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Second Life Machinimists crusade to fix joystick flycam
Aren Mandala, a Second Life resident into Machinima, has discovered a serious bug that could affect many filmmakers. Joystick flycam is a tool that allows residents to hook up a joystick, specifically a 3dConnexion SpaceNavigator, and detach their camera to fly around. According to his Jira entry, joystick flycam breaks when SL is in fullscreen mode. The flycam is currently in the Debug menu, meaning it is not a Linden Lab-supported feature. The functionality of it makes it an integral part of the SL Machinimist's toolkit, though. Residents have already taken their concerns to the official Machinima mailing list. To weigh in on this issue, please visit the issue's Jira page.[Thanks, Katherine!]
Linden Lab reaches into the future for statistics
Linden Lab provides a number of data sources for statistical data on Second Life's grid population and concurrency and so forth. I've been collecting and storing that data for a long time and producing all manner of graphs. It provides interesting insights and allows for trend predictions and all that. When it's working, that is. The data for active users logged in for the last 60 days (an active user is a user that has spent at least 60 minutes online during that 60 day period) has not updated for almost 9 days (it normally updates at midnight each night). This-afternoon, the feed updated with a new figure - but it's dated in the future - at midnight tonight SLT (US Pacific time). Could this potentially put us statistical pundits out of business? I mean, if they can publish figures from the future, that would certainly put the kibosh on any need to do curve-fitting and predictions, right? ;)
More network problems on the Second Life grid today
At 3:50PM SLT (US Pacific time) today with 52,370 users online in Second Life, the Second Life grid suffered a second major networking failure for the day. Approximately 7,000 users were disconnected immediately, some regions became inaccessible and the login servers were affected (as were teleportation and sim-border crossings). The fault has been traced back to one of Linden Lab's ISPs. We're not sure if that ISP is Level 3 (who are a primary data carrier between the San Francisco and Texas colocation facilities), or some other provider whom we are unware of. Grid functions were restored at 5:15PM SLT, and logins seem to be proceeding normally again.
Second Life grid experiences transient network failure
At 1:25AM SLT (US Pacific time) with 26,285 users online in Second Life, we have reports that a network problem took out 1,100 simulators in the virtual world. We have second hand reports of information from Linden Lab's Concierge-level support service, but little direct verification other than a sudden observed drop in the number of users online, and a sudden increase in packet-loss to many users. The glitch appears to have been relatively shortlived with services apparently being restored 15 minutes later at 1:40AM SLT. As yet there is no public word from Linden Lab about the outage. [Update: 1:57AM SLT - Linden Lab has acknowledged the outage and is investigating. The cause is given as an infrastructure failure at the San Francisco colocation facility]
Second Life "Wonderland" scandal hits mainstream media
UK media outlets are blowing up with stories of "Wonderland", a virtual playground in Second Life where Ageplay is the go. Sister-site Second Life Insider has been following the various stages of this story over the last day, including its growing coverage by mainstream press and the reply from SL developers Linden Lab.For those who need a little background, Ageplay is when an adult roleplays a child. This need not be for sexual purposes, but to use the quote from SL Insider of Sky News reporter Jason Farrell, "Wonderland is a virtual children's playground where paedophiles cruise and kids are solicited." Even though there probably aren't real children controlling the characters, it is still an offensive community for others within SL, and a Kid Avs community representative has already spoken out about it. It is also something that SL fans wouldn't want to be mistakenly associated with -- now that it has hit the mainstream, it may be one of the first things that people remember about Second Life, akin to "Oh, wasn't that the computer game for pedophiles?".The response Linden Lab provided to SL Insider essentially says that they have found no wrongdoing after investigating the Wonderland community. I'm not sure how well the rest of the media will take this answer. Provided below is a link to SL Insider's on-going coverage of this story as it develops.
Imagined, but not owned
Linden Lab has been overhauling its website and promotional material lately for the poorly understood virtual world Second Life. One of the key changes to be spotted is the alteration of the long-standing descriptor, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents", which now only reads, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, and created by its residents", and there's signs that the wording is still evolving a little. The unannounced change has caused a fair bit of speculation, especially among those who were never all that certain as to what the ownership consisted of in the first place. In fact, that seems to be at the heart of the reason for the change.
Alliance: The Silent War possibly shelved due to Second Life
Windward Mark Interactive's first next-gen offering may have been shelved due to their recent acquisition from Linden Lab, makers of Second Life. Last month, Linden Lab acquired Windward Mark for their graphic technologies, reportedly to assist in a graphical overhaul for Second Life. Asi Land, Windward Mark Interactive's president, says even he is unsure of the future of Alliance: The Silent War. "We'll see how it plays with our new roles here at Linden ... we're very much still in love with the project," said Mr. Land. Too early to count it out completely but at the same time, don't hold your breath. It's a shame too, because the technologies acquired by Linden Lab are quite impressive. For example Nimble, their 3D cloud system, is quite spectacular, although its inclusion in a shooter would likely lead to players staring at the clouds more than shooting people in the face. Nevertheless, we hope Windward's new home allows them to continue the project through to completion.[Via PS3 Forums]
Second Life developers say: PS-HOME is very flattering
And for the record, no they didn't ask Sony if they wanted to hook up at a bar that night "IRL" (that's In Real Life for the innocent out there). We've covered the other consoles angles about the announcement of PS-HOME, but until now we neglected to see what Second Life thought of it, since HOME bear a strong resemblance to that... uh... "service".Jeff Luan of Linden Lab (developers of SL) said that "mimicry is the greatest form of flattery for us." For them, yes. Thought the cliché went a little differently, but it's probably just a synonym or something. Luan isn't concerned about HOME taking away any of Second Life's users, since SL is on PC and is targeting an entirely different "market". Absolutely true, but it may create a similar market on consoles that was previously not in existence. Are any of you concerned that the PS-HOME may become something much... hmm... darker, than intended?
