Gone? Already?

This is more of a rant than a real post.
I've been "living" my Second Life for many years, with ups and downs..and the only really horrendous reality of that place is that nothing is forever.
I've witnessed the birth and death of so many sims and places that I've lost count.
My landmarks' folder used to have literally thousands of listed lms..and is now reduced to a hundred, to be optimistic.
It's been ...one week? since my latest blog update, the one about "pink salon": I've just come back to see that the place is gone. The land is abandoned and on resale.

It's ok, that's the harsh reality of a virtual and inconsistent world like SL. What bothers me a lot more is that the only ideas that seem to stick are shops, gatchas and shopping events: Second Life used to be the land of dreams, of new ideas, of the impossible made possible. Now it's reduced to an abandoned wasteland inhabited by the memories of "old" citizens like me ..and the rest is speculation.
Meshes killed originality, but the truth is ...originality was dead a long ago. Prices are high, you need to be a millionaire in order to maintain the fees for renting a parcel..let alone entire sims. And that's, folks, is how you kill a brilliant world and make it so painfully similar to the one we live in, outside.

I am so fuc***g tired of this.
And that is why, from now on, I won't review ANY shop, any "brand" and anything to do with gatchas and those stupid things. There's already a million places to find and read about that stuff.
I will also prefer original and (I don't care if) old, imperfect and non-gatcha items made up of- places instead of the ones everyone seems to like lately.

Goodbye, and thanks for the fish.

Read More

Paris 1900***

 

I love Paris, I've been there a million times and I'm so obsessed with it that I never grow tired of being there, even if I know a lot of it (it would be impossible to know everything.. you would need a lifetime.. and even more!). That, in real life.

As for Second Life,  I've searched for some nice reproduction and sadly they're all gone. There has never been any "official" sim, btw, apart from this one.

Paris 1900*** is a group of 5 regions in which the owners created their personal and quite complex reproduction of the city.

 

 

Paris 1900*** has a very detailed plant, with public transports (Metro and tramways, as well as horse carriages) and a lot of famous landmarks.

The spawn point is right below the Tour Eiffel, while L'Arc de Triomphe is just a few meters away. There's a lot of boutiques and hangout spaces in the whole city, which travels from the classical world-renowned buildings, to the modern City 2000, which is a very personal reinterpretation of a contemporary Paris. Sadly, this last part is not really looking like the real La Defence, infact...there's nothing even remotely similar, but I appreciate the effort.

  

The sim is a pleasant place, owned by french people and devoted to anyone loving the place and culture. There's a costant update of events and decorations, they also are very active when it comes to actual real life events and tragedies.

So far, a nice and relaxing place, even if it kinda seems stuck back in 2009 when meshes where only a dream on SL.

TAXI - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Les%20Champs%20Elysees/236/76/23

Read More

The Hive

I've been a Resident Evil fan since when RE2 came out in the stores, ages ago and I've seen many places during these years that aimed to be Re sims but somehow failed: you usually went all hype at the sight of nice screenshots and presentation.. only to be teleported in a freebie-filled urban setting with those annoying automatic zoobies and DCS systems that lagged the hell out of every computer, even the NASA ones.

It's been a lot of time since when I last searched for "Resident Evil" in the places directory, until my curiosity got the best of me and I tried again. Luck is on my side and, should I say finally, someone created a VERY beautiful Re sim, even if it's movie-inspired (but hey, the first one wasn't *that* bad.. just a lil bit..) and not directly related to the games.

Fact is, The Hive is a perfect reconstruction of the house and underground facility from the first movie and it's so immersive that I actually got scared while I was wandering in there for the first time.. and I'm not the squishy type.

You start in an alley, just outside what they call "Spencer Mansion", in a town called Arklay..property of Umbrella Inc. (this is *so* comforting XDXD).  The entrance of the sim also gives space to a small gatcha machine (RE-themed, of course) and a few boxes with outfits from the creator's store TRB (here's the flickr page).

The mansion is just a few meters away from the entrance, with an enormous garden/park, filled with statues, alleys, even a cemetary and a fully automated shooting game. Once entered, there's only a few rooms directly copied from the movie and an hidden elevator that takes you to the underground secret train station that connects the upper floors to the real Hive. Everything is under the control of the Red Queen, the same AI that caused all the fuss in the movies.

