BURN2 Virtual BURN Week – 29th August to 5th September 2021

Virtual BURN 2021

The BURN2 Virtual BURN week in Second Life starts today at 6pm SLT on Sunday 29th August through until midnight on Sunday 5th September 2021. The event will be held at the Burning Man – Deep Hole region and everyone is welcome to attend. There will be many workshops, stories being told, fire dancing, live DJs, live performers and more.

Check out the BURN2 Event Schedule

The Temple and The Man will be burning once again towards the end of next week (4th – 5th September). The Man creation is based on the original Man by Zoren Manray and the Temple Caelum of Stars is a original design by Daark Gothly.

The virtual Burning Man event has been running every year in Second Life since 2003. The event is one of the oldest running events on the grid. In 2010 Linden Lab downsized and the ownership of Burning Man was transferred/renamed to BURN2 where the community carried on the annual events.

I have blogged about my experiences over the years attending BURN2 and sharing snapshots with the community. I have volunteered at the welcome gates during various years which I really enjoyed doing. The burns of the man and the temple are probably the best highlight for me. The annual events are really good fun on the playa as it brings everyone together to make new memories.

Join the BurningMan 2.0 group in Second Life to stay updated on the latest news and upcoming BURN2 events. Please spread the word about BURN2 Virtual BURN week starting today.

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SL Christmas Expo 2021 Confirmed For 3rd – 14th December 2021

The 11th annual SL Christmas Expo & Winter Breedable Fair will officially be taking place from Friday 3rd December through until Tuesday 14th December 2021. The 2021 dates, the 2021 theme and some information is now showing on the SL Christmas Expo website.

SL Christmas Expo is a mega event that raises funds for the American Cancer Society and the expo will be supporting the Childhood Cancer initiatives of The Society. All the proceeds of the Expo will be directed to support research, support programs and efforts to help children with cancer.

• The SL Christmas Expo has raised more than $175, 000 US over the past ten years
• $32, 510 US was raised for the 2020 SL Christmas Expo event

The theme for 2021 is The 12 Days of Christmas and registration is now open for expo merchants + winter fair merchants + auction market places. Click on the links to find out what the 2021 package options are this year.

More event information will be available in the weeks and months ahead.

800, 000 hits milestone reached

Today my blog surpassed 800, 000 hits which is fantastic and I would like to say thanks to everyone that has viewed by blog over the years. Thanks for everyone that has subscribed to my blog (over 870+ blog followers & 5, 646 other followers) and I plan on blogging about Second Life, Linden Lab and OpenSim for many more years to come.

Since August 2018 I have been focused on blogging mostly about the developments happening over at the supermassive Bellisseria continent which keeps expanding out further on the grid. Of course if there is any major announcements from the lab or any other popular news/events to cover then I will blog about them for sure.

I started my blog back on 18th December 2007 to blog about events and news on the teen grid as I was 17 years old back then. There was not alot of blog coverage back then on the teen grid until rumours started about merging grids which started in 2008. The teen grid and main adult grid merged in January 2011.

I transferred to the main grid in mid December 2008 where my focus was to blog about main grid events and big news stories. I have covered alot of things over the years from viewer 2 revamp, the SL go app, project sansar, SSP/Bellisseria, the return of last names, inworldz closure, Linden departures/layoffs, the move to the cloud for Second Life and much more.

I have blogged about all the CEOs of Linden Lab including Philip, M, Rod along with the most recent CEO being Ebbe which has been most interesting from live speeches at popular annual events, major announcements and various changes they made.

I have covered the annual Relay for Life events, BURN2, Second Life birthdays, SLCC, the Arcade gacha celebrations and more. I have recommended places to visit over the years and blogged about adventures that I found really good.

I hope that the new owners of Linden Lab will continue to improve Second Life in the years ahead and not make things worse for the Second Life community. The new owners have a roadmap for the year ahead including improving the new user experience, possible new land products, growing the population of Second Life, expansion of Linden Homes and much more I think.

