I came across the Dinkies cat avatar last year at Fantasy Faire.  It was so adorable, I dropped a lot of cash collecting different breeds.  At the time, there weren't a lot of clothing and accessories for them. But at this year's faire, there were clothes galore for them.  It made me take out my avatar for a spin.



I never thought to look for videos on youtube for the avatar but they are there, quite a few.  The one I linked to on this post is fantastic.

Second Life Music Videos

It has been a long time since my last post.

What have I been doing?  Well I've gotten back into Warcraft a bit.  My thoughts on that later.  I'm still in and out of LOTRO, Rift and Elder Scrolls Online.  I've even dabbled in the Candy Crush mobile world (horrible time suck and phone power suck).  But I have to admit, I no longer have the fire, the resolve or the desire to play these games long term anymore.  They require too much from me, more than I can give now.  It just reminds me that I'm a heck of a lot older than I was when I first got into WOW and I no longer have the extra time I did when I was younger.

But I'm still regularly in Second Life.  Quite simply because the game only gives what you put into it and no more is required.  There is no grind, no leveling or other elements that turn it into a kind of half-ass job.  To me, it serves as a micro-vacation in that I can go "places" to sight see and relax.

Even though I have been in SL for so many years, it still strikes me as being extremely futuristic.  It transports players into worlds that are one of kind, made by other average Joe/Jane players.  It is sometimes unprofessional and messy but it still has fire.  Something that is missing from regular MMORPGS nowadays (although I'm holding out hope for Camelot Unchained).

NWN has linked to an SL music video recently.  It looks amazing and yes, SL can look amazing.  The old 2007 screen captures used in the media are just poor news reporting.

This is the SL, that regular SL players know and live:



Another vid with typical female SL avatar looks popular right now.

The VR Hat trick

The hype is starting.  The VR hype.  The Snowcrash fantasy that never dies, now colored by Ready Player One fantasies.  Also a side helping of transhumanism via Singularity.

I'm not adverse to big dreams, big hopes, and big ideas.  But there comes a point where reality needs to take the main stage.  Reality has not come to the VR business, in fact most ignore it.  As in they ignore the fact that Second Life is the one and only successful VR ever.  But because it didn't fulfill some fantasy from a science fiction book, it is decried as a failure.  A failure that is losing customers, losing money, losing content and, most pointedly, it is not Snowcrash.

Is Second Life declining?  It is hard to really argue that it is not.  Like it's MMORPG sister juggernaut, WOW, it is an old warhorse platform that is starting to really show its age.  But as of yet, nothing more advanced or more attractive has taken its place.  There have been contenders, from the many opensim worlds to the more advanced Blue Mars and Cloud Party.  Blue Mars failed and was sold to Ball State University who use it as research.  Cloud Party was just as empty and sold to Yahoo as soon as it received the offer.  The Opensim worlds remain remote also rans that no one ever visits except for those who are disappointed in Second Life.  So if Second Life is the only VR left standing...why is it a failure?  Most likely because the populace turned it into their fantasy, fantasies that are more life affirming than Snowcrash.

You see the problem with the Snowcrash VR mavens and the transhumanists is that they have a dirty little secret.  They WANT the fascistic world, the outright misery of a world gone bad that forces the fictional people in their favorite books to hide inside a VR.  Inside that VR, they become the gods, the artists, the politicians and the enforcers.  They want us to dance to their tune.  They want us to experience their rights free world in which a twisted form of corporate communism reigns with an iron fist.  Our only recourse to individuality is the ability to choose a funky avatar.

Damn did they try hard to push that sop in Second Life.  Fortunately, the people in SL fought tooth and nail for "land" rights, intellectual property rights and free speech while wearing funky avatars.  We didn't eschew real world living for a fantasy prison.  We didn't "move" into a VR and make it more real than real.  Instead we made VR an extension, a playground for relaxation.  Second Life is a virtual Club Med not a dystopic altworld.  That was what got up the nose of Philip, Mitch, Corey and the rest.  We just weren't good enough, we were real and not fictional.

So like Vladimir and Estragon they all wait for Godot Snowcrash.  He is coming don't ya know!  He is just a few hours away and he promises to arrive.  If they just get more people and more technology, Godot Snowcrash will appear with his holy Oculus device.  All the while they ignore the flesh and blood reality of the only successful VR ever made.  My forecast is that the Snowcrash will never arrive.  But the second coming of a Club Med Second Life?  Almost certainly.

And hopefully, sometime in the near future, someone will take away Lucky Kurzweil's hat.

Shadow of the Argonath - Chance Thomas

Although I really liked the "Rise of Isengard" expansion last fall, one of the main disappointments I had with it was that it did not have a new music score.  I believe one of the main reasons why I fell in love with LOTRO so much was the beautiful score composed by Chance Thomas.  His music captured the spirit of Middle Earth wonderfully.

Since ROI, I noticed that I was not the only one who wanted a new score.  The forums had a few posts regarding the absence of new music.  It seems Turbine took this into account and commissioned Chance Thomas to write new music for Riders of Rohan.