 The Hive is eerie, filled with empty rooms left in the usual mess that follows a crisis: papers everywhere, half empty coffee mugs, upsidedown chairs and working computers and screens. Walking through these halls knowing noone is there anymore and not knowing what lies behind the next corner or door is... honestly scarier than actually seeing monsters.
For instance, monsters and zombies are usually impersonated by real avatars during rpg sessions ..so if you go there while noone is acting... there's a OMG TERRIFYING atmosphere.
I won't spoil the final rooms for you: just remember this is a game-like sim so you can't just "walk past the doors" but need to find codes and decypher enigmas (not many and honestly very easy as well..).
Also bear in mind that almost *all* of the surfaces in here aren't scripted.. ie you can't just camera zoom and sit on something to ease your trip!

Thanks for creating this place. I am *so* grateful that someone finally created a fully detailed, high res, well textured, impressively accurate  RE location!!!!!!

 TAXI:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pollux/124/135/1998

Read More

"Silent Hill Roleplay and Exploration sim"

Please, please notice the brackets.
Everytime I see (or someone points me in the direction, like this time) a potential new Silent Hill sim I'm so excited I fall miserably into depression because as soon as I step inside there's everything BUT Silent Hill.

Let's make an urban scene, stick some arcane SH symbol
on the wall and the trick is done!

Aaaand so you would think that after years and years of tries, someone finally managed to build something decent.. and.. no. You're wrong.

When, a lot of years ago, Toluca Lake sim (RIP) got closed, a very big hole was left in my memory and those of all the nice people that used to live there. As time passed, the Silent Hill sim became in order: a beach, an adult sim for sex games, a residential area, another beach park.. and finally got back into the hands of someone that was apparently willing to bring it back to the original vibe.
So wrong.
I'll let piccies speak for me.

Evverybody knows the PIZZA RESTAURANT in Silent Hill. It's a key location.

Apparently, adding some gore-oriented bidimensional ghost should create the perfect silenthillish atmosphere.

Oh god I'm scared. No, seriously, I'm bloody scared: just imagine how long a math interview could be if you had to fill those up. Ah, school days.. lol

The infamous clown of silen.... wait. what?!?!?! *facepalms*

Copyright police!!! I think we have a trouble down here! Someone let RE:Apocashit zombies loose on the set!

So the last thing I had to do was lifting away the only REALLY silenthillish thing that this sim has: windlight preset. And here we come: the same, old, boring, noobie urban-apocalyptic premade city.

Where has fantasy gone? Where has the will to create something unique gone? If you're just aiming to make money and popularity out of some famous franchise, please refrain. I know that the 90% of SL is now made of stupid barbies with more silicone in their heads than stars in the sky, but the few normal peoples left will cringe at the sight of things like this.

TAXI -- http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Silent%20Hill/195/91/26

Read More

Black Kite

Click to see the original image on Flickr!

Black Kite is one of those dreamy places that, once visite, stick in your imagination for days. At least this is what happened to me when I first went there months ago. This sim reminds me of many things I've done on my parcels back in the years, but takes it further, making water the central point of an odd and peaceful ambient.

 The overall feeling is that of a dream, and dreams make everything come true so you can literally dance on waters, fly up in the sky like a kite, have a walk with fishes and so much more :)
It's like visual poetry and a very cool relaxing place.

 Every corner comes in style of a different season, with matching colours, trees, animals and small cottages. You can explore it by crossing the water or walking down a wooden path, which also teakes you to the wonderful 8f8, home of the most beautiful (and I'm not saying this only because I'm a fan xD) mesh objects on SL.

So, what are you waiting for? ;)

TAXI --> http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Black%20Kite/202/121/21

Read More

Discesa all’inferno (?)

Ho sempre avuto particolare occhio di riguardo per i progetti nati dalla passione dei fan per qualcosa. Anche perchè spesso tale passione porta a risultati davvero notevoli.
Potete quindi immaginare la mia gioia quando una persona tempo fa mi fece sapere che era in lavorazione una nuova sim dedicata al mio caro Silent Hill, per rimpiazzare tutte quelle morte negli scorsi anni.
Trepidazione! Ho aspettato un paio di mesi e finalmente ieri ricevo notizie: è aperta, esiste, è visitabile.

Gioia ed eccitazione! Clikko sul "teleport" e attendo i pochi secondi di rito.

Al mio arrivo trovo ad accogliermi.. questo:

ora mi dico... "mmm brutto segno ma magari avevano finito i prims.." così continuo.
Una strada asfaltata in stile fuga da LA mi porta ad un bivio. Sulla destra una sfilata di vendor sessosi e niubbissimi, sulla sinistra uno dei palazzi free targati Arcadia Asylum databili forse al 2006, di fronte a me un "Cafe".

Entro.
Tavoloni in legno coperti dalla tovaglietta della nonna e banconi vuoti.
Esco.