Second Life has changed so much since I started on 31st October 2006 and I believe Second Life will be around for many more decades to come hopefully. In a few years time Second Life will hit the 20 years milestone which is going to be very exciting indeed.

Three years since first SSP batch of regions arrived

Three years ago on 20th August 2018 the first 80 SSP Linden owned regions batch arrived on the grid in Second Life. There was definitely excitement about this new land mass back then. Many speculated that it could of been an extension to Horizons or Linden Realms or the start of a new continent.

The SSP regions doubled in size and then kept on growing into a big continent which opened back on 15th April 2019 named the Bellisseria continent with a handful of Linden home themes to choose from.

Since then Bellisseria has become supermassive featuring many cool Linden Home themes featuring Stilts, Chalets and more recently Fantasy homes. There are more Linden Home themes to come along with more expansion of the Bellisseria continent for at least another year or so.

The start of the development of the Bellisseria continent in mid August 2018

Grand opening on 15th April 2019

Bellisseria – July 2021

The Chalet sub continent in the far north east will be finished soon. The new Fantasy Linden homes continent has recently opened just south of the log homes continent and further expansion is expected.

New Chalet sub continent – 6th August 2021

New Fantasy sub continent – 15th August 2021

The Moles and the lab have done a great job over the past three years expanding out the Bellisseria continent adding thousands of new Linden homes and adding new interested hang out areas.

I have been tracking progress of the SSP and Bellisseria since mid August 2018 and I will keep on blogging about new developments for some time to come.

More good things to come in the short term and long term. Can’t wait.

Andrew Kertesz New VP of Engineering joins the Linden Lab management team

Andrew Kertesz new VP of Engineering

In the past week Andrew Kertesz (Mojo Linden) has become the new Vice President of Engineering at Linden Lab. Andrew has more than 20 years experience in the games industry and he is an expert in building teams and launching groundbreaking games across genres that push respective platforms.

Andrew Kertesz takes over the post left by Oz Linden back in late February 2021 who left after a decade with Linden Lab. Andrew joined Linden Lab at the end of July 2021 from Level Ex Inc apparently. Andrew will be responsible for the simulator and the viewer engineering teams along with much more I would imagine over time.

Andrew bio history via LinkedIn

About
Building teams launching products that help business make better decisions and entertain people across the globe.

A leader with product and technical experience across multiple mobile, pc, and console games, as well as platform and SDK development, web applications, and cloud services. History of building widely deployed platforms and billion-dollar franchises.

PRODUCT RELEASES

DoubleDown Fort Knox, Wheel of Fortune Slots, Halo Waypoint, Crackdown, Forza Motorsport, Fable II, Project Gotham Racing, Rallisport, Challenge, Lips, SceneIt, Microsoft DirectX, Optimal Point Analytics, Ascent Games Platform and SDK

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Mobile, Unity3d, Embedded, Simulation, Full-stack, Node.js, Graphics Engines, AWS, & Google Cloud, Xbox, DirectX, Analytics, Tableau, Visualization, D3, MMO, Video Streaming, Amplitude, DeltaDNA, Kochava, C++, C#, JavaScript, Java

Hopefully Mojo Linden will make an appearance on Lab Gab soon and show up at in-world user group hours like the popular Simulator User Group meetings in the weeks ahead.

Check out Andrew Kertesz interesting background bio on his official LinkedIn page. Andrew is now featured on the Linden Lab management team page here.

Hopefully Andrew will stay around for many years at Linden Lab making it more enjoyable for everyone to use Second Life.

Second Life Daily User Concurrency Levels Decline Slightly Since Mid May 2021

Second Life Daily Concurrency Levels – August 2020 to August 2021

It appears that the Second Life daily concurrency levels have declined slightly since mid May 2021 in terms of the maximum number of daily online users and the average online users every day has dropped a few points. The Second Life daily concurrency levels have not reached or gone above the 60, 000 mark so far in 2021. The highest peak so far in 2021 was 57, 767 on 29th March 2021. Back in 2020 the highest peak was 60, 068 recorded on 13th April 2020.

