New Article: "SL's loyal users embrace its decaying software and no-fun imperfections"

[Scylla Rhiadra]

A new article about Second Life dropped a few days ago. It's worth a quick read.

There will be lots of (justified) quibbles about this piece; there are a few things it gets wrong, or that it mischaracterizes. It's also written in a rather thick and occasionally annoying Postmodern dialect that will be familiar perhaps to some who do media studies, Queer Theory, and the like. Were I vetting this as an article for publication, I'd want to see the argument tightened up a lot.

tl;dr basic thesis: the things that seem broken, out-of-date, or difficult about SL are, paradoxically,. the things that make it most worthwhile as a site for "queer spaces" -- meaning not necessarily LGBTQ+ oriented, but rather more generally transgressive and even a bit revolutionary. As the platform ages, it's "brokenness" creates more opportunities for imagining a place in which we can carve out for ourselves a virtual existence that is free of the top-down insistence upon conformity that we experience both on other MMO platforms, and in RL.

https://www.documentjournal.com/2024/05/second-life-virtual-world-gamer-furry-identity-world/

Edited May 13 by Scylla Rhiadra
Clarity

[Love Zhaoying]

- The fact that when I searched "Furry", the first thing in the article was about Luskwood..says a lot about the article.

- The misinformation is pretty bad, potentially due to sloppy editing. Example: "There is no centralized mesh system for avatars, meaning your second self can be anything you dream of—so long as you have the requisite Linden Dollars (a blinking animation will run you $49)"

  You KNOW that "blinking animation" was not "USD $49". You KNOW it was "L$ 49".

I'm afraid to actually read much of it.  Those two points above were from a quick search for random things.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

- The fact that when I searched "Furry", the first thing in the article was about Luskwood..says a lot about the article.

- The misinformation is pretty bad, potentially due to sloppy editing. Example: "There is no centralized mesh system for avatars, meaning your second self can be anything you dream of—so long as you have the requisite Linden Dollars (a blinking animation will run you $49)"

  You KNOW that "blinking animation" was not "USD $49". You KNOW it was "L$ 49".

I'm afraid to actually read much of it.  Those two points above were from a quick search for random things.

Yeah, that particular error -- about the blinking animation -- was one of the first things I caught.

There's absolutely no question this is a flawed piece, but I wouldn't dismiss its central thesis quite so quickly. This is a "thought piece" rather than a journalistic one, and while I agree that some of the errors (and the turgid prose) undercut its credibility, I wouldn't be quite so quick to seize upon individual problems as a indications that its main argument is invalid.

Edited May 13 by Scylla Rhiadra
Speaking of poorly written, turgid prose . . .

[Scylla Rhiadra]

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

The fact that when I searched "Furry", the first thing in the article was about Luskwood..says a lot about the article.

Can you elaborate? For the non-furries in the audience?

[Sammy Huntsman]

Also, how is someone just wanting to jump into a premade world just to let off some steam, considered heteronormative? That is some weird verbage, a lot of people love that kinda stuff. Not just heterosexual people. 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

7 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

The fact that when I searched "Furry", the first thing in the article was about Luskwood..says a lot about the article.

Can you elaborate? For the non-furries in the audience?

Mention of "Luskwood" fits the "time capsule" aspect of the "Lede". This is because "Luskwood" is one of the oldest brands of Furry avatar.  At least originally, they were all-prim, not mesh, and relatively inexpensive.  They are also somewhat cartoonish and very similar to one another.  Some are just head, paws, and tail, with a custom skin and shape.  Minimalist. Low detail. Favored by the G-rated Furry community; therefore an outlier as Furry avatars go.

I think the easiest way to explain it is by comparison:  "Luskwood" Furry avatars are to "most modern" Furry avatars, as Tinies are to modern Mesh avatars.

Also:

I found other editing errors, such as "affect" when "effect" was almost definitely intended (in large glaring font).

I started at one point to wonder if the layout and language was assisted by an AI.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

Also, how is someone just wanting to jump into a premade world just to let off some steam, considered heteronormative? That is some weird verbage

Possibly another indication of "writing assisted by AI, given a thesis".

[Sammy Huntsman]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

Possibly another indication of "writing assisted by AI, given a thesis".

