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My so called Second Life (co-posted to my LiveJournal)
16 years ago
General
I knew about Second Life from it's inception, but had no interest beyond mild curiosity. A few years ago, some of the people who attend our monthly Furry gatherings gave me a short tour of SL, using their accounts. It looked interesting, much like some video games I had seen (I'm not really a gamer), but it seemed my computer was not up to handling such a game. Then, at Califur5, I attended a Furries on-line discussion and met someone who was passionately promoting SL. He loved to play around with the construction aspect of the 'game', but he was so incredibly gun-ho about SL and the Furry community there that I decided to give it a try.
I had a better computer, a better broadband connection, and it was 'free', so why not? I signed-up, and lucked out, finding the last name 'weezles' available. Since I'm a big mustelid (weasel) fan, it was perfect. I just used my fursona name 'Sylys', and picked the generic furry avatar, which happened to be a rather primitive ringtail (which looked like a fursuit). I went through the brief tutorial, along with other newbies (mostly humans); it wasn't difficult at all to use the interface; and then I started to look for something to do. I remembered that Furnation had extensive property on SL, and also had heard that there were anti-furry sentiments common in some regions, so I looked for furry territory. Humans aren't really that interesting to me, particularly humans playing humans in a virtual environment. In a world where you can be anything, it seems silly to be another human. The search feature in the game (which is not that good) didn't show me any Furnation areas, but I also remembered the name 'Luskwood' as being a Furry founder in SL, and I found links (called Landmarks) to their lands.
The area (once it resolved, or 'rezzed') was an open platform in a forest, with huge hallow trees and lots of places to relax. There were a variety of Furries there, some dancing to the music stream, some standing or sitting, or laying around. Within a few minutes, I was chatting with them, and I had made my first SL friends. I got invites to join some 'groups', mostly made up of furs who had a similar interest, or liked to hang out at a particular place.One group was a Furry Pirate/dance group, which I stayed with until the group dissolved a few months later. I attended many of the groups dance, on a dock by a pirate pub, but didn't join their pirate war role play, since I wasn't interested in meta virtual gaming. This experience taught me something important, but often sad about SL... A lot of things os SL don't last long. Special interest groups, clubs, and even entire regions vanish from lack of interest or funds (land on SL costs money. You pay rent to Linden Labs, or someone who is paying them and renting land), though a lot of the 'churn' is caused by the old "short attention span" malady that so many creative types have... and, need I mention politics, AKA "drama".
Another of my first-night contacts was the group for the Furry nightclub/dance club "Furvana". A beautiful "realistic" styled club. Since you can build anything you can imagine on SL, you don't have to have your project conform to any of the restrictions of RL, like gravity, weather or logic! The total fantastic constructs are fine by me, but it takes a certain creative mind set to build a place that could really exist, though often it would require an unrealistic budget if it were made in the real world. The Furvana administrators, staff, and regular patrons become my first SL "family", and in spite of all efforts to the contrary, Furvana exists to this day. The style of the club has changed, and some people have come and gone, but it's still a place I feel welcome.
Later on, I began to meet other SL friends, who turned out to be some of my best RL friends, even a couple of ones I lost contact with several years ago. It seems that one of the attractions of SL is the unbridled creativity it offers. None of these good friends were on SL to make money, though you hear from time to time there is money to be made. Particularly from land speculation and rental, or selling stuff... like avatars, buildings, furniture, clothes, and "accessories". I had retired my old-school ringtail in favor of a red-brown ferret, since no one makes a pine marten avatar (yet). On of my good friends is a builder on SL, and he made me a Sy Sable avatar, for free! Most of my most creative friends are on SL to make stuff and provide environments and entertainment for other furries to enjoy. So, Furry SL is kind of like a virtual version of Furry RL. It's all about fun!
So, what do I do for fun on Second Life? I already mentioned I don't play in the meta games, war games, skill games, RP games, etc. I like to explore. Find beautiful and amazing places. I like to go to dance clubs, and watch all the pretty (and sexy) avatars dance and hang out. As crude as the SL 'engine' is, Furry avatar designers have created some incredibly handsome anthro and non-anthro mammals, birds and mythical creatures. Unlike other forms of Furry art, these can actually move, and you can interact with them (much like fursuits). Unlike fursuits, though, avatars typically cost under $ 8.00. so anyone can have several. Most avatar designers even give away their older designs for free! It's easy to find free clothes and accessories, too.
