Are the Big Builds Over in Second Life?

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Alan Watts

           In my wanderings near and far over the last five plus years in Second Life (SL), I’ve been noticing something in my peripatetic existence inworld.  (Significant Other’s eyes roll and I hear “Not again!” whispered just loudly enough for me to hear.)

          I’ve noticed that many older and large builds are slowly going away and are being

replaced by newer ones.

          So far so good, as someone once told me, the new always replaces the old and is a healthy sign. 

          But, there is a subtle change occurring here and that’s what this story is about.  

          When I first arrived inworld, I encountered many large, complicated builds which were amazing reproductions of sites either from Real Life (RL) or from fiction.  The attention to detail was fantastic and one could lose one’s self in them for hours.  (Significant Other can be heard saying, “And, some of us did!”)  

          The catch with these builds was not very residents were about.  In some cases, I never met anyone whenever I’d visit.  

          Two examples of elaborate builds that are now lost to us are The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Phaze Demesnes.  

          Without a doubt, new builds are springing up to replace the ones lost. 

          However, they tend to be less elaborate and more focused on the social aspects of life inworld than their predecessors were.  Evidenced by the numbers of visitors running around whenever I happen to rezz in.  

          Why is this occurring inworld?

          There may be several reasons at work here.

          First, tier fees, a perennial favorite, may be too high. 

          The move to mesh might be another reason. 

          As these sims became bigger and bigger, it just may have been too much effort to maintain them. 

          Changing tastes in what people want to experience inworld, or, perhaps more simply, the owners, builders, and whoever else may once have been involved simply lost interest.         

          Who really knows why?

          The fact is there’s a shift taking place inworld. 

          What does this portend for the future?

          Will SL be more about the social and less about the technical?

          Could this be a drawback in anticipation of Project Sansar from Linden Lab?  

          Could this be a hint of the aging of the SL community and lead to a SLEXIT?  (Sorry couldn’t resist!  Significant Other just ran screaming from the room.)

          Something’s definitely afoot.  And, yes, large established build like 1920s Berlin are still with us.  (In fact, Berlin just celebrated their seventh anniversary!)  

          I’m unsure whether this change is good or bad for the SL community.  This could go either way!

          What are your thoughts?  

          Please share them with my three loyal readers and me and possibly we’ll return to this topic again in the not too distant future!  

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! 

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life – An Unfinished Journey

 I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

 

          Earlier in my blogging, I’d begun a series on the Real Life (RL) Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life (SL). 

          I’d done my research before I started.

          All sites were inworld, maybe not as originally intended by their RL creators, but inworld nonetheless.  In fact, I’d actually visited one with a friend before embarking on writing this series. 

          I commenced my visits and blogged about five Wonders before going off on several other writing projects.  I freely admit I like to wander and take my stories as I find them.  (Significant Other nods in violent agreement right about now.)

          What was there to worry about?

          They’d still be there right?

          Well, I was wrong!  (Significant Other asks what else is new?)

          Recently, I’d decided to complete my two remaining stories about the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria this year and bring this long unfinished series to a close.

          I’d learned a while ago that Ancient Alexandria had closed and the light from its famed lighthouse extinguished.  But, I’d been there before and had enough information and pictures for a story.

          Then I went looking for the Colossus of Rhodes and found the whole sim where it stood, Museum Island, gone with no one knowing why or when.  Sadly, a couple of other Ancient Wonders had been there along with many other RL recreations of ancient monuments.

          (You can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I rezzed in only to find all this gone and a SL real estate developer promoting homesteads!)

          But, I guess as I’ve blogged before, this is just part of the circle of life in SL, creation and destruction.

          SL continually evolves.  Creativity and beauty are lost only to be replaced by something else somewhere else.  Or, at least I hope so.

          I’ve managed to salvage something from this.

          I have a picture from an earlier visit to Museum Island showing the Colossus. 

I also have a picture of Alexandria’s lighthouse. I include these so you can see

what once was inworld.  (I’ll continue to try and find out what happened and if we can ever expect to see these builds again.)

          During my efforts to learn what happened at Museum Island, I came across a recent Slideshare presentation about the site which I include the link to here so my readers can see what a truly fabulous sim this was. 

          Unfortunately, more than Museum Island and Ancient Alexandria have been lost to us. 

          The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, another Ancient Wonders story, are lost to us as

well. 

          All are now among the #lostsims which I use on Twitter to identify such.

          Like ancient marvels in RL, these are now lost to us in SL.  However, unlike RL where physical ruins sometimes remain, they leave no trace behind in SL except our memoires and 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!

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World V in Second Life: Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. 

Frank Gehry

         

          This is the fifth story in my Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life (SL) series.   My last trip was to the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.   So far, I’m three for four in trying to find the long gone Wonders of the Ancient World.  (One of the nice things about virtual worlds is that things and places long gone in Real Life (RL) are invariably around somewhere in the Metaverse.) 

