GLAAD To Hold Panel on LGBT Safety in Virtual Worlds
This is fantastic, and was exactly the kind of project I wanted to start up with the free time that I don’t have. GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is a great organization that seeks to increase positive awareness of LGBT issues in the media. I’ve been thinking about the need to have something similar to this in virtual worlds, since anonymous interaction between humans is the fundamental driver of virtual communities and LGBT people are often on the receiving end of bashing in multiplayer games and virtual worlds. GLAAD is launching a project that addresses homophobia in virtual spaces.
GLAAD will also be convening a groundbreaking panel discussion in Silicon Valley on July 18, 2009, that will spotlight the issue of homophobia in virtual communities and include the perspectives of both gaming companies and LGBT gamers. Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox Live, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Labs, the Electronic Software Association, and GayGamer.net. For more information on the panel event and to RSVP, please visit: www.glaad.org/digitalevent .
It’s great to see EA, XBL and Linden Lab participating in this. I’d love to be a part of a panel of this nature. You can RSVP for this free panel here, if you’re close enough to San Francisco to attend. Wish I was a bit closer…
The power of UGC
I posted awhile back about what a cool idea player-created books are in EQ2. Courtesy of @brenlo on Twitter, I’ve now become aware of something great that a player on the Najena server made. “The Mystery of Greely Manor” is a hidden object adventure that leads you from book to book to solve a mystery. It all starts with a player-created story.
It’s always exciting to me when games integrate user created content. I like to say that sometimes the best game designers are the players. Game designers often get into a habit of creating challenging (read: timesink) content and things they personally find fun – meanwhile the playerbase is creative and uses the tools they have to create fun experiences that are sometimes more imaginative. Virtual spaces are about the inhabitants. This is neat, I hope someone on Antonia Bayle does something like this.
Metaplace Introduces Embeddable Virtual Worlds
This is BIG news for us. We have been waiting for a long time to release embeddable (think: YouTube videos) virtual worlds. You can now create a virtual space on Metaplace, and embed the world into your blog, website, or anywhere you’d like. The possibilities are really endless with this – you could have lobbies for your blog, you could have fan spaces or DJ events, concerts, you name it. My brain is already turning with ideas…this really makes me want to create more.
At the moment, you have to have a Metaplace account to log in, but you can register right through the embed. If you’re a blogger and you want to embed, you can do it by going up to the “Share It” menu while you’re in your world. We also have documentation here on our wiki. If you’re on Wordpress, the easiest way to embed is by installing the MP2WP plugin by Miki.
The world I’m going to embed here is a Steampunk themed world by Dalian, a Metaplace beta tester. It’s one of my recent faves. Check it out!
Holy crap newstastic.
Interesting news today.
First (and by far the biggest) – China bans Real Money Trading (RMT).
“The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.” it said.
Wow. This is right after Australia is rumored to be talking about maybe possibly banning adult virtual worlds like Second Life.
Speaking of WoW – Blizzard announces the ability to switch factions with a character. I’m not really sure if I’ll take advantage of this. I don’t think I really have any need to. But I know a LOT of people who will appreciate being able to play with their high level friends without rolling a Death Knight. I personally like my cow druid.
Norrathian Nostalgia
I’m back from an exhausting yet awesome long weekend in Vegas at SOE Fan Faire. I’m not going to go into details about the event as most of the info can be found elsewhere on the web – but all I can say is that between the Evercracked documentary and the passionate fans..I became quite nostalgic for the Everquest franchise. So, upon arriving home after the short plane ride, I logged into EQ2 to play my little Illusionist, Decembriah.
I’ve decided to set a goal for myself. I WILL be max level in EQ2 before the next expansion come out in February. I am going to push through the terrible zones like Steppes and Zek and finally see some of the high level content in the game. I have a few friends playing on Antonia Bayle as well, and between them and my guild – Mystic Alliance – I am going to stick with EQ2 as my main MMO. The game has everything I love – from rich lore, to dungeons, to classes I enjoy, player housing, awesome guild system, rich crafting, etc. and there is no reason I shouldn’t keep playing it.
I leveled Decembriah a couple of levels tonight, and she’s now level 15. I’m working my way through Greater Faydark and just achieved citizenship in Kelethin. I still have my bare one-room-inn and very little belongings…but it’s good fun. I really enjoy this game, I just need to stick with it. Antonia Bayle is a great server with a vibrant large community and the game itself is a lot of fun.
Virtual Worlds As An Equalizer
What a fantastic post by Sera Brennan of Massively, a male-to-female transgender gamer and MMO lover. Any time that anyone claims “this is just a game” about any virtual space, I cringe a little. Virtual worlds are freaking powerful. They have such psychological impact on ther participants, offer such opportunity for people who may not have it to participate in a community with other human beings as the person they want to be. They help people discover identity, learn real life skills, and make friendships.
