Linden Lab

The Concierge and Land User Group meeting is a monthly, public meeting for discussion and education on Second Life, useful to both Mainland Residents and Estate owners. Topics include any issues relating to Customer Relations/Support or concerning Land in general (mainland, islands, Linden Homes, estates, auctions, etc.). Join Wendi, Vix, and members of the Land team, on Wednesday at 12pm PT at Linden Estate Services. All are welcome. Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

This is good news for Second Life residents and creators. More options without additional costs. We are having an open meeting on May 20 and can discuss in detail.

Pictured: WEIRDOS Whether you're looking to enjoy some engaging games, relax in beautiful natural surroundings, or venture into unknown territories, we've curated a list of some of the newest places to explore. Don't forget to check our Recently Added category to see all the latest additions to the Second Life Destination Guide! WEIRDOS Step into a realm where being weird isn't just accepted - it's celebrated! Whether you're a misfit, a maverick, or just a little bit unconventional, you've found your people here. Come hang out anytime, day or night. There is a game room, and plenty of hangout spots to just chill and be yourself! More Info Teleport Got a spot that you’d like listed in the Destination Guide? Make sure to drop us a note at editor@lindenlab.com or submit your spot via web form. Learn more about the Destination Guide criteria for Editors’ Picks or the Destinations Floater in the viewer, and increase your chances of being featured in those coveted spots!

We’ve got an all-new action-packed episode of “Lab Gab” that you won’t want to miss! Tune in to get a first look at our latest developer video that showcases the newest updates to the Private Alpha release of the Second Life Mobile App. There’s been a ton of progress since our last update – and Senior VP of Product & Engineering Grumpity Linden is here to break down what’s here now and coming next for our Mobile future. You’ll also hear from Director of Engineering Signal Linden and Product Manager Kyle Linden as they discuss and show off new and exciting Second Life innovations and features like PBR terrain and mirrors. Finally, our Manager of Support Operations Keira Linden joins us to share some news about forthcoming policy updates that will help make our virtual world safer and stronger for everyone - and did we mention that there’s also news about our upcoming SL21B celebration? Here are links to some of the topics we’ve covered in this episode: Second Life Mobile App - Developer Update Video (April 2024) Mobile Update: April 2024 - new builds, avatar updates! Premium Plus - Second Life Mobile Private Alpha Sign-Up Feedback Portal Mirrors, PBR Terrain, and 2K textures Materials Featurettes Viewer Accessing Aditi (the beta grid) Second Life’s 21st Birthday (SL21B) Updates Follow our Featured News Blog for upcoming Policy Updates To learn more, be sure to watch Lab Gab on the Second Life YouTube Channel! For full episodes of Lab Gab, click over to the Lab Gab YouTube Playlist. Want to see just the mobile updates? Check out our latest Second Life Mobile Developer video:

Save the date! On June 23rd, Second Life will be turning 21! The 21st annual Second Life birthday celebration (SL21B) will be held from June 21st through July 21st. Get ready for a month of fun-filled days of live music, performances, shopping, and amazing community exhibits! This year’s Birthday theme is Elements. This theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, "Elements" is a celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second Life. We’re looking for volunteers to assist during the celebrations. We are seeking Residents with great people skills and a passion for sharing the best of Second Life to help us make SL21B a huge success! If you have the Second Life spirit and stamina to promote SL21B events and serve as a guide for huge crowds, we’d love for you to fill out the volunteer application by May 12th! Over the next month, keep an eye on our blog for more opportunities to participate in the SL21B celebrations as a performer and merchant! CURRENT APPLICATIONS FOR SL21B: Volunteer Application - Applications close on May 12th, 2024 Exhibitors Application - Applications close on May 12th, 2024 (Announcement)

Happy spring! Thank you for all the suggestions sent in for future last names through our Last Name Suggestion Form. Today we are doing another big last name refresh by removing some of the older last name options and adding the following new ones from your suggestions: Firehart Ravenwood Zennor Whisperwind Starforge Xochitl Finchfield Azalea Seabrink Pawprint Morehead Osbourne The following is a screenshot of the full list of current last names available: We will continue to make additional updates to the available last name pool, so if these options aren’t for you, stay tuned for future updates. You can also continue to suggest your favorite name on our suggestion form, all new names are chosen from there! For more information about the costs and how-tos involved in name changes, read the Changing your username FAQ. Click to change your name now!

