Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Author, strategist, virtual world reporter

  • Watch: This Game Trailer is Actually an Amazing User-Created VRChat World Made by One Guy Over the Last 4 Years

    Originally posted on my Patreon

    Update: The game is live. Here's the world links for the PC/PC VR version, and for the Quest version.

    This video above could be gameplay footage from an upcoming PS4 game by a professional studio, but it's actually only available in VRChat. Bullet Time Agent is a one person labor of love by a longtime VRC community creator known only as "Lakuza", who I've been following since at least early 2020.

    Yes, he's been developing this game in his spare time for almost 4 years, mostly working on his own.

    Available to play in VRChat today at 4pm PT, you'll be able to find it in the Quest store and in-world search under "Bullet Time Agent 1-1", "Bullet Time Agent 1-2", and "Bullet Time Agent 1-3".

    "I'd easily be putting in at least 6 hours per day, and then on weekends, most of the day would be spent on the project," Lakuza tells me.

    As the game name suggests, it turns Matrix-style bullet time into a major gameplay mechanic, in a story where you're a reformed thief with a world to save. Somewhat surprisingly, the game will be completely free-to-play, Lakuza's only reward being peer recognition by the VRChat community. Then again, you know a metaverse platform is successful when people create amazing things for their community as an end in itself.

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  • I’m Seeing a Strong Shift to Bluesky by SLers — Including Cajsa, Who Just Closed Her Huge Twitter/X Account

    Cajsa SL Bluesky

    New World Notes columnist Cajsa Lilliehook just locked up her fairly large X/Twitter account (with nearly 20,000 followers) and opened up shop in Bluesky here.

    I wasn't surprised when she told me this last night (for reasons I'll explain below), but it's actually part of a larger trend:

    In the last couple weeks, my mostly dormant Bluesky account suddenly exploded with hundreds of new followers, most of them SL/virtual world-themed. (OK, maybe "exploded" is a bit hyperbolic, but certainly a fierce fucking puff of activity.) And there's more:

    Philip Rosedale just joined Bluesky.

    The official Second Life account too.

    Plus here's a large Bluesky thread of SLers to announce yourself and meet others there! 

    Also other metaverse platforms including Rec Room and VRChat are active on Bluesky.

    This is part of an even larger trend, as Bluesky recently hit 20 million active users, in great part in an exile move from Twitter/X in the wake of the US election. That was the thing which pushed Cajsa herself over the blue edge:

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  • Cajsa’s Choices: Fun Social Influencer-Style SL Pics by Kia Monae Kil

    54120477729_97145ae055_cCajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

    Kia Monae Kil shoots fashion pictures, showing herself, her clothes, and her life, often resembling photos from Instagram influencers. It’s fun to watch her having fun as documented by her many pics. In “Jet Setters” you can see that she creates scenarios that suit what she is wearing and also projects the fun of Second Life. She looks like I feel while traveling. So realistic. 

    For more peeks into Kia’s life, click here:

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  • Ben Affleck is Both Too Bullish & Bearish About Gen AI’s Impact on Movies

    This video of filmmaker Ben Affleck discussing generative AI in a nuanced way has been going viral recently, partly because he has a sharp understanding of the technology — but mostly, I suspect, because he's one of the few well-known, artistically acclaimed Hollywood figures who isn't actively in Freaking the Fuck Out mode about the coming of AI. (And living in Los Angeles, I can say FTFO seems to be the general tenor among most people in the industry.)

    However, I think he's being both too bearish and too bullish about generative AI. While he's definitely right that generative AI will help lower the barriers for low budget indie filmmakers — it's already doing that — some of the other applications he mentions are highly questionable. To take two:

    "We'll use AI to create personalized versions of our favorite TV shows/movies"

    Having written about user-generated content across many platforms for over 15 years, including machinima, I can definitely say this: There's only niche interest in unofficial remixes of well-known IP — even or especially among hardcore fans. Even the best fan-made movies based on, say, Star Wars will usually generate just a few million views at most (but usually far less).

    That's even true of user-generated platforms. To take a local favorite, there's been hundreds of truly impressive Second Life-based machinima videos, but very, very few have attracted over 50,000 views (i.e. 10% of the total SL user base right now). 

    Why? I doubt it's because of low quality. The best like this Star Wars fan movie are quite well-made. I'd argue that it's the very fact that fan-made projects are not made by the official creators make them seem decidedly not "real" and therefore not worth their time. (Which is a keen irony for the talented fans who made them!)

    Or to put it another way: A good test of a true fan is if they know the key people who created their favorite IP.

    Try it! Ask hardcore fans of, say, the TV show The Sopranos, the movie Oppenheimer, or the video game Skyrim who lead created the IP. (Or for that matter, Good Will Hunting.) I guarantee they'll cite the writer(s)/director by name, or at least know the key creative studio behind the project. With such close affinity of the creator to the work, the idea that we'll all want remixed AI versions of our favorite movies/TV shows/games seems highly unlikely (beyond a brief fad).

    Affeck's other claim that I doubt, though I'm a bit less certain of my skepticism:

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  • SL Artist Fallen Creates Fascinating Contrasts With the Same Screenshot

    Screenshot (1275)Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

    Fallen is doing something interesting here, with two identical pictures except for the light treatment. The one above is “Light”, and “Dark” is below. The pose and setting are the same but the angle of the light and its intensity differ. Look at the shadows on the door in “Light” that are absent in “Dark” or see how her shadow is so much longer in “Light.”

    In “Dark”, the shadows from the window muntins are bold lines going down the hall:

    Screenshot (1276)

    Each picture alone is interesting, together they are fascinating.

