Author Archives: ZoHa Islands

Second Life Blogger Network 2.0

by

(SLBN 2.0)

On Friday 22nd November Linden Lab announced the Second Life Blogger Network 2.0 (SLBN 2.0) which is “designed to take your content and influence to the next level”. In 2.0 you will get exclusive insider access to Second Life executives and early previews of upcoming features.


What’s New in SLBN 2.0?

  • Direct Access to Executives: Gain insider insights with occasional opportunities to meet directly with Second Life executives in a group setting to discuss platform news, updates, and strategic initiatives.
  • Early Feature Previews: Be among the first to learn about and discuss new features before they are publicly released. This means you’ll have a head start in sharing timely and relevant updates with your audience.
  • Exclusive Conversations: Participate in closed discussions that allow you to provide feedback and shape conversations about the future of Second Life.

 

How to Join SLBN 2.0

It’s free to join for existing and new Second Life bloggers.

“Fill out the Submission Form. If you’re already an SLBN participant and actively blogging, you don’t need to reapply—you’re automatically eligible for SLBN 2.0 perks. Please make sure that you include the link to your active blog – only active bloggers will be considered for inclusion in this initiative. We reserve the right to remove participants if there is an extended period of blogging inactivity”.

“Optional: Add the SLBN Badge to Your Blog. Proudly display your participation with an SLBN badge. Grab it here”.

Before applying please read this…

“Review the SLBN Terms & Conditions and Content Guidelines. We respect diversity of opinion and your blog and voice remains independent if you participate in this initiative. However, access to executive meetups is reserved for constructive conversations and feedback – and we reserve the right to remove participants if they engage in hate speech, trolling, or toxic behavior. There is also the opportunity for your blogs to be amplified across our social channels, but we will only promote content that meets specific standards to ensure suitability for all audiences”.

 

“Once enrolled, you’ll continue to have your blog, stream, or social posts reviewed for potential promotion through our existing channels. Participation in executive briefings and feature previews will be managed separately and by invitation. Depending on the number of total participants, we may occasionally break down meetups into smaller groups – so if you are not invited to one event then keep your eyes peeled on your inbox for future opportunities”.

 

Why Join SLBN 2.0?

“SLBN 2.0 is not just about promoting your content—it’s about building deeper connections within the Second Life ecosystem. You’ll be part of an exclusive group of bloggers, streamers, and influencers who are uniquely positioned to inform, inspire, and grow the Second Life community with timely, impactful updates”.

 

Ready to Get Started?

“If you’re a new blogger, get started by signing up here. If you’re an existing SLBN participant, keep an eye on your inbox for updates about upcoming opportunities in SLBN 2.0”.

“We’re excited to grow this initiative with our amazing community of bloggers and influencers. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to editor@lindenlab.com”.

“Thank you for being an essential part of the Second Life story. Together, we’ll continue to create, share, and shape the vibrant world of Second Life”.

“Let’s get blogging!”

Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands / Nocturne

BREAKING: Second Life Mobile

by

Second Life Mobile Finally Free to Play By All. Linden Lab Execs Explain Their Goals & Strategies With This Long-Awaited Milestone for the Virtual World.

Originally published on my Patreon

At long last, Second Life’s mobile app is now free for everyone to download here, and boasts new/improved features including direct and group messaging. (Watch the new trailer above.)

“Almost 2 years of work and millions of dollars of support just became available to everyone in Second Life,” as Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager announced today during a Zoom conference with SL bloggers. “The biggest milestone is, ‘When does this open up to everybody’? That just happened yesterday. It’s been a top project for this company.” 

As he discussed with me last month, the mobile app has been a core focus since he bought the company in 2021. In fact, when he took over Linden Lab, “I shut down most of the external marketing and drove that into making SL better. That’s what’s starting to change.” 

The mobile app was built with the intention of creating an amazing experience for current Second Life users, and an equal aim of bringing back the many tens of thousands of lapsed users who’ve given up over the years. “Being tethered to a desktop is not how we live anymore,” as he puts it.  

