Calling it a day

It was a long, slow time coming, but I've discovered I'm pretty much done with Second Life. So I have (successfully!) sold my last land plot (in the Harbor of Steelhead) and going back to being a "stateless" itinerant-- e.g., a hobo, much like I was four years ago. This is not a MacArthur Speech.. I'm not bowing out of Second Life altogether. I will be in from time to time. However, having looked at the statistics lately, I've been in maybe four times in the month of June. This is down significantly for me, and does not bode well for future involvement. Looking at this blog, I haven't found anything interesting to write about in months, and it, too, has become ready for the boneyard. This will be my last post.

Why the change? Other (real life) concerns. Other hobbies, other passions. We have a thriving reenacting community here in my part of the world, and I'm pursuing the notion of joining a group of Pikemen at some point to reenact some English Civil War battles. A long time hobby in the real world is taking up my vanishing free time, to boot. Lastly, I'd like to do more writing-- and SL is a notorious time sink.

The worst part about SL for me currently is the persistent sense that I have been changing, but it does not feel as if Second Life has. Frankly, I've grown bored. There are activities that I could pursue in world but I feel frustrated that nothing will generate the critical mass to succeed without lots and lots and lots of personal attention and care. I just don't have that kind of free time any more. I already have a job during the day. I don't want another one at night.

I guess you can say I lack an SLPurpose.

Lastly, I'm getting the impression that the Linden Corporation is a rather shaky foundation for a long term presence in world. If Second Life is around in two years, I'll be pleasantly surprised. May they prove me wrong with glee!

Until then, you may see me here or there, if you are interested.

It has been a great almost four years. Good night, and good luck.

HOTSPUR

Best Time In World:The year and a half on Roatan Sim, running the Port Merrimac harbor on the edge of the giant United Sailing Sims sailing ocean community. Introducing ironclad combat to a new audience, aggressive story based RP on the exploits of the Fleet of Wrath Exiles. Sufficient groups of other players were truly networked and in the groove on this one. I loved it.

Worst Time in World: The Relay For Life "War" aftermath in Caledon. It really seemed like a great idea at the time, but it was a divisive project that made very little actual $L for RFL, to boot. It's three years later and people still have opinions on this one, not all of them positive and supporting. I'm glad it is in the rear view mirror.

There's a gazillion people I should acknowledge in print... for their friendship, their patience, and their dedication to making SL a better place. The problem is you name one, you forget another.. and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Thanks, everybody!

CodeOrgan: How to Play Hibernia on the Skids

Mr. Mason turned me on to this-- a site that encodes your website as music of sorts. I rather like Hibernia's "Sound".

Port Harbor: Stunning Lot. Polymath Eyrie for sale

Hotspur O'toole announces a unique land opportunity in Steelhead Harbor. "The Rock", a small island (1024 lot 441-442), is located almost in the exact center of the Steelhead Community, surrounded entirely by water. The Lot will support up to 534 primitive objects. Building on a vertical axis (e.g., a tower) the view can be quite spectacular indeed.

See Hotspur OToole in world with an offer.

Farewell, Port Merrimac

For the past year or more of Second Life time, a loose confederation of people enjoyed the hospitality of Zatzai Asturias, the Autocrat of the Island of Lilliput. In exchange for maintaining a fleet in being, the Autocrat gave us refuge and a place to repair our ships, as well as practice battles on Thursday nights. Sadly, Mr. Asturias has moved on and is no longer participating in Second Life. His sims were sold with the exception of Roatan (where Port M. was), Zatzai and Artificial Isle. We held out hope that Mr. Asturias would wish to come back in world at some point, but circumstances did not work out that way. So, sadly, I have to announce that Port Merrimac, scene of many roleplaying adventures and many, MANY naval battles, is no more. Roatan, Artificial Isle and Zatzai will revert to the Battle Circle community owner (MarkTwain White) and they will be redubbed Blake's Roatan, Blake's Zatzai, and Blake's Diego. As a concession to all the ironclad enthusiasts that once played there, Mr. White has set up a sanctuary dock to hold battles from in world, and I will be publishing the Slurl to that once it is in my possession.

The time at Port Merrimac was some of the funnest and happiest in my experience in Second Life, and I shall miss it very much.  But the nature of life is change, and that statement holds true doubly so for Virtual Reality too.

Farewell, Port Merrimac, You were great fun when we had you.

Aether Salon postponed

Due to real world emergency, tomorrow's Aether Salon on Ironclad to Dreadnought part one shall have to be postponed. My apologies for any inconvenience.