Seguo la strada. C'è una curva. Una pozza libera in cui l'amabile acqua Linden fluisce tranquilla fa da centro alla sim. Non c'è landscaping, non esistono attracchi, non ci sono declivi. Una serie di palazzi urban-niubbi incorniciano una delle sim più brutte che abbia mai visto in 4 anni di SL.
MA continuiamo.

Il Brookhaven Hospital si è trasformato in "Silent Hill General Hospital" (ma cos'è, una soap opera di terza categoria?), la Midwich School è diventata una anonima "old school", in compenso sono comparsi tre o 4 emuli del Jack's Inn tutti rigorosamente senza nome (vuoi mai che la fantasia si esaurisca sul nascere), un tempio semivuoto dedito al culto della croce celtica rovesciata (che con Silent Hill mi dispiace dirvelo signori non c'entra niente) e...dulcis in fundo... una "House of Wax".
Stupore. Incredulità.

Cosa c'entra la casa delle cere con quella che, a detta delle info, dovrebbe essere la Silent Hill del secondo capitolo videoludico?

Perchè compaiono pagliacci impiccati che defecano palline colorate, pessime imitazioni di edifici alla Wastelands, recuperati bellici della prima generazione di freebies secondlifeiana e nessuna *ripeto.. nessuna!* diretta referenza a Silent Hill?

Non sono mai stata così arrabbiata.

Questo significa non avere abbastanza a cuore qualcosa. Con un minimo di tempo in più potrei trasformare la mia sim in una SH mille volte più realistica. Ma per il momento mi accontento di quello che ho (mi rendo conto di non averla recensita.. sarà fatto presto) e lascio ai posteri l'ardua sentenza.

Spero, davvero lo spero vivamente, di aver sbagliato landmark.

V.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sorento/110/244/22

Read More

mirror mirror on the wall...

Specchio specchio delle mie brame... qual è l'avatar più bello del second reame?

Quante favole e fiabe si svolgono ogni giorno sulla grid... farne parte non è poi così difficile, ogni login è una scoperta.

Sono passati molti, troppi, mesi dal mio ultimo update. Cercherò di essere meno incostante.
Cosa successe in tanto tempo? Viaggi, emozioni, sentimenti, delusioni, acquisti, scoperte..e tanta, tanta storia.
Un po' come succede nella vita di tutti i giorni, ma con quel tocco di fantasia in più che solo Second Life sa regalare.

L'ultima novità in fatto di fashion è quella di crearsi un angolo di paradiso, ma cos'è il paradiso? è soggettivo!, ad hoc. Riempirlo di simboli, oggetti che ci stanno a cuore, ricordi, e perchè no... opere personali. Almeno per la sottoscritta.

Come si fa? Semplice. Basta possedere una land. Cosa significa possedere una land? Significa diventare proprietari di un appezzamento di terreno sulla grid. Non mi inoltrerò nel discorso opensims/main grid perchè mi ci vorrebbero settimane solo per elencare i pro e i contro di entrambi i casi. Spiegato molto semplicemente, esistono due modi per entrare in possesso di una piccola landa di pixel dove piazzare la propria casetta (o più semplicemente.. settare la "home" XD) : il primo è quello di garantirsi un account premium e ricevere così di diritto un fazzoletto di main grid (metodo comodo, per carità, ma che lascia poco spazio alla fantasia.. smorzada da limiti di spazio, prims e dislocazione, nonchè rischio lag continuo). Il secondo, nonchè mia scelta, è quello di rivolgersi ad un'agenzia immobiliare (si!!!! esistono!!!) trovabile direttamente inworld o tramite XStreetSL e scegliere così il terreno che più fa al caso nostro.
Cosa succede dopo l'acquisto? Si diventerà veri e propri proprietari terrieri. Unico onere, il pagamento, in genere a scadenze fisse settimanali o mensili, di una tier ovvero una tassa per l'usufrutto del server su cui risiede la nostra casuccia.

Dopo più di un anno e mezzo di felice vita da esploratrice con una modesta home alle spalle, ho deciso di fare il salto di qualità. Ebbene si. Sto per acquistare un'intera sim. Cosa significa? Significa non solo un costo abbastanza elevato, ma anche la possibilità di personalizzare ogni dettaglio. Dalla texture del terreno al tempo atmosferico. Non è certo cosa da poco!

Se nel frattempo avete voglia di farmi visita, la mia land è aperta al pubblico ed ospita una mostra permanente di opere in vendita: veronika's place

Ci second-vediamo presto!

Read More