New Android and iOS Alpha builds were published Wednesday, April 3rd. We’ve been working hard for the last two months and are excited to share some major steps forward for the mobile client -- correctly displaying avatars and teleport improvements have been at the top of the list. If your avatar depends on an avatar shape deformer, you should immediately notice the changes to avatar rendering! Avatars that didn’t render at all before, or didn’t look the way you intended, now render correctly. Teleports are also greatly improved – no more getting stuck on a loading screen! If you’re on a parcel with streaming audio, you’ll now be able to use standard audio controls to stop/start and change the volume (tap main menu > tap the audio metadata at the bottom of the screen). We also found and fixed some issues with the order of group chat messages. There are definitely some known issues (h/t flexiprims!), but overall we’re sure you’re going to love the changes we’ve made in this release. Interested in checking out the Second Life mobile client? All Premium Plus subscribers are invited to participate - learn more about how to apply here. If you’re already participating in the Private Alpha, we appreciate your time, participation and feedback! Please continue to report issues in our feedback portal and from the app (main menu > Give feedback or file a bug). We’ve heard you, and know that there are lots of people waiting for wider access to mobile. We are working hard to expand access - and we will keep you updated with details and timelines as soon as we can!

Save the date! On June 23rd, Second Life will be turning 21! The 21st annual Second Life birthday celebration (SL21B) will be held from June 21st through July 21st. Get ready for a month of fun-filled days of live music, performances, shopping, and amazing community exhibits! This year’s Birthday theme is Elements. This theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, "Elements" is a celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second Life. Just like last year, your exhibit does not need to stay in theme. Share your Second Life passions with us. Your interests. Your communities. Your world! Every year we celebrate because of you, the amazing and creative Residents who have chosen to call Second Life home. What has drawn you into this world, and what keeps you here? These annual festivities are an opportunity to show us what fuels your Second Life. Let's celebrate that together! This year we are again offering two types of exhibitor regions, General rated regions and Adult rated regions. If you would like to participate as an exhibitor with a presence at SL21B, then please fill out this exhibitor form no later than May 12th. Over the next month, keep an eye on our blog for more opportunities to participate in the SL21B celebrations as a volunteer, performer, and merchant! CURRENT APPLICATIONS FOR SL21B: Exhibitors Application - Applications close on May 12th, 2024

Happy Wednesday! We’re writing to remind everyone that we’ll be holding our monthly Web User Group meeting today at 14:00 SLT in our usual meeting place, where we’ll be discussing our status with ongoing projects and our near future plans for our web properties. As always, we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A from the community. This meeting is conducted using voice. We're happy for you to contribute in voice or in text, but you'll need to have your voice settings activated. We look forward to seeing you there. Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

As promised in our PBR Materials announcement last year -- as of this morning’s Second Life server grid roll, we have increased the allowance of Land Impact by lowering mesh Download Weight by 15% for all of Second Life! Since much of Second Life today consists of mesh content, anyone who owns or rents land will see more land impact available on their parcels. How can I check if my objects have been affected? Right-click on the object you want to inspect, then click Edit, then click the More info link to see the current Download weight. We’d like to take this opportunity to remind residents that this allowance is being given for no charge and is intended to help offset any additional Land Impact spent on manually rezzed reflection probes and lights, and of course in anticipation of the upcoming Mirrors release. Land Impact is a finite resource, please rez responsibly! Updated: Frequently Asked Questions. Q. My private region can hold 20,000 prims (Land Impact). How many prims will I have after this 15% Download weight reduction? The region will still only be able to hold its original 20,000 prims, as the same for any parcel, or 30k private region. With this update mesh object's download weight has been reduced, requiring less land impact for objects where download weight is higher than physics and server cost, and letting your prims go further. Imagine a box that can only carry 20 pounds. With this update, the box is still the same, but the objects inside are lighter! To learn more about how weight is factored into an object’s land impact visit: https://community.secondlife.com/knowledgebase/english/calculating-land-impact-r273 Q. What types of items are NOT affected by the update? Animesh, primitives, and sculpties are not affected. The update will only affect static mesh objects that are rezzed onto your land. Q. How can I see what my meshes download weight used to be? At this time you will only be able to compare it by rezzing an object on the Beta Grid (Aditi) running older server code, which will be for a limited time as we are constantly moving forward. Any Beta Grid regions running server build 2024-02-21.7995320426 should report the old Download Weight. Q. This is confusing. Why didn’t you raise the region's prim (Land Impact) limits? Download Weight effectively controls the scene triangle budget. While the limit was appropriate when Download Weight was first introduced, it’s too restrictive by modern standards. By adjusting Download Weight independently of other resource limits, we can avoid overloading other systems (such as physics and script time) that are already using appropriate limits. Essentially, the weights were out of balance, with download weight carrying too much emphasis compared to other weights, and this change moves towards a better balance.