In market research, Brad notes, when Linden Lab asked lapsed SLers, “Why are you no longer coming to Second Life?”, the primary answer they got back was, ‘It doesn’t have mobile”. 

So the company’s first goal with the mobile app is luring back those former or flagging SL users. For the short term, at least, “It’s not for people who read about Second Life in a magazine”, and consider trying it out on a whim.  

Newly-appointed Linden Lab CTO Philip Rosedale, also on the Zoom, expanded on that, echoing what he said in our recent interview, about moving away from his “messianic” predictions from the early 2000s.

“The world is not as yet and may never allow everyone to be an avatar in a world like SL,” said Philip. “We’re very respectful of that distinction.” So the goal with mobile is not to turn Second Life into a simpler mass market experience like Fortnite. “We’re not trying to design the mobile client to replace the desktop.”

NEXT: SL App Roll-Out Strategy, Its New Rainbow Colored Icon, and Overcoming Poor App Store Ratings

Philip and Brad were joined on the Zoom by Second Life’s VP of product, Grumpity Linden, and Sine Wave CEO Adam Frisby, who helped Linden Lab bring SL to mobile, and recently shared with me the long, hilariously blooper-filled road to bringing SL to mobile (read about it here). 

Those wacky bugs were actually a core reason why the mobile app was first only available to Premium subscribers. 

“As we encountered bloopers we realized we couldn’t open it up to everyone,” as Grumpity explains. “It kind of hurts to see people on the app store trying to get in and they give us 1 star ratings” [because they can’t access it for free].  

While acknowledging they can’t please every SLer, Grumpity and her team have been focused on optimizing specific key “user journeys”, like going to a club where you can dance, hear music, and chat with nearby avatars. 

“Then we go to [optimizing] the next user journey,” says Grumpity. However: “We will never shove the entire SL experience into your phone.”

As for the poor app ratings that have accrued since the Premium-only launch early this year — and have hurt the app’s discoverability to potential new/returning users — Linden Lab has a plan for that. 

“One of the things you can do is reset [ratings],” Brad explains, “[though] you can only reset it on the Apple side.”

In other words, they plan to launch a substantial update and request that Apple reset user ratings to start from zero. The team is then hoping that the greatly improved app — which is now also free to use — will be fairly judged. 

“As we make it better,” as Adam puts it, “[previously poor ratings] will be overcome.” He adds that there actually haven’t been that many user ratings so far — in the low hundreds — while popular apps garner thousands of them. 

To take one example, the mobile app of competing virtual world IMVU has been downloaded over 10 million times on Google Play, and — despite reports of increasingly poor user experience — has nearly 7000,000 user reviews with an aggregate rating of 4.5 out of 5.  

Linden Lab hopes the app will inspire current SLers to help bring back their friends and group members who’ve left regular Second Life activity, and start re-building the world’s active community.

One challenge for some returning SLers will be locating the Second Life icon on their phone, since it no longer has the solid dark green blue or bright blue colors of the past, but instead, now boasts radiant rainbow rays emanating from a sun gold eye.  (See above.)

“You can’t believe how many discussions we had” about that icon color change, says Brad. “You know you’ve chosen a great logo when half the people hate it.” However, he adds, the old version of the logo “looked awful” in the app store.

Besides, the new version of the Second Life logo is also meant to convey that the now-free app represents a new era for the virtual world.

 “We wanted to project that things are different in Second Life now,” says Brad Oberwager.

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands / Fruit Islands / Nocturne

Second Life Spotlight – Carrie Tatsu

by

Today we’re shining a spotlight on Carrie Tatsu, the visionary behind Zooby, whose innovative virtual pets and babies have enhanced the interactive experiences of Second Life Residents for over a decade.

Spotlight - Carrie Tatsu.jpg

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I joined SL in 2006. Wow, 19 years! I took a year off from my job in advertising to stay home with my real-life baby. He is 18 now. I was bored as a full-time stay-at-home mom and read an article about an innovative virtual world with user-generated content. I joined out of curiosity. I became hooked instantly and bought a prim cat. I felt a need to hold my cat when I logged in. My cat became part of who I was. I realized that the cat became part of my own virtual identity.