The Aether Salon: Ironclads, Part One Of Two

YHN will be honored to present a hopefully illuminating lecture for on April 18, 2PM SLT, on the topic of "From Ironclad to Dreadnought". As this subject is broad and quite complex, YHN has decided to split it into two lectures, the first of which, "Look to Windward", will be on developments up to and during the American Civil War and just beyond, up to the grand naval battle of the age, Lissa. YHN hopes some of you might wish to attend.

Respectfully,

Hotspur

Where the Tides Ebb and Flow, by Lord Dunsany

The fire was guttering in the fireplace at the Black Goat. My host, Doctor Dayafter, pitched another log in, sending sparks showering up the chimney, and waking the dozing barrister next to me with a start. "Hmmph? Oh, I say.. dashing good story, Gus, dashing good, what?"

Dr. Dayafter finished tending to the fire, the refueling of which signalling at least one or possibly two more stories were left to be told. His baleful eyes rested upon your humble narrator.

"And you, Commodore? You have been silent tonight. What have you brought the throng this evening?"

"I may have just the thing," said I, watching the rain beat upon the windows of the Goat. "Just the story for a night like tonight."

And with that, I wet my pipes with a tankard of dark ale, cleared my throat, and began.

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RELATED: A startling work of Interactive Fiction based upon this very story! Worth looking into!

Movie Night! at the Gangplank

My friend Dr. Dayafter threw a kinescopically themed entertainment last evening, at the Gangplank in New Babbage. Young Master Finley Twine provided the music. YHN was happy to attend after long absence from the city.

YHN in foreground. Can you guess the costume? No, it isn't Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, nor is it Maurice Chevalier

Costumes were quite creative, and all of them movie themed. YHN espied an Alex from Clockwork Orange, Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood and many other characters.

I am not a number! I am a man!

YHN had a lovely evening reacquainting himself with New Babbage and has every intention of being more active in NB events in the future.

Blank verse for a hard Easter

In memory scribed,
undimmed by time
Your eyes closed tight
A fist engulfed in mine
so fierce.. so hot
fight, boy, fight!
tears shining bright
don't leave,
The tension fades,
suddenly as if sleeping
I whisper..
Don't be scared.

In memory eternal, for Joaquim.
We will meet again,
in the place where there is no darkness.

Only Nixon Can Go to China: the end of the great Riel dispute has arrived.

I have received several IMs and emails about the recent mutual posting about a ball hosted by Gabrielle Riel and myself.

The speculation driven by the date of yesterday's post is entirely correct. It was, indeed an April Fool's joke, and a pretty good one at that.

And yet, to even arrive at the point of an April Fool's joke would require an unprecedented amount of cooperation, and yes, civility from two parties that heretofore were in a dispute "to the knife.. to the very hilt!". The moment to put it all aside has arrived, I am happy to say.

To quote that old maxim of diplomacy: "Only Nixon can go to China". As it turned out, many of my perceptions of exactly WHAT happened and WHEN and by WHOM in past events were flawed-- this became quite clear in a conversation with Ms. Soleil Snook that occurred by happenstance about a week ago. She cleared a lot of it up for me. She, in turn, realized that GR didn't know that I had these assumptions... and must have spoken with her. Then, Gabrielle herself emailed me-- at first grudgingly speaking with me, then I responded back, equally grudgingly, explaining what I had seen and heard, then we compared notes, and explained our positions.. and talked more. The result was our first honest conversation in almost three years-- clearing up disputes old and new.  Ms. Soleil, you have done some good, and you should be proud.

There can only be only one course of action when you have a rigid ethical standard, so I publicly announced that my perceptions of the Radio Riel incident were flawed directly after speaking with Soleil, whom I trust. I was ending the boycott immediately, and all hostilities had ended. Nothing big and public of course-- this beast has been fed enough. Directly after that, the email conversation, initiated by GR, commenced.

The rest you might have guessed.. it ended up being rather good humored at the end. And GR came back with ... it's April Fool's day tommorrow.. Let's cook up an April Fool's joke! If you liked the Caledon Drama Society idea, your jaw would have dropped to the floor with the first draft. But that shall have to remain forever a secret (grin).

I'm very happy with the course of events, it's amazing how quickly it worked out when we decided to communicate directly and honestly, without the filter of third party agendas. I'm sure the community as a whole will be happy about this development, too.  Endless dispute can be very tiring for everyone.

GR explains her end of it here and yes, it's an accurate description of how things played out-- no arguments here. I welcome a more civil future in the Steamlands.

