Castles in Second Life IV – Lost Castles

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

Leonardo da Vinci 

 

          The concept of this blog series you’re now reading began not long after I rezzed into Second Life (SL) for the first time.

          Having always been a fan of castles in Real Life (RL), it was only natural that I’d be drawn to them inworld.  (Significant Other mumbles something about “creature of habit.”)

          It didn’t take me long to find them and I planned to one day blog about them. 

          So, I kept notes on the ones I visited as I wandered across the Grid.

          Sadly, as I learned the hard way in SL, things don’t remain the same.

          They change or they go away.

          That’s what happened to some of my castles, they went away. 

          So, this story will be about the ones that got away.

          Castles that I once visited and was impressed with and are now gone and lost to us.

          To make matters worse, I didn’t take enough pictures when I did visit.  (Significant Other comments about nothing new there.) 

          But, I do want to share the memories of these great builds with you and of the communities behind them. 

          My first big SL castle hearkens back to when I published my SL stories on CNN iReports before I got the impression they didn’t really care about SL anymore.  (Another story for another time.) 

          The castle was Nulli Secundus and was inhabited by a vampire clan back in the day

when vampires were all the rage inworld.  (Another fine, old tradition that seems to have been lost inworld, trying to avoid being bitten by vanpires.)

          Nulli Secundus was big, dark, and foreboding, not to mention drafty.  (How’d I know that?  By looking at the torches flickering.)

          It was always nighttime whenever I arrived.  (They were vampires after all.)

          Old Drac would have been at home here. 

          Nulli Secundus was a fun castle to visit and to wander about in.

          The vampires had great parties and I went to my first SL wedding there. 

          Then one day after wandering off as I tend to do inworld, I returned only to find that it was gone.

          Sometime after, I ran into some of the vampires to find that they had moved onto the world of SL fashion modeling.

          I guess things change.

          The next great castle was at the fairy tale castle at the recently closed Phaze Demesnes. 

          Phaze Demesnes was a magical place created by Ferd Frederix, a onetime SL resident, who now resides at http://www.outworldz.com/

         

His castle alone was a work of beauty and creativity let alone all the other work that he put into his sim. 

          I can still remember when I took the flying crane tour and was overwhelmed by the castle and its environs. 

          Now, only pictures remain of what once was.

          My final addition to this list lost castles is Domus Dominari Pietas which was a BDSM club located in a large, Gothic castle with all the requisite dungeons and playthings that one would expect from such a place.

          The main hall was especially impressive and hints at the grandeur of the rest of the

castle.

          I really dropped the ball here because I have no pictures of the castle from the outside. 

          I recently dropped by the sim to find green pastures and a few small buildings.

          I asked a nearby resident if she knew anything about the great castle that once stood there and she simply replied, “No.”

          Like all the others, it’s now gone and belongs to the ages. 

          This concludes my list of great castles of SL that are now lost to us?

          Why did they close?

          Good question.

          I suspect that the communities behind them which supported them financially and with building and maintaining the sims wandered off to do other things or just left SL altogether. 

          Tier payments aren’t cheap so I’m sure this was always a significant factor.

          As in RL, these castles may have simply outlived their usefulness and became too expensive and difficult to maintain.

          Unlike RL, these structures couldn’t just be left to turn to dust but have to be turned off because of the expense.

          But, these castles will always live on in the memories of folks like myself who grew up on stories of Ivanhoe and dragons living and fighting in castles! 

          To all the unnamed builders who built and maintained these castles for our pleasure, many thanks!

          I wish you well in all your future endeavors and hope to someday visit them!  

          The lesson learned here is that when we encounter a beautiful build inworld to explore and enjoy it because we never know how long it may remain with us.  (And to remember to take plenty of pictures!)

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Another Regrettable Loss in Second Life

 

The quiet sense of something lost.

Alfred Tennyson

 

 

          Recently, Second Life (SL) has been losing many beautiful sims, some, IMHO, which border on being works of art.

          My last blog entry was about the loss of many of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in SL which have closed. Earlier, I’d blogged about loss inworld. 

          As in Real Life (RL), we cannot go for long without experiencing loss.  A short while ago in RL, I’ve had to deal with personal loss. 

          It’s not nice, it hurts.

          So, when I read a couple of days ago about the pending closure of another phenomenal build inworld, it saddened me.  Although, I can no longer say that these announcements surprise me.  I do worry about my blog turning into an obituary for the worlds within SL.

          The sim whose coming closure was announced is Phaze Demesnes, one of the most

beautiful and creative sims inworld and which also demonstrated the true spirit of building and collaboration that characterized SL in its early, halcyon days.

          Phaze Demesnes had been originally created five years ago by Ferd Frederix.  Ferd is possibly the most creative and prolific scripter inworld. He also made many of his scripts available for free to all who visited his sim.

          The sim itself is what SL was originally meant to be, a wildly beautiful and chaotic

place overlooked by an impressive castle.  Flowers, birds, and other wildlife coexisted in a seemingly natural state of harmony.  The flocking of birds is especially impressive.

          Visitors were friendly and helpful just like Ferd and wavinggirlsav Voom, Ferd’s sidekick and fellow scripter.  All were made to feel welcome.

          The airborne crane tours were, and are, still awe inspiring.

          Phaze Demesnes was one of the first sims I visited after rezzing into SL.  It was definitely the most creative and, still after all my travels inworld, the most impressive.  For a while, until I moved into Nowaki, I used Phaze as my home destination when I’d log into SL.  During my infamous 24 hour stay inworld, I spent time in Phaze Demesnes.

          Sadly, like so many other beautiful places inworld, I took it for granted, assuming it would always be there to return to.  (Significant Other gives me that I told you so look.)

          I wonder and worry about the implications of Phaze Demesnes for SL. 

          Older, extremely creative sims like Phaze which has taken five years to build are closing.  They cannot be replaced by anything nearly as creative any time soon.  There appears to be a hollowing out of SL. 

What will be left?

          What does this mean for the revenue base of Linden Lab?  It can’t help and without places like Phaze Demesnes to visit for how long will residents keep coming back? 

          The creative side of SL will also take a major hit without Ferd’s scripts and no one to add new ones.

          This is truly a sad moment in the history of SL.  A vaccum has formed inworld and it’s an ominous sign for the future. 

          Thoughts must turn to the future after an event like this.

          Is SL approaching a tipping point (Significant Other winces at my overuse of this overused phrase.) where the closures will accelerate to a point where it returns to its beginnings when it was nothing but empty space?

          Is SL becoming like many of America’s cities in its Rust Belt?  Ghost towns populated by the indigent struggling to survive while prosperity passes them by on the freeway?  (Significant Other arches an eyebrow.)

          I don’t know why Phaze Demesnes is closing.

          Maybe tier became too much of a drain.  Dealing with mesh might have become too aggravating.  Or, possibly the uncertainty of SL 2.0 just pushed Ferd into throwing in the towel.

          I don’t know but I’ll try to get some answers.

          I do encourage all who have not yet visited Phaze Demesnes to do so before it finally closes and to also pick up some of Ferd’s wonderful, free scripts before they’re gone forever.

          Phaze Demesnes will close at the end of December 2014 which I’m interpreting to mean that New Year’s Eve will be their last night open.

          Check it out, you’ll be glad you did! 

          Ferd will be reopening part of Phaze Demesnes in Opensim on the hypergrid at Outworldz.  The sim will be called Virunga Mountains.  As I learn more, I’ll report back.

          I wish Ferd and wavinggirlsav all the best in their new world and ventures! They will be missed!

          Adieu!

          More pictures from Phaze Demesnes can be found here.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.         

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!