Bellisseria Third Anniversary

It’s time to celebrate 3 years of the Bellisseria continent

Today on Friday 15th April 2022 marks Bellisseria third anniversary in Second Life since the second generation of Linden Homes were first launched on the grid. The Moles and many Lindens have worked really hard over the past three years to keep growing the Bellisseria continent so that more releases can happen regularly.

Join in with the celebrations here

Bellisseria Fairgrounds – April 2022

Chalet sub continent windmills

When the Bellisseria continent first opened to the public back on 15th April 2019 there was only like 384 regions. Today there are thousands of Linden Home regions spread over many themed sub continents connecting up to former continents. It’s been exciting to keep track of progress since then and even before that back in late August 2018 when the first 80 SSP regions arrived on the grid.

11th April 2019

A few days or so before the big opening the lab added the Linden Homes section on the Second Life Forums. The SSP? thread is still running today with 263 pages full of historical findings. It’s amazing it’s been active since 21st August 2008.

In early April 2019 Patch Linden went live on Relay Rap Radio Talk Show to talk about the new Linden Homes project that the lab have been working on since mid 2018.

Here are were the updates from the radio show….

• The opening “will be announced when it happens”
• Currently “one week past the original roll out date”
• There will be four house styles to choose from. Eventually “there will be six to eight more styles” for Linden Homes – some 512sq and some 1024sq
• The new SSP continent will “grow futher down South then East” where the new water regions are
• It’s recommended to get a new Linden Home quickly as there may be a long wait
• The old Linden homes will be going away and will be shut down. At least a year or two before this happens.

Back in late March 2019 the first part of the SSP continent showed up on the world map. Over the weeks that followed the continent became much bigger. See the comparison maps below 2020 vs 2021 vs 2022. Linden Lab back then said it was to do with a Super Secret Project they are working on.

Bellisseria SSP continent – Late March 2019

SSP Continent – 16th January 2019

The houseboats release opens – 15th May 2019

New area of land – 17th August 2019

The first preview of the new Linden Homes was at the 2019 Home and Garden Expo.

First preview of Linden Homes – Mid March 2019

Welcome to Linden Homes – Mid March 2019

• Top 15 Interesting Places To Visit In Bellisseria – As of November 2021

Lighthouse near the ocean – April 2019

During the past year the Chalet, Fantasy and Newbrooke sub continents have arrived on the grid with new areas to explore, more Linden Homes and a bigger community overall. Work is not completely done yet and further expansion of Bellisseria during the next year or two is highly expected.

Newbrooke sub continent

The lab is due to announce details on Premium Plus by the end of May 2022 and maybe there will be more interest for Linden Homes after that. The next theme reveal may happen at SL19B which happens from mid June 2022. The release will most likely happen before the end of the year if there are no delays.

Campwich Forest

All Hours – April 2019

Fourze – April 2019

Bellisseria growth over the years – (August 2018 to April 2022)

First SSP Regions Arrived – 20th August 2018

Bellisseria Continent Opening Day – 15th April 2019

April 2020 vs April 2021 vs April 2022

Bellisseria Continent – 15th April 2020

Bellisseria Continent – 15th April 2021

Bellisseria Continent – 15th April 2022

I can’t wait to see what the Bellisseria continent will look like in a year from now and even two years from now. It’s going to be triple the size that’s for sure and I will continue to keep track of new developments on my blog. Stay tuned for that.

Feel free to share your best Bellisseria memories from the past three years in comments.

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Fantasy Sub Continent – Developments Update – January 2022

SSPE2772

Earlier this month I blogged about the newest 12 SSPE regions that have been added in the north east corner of the Fantasy sub continent. Today the Moles are still working on these regions adding more Fantasy Linden Homes, new roadways, new rez zones and new interesting areas to explore. These regions should be finished by the end of February 2022.

I have noticed this week that there are more red squares in multiple regions across the Fantasy sub continent meaning things could be delayed for some time until the issues have been addressed. This is the same with the Chalet sub continent in the far north east where there are loads of red squares.