At the start of 2021 the daily Second Life user concurrency was doing alright averaging between 55, 000 to 57, 000 at peak times. So far in August 2021 its averaging 51, 000 to 52, 000 at peak times.

August 2021 Daily Concurrency Levels

• Maximum Daily Concurrency: 51, 000 to 52, 000 (average)
• Median Daily Concurrency: 38, 000 to 39, 000 (average)
• Minimum Daily Concurrency: 27, 000 to 29, 000 (average)

There have been some noticeable losses in the minimum user concurrency levels on 13th January (25, 282), 10th February (24, 100) and 31st March (19, 842). Since June 2021 the grid has been showing good stability for grid outrages.

The road ahead

I would imagine this current user concurrency trend will remain this way until Autumn/Winter kicks in when the levels should start increasing again slowly (55k then 60k etc). It will be interesting to see if the gacha ban will have any impact or not on the overall user concurrency numbers starting 1st September 2021+.

I think it would be good to see the Second Life user concurrency levels rise again (above 60k) towards the end of the year into 2022. At the moment there is no need to panic as this trend normally happens annually.

My next update on the Second Life daily user concurrency levels and the overall grid statistics will be published in late October 2021.

Fantasy Sub Continent – August 2021 Update

Fantasy Sub Continent – 15th August 2021

More Fantasy regions have now been released since Friday 13th August 2021 for those that want a new Fantasy Linden Home. The fastest way of claiming a new Linden home is through the Second Life land selection page. There is plenty of choice now from traditional, houseboat, camper, stilt home on land, chalet, log home and now fantasy. There are more themes in the works but they are unknown at this stage.

The new Fantasy Linden homes look great with the river running through them. There are many crystals dotted about the sub continent along with a whole range of fantasy flowers. The bridges go really well dotted around.

Covendale

There are three Fantasy styles in this Fantasy theme including Amberbrooke, Mistbrooke, Rosebrooke and Stonebrooke. The prim limit is 351 prims and the total space for them is 1024 sqm. There are 187 Fantasy regions as of Sunday 15th August 2021 and more regions will most likely be added very soon.

Land selection page

New Water Connection

As many know already there is only one water channel connection to the new Fantasy sub continent at the moment. Dannielles and Glimmer Bay (now showing on the map) are the only two water regions connecting the log homes continent with the fantasy homes continent. Hopefully the moles will add more water regions around the Fantasy sub continent in the days ahead.

Maybe a water region on the east side of the Hanshin region would be great along with more water regions nearby. There is big interest in sailing now since the Bellisseria/SSP first formed almost three years ago now.

Empty Green Regions

SSPE2539, Toad Pool, Fairstone Quarry, Jacksprite and Mirror Pond are empty regions which show up on the map as dark green. It’s not clear at this stage what the moles plan on doing in these yet. It could be used for more new Linden homes, new attractions, new hangout points or rez areas.

Sealife Discovery

Check out the underwater sealife area in Glimmer Bay and Dannielles

Solstace for crystals

There is more to discover around the Fantasy continent. I will blog again soon on new developments.

Linden Lab Announces The 2021 Halloween Shop & Hop Event

This week Linden Lab announced the 2021 Halloween Shop & Hop event which will open on 1st October through until 31st October 2021 in Second Life. The event will be held over multiple regions in-world where everyone can have a great shopping experience.

This will be a good opportunity for Merchants to bring in new customers to showcase their brands and items most importantly. If you are interested there is a form to fill out before Sunday 28th August 2021.

The full blog announcement reads this…

The Halloween season is fast approaching and our annual multi-region inworld shopping event is coming back. If you are a Content Creator, this is your chance to spook up some sales and reach a large audience with your creepiest and coolest creations!

