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.

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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!

Loss in Second Life

Eventually, everything goes away.

Elizabeth Gilbert

 

          Recently, I read a story in James Wagner Au’s blog about the large number of sims that have closed in Second Life (SL) over the last several years.  (If you don’t read this his blog, you should.  It’s a great source of information on both SL and virtual worlds in general.) 

          This got me thinking about my own experiences inworld since I began blogging almost two years ago.  I went back and revisited several of the sims that I had first blogged about when I began.  I was shocked to find that many were gone. 

          Not only were they gone but the communities around them are gone too.  Not just the prims and the scripts but the people who congregated there and the sense of belonging that formed around them.  To return to a place where there were once buildings, crowds, noise, and who knew what going on and to find just an empty field is a bit disconcerting.  I realize this may sound a little silly but there is a sense of loss when something one is accustomed to is gone. 

          For example, some of my first stories about different lifestyles in SL were about the vampire community, a family called Nulli Secundus in particular.  They had a wonderful castle (What else would vampires have?) with great recreational facilities.  I went to my first SL wedding there.  It’s gone now and the family seems to have broken up and gone its separate ways. 

          Another sad story, when I first began blogging, I wanted to use freebies. (OK, I’m cheap.  Get over it!  I also wanted to demonstrate that residents need not spend a lot of money to have a good time inworld.)  I wandered into a sim called the Hyles Info Center which had many freebies which my original avatar.  (Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about my makeover!)  I dropped by recently to find only a small remnant of what used to be there and few, if any, freebies.  This is a great loss for noobies. 

          One sim which has recently closed was the Island of Bare Naked Angels, a nude beach resort which was non-membership.  I had hoped to do a story about it for my Sex and the Single Avatar in SL series.  It was a well laid out facility with friendly guests.  I made several good friends there.  I TP’d in a short while ago to find it undergoing a change into a members only site. Recently, someone told me that even that has closed. 

          I’d blogged about breedable meeros in SL and visited several sims for research and background.  Mystic Bay Breedables, Blue Fusion Estate, Red Barn Meeros, and Lil Egypt Meeros Market are now gone.  (Although, Lil Egypt itself is still open.)  Maybe there was an oversupply of meeros.  Another old haunt of mine in the early days, Lollygaggas, Creative Junk is closed too.  

          Phideaux Mayo’s sim Esoterica where I interviewed her last year is now gone.  Flying Tigers, site of stories about air shows and V-E Day celebrations is now gone too.  Virtual Haarlem where I met Artemesia Sandgrain and Tom Bukowski for an interview has recently closed too.  (Maybe I should stop writing stories about places in SL?) 

          Why have all these sims closed?  (Besides my writing about them.)  Finances could be part of it.  Many of these sims depended on voluntary donations from visitors to help cover costs and, well, we all know how that works.  There may still be lingering effects from the Great Recession. 

          The overall community of SL loses when these sims close.  SL is a mosaic of people, their meeting places, lifestyles, and all the other things that happen when people come together.  While some loss is always expected, this steady deterioration is concerning.  Yes, new sims and communities may replace them but there always a loss when this institutional memory disappears suddenly. 

          Individual friends may disappear without warning and as hard as this may be, this is just one person.  When many people either go away or can’t come together again there is a greater sense of loss.

          As I tend to move around a lot inworld, I sometimes don’t get back to folks once I leave.  (Even in Real Life (RL), I’m very bad at staying in touch with friends.  Significant Other is amazed that I haven’t wandered off yet.)  So, going back and finding nothing comes as a bit of a shock.  I took too much for granted. 

          I’ll continue to check back on earlier stories and see where others have gone.  If I’ve predicted anyplace’s demise prematurely, please let me know and I’ll get the correct information out.       

          Below are links to a few pictures I’d taken of these lost sims.  Unfortunately, I can’t tell anyone to go see them anymore. 

          I’d be very interested in others’ thoughts and experiences about loss in SL.  Please use my contact info below to reach me.            

          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 Downtown Esoterica

Photo No. 2 Nulli Secundus Wedding Party

Photo No. 3 Hyles Info Center

Photo No. 4 Lil Egypt Meeros Market

Photo No. 5 Blue Fusion Estates

Photo No. 6 Red Barn Meeros

Photo No. 7 Nulli Secundus Home

Photo No. 8 Flying Tigers Sim

Photo No. 9 Island of Bare Naked Angels

 

 

My First Second Life Fashion Show (and Maybe My Last!)

If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.

Lord Chesterfield

 

          GraciAnn Harte, my friend and Traveling Companion, recently invited me to join her at the Labor Day Fashion Show being held at A Tribute to Venice in Tribute City.  Graci was one of the models and thought it would broaden my horizons.  (Graci appears to have made it her mission to save me from myself in Second Life (SL) and to bring me to civilization.)

          Never having been to a fashion show in either SL or Real Life (RL) and always willing to support a friend, I decided to attend. 

          I arrive near the Grand Canal in Venice and see people arriving for the show.  I’m greeted immediately by my friend Jessii Warrhol who’s running the event with Ava Jhamin of L’Amour Management. 

Others are assembling in the cathedral and I walk over.  I enter and find myself face to face with my old friend, World Undercroft, who has moved on from being a vampire when I knew him with Nulli Secundus and had just arrived in SL.  Since then he’s moved onto modeling and recently won the title of Mr. Virtual World 2012. 