I then thought maybe I could make a better cat. I made my own white fluffy cat with prim flexies (old avatars will know what that is) that was a representation of my real-life cat named Spaceman. I then held my own cat while I wandered various sims. Random users would ask me where I purchased my cat and wanted to buy it. I then decided I should open up a virtual pet store and convinced my husband at the time to spend $300 USD on virtual land. Within a year I replaced my advertising salary and have not looked back.

SweetPenelope2 copy.jpg
Zooby Animesh baby clothing by Sweet Penelope through the Zooby Affiliate program

How and when did you get into content creation in Second Life?
I have been consistently making content in Second Life for roughly 19 years. It is my full-time job and I support my family with income earned from selling virtual goods. I took a break from 2014-2017 to make a mobile game. I came back to SL in 2017 when Animesh was in development. I knew I had to update my products, so I spent close to 2 years developing the Zooby Animesh Baby. I also wanted to be one of the first creators to focus on Animesh. I have a team that helps me develop products, and I focus on my strengths which include project management, art, design, 3d modeling, and painting/drawing. I hire and collaborate closely with software developers, 3d modelers, and animators.

SweetPenelope copy.jpg
Zooby Animesh baby clothing by Sweet Penelope through the Zooby Affiliate program

What tools do you use to craft your content? Are there specific resources you recommend to aspiring creators?
I have a master’s degree in fine art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I do not have a business degree. I learned the basics of C4d in 2017. I did not learn Blender until 2019-2020. I did not learn Substance Painter until 2022. I have always had the mindset that if you are dedicated to learning regardless of your age or circumstances, you can. It just takes time, patience, and dedication. I have always loved art and have been able to focus for long periods of time on a project. Substance Painter allows projection painting and that became a natural tool for me and helped me create the realistic fur for the Zooby Animesh Puppies. Blender is also a terrific resource because not only is it free, but there are endless tutorials online to learn and develop a skillset. I fell in love with 3d modeling. I also work with extremely talented people and give them freedom to develop their skills and foster their own creativity.

Click to watch the Zooby Animesh Yellow Lab + Wings! on Flickr

Tell us more about your latest project, the Zooby Animesh Puppies. What inspired the designs and features?
I have a deep understanding of the SL community and intuition on what people like to do here. Role-play is huge. Creating experiences you cannot otherwise have in real life is also essential. I wanted to make puppies that had advanced interactive functionality. The idea was to create a shared experience with the puppies so users could enjoy them together with friends and family. The puppies had to look as real as possible. There had to be an emotional connection so the owner of the puppy felt it was their puppy. It is not possible to do a project of this scale alone, so I have a wonderful team that helped make my vision become a reality. It has also taken years to build this team.

Here is a list of key features that set the puppies apart:

  • Zooby Puppies can share accessories.
  • Zooby Puppies include a care system where you can collect tokens and redeem them for puppy toys.
  • Friends can be added to all Zooby Puppies to provide care and interact.
  • All Zooby Puppies can be interacted with.
  • Zooby Puppies can sleep in beds, poop/pee on puppy pads, relax on love pillows, chew on bones, snuggle with toys, and eat from food bowls.
  • Zooby Animesh Babies can interact with Zooby Animesh Puppies.
  • Zooby Puppies include over 100 animations.
  • Post launch Zooby Puppies will be able to wear clothing. Texture Hud Kits will be provided to 3rd parties to create and sell clothing and accessory     textures for the puppies.
  • Zooby Puppies can walk/run/fly while attached to you and while in travel mode they can be taken anywhere in SL.
  • Zooby Puppies can be held and snuggled by their owner.
  • Zooby Puppies can independently fly with wings. (Flying independently with wings includes new animations, is an add-on, and has a small fee.)
  • Zooby Puppies can run or walk around your sim where you set the radius and location.
  • Zooby Puppies include a Hud that allows you to rez any puppy you own and you can never lose a puppy.
  • Zooby Puppies have carefully detailed, custom, realistic fur and will make your heart melt when you look at them.
  • In the future, you will be able to walk them on a leash, and play ball/fetch with Zooby Puppies and they will bring you a newspaper.