Now – Fantasy sub continent map as of Friday 28th January 2022

Before – Fantasy sub continent map as of Tuesday 11th January 2022

Start of 2022 on 5th January 2022 where the new SSPE regions arrived to complete the continent

Good progress is being made overall and I think at some point in February most if not all of the Fantasy sub continent hopefully will be finished. I will blog about further developments later next month.

SSP Development Area – January 2022 Update

As of Friday 28th January 2022 there are now 17 red SSP regions compared with six red SSP regions on 15th December 2021. The red theme is highly likely the Modern Linden theme which was announced in early December 2021 at the SL Christmas Expo.

Now – 28th January 2022

Before – 15th December 2021

More updates will be posted on my blog in February 2022.

Work Starts On New SSPE Fantasy Regions

SSPE2772 & SSPE2773

The Moles have started work this week on adding new Fantasy Linden Homes in the newly added 12 SSPE regions added in the north east corner. Already there are new bridges, pathways, house parcel markers and Fantasy related stuff dotted about. Developments will continue for many more weeks yet but as you can see good progress is being made.

Here is the fantasy sub continent map as of Tuesday 11th January 2022. The new 12 SSPE regions are now clearly visible on the world map now in the north east corner. In many coastal regions work is still happening around the continent.

New Rez Zone in SSPE2773

SSPE2773

Chalet Sub Continent January 2022 Update

A whole lot of houseboats have been added on the east side and south side of the Chalet sub continent. I think once these regions are completed in the weeks ahead then work will start on the west and north side of the Chalet sub continent.

Stay tuned for more new developments soon.

Second Life Year In Review 2021: August To December

This is a special blog post looking back at what happened in Second Life between August 2021 to December 2021. The last half of 2021 has been busy at times for big news pretty much and here is what happened below. So much has happened this year including many good memories and some not so good ones.

I hope 2022 will be another great year for Second Life in general terms and that it continues to grow in size. The new management team have recently announced the 2022 roadmap for Second Life which sounds very promising.

• Part 1: January to July 2021

August 2021

On 2nd August Linden Lab announced the end of the use of gacha machines within Second Life and they must be discontinued by content creators by midnight SLT on Tuesday 31st August 2021. There was huge discussion about this news on the Second Life forums for some time. The lab put together a useful FAQ on the main blog post soon after.

• The Arcade cancelled the September 2021 round due to this announcement

In early August Linden Lab rolled out the new look join Second Life page with new gender selection options. New users can select the GENDER-VARIANT/NON-BINARY tick box for their starter avatar when they log into Second Life for the first time. The new look join Second Life page has the usual required details to fill out including username, password, email, date of birth, security question/answer and starting avatar gender. 

On 13th August the new Fantasy sub continent got released and a handful of regions were released. The Moles are working on the coastline orbit adding new homes and new areas.

Andrew Kertesz (Mojo Linden) became the new Vice President of Engineering at Linden Lab from late August 2021. Andrew has more than 20 years experience in the games industry and he is an expert in building teams and launching ground-breaking games across genres that push respective platforms.

On 20th August marked three years since the first SSP batch of regions arrived on the grid. Back in August 2018 there was just 80 SSP regions and since then thousands of regions have been added to make up the Bellisseria continent we know today.

Start of the SSP development phrase of the Bellisseria continent in mid August 2018

September 2021

The Firestorm Project reached it’s 11th anniversary in early September 2021. The Firestorm viewer is one of the most popular and most used third party viewers out there today. 

Firestorm Viewer Log On Screen – September 2021

In late September 2021 Linden Lab announced an additional way for Second Life residents to protect their accounts. The Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is available to all residents and it provides an extra level of security.

October 2021

Linden Lab announced new Halloween limited edition last names in early October. The lab was very pleased to see the responses to the limited edition last names.

The Arcade hosted it’s October 2021 mini pop-up round featuring Halloween treats and a new way to play.