The 2021 Halloween Shop & Hop will open on October 1st, and will run through the 31st. This is your opportunity to bring a ton of new customers to your brand, by offering some of your best items. We are looking for Merchants willing to offer a discount on their items (at least 20% off) and provide a small non-exclusive gift to shoppers.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please fill out this form as soon as possible and no later than Sunday, August 29, 2021. We will contact you soon after that date if your application is accepted.

Please spread the news about this event to your friends across the grid and on social media. Thanks.

New Fantasy Sub Continent Now Open In Second Life

News Alert

Just before 4pm SLT today the new Fantasy sub continent got released and already there is 30 people in the Solstace region along with many Moles for testing purposes. There is a new water connection opening shortly between Rigamarole and SSPE2539 it is believed. It’s expected in the hours and days ahead more Fantasy regions will be released for those interested in having a new Fantasy Linden Home.

Region Releases So Far:

• Solstace
• Anagonye
• Acanthis
• More region releases 13th August onwards

NEW > Patch Linden officially announces the opening of the new Fantasy Linden Homes theme today.

Hey Everyone!

Just when you thought it wouldn’t happen, here it is!

The Fantasy theme is designed to appeal to residents with a flair for the magical and mystic side of Second Life.  The homes are situated on an isolated subcontinent, accessible only by teleportation or through the misty seaway from the coast at Rigamarole.  Wander among fanciful giant mushrooms and glowing crystals. Streets and regional parks are full of bioluminescent trees that come alive after dark with a fairy-like glow, as do the streets, the rocks, and even the roof of your home. You can imagine yourself in a world populated by faeries, wizards, and mythical creatures, a place where anything is possible.  There are also seasonal changes that will occur throughout the year (sorry, no snow!).

Barneys Fief

Anagonye

Patch goes on to say that more Fantasy region releases will happen on Friday 13th August 2021.

At the time of release, there are four basic models, named Amberbrooke, Mistbrooke, Rosebrooke, and Stonebrooke.  Coming soon, there will be available open-plan versions that look the same as the basic models but have fewer interior walls, so that you can add your own walls to create a customized floor plan. The open plan versions are named Angelspell, Moonspell, Ragespell, and Steepspell.

There will be an amazing community center announced in the near future.  

This release will be paced due to the complexities that lie beneath what drives the homes and all of their magical features.   We will start with a few regions now, and resume the following day (Friday, 13 August) with additional regions as we monitor progress of the region releases as we go. 

As a general reminder and to help facilitate the release process, please do not play “game of homes” by taking and releasing homes during the initial phases of launch.  Also it is extremely helpful to refrain from rapidly switching through different home styles to give the regions time to settle and not overload the backend systems.

We hope everyone enjoys the latest additions to the Belliseria continent and community!
-Patch, the Moles and the Second Life Land Operations team

Acanthis

Welcome to the new Fantasy community to all those moving in today. Yay! 🙂

4.30pm SLT

3.55pm SLT

Stay tuned for further updates on my blog and on my Twitter stream.

Latest Fantasy LH discussion can be found on the SSP thread on the Second Life Forums, see here

The Guild Confirms October 2021 Event

The Guild Team in Second Life have announced recently on their official website that everything is still on track for the October 2021 event to go ahead. The Guild team have decided to transition the event to be entirely a regular sales event than the normal gacha event held before.

This is because of the recent Linden Lab decision to end gachas by the end of August 2021. The lab blog post has been updated now with a new additional FAQ section at the bottom which is worth checking out. There could be another new FAQ published by Linden Lab sometime this week.

The Gacha Guild has now been renamed to The Guild to reflect the overall event foundation during previous years. The logo will be worked on among other changes in the weeks ahead.

Here is the full announcement about the future of Gacha Guild is shown below.

Gacha Events/Sales

• The Arcade team in Second Life is working on alternatives right now for future events in Second Life. I will blog more about that when new developments happen.
• The FabFree group have a gacha list up and running