Click to watch the the Zooby Animesh Husky + Baby Interactions on Flickr 

What are your future plans or upcoming projects that fans of Zooby can look forward to?
I plan to make many more puppy breeds and then move on to other pets. I plan to stick around SL for a few more years and see how things go!

PupAdBostonTerrier.pngPupAdDalmatian.png

From your perspective, how has Second Life evolved over the years, and what makes it an incredible experience for new users today?
I love the freedom to make anything I can think of. I was not a fan of working for an ad agency and was glad to quit. I also needed a creative outlet. SL has provided me the opportunity to make amazing products and watch them come to fruition. Having a connection to the community has been inspiring because I have seen people fall in love with ephemeral things and that is absolutely fascinating to me. I have met incredibly talented people here and we have worked together without any typical social barriers. Your gender, identity, race, religion, ethnicity, education, and upbringing do not matter. All that matters is the work. I love that for so many reasons. SL has allowed people to make beautiful things and given users the opportunity to explore and imagine a life they want to live.

PupAdGermanShep.pngPupAdLightPom.png

Where can people see your work? Please share links to your store, websites, and social media accounts.
Here is a list of the social media links:

Discord  
Facebook
YouTube  
Instagram  
Twitter  
Zooby Store  
Zooby Group: secondlife:///app/group/fc43d42e-3ba3-b77c-cdf3-5ec035f7a230/about 

BabyandMomma copy.jpg

Thank you, Carrie, for pushing the boundaries in SL and enriching our virtual experiences with every new Zooby creation.

 

Each of our Spotlight interviews offers a unique glimpse into the diverse experiences and vibrant personalities that shape our virtual world. Explore more stories and get inspired by visiting our full collection of Spotlight posts.

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands Fruit Islands And Nocturne

Avatars for Kamala Harris?

by

Why US Players of Fortnite, Second Life, VRChat & Other Metaverse Platforms Should Vote for Harris/Walz

Avatar metaverse Kamala Walz 2024

SL image by Alsatian Kidd, who also has thoughts on the election

When I briefly noted that Philip Rosedale had endorsed Harris/Walz during a recent YouTube live-stream (watch below), some reader comments were somewhat surprising:

Like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with family, politics really should not be discussed, and it really has no place in SL

Rule #1 about all video games. Keep. Politics. Out. Of. Games.

But Second Life is not even a traditional game: It’s a metaverse platform, which by definition, is integrated with the real world economy — and is therefore subject to government regulations formulated by elected politicians. Second Life content creators regularly receive bills from the IRS, which even has a written policy about taxing Linden Dollars; SL content must adhere to US laws banning online gambling, and so on.  

There are hundreds of very good reasons to vote for Kamala Harris and vote against Donald Trump. But even if you are only thinking about the future well-being of your favorite virtual world/metaverse platform, and the user communities in them — be it Second Life, Fortnite, VRChat, or many others —  here are a couple core reasons to cast your vote for Kamala:

Retaining Lina Khan to Protect Metaverse Companies & Consumers

Lina Khan, appointed by Biden/Harris as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has been a fierce defender of both metaverse platform users and players against powerful interests. 

Last year, her FTC won a $245 million refund for Fortnite players targeted by “dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges”. 

And then this year, her FTC filed an amicus brief in support of Epic’s bid to require Google to open up in-app payment options apart from Google Play. As Tim Sweeney has often said, both Apple and Google’s control of mobile payment systems and their 30% commission fees threaten the future of the Metaverse. Just this week, Linden Lab’s Brad Oberwager mentioned to me how this IAP 30% charge is a serious challenge for fully bringing Second Life to mobile.