Through the Looking Glass and Back Again

At New Wonderland, in Silence

Gabrielle Riel and Hotspur O'Toole announce: The Caledon Dramatic Society!

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Commodore Hotspur O'Toole, Fleet of Wrath Exiles

and
Duchess Gabriel Riel, Caledon Cartaigh

Cordially Invite you to a ball celebrating the launch of the Caledon Dramatic Society!

Sunday, April 4th, 2010, 7PM SLT

Coughton Court, in Caledon Carntaigh of Rothesay

Formal Attire Requested

The Brass Image, at the Black Goat in Arkham

The Brass Image, by Clark Ashton Smith

The evening growing late, and the fog was chill. I bundled my cloak a little closer and strode into the Black Goat public house. The crowd assembled gave me a somber nod, and resumed spinning tales. A bone chilling tale was being narrated by the young lady in front of the fire. She brought her tale to a thrilling conclusion to thumping applause and raised glasses. The purveyor of the evening's entertainment, Dr. Dayafter, requested volunteers.

"If it please the company assembled, I may have one to tell."

"Proceed, Commodore."

I cleared my throat, stepped in front of the crowd, and began.. the fateful tale of the Brass Image.

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(click to play. Apologies for the raspy voice, YHN is overcoming a head cold of a pernicious nature, so does not have the range or energy he normally devotes to voice performances. There is one jumpy cut at the beginning, hardly noticeable, which YHN tried to fix, but was unsuccessful).

Victoriana's farewell broadside

Mr. LittleBlackDuck Lindsay ran the picturesque and lovely VICTORIANA sim up until recently.  He has decided to call it quits after a series of mishaps with Linden Labs.  This is a disturbing trend-- Ordinal gone, now Mr. Lindsay.  YHN surmises that Mr. Lindsay likely wouldn't mind if his letter announcing his termination of Victoriana had broader circulation, so YHN will do his humble best by quoting it here.

*Sigh* A Nation Owner's Sad Farewell
Hi everyone,
This is to announce that The Nation of Victoriana is closing.

