Why So We Do It? Why?

This morning, I responded to a comment on an article in the Second Life Herald entitled January Issues Continue - Concurrent Users Drop to 29,797. And here's the snippet of wisdom from a poster by the name of lol core:

“Second Life is the only game (shut up it's a game ok), that has tons and tons of issues every day. And it’s (sic) player base willingly puts up with it. I guess it’s become part of the gameplay now.”

So here is my response:

“I did a quick (i.e. methodologically suspect) trawl (not troll) through a random selection of posting here at the Herald and estimated that if we removed ALL references to negative comments about the Second Life experience, the Second Life Herald would become the Second Life Monthly - abridged.

“It IS part of the gameplay, and a stunningly critical one. In all my in-world interactions this weekend I can guarantee that the topics of logging in (flaky), TPs (sporadic), and transactions (scary!) were high on the social agenda.

“Which reminds me of the movie Bedazzled (1967) with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (superior to the 2000 re-make with Brendan Fraser, except for the deliciously erotic Liz Hurley as the type of Satan to whom I would willingly sell my soul) where Cook, as the devil, sits atop a London postbox and says to Moore, ‘Pretend I'm God and now dance around me and sing my praises.’ After a few seconds, Moore says ‘I’m getting tired can we switch places?’ to which Cook replies ‘That's exactly what I said!’

“If heaven is indeed perfection, then I don’t want to go. And the same is true of Second Life. I suggest that the imperfections and pains of the virtual existence is - and here’s where I’m being controversial - part of what people need. Remember the old joke; ‘Doctor, My head hurts every time I bang it against the wall’ - ‘Well stop doing that.’

“Here we all are, banging our heads against a virtual wall and saying, "Please sir, can I have another one.’ The answer is so simple - leave, for God’s sake, leave, before it’s too late! - that it is patently and obviously absurd for anyone to stay.

“Yet stay we do. Second Life is an existentialist nightmare; a virtual Theater of the Absurd where there is no point, no purpose, no guiding spirit, just a stooping, slumbering mass of egocentric misfits trapped in a world of their own choosing. I know. I am one of them.

“The rants and raves of disgruntled pundits are nothing more than the omphaloskeptic ramblings of the disenchanted moths who still can't turn away from the flame, and who subconsciously seek to be burned because the pain is the only thing left to remind them of their angst-ridden humanity. And as the stench of scorched insects fills the metaverse, people continue to hurtle into Second Life immolation regardless of the anger, anguish, and anxiety it causes them.

“And still they come.”

Second Life? Get a Life? But Which One?

My latest rant is available in the Second Life Herald entitled Get A Life! Any Idea Which One? It came about while I was reading the comments to postings that referred to Second Life and began to get irritated at the "Get A Life" responses being used as a way of ending discussion. It seems that the answer to anything in a virtual world is to "Get A Life," and that any problems someone may be having in-world is not worth thinking or caring about.

Bollocks!

A problem is a problem is a problem. If your virtual life partner is cheating with another virtual entity, it can still cause real emotional reactions. Just because the surface structure of the interaction is based on pretty pictures on a screen, the deep structure is still good old-fashioned human emotions, naked and raw.

It's just to glib to dismiss virtual existence as "just a game" because even games evoke affect. The on-screen Barbie and Ken may seem like toys but there are human beings pulling the strings on these pixelated puppets.

The exhortation to "Get A Life" is no different from what many people will do in real life. Cynical as it may seem, in general, most people really don't care about other people's problems. Me included. Apart from my family and small group of friends, frankly, my dears, I don't give a damn.

Don't believe me? Hah. Folks will spend money on premium dog food to keep little Bowser happy but won't spend 1/10th of that to sponsor a child in a third-world country. Is it because they don't care? Well yes! It sounds shocking but I'm afraid human beings are not altruistic.

Bah, humbug.

More SL on TV?

Well, as I hurtle headlong toward the New Year, the opportunities for increasing my media presence appear to be landing on my virtual desk - which is, I have to say, a very nice desk and one that I bought way back when I lived in a single-room rental.

I have an offer from MBC to host a new show with the working title @SLentrepreneur, which would be a joint venture between MBC and SLentrepreneur Magazine. Add that to the twice weekly news report AND another TV show in January (Life on Line), I may just about be maxed out in my second life. Here's my potential 2009 work list:

New Editor: SLentrepreneur Magazine
Men's Style Commentator: FreeLife Magazine
News Reporter: MBC TV
Host: MBC's @SLentrepreneur
News Reporter: Life on Line
Freelancer: Second Life Herald
Freelancer: Castle Keep Magazine

Add in the blogs SL on SL, SL on RL, and SL on VL, and you get an idea of why I have to sit down over Christmas and do some planning. Trouble is, I love this stuff and it is fun. Of course, it leaves little time for other Real Life things such as movies, books, family, friends, and all that jazz.

