2010/03/13
Smoke If You Got Em
I found this entry on metaverse.jp recently. It's just the kind of product I like.
I wears simply, and dishes out the smokes to you and your friends. They come with options for smoke color and such that you choose when you pick them. This is always a good strategy when making items. Rather than packaging a half-dozen different versions together or trying to sell the different versions as their own products, you have a lot of small options that let people in a group all choose to be the same or different at a whim.
The build itself looks nice. The cigarette casts a red glow onto your face, if you have local lighting enabled, and the smoke uses a particle that scales faster one direction that the other as it floats away, making the smoke seem to drift. All-in-all it's not bad, especially considering you can share it with friends.
)
I wears simply, and dishes out the smokes to you and your friends. They come with options for smoke color and such that you choose when you pick them. This is always a good strategy when making items. Rather than packaging a half-dozen different versions together or trying to sell the different versions as their own products, you have a lot of small options that let people in a group all choose to be the same or different at a whim.
)
The build itself looks nice. The cigarette casts a red glow onto your face, if you have local lighting enabled, and the smoke uses a particle that scales faster one direction that the other as it floats away, making the smoke seem to drift. All-in-all it's not bad, especially considering you can share it with friends.
2010/02/22
Virtual Decorations
Of the things I like most about Second Life, the small impossible quirks always give me a smile. In a lot of ways life in Second Life imitates life outside. Sure, people carry swords and dress up as characters from their favorite science-fiction show or fashion magazine, but for the most part people generally live in houses, and look like people.
So it's often the domain of small details to illustrate the surreal nature of Second Life.
Like wild, outlandish home decor.
It's a product by *S. It cannot exist in the real world, and a plastic facsimile of it would look lifeless and ordinary. But in Second Life, the home garden is a menagerie of outlandish wonder and this is a great addition.
I also love the "drawn in the air" quality about plants like this. In Second Life, too much surreality can break the immersion and make it feel like a picture on a screen instead of a space to explore, but little details like this let you make it someplace interesting but familiar.
Stoic Ixchel
So it's often the domain of small details to illustrate the surreal nature of Second Life.
Like wild, outlandish home decor.
It's a product by *S. It cannot exist in the real world, and a plastic facsimile of it would look lifeless and ordinary. But in Second Life, the home garden is a menagerie of outlandish wonder and this is a great addition.
)
I also love the "drawn in the air" quality about plants like this. In Second Life, too much surreality can break the immersion and make it feel like a picture on a screen instead of a space to explore, but little details like this let you make it someplace interesting but familiar.
Stoic Ixchel
2010/02/12
Small Shops on the Feed
One of the great things about watching the metaverse.jp portal is that you can still see the small shops that are out in the world. With classification and search exploits, changes, and quirks, it is hard to find random content in Second Life. Given the desire everyone has to restrict their land, and the sheer volume of space now in use, it is difficult to wander in person even!
So it's nice to be able to look at the feed and see anyone who has put up an advertisement.
I went to *koek* when I saw this slmame post on the feed.
I love seeing what people create when they know how to use the building tools, but have not tried to gear a bigger store for mass-appeal. There are cookie-headphones, a skybox based on what I have to assume is a Japanese music video, and a set of video-game console themed furniture!
It's ironic that as the platform becomes more developed, it's harder to find the small shops, but the portal aggregation makes it possible still.
So it's nice to be able to look at the feed and see anyone who has put up an advertisement.
I went to *koek* when I saw this slmame post on the feed.
)
I love seeing what people create when they know how to use the building tools, but have not tried to gear a bigger store for mass-appeal. There are cookie-headphones, a skybox based on what I have to assume is a Japanese music video, and a set of video-game console themed furniture!
)
It's ironic that as the platform becomes more developed, it's harder to find the small shops, but the portal aggregation makes it possible still.
2010/01/18
Minimalist Digs
I saw the new product from this guy come across Metaverse.jp and zipped off to his shop pretty quick.
One of the great things about Second Life is that you can find just about any style of furnishings or clothing you want. In an earlier post, I talked about great organics and woodland-themed items I found for sale. KDC Style focuses on the other end of that slider. I've always been a big fan of monochrome accented with natural colors. Ultra-modern and minimalist, it mixes western corporate and Japanese traditional in a lot of the pieces. KDC uses oblongs to keep the prim count low, which is always appreciated.
