It’s been nearly three years since I first discovered Torley Linden’s blog post (humorously titled Samurai Island Pizza Cats) and absolutely fell in love with Samurai Island. Prior to that, I was just kind of wandering around playing with stuff and exploring this strange and wonderful new Virtual World I had heard about.
During that time, I had tons of fun and had the awesome opportunity to meet some tremendous people. I’ve learned a lot about topics I never thought I’d be interested in, and have gotten to express a creative side of me that I had never before been aware of. I found the motivation to develop skills that until recently I had never seemed to be able to find the time to work on, and have experienced a lot of personal growth as a result. I even had the amazing opportunity to earn a little money while doing those things. I am truly grateful for those opportunities.
I have had my share of frustrations, too. I have spent thousands of hours working on things that Linden Lab seems to be determined to break on a nearly weekly basis, and have expended a tremendous amount of energy on attempting to compensate for Second Life’s inability to scale properly and perform consistently.
Those things have often left me intensely frustrated and feeling unimportant to the makers of Second Life, but it was always something I would get past relatively quickly. More recently, and most importantly, recent actions by Linden Lab have managed to destroy any remaining bit of faith or goodwill I had toward them.
Until recently, if you wanted to build Virtual World content for others to enjoy, you were very limited in your options. Only Second Life provided the opportunity for just anyone to build nearly anything they wanted, and an open scripting system to make those creations come to life. Only Second Life provided the economy to make it worthwhile to spend thousands of hours doing so, and only Second Life provided the kind of free-form "do anything you want" world that didn’t have set goals and encouraged community and social interaction.
Until recently, Second Life was "the only game in town" that would have allowed someone like me to experience all of those wonderful things I have listed above.
That may no longer be the case.
Some of you may have already heard of Blue Mars. Some of you may have even heard me mention that I’ve been a part of the Blue Mars Beta developer program. It is in this direction that I will be focusing all of my new content creation efforts for the foreseeable future.
You may very well be thinking “What is Blue Mars?” Well, that is difficult for someone like me to describe. Easier to start with what it looks like, I suppose:
As for what Blue Mars actually *is*, here’s a quote from the Blue Mars website:
Blue Mars is a free to play massively multiplayer virtual world featuring stunning graphics, realistic characters, and endless social bonding activities. The Blue Mars virtual world is made up of an expanding set of independently operated cities that feature unique themes, activities, and attractions such as shopping, avatar customization, unique personal spaces, and games like dancing, racing, and golf. Cities on Blue Mars are tied together with a unified login system, persistent global Avatar ID, and platform wide participation based reward system that encourages users to explore, play, and make new friends.
Of course, Blue Mars has been generating some intense interest among others with a passion not just for Second Life, but for the amazing possibilities of Virtual Worlds in general, and I’ve found posts by Not Possible in Real Life‘s Bettina Tizzy such as this one (for example) to be down-to-earth pragmatic while still recognizing the massive potential that virtual worlds can have:
That Blue Mars will deliver spectacular fidelity, physics and scalability that 6 year old Second Life might not ever be able to attain unless it’s rebuilt from the ground up is not under discussion, but I can’t help but wonder if it will be able to catch up to the amazing content and growing user-base that SL’s residents have come to expect, along with the attending friendships and social, educational and business experiences.
Either way, I am welcoming Blue Mars with open arms. While I applaud the efforts of the open source OpenSim community and want to encourage them to move forward, I will never have enough options, and Blue Mars is exactly that: A very viable option.
It’s too early yet to tell whether Blue Mars is going to be a massive flop or a tremendous success, and certainly too early to tell whether there’s any real future there for me, but I strongly feel that now is the time for me to jump in with both feet and give it my best shot.
That’s not to say that I’m abandoning Samurai Island. I am not. I will absolutely continue to support not only the C:SI customers, but the fabulous C:SI community. I will continue (as much as Linden Lab allows, at any rate) to update my weapons with bug fixes and enhancements. I will continue to work on fun projects for everyone, as much as my time allows.
But I will not be making new content for Second Life for the foreseeable future. I hesitate to say that I won’t ever make new content, because I am too full of anger at Linden Lab right now to even know whether I’d be saying so simply out of spite, but certainly for the time being I feel that it would be a better use of my time and effort to attempt to branch out.