    For another Fallen double exposure, click here:

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  • Second Life Has a Nooby Insta-Boot Problem. Would a VRChat-Style Trust System Fix It?

    MD Security System (Copy) for MPAt right: A bestselling SL security system (on the Marketplace here) 

    Last week's media event with Linden Lab was mainly about the Second Life mobile app officially launching, and the company's strategy to bring back lapsed SLers with it, and grow the overall user base. But before those details were announced, another challenge to growing the Second Life user base came up:

    • To entice new users, they need to see great content and communities in Second Life.   
    • But many of the best Second Life hangouts and locations have orbiters banning new users (to prevent trolling, non-members, etc), i.e. typically accounts under 30 days old.
    • So not only can new users not access these areas, they're unceremoniously booted for even trying. 

    "My experience is having to explain this to new residents that get sent back to the welcome hub, completely clueless as to why, what they did, or the punishment being so harsh," as longtime blogger/event manager Sasy Scarborough explains. "Some have even thought it will mean they are banned for life, that is also a really bad outcome… one guy I was helping at the hub the other day left and got ejected from three places in a row within minutes."  

    Sasy brought this up during the media event, but it's really an ongoing paradox of metaverse platforms: User-generated content is what makes them so powerful and unique, but that doesn't necessarily mean specific users want to make their content available to anyone who shows up. 

    "More people are joining Second Life now with money to spend, because they have come from YouTube etc, and know where they are guided to go, to only be ejected from those locations." Of course, location owners are well within their right to ban anyone for any reason, even if that ultimately hurts overall user growth. "If a person with no real connection in-world is repeatedly ejected from experiences, they will be frustrated, and could just log out permanently."  

    On the Zoom call, Linden Lab CTO Philip Rosedale acknowledged the problem, but also pointed out how difficult it is to solve on the software/UX side. Saying: "If someone has a precise and complete change order to address the problem, we could address that."  In other words, it's a complex fix with no easy solution that'll satisfy everyone.

    I do see one solution which turns the 30 day/nooby limit into an aspirational goal: Implement a system similar to that of VRChat's trust ranking system. I.E:

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  • Connect With Me on LinkedIn!

    Wagner James Au linkedin

    Here's my LinkedIn if you're on that platform and want to connect there, especially if you work in the game/virtual world industry, VR, and related fields. While I post New World Notes updates there fairly often, you'll also see posts related to my marketing clients in AI, product design, MMOs, VR, and assorted other verticals. 

    I actually also recommend LinkedIn for discussions around virtual worlds, the Metaverse, and so on. Since it's primarily a job search network, you usually come across way less toxicity and bot flimflam than Other Social Networks. (In post comments, at least, the messaging system attracts a steady amount of Spam bots, in my experience.)

  • Top 5 Posts Including: Second Life’s Mobile Era Finally Arrives, and Turning Virtual World Screenshots Into High Def Video With Gen AI

    SL mobile app

  • New on My Patreon: SL Brand Advice from Aardvark & Scarlet Creative!

    SL brand advice Aardvark Scarlet CreativeIn the latest installment of my ongoing Patreon series on the most successful Second Life brands, we’re spotlighting two very different creators: Aardvark, home to hilarious attachables, and Scarlet Creative, seller of stylish and cozy homes. It's a trove of inspiring and practical advice, such as:

    Have items ready for last-minute event openings to secure sudden empty booth opportunities at events.

    "That advice helped me secure several opportunities by filling empty booths last-minute, sometimes just hours before an event opened," as Aardvark's Dash Phantom told me.

    Subscribe to read now here for as low as $2/month! (I call that tier "Prim Level".) And ond miss part 1, featuring Cold Ash and Bad Unicorn, and part 2, featuring Blueberry/KiwiCo and Dutchie Design.

  • BREAKING: Second Life Mobile Finally Free to Play By All. Linden Lab Execs Explain Their Goals & Strategies With This Long-Awaited Milestone for the Virtual World.

    Originally published on my Patreon

    At long last, Second Life’s mobile app is now free for everyone to download here, and boasts new/improved features including direct and group messaging. (Watch the new trailer above.)

    "Almost 2 years of work and millions of dollars of support just became available to everyone in Second Life,” as Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager announced today during a Zoom conference with SL bloggers. “The biggest milestone is, 'When does this open up to everybody'? That just happened yesterday. It's been a top project for this company." 

    As he discussed with me last month, the mobile app has been a core focus since he bought the company in 2021. In fact, when he took over Linden Lab, "I shut down most of the external marketing and drove that into making SL better. That's what's starting to change." 

    The mobile app was built with the intention of creating an amazing experience for current Second Life users, and an equal aim of bringing back the many tens of thousands of lapsed users who’ve given up over the years. “Being tethered to a desktop is not how we live anymore,” as he puts it.  

    In market research, Brad notes, when Linden Lab asked lapsed SLers, “Why are you no longer coming to Second Life?", the primary answer they got back was, 'It doesn't have mobile”. 

    So the company’s first goal with the mobile app is luring back those former or flagging SL users. For the short term, at least, "It's not for people who read about Second Life in a magazine”, and consider trying it out on a whim.  

    Newly-appointed Linden Lab CTO Philip Rosedale, also on the Zoom, expanded on that, echoing what he said in our recent interview, about moving away from his “messianic” predictions from the early 2000s.

    “The world is not as yet and may never allow everyone to be an avatar in a world like SL,” said Philip. “We're very respectful of that distinction.” So the goal with mobile is not to turn Second Life into a simpler mass market experience like Fortnite. “We're not trying to design the mobile client to replace the desktop."

    NEXT: SL App Roll-Out Strategy, Its New Rainbow Colored Icon, and Overcoming Poor App Store Ratings

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