Also this is terribly written, you can tell she didn't really explore the grid. She just went to a few regions and hopped along, and wrote this crap. LOl 

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Sammy Huntsman said:

Also this is terribly written, you can tell she didn't really explore the grid. She just went to a few regions and hopped along, and wrote this crap. LOl 

We could do a search of some of the "things" they wrote about, and "place names" they visited and see if they were all mentioned in other old articles. If so, the writer may have intentionally sought out "old things" to prove their "time capsule" thesis.

..while at the same time, attempting to make it seem "charming".

And "expensive".  Saying someone could easily spend $1000 on a skybox or avatar, doesn't necessarily make people want to visit!  I suspect they were surprised by costs and wanted to pass on that surprise to others.

Meanwhile, you can rent skyboxes for very cheap, and get free / cheap starter avatars...

Emphasizing certain things doesn't necessarily just show "bias", it can show "intent to tell a story".  That story doesn't necessarily represent very well what Second Life "is" these days.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Mention of "Luskwood" fits the "time capsule" aspect of the "Lede".

I think that's correct, and part of the point, but it would have been useful to have gestured towards more up-to-date aspects of furry culture.

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I found other editing errors, such as "affect" when "effect" was almost definitely intended (in large glaring font).

No, I am pretty sure "affect" is what is meant, which in this context means the emotional response to something. It's a usage that is (like most of this article) somewhat academic in origin.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

7 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Possibly another indication of "writing assisted by AI, given a thesis".

I don't think AI is capable of producing quite this level of Media-Studies-Speak. The tone, diction, and argument of this will be, as I say, very recognizable to anyone who reads that kind of thing.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

9 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I found other editing errors, such as "affect" when "effect" was almost definitely intended (in large glaring font).

No, I am pretty sure "affect" is what is meant, which in this context means the emotional response to something. It's a usage that is (like most of this article) somewhat academic in origin.

Admittedly, I read it at least 6-7 times myself, before deciding it could go either way, then deciding it went the other way 🙂

 

[MadameGloom Ravenwood]

If you want to truly critique somewhere then you can't do that based on first impressions. You should spend a good few weeks if not months to get a proper feel for somewhere like SL - Visit all different types of regions. Speak to residents, visit shops,  clubs, charities, visit scenic regions etc etc, I am sure SL offers something for everyone, and if you look hard enough you will find your niche. 

The author did none of that so not a credible appraisal for me.

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Scylla Rhiadra said:

9 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Possibly another indication of "writing assisted by AI, given a thesis".

I don't think AI is capable of producing quite this level of Media-Studies-Speak. The tone, diction, and argument of this will be, as I say, very recognizable to anyone who reads that kind of thing.

I don't know if it still exists, but many internet "media" companies used to pay for articles. 

So, people would pick an "open topic", do whatever research and/or use their existing knowledge, write the article, get paid and move on to the next topic.

I can't say exactly why it reminds me of that.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Carolyn Zapedzki said:

If you want to truly critique somewhere then you can't do that based on first impressions. You should spend a good few weeks if not months to get a proper feel for somewhere like SL - Visit all different types of regions. Speak to residents, visit shops,  clubs, charities, visit scenic regions etc etc, I am sure SL offers something for everyone, and if you look hard enough you will find your niche. 

The author did none of that so not a credible appraisal for me.

Agreed.

But I also don't think this is a "critique," in quite the way you mean.

I DO think its argument is undercut by a failure to recognize how SL has evolved, and continues to evolve. And I don't think we live in a "time capsule" to quite the degree it suggests.

Although, to use one example: Luskwood is still a reasonably popular place, isn't it?

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Carolyn Zapedzki said:

If you want to truly critique somewhere then you can't do that based on first impressions. You should spend a good few weeks if not months to get a proper feel for somewhere like SL - Visit all different types of regions. Speak to residents, visit shops,  clubs, charities, visit scenic regions etc etc, I am sure SL offers something for everyone, and if you look hard enough you will find your niche. 

The author did none of that so not a credible appraisal for me.

I think their use of "queer spaces" and "time capsules" to characterize places they DID visit, was a way to give significance to those places instead of needing to research or write about more. 

While I have not read the entire article (and still am shy to), I will be surprised if anything I read is a "new, surprising, shiny" thing that I would only expect to stumble on or learn about on the Forums.  

[Ayashe Ninetails]

I read up until I saw the phrase "ASMR-pilled." Then I started skimming. Then I quit.