One effect that Second Life has had on me is putting me back in touch with my interest in avians. Griffins, dragons, and the WB Roadrunner were some of my first strong attractions in my pre-furry youth. I would often spend as much time admiring eagles, hawks and falcons at zoos and wild animal parks as I would at the otter or wolverine habitats. The certainly is avian/dragon furry art, and there is more and more if it every year. (I know, I have a large collection), but for some reason there seems to be a lot of avatar creators in SL who want to make beautiful birdies. I saw a "Rainbow Phoenix" avatar at a store... he was an anthro (biped), light grey bird, with rainbow colored body marking and long, flowing rainbow feathers. I found myself staring at the image on the vending nachine for a very long time... until I realized I could buy it! I found it was not difficult at all to create a personality for this new version of myself, and these days I'm most often known as a phoenix, gryphon, or dragon, though I still wear my traditional Fursona often.
Second Life, to me, is a virtual extension of my Furry lifestyle. I have become much more interested in different types of music, and curious about the RL "club scene". I have even provided a "live" video link from a furry dance at Califur to an SL dance club. Though I don't build on SL, nor make avatars (it requires a lot of 3D design and software skills), I have learned to "tint" skin textures (change the color of avatars), and "mod" avatar designs by re-shaping body parts or "kit bashing", combining parts from more the one avatar to make something unique. And, I take pictures. Lots of pictures. The SL client has a 'camera', which you can move independently from your avatar, and you can take 'snapshots' of various resolutions to store on your computer (for free).
All that story culminates with my music video project...
I heard the Kaskade and Deadmau5 song "Move for Me"... "Another night, another dance floor..." The lyrics were the story of my SL life. I have 2 years of images I'd collected, mostly of dance clubs and dancers. Changa gave me a copy of Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9, and showed me how to use it. So, I made a music video, dedicated to my SL friends and the clubs we dance at. Changa made a HD version, which I have embedded here for your enjoyment. There are no actual video clips in the project, just stills, but often had several sequences of images which I put together to simulate motion. The HD shows the brilliant color as well as the sharp detail of the original images, so you can watch my "slide show" while listening to a great song. It's much less boring that way :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXsEXxgwoZA
I had a better computer, a better broadband connection, and it was 'free', so why not? I signed-up, and lucked out, finding the last name 'weezles' available. Since I'm a big mustelid (weasel) fan, it was perfect. I just used my fursona name 'Sylys', and picked the generic furry avatar, which happened to be a rather primitive ringtail (which looked like a fursuit). I went through the brief tutorial, along with other newbies (mostly humans); it wasn't difficult at all to use the interface; and then I started to look for something to do. I remembered that Furnation had extensive property on SL, and also had heard that there were anti-furry sentiments common in some regions, so I looked for furry territory. Humans aren't really that interesting to me, particularly humans playing humans in a virtual environment. In a world where you can be anything, it seems silly to be another human. The search feature in the game (which is not that good) didn't show me any Furnation areas, but I also remembered the name 'Luskwood' as being a Furry founder in SL, and I found links (called Landmarks) to their lands.
The area (once it resolved, or 'rezzed') was an open platform in a forest, with huge hallow trees and lots of places to relax. There were a variety of Furries there, some dancing to the music stream, some standing or sitting, or laying around. Within a few minutes, I was chatting with them, and I had made my first SL friends. I got invites to join some 'groups', mostly made up of furs who had a similar interest, or liked to hang out at a particular place.One group was a Furry Pirate/dance group, which I stayed with until the group dissolved a few months later. I attended many of the groups dance, on a dock by a pirate pub, but didn't join their pirate war role play, since I wasn't interested in meta virtual gaming. This experience taught me something important, but often sad about SL... A lot of things os SL don't last long. Special interest groups, clubs, and even entire regions vanish from lack of interest or funds (land on SL costs money. You pay rent to Linden Labs, or someone who is paying them and renting land), though a lot of the 'churn' is caused by the old "short attention span" malady that so many creative types have... and, need I mention politics, AKA "drama".
