Humanity is over-rated

LOL ok, that's a tabloid headline if ever I saw one!

A while back, my good friend Chigadee invited me to a surprise birthday party for her SL-Dad. Parties there are usually a lot of fun, so I agreed. Then she told me that it was a themed party and that I needed to come as a "tiny".

So I had to do some research, of course, because I wanted to look the part. I had seen a few tinies running around, but had no clue how they worked or anything. I visited a few places (including a very cool space station in orbit, staffed by tinies. I have to say I felt very LARGE for the first time in my Slife - a giant among tinies!)

For those who have not seen this before, "tinies" are avatars that you can buy that do some contortions to your body so that you become significantly smaller than is theoretically possible in SL, through the use of poses. Using custom animations you can do a variety of the usual SL actions, but using the hunched-up pose. They then layer on top the "look" that you want. Someone put a lot of work into thinking up this stuff, obviously!

Finally I opted for a tiny known as a MegaDwagon, made by DragonForge's Eren Padar - I wanted something fairly self-contained (in other words not something I would buy and just have to go out and buy clothes and other accoutrements for) but also was, in the words of Chigadee "edgy". Well, Dwagon was all that and more! Check out the picture - I'm the one with the turquoise wings! it's seriously customizable to whatever colour scheme or textures you like. You can breath fire (but it's not very scary) - hey, this is a Dwagon! And they definitely have attitude!

The notecards that come with the avatar give a great background to the "character" of the little creatures, so it was a lot of fun to sort of Role-Play it for the party.

The other thing that was cute was the HUD that comes with it - apart from controlling the look of the Dwagon, it also allows you to do certain poses and animations without the use of a poseball, and you have some VERY cute spoken phrases that you can utter when the time is right. That just added to the fun that I was having. I tempered it to avoid the usual obnoxiousness that comes of everybody hootin' an' hollerin' at parties, and used them (I hoped) very appropriately.

As it says in the notecard:
You know how a Dwagon changes a lightbulb? First, it takes out a slingshot because well... it already broked, right?

So for me it was how to be a tiny without being sickly sweet. Perfect!

The party was a total blast and everyone really got into it (even though most, like me, don't spend much in-world time as tinies) - the guest of honour was suitably surprised and impressed and the music was fantastic... provided by the highly talented Cylindrian Rutabaga. I need to write another blog post about live music in SL - it's something I am starting to appreciate more and more with time.

So this was a really nice change from my usual SL-pace, and I recommend it to everyone to try at least ONCE.

Why bother?

A couple of friends of mine and I went "clubbing" last night. First up, it's amazingly difficult to find a decent club in Second Life! So many of them don't have anything really descriptive of what the club is in their search results - it's just a bunch of keywords.

And then... empty clubs. Lots of completely empty clubs. Was it just the timing, or, like Shopping Malls in SL, are there just a whole bunch of clubs that never do any business? Man, those things must cost money to have, what with the rental or tier costs, and they obviously aren't bringing in much money.

So people really believe there is money in building clubs any more? Or are they just vanity projects, done for the experience?

The other thing was that I am looking to go to a club to meet people, not to camp and not to watch strippers. Am I the only one?

We found two cool clubs, from a layout and people point of view. One was so horribly laggy that the music only played half the time. The other one was playing super minimalist Euro-hardcore trance which was pretty extreme in its repetition and complete lack of variety.

Now, I love dance music, techno and the like, but just couldn't really find anything that wasn't heavy metal or sounded exactly like their CD was skipping!

So what's up? How do we find the cool places to hang out and dance? Leave a comment and give me some help, if you wouldn't mind.

Blown away....

Little did I know when a visitor to the Ichiba asked me to pose for a photo that something as cool as this would come out of it.
Thanks to Labusti Rossi for the very cool image! See more of Labusti's photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25484045@N07/

Getting Medieval on You

I spend most of my in-world time working, so it's nice when once in a while I can do something outside of work. A friend of mine once called SL "Barbie on steroids" and, while I'm certainly far from being a fashion maven, I do enjoy getting dressed up for occasions.

One such occasion was a party held by a very good friend of mine, Chigadee London, who I have already mentioned on this blog - it's was medieval-themed and I made sure I went out and got the most attractive period gown that I could. I have to say that I just love the new Search function where it seems like I can much more easily find what I want. In the picture I can be seen in the background with my friend Andi - I really loved the dresses that we both found for this party.

One of my favourite parts, though, was lining up for a photo call on the steps of the castle. It felt a bit like herding cats, with people crashing and coming back, and my friend ended up not being in the most all-encompassing photo, which I include here, but I really like the way most people made a huge effort to dress appropriately.

My only two minor peeves are that I would like a little bit of role-play at a party like that. Nothing too heavy, but having all the gentlemen be real gentlemen, and have the ladies be ladylike would be nice. I mean, at a club, girls can dance together or alone without a problem, but at a more formal "do" it would be nice if the guys would "circulate" a little rather than stick with just one person. Also, a party is for getting together with people and having fun, so why come to a party and then spend all of your time in IM? I guess I just don't get it.