          For the late arrivals, my rationale for this series about the Wonders of the Ancient World is that I’ve been blogging about a variety of topics in Second Life (SL) lately.  Fashion, steampunk, sex, pirates, and friendship to name but a few.  (I’m nothing if not eclectic.)  However, I feel I’ve gotten away from my roots.  My original intention was to travel across the grid to see new places and meet new people.  I think I’m doing pretty well with the latter but the former maybe not so much. 

           A group of places that I’ve always wanted to visit in RL and have been frustrated mostly by time and to a certain extent by distance is the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.   Given that only one of them still stands and that unfortunately seems to be surrounded by a swirl of political turmoil which looks like it won’t be ending any time soon, SL seems to be a pretty good bet to go looking for them.  (Significant Other also likes the idea of me not clocking up any more frequent flyer miles in RL.) This is the fifth in what will be a series of seven stories. 

The ancient world has always had a certain fascination for me.  Maybe because I grew up in a country where we seem to have more people who are over one hundred years old than we have buildings and monuments that old has something to do with it. 

           Working from Wikipedia’s list of the Seven Wonders, I was able to locate all seven within SL.  (Or, I thought I had.)  This was a good sign and I have my marching orders.  I’m going to visit all of them for my own sake and to bring the places and stories back to my readers. 

This time, I’m visiting the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.  The Mausoleum was built by the widow, Artemisia, in memory of her late husband and brother, Mausolus,   (Whom am I to judge?)  during the fourth century BCE.  BTW, where do you think the word mausoleum came from?  The tomb at Artemisia built at Halicarnassus  (modern Turkey) for Mausolus was renowned for its architectural beauty and hence made it onto list of the Wonders of the Ancient World early on.  Only ruins and fragments in a few museums are left today. 

I TP into Museum Island where a short walk takes me to the Mausoleum.  In front of me is a three tiered structure.  A staircase guarded by two lions leads to the ground floor entrance to the tomb proper.  The second tier is a grouping of columns which in turn holds up the roof. 

Being the curious person that I am, I enter the tomb and see the actual sarcophagus sitting in the middle of a plain, unadorned chamber.  When the doors close behind me there is a feeling of solitude.   Despite the closed doors and lack of windows, natural light fills the space.  (Virtual worlds are wonderful, aren’t they?)  The designer has succeeded in creating a space that mimics its RL equivalent.  Some might suggest that when that occurs, one has moved from craft to art.

And, yes, for the morbidly curious out there, I do try and remove the sarcophagus’s lid and peek inside.  However, it was locked firmly in place.  (What?  Everyone knows I’d have tried even if I didn’t write about it.  At least I’m being honest and permit my readers to live vicariously through me.) 

That was it.  Mausoleums don’t have a lot to keep me around once I get past the architecture and whatever else of an artistic or historical interest there may be especially if I have no relationship to the interred. 

Like my four previous trips, I didn’t have any interaction with anyone.  No one’s around.  I guess that’s probably true of most burial sites.  This brings me back to that idea that’s been forming in my mind since I began this journey that maybe some places in SL are just meant to be viewed and not occupied.  This may also explain the low readership I’m having with this series.  (OK, maybe it’s my writing but I’m working on that!)  I’ll explore this idea in future stories and with other residents. 

My first visit had left me worried about whether or not I was wasting my time with this series of stories.  My second visit reaffirmed my original enthusiasm for the project.  The third was a disappointment because I couldn’t find my goal.  The fourth trip was a hit.  This time I was successful too.  I hope that the remaining two Ancient Wonders meet or exceed my expectations.  (Assuming that I can find them again.) 

As I wrote earlier, my travels across SL have brought me to many different places.  Admittedly, many of these journeys were random.  Now, I’m moving along on a journey with a purpose.  (Maybe I’m growing up?  Significant Other may have another opinion here.)  Searching for the famous sites from antiquity seems like a worthwhile thing to do. 

My reasons for this journey still stand.  First, how much of the ancient world can I find inworld?  Second, how well has the ancient world been reconstructed?  My travels to date have brought me in contact with many residents who are either building worlds in SL or are living their virtual lives there.  The Great Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus, and  Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are just the first stops on this journey and I have two left. Anyone who would still like to join me for part or all of it, please reach out to me and we’ll work out the calendars.  I’d be glad for the company! 

I’ve included links to several pictures I took of the sim I visited.  But check the sites out for yourselves.  Pictures, especially when I’m the photographer, are never as good as being there. 

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

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.

Photo No. 1 Frontal View

Photo No. 2 Entrance

Photo No. 3 Ground Floor Interior

Photo No. 4 Tomb Close-up

Photo No. 5 View from Front Steps

Photo No. 6 Second Floor Columns

Photo No. 7 View of Mausoleum Top

Photo No. 8 Aerial View

Photo No. 9 Museum Island Landing Zone

 

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World II: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

In gardens, beauty is a by-product.  The main business is sex and death. 