35 Comments
Good luck and keep us updated on the progress of this new system. Maybe C:SI can make the leap to Blue Mars in the future, if it pans out.
Well, C:SI in it’s current incarnation is an intellectual property owned by people whose only virtual world presence is in Second Life, so it is not likely that it will be making the transition intact.
That’s not to say that there won’t be something similar, and perhaps better, available in Blue Mars. As I said above, it’s far too early for me to go off spouting pipe dreams and unrealized project plans, but I think it’s safe enough to say at this point that I’m working on something that I feel will appeal strongly to the kind of people who are interested in C:SI, and am working with other people who feel the same way and have the skills and talents needed to make that happen.
I will certainly keep people informed of that progress over time. In fact, one of the main reasons for the switching over of this blog is that this blog will be increasingly devoted to those efforts.
Nice to know. I’m sure you have all the people you need right now but if there’s anything I can do to help let me know. I’m not without useful engineering talents.
I was a little heartfelt and sad when you messaged last night, and was not able to respond to you as u had gone off line…I did share with masmako, and am glad you made it official in your blog…it will be a lost to SL …but I am happy that you have taken on a new direction..sometimes it takes a crisis to make one re-evaluate and make changes and they are always for the better. Will keep abreast of your new work via your blog…and as I am also beta testing blue mars…see you there…hugzzzzzz:-))
I already don’t like Blue Mars. At this point (i.e. 2009), it takes almost ZERO extra work to make your program work on Windows, Mac and Linux if you choose the correct tools and libraries. There’s really no excuse anymore for releasing a Windows-only program.
Hah, it deleted my fake “/elitism” html tag at the end
Colin: they want to port to mac but it’s not up to them because the engine CryEngine2 has to be ported to mac first by the company that makes it.
Colin, that’s mostly true, especially if you use OpenGL, which CryEngine does not. I’ve read several whitepapers about the CryEngine technology, and while you can argue with some of the reasons, they felt they had very good reasons to make the technology choices they did. I would tend to agree with many of them.
Having said that, I also read recently (sorry, don’t have the link handy) that there are active efforts underway to do that port. I can only imagine what that’s going to take, but it’s probably safe to say that it won’t be something we see in the very near future.
*cries and starts throwing things around* BUT I don’t want you to stop making stuff! Whaaaaaaaaaaaa! lol
I don’t know that I’m capable of stopping, to tell the truth. I’ve become addicted, and it’s my only big hobby these days.
Unfortunately for those who would like me to continue doing so for Second Life, well… It will have to be for a different virtual world. I hope you understand. Perhaps once the anger wears off, and Linden Lab gives me my $65 back, we’ll see.
Collin…what happened to the blog you use to keep…your article on the katana vs. the nagi is still one of my favorite:-)) Unless you like to golf…most of Blue Mars is still under developed…ambitious…but what the heck…have been exploring it on the side…
…Well… I think I’m going to hang up my weapons then.
Why would you do that?
Shindo, sheesh that is kinda dramatic…mind you sparring lately in SL has been excurciatingly painful as one deals with SL lag, crashes, animation freezing, and lagging out into SL abyss…you can always look at the from the standpoint that you have an original wave, taketori, or kodachi – if Takuan decides not to make anything new…hey would be like having an hard to come by original kuroe2 Noel WW2 Japanese plane…you see them around SL, but are no longer available…:-P….or you can make a game of it as I do to find the perfect lag free place to spar everynight…hahaha….hanging up your sword…nah!!
Why am I the last to know what’s going on?
I’m not too worried about those things. I mean, how else am I, a sub par player, supposed to beat people like Hibiki, Lynkis or anyone else for that matter? lol Those things are sometimes a grateful welcome to my fighting. I’m not going to blame people wearing AO’s, people using specials, etc. They are part of C:SI as much as the weapons themselves. But, anyways! lol I don’t know if you ever noticed but, I crave information! lol I love talking to Robby and Esprite. I love to hear what they have planned for the possible future of C:SI. With these talks, I felt that Robby was the only person in all of C:SI that put his heart into it and he doesn’t even fight! Should Robby leave, I feel that C:SI has lost it’s heart and soul, therefore I don’t want to draw my blade out into a cold and heartless world. I shall keep my Daikon Forged weapons sheathed until the weapons master returns. Exit stage right!