ROR will be released on Sept 5 and Turbine is in the midst of drumming up excitement by releasing snippets of Thomas' new score.  It sounds as gorgeous as the original score for the game.  I can't wait to hear more of it.  Turbine has also dropped hints that they may rerelease the old soundtracks along with the new one for sale.

Viewer 3.0

Linden Lab is working on the Viewer take 2.  Unlike most, I've never really had serious problems with the official viewers.  I just muddle through the crap.  But now we will be getting Viewer 3 and the Second Life community is doing what it does best...snark galore.

Run Devil Run - Girls Generation

In Second Life, I mostly hang around the Japanese and Korean sims and stores.  They have a very twee sensibility that appeals to me.

While making my rounds for the Poupee Hunt 2011, I visited a store called Pink Ribbon 21.  I noticed some t-shirts called "Girls Generation" with various pretty model types.  It intrigued me, so I did an internet search on them.  At first I thought they were some kind of TV show, but it turns out they are a girl pop band in Korea.

They are pretty good, if a bit over-processed.

I've included a youtube vid of their version of "Run, Devil, Run".  There is a little war on the page concerning who sang it first and who sang it better between Girls Generation fans and Kesha fans.  Whatever

I just love discovering new cultural icons through SL.

Cigarettes

I've only been traipsing around the online game scene since 2007.  Four years.  Four long damn years.  I still can't believe it.  And what ever game I've played, I've seen the same outbreaks.  If it isn't IP rights in SL, it's leechers in WAR or Ninjas in WoW.  And everyone is convinced the sky is falling.  Well, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.

But then I saw this clip of "One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest" on youtube.  And it reminded me of all those game communities I've been in.  They are all asylums.

Perhaps it is time to break free.

Give me my damn cigarettes.

Don't Trust A Rogue

It is time for another WoW video complete with corny Blood Elves.  The ongoing joke is that no one likes this character class.  But I know everyone in the game probably has a Blood Elf in their alt closet.

Empty Universe

Linden Lab is slowly but surely working on new features in their browser. Some of them are a bit boggling (transferring profiles outside the world), amusing (body jiggle) and beautiful (shadows/Depth of Field).  The newest features (shadows/DoF) are still experimental and can only be turned on in the advanced menus or a player can download one of the sanctioned 3rd party browsers.

Anway, the above machinima showcases SL at it's best and the work of it's many players as well.

The location in the video is Japan Dream Kenjin, a quiet little sim that emulates a small Japanese fishing town in the early 60's.

So Lucky

Ah the WoW years.

This was a cute vid, probably staged but I don't mind.  The song was ridiculously silly.

Kind of joking...kind of serious

When I think of what Second Life reminds me of, I hark back to those old sci fi films of the late 70's/early 80's.

Like this oldie but a goodie.

Whats it gonna sound like?

I discovered this video at Mediabastard's website.  Funny.  I swear he looks like every game designer I've ever seen from the greasy hair, the cocaine sniffles and the wild eyed evangelical glare.

What the little ones are doing...

In their baby mmo.




I think it's hilarious that the Wizard dance is actually in time to the music chosen by this fan.  So cute.

Good PvP...

has the same visceral reactions shown in Scorsese's film "The Gangs of New York".  Brendon Gleeson screaming like a loon with murderous excitement is what PvP gives everyday players.  But without the danger of real bloodshed.

I know it isn't for everyone.  So far games focusing on the carnage haven't done as well as World of Warcraft.  So what separates the PvP hooligans from the PvE fanatics?

On another note, I could only find the full scene dubbed in French.  *shrug*

Wave those Arms!

Remember Cruise waving his arms like a spastic in "Minority Report"?  Well, now its a reality.  I can't figure out if it is a cool idea or really stupid.

They say it will take about 5 to 6 years to get this new tech into the stores for consumers.  That is probably a little pie in the sky...maybe a lot.  Damn, is it going to break a lot of old software.  But maybe that is the point.

The tech world likes to eat its own.  Its one of the ways they keep us locked into their systems and paying outrageous prices for equipment/consulting.

I Play W.O.W - Jace Hall

I still love WoW despite some of it's failings and that isn't a lie.  This video was posted on some mmo fansites and I think it's hilarious.  Great stuff.

Does this mean I'm going back to Azeroth again?  Nah, not in the immediate future.

My Beautiful Life - Piatto

This SL music video was featured on New World Notes.  It is one of the best machinimas I've seen from SL.  Usually SL machinimas are strange with jerky frame motions and somewhat hokey theme premises.  They are still light years behind what is made inside of Warcraft.  However that is because most of the talented, free lance machinima creators are in Warcraft.

For some reason, which still fascinates me, Japan and other asian cultures get, really get, virtual reality.  I'm not sure what it is that make them so successful in the transition and why their efforts show up so strongly in world.  Perhaps it is because their youth culture is already a VR-like movement that it finds its natural home in SL.