Pictured: Nederlandse Bergen Spring is here! Take a moment to stop and smell the virtual flowers at these picturesque nature-themed destinations. 🌸 Nederlandse Bergen Nederlanse Bergee is a beautiful island, ideal to get away from everything. It's a place to explore, discover, enjoy, relax, and spend a romantic time with your loved one. It is owned by Aloriana Shadowstar and landscaped by Marie Nova. More Info Teleport Don't forget to check our Recently Added category to see all the latest additions to the Second Life Destination Guide! Got a spot that you’d like listed in the Destination Guide? Make sure to drop us a note at editor@lindenlab.com or submit your spot via web form. Learn more about the Destination Guide criteria for Editors’ Picks or the Destinations Floater in the viewer, and increase your chances of being featured in those coveted spots!

Second Life is getting some new, exciting features that will make the world look even better. Mirrors are arriving soon! While we love the realistic reflections PBR materials enable, mirrors take reflections to a whole new level. You can create a mirror using a method similar to reflection probes, but with a twist -- when a reflection probe is set to use the “Mirror” option, all surfaces near the probe will exhibit a real-time mirror reflection, including PBR and legacy materials. We chose this method to enable maximum flexibility. For example, you can create a big wall of mirrors and have minimal performance impact regardless of how many mirrors are on that wall. As long as they’re aligned with the mirror reflection probe, they can all show a mirror reflection. To conserve performance, mirrors are subject to some limitations. The Viewer will show the effect of only one mirror reflection probe at a time -- the one closest to your camera. Mirrors are planar, so they won’t work very well on the body of a car, for example. Like so many good things in life, mirrors are best enjoyed in moderation. Applying PBR materials to terrain will be possible in the upcoming featurettes release. You will soon be able to apply most GLTF materials to terrain. Initially, PBR terrain will support normal maps and metallic-roughness maps. Emissive textures will not be visible on some machines and transparent materials are not fully supported. We expect PBR materials on terrain to vastly improve the beauty of SL -- because there’s a lot of terrain out there! PBR terrain uses triplanar mapping, a texture-mapping technique which is new to Second Life. On steep slopes you will notice far less texture-stretching. To conserve performance, triplanar mapping will be enabled only when the graphics quality setting is set to “High” or greater. With the advances in GLTF PBR Materials and upcoming Terrain materials, we know it is time to increase the texture size limit to 2K (2048x2048 pixels). We are approaching this change carefully, and are still weighing pricing options for images larger than the current max size. 2K textures will allow artists to add significantly more detail to their creations and do things like efficiently consolidate more UV surface area onto a single asset. Mirrors and PBR Terrain will be available on the Beta Grid (Aditi) to start with, on the following regions: Rumpus Room 2048 Rumpus Room 2049 Rumpus Room 2050 Rumpus Room 2051 Interested in trying out these new features? You can download the Viewer here. Never accessed the Beta Grid before? Here’s information on how to access the Second Life Beta Grid: https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/31000156725-accessing-aditi We can’t wait to see what fun and exciting new things residents create with these featurettes!