But MMOs and virtual worlds have always been a very special case for me. For a very long time, I obviously could not dress how I wanted. While people are much more understanding these days, there still is a very real stigma when people see you as a transgender. So, in order to cushion some of the blow, I turned to virtual worlds.
Read the article. I’m not excited to work with virtual worlds because they’re fun (although that’s nice) – I am fascinated by the actual impact of the experiences people can create.
Blog Shoutout: Tradeskill Perspectives
It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, but there’s a particular blog that *needs* some attention.
Emily Taylor is the tradeskill developer for Everquest 2, and she has a great blog called “Tradeskill Perspectives”. Emily is a top notch designer, and one of the best on the EQ team. She has tons of personal dedication and is an intelligent and creative person – exactly what a game designer should be. I particularly enjoyed her post on Emergent Gameplay, which was very interesting. She’s also a friend and a sweetheart, so you all should check out her blog. 
Cuppy Elsewhere on the Web
Here at Cuppytalk, I try to keep the discussion to virtual worlds and games. If you’re interested in my regular blog where I post when I’m not posting here, you can check it out here.
Some things you may find there:
- Photos I take
- RL randomness
- Links, videos, and interesting things I find on the web
- Snapshots of my Second Life journeys
- Other things I’m interested in (LGBT community, horses, music, etc)
- Etc. etc.
Subscribe in your RSS feed if you’re interested!
Also, I’m on Twitter. If you’re offended by LGBT rights, don’t follow me. You can also find me on Facebook here, Flickr here, and Friendfeed here.
How I Found The Fun in Second Life
A recent commentor here, Pasmith, said:
I dunno, to me Second Life is like some kind of exclusive club and I’m not cool enough to get in. And if I do get in, I’m handed a dorky jacket I have to wear that screams “idiot noob incoming!’, and then I find out all the cool places are hidden away and you gotta know someone to get the coords to teleport to them.
This comment struck a chord with me, because I used to feel the exact same way. The concept of virtual worlds has always fascinated me, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of one. For the first 5 times I logged in to Second Life, I was disappointed. I was ugly, lost, lonely, had no idea what to do or where to go. I had no idea how big the world was, where the people were. The UI is clunky, hard to understand, and simple concepts I was familar with in gaming (like right click being mouselook) were completely alien in this new world.
At some point – something clicked. I started to “understand it all”. I now find it intriguing, baffling, interesting, fun, and completely new and fresh. I’ve had a few people ask me how I did it – how did I make the transfer from frustrated spectator to community member. So here goes.
Disclaimer: I am still a noob. I’m simply explaining *my* personal experience here, which may not work for you. I don’t claim to be an expert on SL at all, quite the opposite in fact! Also, I do work for Metaplace. Originally I checked out Second Life as market research, now I’m enjoying it as a pastime. I think there are just as many differences between MP and SL as there are similarities – and both are equally fun experiences for different reasons. In Second Life – I’m a voyeur and explorer. In Metaplace, I love to create. Your mileage may vary! And, I am completely uninterested in sexual experiences and dating/intimate relations in any virtual world – so if that’s the kind of fun you’re looking for, this guide won’t help you.
Here we go!
Before we start
Throughout this guide I will link to places that I found helpful, using SLURLS. SLURLS (Second Life URLS) are direct browser links that allow you teleport directly to a location in Second Life if you have the client installed. Note that installing the client is quick and easy, as it’s 22mb.
Also, a lot of the good stuff in Second Life is found by browsing the web. It does seem a bit disconnected, but there are many great resources on the internet to help you find fun things to do. So don’t hesitate to subscribe to some RSS feeds with new and interesting content.
Connecting with my avatar
The very first thing I realized is that until I customize my avatar, I will not enjoy exploring. I will not be able to stand looking at myself and therefore won’t be able to connect with the environment. But how was I do shop without any money? That’s when I discovered FREEBIES. There are many many places in Second Life that have freebie items to help you deck your character out. Something helpful to know is that skins determine how your skin color, makeup, shading, and naughty bits look. Your shape is your actual structure, your face shape, your body, your height, weight, etc. Customizing your avatar requires changing your skin AND shape from the default in order to look good. You can find freebie skins, hair, shapes, and animations. Here is a short list of some freebie places that helped me out!
Sarah Nerd’s Freebie Paradise
Noob Island
You can also search for freebie places by clicking the search button on the bottom, and opening the places tab and search for “freebie”.
One other tip is the freebie blog sites. Many blogs on the web are dedicated to finding freebie (or dollarbie) deals. Here are a few:
There are plenty of places to go for fashion on the cheap. Remember: you can buy things in stores by right-clicking on the sign and clicking “Buy”.
