Coming up this Sunday, June 22nd, is Second Life’s 11th Birthday Celebration — commonly known as SL11B. I am excited to have applied to be part of the press corps so I can (hopefully) get a early view and will be able to report on what’s happening. Their preview is this Saturday, where invited members of the press are allowed access and offered a tour of the 10 sims that make up the SL11B celebration. I am hopeful that my application will be approved.
Meanwhile, I saw this on the SL blog that I thought was worth sharing. What a wonderful prize! $10,000 Linden Dollars for top photo.
Posted: June 16, 2014
“Starting today, you’re invited to take part in the Second Life: Celebrating Your Second Life Snapshot Contest, in honor of 11th Birthday of Second Life.
“Participation is easy – submit your celebratory snapshots from inworld to the contest page on our Official Second Life Facebook Page. Click the contest tab, review the contest information and rules and start sharing. This year you will be able to submit up to one snapshot a day for the duration of the contest. Full rules, submission and voting dates, and details are all on the Facebook page.
“Looking for some inspiration for pics? Then drop by Hairy Hippo Fun Land to grab your Limited Edition SL11B Robot Avatar. You can also get your free avatar off the Marketplace.
“Browse the SL11B category on the destination guide to see what the community has planned to mark the event inworld.
“Don’t forget that the Resident-driven Second Life 11th Birthday Community Celebration starts this coming Sunday the 22nd. Visit their website for the latest information.
“You only turn 11 once, and we can’t wait to see what kind of celebrations and fun you create and share!”
I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager
Editor’s Note: I have reported some mis-information. I received a message from the MadPea staff regarding this mystery event at their mainstore, which I incorrectly referred to as a “hunt.” And the helmet was apparently hidden in my hair, which made it look like Google glass. My apologies for mis-representing the MadPea event and the helmet at the end of the event. My only criticism of this mystery event was the lack of information, because usually on these mystery events we receive a NC with the backstory. Either I didn’t find it, or there wasn’t one.
At any event, I do not want to report wrong information, and I love MadPea and want to be sure that I am fair to them. They sent me a photo of what the helment is supposed to look like, and I found mine in my inventory and put it on, sans hair, and enlarged its size, and yes indeed, it does look like this! At any event, please forgive the inaccuracies contained herein and run don’t walk to MadPea’s latest mystery event!
~ Suzanne
As you know from previous postings, I am a huge MadPea Productions fan. I can barely contain my impatience while awaiting release of the UNIA game, coming sometime in the next few months. Meanwhile, they decided to shut down the MadPea City and have opened a MadPea Store sim, which of course has it’s own “between the games” little hunt called The Green Mire. If you’re jonesing for a MadPea fix, this will help get you over the hump!
First take the teleport to The Green Mire. I started out a little frustrated, because I “assumed” (wrongly, it turned out) that the starting point was the store, which is where you first land. This rather sneaky little trick makes people go to the store and search all around it, looking all around carefully trying to find the instructions, map, HUD….something….to get us started on The Green Mire hunt. So naturally all who land there (unless they’ve been reading blog posts and hints on the MadPea FB page) crawl all over the store searching for it.
Finally, out of frustration, I checked the FB page and saw a blog post which reveals that it all starts in this little fishing shack shown here.
From there, it was pure MadPea, with enough challenge that it was fun and exciting to figure it out, but easy enough (other than the beginning) that you didn’t hurt your brain trying to work on it. It’s a short hunt, and you come out of it with a pretty cool little headset that lets you speak with aliens (it does; really!) although it looks like they borrowed their design from Google glass, it’s pretty cool.
All in all, it was a fun and clever hunt, and now I’m sitting here impatiently awaiting the newest game to come, UNIA!
Here are some more pics. Visit and enjoy!
I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager
In the MadPea group, I received a notification of something new coming this weekend, something to satisfy MadPea’ers while they await the much-anticipated UNIA. I don’t know what this “between the games” event will be, but I will keep you posted.
So excited!
I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers
ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager
Linden Labs has announced that they will be sponsoring The Drax Files: World Makers. In these videos, Draxtor Despres creates videos that highlight and present the stories of some of the many talented people who are creating incredible things in Second Life.
Contrary to popular opinion, Second Life is more than a bunch of depraved sex addicts and married people looking for a disease-free way to cheat on their spouses. Second Life is full of creative people with amazing things to offer. There are artists to educators, game makers, fashion designers, community builders, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, musicians, magicians, and more who are making and doing wonderful things in Second Life. I’ve enjoyed watching the videos that the Drax Files: World Makers produces.
“[Drax manages to present] their stories in a way that shows not only the creative power of the platform, but also the unique personalities that make up the global community of Second Life users.” says Linden Labs in their press release. “As compelling as the series is for those of us already familiar with Second Life and stories like these, it’s also extremely powerful in communicating the magic of Second Life to those who haven’t yet experienced it firsthand.”
Having been in Second Life for five and a half years, I see myself, as well as a lot of people around the grid, developing a kind of blasé attitude. You can’t be in world for more than a year or two without being touched by some kind of person who rips you off emotionally or financially, because just like in RL, there are people who use and abuse you, and who love to stir up and create drama. It is very easy to get jaded. I used to run a club in Second Life, and don’t get me started about temperamental artists…. ugh.