The Concierge and Land User Group meeting is a monthly, public meeting for discussion and education on Second Life, useful to both Mainland Residents and Estate owners. Topics include any issues relating to Customer Relations/Support or concerning Land in general (mainland, islands, Linden Homes, estates, auctions, etc.). Join Wendi, Vix, and members of the Land team, on Wednesday at 12pm PT at Linden Estate Services. All are welcome. Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to the Second Life community. Thank you for being part of this wonderful world and giving us the time to carefully assess our situation after we became the subject of a blog post that has the potential to cause harm to our dedicated community members and the virtual world platform that so many people call “home.” The post contains a complex mix of accusations regarding Second Life, and it questions our strong dedication to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all members of the Second Life community. Our Response to the Allegations At the heart of the blog post were unsettling accusations about sexualized, virtual avatar ageplay, including alleged violations of our community guidelines. I want to be clear: we have a zero-tolerance policy against sexualized ageplay. The safety and integrity of the Second Life platform are paramount to us, especially concerning the protection of minors. We will continue to enforce our existing governance policies and community standards and we are proud of our collaboration with law enforcement and organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to combat child exploitation. These efforts underscore our commitment to a safe online environment. With that said, I want to acknowledge that we can do better; this has been a harsh wake-up call for us that we need to take tangible actions to improve Second Life’s governance policies and protective features that benefit the entire community. Our Actions Moving Forward I promise you that we are taking this very seriously. Very. Full stop. I promise we hear you. We know you're angry and you're confused. We are working to do our best to resolve your concerns and restore your trust in us. These are complicated issues and we want to do things right. We will make mistakes along the way. I wish I could say we will not, but we will. As owner of Linden Lab, I have initiated a thorough investigation, both internally and with external partners, to review whether or not there have been any violations of our company and community policies by employees, contractors, or community members. While early preliminary internal investigations suggest that some of the accusations are unfounded, I want to make sure that we get additional investigative support externally to ensure that the process is fair and thorough. One of our top priorities has been to ensure the safety of our residents, moles, employees, and families. There are real people behind the avatars, and it has been important to confirm that nobody was in actual physical danger. Additionally, I am taking proactive steps to review and revamp many of our policies, including a comprehensive review of our Community Standards, Content Guidelines, and Ageplay Policy. Any violation detected will be met with swift enforcement actions to protect our community. We’ll be sharing these revised policies in the coming weeks and, critically, we are turning to the community to help us shape the future of how governance operates within Second Life. Our Commitment to You Second Life remains a vibrant platform for expression, creativity, and connection. I and the Second Life team are deeply committed to protecting our community and ensuring that Second Life continues to be a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone. Your trust is our priority, and we pledge to work tirelessly to maintain and enhance the integrity of our virtual world. I appreciate the patience and support of our community as we navigate this challenge. Together, we will emerge stronger and more united in our mission to build the best possible virtual world experience. Oberwolf Linden Linden Lab Executive Chairman

We have some exciting news to share – Second Life is implementing support for WebRTC Voice! What does this mean for you, our Residents? higher quality audio for voice improved security removes external dependency on third party provider for voice simple setup from behind firewalls, private networks enables greater control of Voice from Second Life WebRTC features, including: audio device selection, stereo audio, noise reduction, automatic gain control, echo cancellation and more! We look forward to WebRTC Voice being available grid-wide and supported in our default Viewer, but only after feedback and hardening while deployed to the Beta Grid (Aditi). Note, peer-to-peer voice calls, ad hoc voice calls, and group call behavior don’t rely on the Voice settings of the region. On the new viewer, incoming calls always work. Outgoing calls from the new viewer are WebRTC and won’t be received by the old viewer. Interested in hearing these improvements for yourself? Download this early-in-development Viewer from here (scroll down to Roadmap) and go to these regions on Aditi WebRTC enabled regions on Aditi. webRTC1 - secondlife://Aditi/secondlife/webRTC1/128/128/23 webRTC2 - secondlife://Aditi/secondlife/webRTC2/128/128/23 If you’re a developer and interested in integrating these changes into your project, go here https://github.com/secondlife/viewer/tree/webrtc-voice and see the documentation here.