Another of my first-night contacts was the group for the Furry nightclub/dance club "Furvana". A beautiful "realistic" styled club. Since you can build anything you can imagine on SL, you don't have to have your project conform to any of the restrictions of RL, like gravity, weather or logic! The total fantastic constructs are fine by me, but it takes a certain creative mind set to build a place that could really exist, though often it would require an unrealistic budget if it were made in the real world. The Furvana administrators, staff, and regular patrons become my first SL "family", and in spite of all efforts to the contrary, Furvana exists to this day. The style of the club has changed, and some people have come and gone, but it's still a place I feel welcome.
Later on, I began to meet other SL friends, who turned out to be some of my best RL friends, even a couple of ones I lost contact with several years ago. It seems that one of the attractions of SL is the unbridled creativity it offers. None of these good friends were on SL to make money, though you hear from time to time there is money to be made. Particularly from land speculation and rental, or selling stuff... like avatars, buildings, furniture, clothes, and "accessories". I had retired my old-school ringtail in favor of a red-brown ferret, since no one makes a pine marten avatar (yet). On of my good friends is a builder on SL, and he made me a Sy Sable avatar, for free! Most of my most creative friends are on SL to make stuff and provide environments and entertainment for other furries to enjoy. So, Furry SL is kind of like a virtual version of Furry RL. It's all about fun!
So, what do I do for fun on Second Life? I already mentioned I don't play in the meta games, war games, skill games, RP games, etc. I like to explore. Find beautiful and amazing places. I like to go to dance clubs, and watch all the pretty (and sexy) avatars dance and hang out. As crude as the SL 'engine' is, Furry avatar designers have created some incredibly handsome anthro and non-anthro mammals, birds and mythical creatures. Unlike other forms of Furry art, these can actually move, and you can interact with them (much like fursuits). Unlike fursuits, though, avatars typically cost under $ 8.00. so anyone can have several. Most avatar designers even give away their older designs for free! It's easy to find free clothes and accessories, too.
One effect that Second Life has had on me is putting me back in touch with my interest in avians. Griffins, dragons, and the WB Roadrunner were some of my first strong attractions in my pre-furry youth. I would often spend as much time admiring eagles, hawks and falcons at zoos and wild animal parks as I would at the otter or wolverine habitats. The certainly is avian/dragon furry art, and there is more and more if it every year. (I know, I have a large collection), but for some reason there seems to be a lot of avatar creators in SL who want to make beautiful birdies. I saw a "Rainbow Phoenix" avatar at a store... he was an anthro (biped), light grey bird, with rainbow colored body marking and long, flowing rainbow feathers. I found myself staring at the image on the vending nachine for a very long time... until I realized I could buy it! I found it was not difficult at all to create a personality for this new version of myself, and these days I'm most often known as a phoenix, gryphon, or dragon, though I still wear my traditional Fursona often.
Second Life, to me, is a virtual extension of my Furry lifestyle. I have become much more interested in different types of music, and curious about the RL "club scene". I have even provided a "live" video link from a furry dance at Califur to an SL dance club. Though I don't build on SL, nor make avatars (it requires a lot of 3D design and software skills), I have learned to "tint" skin textures (change the color of avatars), and "mod" avatar designs by re-shaping body parts or "kit bashing", combining parts from more the one avatar to make something unique. And, I take pictures. Lots of pictures. The SL client has a 'camera', which you can move independently from your avatar, and you can take 'snapshots' of various resolutions to store on your computer (for free).
All that story culminates with my music video project...
I heard the Kaskade and Deadmau5 song "Move for Me"... "Another night, another dance floor..." The lyrics were the story of my SL life. I have 2 years of images I'd collected, mostly of dance clubs and dancers. Changa gave me a copy of Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9, and showed me how to use it. So, I made a music video, dedicated to my SL friends and the clubs we dance at. Changa made a HD version, which I have embedded here for your enjoyment. There are no actual video clips in the project, just stills, but often had several sequences of images which I put together to simulate motion. The HD shows the brilliant color as well as the sharp detail of the original images, so you can watch my "slide show" while listening to a great song. It's much less boring that way :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXsEXxgwoZA
