Big Wastes of Time in Second Life

Question: Is there anything you set out to do in SL that you later tought (sic) of as a huge waste of time?

Yes, I once tried to create a giant, almost hour long machinima that would tell the story of a war between (then existent) Duchy of NewAltenburg and the Independent Nation of Caledon. The story was quite complex for a Second Life machinima-- involving a storyboard, multiple characters, several actions scenes, and many people in crowd scenes. It was a doozy of a plot, with a genuinely funny ending-- a take off of the old "coke drinkers singing on a hill" commercial. Alas, it was too much for me to commit to by myself. Aside from a core group of workers, enthusiasm for the project waned quickly among the the participants and gradually I dropped the idea. I learned that small projects that can be accomplished with one to three filming sessions are the way to go, but large, complicated ones inflict too much pain and suffering to be practical. Your mileage may vary, of course, but that was my experience.

Ask me anything

Ask Hotspur Anything!

(out of voice meta-post) There will be an occasional post that is posted in the form of a question that I must answer. This is a result of a new social media service called formspring.me (remember the ".me", it is not formspring.com) which is making the rounds right now on Plurk and Twitter. I like this notion, and have set up an account on formspring. If you have a SL related question (really, ANY question), you can ask it on formspring and then odds are the answer may post here and/or Twitter. Alternatively, you can enter a question in the "Ask me a question" box called "For the Casual Reader" on the top right of the sidebar of this blog. It depends. Stupid or insulting questions will likely be ignored.

Here's the first one:

What would you like to see more of in SL that you feel is missing?

Simple collaborative and blogging tool interfaces-- such as Googlewave and Google Calendars. As part of the Client. Let's face it; SL is touted to be a big social media tool but it's really standalone. The hooks to other media channels aren't right there in the client. They should be; it's not that hard to conceive of. Imagine being able to take pictures of an event and instead of downloading them to post on Flickr and Blogger.com, you just pushed a button that made it happen? Imagine if Events synched with Outlook and Google Calendars? Imagine if IM Channels could synch with Google Waves? I don't consider these things to be that hard, from a technical perspective. And they would add immeasurably to the SL experience-- from the user perspective AND from Linden Labs perspective.

Ask me anything

Hotspur on Mars

BLUE Mars, that is.

Dropping the typical "voice" for this post.

Probably the least kept secret in the Independent Nation of Caledon and various other steampunk locales is the vast number of Virtual Victorians that have been recruited to work on the Blue Mars Project. You'll find out in due course, I'm certain.

I've been only marginally involved from the outset-- not from choice, but because of several upheavals that hit me during the course of 2009.. I didn't have the time or inclination to jump into ANOTHER life consuming project. There were far to many Real Life matters (many of them, not very good ones) consuming my spare time. So it goes.

I have been keeping tabs on the development of the alternative world of "Caledonia" and various other locations in Blue Mars. This is an intriguing development. Yet another hangout for virtual steampunk life. My impressions are that it needs a human touch yet, and that's what the virtual steampunk community has been recruited (heavily!) to do.

It's still too youthful and I couldn't figure out freckles or glasses, but that's pretty close!

I intend to support Blue Mars with such talents as I can bring to the table, as things progress. There will be a Fleet office of the Wrath Exiles within Blue Mars, and some day, the demigods of IT willing Ironclad battles.

Right now it's pretty much early days. Expect to see material on Blue Mars as my involvement increases.

Note the peculiar font face?

There's lots to do yet, Ports to build, Uniforms to tailor, social structures to create out of whole cloth. I think I can get excited about this prospect. It should be an interesting 2010!

Note Bene, I go by the same in world name there as I do in Second Life.

Armada Scoundrel's Parley

The good folk of Armada, with whom the Fleet of Wrath Exiles has scrapped in the past, have a Steam Pirate festival coming up, called the Scoundrel's Parley. This is in celebration and recognition of the "Scoundrel Fleet" that has popped up over in Armada lately, I suppose. In any event, it would appear to be quite the event!

ARMADA SCOUNDREL'S PARLEY

Armada is proud to host the first steam pirate fest, January 26th to February 1st, 2010!
The event is open to steampunk and pirate-themed sims as well as individual participants.Bring yourself or your crew and prepare yourself for for battle, building, and buccaneering!

Battles, competitions, and perfomances will be held throughout the week. Details on specific events and the schedule to come soon. If you are interested in any of our events, either drop a notecard in the mailbox attached to the poster at our landpoint, or send it to Roswenthe Aluveaux. The event is open to steampunk and pirate-themed sims, as well as individuals interested in participating.

---- Battle Events ----

1v1 Ironclad TourneyBattle it out with ironclads in a tourney event! Times for all tourneys will be open for all time zones, and signups on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested, drop a notecard to Roswenthe Aluveaux or Captain Static.

Airship TourneyFinally, the airships get a turn to fire in our airship tourney event! Take to the air as steampunk airships fight to be the last ship standing.
Sail-powered tourneyWhat pirate parley would be complete without a sail-powered ship tourney? Traditional pirate ships battle it out for the best sail on the seven seas!

---- Performances and Gatherings ----

Armada Anniversary BallCelebrate Armada's first anniversary on Tuesday, the 26th of January, at 7pm, with a celebration DJed by Armada's owner, Remington Thursday!
The Scoundrel's Ball Come decked on Sunday, January 31st at 1pm in all your pirate gear for a pirate ball and costume contest to steampunk and pirate themed music, DJed by Roswenthe Aluveaux.

Performances by:* Phantasmagoria Circus* artemesia - gothic bellydance troupe* Belly Up - Mer dance troupe..and others!

---- Build events ----

Steamy Shipbuilding Contest In an effort to see more steampunk-themed ships on the market, this contest is aimed at waterborne ships such as ironclads, to be decked out in steamy themes. Entrants will be judged via a rubric on overall theme, originality, and economical use of sim resources. All entries must be your own design and build.

Theoretical Machine Build Contest Build anything you can imagine in our contest to design what might be possible in the world of steampunk. There are no limits, and items with a fantasy or science fiction bent are allowed. Entrants will be judged via a rubric on originality, design, and economical use of sim resources. All entries must be your own design and build.

---- Other Contests ----

• Swordfighting contests


• Shooting contest


• Costume contests


• Pirate filk contest


• Mudfighting

Wrath Fleet plans on entering at least some of these, heartily endorses this competition, and hopes to see you there!

Sherlock Holmes at the Kinescope

The Game's Afoot, Watson!

Your humble narrator had the opportunity to view the new Sherlock Holmes adventure story over the Christmas holidays. YHN can report that he is very favorably impressed by this adaption of the famous occupant of 221-B Baker Street.

First of all, the story, which shan't be revealed in any great detail here, lest my words spoil enjoyment for any eyes perusing this missive. The plot revolves around a villain (of course) who has grand, evil plans (of course) that vaguely employ either magick, or technology, or perhaps both. The script was very cagey about magick in this setting-- it appeared to exist, at least until the denouement. There's a grand mystic brotherhood (of course) who are the secret hand at the tiller of the Empire (God Save the Queen!). All of these elements are familiar to fans of penny dreadfuls and readers of adventure stories such as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or even (it must be said) Girl Genius! Yet, the visuals, in the hands of the director, Mr. Guy Ritchie, are so startling and wonderful to behold one does not for a second get a sense of hackneyed or trite storylines. Indeed, one almost seemed transported back to London of the 1880s or so, the attention to detail-- both in the close up objects such as props and clothing and the far off objects like the matte painting and animation provided by ordination devices. Bravo, to Mr. Ritchie's art director and his staff!

Secondly, and best of all, are the performances. Mr. Robert Downey portrays Sherlock Holmes as a world weary, cynical, slightly deranged genius. This is not far off from Doyle's original perception of him-- but Downey carries the sense of dissipation far beyond Doyle's original. Here we have a nervous, disturbed Sherlock who is almost a manic depressive-- a genius, but with no challenges in life. He is bored (at the commencement of the plot in any event) and fretful-- think "Seven Per Cent Solution" Holmes here. Many strident voices were raised about the high level of activity being presented by the kinescopic promotional bits showed here and there. I did not find this off-putting in the least. Doyle's original Sherlock was a man of Deduction, yes.. but also a man of supreme Action, as is hinted at time and time again in all of the canon stories. Mr. Jude Law, as Watson, is also not the jowly, stodgy and thoroughly stupid Doctor Watson as he has been portrayed in the past. In this Watson, we see a man who cares for his friend and yet refuses to be his constant foil. Law brought a sense of personality to Watson that has long been absent in kinescopic efforts of the past. In the books, Watson's function seems to be to stand around and say "By Jove, you're right, Holmes!" and "How the devil did you deduce THAT, Holmes" and always "I have my trusty revolver handy, Holmes"... not this Watson. He is portrayed as being more his own man and less a sounding board for Holmes. The kinescope is set in the time period just prior to Watson moving from Baker street to move in with his wife, and that decision plays into the plot repeatedly.

The rest of the cast is quite impressive-- many of them staples of current British cinema and some of them veterans of Mr. Ritchie's previous efforts. Perhaps the least impressive was the big villain himself. YHN observed that the plot seemed to develop without him until the very end-- we get a glimpse of him here and there and then he shows up at the very end for a prolonged sequence. As we do not get a chance to see into his mind very much, he is nothing more than a stock character, really. Just as well, the movie hints of a far more serious enemy waiting in the wings (the one of whom we all know, whose name begins with an "M"). Perhaps a future engagement for Mr. Holmes? We can only hope. In the meantime, Sherlock Holmes is a must see for Steampunk fans everywhere. Don't miss it!

Now that was a Rez Day Party!

December 26, 2006, YHN (in RL) was down with a fever and camped out on the couch in the study downstairs, trying not to make the members of his household sick. He had NPR on, where Mr. Cory Doctrow was being interviewed on NPR. Mr. Doctrow was going on about the wonders of this brave new virtual medium, Second Life. Then he said the words that changed everything for YHN: "It's free by the way..." Being bored out of his wits, YHN decided to give it a try. The rest, as they say, is history of sorts.

Last night, at Lady Bellambi's High on the Skye platform we celebrated the third anniversary of that event. How long ago it seems now! How many virtual miles have I trod since that evening! And yet, here we all are.. years later. We packed the plat with friends and friends of friends and friendly acquaintances and dire enemies and we all managed to have a great time anyway!

The Theme was "Santas and Shotguns"
Dress was casual, with an emphasis on post-Yuletide seedy.. so there was an abundance of santa hats, naughty elfs, and reindeer horns on display!

Click to Enlarge

The boys in the backroom (Mr. Huszar and Mr. Murakami) had come up with a cunning macguffin for the event. It was a Christmas tree that spat out flying, explodable reindeer, each with 100 hit points. Using any SL weapon that fired a projectile, you could knock them out of the sky. The evening would demonstrate how broadly the phrase "Any SL Weapon that can fire a projectile" can be! A fusilade of bullets, buckshot, minie balls, musket balls, teddy bears, pumpkins, watermelons, chickens, and couches (yes, couches) were fired into the air over High in the Skye, knocking out reindeer so much we had enough to feed venison stew to the poor twelve times over (albeit they should check for shot first)

Ms. Frequency Picnic was in rare form last night, playing a very diverse set-- Terpsichore herself must have inspired her selections!

Thank you for throwing this event, Lady Bellambi, and thank you to the many attendees. I do think we outdid ourselves this year!

A blessedly brief magick lantern show!

Bouncey Bongo Hobo Flash Mob

Never get Hobos bored in a group. They may show up at your location and play the bongos mercilessly.

Hotspur O'Toole's THIRD Rez Day! 12/26/2009

Time flies when we're having fun. What have I learned in three years? I waxed eloquent in previous years when asked 'what has a year in Second Life taught you?". I've got it paired down now.

1. Don't be a bastard
2. Listen as much as you Talk
3. Go for the Win-Win
4. Big Virtual projects usually Fail.

In any event, to celebrate my third year in this virtual landscape, the lady Bellambi has graciously hosted a party in her land of Skye.

Click to Enlarge

The theme: SANTAS AND SHOTGUNS
The date: 12/26/2006
The time: 730 PM SLT
The style of dress: A "Seedy Yuletide" (santa suits, rum and shotguns provided for free)
The SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Winterfell%20Anodyne/205/222/2501
The DJ: Miss Frequency Funky-Fresh Picnic playing your post-Yuletide depression favorites!

The boys in the back room have been cooking up some fun... it involves reindeer.. exploding reindeer that one shoots like skeet.. and other fun items. There may be melee on ice as well.

In any event, have a tot of run, load your shotgun and bring some ho, ho, hos to Santas and Shotguns!

A Christmas Blessing from Polymath Eyrie

One Universal Christmas Card

To all YHN's friends and acquaintances in virtuality, he wishes to extend sincere wishes for a Very Merry Christmas, and a Safe, Happy, and Healthy New Year.

On a side note, YHN's human wishes to thank numerous friends and acquaintances for their support this year-- there were some bad times: unemployment (blessedly, brief) and a lean purse being one of the major issues that struck in the middle of 2009. Life does not come with guarantees, alas, but let us hope the dark times are behind us, at least for the while. To my friends, I thank you for your continued support. To those I exasperate beyond all measure, I likely will continue to do so (being far too set in my ways at this late date), but let us all hope the new year brings us all new beginnings.

From Polymath Eyrie's Red Room

Hotspur

Attackazods, DEPLOY!

For one week only, Brian Lonano, the creator of Attackazoids, Deploy! is posting his short film to the web. It is well worth a look and quite the steampunk art film.

ATTACKAZOIDS, DEPLOY!! from Brian Lonano on Vimeo.

Zombie Outbreak Simulator

Using google maps.. this is well worth a click or two. :-D



Click on the picture to get to the outbreak.

True Steampunk

Go Out and Build Something

Recently posted on the Lead Adventure Forum, the results of the go out and build something contest.

