At the weekend I attended a Burleque set at a new-ish club called Libidine. There was a live singer before 2 hours of tunes with DJ’s Anj & Tori that got the party going.
The event gave me a chance to try out something completely different to my usual style.
However outside the club I found a teleporter to the main landing area of the region. Here I learned that Libidine isn’t just this club, it’s an island full of lots of different places to explore and hang out.
A place for lovers to explore and get lost together. Secluded places to explore and enjoy each others company – romantic encounters. Where limits do not exist.
Libidine land description
Go check it out, but remember it’s an Adult rated region.
It’s that time again to wander, slightly bemused at what we see, around another wonder by Cica Ghost. This latest creation is called “Nostalgia” as usual it’s best to let the pictures speak for themselves because there is a lot to explore here:
So it’s just as well there’s a few places to sit and enjoy the view.
Exploring the latest version of Goatswood by Hera, a beautiful location in Second Life.
Back in 2019 I wrote about Goatswood, created by Hera, who has created a wide range of stunning locations over the years. What I visited back then was a reinvention of a much older build; now a larger version is back again for us all to enjoy one again.
As before your arrival point is in a rural railway station, but this is not Goatswood itself, it is a place called Mortchester. You must travel to Goatswood by clicking it’s named platform sign, there’s another sign for Houdstead, but for now I’m headed to Goatswood.
Leave the platform through the station building and you emerge onto the main street.
The layout of the village encourages you to head straight down the main street, but I find usually there’s more interesting stuff if you take a less direct route, so I went down the path to the right. This leads you through to the back of the buildings, where you’ll find various animals before arriving back on the street.
It’s these little details that make Hera’s creations and bring them to life, because many of the houses on the streets are empty shells but give the feeling of a busy place.
Where I came out onto the street was adjacent to the Wild Man Inn so I obviously had to investigate.
The inn is as cozy as beforThe inn is the same, but the artwork on the walls has changed.
The inn is the same one as that from my previous visit, which was to be expected with it being the same village. Here though there is a lovely beer garden out the back where you can enjoy a drink or two if the weathers nice.
Leaving the inn back onto the main street you can see how much larger this incarnation of Goatswood really is.
I shall stop my step-by-step wandering here and just show a few of the places you may see when you come to explore for yourself.
This version of Goatswood is much larger than the one I explored in 2019 and is full of little gems of detail to be found as well as places to just chill out with your friends.
I would suggest bringing a lantern or torch with you, in case it’s dark when you visit, putting your environment settings to Midday may allow you to see where you’re going but some of the atmosphere gets lost. I made seperate visits at different times to experience the different atmospheres of day and night.
Inferno is the creation of Hera, creator of the Drune series of Dystopian Cyberpunk cityscapes,Goatswood,Golgothica as well as Gigerpunk that I have yet to visit.
Inferno
This was only out for a week so here it is again.; I have wanted to do something Hell like for a long time, then just recently I did something totally unrelated that inspired me. I have used a very familiar layout which I like because it is just a set of focal points rather than a whole sim full of space to fill with nothing in particular.
(From Notecard at arrival point)
I however didn’t read the notecard until later, I prefer to be surprised when I visit somewhere new. When you take the teleport you arrive in a suitably dark doorway with a very ominous view.
A few steps foeward out of the shadows and you see, yes it really does look like Hell.
To either side you see a series of rather narrow looking bridges connecting together what are best described as temples.
The centre path is the one I chose though on my journey through the perilous paths.
Here the paths branched off to the other destinations. These little temples were what you would expect here, creepy statues and decor, but not all the same, so it’s worth exploring!
As you can see in the quote from the notecard above, last time this build appeared it was only for a week. I asked Hera how long it would be around this time and the reply was “probably not very long.”
So get a move on if you want to see this place before it’s gone!
(That goes for GigerPunk too apparently, so I and you will have to dash to see that one as well!)
As any regular readers can’t have missed, it was Fantasy Faire recently. Last year I got all wrapped up in the world of SecondLife Centaurs after the Faire, this year it’s Mers. There was lots of chatter and pictures of forthcoming releases prior to the opening of the Faire so I dived in and bought myself a Mernaid tail.
I wrote a post during the Faire featuring a Mermaid, but felt I now needed to explore more of the undersea world of Second Life. Fortunatley my good friend Sheree who is a regular marine explorer had a good place to check out. The place is called Esprit Marina and Gardens.
There is a Rezzing area here for your marine vehicles, but I was interested in what lay beneath the calm waters of the harbour.
