My 2015 Annual Report In Crunchy Numbers

This is my last blog post of 2015 and I would like to say thanks so much for reading my blog this year. I am looking forward to blogging in 2016 and as you know anything can happen. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared my 2015 annual report for this blog and here are the results. See Full Report Here.

See you all in 2016 🙂 

Crunchy Numbers

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 79,000 times in 2015. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 3 days for that many people to see it.

There were 517 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 122 MB. That’s about a picture per day.

The busiest day of the year was March 19th with 1,095 views. The most popular post that day was Ebbe Linden talks about education, Second Life and next generation platform at VWBPE 2015.

Posting Patterns

In 2015, there were 247 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 2,334 posts.

Most Views in 2015

These are the posts that got the most views in 2015. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts in your Site Stats.

• Ebbe Linden talks about education, Second Life and next generation platform at VWBPE 2015 – 28 COMMENTS – March 2015
• New screenshot of the Project Sansar Login Page – 9 COMMENTS – September 2015
• 2015 Second Life grid statistics update – 4 COMMENTS – January 2015

Top Referring Sites In 2015

1. facebook.com
2. twitter.com
3. plurk.com
4. plus.google.com
5. community.secondlife.com

Where Did They Come From ? 

That’s 159 countries in all!
Most visitors came from The United States. United Kingdom & Germany were not far behind.

Your most commented on post in 2015 was Ebbe Linden talks about education, Second Life and next generation platform at VWBPE 2015

Top 5 Most Active Commenters 

Top 5 most active commenters:

•  zzpearlbottom – 107 COMMENTS
•  John 11 COMMENTS
•  Willow – 10 COMMENTS

•  Harper Ganesvoort – 8 COMMENTS
•  pygarbuilder – 7 COMMENTS

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2016! 🙂 

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Second Life 2015: Year in Review – July to December

This is my part 2 Second Life 2015: Year in Review – July to December post looking back at the major news and events inworld that have happened in 2015. Woooot! 🙂

There have been so many good memories this year and I have enjoyed exploring around the grid visiting new locations. In a few days time 2016 will arrive and I will be looking forward to a fresh new year of blogging. 

• Part 1 – Second Life 2015: Year in Review – January to June
• Part 2 – See below!

July 2015

Philip Rosedale talked about Second Life on the Drax Files podcast @75.

Ebbe Altberg talked about how Second Life can help people in a positive way on Dr. Phil talk show

The 11th annual Relay For Life of Second Life for 2015 kicked off. See here for this year’s stats.

August 2015

Ebbe Altberg discussed Project Sansar for around 30 minutes with Nick Ochoa during a fireside chat.

Lumiere Noir who built the Ivory Tower of Prims in Second Life died. There was a special dance event to celebrate Lumiere’s life.

Linden Lab announced details about Project Sansar closed alpha mentioning that a small number of creators would be invited to help test the new platform.

Linden Lab reduced the standard cost of a monthly Premium subscription to just $9.50 a month and ended VAT for Premium subscriptions.

SS Galaxy came back on the grid and opened to the public. There was an agreement made for Linden Lab to take over the running of the ship and to keep it remaining in Second Life.

September 2015

The Firestorm Viewer team celebrated their 5th anniversary in Second Life and the big news was that Community Gateways will be returning.

There was a small gathering event at the SS Galaxy ship in Second Life to celebrate the return of the well-known ship.

The Arcade celebrated their 3rd anniversary in Second Life.

A screenshot was released online showing the Project Sansar login page. A special Project Sansar Preview Workshop took place for early users to preview the new platform.

October 2015

Linden Lab announces new Valhalla project viewer 4.0.0 which replaces the old LLQTWebKit system used in the Web media plugin. 4.0.0 comes with Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) that supports modern web technologies.

The annual BURN2 2015 festival opened for a week.

Linden Lab announced Second Life Improvements that are out and that are in the works.

November 2015

Linden Lab revamped lindenlab.com and looks really nice. Project Sansar, Second Life and Blocksworld is featured on the homepage and it’s easier to navigate around.

At the end of Ebbe Altberg’s presentation at the 2015 Web Summit in Ireland a member of the audience filmed video footage (pre-alpha) of Project Sansar. New photos and video was released showing the next generation platform.

Linden Lab released new classic avatars built combining mesh attachments with the original system process.

December 2015

Ebbe Altberg talked about the future of virtual reality (VR) on Bloomberg West the Altspacevr founder and CEO Eric Romo.

Linden Lab announces Project Bento with new bones and attachment points added to the Second Life Avatar Skeleton.

Linden Lab hosts 2015 snowball fight with the Second Life community. Many well-known Lindens and Moles attended the snowball fight with their snowball launchers.

Linden Lab publishes a special post called Second Life 2015 Mix – A Greatest Hits Compilation highlighting various improvements made to Second Life this year along with popular inworld events.

Looking back at 2015 it was a really good year with amazing events, anniversary’s and improvements. I have enjoyed blogging this year and sharing my snapshots with everyone. I’m looking forward to 2016 and hopefully the good times will continue.