Or does it?

Church Firebombing in Second Life

The Second Life Herald has run my latest piece on a firebombing in a church. Pastor Samuele Shepherd's Overcomers church was disrupted by griefers last Sunday (November 30th) with the interesting names Ex Laks and Rotten Core. The story generated lots of comments that are worth reading.

The SL Enquirer also posted copy on the same story - and in exactly the same words! Either Pastor Shepherd gave both the Herald and the Enquirer the same copy or the Enquirer ripped off the story. Although the latter might be the more dramatic option, it seems unlikely because it was only the comments from Shepherd that were the same. The Enquirer didn't publish any comments from Core or Laks, which suggests the copy was simply the same notecard.

Anyhow, life goes on. I'm working on a couple of new avenues for further promoting the Sigmund Leominster brand inside Second Life - and beyond. No names, no pack drill just yet but the New Year should see some interesting changes.

Reuters' Pull-out is NOT the End of Second Life

I'm on the offensive against all the bloggers and journalists who have read the posting by Eric Krangel about his noon-story of why Reuters left Second Life. For some reason, folks who have never commented on Second Life, or who comment irregularly, have crawled out of the woodwork to pontificate about how this event presages the end of Second Life. But let's get the facts straight.

1. This is a posting by ONE guy, who has left his employment with Reuters so speak for himself.

2. The article does NOT say why Reuters left - it says how Krangel found it become increasingly boring and what HE things LL should be doing.

3. Reports on the Reuters Second Life site have been decreasing in frequency for six months prior to Krangel leaving - does that not suggest something?

4. Reuters is NOT the only press organ in Second Life and never was.

But here's the irritation: folks are taking this article as if it were the revealed word of the Lord. The writers have completely ignored the rest of the SL media - the media that is SL born and SL orientated.

Here's my response to one of the critics who wrote Reuters Pull Out Of Second Life:

I hate to point out the obvious - again - but what we see here is ONE person's experience of Second Life being treated as if it were the Voice of God. Furthermore, Krangel's "suggestions" have been made before by many Second Life residents and, yet again, are HIS ideas. The Reuters' "pull-out" is partly due to the obvious fact that Krangel - who was the only Reuters person covering the beat - has actually changed job and now works for Silicon Alley Insider, and that if you look at the paucity of coverage that he has produced for Reuters Second Life, it is hardly surprising they have decided not to re-appoint. That's a reflection of return-on-investment, not an indicator of the death of Second Life.

News of Reuters pulling out seems to have caught media attention, but that's because Reuters has a much larger platform than other news organizations. The Second Life Herald celebrated its fifth anniversary last month yet THAT piece of news never made the mass media. Why? Because it is focused on SL and virtual worlds so doesn't have the "pull" of a Reuters. Nevertheless, it continues to provide comments and observations on items of interest to Second Life residents. The SL Enquirer is four years old and the SL-Newspaper has been publishing since 2005. None of these long-lasting publications have been touted as successful - we simply hear about Reuters, as if Reuters ALONE was the SL Press."

There IS an independent Second Life press, some good, some bad. But the real world doesn't see it, doesn't read it, and so believes anything it reads in the real world press.

Second Life: What's a Guy to do?

A post by ex-Second lifer Paul Carr asks the question, "Why is it called Second Life when there's nothing alive there?" He goes on to explain that, "Wandering around Second Life today is like visiting Blackpool in February; all sad empty shops, deserted car parks and the stench of loneliness — and the opportunity to buy a fake cock for two quid."

It seems that Carr has had a bad experience of late and found that nothing was happening when he was there, ergo nothing is happening anywhere, ergo Second Life sucks and its death is imminent. Where have we heard this story before?

You intrepid blogger was first to reply:

"Blackpool? I suspect you more likely hit the virtual equivalent of Morecambe... in February... when it's raining... and when the buses are on strike. If you'd been in virtual Blackpool you'd at least have bumped into one drunken Glaswegian and an American exchange student who thought London was much closer.