Sam Llewelyn

     

          With this story I return to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life (SL).   My last trip brought me to the Great Pyramid of Giza.  On this leg of my journey I go the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. 

For the late arrivals, my rationale for this series about the Wonders of the Ancient World is that I’ve been blogging about a variety of topics in Second Life (SL) lately.  Fashion, steampunk, sex, pirates, and friendship to name but a few.  (I’m nothing if not eclectic.)  However, I feel I’ve gotten away from my roots.  My original intention was to travel across the grid to see new places and meet new people.  I think I’m doing pretty well with the latter but the former maybe not so much. 

          So, I’ve decided to strike out and visit more places further afield inworld.  One group of places that I’ve always wanted to visit in Real Life (RL) and have been frustrated mostly by time and to a certain extent by distance is the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.   Given that only one of them still stands and that unfortunately seems to be surrounded by a swirl of political turmoil which looks like it won’t be ending any time soon, SL seems to be a pretty good bet to go looking for them.  (Significant Other also likes the idea of me not clocking up any more frequent flyer miles in RL.) This is the second in what will be a series of seven stories. 

          The ancient world has always had a certain fascination for me.  Maybe because I grew up in a country where we seem to have more people who are over one hundred years old than we have buildings and monuments has something to do with it. 

Working from Wikipedia’s list of the Seven Wonders, I was able to locate all seven within SL.  This was a good sign and I have my marching orders.  I’m going to visit all of them for my own sake and to bring the places and stories back to my readers. 

I arrive at the Hanging Gardens in the Babylon Empire Port inworld.  I’m in awe.  My last visit in SL to an Ancient Wonder had been, let’s say a tad disappointing, more like a poor Las Vegas copy than an impressive, ancient monument.  This is something altogether different.

What waits me is an a four tiered ziggurat which dominates an impressive recreation of ancient Babylon.  Pictures do not do any of these scenes justice.  They must be seen. 

Each level of the ziggurat recedes back from the one underneath it.  Trees, plants, and shrubs are placed on each level.  As I ascend from one level to the next, I see impressive views of the city and the sea coast.  (Yes, I know ancient Babylon was in the middle of a desert!  This is SL!  Creator’s license, whatever you want to call it.  Get over it!)

Attention to detail is evident everywhere.  Textures are varied and realistic.  Wall decorations are very reminiscent of those found in books and museums.  Bas-reliefs adorn the walls.  Besides being a work of art, the Gardens are an ideal place to come and meditate.

The scripters have done a superb job of recreating what the Hanging Gardens of Babylon could have looked like.  Since we don’t have much in the historical record and ruins have been scant.  (I hope I don’t ignite an academic firestorm here.) 

While I didn’t explore the surrounding city itself, my brief tour impressed me with both the quality and quantity of work done.  The city walls are marvelous and remind me of accounts I’d read previously. 

My last visit had left me worried about whether or not I was wasting my time with this series of stories.  This visit has reaffirmed my original enthusiasm for the project.  Like other ancient sites I’ve visited like Alexandria and Rome where there is considerable attention to period detail and the scale is large, Babylon and its Hanging Gardens impresses.  I hope that the next five Ancient Wonders meet or exceed these my expectations. 

As I wrote earlier, my travels across SL have brought me to many different places.  Admittedly, many of these journeys were random.  Now, I’m moving along on a journey with a purpose.  (Maybe I’m growing up?  Significant Other may have another opinion here.)  Searching for the famous sites from antiquity seems like a worthwhile thing to do. 

My reasons for this journey still stand.  First, how much of the ancient world can I find inworld?  Second, how well has the ancient world been reconstructed?  My travels to date have brought me in contact with many residents who are either building worlds in SL or are living their virtual lives there. 

One observation from my trips so far.  When I visited these sims, no one else was around.  Except for local sounds like birds or running water, there was total silence.  I’m beginning to think that in SL there are either monuments or communities.  The two don’t seem to mix.  Maybe I’m wrong but I’ll keep looking at this as I continue my journey.

The Great Pyramid and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are just the first stops on this journey and I have five more to go. Anyone who would still like to join me for part or all of it, please reach out to me and we’ll work out the calendars.  I’d be glad for the company! 

I’ve included links to several pictures of the Hanging Gardens that I took while there.  But check the site out for yourself.  Pictures, especially when I’m the photographer, are never as good as being there. 

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

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.

Photo No. 1 View from Top of Gardens

Photo No. 2 View from Base of Gardens

Photo No. 3 Gardens’ Wall Bas-Relief

Photo No. 4 Gardens’ Trees and Shrubs

Photo No. 5 Gardens’ Bird Bath

Photo No. 6 Gardens’ Winged Guardian

Photo No. 7 Another View of Babylon from Gardens

Photo No. 8 Gardens’ Courtyard and Fountain

Photo No. 9 Coastal View from Gardens

Photo No. 10 Terrace View

Photo No. 11 Statues of Lions

Photo No. 12 Yet Another View of Babylon from Gardens