Bring on 2016! 🙂 

Much loved SL friends we lost in 2015

In 2015 Second Life lost some amazing talented people and they will never be forgotten. Here are some that sadly passed away during 2015. If you know of any others that have passed away in Second Life during 2015, please add them in the comments section below.

Selene Spellhunter – Passed away on 21st September 2015.

Lumiere Noir – Passed away on 10th August 2015.

Sylva Petrov – Passed away on 6th June 2015.

ScarletCSkylaC – Passed away on 21st May 2015.

Rest in peace to the friends we lost in 2015.

A look back at the state of Second Life regions during 2015

With less than one week to go until the start of 2016, I think it’s a good time to look back at 2015 in terms of grid numbers and see what’s been happening. I have been keeping an eye on the trends and grid numbers during 2015.

For almost the whole year the numbers have been declining further into the red. The total amount of Main Grid regions and Private Estates have declined during 2015 which is not a surprise. Linden owned regions have increased this year.

2015 Comparison Grid Numbers

• Back on 4th January 2015 the total amount of Main Grid regions was 25, 611 regions, with 18, 579 regions being private estates and 7, 032 regions being Linden owned.

• As of 27th December 2015 the total amount of Main Grid regions now stands at 24, 892, with 17, 781 regions being private estates and 7, 111 being Linden owned.

• Private Estates net losses for 2015 so far > 819 > (4.4% down over the year)

On 8th November 2015 Second Life regions dropped under the 25, 000 regions mark for the first time since June 2008. Most have been saying this year that region/tier costs have been still high for Private Estates and perhaps they are right saying that, lowering the tier cost may help and then regions will be on the increase again.

OpenSim new records set

Popularity has increased during 2015 for OpenSim with so many new records being set in terms of region counts and active users. Hypergrid interest has been increasing a lot during 2015 and popularity will increase next year for sure.

• Kitely, Great Canadian hit size milestones – 15th December 2015
• Fastest growing grids of 2015 – 23rd December 2015

2016 the year ahead

2016 is going to be a challenging year for Second Life regions with the launch of Project Sansar in the first quarter of 2016. OpenSim regions have been on the increase throughout 2015 and it will be interesting to see if the interest trends will continue next year.

I do hope someday I can share some positive statistics for grid numbers for Second Life because that would be great news.

I’ll be keeping a closer eye on the grid numbers during 2016 to see what impact Project Sansar will have. I will be posting regular statistic blog posts during the course of 2016, stay tuned for that. 🙂

The 10 most popular posts of 2015

Here are my top 10 most popular posts of 2015 with the most views. I’ll be sharing more year end blog posts in the days ahead looking back at 2015. Stay tuned for that. 🙂

1. Ebbe Linden talks about education, Second Life and next generation platform at VWBPE 2015 – 2, 784 views
2. 2015 Second Life grid statistics update – 893 views
3. Lumiere Noir who built the Ivory Tower of Prims has died – 890 views
4. New screenshot of the Project Sansar Login Page – 885 views
5. Ebbe Altberg discussing Project Sansar – 745 views
6. 2015 Fashion For Life in Second Life Press Release – 662 views
7. Project Sansar is the codename for the next generation platform – 589 views
8. SL/WoW documentary “Login2Life” – 516 views
9. Linden Lab publishes upcoming improvements to Second Life – 508 views
10. Linden Lab announces Project Sansar closed alpha – 490 views

Linden Lab publishes 2015 year in review highlights

On Wednesday 23rd December Linden Lab published a blog post called Second Life 2015 Mix – A Greatest Hits Compilation highlighting various improvements made to Second Life this year along with inworld events that have happened this year. It’s worth checking the blog post for the full review during the past 12 months.

See below for brief highlights from the blog post.

It’s been a very exciting year for Second Life with great events inworld and really good improvements launched by the lab. It’s been a positive year for sure and I’m sure there will be many more Second Life improvements in 2016. Yay! 🙂

2015 Highlights

• Tech & Feature improvements – Valhalla (CEF) viewer was released, Viewer Managed Marketplace was launched, magic boxes was launched, Mesh Importer was improved and the Notifications UI was updated. A new control was added to Hover Height.
• Better Looking Starter Avatars – New classic avatars were launched along with better looking starter options for new residents joining Second Life.
• New Premium Perks – Experience tools introduced, monthly membership was reduced along with a stop to charges to VAT. Group and IM limits were increased. Concierge hours were extended this year.
• Lower Land Set-Up Fees & Grandfathered Transfers – Setup fees were lowered for land owners and Grandfathered transfers are now allowed.
• Inworld Events & Community Fun – Second Life 12th birthday, first session of Lab Chat aired, Snowball Fights, Creepy Crawl, first Music Fest by Linden Lab happened this year along with the launch of PaleoQuest.

2016 Pipeline

• New Marketplace Search will launch in 2016 (currently in beta) 
• HTTP project (merging with Voice fixes) coming in 2016 
• Upcoming Quick Graphics & Rendering Complexity Viewer will launch in 2016
• Update to the Oculus Rift Viewer coming in 2016 

What developments or events have you enjoyed the most during 2015 in Second Life ? Are you excited for whats to come in 2016 ? 