Maybe you need to buy a traveler's guide to Second Life... oh, wait, you have one! I seem to have little problem finding busy places, to the point that my biggest challenge is not crashing due to activity. Of course, any "traveler's guide" in SL is an historical document even before it goes to press, with changes to the virtual world happening more frequently than Donald Trump's hairpiece. Checking out your "old haunts" in Second Life is a bad experience - as Don Henley sings in The Boys of Summer, "Don't look back, you can never look back."

As for Eric's stint in-world, I don't see the big deal. He's one guy among many who write about SL and he left for a new job! Anyone who had been following the Reuters' site was very aware that the posts were becoming menopausally irregular. The issue with SL is simply that for many "residents," it has become just like real life; tedious, repetitive, and punctuated by occasional fun things. My typical trip into SL involves reading the mail, chatting with some friends, checking out leads, interviewing folks, then hopping back to real life to write up copy for whatever SL press outlet I'm pitching at. Article gets printed, I get paid, and around it goes again.

This pattern of Second Life banality isn't "bad" or "wrong"; it just is what it is. I get a kick out of it because I love talking to people and writing about stuff that has - ultimately - no value. And getting a bit of cash for doing it helps my iTunes habit. I don't see that folks who "waste their time" in Second Life are any more stupid than folks who, for example, play golf. I mean, honestly, what is the point of walking around a field using sticks to knock balls into holes? Or how about those who spend a night at the pub, where all they do is drink alcohol, use yet another stick to knock balls into holes, stuff a 2000 calorie kebab down their chops and then complain they can't sit in an airplane seat? And even skiing (more sticks but this time strapped to your feet) seems pretty pointless when you consider that all you're really doing is sliding down a hill in freezing weather and pumping out vast amount of cash for the privilege.

For ever business that closes its doors (like Reuters and the Avastar), others get started. And don't that the darling of the SL tabloids, the Second Life Herald, is still going strong after five years.

If you don't enjoy the SL experience, fine. Try something more exciting. Like golf, drinking, or skiing."

I suspect Carr's tongue may well have been pushed slightly into his cheek - after all, he was trying to write humor here, not a critical analysis of Second Life culture or attempting an investigation into why Reuters retired their writer from the Second Life beat. But then again, the way in which humor is used to express a point of view matters too, and Carr is clearly no fan of the Second Life experience.

Oh, and for a fairly unbiased review of the book, check out Prokovy Neva's piece in the Second Life Herald. Make sure you read the comments - it's priceless!

Eric Reuters Speaks: Sort Of...

The closure of Reuters' Second Life operations, along with the closure of Bild's Avastar, both in the past two months, is taken by some as a "sign of the times" or even a sign of the End Times. And after suitable period of mourning, Eric Reuters, real world Eric Krangel, has posted his thoughts on what he believes Linden Lab needs to do.

But he doesn't actually explain WHY Reuters pulled out. All he says is "So what happened? Is Second Life dying? No, but the buzz is gone." That's it. He does outline a list of four points that he thinks Linden Lab should address in order to improve, but these are, in fairness, not new.

It's also clear that postings to the Reuters site had been tailing off for a long time. Was this because corporate Reuters wasn't interested or that Eric Reuters wasn't? After all, he says things like, "As part of walking my "beat," I'd get invited by sources to virtual nightclubs, where I'd right-click the dance floor to send my avatar gyrating as I sat at home at my computer. It was about as fun as watching paint dry" and "I didn't find it compelling."

We could speculate that Reuters Second Life was always a "side project" that Eric was allowed to do as-and-when, so long as it didn't interfere with real work. Google's Lively was a "20% project" - Google employees can spend 20% of their time on speculative projects that may, or may not, come to fruition.

I have to point out that the Second Life Herald has been around for five years, so the closure of Reuters isn't because there is no "market" for SL news. Other SL newspapers continue too.

Maybe we will hear the full story at a later date.

Second Life Herald's 5th Anniversary

The 5th anniversary party for the Second Life Herald started at 2:00 SLT and by 2:40 SLT had to be moved to a different sim. At that stage, I was still in Real Life working on some editing for a local periodical but I was monitoring my Gmail chat and there was a message from Pixeleen Mistral alerting folks to the shift to the Woodbury sim.

By the time I got there, the place was full of names I recognized and people I didn't. It struck me that I have been writing pieces for the Herald since January 2008 and have never actually met anyone. And I'm not sure I still have. The place was a blooming, buzzing confusion with folks tossing web addresses for hastily created YouTube videos at me. By the time all the folks had rezzed for me, the Sim crashed. Kaput.