Um, not sure
I pretty much announced it to the world right here, so…
Well, maybe now that bigger VW-related sites like Massively are getting the word out about what happened, Linden Lab will feel enough pressure to look into the issue?
Hard to say, and I frankly don’t see Linden Lab ever really addressing it, but if anything would compel them, that might.
Speaking of which…
I haven’t posted about it or made any kind of big deal about it, but I am actively working on stats on the Combat: Samurai Island website. For instance, we’ve had the Recent Activity page for a while, but I’ve recently implemented an enhanced “Recent Activity” page for individuals as well, like yours.
Nooooooooooo! Don’t click on the link! I don’t want people to see my shame!
So much for not using the swords! lol I used them today anyways! You can’t leave! I’ll even talk to my Linden friend! (Who’s great powers I don’t like to abuse.lol)
Whoops! Seems like you’ve already talked with a Linden (Torley) and still nothing?! GAH!
I never actually talked to Torley, to tell the truth.
However… I just recently received an email from Linden Lab informing me that my account has been released.
It’s been a long and stressful day (for a variety of reasons), so I’ll leave the full story until later when I’ve had food and sleep.
“I love talking to Robby and Esprite. I love to hear what they have planned for the possible future of C:SI. With these talks, I felt that Robby was the only person in all of C:SI that put his heart into it and he doesn’t even fight! Should Robby leave, I feel that C:SI has lost it’s heart and soul, therefore I don’t want to draw my blade out into a cold and heartless world.”
Yeah I agree..I love to come here and shot the breeze with all of you and give my two cents worth…robby and espite and even Ayame makes me feel like part of the C:SI family…and that my opinion can make a difference…
“I just recently received an email from Linden Lab informing me that my account has been released.”
Yay!!!
Welcome back Robby!!!
hugz
See how my majix works? lol Does this mean you’ll continue with the making of the weapons? O_O! HMMMMMM?!
Oh and I talk to Ayame and Haruko as well sometimes. Just not nearly as much interaction as I do with Robby… Mostly on here but, still! lol As for Arch… He’s a mysterious man.. err fur that eludes me. lol
Welcome Back!! RobbyRacoon!!
Well, hell… It appears that Linden Lab ate my $65, it’s just vanished into thin air. What the heck else can they do to me? Sheesh.
Well, apparently they can prohibit me from buying/selling/trading Linden Dollars, that’s what.
I am apparently no longer allowed to make money in Second Life.
Where the other posts go? Can you sell stuff yet? O_O!
Yes, you had a post the other day explaining the lift on your ban and that you couldn’t buy, sell, or trade. That post is gone. Wondering if they’ve addressed your ticket into that issue. Not likely, I suspect.
Well, I did finally get my money from Linden Lab, so I figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt and hide that post until I can determine whether they are still hindering me.
They haven’t responded to the new Support Ticket I filed, so I guess I have to attempt to buy or sell $L again to find out for sure, and I’ve been too busy in RL to want to deal with it yet.
Greetings, I believe that the trouble which attacked you is progressing toward solution.
I’ve got a fairly heavy schedule today, and won’t be able to take the time to put out any vendors. I’ll try to put out some Kodachi vendors tomorrow, though.
Although I did finally get my money, there are still some strange things happening with my RobbyRacoon account, and Linden Lab still has not responded to my Support Ticket.
Because of this, I’ll start by putting out Kodachi vendors (since the Kodachi was made on the Takuan account). I’ll either transfer weapons from the RobbyRacoon account to Takuan’s (which is a pain in the rear), or I’ll wait until Linden Lab finally fixes everything before I start selling the other weapons.
This should also give me some time to make very much-needed changes to the Wave and Taketori which I’ve been meaning to do for months now.
Greetings,
>I’ve got a fairly heavy schedule today,
Not good hear…
>I’ll try to put out some Kodachi vendors tomorrow, though.
Good hear! I will say “Welcome Back 25% of Daikon vender!!” tomorrow.
I will tell it to Japanese people in blog.
Due to the large number of comments about the Wave Katana, balance, etc., I have started a new topic specifically for that discussion: Open Thread – Wave & Balance
Please direct all future comments about such topics to the new post.
Thank you