After a little exploring we found this lovely little dance spot to swish around to your hearts contnet.
There was more to see though…
Come bring your tail or scuba gear and see the place for yourself.
Camilla Runo has created a new build for us to explore once again. This one is a little different though, it’s SciFi inspired, more specifically the planet Tatooine from Star Wars. 80 Days is the name of the group Camilla uses for all her builds and to let people know about what she’s building, so doesn’t reflect the time the installation will be open. The landing point is in a comfy SciFi styled lounge area, with a conveniently located TP pad to get you to where you need to go.
Here we land in a small courtyard mostly occupied by a small craft and possibly it’s owner and droid, I climb up onto a raised for a better look.
No obvious sign of any Imperial forces yet,so I head on through the archway to see who or what may be seen on this dusty rock of a planet.
Maybe not that way yet..So into town it isUsual desert town so far..Are they just traders?What’s that place over there?Does a guard outside mean trouble?Seems safe enoughjust regular mix of interstellar flotsam
As darkness draws near it might be good to get off the street.
Maybe that place?Hmm..an empty bar is possibly more dangerous..yah..not staying here!Maybe in here?EntertainmentPolite bar staffBest leave that guy aloneRooms a bit messy..Creepy droid in the corner
Come sunrise it’s time to have an explore of the surrounding area outside the town.
Those guys are still there..The Empire has arrived.
Now just to wait for the Imperials to land and watch as the locals just ignore them.
Outfit Credits:
Shorts and Top: [JANGKA] GENESIS Outfit BROWN – Jangka Mainstore
Gloves: [JANGKA] ARWEN Gloves BROWN [Maitreya]- Jangka Mainstore
Backpack & Machete: Wastelands Backpack from Death Row Designs (The machete is usually attached to the backpack, but the item is moficiable, so I was able to detach it and use in my hand instead.)
Sometimes I get to see them, sometimes I miss them, but Cica Ghosts creations are always impressive. I saw Isabelle Cheren’s video of “Scribbled” and I just had to check it out. However by the time I got there, it had ben replaced by another new masterpeice by the name of “Happy Place”.
Happy Place definitely does have a happy vibe to it, very whimsical as we have come to expect. I’ll shut up now and let the pictures speak for themselves, before you go visit!
This year I’ve left my looking back over the previous year until the year was actually over. After all you can’t wrap up a year without including New Years Eve. A lot happens in a year in SecondLife and a lot of it I forget when exactly things happen. So fortunately I have screenshots to remind me what happened when, so I’m showing them to you as a brief glimpse of stuff that didn’t make into onto the blog due to lack of relevance to anything, or were just random captured moments.
January
Dancing with my friend Sheree at ShazzamSteampunk themed music set by DJ Tori at NeoVictoriaAdapted a build by Camilla Reso to tell story of “Spring coming early to Vargsargen”
February
I decided I was going to sell some items at Fantasy Faire in April, so work started early!Then when the stuffs made, it’s boxing and photos, not sure how big stores have the patience!Dropped by an old friends place to visit, but they weren’t home. I let myself in!
March
More Faire stuff. Custom version of the robe for PromoSome muppet thought my blog would make a good targetSt Patricks Day with music by DJ ToriSteampunk Outfit for Dj Tori’s set at NeoVictoriaDJ Tori’s set at NeoVictoria
April
My sale item vendors for Fantasy Faire set out in the storeFelt kinda good having my name over a store door for the first time!One of my Faire blog post looks“Kiss It” Tatoo I made to go with a particular revealing dress!
May
Another Faire look I was quite proud ofSome of the Larger items that came from the Faire Blogger Room!StarWars Jawas following the Centaurs ParadeSlideshow of images from the Centaurs ParadeThese Guys got Everywhere!All the inventory ite offers after completing the Faire Quest! (I’m not sure I’ve even opend all of them yet nearly a year later!)Dancing at “The Rave That Never Happened”, you’ll have to wait til Fantasy Faire 2023 opens to see the rest of the photos!Visit to Centauria with some of my new Centaur accessories from the FaireThe Fantasy Faire 2022 regions being switched off one at a time.Chat it looks and feels like when the region you’re in is about to be turned off!Possible state of your avatar afte logging back in after the above happened!A last minute purchasePhilip Rosedale looking totally enthralled by the speaker..with his eyes shut.Prime example of how *NOT* to build a curb (Sidewalk) in SLA board at SciFi Con 2022 grabbed and displayed my profile pic without asking!A Western Saloon
June
Synchronised Ballet at theseasideAn outfit from Sci Fi ExpoGoing all RainbowsThe Tattoo from earlier in the year seemed appropriate!The region build by Death Row Designs for SciFi Con 2022Customised Replicator for use in my Mars SciFi RoleplayAn outfit I forgot about, I felt it needed a pic
July
Dancing at a set by DJ Anjoux Herbit at a club that I believe is no longer there.I moved on to a club called Hexnation which was much more meI attended the SciFi Con post event meeting (where htey tried to explain how it had been such a disaster and failed because no-one would admit fault.)Related to the above, I was just asking questions to write an article about the Scifi Con. Turns out they didn’t need my help for that.
