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Hymn Celestia

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Posts posted by Hymn Celestia

    deserted Gorean sims and combat in my time zone

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    A group of friends of mine and I all outgrew Gor; nevertheless, we log in every day and have for over a decade, doing other things in SL and occupying other regions and contributing to The Second Life Population in other ways.  I very much doubt that the vacancy rate in Gorean regions (either by timezone or by traffic)  is a sound metric to determine when to sound the alarm about red tape and costs of living and new user experiences.  Sometimes people just move on and do other things; and sometimes they have different times to do them in than when they first began.  First and Second Life both are like that.

    I remember vividly -- for years -- how quickly regions would emerge and vanish in Gor; it was annoying especially for those of us who contributed cash to the regions by renting market stalls.  We'd pay our money, set up a stall in a new Gorean place, and then see in a few weeks the whole place was gone.  Regions would come and regions would go; "there's nobody here when I'm here" the familiar refrain.  But, the world map is covered in green dots; there are people logging in every day doing things. 

    The world map is enormous; there is a lot of combat to be had, perhaps not immediately where you are, but it's out there.

    • Like 2

    What would an SL achievement system look like?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Maybe an achievement system like this (with all the crazy achievements as well as all the functional achievements combined) would be a good way to build a portfolio with the aim of being a mentor.  Someone who has visited 1000 regions.  Someone who has built a house from scratch. Someone who has worn an entire folder of trees.   All of these "achievements" represent problems that needed solving and therefore can be useful to others who are going to have to solve these problems. 

    Therefore, an achievement system like this would of course be "opt in" for those who wanted to develop that kind of personal record of having done all the things; it's an instant Curriculum Vitae for such stuff as Mentorship.

    • Like 3

    What is there to do in SL?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    I know what I did as a brand new avatar in 2007 and that is to search "Groups" and find out if there were groups already formed about stuff I already liked, filled with people who liked what I liked.  Searching for niche things like certain Sci-Fi fanbases  (Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr Who etc...) and popular books at the time (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Twilight etc...) or lifelong interests (Ancient Rome, Classical Mythologies, Flying) led me to regions to explore and people to meet who were like-minded and already shared at least one interest to talk about.  And in conversing with those people about things we have in common, I learned everything I needed to learn about how the world worked, how the viewer(s) worked, how to get better things done better, and how to really maximize the SL experience.

    Second Life to me has always been about a "seek-and-ye-shall-find" curiosity that is always gratified whenever I go looking.  Searching groups always leads me to new and interesting experiences -- one-offs or long-term. 

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 1

    Are the Ranch Homes hard to Decorate?

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    I decorated a Creek Stone for my friend and found that I wouldn't want a house to be any larger than that, personally. I walled-off a bedroom just off the kitchen, and I added a powder room accessible from outdoors with full plumbing (no need to rough it in the world of fantasy).   So no I didn't find it difficult at all to decorate the Creek Stone; I haven't tried the others though.  (And I certainly have no trouble landscaping the larger area; I could lay out trees for days...................................)

    Joan's Ranch_018.png

    Joan's Ranch_019.png

    Joan's Ranch_017.png

    Joan's Ranch_016.png

    • Like 21
    • Thanks 1

    Any Thoughts on what the concept of 1000 Island dressing might be?

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    On 7/14/2023 at 3:52 AM, Tary Allen said:

    I don't have a clue about what the new theme will be or when, but I guess it will be soon 🙂 

    But it seems that something like the Vics in 2048 land would be a huge hit. 

     

    I agree :)  and actually ANY of the already-released themes on 2048 would be really really good.  All the themes are so well done and well landscaped and well presented, just having that extra land-or-water / prim allowance on what we already have would be SUUUUUUUUPER.