Recently I have had a really fun experience — introducing someone to Second Life for the very first time. I’d forgotten about how exciting this virtual world appears to someone who has never experienced it before. Her genuine excitement and awe about all that SL has to offer has been contagious. I’ve started looking at SL through her eyes, and remembering and enjoying that sense of wonder and amazement I used to feel in SL. My friend has been in world now for about a month and a half, and interestingly enough people do not believe she is a noob. They think she is an alt account, because thanks to me, she looks amazing. However, all you have to do is watch her try to manipulate her avie in world, and you will know she is a noob! She’s been coming over to my house in RL and using my computer while she becomes familiar with SL, and I sit over her shoulder and help her. We have laughed until the tears come over watching her try and move around SL. I had forgotten how difficult it can be. She falls off stairs, runs into walls, loses her camera inside things. and runs into people.
One of the things that the Drax Files videos do is remind us about all that is good and wonderful about SL. That there is more good than evil in SL. Second Life is amazing place full of marvelous and wonderful content creators of all types. Draxtor really looks for people to interview who contribute some of these amazing things in SL. He focuses on the many talented people in SL, many of whom make their entire living from businesses such as estate owners, services such as wedding planners, and content creators who sell their items in SL and in the marketplace.
In order to ensure that the Drax Files continues, Linden Labs has elected to sponsor it. The Drax Files is a labor of love for Draxtor, but there are real production costs associated with creating something of this quality. Linden Labs was quick to point out, however, that this sponsorship has no impact on Draxtor’s editorial independence. They do not plan on taking control or trying to dictate what stories are told or how they are presented in the series. They wanted to reassure the audience that their agreement does not have any impact on his other work (his podcasts, for example). All it means is that Draxtor will be able to continue to produce new episodes of The Drax Files: World Makers series each month, which we can all enjoy and which Linden Lab can use in support of their Second Life marketing efforts.
Below is a fun video entitled: The Drax Files World Makers: Stories from Second Life. It is self-described as: “In the digital universe known as Second Life, a vibrant global community transcends boundaries of cultural, ethnic and generational nature: with unlimited possibilities to explore, make or sell anything one can imagine, stories of individual empowerment abound.
Watch the video and remember the wonder and beauty that Second Life is meant to be. Look at it through the eyes of my noob friend. Don’t dwell on the negative; but rather focus on the positive. I encourage you to use the Destination Guide and visit some of the most amazing user created content in the Virtual Universe!
I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager
I was wandering around the ZoHa Islands Business District and stumbled across probably the most unique store I’ve ever seen in Second Life! Curio Obscura grabs your attention immediately with this unique build, and draws you inside. You can’t wait to see what might be inside this curious store!
On the website for Curio Obscura, they are self-described as: “Come to Curio Obscura for Strange and Wonderful creations in Second Life. At Curio Obscura, you will find Steampunk, Gothic Lolita, Clockwork, Dollism, Humor, Hairstyles, Fashion, Historical Recreation/Reinterpretation, Animation, Typing Overrides, Vehicles, and whatever else pops into my twisted imagination. ”
Pandora Wrigglesworth is the creative genius behind this steampunk-themed build and items. The biggest fun is simply exploring the puzzle that is this store. It is a magical adventure as you explore this store, using all sorts of means to get from one area to another. There are jumping letters on the ground at one place, and click on the various arrows, walk through “doors” that teleport you to another area of the store. Don’t forget to look for the door that takes you to the roof. There, you will find a rocket. Click and sit and see what happens!
She even has a rezzer that will rez some of her items that allow you to try them out before you buy. But even this seemingly mundane item in SL is uniquely positioned, as the rezzers are in the corner windows of the store, and once you’re inside, you see nothing but curtains around you, and the puzzle is trying to find the way out! If you cam out, you can see yourself with the item through the windows of the store.
This is a must see, as exploring this store is a whole lot of fun! Here are some pics. Enjoy!
Squeee! The newest MadPea immersive experience is almost here!! This promises to be the biggest and best game on SL. I think MadPea has outdone themselves. MadPea has been working on this game for over a year. Read more about it on their website here.
MadPea Productions Unia game nearly died an early death, causing no small amount of panic among their fans (yours truly included!). Two months into the game development they lost their sponsor, and have had to find ways to keep funding the two islands they need for UNIA. Since the CEO is in Finland there is a 24% tax added to the cost of each full island. That is $70.80 USD in addition to the usual $295.00 tier fee so the monthly cost of the two MadPea islands is $731.50 USD. After much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth, they made the difficult decision to hold a fundraiser to raise funds so the development of UNIA could continue. They raised the funds they needed through a GoFundMe site. Hallelujah!
Check out the UNIA Facebook page here and keep your eyes peeled to this blog. I will definitely be posting about UNIA!
Here’s a sneak preview. Looks like this is MadPea at it’s finest!
And check out this wonderful interview with Kiana Madpea, the inspiration behind the games! The video is from The Drax Files. There is a whole YouTube channel of machinima by award-winning media maker Draxtor and home of “The Drax Files World Makers” series.