BURN2 2021 opened to the public in early October featuring a whole lot of events on the playa. Once again the event was a huge success. More events are planned for 2022.

Linden Lab paused development of the Second Life mobile app for iOS and Android. The team is still actively working on a new direction which will be talked about during 2022.

After reviewing the current state of the SL Mobile Viewer and the helpful feedback from residents, we have decided to pause development on this branch. The team is actively working on a new direction to take from here. We should have some news on that soon.

Avi Arrow in Second Life sadly passed away at her home on Saturday 23rd October 2021 surrounded by her family. Avi Arrow was the administrator of the Ivory Tower in Natoma. Avi primarily managed the property and the Ivory Tower of Prims group. Avi Arrow was my friend in Second Life who has been a resident for over 15 years now. Avi was talented, generous and very clever I think. Avi helped so many people over the years on how to build in Second Life and much more.

Second Life trended on Twitter in late October from the Facebook Meta announcement. Facebook is focused on moving away from social media to the metaverse.

On 31st October marked my 15th Rez Day in Second Life. Read more here about my journey so far. I still think Second Life is the best virtual world out there today and as the lab has said many times Second Life is here to stay for many more years to come.

November 2021

In early November April Linden departed Linden Lab after 8 years. April Linden helped moved Second Life to the cloud (Amazon AWS). Good luck April.

The new Fantasy community centre was open to the public in early November. It’s worth checking out if you have not been so far.

The Drax Files ended after seven years as viewers declined over time. Drax produced many amazing podcasts over the years covering a huge range of Second Life topics.

Linden Lab gives Second Life search a facelift after many years. The lab have not changed the algorithm that the search feature uses in any way. More changes are due to happen in 2022.

December 2021

In early December the 2021 SL Christmas Expo opened to the public featuring over 150 stores spread over 15 Christmas regions. On 6th December the new Linden Home theme was revealed to the public. Modern homes was showcased on the Linden Reveal region in the north east corner.

Linden Lab announced email preference changes which involved receiving group notices in email. Receiving group notifications went live from 15th December and there is a option to opt-in or out.

Linden Lab announced new Winter last names which are still available until 5th January 2022.

• Snowflake
• Kringle
• Yule
• Fruitcake
• Ninnymuggins
• Humbug
• Hollyberry
• Jinglepaw

On 8th December 2021 Patch Linden confirmed that the old Linden homes will be phased out and/or repurposed. Patch Linden at the moment does not know the timing on when that will be.

My Second Life 2022 Predictions

• Linden Lab will allow for more groups
• Larger 2048 m² parcel sizes
• There will be at least two new Linden Home themes announced/released
• Land Prices lowered slightly
• Announcement about old Linden Home continents closing down or possible upgrade instead
• Avatar 2.0 to be rolled out
• More user group hours introduced

2022 Events Ahead

• One Billion Rising in Second Life – 14th February 2022
• Home and Garden Expo – 26th February 2022 to 20th March 2022
• 15th Annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference – 31st March 2022 to 2nd April 2022 – (Phoenix Rising)
• Relay Weekend (RFL of SL)- 11th/12th June 2022
• SL19B – Mid-late June 2022
• And more!

I can’t wait for 2022 to arrive. I will blog about the news and events along the way as I have done in previous years. I have no idea what the new year will bring but I am sure it’s going to be a good one.

2022 is almost here 🙂

New South Coast Added To Fantasy Sub Continent

This week the southern coastline has been added to the Fantasy sub continent in Second Life and now it’s showing up on the map for the first time. The newest regions are highlighted in red from SSPE2746 to SSPE2755 and the blue arrow on the right hand side is where more regions will be added to fill up the coasts around the sub continent.

Below is the Fantasy sub continent map as of Tuesday 9th November 2021 featuring a brand new west coast line that includes hundreds of new Fantasy Linden homes. The long blue line on the right hand side is what’s coming next with hundreds of more SSPE regions arriving very soon. I think the plan is for the east side coastline of the Fantasy sub continent and the west side of the Chalet coastline to be finished before 2022 starts.