But we did have a lot fun, those of us who weren't absorbed in our men, or in IMs, and I will be doing something like that again (provided I am invited, of course!)

And while in the medieval mood, what better thing to do than to visit the old ruined castle on our way home, riding off into the sunset?

Jobs in SL

We've just started a more widespread advertising campaign for more Sales Associates for the Hosoi Ichiba and this got me thinking about the nature of "work" in SL.

I don't think there are many people in SL that can earn a RL wage out of working in SL. The best you can do is to use it as "play money" for your time in-world. Others see it as part of the "game" - you can't "win" or "lose" in SL, and money is about the only way left to "keep score", now that Second Life got rid of the "Reputation" feature.

But we're in SL to have fun, right? To escape the drudgery of our Real World lives, and for most of us that means an escape from our job, too. So why on earth would we spend hours in SL doing something that earns such a pittance?

I mean, if you had a "dream job" in SL, that you enjoy for what you do, then that's just great, and the money you earn is a bonus on top of that. But to be honest, if it's not your dream, then you'd be much better off taking a job at your local fast food place and pumping that money into SL so that you can have fun in world with a little "Retail Therapy".

So what is the ideal SL job? As I see it:

• Flexible hours - the last thing you need is an obligation to be in SL. It's supposed to be fun after all.
• Be Paid for Performance - being paid for hanging around somewhere is like a highly paid version of camping.
• Opportunity to Meet People - SL is, after all, primarily a social platform. What better way to do it that to actually meet people as part of your job?
• Do Something to Make SL better - there is so much rampant commercialism and urban blight in SL, it's nice to do something that actually makes people's SL experience better.

One other thing I have noticed that I think is a market niche - there are many very talented designers in SL - they want to spend their time building, and want to cover the costs by selling their stuff, be it buildings, clothes, hair, or furniture. What they don't want to be hassled with is the job of running their business. They would probably pay someone to be a "right-hand man" and to take on some of the more mundane tasks of the business, while they get on with the stuff they are most talented at - creating the content that is so important in SL.

I am very fortunate to have found someone who, in my opinion, is one of the most gifted designers in SL, and I make it my job to help her deal with the aspects of running her business that can free her up to produce some of the classiest content in the SL world.

When Second and First Lives clash

Well, other people use their Blogs to rant and philosophise a bit, so now it's my turn...

I think that essentially the residents in Second Life fall into one of two very broad groups. There are those who see SL as an extension to their real lives, and SL as a sort of chat room on steroids. Their avatars are usually something close to how they look in their first lives (often just a little bit idealised - because, well, you CAN!). They tell people all sorts of stuff about their first lives, and expect that from everybody they talk to. Some are less than subtle, opening up with asking about "age, sex and location", others actually engage you in a conversation to find out the same information.

Then there are the others, who come to Second Life to escape their real lives in some way. Their avatars are usually vastly different to how they look in their First Lives, sometimes to the point of being completely fantasy. These people essentially see SL as a way to role-play - to be something different. They won't reveal anything about their First Lives while in SL, and don't really want to know much about the people they meet, outside of the character they portray in SL.

I believe very strongly that the grid is big enough for both types, and that neither are inherently "wrong" or "right". I very much respect others' privacy - if they want to tell me things about themselves, that's fine, but I don't expect it. I am very much the second type, though - Kalderi has little to do with the person behind the keyboard.

Which, as a friend once said to me, isn't quite true - we all bring something of our real selves into SL. Whether furry, neko, samurai, vampire, robot, muscle-man or babe, it doesn't matter - when you get into interactions with others, there is a part of you that gets bundled into that character. The wrapping may be different, but once you get beyond that, it's difficult to really be fundamentally different on a deeper level for a prolonged time.

None of this is a problem, of course, until the two worlds clash. The "chat people" expect you to use voice, while the escapists don't really want to superimpose their voice on this character. They can also get very offended when you won't reveal lots of First Life personal detail about yourself. The major issue, though, comes when one of each think about having a relationship with each other. Really, I strongly believe that this is a recipe for disaster. I have known of a few friendships that hit big troubles because one wanted to know more about the RL person behind the avatar, then got paranoid when the other wouldn't reveal that information, assuming that the person had something to hide. the "fantasy" person threw out some Rl stuff, to try to placate him, and he became a borderline stalker, trying to find more, more, more. Very sad, and so unnecessary, as far as I am concerned.

The moral of this all: Decide which one of these types you are in SL and be consistent. Respect the other type and the choices they have made. Know yourself and respect others.

Thanks for reading.

Couture Chapeau

Chigadee London is one of my friends in SL. She lurked around for a long while, being sociable, getting to know all about this strange world. She used to practice building things in secret, giving them away to her friends. Now we can all enjoy the fruits of her labours, because she has a new business, Mad About Hats. She makes good quality, stylish, sometimes quirky (with animations and sounds) hats.

And... she had the grand opening of her new Couture line the other day at her new store "Maison de London". Great party, with champagne, sushi, cool music and fireworks. I was really pleased I could stop by and enjoy the start of this great venture. This lady is really talented and I predict she will make a big splash in the world of SL fashion. Seriously cool, unique hats and headwear stop by and check her stuff out.