I'm a little bored with the whole "lemme write about a game/platform I don't even use!" thing in the gaming industry. It's so obnoxious, and so is the phrase "ASMR-pilled."

That aside, the mention of prims just led me to believe this person has no idea what they're talking about. 

I won't quibble about Luskwood. It'd be like an outsider trying to get a pulse on the vampire community and hitting up Transylvania. I'm not going to expect a complete noob to Second Life to understand the inner workings of how mesh furries are made in 2024 (which would take them not only to several shops on the marketplace, but to human body stores, and good luck explaining all that to their audience).

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Although, to use one example: Luskwood is still a reasonably popular place, isn't it?

I'd have to go there and see.  The absence of people wouldn't "prove" anything though, right? Even back in the day, if you went there at a random time, you may only see a few avatars.

My own experience is mostly of the large Forests. (Not the malls or anything.) And a special place where an example of each avatar is rezzed similar to a shrine in a volcano (like where the statue of all the Avatars are in Avatar: The Last Airbender), as in a secret place to be viewed only by those who know it is there. (If they wrote about THAT, I would be impressed.)

I think a lot of us may recognize the fact Luskwood still exists "at all" is the impressive part.  If they still sell their avatars, even if mostly to "new" Furry users, that's still an indication of success.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

Also, how is someone just wanting to jump into a premade world just to let off some steam, considered heteronormative? That is some weird verbage, a lot of people love that kinda stuff. Not just heterosexual people. 

"Heteronormative" isn't a reference to sexuality of particular players/users, but rather a way to characterize the dominant culture of other platforms and RL.

One can be gay and still come from a heteronormative cultural place. Indeed, even if one is gay, one is probably still under the actual influence of heteronormative values and ideas, in the same way that internalized misogyny still operates within even the fiercest feminist.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

2 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I'd have to go there and see.  The absence of people wouldn't "prove" anything though, right? Even back in the day, if you went there at a random time, you may only see a few avatars.

My own experience is mostly of the large Forests. (Not the malls or anything.) And a special place where an example of each avatar is rezzed similar to a shrine in a volcano (like where the statue of all the Avatars are in Avatar: The Last Airbender), as in a secret place to be viewed only by those who know it is there. (If they wrote about THAT, I would be impressed.)

I think a lot of us may recognize the fact Luskwood still exists "at all" is the impressive part.  If they still sell their avatars, even if mostly to "new" Furry users, that's still an indication of success.

 

I visited a year or so ago, in connection (as I recall vaguely) to something that was said here on the forums. There were actually quite a few people there -- at least a dozen or so.

[Love Zhaoying]

I wonder how many buzzwords / terms are in the article, seemingly added to give it spice?

Queer Space

Heteronormative

ASMR

etc.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

11 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Although, to use one example: Luskwood is still a reasonably popular place, isn't it?

Just peeked at the Destination guide and took a quick look at Reddit where someone suggested it as a good place to go for a non-adult furry hangout 10 months ago.

It's rated G. That might be why they picked it. Edit: It's also the oldest furry place, I think. Started in 2003.

Edited May 13 by Ayashe Ninetails
Added Stuffs

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I visited a year or so ago, in connection (as I recall vaguely) to something that was said here on the forums. There were actually quite a few people there -- at least a dozen or so.

Like anyplace else, there are "events" so number of users are sure to vary.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

10 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I don't know if it still exists, but many internet "media" companies used to pay for articles. 

So, people would pick an "open topic", do whatever research and/or use their existing knowledge, write the article, get paid and move on to the next topic.

I can't say exactly why it reminds me of that.

 

Entirely possible, but I think it's pretty clear that the writer has had some reasonably sustained exposure to this kind of quasi-academic approach. Even the style of writing kind of indicates that.

That exposure might not be much more than, say, an undergrad degree with a specialization in media studies or possibly gender studies. It reads quite a bit like an undergraduate paper. Had an actual academic written this, it would almost certainly be at least a little more cogent, and would almost certainly have referenced a few appropriate theorists such as Baudrillard or Debord.

[Ineffable Mote]

I only skimmed briefly, but my initial impression is that it was written as a response to some Bo Ruberg's paper from nearly a decade ago along with some Stone's - the document amounts to really lazy attention seekings(for careering or what not) and isn't a serious exploration of(or even a serious commentary on) Second Life itself.

Edited May 13 by Ineffable Mote