    • Like 6

    Beautiful Abandons

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, Tary Allen said:

    well I'm rolling with an alt for a week now, and nothing I like so far :(

    Sure I'm more into stilts, but out of despair I tried Vics and Trads, zero, nothing I could say "I can stay here for a while"

    I think is my rolling time, or just my luck

     

     

    I never considered myself a houseboat person, however I rolled around one day and saw boat after boat in terrific locations and kept a real beauty, then special-requested a second real beauty.  I highly recommend spending at least one day of your rolling privileges focused on houseboats to see what's there.  This one here in Shark Bait especially, it's a beautiful abandon.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shark Bait/115/13/22

    • Like 3

    Beautiful Abandons

    in Linden Homes

    Posted · Edited by Lyric Demina

    5 minutes ago, Laika Ravikumar said:

    Thanks for that I am Premium Plus currently on Stilt house which I do love but will have a look around anyway.

    The image that I included above in my South Haven post comes from a screen-cap of the world map which, when I single-click on a home, gives me the name of that home or reveals the "Linden Home" signal of availability. (On the Firestorm viewer anyway.) 

    That "Linden Home" signal of availability is not always accurate of course, because sometimes a Resident will name their house "Linden Home" for reasons only they understand.  But in any case, the map-clicking hunting technique is another passive way of doing it certainly while you already occupy a home and don't feel like abandoning it just yet until you're sure you're onto something.

    Edit to add: keep in mind that if you do find something that you would rather have somewhere, you will have to abandon your current Linden Home before another will be assigned to you.  It's a leap of faith.......................  sometimes an anxious one lol

    • Like 5

    Beautiful Abandons

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, Laika Ravikumar said:

    How do you find abonded parcels? 

    There are many ways to go about doing so.  My hunting-preference is rather passive; if there happens to be a region that I really love (like for example South Haven) then in my stroll around the region I investigate the different houses to see if they are occupied by someone.  If they are unoccupied and the land information reveals it is "Linden Home" then I know it is available for claiming (and you can try your luck rolling for it on the land page or you can special-request it with a support ticket if you have a Premium Plus account.)

    I don't worry about vacant houses in regions that I don't have a special affinity for.  I mainly just focus on a region that I love and look around it and spend time in it and hope that someday I get to have a place of my own in it.  It's not a race, for me; it's a pastime.  The homes come when they're good and ready.

    • Like 4

    Beautiful Abandons

    in Linden Homes

    Posted · Edited by Lyric Demina
    added slurl

    19 hours ago, Leora Greenwood said:

    Totally!  I may do that as well while I wait for the next theme.

    I've lived in South Haven for a while now and LOVE that region, but I have put the house back into the Traditional Home pool for someone else to enjoy, and heaven only knows where it is in the queue, but it is available for ticketing.  I too availed myself of some lovely abandons and scored a really nice houseboat for myself. 

    http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/South Haven/131/188/22

    South Haven Map.png

    • Like 6

    Mainstream failure of SL & Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    11 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

    The need to meet psychological and survival requirements is so baked into all of us, that when presented with its absence, most people .. move on.

    I love this debate!

    I agree with you that the need to meet psychological and survival requirements is baked into all of us.  But the second part of your statement falls apart because, at least in my case, the whole reason for my staying is that I don't have to worry about it here.  I can pretend, through my avatar, that I don't have messy needs. 

    If I had to wear a meter that ran out of life if I didn't meet the food requirements or the toilet requirements or the sleep requirements or the love requirements, or any of the pyramid requirements, I would give up and expire.  I have enough of that in my RL.  I want my SL to feel real-but-better in that sense, where my lovely avatar will do just fine indeed if I leave her sitting on a rock staring at water overnight with no threats of anything other than the internet resetting. 

    And I know that such meters actually exist in SL and that some people just LOVE them and need them in order to feel like the time they spend here is worth spending.  And so your statement likely holds true for them. 

    In my case, though, "when presented with its absence" is a feature not a bug :D

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1

    Ranch Theme

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    The regions are calming to the eyes and the hills roll along nicely.  The addition of the utility poles is great!  And I love the ability to turn off and on the wagon wheel at the front by the mailbox.  The soundscape is excellent as always. 

    I wish there were more water and falls, but I can understand why there isn't.  And the lots are big enough to add one's own water  (really, 350 Li of water if we want, seeing as we've been trained to decorate on 350 Li already!)

    The variety of houses is really nice.  The Aspens are lovely.  The Moles did a smashing-good job with making the regions feel comfortable and "finished." 