You could really outfit a slick skybox here.
Second Life is crazy that way. I know a girl who spend about a year on Second Life decorating skyboxes. As soon as she'd finish one, she'd put up a new one and start over. Luckily for people like her, there are hundreds of styles to choose from.
Choosing KDC Style is a pretty decent choice. We'll see how long I last before I change my place up again to resemble the inside of a candy factory or something!
One of the great things about Second Life is that you can find just about any style of furnishings or clothing you want. In an earlier post, I talked about great organics and woodland-themed items I found for sale. KDC Style focuses on the other end of that slider. I've always been a big fan of monochrome accented with natural colors. Ultra-modern and minimalist, it mixes western corporate and Japanese traditional in a lot of the pieces. KDC uses oblongs to keep the prim count low, which is always appreciated.
)
You could really outfit a slick skybox here.
Second Life is crazy that way. I know a girl who spend about a year on Second Life decorating skyboxes. As soon as she'd finish one, she'd put up a new one and start over. Luckily for people like her, there are hundreds of styles to choose from.
Choosing KDC Style is a pretty decent choice. We'll see how long I last before I change my place up again to resemble the inside of a candy factory or something!
2009/12/30
Hidden Lair
I'm back from the Holidays everyone and I noticed a product announcement on metaverse.jp that looked like it might be worth inspection.
When you tp into most places, they put you in front of their "new products" board. Not so with 110Prims. I arrived to find the following scene, which I must admit threw me off for a moment while everything was rezzing.
Once the sign appeared, I had a good idea where to go. It turns out, by the way, that I should go down a hole in the ground and drop into some kind of science fiction water treatment plant. Past the antechamber, I ran into this friendly little guy, but the products were farther on still.
Finally I arrived and tried out the backpack mentioned in the product announcement. I do enjoy the occasional cybernetic upgrade, although I tend to be a regular dude most of the time.
His other products are pretty entertaining as well. Aside from the jet pack he's got male and female armor that can be shot away by another player with a gun. It scatters as temporary shrapnel and is quite amusing.
-Stoic Ixchel
When you tp into most places, they put you in front of their "new products" board. Not so with 110Prims. I arrived to find the following scene, which I must admit threw me off for a moment while everything was rezzing.
)
Once the sign appeared, I had a good idea where to go. It turns out, by the way, that I should go down a hole in the ground and drop into some kind of science fiction water treatment plant. Past the antechamber, I ran into this friendly little guy, but the products were farther on still.
)
Finally I arrived and tried out the backpack mentioned in the product announcement. I do enjoy the occasional cybernetic upgrade, although I tend to be a regular dude most of the time.
)
His other products are pretty entertaining as well. Aside from the jet pack he's got male and female armor that can be shot away by another player with a gun. It scatters as temporary shrapnel and is quite amusing.
-Stoic Ixchel
2009/12/14
A Japanese Christmas Event
When I sat down to write the latest blog post Saturday night I cam across a link on metaverse.jp that pointed to this:
Zombie Santa is Coming to Town
It was set to start at 0:00 SLT that very night, which brings me to something of importance. Everyone knows there's a time difference between America and Japan, but it's really not so bad. Second Life Time of 0:00 is 5:00 PM (or 17:00) in Japan.
While it may be a bit out of range of many East coast residents, many of the events and release announcements from Japanese residents are relatively easy to around for if you live in the Western half of America.
If you're a morning person, the night owls in Japan are still around well into the day, especially if you live on the East coast.
The event itself was a Christmas special that combined Santa Claus coming to town with the Zombie apocalypse. Much like peanut butter and chocolate, you can't go wrong.
The event was quite fun! Zombie Santa had indeed come to town and many people were running around the sim beating zombies in Santa hats into the ground in exchange for prize tickets that could be taken to a number of shops.
At events, I never have time to speak with many Japanese people. The machine translator just takes too long when everyone is trying to hunt or hit zombies with pillows. I recommend bringing a friend. It didn't take me long to find one.
"Hey, I'm hitting zombie Santas with pillows at a Japanese sim, want to come?"
Zombie Santa is Coming to Town
It was set to start at 0:00 SLT that very night, which brings me to something of importance. Everyone knows there's a time difference between America and Japan, but it's really not so bad. Second Life Time of 0:00 is 5:00 PM (or 17:00) in Japan.