Linden Snowball Fight 2015 was awesome

Between 10am SLT to 12pm SLT today at the Winter Wonderland sims in Second Life there was a massive Residents Vs Lindens snowball fight. This year there were at least 100 attendee’s and it was awesome. Many well known Lindens and Moles attended the snowball fight with their snowball launchers. 

It was great fun from start to finish and I enjoyed the event this year. The Winter Wonderland sims looked great this year and I love the new look. Many lovely views from the top of the castle and snowy hills. Worth a visit if you love the winter season and lot’s of snow. 🙂

Enjoy an exciting snowy adventure in the latest attraction by Linden Lab. Enjoy some holiday gifts in the Village of Lights, or a nice skate around the rink with friends. Take a look over the regions on the top of our Winter Ferris Wheel or race around the track. Don’t miss the all-new snowball fight arena!

• Visit Winter Wonderland Here

Check out my snapshots from the Residents Vs Lindens 2015 snowball fight below!

For more snapshots, see here.

My favourite snapshots during 2015 in Second Life

There have been good memories from my visits and adventures in Second Life during 2015 so far. Here are my favourite snapshots from the past 12 months. 🙂

Own at The Pen 2015 – January 2015 

Owl flying the plane at Honah Lee airport – January 2015

Isle of View 2015 – February 2015 

VWBPE 2015 regions – March 2015

Group Selfie with Lindens and the SL community – March 2015

SS Galaxy ship visit – April 2015

Basilique Linden inworld meeting – May 2015

Bay City 7th Anniversary – May 2015

Second Life 12th Birthday Celebrations – June 2015

London City 6th Birthday – August 2015

Firestorm 5th anniversary celebrations – September 2015

Rollercoaster time at Bay City – September 2015

Grand Canyon visit – September 2015

BURN2 2015 – October 2015

Halloween – My 9th Rezday in Second Life

Lab Chat – November 2015

Calas Galadhon – December 2015

I can’t wait to start my 2016 adventures around Second Life. Woooot! 🙂

Linden Lab announces Linden & Resident Snowball Fight 2015

Linden Vs Resident Snowball Fight – February 2015

On Friday 18th December Linden Lab announced details about this year’s Linden & Resident Snowball Fight. The snowball fight will start at 10am SLT and will finish around 12pm SLT on Monday 21st December 2015 at the Winter Wonderland regions in Second Life.

Winter Wonderland 2015

The event is free for everyone to attend this year and I have to say that previous Linden Vs Resident fights have been really good fun. This year there will be space in the arena for the snowball fight and it will be much easier to get free snowball launchers.

Come one – come all to the Snowball Arena for a friendly ice battle of epic proportions! We’re bringing back the Official Snowball Showdown – where you’re free to pelt your fellow Second Life Residents and Lindens with a bevy of sparkling snowballs!

If you missed last year’s battle – now’s your chance to get some snow slinging fun in an icy free-for-all at Winter Wonderland. Join us on Monday, December 21st between 10 AM SLT and noon SLT.

If you’re looking for the latest in snow-slinging arsenal, be sure to grab your free snow launching weaponry from the vendors around the arena. Premium members can unlock even more powerful artillery.

Mark your calendars, assemble your dream team of friends, and meet us in the snow!

Victory for Residents!

I hope the annual snowball fight will continue for years to come. 🙂

Linden Vs Resident Snowball Fight – February 2015

SL Winterfest 2010, Snowball Fighting with Lindens

SL Winterfest 2010, Snowball Fighting with Lindens

Spread the word and come along with your friends! 🙂

Eight years blogging about Second Life

8 years blogging about Second Life!

On 18th December 2015 marks eight years since I first started to blog about Second Life news and events back on 18th December 2007. Since then I have enjoyed reporting and sharing things that matter the most.

My main focus has been Second Life and OpenSim since 2007. For the next few years the focus will be on Second Life still but I will be blogging about the upcoming Project Sansar too due to launch to the general public sometime in 2016.

Thanks to everybody that has followed my blog since 2007 and I will be blogging for many more years to come. Here are some stats I would like to share with you all..

Blog stats since 2007

• 2. 328 blog posts since 2007
• 462, 526 total views since 2007
• 170, 082 total visitors since 2007
• 859 views (Best Views Ever) on 16th May 2014
• 565 blog followers so far along with 3, 921 other people

Blog stats for 2015

• Views – 76, 843
• Visitors – 42, 984 
• Likes – 893
• Comments – 475

2016 upcoming milestones

• Hope to reach 500, 000 total hits/views during 2016
• Hope to have 600 blog followers / 4, 000 other people during 2016
• Next year marks my 10th anniversary in Second Life on 31st October 2016
• Next year marks my 9th year blogging about Second Life on 18th December 2016

I can’t wait to start reporting about the news and events during 2016. I hope you can enjoy the journey with me too. 🙂