Work will be starting very soon on SSPE2750 and in nearby regions.

I will post more updates on my blog when further big developments happen. Stay tuned for that.

New West Fantasy Batch Of Regions Arrive

In the past week or so a new batch of Fantasy SSPE regions have been added down the western side of the Fantasy sub continent in Second Life. They appear dark on the world map (see below) from SSPE2736 to SSPE2721. The Moles are working on these new SSPE regions now adding hundreds of more Fantasy Linden Homes which will be available in the weeks ahead.

Further batches of new SSPE regions are set to arrive in the weeks ahead around the coastal areas of the Fantasy and Chalet sub continents. When those developments happen I will blog about it for sure. Stay tuned for that.

West side new regions added recently

SSPE2730

Keep a look out for new SSPE regions soon. It’s likely we will hear about the next Linden Home theme later this year and that will probably happen at the SL Christmas Expo 2021. At least another two LH themes during 2022 and maybe into 2023.

Second Life Region Statistics -September 2021

Here are the latest Second Life grid statistics as of Sunday 26th September 2021 via the Second Life Grid Survey. Since early July 2021 Second Life is still showing strong positive growth in new Private Estates and new Linden Owned regions. This is very good news and hopefully this positive upward trend will continue for many more months to come.

It’s gone from 24, 147 total main grid regions on 20th January 2020 to 27, 220 on 26th September 2021. Wow! 🙂

Most of the recent region growth has come from the new Fantasy sub continent which opened in early August 2021 where hundreds of new regions were added on the grid. It’s expected hundreds of more Linden home regions (new themes) will be added within the next 12 months or so.

If the total main grid regions count surpasses 28, 000 then it would be like 2012/2013 levels again which would be great to see. If it reaches 29, 000 or 30, 000 then that would be amazing.

September 2021 Region Stats

Ownership	Total	General	Moderate	Adult	Offline	Total Area (km)
Total	27220	2621	16909	7682	8	1783.89
Linden Owned	8867	1576	6882	408	1	581.11
Private Estates	18353	1045	10027	7274	7	1202.78

As of 26th September 2021

Second Life Grid Statistics on 4th July 2021

• Total: 26, 946 – (up from 26, 504 on 11th April 2021)
• Private Estates: 18, 316 – (up from 17, 864 on 11th April 2021)
• Linden Owned: 8, 630 – (down from 8, 640 on 11th April 2021)
• Total Area (KM): 1765.93 – (up from 1736.97 on 11th April 2021)

My next Second Life Grid Statistics blog post will be published in late October 2021.

Fantasy Sub Continent: Mirror Pond Development

Mirror Pond First Preview – 27th September 2021

The Mirror Pond region over at the new Fantasy sub continent in Second Life is being worked on by the Moles. In early August 2021 the Mirror Pond region was empty and now there are new fantasy Linden homes surrounding a big pond in the center. The Moles are still working in the area and may take some to finish. In recent weeks work is still being carried out across the Bellisseria continent and now newer developments are happening. Yay.

3 out of 5 of the blank regions last month the Moles have added new Fantasy Linden homes, small isles, a new bridge and more. It’s worth having a look at the latest new developments.

Fantasy Sub Continent Status Check

• Mirror Pond – Moles working on new developments – As of 27th September
• Fairstone Quarry – New Linden Homes and new bridge – As of 27th September
• Toad Pool – New Linden Homes and small little isles – As of 27th September
• Jacksprite – Empty – As of 27th September
• SSPE2539 – Empty – As of 27th September

Chalet New Development

Cthulhu – 27th September 2021

The Cthulhu region now has new home place markers for new Chalet Linden homes to be added in the days ahead. New houseboat markers have been added near the water on the east side.

SSP Development Area

No major SSP changes to report this month. There have been active Mole activity in many regions here during the last few months or so.

SSP Development Area – 27th September 2021

Spread the word and keep a look out for new developments.

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.

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