Toyota selling new Scions for $1 in Second Life
Toyota held simultaneous launches of two new Scion models today. One at the Chicago Auto Show, the other in Second Life. Both the redesigned Scion xB and brand-new xD are being offered for 300 Linden dollars ($1 USD) for use in the virtual world; a nominal fee toward becoming one of Toyota's virtual "trendsetter" promoters. The cars are being sold at kiosks in Toyota's 'Scion City' district of Second Life, where the automaker hopes to also sell unused real estate to young entrepreneurs. The idea is to grow Scion City into a bustling promotional "cultural" mecca.Last year, Toyota invaded Whyville, a virtual playground for tweens. Scions were peddled to under-agers, with the hope of infecting their lustful minds with the brand name; the payoff coming when the young'ns came of age. Toyota sold about 173,000 Scions in 2006 and is expected to challenge General Motors as the top global automobile seller this year.[Thanks, Matt]
Second Life abuzz with source code release [update 1]
Linden Lab has released the source code for the Second Life Viewer under the GPLv2 free software license, opening up its virtual world's client to a host of potential new features and improvements. The 'open source' announcement comes amidst a period of scrutiny in which the media has begun to debunk the hype and seriously question Linden Lab's reported SL user base; a recent estimate suggests that Linden Lab has inflated user numbers by more than 2 million.Since the source code release has arrived sooner than anticipated, it's no stretch to suggest Linden Lab is attempting to redirect media buzz. Ploy or not, the open source SL era brings with it an opportunity for an unproven developer to generate some needed exposure.Update: clarified that this is a release of the client (not full game) source code.
Comedian Jimmy Carr takes act into Second Life
Irish funnyman Jimmy Carr is set to become the first major comedian to perform stand-up in Second Life. On February 3, as Carr takes the stage in London, his routine will be simultaneously broadcast to a select audience in the virtual world. Will his signature deadpan survive the translation?Carr is giving away tickets to the event through a competition on his MySpace page.[Thanks Joe](Note: the BBC story grossly exaggerates the size of Second Life's user base. See: Analyzing the press' Second Life obsession)
American Apparel opens up shop in SL
Clothing-retailer (and our choice for the Joystiq ringer-tees) American Apparel has recently opened a virtual store in the virtual world of Second Life. In it, Second Lifers will be able to peruse the digital racks and purchase, in true SL fashion, buy clothing for their avatars in addition to the real life counterparts. Of course, American Apparel's simple styles may appear anemic next to the more colorful creations of other Second Lifers. MTV News quotes Raz Schionning, director of Web services at American Apparel, who says, "Everyone else has wings and devil horns and all the rest ... So it'll be curious to see if a red T-shirt makes sense."The real question is, with only 200,000 virtual inhabitants, why does a virtual storefront for a company like American Apparel make sense? Well, publicity of course! Forbes covered their in world presence, comparing it to similar ventures by Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros.. American Apparel's fashion-centric approach and socially-conscious sensibility seem to jibe better with the culture of Second Life. Will the attempt net AA anything more than good press?[Via GameSetWatch]Read - American Apparel's Store in Second Life (Lots of pictures)Read - Online Shopping (Forbes)
Second Life publisher sued: Bragg v. Linden Research
Attorney Marc Bragg has filed a lawsuit against Linden Lab, publisher of Second Life, alleging that the company unfairly shutdown his game account, cutting off access to his virtual real estate, which includes several nightclubs. In addition, Bragg can no longer withdraw any of the linden (Second Life currency) he has earned, which if exchanged (in total), would be worth roughly $3,200. The West Chester attorney is now demanding $8,000 in restitution.Linden Lab froze Bragg's account after the attorney took part in a suspicious online auction in which he acquired significant plots of virtual land for far below market price. Bragg indeed exploited the auction interface to snag the land at a discount, but maintains that the onus is on Linden Lab to run their auctions properly and securely.[Thanks, chris]
Second Life secures $11 million in funding
Linden Lab, publishers of Second Life, announced the completion of an $11 million round of funding led by venture capital firm Globespan Capital Partners. The company plans to use the money, in part, to launch an "“aggressive international expansion, ” focusing on Japanese and German language versions of the game. In addition, Linden Lab will boost its staff from 70 to at least 100, with the possibility of a complete interface overhaul looming on the horizon.
Second Life becomes a marketing case study
Linden Lab's popular virtual world Second Life serves as a case study for this week's Marketing Sherpa. Though people often make fun of companies that lose money on every sale but make it up in volume, that's essentially what Linden Labs has managed to do by giving away free subscriptions and counting on customers to upgrade over the long run to paid subscriptions. The secrets to success: (1) making basic membership free; (2) a greatly simplified registration page, according to Second Life's VP of Marketing David Fleck. The elephant in the room that wasn't mentioned in the case write-up: (3) Hot Virtual Sex with Furry Humanoids. Lots of it.