It took me a few minutes to log back in, choosing "My Last Location" as the entry point. Tragically, the location was still down because I ended up in my house. So I sat back, started chatting to Alice, and waited for some information from the group.

A message arrived that folks were moving to a new location - the party had become a progressive. Someone sent me a TP and I found myself underwater below the Temple of Iris! A few folks began appearing, including Pixeleen, who turned out to be shorter than I expected. We bantered for about 15 minutes about nothing much. Trivia at its finest.

Pix had to leave to make dinner. Somehow it seemed so ordinary and banal. And once she had left, the others dropped one by one back to wherever they normally hung out in Second Life. Or Real Life - I don't know.

And it's the not-knowing that I find so fascinating. I feel like I belong to a group that is made up of individuals, and that they is very little "groupiness" to it. I might also speculate that this is, in part, because of the nature of the Herald. One of the things that gives it the flavor of antagonism that it has is the fact that it isn't a "hobby publication" where a bunch of friends get together and play at being journalist. No, it is actually a focal point for a bunch of individuals who may well not even like each other, let alone know each other and hang out.

This is also a strength of the Herald. It can be sacred at times and then profane. It can focus on trivia and then substance. It can be praised and ridiculed in the same article. It can be scatological and then erudite. It swings from left to right, forwards and backwards, offending and delighting at the same time.

Five years and still going. All in all, that's not bad for a Second Life publication (although it admittedly started in the Sims environment). It's fun to be part of it. It remains one of the two publications in SL that I prefer to spend my time on, the other being SLentrepreneur.

My time in SL lately has been less. Real life has some priorities but that doesn't mean I'm about to leave. What I'm doing is the same as Mony - developing a balance. Her balance is tipped much more toward the Real Life end of the scale, and that's what she needs! Mine is too, but I still spend a few hours per week in-world.

I have two new Herald investigations to work on, I have completed an article for FreeLife, and I have two others to chase for SLentrepreneur. Toss in the odd piece for the Metaverse Tribune - which is struggling a little at the moment to remain topical since Runeswan Ceawlin left - and that should fill my plate.

New Articles Published - And An Interview With a Vampire

Although the number of postings to this blog has declined of late, that doesn't mean I've been slacking off. I admit I missed two fashion events this weekend, which represents a loss of income, but I did write two new articles, one of which has already been published.

I met with a trades unionist from the UK, Johninnit Ni, who was preparing for an in-world event to parallel the real world World Day for Decent Work, organized by the international trades unions. The write up can be found at the Second Life Herald along with some lack-luster responses. It seems that the previous article on a fake war in Second Life drew nine comments, an article on Gor had 64, Gina Glimmer's "Post 6 Grrl" debut had 14, but real world political activity got four. That's 4 - one more than three and a tad less than five. Seem like political activism in Second Life has a long way to go before anyone takes any notice.

Also out last week was a profile of Saffia Widdershins, owner of Prim Perfect magazine and presenter of SLCN's Meta Makover show. This is another entry for the SLentrepreneur Magazine search for the Entrepreneur of the Year.

After the interview with Johninnit, I went to Tammy's Jazz Bar to talk to their robot waiter, Mario. He's the product of Maged Wise, a scripter who has combined lifelike avatars with an artificial intelligence program to create interactive robotars. I talked to him last week and there's an article coming up in the Metaverse Tribune.

While sitting at the bar, I was approached by Jolee Indigo, a pale and attractive vampire who simultaneously said "Hello" and asked for permission to drink my blood. I declined the blood offering because I'm just not the sort of guy who lets a woman suck his blood without at least being taken out for dinner ;)

So Jolee sat and chatted, and it turns out she is not quite the evil, soul-stealing, blood-draining succubus that she first appeared. She's a mom from Florida who "vamps it up" on occasion and who used to be a Game Master in a Second Life combat game. But that's another story. Seems to me that Jolee may have an interesting tale to tell and I'll reserve the full "Interview with a Vampire" for a later date

Hello Herald Readers!

It just struck me that all my posts to the Second Life Herald include a simple click to get here. Folks who do this may be surprised to find that this blog is not a series of political rants, economic treatises, anti-Linden rhetoric, or pungent attacks on the mores and morals of Second Life individuals or groups.

In fact, I like to think of this blog as "the softer side of Sig." Normally I am a skeptically cynical, misanthropic curmudgeonly atheist who loves to wallow in the sheer pointlessly of life and does his very best to keep suicide at bay. After all, if life has no meaning, you either make it up yourself or throw yourself off a cliff and be done with the whole sorry affair.