The "Tsar" Steam Tank:



This is why I don't enter these contests-- it would be too humbling...



Keep in mind, this is all hand made. Usually from castoffs and junk.

The Nautilus

Steam Tank

Iron Melee in the Battle Circle

Come back, you jolly jack tars...

Iron Melee returned to the Blake Sea area for Thursday night, the first time in several weeks as Roatan, AI and Zatzai are being remodeled.

The Crowd Gathers: Hotspur Hosts

Operations shifted to Blake's Cove and Blake's Shore, hosting from Sanctuary Dock in the midst of the so-called "Battle Circle" of Outposts set up by MarkTwain White. The folks from the ICS Steam and Sail community showed up in force to battle with larger sized ironclads using the ICS 3.0 combat system. This was no formal battle, just a repetitive die-and-re-rez contest of steel, cordite and discipline.

The Captain's View of a CHOCTAW ship

YHN first put a FISHKILL in the water-- probably a tactical mistake, as it only had a Gatling Gun up for'ard and a Depth Charge launcher aft. Still, YHN was surprised at her general toughness and capability to hang in and trade blow for blow. Even launching depth charges in a generally rearward direction can cause havoc if you set it up correctly, and YHN had a quiet moment in which to set up a long dropping shot or ten into the general melee. What fun he had then! All good things come to an end, and when the crowd realized where the gadly was stinging from a few worthies were dispatched to sink YHN and his valiant ship.

YHN's next ship was the CHOCTAW, a historical hull recently completed by Admiral AngusGrahamn Ceawlin. Ungainly to look at, she handles marvelously well indeed-- and the view from her cannon postion is second to none.

The last ship of the evening was the valiant QUEEN OF THE WEST, YHN's Ellet Ram. She charged into the fray like a good 'un, but was unable to effect a decisive ramming angle and thus was despatched under the guns of Angus' CHOCTAW.

We were all a bit dubious at first, as being caught on the sim lines and edges can be quite murderous, yet Blakes Commons proved to be a wonderful place to put some iron in the water. Lag was minimal at the Cove sim, and a significant amount of ships participated simultaneously with few problems. A true win win.

We hope to hold future contests there, so consider showing up at Sanctuary Dock at 730 PM SLT on Thursdays, or at Sanctuary Seas, or Roatan-- we will be rotating locations.

A Visitor to Polymath Eyrie

Gozer: The Choice is made!
Hotspur: Whoa! Ho! Ho! Whoa-oa!
Gozer: The Traveller has come!
Hotspur: Nobody choosed anything!
[turns to Fuzzball]
Hotspur: Did you choose anything?
Fuzzball: No.
Hotspur: [to Lunar] Did YOU?
Lunar: My mind is totally blank.
Hotspur: *I* didn't choose anything...
[long pause, Hotspur, Fuzzball and Lunar all look at Nichus]
Nichus: I couldn't help it. It just popped in there.
Hotspur: [angrily] What? *What* "just popped in there?"
Nichus: I... I... I tried to think...
Fuzzball: LOOK!
[they all look over one side of the roof]
Nichus: No! It CAN'T be!
Hotspur: What is it?
Nichus: It CAN'T be!
Hotspur: What did you DO, Nichus?
Lunar: Oh, shit!
[they all see a giant cubic white head topped with a sailor hat, Hotspur looks at Nichus]
Nichus: [somberly] It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Iron Melee at Port Merrimac on hold for Terraforming

I have heard back from Zatzai Asturias, who owns the region around what was Lilliput, where Port Merrimac was located in the sim named ROATAN. Zatz has sold off some of the Lilliput area to "sailing and ironclad combat enthusiasts" MarkTwain White and Fanci Beebe. MarkTwain White is setting up the Blake Sea Battle Group for battles on the Blake Sea (with some restrictions, we are working that out). Zatzai sold off Gregory Rock, Althorn Point, the Great Dismal, and perhaps one other, which are now being incorporated into MarkTwain White's OUTPOST Program (see below). This is a small archepeligo for pirate and ironclad communities to set up "Battle Bases" right on the edge of the Blake Sea. Good times are ahead for naval combat!!

In the meantime, that leaves the original ZATZAI, Artificial Isle and ROATAN sims. These are undergoing a terraforming into a longish three sims wide island with Port Merrimac being enlarged and expanded.

In short, Port Merrimac, Iron Melee and the Fleet of Wrath Exiles will still continue to operate out of this location as a location for Ironclad ship battles. The terraforming may take from 2 to 3 weeks. In the meantime, I have asked my friends AngusGraham Ceawlin at Santuary Seas and Steelcobra Calamari at Steeltopia to host Iron Melees. Both have large bodies of water which are ideal for the purpose and relatively lag-free.

Thanks,

Hotspur