While it may be a bit out of range of many East coast residents, many of the events and release announcements from Japanese residents are relatively easy to around for if you live in the Western half of America.
If you're a morning person, the night owls in Japan are still around well into the day, especially if you live on the East coast.
The event itself was a Christmas special that combined Santa Claus coming to town with the Zombie apocalypse. Much like peanut butter and chocolate, you can't go wrong.
The event was quite fun! Zombie Santa had indeed come to town and many people were running around the sim beating zombies in Santa hats into the ground in exchange for prize tickets that could be taken to a number of shops.
)
)
At events, I never have time to speak with many Japanese people. The machine translator just takes too long when everyone is trying to hunt or hit zombies with pillows. I recommend bringing a friend. It didn't take me long to find one.
"Hey, I'm hitting zombie Santas with pillows at a Japanese sim, want to come?"
2009/12/06
Cafe Spotting
It can be tough meeting new people, but don't let that discourage you!
It is not easy to make instant friends, especially when working with a language gap. America is a very open and excited culture. It is commonly expected that meeting new people will result in an exaggerated friendliness that you cannot expect in many Japanese circles.
However, if you are curious about the Japanese on Second Life you can take some cues from your First Life. You can figure out a lot about a person by observing them. In Second Life, you won't see the body language and mannerisms that you can in person, but you can browse profiles!
I enjoy the stories implied in what people include and exclude from their profiles. Human drama is writ large across the "picks" tab in particular. But it will also point you towards interesting groups, locations, styles, and stores. You can learn much of what you might have wanted to ask just by observing.
Don't be creepy though. Try introducing yourself through a translator, but do not be offended if you get only a limited response. Cafes are a great place because they are often busy and if they are not, the regulars or staff may have some friendly chat for you. Both of the links below lead to great cafes with a lot of traffic, cool sims, and friendly people.
http://storemebius.slmame.com/e789027.html
http://poulard.slmame.com/e788831.html
Have fun!
-Stoic Ixchel
It is not easy to make instant friends, especially when working with a language gap. America is a very open and excited culture. It is commonly expected that meeting new people will result in an exaggerated friendliness that you cannot expect in many Japanese circles.
However, if you are curious about the Japanese on Second Life you can take some cues from your First Life. You can figure out a lot about a person by observing them. In Second Life, you won't see the body language and mannerisms that you can in person, but you can browse profiles!
I enjoy the stories implied in what people include and exclude from their profiles. Human drama is writ large across the "picks" tab in particular. But it will also point you towards interesting groups, locations, styles, and stores. You can learn much of what you might have wanted to ask just by observing.
Don't be creepy though. Try introducing yourself through a translator, but do not be offended if you get only a limited response. Cafes are a great place because they are often busy and if they are not, the regulars or staff may have some friendly chat for you. Both of the links below lead to great cafes with a lot of traffic, cool sims, and friendly people.
)
http://storemebius.slmame.com/e789027.html
)
http://poulard.slmame.com/e788831.html
Have fun!
-Stoic Ixchel
2009/11/22
Talking to a Japanese Designer
Last week's travels took us to a great collection of products from Japanese vendors. This week, I wanted to focus on a single creator and talk with him or her a bit about their Second Life experience.
When I fired up the Slmame feed, one of most recent posts advertising a new hair, quickly caught my eye. It's pretty stylish, but I'm popping Tylonel like crazy for some reason...
Much like most Americans, my knowledge of Japanese is minimal, really just enough to adjust my English grammar to make it easier for machine translators to output Japanese that can hopefully be understood. Never-the-less, it is always polite to start a conversation in the other side's language, even if you need to apologize for using a machine translator. I find this is a good rule of thumb when talking to anyone, by the way, not just the Japanese. If you think about it the other way around, how much more likely are you to try and work with a foreign customer if they start the conversation in English?
Google makes things easy, to be honest. If you're patient and don't mind practicing with the phrasing (translate it, and then translate it back, if it doesn't come out as understandable English, chances are good it's hard to understand in Japanese), machine translation means the future is now.
I highly recommend the hair at BooN, there are some really great pieces. The creator, boo Nakamura, is also very nice. After a quick exchange in Japanese, he offered to switch to English and I spent some time talking to him about Japanese users and specifically creators.