Finding Places to Go:
Showcase Tab
There is a LOT of content in SL. So much, that veterans from the beginning of SL time haven’t even come close to seeing everything there is to see. Thankfully, Linden Lab does a decent job of finding beautiful content in a variety of interests for you. To access these, click on “Search” (it’s the best button on the UI, imho) and click on the “Showcase” tab. Here you’ll see lists of places to enjoy separated by theme. There are educational, art/culture, fashion, hot spots, and music. This is how I got started. I went through and visited every single sim listed on the showcase tab. New places are added here pretty frequently as well – so that’s great.
Search
The search button on the bottom of your screen is key. Use it, then click on the places tab and search for where you want to go. Looking for steampunk clothes? Search for steampunk. Want a vampire roleplaying area? Easy. Want to find house rentals? Search for them. This tab is a godsend, and helped me tremendously. (Important note: I suggest checking the PG and Mature boxes. Some areas are marked mature when there isn’t anything inappropriate there at all.)
Profiles/Picks
When you find other people in the world, one thing that helps you find other places is by reading their profiles. You can right click on a person and then then click “Profile”. I like to check out what groups they’re in, and then I always go to their picks tab to see what their favorite places to go are. This is a great way to hop from place to place by clicking on people and seeing what areas they like. (Discretion advised, of course!)
Groups
Groups are similar to guilds, with the exception that you can be in many of them. (25 total, I believe). A group does a few things for you:
- Lets you recieve bulletins from the group, which you can have sent to your email so you get them offline.
- Allows you to open an IM (like a chat channel) with group members.
- Lets you display a tag above your name that indicates something about you. For example, I’ve joined the Metaplace group in SL so my name always has “Metaplace” above my head.
There are groups specifically for helping you find things to do. There is even one called “SL Things To Do” that I find very interesting. Another one that is great is “Impossible IRL” which finds truly spectacular places and broadcasts them to the group. For special interests, there are groups around just about anything. Everything from educational activities, music events, roleplaying, fantasy events, you name it. A lot of the artists in Second Life (like Grace McDunnough, who is fabulous) have groups you can join to stay up-to-date on their concert schedule as well, or fashion designers let you join their group to hear about new sales or releases. You can always find a group by clicking “Search” and then clicking on the “Groups” tab.
Events
If you click on “Search” and then “Events” you can search for events that are going on now. If connecting with other people is your desire – you can find concerts, DJ events, lectures, and meetings here. If you’re looking to learn how to build, you can find building classes under here. Note that you can sort by what category of event you’re looking for. I find this helpful when I’m interesting in being social or want to take a class or attend an art show.
Social Networking
Two sites that have been immensely helpful for finding things to do are Koinup and Flickr. Koinup is a virtual world social network that is an awesome place for photography and machinima in Second Life (and other virtual worlds too!). Koinup has groups for photographers and also scenery and other types of categories. Some times I will visit a place because I see fantastic pictures of it on Koinup. Flickr has groups as well and people upload some great images from SL.
Koinup – Second Life Explorers
Flickr – Second Life Architecture
Blogs
The final way that I find neat things are by reading some fantastic Second Life blogs. There are many blogs that highlight great places to check out regularly. I subscribe to a few of these and check out the places they recommend as they come up. Here are just a few blogs I’d recommend following for exciting places and events to visit.
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So that’s it! If this guide was helpful to you – let me know in SL as Cuppycake Cyberstar, or in Metaplace as Cuppycake I’m always glad for new friends in new places!
Well Designed and Whimsical
It seems like every time I log into WoW, EQ2, or any other various MMO – I am bored within the hour and quickly logging in to Metaplace or Second Life. I’m *really* enjoying virtual worlds lately. I’m going to have to apologize in advance here for shifting a bit of my focus now and then to my experiences in SL and other virtual worlds. Hopefully no one minds (If so, unsubscribe from my RSS! I won’t be sad!)
I’m a pure explorer in Second Life. I find myself being pretty antisocial and rarely interacting with anyone else. I do have some great contacts on my friends list who I ping when I have various noob questions – but for the most part my SL experience is a rather solitary one. I’m fine with that Tonight, I hopped around a few blogs and saw quite a bit of buzz about a new sim called Drowsy. This is a store made by Japanese creators, but it takes quite a bit to discover the things for sale. Unlike most stores in SL where the items for sale are in your face with gaudy signs – Drowsy incorporates items for sale into the environment in a truly artistic way.
I’ve done very little building so far in Second Life. I don’t have the faintest clue what kind of enormous amount of skill it takes to create immersive worlds like this. I do have some knowledge of art though, and clearly the creators of Drowsy have an eye for aesthetics. Here are some shots.
I found this cafe to be gorgeous. Everything from the lovely dotted wall, to the beautifully textured floor, and the orange hanging light. Such a fantastic space.
Can’t a girl do a little window shopping?
I strongly recommend checking this store out. It was lovely everywhere I looked.