I've been a SecondLife citizen since July 2006 and have seen many wonderful things come (and go) on this grid. Over the past twelve months I can't help but notice the "cons" of living and working on a Linden grid far outweigh the benefits. DAILY grid issues with logins, transactions, inventory and lag, continually spoil everyone's experience. I personally have lost a considerable amount of inventory over the past twelve months alone, something nobody enjoys. Reports from friends and residents of Victoriana tell me I'm not alone here either.
As most of you are aware Linden recently "screwed the pooch" with my permissions in Victoriana during a recent "maintenance update"; effectively disabling my ability to manage, repair and improve the estate by setting almost everything to 'no modify' (yes stuff I built and owned, which makes up the majority of everything in the estate). After numerous attempts via Concierge Chat and support ticket application, Linden failed to correct the issue after fourteen days... they didn't even have the decency to contact me about the problem, or even move the ticket beyond "New" status (ie they didn't bother to look at it). As you also know I sent out notices keeping everyone up-to-date about the status and eventually explained I would have to rebuild much of the estate from scratch and 'fix the problem myself'. This lacklustre response from Linden has brought to light a great deal of uncertainty in our little community about the future of Victoriana and the Linden grid itself. I've seen a number of people in the past few weeks re-evaluate their own personal investment in SecondLife, and sadly a number of them have chosen to leave the grid for fear of losing everything they've invested money in. It's a very very sad thing to see good people go (especially long-termers who've been around for a while) for fear of "what will happen to them" come the next maintenance rollout/asset server failure/grid issue.
Since then it's been more daily issues with logins, lag, asset server/inventory problems, you get the picture. It's not enough that IMs are capped (making it really tough for an estate owner to communicate with people) but it seems now Notecards are not working correctly either. I've sent a number of notecards to residents the past two weeks and am told most never received them, and have not received a number of communications that people have sent me. How anyone is expected to run a business, community or even take this grid seriously is beyond me.
Linden is working hard to improve the experience for new users on the grid, something I feel very passionately about, however in the process of changing their mind on how to achieve this every five minutes, they are effectively hurting everyone involved and destabilising the economy. Recently we saw Linden introduce "free homes to Premium members" which, while basic and really aimed at the newbies joining the grid, has effectively devalued any land or sims people have spent their hard earned money on. Why buy a plot of land for a home when you can get it for free? If you're a landholder, congrats, your plot is now worth much less than it was in January. If you're a homebuilder, congrats, why would someone buy your houses when they can get one for free? For someone that owns a sim or an estate of sims, right down to someone who runs a business selling houses, your hard work and effort is now worth a lot less. Anyone trying to run a rental business is pretty screwed now, too.
Linden also 'dumped' the mentor programme and mentors (a team of residents, like you, who offered their time for FREE to assist people with questions and generally help as needed). Linden is now in the process of dumping the gateway program completely too (so people in the know tell me), effectively saying "screw you" to residents and estate owners who invested their own time and money to set up. I fortunately don't own a gateway, however I do know three people who do, and know how much of their own personal time and money they invested setting it up so that newcomers to the grid could have a fantastic 'first five minute experience" (effectively doing Linden's work for them). This expensive effort is all now null and void; a waste of time and investment because Linden have changed their mind again.
I'm pretty disgusted about the current state of affairs regarding DMCA on the grid too. I don't blame Linden for copybots being created/used (by a very small number of bad eggs on a very large populous of accounts), Linden should be applauded for opening up the viewer code to public licence allowing others to tinker and improve the viewer with new features and speed. The fact a very small handful of people chose to tinker with the code to exploit permissions and allow a small handful of people to copybot the hard work of others is hardly Linden's fault. I am terribly concerned about the lack of support content creators seem to receive when they report to Linden that their work is stolen. Anyone fancy a grey-market turtle? How about a whole sim of builds? I read day after day about content creators complaining X or Y is being copied by someone and they are not getting any support from Linden. Who will be next? I've personally had some of my builds copied and ended up chasing the offender myself to resolve the issue, now things are getting even easier to copy and even harder to get effective action taken, I see creating content on this grid a total game of cat-and-mouse if you expect your items to remain your items. "Word on the street" tells me Linden will be locking out all viewers other than their own some time mid-year in an effort to stamp out copybots. This means no more fantastic features in Emerald, no more model bots in your fashion store and no more innovation or improvement to the viewer beyond what Linden chose to give us. Why stifle the creativity of many when you only need to chase after a handful of offenders? Why is it taking so long for something to be done about this issue when all that needs to be done is investigation/deletion/accounts locked? DMCA and copying goes far beyond a simple copybot/hacked client, too. I've seen cases where 'people' have copied by hand, builds by "Four Winds" (for example) that are prim-by-prim identical down to the nearest 0.01m and have simply thrown on a slightly different texture and called it an original. The shape, size, layout and overall design has been stolen (and badly textured) for resale. Again where's the DMCA love for the person who spent so much time creating the original?
I have now come to realise that running an estate or investing any kind of time or money on a Linden-run grid in it's current form is for chumps, so I'm leaving whilst I still can.
Let me be totally clear on what I am saying and sum up why Victoriana is closing:
* I currently have a LOT of REAL WORLD dollars invested on this grid
* I have no problem covering the tier for all 13 sims if need be, as this is (was) a labour of love project for me (I like to build). I have never had an agenda for a "full estate" and would rather have a half full sim of friendly, fun, community-minded residents than "just any avatar" here to fill in the gaps.
* A recent maintenance update broke my permissions in Victoriana, and Linden Labs did nothing to fix it after repeated requests, indicating this is not only an unfixable problem (or one they don't care about) but one that if it happens again I'm S.O.L
* Since the permissions "issue" a number of Victoriana residents have contacted me; unsure about the stability or continuity of the estate/the Linden grid, given Linden's lacklustre efforts to resolve things
* Over my time in SecondLife I've also lost a large quantity of inventory during grid-related issues or maintenance updates, effectively like 'throwing money into the furnace" as I've never been able to get any of it back.
* According to reports from others, I'm not alone with the inventory loss issue, and apparently not alone in the perms scenario either
* It is becoming impossible to conduct any form of business, or assist anyone here; ongoing communication problems, lag, L$ issues, grid issues
* Linden Labs is trying it's best to improve the grid experience for people, however in the process is devaluing any money or time anyone has put into the place already; making it a poor investment opportunity and an unstable future business prospect
* Ongoing grid issues, and an uncertain future about what rules of the game Linden are going to change 'next', make this grid an unstable environment for anyone to conduct a large-scale project such as Victoriana, expecting it to survive intact more than a few weeks
* Linden's apparent lack of interest in DMCA issues via copybot use means I can't trust that if I log in tomorrow my hard work won't be sold by someone else, and if it is, anything will be done to rectify the situation by Linden
* I have not made this decision lightly
* Nobody else (Other than Davey McDowwll) was aware I was making this decision until receiving this notice. Many people are aware I am unhappy with Linden Labs' lack of support and care for residents on the grid but this decision was mine and mine alone to make.
* This is not a 'poor me' issue. This is a "I have a concern that every time I log in I won't have inventory/an estate/a business/the ability to do anything as promised" issue
* This is also a "I have fears that my residents and storekeeps will be greatly affected by the above issues which are all out of my control and how the hell do I help them if so" issue

What does this mean for you?