However, in my less miserable moments, I like to project an image of caring and sharing; of laughter and gaiety; of wit and charm; of gentlemanly demeanor and comradely affability. In short, I want people to love me.


Here's pic from photo-whiz Seikatsu Koba that she did for me some months back. It's my "sensitive" image - Sig deep in thought and musing on some significant life event. It's maybe a tinge narcissistic too.

So, dear Herald reader, the Sig you see here is a different Sig than the one you read in the tabloids. It's a different Sig from the one you will read in SLentrepreneur, or FreeLife magazine, or anywhere else that I ply my trade. The Sig in this blog is closer to the real-life puppeteer who pulls Sig's strings.

But even "he" is different ;)

New Month and a New Tag

It's September 1st and I'm agonizing as to whether I need to remove all white items from my wardrobe, only remove white shoes from the wardrobe, or ignore the whole "no white after Labor day" thing altogether in Second Life. Considering how much I love my Redgrave white shoes, my vote is for the latter. I just wanted folks to be aware that I HAVE considered the issue and made a decision. This preempts some Mr. Smartypants coming up to me in-world and saying "Dude, don't you know you don't wear white shoes after Labor Day," whereupon I can point them here and not have to worry about explanations. Besides, I am a Brit by birth and Labor Day is only US holiday and as far as I am aware, the world doesn't have to follow the US rules.

I was also pleasantly surprised last night when I logged on to find an invitation waiting for me to join the Second Life Herald group. I've been writing pieces for my favorite tabloid since my very first article on the opening of a club back on January 22nd. So it has taken a while for me to achieve the hallowed tag of "Herald Reporter."

Now I can choose to frighten children ("Look, mommy, it's a Herald reporter!" "Stay behind me, sweetheart, maybe he'll go away if we just ignore him"), get thrown out of places ("We don't take kindly to your sort around these parts, buddy" - spits on the floor) or even get banned ("Look, Torley, it's a Herald dude - ban him!") simply by right-clicking and switching groups. Oh happy happy joy joy!
Rest assured, though, that I'll still be switching my styles based on what I'm writing and who I'm writing for.

"Herald" and "Tribune" Publish Sig Stories

It's been a busy weekend though mainly outside of SL. Following the opening of Tammy's Jazz Cafe I submitted the write up to the Metaverse Tribune, where editor Runeswan Ceawlin decided to run it for the Sunday update. Check out Tammy’s Jazz Café for the full story.

Then during my Saturday morning review of SL news and blogs, I came across a broadcast from WNBC, the New York affiliate for NBC, which thought it had discovered shocking secret - there's sex and violence in Second Life. This was definitely Herald territory so I sent off copy to editor Pixeleen Mistral who ran it today. Take a look at WNBC Scoop: People Are Having Sex In Second Life! for both the article and a video of the transmission.

ARTist's Park Grand Re-Opening

I'm not really an artsy type. Honest. Apart from Ovid, Dante, Milton, Coleridge, Tennyson, and Keats - no, not a law firm from LA - I usually find poetry uninteresting. In fact, my article for the Second Life Herald, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, pretty much sets out my stall. With paintings, I wallow too much in the 19th century with the Romantics and Neoclassicists.

So my recent forays into the world of Second Life visual arts have been an education. I actually bought two amazing photos by Seikatsu Koba and Gina Glimmer, both of whom I met via my working on the staff of SLentrepreneur magazine. At their Visions of Japan exhibition I bought a picture from each of them and added them to my new art wall. On top of the house. I intend to use the roof for more modern art, leaving my precious 19th century stuff downstairs in the main room.

Then last weekend I went to the ARTist's Park Grand Re-Opening in the Mystary sim. Wilder PR did a great write up of the event, made all the more entertaining by the fact I get a mention! Thank you, Annette, you are too kind! And it was there that I realized I am riding the wrong art train. One painting there was on sale for $10,000 linden. That's ten thousand in words. I have to write about 10 articles to get that. I'm sure the artist spent a considerable amount of time on the piece, but I was suffering from sticker shock.

All the more reason for me to continue my one-man stand to make sure that I get paid for writing. My blogs are free, my letters are free, but once you get past 200 words I need lindens. Some blogs and papers in the SL world are happy to print your stuff but see it as an "opportunity" for the writer to get "exposure." That means "we don't pay." Hey, that's OK because I don't write!!