There’s a huge number of other outstanding challenges for metaverse platforms. If Harris/Walz win, Lina Khan will in all likelihood remain head of the FTC. If Trump wins, Khan — already a target of GOP animus and powerful donors — will be gone. Leaving metaverse consumers and creators to fend for ourselves. And whoever Trump/Vance appoints when Khan is gone, I wouldn’t expect a full SL mobile app during their reign.

There’s an even more important metaverse-centric reason to support Harris/Walz:

VRChat gender survey

Protecting an Essential Metaverse Community: LGBT People 

Unique to all Internet services, metaverse platforms have very large LGBT communities. In a user survey I conducted with top VRChat streamer Syrmor, nearly 1 in 5 VRChat users identified as trans/non-binary, or otherwise outside traditional cis male/female categories. I suspect this is the case with other virtual worlds; Second Life has hundreds of trans-related groups.

By their very nature, metaverse platforms offer people a place to express their sexual/gender identity through their customizable avatar, often in ways that would be difficult or even dangerous to do in the real world. As Cajsa recently wrote:

Ishtar Angel is a male-to-female transgender person who presents as nonbinary in her first life.  “It was Second Life that actually helped me realize I was trans,” she said. “I may be stalled in my transition, but I would not give up knowing who I am and how I feel now to when I didn’t know.”

“I’ve known I was ‘different’ since about the age of 5,” says Tiffany Parkin, a woman on her second year in transition.  “It wasn’t until my teen years that I began to understand ‘how’ I was different than my peers, but growing up in a conservative rural community and hearing how people like me were ‘freaks and deviants’.” Second Life became an important refuge for her. 

That refuge and other refuges like it are now endangered by the re-election of Donald Trump and JD Vance, who have made their utter hostility to LGBT people clear in countless ways, countless times. 

It’s easy to imagine how a Trump/Vance White House would impact LGBT people in metaverse platforms, not only in their offline lives, but on the platforms themselves:  

Trump has already suggested violent video games should be banned, and it’s easy to see that scapegoating expand to online worlds which enable virtual violence and sex. Especially as so much of the latter involves sex with LGBT people.

Relatedly, Trump’s government blueprint Project 2025 includes a clause suggesting any content involving LGBT people should be deemed pornographic and censored. What do you suppose another Trump administration would make of LGBT-related sex (or even just communities as a whole) available in worlds like Second Life and VRChat?

There are other reasons avatars should support Kamala, including her support for expanding broadband, loans for small businesses (i.e. virtual content creators), and increased investment in chips and other new technology; but hopefully these two should be more than enough. Please consider sharing this post on your favorite Discord server, and above all (if you’re a US citizen), voting.

Have a great day and a safe Super Tuesday and get out there and VOTE!

Zoha Islands / Fruit Islands

Philip Rosedale Returns as CTO to Help Build the Future of Second Life

by

Philip Rosedale, the visionary who founded Second Life in 1999, is returning to Linden Lab in a full-time role as Chief Technology Officer. Philip will guide technology and product strategy daily alongside Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager and the executive team, and is also joining Linden Lab’s Board of Directors. 

Brad Oberwager, who has led Linden Lab’s evolution over the last four years, notes this exciting transition with enthusiasm: 

“Over the last four years since the acquisition, Linden Lab has re-focused itself on improving and serving Second Life. We’ve divested ourselves of unnecessary projects, streamlined our operations, increased the quality of customer support, and grown our overall revenues and profitability. We’re now in a unique position to define the future of virtual worlds, and Philip is returning to help myself and the exec team achieve that goal.”

Philip’s return comes at a time when advancements in AI and mobile technology are rapidly making virtual worlds more accessible and mainstream than ever before. A pioneer in virtual world development, Philip is uniquely able to drive Second Life forward in new, transformative directions. Reflecting on his journey, Philip shares:

“I started Second Life in 1999 – a decade before cloud computing and two decades before AI. We were early, but the success of Second Life to this day shows that we were not wrong. Virtual worlds will play an increasingly important role in the future of human culture, and I’m coming back to help make that happen in a way that has the most positive impact for the largest number of people.”

Community Roundtable with Philip Rosedale.jpg

Community Roundtable with Philip – This Friday!