    • Like 8

    Avatars are anti social

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

    A common criticism ..

    • Visit a social location, dozens of carefully dressed avatars standing around in silence.
    • Why are these people not all having an entertaining conversation that one might listen in on, and perhaps join in?
    • Put all the same people together in group chat or discord and that conversation will happen and continue to happen.

    This behavior is replicated on other platforms and MMOs.

    In WoW for example, local chat is dead. Trade chat (a region wide chat where toons/avatars are not in close proximity) is very active. Guild chat (like our group chat) is also active. Dungeon chat is dead aside from purposeful information (don't go that way, wait for me a moment, etc).

    Minecraft, people will randomly chat when miles apart .. but not when together without purpose.

     

    People will chose not to engage with avatars in the same local vicinity unless all are personally known or they have no other choice. If conversation is forced to local, it will be brief and to the point. Local social among strangers can happen when centered around one or two instigators, the moment they leave, it ends.

    Avatars are anti social.

    Speaking for myself only (but perhaps others have the same experience) I would argue that avatars are evolutionary; that they perhaps do not begin as anti-social (simply because avatars need other avatars' help to be able to do things; like figure out the AO, or figure out why this skin looks different on me than on the picture and discuss the "shape" phenomenon etc...) but that perhaps the next phase of second-living involves an ever-lessening degree of social interaction in local.  One needs it less and less to achieve the daily goals.

    And so as the avatar evolves, becomes more and more sophisticated in appearance and movement, because of all the time and care spent fine-tuning it over the years, the avatar perhaps is less and less likely to engage with strangers in local chat as the avatar has likely made friends they communicate with in IMs, where one's attention is drawn the more friends one has made.  (One's attention can only be in so many places; and that is assuming there isn't any RL distraction beyond the screen.)

    I know that my avatar has indeed become anti-social over the years; quite deliberately in fact, as an evolutionary process based on key learnings and remembered experiences.  It's not that  "social is bad," just that I know where Lyric's fun resides and it resides in the familiar goodness she's curated over many years of trial and error.  Sociability has served her well in the past and now she reaps the benefits of it. 

    So, I posit: Avatars Evolve.  And maybe there is a next phase after the anti-sociability still to come, I don't know.

     

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 2

    Seeing "nature" in SL as good as seeing it in real life?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted · Edited by Lyric Demina

    1 hour ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

    This topic is inspired by the idea that says that humans who view nature often are more calmer and happier than those who don't.

    My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

    I personally can't say for certain. I do enjoy seeing nature both in real life and in a virtual space, and while real life has its advantages (there are things you can smell, taste, and touch as opposed to just sight and sound), so too does virtual nature (you don't have to leave home and less likely to encounter danger or whatever.)

    What a great question.

    I would agree that "seeing" my Second Life garden affects me with the same joy as "seeing" my real garden.  But I would also go further and say that "hearing" my Second Life garden and real garden both give me the same joy.  I make sure there are birds in both places.  And hearing water features makes me feel very relaxed indeed, and that is far easier for me to do in Second Life than anywhere else.  Listening to water is so important for my enjoyment of Second Life lately and I'm glad that I can control that.

    Edit to add: this very question is probably what drives the creation and consumption of virtual life in the first place; it is if not the prime question then very close to it, I would imagine -- "is it as good as real, does it make you feel like it's real, does it feel the same as real."  Success would be measured by this metric for so many aspects of virtual living.

    • Like 7

    Plus membership for Campers or only Mainland?

    in Linden Homes

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Anidusa Carolina said:

     I am not keen on Mainland because I know it has to be purchased by auction.
     

    There are other ways to purchase Mainland plots without going to auction, so if that is your only objection then you really do have other options.  You can purchase any land on the Mainland that is listed as "abandoned" by submitting a support ticket to request it.  In that case, it will cost you 512 linden dollars to purchase a 512m2 plot of land, and then it is yours tier-free for as long as you maintain your account's status.  Or you can purchase a plot of land directly from another Resident who has it listed for sale; and the price of that would be subject to the seller's discretion.  It is not only by auction that you would get some land, in other words, just to clarify that one point.

    • Thanks 2
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