Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Sesi Shoots Second Life Shots of Sadly Quirky Aching Beauty

September 19, 2024

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

Sesi is a Second Life explorer who has a knack for finding the enchanting and adorable side of SL life. This picture is the epitome of adorable. I don’t recommend standing in a boat, but those two are short enough, they can get away with it. This is so adorable that I actually said “Ofer cute” even though I have lived in Oregon which boasts similar watery views for decades.

For more of Second Life through an adorable lens, click here:

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The Subtle Power of PBR in Second Life is Much More Than Mirrors

September 18, 2024

Now that PBR graphics are fully launched on Second Life, we're seeing a barrage of pics and videos showing off reflective/mirror effects made possible from physically based rendering. But it's this video of a swimming pool created by SL content creator Bhad Craven which recently caught my eye — watch. It's not so much the mirror effects per se, but how the light reflecting on linoleum tiles and metal surfaces adds a subtle sense of realism and immersion.

"PBR is a game changer," Bhad affirms, laughing. "I hope people start to like it as much as creators. It's so much faster since baking isn't a thing. It makes my items actually shine, not having to fake reflections is great."

Not that developing in PBR is easy — here's some notes of caution/advice from Mr. Craven:

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What Virtual Worlds / Metaverse Platforms Now Have Between 10,000 – 200,000 Monthly Active Users?

September 18, 2024
I recently shared the top 10 most active metaverse platforms I'm tracking, with Meta's Horizon Worlds trailing at slot #10 with 200,000 monthly active users. I'm now working with Julian Reyes of the Virtual Worlds Museum to chart the top 11 through 20 most popular worlds — i.e. virtual worlds/metaverse platforms which currently have between 10,000 – 200,000 MAU.

To qualify, a given virtual world has to fit these three basic criterion (along with active usage):
- Immersive virtual worlds with avatars that are not primarily games/MMOs.
- Enables users to build their own world/space and invite friends into it.
- Currently online, out of closed beta, with over 100 active users.
Here's ten likely candidates which might now qualify for status in slots 11 through 20:

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Perfectly Composed SL Landscape Photos by Natalia Corvale — With Teleport Links to Take You to Them Too!

September 18, 2024

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

Natalia Corvale takes landscape pictures that could be used in a composition textbook. Here is Bella’s Lullaby, a lovely and favorite sim for photographers. She takes a picture of the lighthouse from a more interesting perspective and it’s framed as an excellent example of the Rule of Thirds which she likely used to crop this picture. I also like how the small island, its shoreline, and the ocean form concentric rings of open space.

She also added the SLurl to take you there if you want to go and it’s so cute, the way she did it with emojis, I have to replicate it here:

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For more of Natalia’s excellent landscapes, click here:

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inZOI Life Sim Gameplay Videos Beginning to Roll Out — Let’s Watch!

September 17, 2024

After nearly a month worth of buzz because of the character creator alone, we're starting to see some gameplay preview videos of inZOI, the upcoming life simulation game from South Korean-based KRAFTON. This one above by Sarah Thwaites is a good place to start; if you want to jump right to the creation tools, that happens at around 6:20.

Overall, the graphics and features are impressive, though as Thwaites suggests, the world part of the simulation seems pretty sterile. I sure would love to get a chance at some gameplay (and I've sent out multiple requests), but I'm a mere virtual world blogger, not a gamer streamer like 3MG, who shows us all the zany, somewhat NSFW fun to be had with inZOI already:

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Meta Could Be Turning Horizon Worlds Into a Cross-Platform Virtual Machine (Guest Post)

September 17, 2024

Above: Experience offered on the Meta Horizons page

Meta Connect is happening next week, and longtime New World Notes reader Martin K, an executive who works in XR, recently sent me some intriguing thoughts around Meta’s Horizon Worlds. On the surface, it’s an also-ran metaverse platform that has such a tiny user base, it barely registers on my platform leader chart.

But Martin argues that Horizon Worlds is destined to be a different arrow in Meta’s quiver:

The Meta Connect 2024 conference is approaching fast, and there is no doubt that Meta will talk about their metaverse-app Horizon Worlds at the conference. Even though Horizon Worlds was announced almost 5 years ago (at the time as “Facebook Horizon”), and even though Meta bought and closed competing metaverse apps (e.g. Crayta), and even though Meta is aggressively luring its users into Horizon Worlds, the app is still far less popular (according to Google trends) than other metaverse apps competing on Meta’s platform, e.g., Roblox, VRChat, or Rec Room.

Which begs the question: why is Meta clinging on to Horizon Worlds? What’s their plan for it?

Here, I suggest a change of perspective:

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TikTok’s “Very Demure, Very Mindful” Meme Spreads to Second Life’s Flickr Community

September 17, 2024

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

In early August, TikTokker Jools Lebron offered viral advice about dressing for work. She pointed out that her clothes at work were demure and she remained mindful of why she was hired. There might be a slight, deliberate contrast between her glamorous looks and her “very demure, very mindful” advice, but that’s the point. She’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, especially in subsequent videos and she has sparked the “very demure, very mindful” meme.

I was curious if there were many very demure, very mindful people in Second Life posting to Flickr. And yes, there are!

Pengu Blep seems to have taken a riff off Jools being “very demure, very mindful” at a bar where she left her ID. I think they have captured the idea well, demurely, mindfully drinking and even one demure and mindful woman sitting on the bar. What more could you ask for?

For more demure and mindful pics, click here:

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New On My Patreon: Why Gizem Went Beyond Berry & Second Life (But Came Back Again)

September 16, 2024

New on my Patreon: Excited to finally run my in-depth interview with Gizem Mishi Akin after months of mystery about her departure from her famed virtual world fashion brand, Blueberry. We talk about that and many things — including of course her new SL brand/mainstore The Kiwi Co. Sample:

[Her] trajectory has been something to behold: First stumbling upon Second Life as a college kid in her home country of Turkey, she came to America, and quickly created a behemoth brand of virtual world fashion. And as hype over the Metaverse hit in recent years, expanded her SL-based brand, Blueberry, into Roblox, ZEPETO, and other massive platforms.

She was on her way, in short, to metaverse royalty across many platforms.

And then, suddenly, Gizem announced she and Blueberry were leaving Second Life…

Join my Patreon to read for free.
Top 5 Posts Including Roblox’s Steam Competition Play, Explosive Growth of Second Life-Based Social Network & IBM’s Forgotten Experiment in Metaverse Interoperability

September 16, 2024
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Which of These New-ish Second Life Brands Interest You Most — Luova, Manikin!!, NeutralTones, RudeGirls Shapes, or Star Quake Shapes & Beauty?

September 13, 2024

Thanks to readers who recommended these new-ish Second Life brands (below) to feature this month, all of which have been in the virtual world for 5 years of less, have a social media presence, and are on the marketplace. In alphabetical order, those include:

Luova, Manikin!!, NeutralTones, RudeGirls Shapes, and Star Quake Shapes & Beauty.

Info and links below. After you've given them all a look, please post in Comments about which of these interests you the most — we'll be profiling the one(s) most selected with their own post!

Here they are:

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