This event is starting to become like Old Home Week for me. (I’m probably spending too much time inworld.) 

          After World and I exchange greetings, he promptly tells me that I’m in the wrong place. (Story of my virtual and, come to think of it, real lives as well.)  Only the models are allowed inside.  Here begin my misadventures.   

          Returning outside I walk over near the Grand Canal where I’m told to go and wait for the show to start with other spectators.  A nice sized crowd forms. 

          The show is intended to celebrate workers in honor of the American Labor Day holiday which is being observed on this day.  Twelve models will be showing clothes worn by working people.  At the conclusion of the show, judges will select male and female best models from the models. 

          The models appearing in today’s show are World Undercroft, Raezelle Aphrodite, Vivy Coppola, GraciAnne Harte, Sidney Hax, Brendan Macarthur, Aradia Mistwood, Kitty Picadilly, Thayna, Steele Sirnah Undercroft, dee Shepherd, and Zivaaj Achyleus.  (Please click on the models’ names to see them in their outfits.  Rex Requiem took the pictures.) 

          The show starts and World leads the models out of the cathedral dressed in an outfit celebrating those serving in the Armed Forces.  Then as the others come out, I can’t see them.  So, I decide to switch places.  Using the mini-map I think I see where the models are.  I move across the bridge which looks empty when suddenly I receive an IM requesting me to move off the runway!  As Graci would later explain to me, I’ve made the classic faux pas of walking across the runway during the middle of a show!  (I suspect Graci’s rethinking the wisdom of inviting me in the first place.)

          I now find myself stranded on the other side of the Canal not being able to see the show at all.  I follow what’s going on as the models continue coming out as Nani Xue (who is dressed in an interesting and somewhat revealing nun’s outfit herself) shouts out who’s modeling and what they’re wearing.  (BTW, most of these work clothes would probably be frowned upon by most RL Human Resources departments.) 

          Unfortunately, I miss Graci when she appears in her French maid’s costume.  (Life, even SL, can be so cruel.)  After her walk, she checks in on me and tells me that after the models walk there will be a fanfare where they will all appear.  I sense a chance to get back into the mainstream of things. 

          Nani continues shouting about what’s going on and then announces that the judges are considering their decisions.  I ask the person who called me out for wandering across the runway if I can recross the bridge and she says I can.  I make my break.

          I arrive in the plaza before the cathedral and run into Graci who is merrily dancing away to the song YMCA.  Actually, I first thought she was having a seizure but she told me what she was doing.  Watching a French maid dance to YMCA without losing her feather duster is a sight to behold.  Trust me.  (Another reason why Graci will probably never invite me to her next fashion show.) 

          By this time, I manage to get into more trouble.  I walk in front of the photographer, Rex Requiem, while he’s taking his shots.  He’s really very nice about it.  (Yep, you got it.  Another good reason for Graci not to invite me back again especially since it’s her photos I’m ruining.) 

          There are winners.  For the female models, Graci and her French maid costume takes the trophy.  Brendan Macarthur takes the gold for the male models.  Both are exceptional models and I congratulate both of them!  (I also wonder why Graci lets me hang around.  Probably curiosity about what I’ll mess up next.) 

          Models and spectators mill about offering congratulations and chatting.  I notice that many start to leave soon after the winners are announced.  The after show socializing is not quite Paris Fashion Week.  (Maybe they should serve drinks?) 

          At this point I take my leave myself and return home.  I have enjoyed myself.  The show stayed true to its theme of celebrating workers and their outfits on Labor Day.  Despite the models and spectators, I experienced no lag.  (I crashed once but that’s a regular event inworld it seems these days.)  I haven’t blogged about the SL fashion world in a world and it was good to be back.  (The SL fashion world may have another opinion about that.) 

          Ava and L’Amour Management runs these fashion shows regularly.  The theme depends on the time of the year.  Recent ones have been Vintage Fashion Week and Sports Show. I recommend that you attend these when you’re inworld.  The fashions are stylish, creative, and fun.  The shows are enjoyable events in themselves.  (Please try not to be as disruptive as I was and if you are, you don’t know me!) 

          In closing, I’d like to thank Graci for inviting me and I congratulate her and Brendan for their wins.  They’re both exceptional models and I expect to see more of them in SL’s fashion circles in the future.  I thank Jessii and Ava for putting on a great event (and not ejecting me for my gaffes).  I also want to thank Ava for permitting me to use the show’s pictures for this story.  Rex Requiem did an outstanding job taking them.  More pictures can be found at the Tribute City News website.  And, I apologize to Rex for ruining some of his shots.  If I have done anything else to anyone else while I was at the show, please accept my most sincere apologies.  I promise to improve.

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’ve included a few pictures below from my visit.  They’re nowhere near the quality of Rex’s but they give a sense of the venue. 

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 Church Plaza – Site of Show

Photo No. 2 GraciAnne Harte (on right) – Winner for Best Female Model

Photo No. 3 The Grand Canal

Photo No. 4 Church Exterior

Photo No. 5 Church Interior

Photo No. 6 Grand Canal Pathway  

Photo No. 7 Venice – Interior of Shops