me. Physical examples of all the current critters are razzed on Booshtopia for you to see.

Behind me in that big tree on the Island is Menchy’s Goods Galore, the shop in which  you can buy Booshitars (some benefiting RFL) and collectibles. Eventually the shop will stock goodies used in the game.

The shop also sells some plants, like this 6 prim mesh Fuschino Flower I found in the forest.

Here I’m flyihg over Booshtopia in search of more areas to explore. The forest is magnificent, and you can see it for all the trees. Technically speaking, the game can be played entered via the HUD, if I understand things correctly, so you never need to rez a physical pet, but if you visit Booshtopia, you can rez a pet for adventures that can gain you points, food, and friends. Finally, a pet that I can do more with than cuddle or feed.

Alt Game Life

If you think of Second Life as a game, then its a given that SL Residents are probably playing other games, too. Except for Solitaire, almost all my gaming is off the desktop computer and on my iPad. Lately, when I can get my hands on the iPad (we really need a third one in our house) I’ve been playing Words With Friends with my SL wife, Angela, and playing LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

It has also come to my attention that except for Second Life, everything I do on the desktop computer can just as easily be done on the iPad. In fact, if it weren’t for Second Life, I probably wouldn’t need the image editing software I own or the system maintenance software I’ve purchased or the desk and chair that make my bedroom oh-so crowded. All the Web browsing I do is often more easily done on the iPad, the one desktop game I play is also on the iPad — Full Deck Solitaire. I could even ditch Blogger and use Word Press for my blog.

Additionally, most of the games that I play on the iPad are far more expensive if purchased for the desktop, if they are available. The Harry Potter game, for example is $4.99 USD for the iPad while the desktop version is $29.99 USD. Sure, there are differences. The latter one is far richer in graphics and gives more options, but weigh that against being able to sit in the living room or kitchen or even the back deck while playing and I think the iPad version is a bigger WIN.

So why isn’t Second Life on the iPad yet? The click-to-navigate viewer interface works. Various windows like the Inventory could be tweaked to allow easier tap-to-use access. Saved outfits makes changing clothes or whole avatars speedy and easy without having to use your Inventory. And the attach-on-demand HUDs feature (used for Linden Realms) would be a huge boon to making “Tablet Life” much easier.

Doesn’t The Lab want Second Life to be a social platform anyway? What could be more social than being able to easily take The Grid with you from room to room in your house or place to place in your travels? And here is how they should start: Create a mobile app for using the My Second Life Feed/Notifications features. Then residents wouldn’t need to use Twitter (I don’t) or Plurk (my account is on ‘vacation’) or other services to talk about SL. The middle man is out of the picture. Then I could be running around as the adorable Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter game and quickly four-finger swipe to the My Second Life app to respond to a notification that someone has messaged me.

B-B-B-B-Bots All, Folks!

Yes, I cammed in. Take that Ban Lines! But if I can see the name tags from outside the house, what good are the lines?

Wandering about in my dragon avie I managed to run across another bot farm in a Linden Home. These were playing Tiny Empires. Not all were bots as one of them spoke with me when I poked my head through the wall and “rawr”-ed at them, all dragonly. Check out the Linden Homes regions and you’ll often find the cluster of green dots on the maps are bot farms. You’ll find them in the oceans, too. And herds of bunnies, horses, cats, and other breakables. One house I found was a brothel, a sure violation of the Linden Homes ToS. I don’t think that a bot farm would be a violation, though.