As part of his return to Second Life, Philip will be actively engaged inworld with our communities and creators to listen, learn, and collaborate on ways to improve our shared virtual world. He will be taking your questions and sharing more of his vision for Second Life this Friday at 10 am SLT as part of our next Community Roundtable series (location to be announced later this week). Here’s your chance to interact directly with Philip inworld to learn more about the past, present and future of our shared virtual world. Questions can be submitted in advance for consideration at this link.

Meet Philip Rosedale: A Legacy in Virtual Innovation

For those who may not know Philip’s background, his journey to Second Life was fueled by a lifelong fascination with using computers to simulate the beauty and complexity of the real world. Born in San Diego and the son of a Navy carrier pilot, Philip grew up moving across the United States before returning to San Diego for high school and college, earning a B.S. in Physics from UC San Diego in 1992.

Philip’s career began with a software startup he founded in high school, funding his college education. Moving to San Francisco in 1994, he discovered the Internet and developed FreeVue, a groundbreaking video conferencing app that was acquired by RealNetworks in 1995. There, he led the development of RealVideo and ascended to the role of CTO.

In 1999, Philip left RealNetworks to found Linden Lab, pursuing his vision of creating an open virtual world. After leading Second Life as CEO for a decade, Philip went on to co-found experimental projects like LoveMachine, Worklist.net, and Coffee & Power, before founding High Fidelity in 2013, an open-source virtual world platform initially focused on VR. More recently, High Fidelity has innovated in spatial audio, an area critical to the immersive experience of virtual environments.

Beyond these achievements, Philip has been actively involved in new projects at his IRL415 lab in San Francisco, including FairShare, an initiative aimed at addressing wealth inequality through group-based digital currency.

As we enter this new chapter with Philip’s expertise and visionary leadership at the helm, Linden Lab is more committed than ever to enhancing and expanding Second Life in ways that impact our community positively and prepare us all for a future where virtual worlds play a central role. Join us in welcoming Philip back and stay tuned for exciting updates as we move forward together!

Welcome Back Philip from all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands

Get Ready for a Spooktacular

by

Night at the Second Life Helios Casino & Halloween Party

 

Join us at the Helios Casino for a hauntingly good time at our Halloween Party and Costume Contest.

🎃 Event Details:

  • Date: October 31st
  • Time: 12 PM SLT – 2 PM SLT
  • Location: Helios Casino, Second Life

👻 What’s in Store:

  • Costume Contest: Don your best Halloween attire! From ghouls and ghosts to witches and wizards, show off your creativity for a chance to win fantastic prizes.
  • Dad Jokes: Get ready for a spooky dose of humor with our hilarious dad jokes, featuring special appearances by Patch Linden and Abnor Mole—guaranteed to make you groan and giggle!
  • Gaming Fun: Try your luck at our casino games! Who knows? You might get lucky and win big!
  • Spooky Decorations: The Helios Casino will be transformed into a haunted haven. Prepare for some eerie surprises!
  • Socialize and Mingle: Meet new friends and reconnect with old ones. The Halloween spirit is all about community and fun.

👗 Costume Contest Categories:

  • BEST IN: Best Elvis Costume (Male or Female)
  • BEST IN: Best Elvira Costume (Male or Female)
  • BEST IN: Best Non-Elvis/Elvira Costume

🎁 Costume Contest Prizes:

  • 1st Place: 150,000 Chips
  • 2nd Place: 75,000 Chips
  • 3rd Place: 50,000 Chips

💰 Exclusive Virtual Prizes:

  • You can exchange your chips for exclusive virtual prizes!
  • Work your way up the leaderboard to show off your wins.
  • Free casino chips will be available to get you started!

📅 How to Join: Simply teleport to the Helios Casino on October 31st, and you’re in for an unforgettable night.

So, dust off your costume, gather your friends, and head over to the Helios Casino for a Halloween party like no other. We can’t wait to see you there!

Teleport now: https://secondlife.com/destination/helios-casino-lounge 

Happy Haunting! 🎃👻

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands/Nocturne