* Everyone's rentbox has been locked
* Anyone with overdue rent will have their items returned asap and will be banned from the estate, this includes landholders. Just because you're overdue in rent doesn't mean Linden won't charge me tier for the sim, grow up and take responsibility for your decision to rent/live/work here (or anywhere on the grid)
* Everyone is asked to "collect their stuff" asap or else it will be returned to your lost+found folder
* SHOPKEEPS: As you empty your store, any remaining rent will be refunded
* RESIDENTIAL RENTERS: As you empty your home, any remaining rent will be refunded
* LAND OWNERS: Anyone who owns land "not" for sale, your rent will be refunded and your land "bought back" for half it's original value, this seems to be the current going rate these days in this shitty economy++
* There are over 400 individual rentboxes across the estate, I will endeavour to tend to everyone as soon as I can re:the above
++If the above sounds unfair, that's life. In the past when people have been ejected due to antisocial activities they were always refunded any remaining rent owing and paid full amount for their land value (contrary to what they told everyone) before being banned from the estate. Due to Linden's devaluing land through "Free Homes" and overall poor economy performance, the value of a plot of land is worth much less today, so "half it's original value" is more than fair. Welcome to the Linden grid.

Given Linden have closed all but the most basic of forum topics now (hiding something are we LL?) there's no decent place to list "sims for sale" any more. Victoriana was always planned as a COMMUNITY estate; when full sims in Victoriana _break even_ (ie I kept the prices low so more people could enjoy the place and I don't make a profit, like other estates) as this project was a labour of love for me. The tier I have collected over two years has helped ease the cost of this project but was never planned to fully cover it (let alone make a profit from it). Linden killed that dream. I've spent over US$30,000 on this project over the past two years. That's my own money; any tier I collected from people (when they did pay their rent) went towards the additional costs on top of that, so if you feel you're wasting your money put things in perspective. Buying out everyone and refunding any rent is going to cost even more, as I suspect the chance of any resale value of the 13 sims that make up Victoriana will be non-existent now Linden don't provide estate owners anywhere to advertise sims for sale.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the (sadly) small number of genuine people I've met over my time running Victoriana, that have contributed towards the estate in a positive way. Some residents have held events, submitted freebies or Victoriana-branded items for others to enjoy, acted as greeters tirelessly helping newcomers to the estate, or even just attended events and made them a fun and fond memory. A big thanks to all the residents who often sent me a quick IM or Notecard out of the blue saying "Hiya" for no reason other than to be friendly, it always made my day that someone would say hello and not expect something in return other than a cheery greeting. Thank you for your time, efforts and for generally helping to make Victoriana a fun place for me and everyone to visit.

Off to OpenSim I go...

Best wishes (Unless you work for Linden Labs),
LittleBlackDuck Lindsay
Mayor of Victoriana and Tinytoriana

The Battle of Edgehill

Your humble narrator has on occasion pushed a Pike with fellow members of the English Civil War Society of America.  For some reason, the lines below came to mind repeatedly recently, which led to some quiet audio experimentation.  Pray forgive the head cold.

The Fight at Edgehill,
By Rudyard Kipling

Naked and gray the Cotswolds stand

Beneath the summer sun,

And the stubble fields on either hand

Where Sour and Avon run.

There is no change in the patient land

That has bred us every one.

She should have passed in cloud and fire

And saved us from this sin

Of war--red war--'twixt child and sire,

Household and kith and kin,

In the heart of a sleepy Midland shire,

With the harvest scarcely in.

But there is no change as we meet at last

On the brow-head or the plain,

And the raw astonished ranks stand fast

To slay or to be slain

By the men they knew in the kindly past

That shall never come again--

By the men they met at dance or chase,

In the tavern or the hall,

At the justice bench and the market place,

At the cudgel play or brawl--

Of their own blood and speech and race,

Comrades or neighbors all!

More bitter than death this day must prove

Whichever way it go,

For the brothers of the maids we love

Make ready to lay low

Their sisters' sweethearts, as we move

Against our dearest foe.

Thank Heaven! At last the trumpets peal

Before our strength gives way.

For King or for the Commonweal--

No matter which they say,

The first dry rattle of new-drawn steel

Changes the world today!

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