August
I switched to a Lelutka EvoX Mesh Head and new skinPainting by a waterfall (at NatureCon I think)
October
(I didn’t do anything in SL during September due to being on a long Holiday! )
I was pleasantly surprised at this rather considerate sign at the SciFi ExpoTalking to one of the Bots as part of the SciFi Expo QuestSciFi Expo closing party outfit (white to reflectthe cool lighting)I did a graveyard thing at home..A little messy accident while on the Haunted Neighbourhood tourA Disgustingly EXPENSIVE limited edition outfit by Jadka at We Love RP event
November
The Evil Overlords at Facebook thought that copying and pasting a link into another brower tab of clicking through was a crime or something..They REALLY don’t like you doing that apparently..Random visit to an old Linden built monsterRegion crossings on bridges are still as perilous as alwaysI joined the site Avatarlife.social and one of the first people I added was the official SL account, obviously!Elon Musk decided he was going to let in all the banned people to Twitter so I started putting my Tweeting affairs in order and reduced my use of Twitter.“Ho, Ho, Ho!” some tattoos for Christmas..
December
I decided on a different look for a Candelight Procession showCandlight Procesional with guest narator Patch LindenSome of the animesh choir were a bit creepy though!The queue to get a picture with Santa (Patch) LindenA top I picked up from the Gothmas event, it included other uncomplimentry slogans.It’s the holiday season..so time for SL to get a little screwyJumping for joy after 3 relogs and a cache clear the virtual world and everyone in it finally became visible againI created another avatar for my last blog postApparently money trees are still a thing..Chilling out with a book, Post Christmas, Pre New Years
The Final Day..
I felt Scotland in SL would be a good place to spend New YearsThey always have great music in the form of the Red Hot Chili Pipers!
Well it’s certainly been an eventful year now that I look back it. Some of the stuff feels like it happened yesterday, others seem even longer than when they actually did.
Recently Linden Lab advertised a position for Senior Product Manager. The description for which boiled down to: find a way to keep new residents from leaving. Quite a challenge that, given the steep learning curve of SecondLife. Lots of people have discussed and commented on this, so I’m not covering that in this post. I thought it might be good to see what the current new user experience was like now.
So I created a new account and installed the latest version of the official viewer and logged in.
I found myself on a nice beach location with the usual step-by-step signage to guide you around.
The walkway lead in-shore where there were a few things to sit on to familiarise you with that,also a ride on a giant bat..
When I touch down, next tutorial step was buying and unboxing stuff, both from the Marketplace and Inworld. This is a good addition since Marketplace has a wealth of cheap and free stuff for new residents. However one thing that jumped right out at me here was the Inventory screenshot, all the others were from the Official viewer this one was of Firestorm.
After a short walk I came to the board showing you how to change between the stock avatars, which I dutifully did, a few times.
However, as you may well have noticed, I was still a cloud after walking around for over an hour at this point. It was starting to get on my nerves so I did a login via Firestorm viewer to make my avatar appear. Then back to the official viewer to resume the tutorials.
After a short flight that gave you a nice view of the island I was deposited in an area offering a few free outfits and some warnings.
As suggested in a video linked from a post by Wagner Jame Au, a common question at this point might be “where now?”
Well this training island is part of a small continent of regions that features a number of buildings hinting at the different cultures or genres of activities you can find in SecondLife. However it doesn’t tell you where you might find such places.
Portal Park was shown in the video mentioned above, but there was no such equivalent offered to me at the end of this particular induction. This may well have something to do with the possible affiliation with a land rental company that has a showroom on the continent. Which I was surprised and disappointed to see, but presumably a casualty of allowing third parties to create induction areas.
So the biggest issue I see here is still that of “Where Now?” How can the Lab address this issue without favouring particular locations?
Maybe it could be as simple as adding a step in these tutorials that prompts the user to open the Destination Guide, but I doubt that. I look forward to finding out what the new Senior Product Manager comes up with.
