Season of Change, Season of Snows

As the New Year approaches us with hopes anew, here is to wishing you one more year of success, happiness and prosperity. Not only have we looked back upon memories but we also focus on what improvements were implemented in Second Life® during 2019 but I question: is role-play still going strong in Second Life®? What has Linden Lab® reserved for us in 2020?

The popular Premium Linden Homes, Marketplace upgrades, cloud migration, Bakes on Mesh, improvements on script performance and other script-related issues were successfully completed by the Lab over the course of this year. On May 15, 2019, the Lab released their first batch of new homes and houseboats to premium users. The demand for these items was so high that the Lab promptly added more land to the Bellisseria continent to host more homes for their customers. On Monday, Dec. 16, Linden Lab® released a new line of Linden Homes. A total of 1600 Victorian Linden Homes in four styles are now available to Premium members in beautifully Victorian-themed landscaped regions. June of 2019 also brought us a reduction of the tiers for full and homestead private regions. Homestead private regions were reduced from $195 to $179/month and full regions from $249 to $229/month.

Images Source

Premium fees also suffered several changes: the monthly subscription fee was increased from $9.50 to $11.99, the quarterly subscription from $22.50 to $32.97, and the annual fee was increased from $72 to $99. The Marketplace commission fee was also increased from 5% to 10% while the Marketplace Product Listing Enhancement fees were reduced by 10%. Across the web and the grid, many Second Life® residents were displeased with the recent changes; a group of residents released an online petition, suggesting better communication between Linden Lab® and residents to better understand the needs of each side and the possibility of negotiating Marketplace’s fee. This year was also marked by the introduction of Linden Lab’s® subsidiary company, Tilia Inc., as users were forced to share their personal information including their social security number to cash-out their $L balances.

YouTube series “Second Life’s Lab Gab with Xiola and Strawberry”, and the Second Life® Blogger Network are two other projects that came to life in 2019, but I now question if they are yet to survive 2020. On Wednesday, Dec.18, Xiola Linden announced she will be departing Linden Lab® in early January of 2020, halting the production of this most-loved series. The Blogger Network team continues to promote SL™-themed blogs however, with the departure of the community manager, I fear the feed might become repetitive or not receive proper updates. In addition, there is the potential of affecting SL™ social media channels. Although the marketing team does a wonderful job in interacting with the community in social media platforms, it should be also used to recruit new users by offering introductory rates, posting and sharing more often about community-related news, art and lifestyle, and how many wonderful role-play worlds we have outside of the mainstream Medieval genres.

Role-play is the best feature Second Life® has to offer and if this sounds biased, it’s because it is but, my opinion doesn’t make it a lesser truth. Here, you can be anything you want - from reincarnating Jesse James in Tombstone, AZ., or becoming a lone space-gunfighter like the Mandalorian, possibilities are endless. Second Life® has the right communities to enjoy an immersive role-play experience and create a storyline like no other. Although a few role-play genres like Gor have been decreasing in numbers, the majority of players migrate to other role-play worlds, maintaining their dedication and daily logins to this virtual world. The community has been stable over the years with many experienced role-players taking the role of guides and administrators behind the scenes to welcome friends and new users in this fun ride. Personally, I believe role-play in Second Life® is here to stay and last many years but we must promote this hidden gem properly and abundantly. When Marvel, DC Comics, Game of Thrones, and most recently the Witcher and Mandalorian dominates today’s social media and pop culture, we have one job – to show the world we have it all here and  much more.

In 2020, the Good Gorean (and the GE Maps) will continue to promote role-play in and outside of Gor, and keep you updated with community news – visitors are welcome to submit any role-play events to be published in this blog or request a sim review. I would be delighted to explore your role-play region and write about it.

Linden Lab® has many more projects lined up for 2020:

• New Premium Plus subscription plan;

• Ability to change first, last or both names for additional fee at an estimated value of $39.99 (more details to be released);

• Environmental Enhancement Project (EEP) will introduce new inventory object for defining the environmental settings, up to 4 sky layers, parcel level control and more;

• Several viewer updates such as improvements to texture managing and caching and 360° snapshots; 

• Animesh enhancements;

• Improvements to Marketplace interface with mobile-friendly layouts;

• iOS Second Life® App for iPhones and iPads

   

   Are you ready for an amazing 2020?

"Holly Scarf - Fatpack" Hair and Scarf from Dreaming Thicket (150L for Color Pack or 500L for Fatpack - We <3 Role-play Event *December Edition*. Fatpack Includes Scarf and Hair Piece for Maitreya, SLink, Unrigged Mesh, 3 Standard Sizes, Hair Piece, Texture HUD with 85 Hair Texture Options with Bump and Gloss Options, and Texture HUD with 10 Scarf Texture Options)

"Nova - Red" Gown from Infinity (150L - We <3 Role-play Event *December Edition*. Includes Dress for Maitreya Bodies. Available in Black, Blue, Brown, Special, Green, Purple, Red, White and Yellow)

"Winter Gloves" from Hilly Haalan (Free - Group Gift)

"Asgerd - Axe Headband" from Bliensen + MaiTai (199L - We <3 Role-play Event *December Edition*. Includes Headband with Copy & Mod Permissions. Available in Female and Male Versions) 

"Magic - Fatpack" Pose Set from Stardust (56L for Single Pose Pack or 224L for Fatpack - We <3 Role-play Event *December Edition*. Fatpack Includes 6 Bento Poses, 6 Mirrored Poses with Slow & Fast Transition Choice and Magic Dust Prop)

"In the thinking of the Wagon Peoples it is called the Omen Year, though the Omen Year is actually a season, rather than a year, which occupies a part of two of their regular years, for the Wagon Peoples calculate the year from the Season of Snows to the Season of Snows; Turians, incidentally, figure the year from summer solstice to summer solstice; Goreans generally, on the other hand, figure the year from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, their new year beginning, like nature's, with the spring;..." 

Second Life® and SL™ are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.