Boo's Blog: http://boo.slmame.com/
BooN SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zapico/27/171/35
Group promotions have become very popular with American designers. It lets you lure not only your own group in with low prices on select goods, but the groups of a dozen of your friends and colleagues. You're going to need a strong communication with a Japanese vendor to get them into these kind of events, though. The language gap can make shifts in the event difficult and many vendors prefer to avoid them in favor of simple membership in consolidated groups.
At the same time, most Japanese creators work alone. Small project creative work like Second Life building is difficult to do in a group when the time from concept to product is usually a few days to a week. The strongly worded and quickly delivered opinions that fly between American vendors are not something the Japanese are comfortable expressing in most circumstances.
All you designers out there should still consider that striking up a polite conversation with your Japanese counterparts can be well worth the effort. The English and Japanese communities have some really subtle and interesting differences in style and design. Many of these differences translate well between markets and can make your products stand out. Not everyone will want to talk shop, but those that do are invaluable.
Have fun!
-Stoic Ixchel
When I fired up the Slmame feed, one of most recent posts advertising a new hair, quickly caught my eye. It's pretty stylish, but I'm popping Tylonel like crazy for some reason...
)
Much like most Americans, my knowledge of Japanese is minimal, really just enough to adjust my English grammar to make it easier for machine translators to output Japanese that can hopefully be understood. Never-the-less, it is always polite to start a conversation in the other side's language, even if you need to apologize for using a machine translator. I find this is a good rule of thumb when talking to anyone, by the way, not just the Japanese. If you think about it the other way around, how much more likely are you to try and work with a foreign customer if they start the conversation in English?
Google makes things easy, to be honest. If you're patient and don't mind practicing with the phrasing (translate it, and then translate it back, if it doesn't come out as understandable English, chances are good it's hard to understand in Japanese), machine translation means the future is now.
)
I highly recommend the hair at BooN, there are some really great pieces. The creator, boo Nakamura, is also very nice. After a quick exchange in Japanese, he offered to switch to English and I spent some time talking to him about Japanese users and specifically creators.
Boo's Blog: http://boo.slmame.com/
BooN SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zapico/27/171/35
Group promotions have become very popular with American designers. It lets you lure not only your own group in with low prices on select goods, but the groups of a dozen of your friends and colleagues. You're going to need a strong communication with a Japanese vendor to get them into these kind of events, though. The language gap can make shifts in the event difficult and many vendors prefer to avoid them in favor of simple membership in consolidated groups.
At the same time, most Japanese creators work alone. Small project creative work like Second Life building is difficult to do in a group when the time from concept to product is usually a few days to a week. The strongly worded and quickly delivered opinions that fly between American vendors are not something the Japanese are comfortable expressing in most circumstances.
All you designers out there should still consider that striking up a polite conversation with your Japanese counterparts can be well worth the effort. The English and Japanese communities have some really subtle and interesting differences in style and design. Many of these differences translate well between markets and can make your products stand out. Not everyone will want to talk shop, but those that do are invaluable.
Have fun!
-Stoic Ixchel
2009/11/14
The Wider Second Life
Hi, I'm Stoic Ixchel. I've been stomping around the grid for a number of years and it's bigger than you might think. I was working with someone on a shop that started doing far better than we expected. It turned out, our sales had doubled due to discovery by the Japanese community. As we found out, it goes both ways.
There are a lot of cool things going on in the Japanese community of Second Life, but it can be a daunting task to discover it all. This blog will pry interesting treasures from the Japanese-language pages and serve them up for you English speakers with a side of cheese fries.
I found this write up recently: http://albero.slmame.com/e774054.html
It's the Green Festival over at http://Slurl.com/Secondlife/Hyssop/68/219/60
The whole place is packed full of organics, grass, landscaping, rustic housing, house plants, and other things. Good landscaping is rare enough brand new trees are golden.
I brought a friend, but poor impulse control made her run screaming from the scene with armfuls of products before she burned through all of her money. My wallet didn't escape unharmed either. My house is currently crawling with new plants, though I think only the one is going to get enough light.
I'll be delving deeper into what's going on with the Japanese users in the coming weeks. I'll attend shows, talk to shop owners, and let you know how it goes and how you can bridge the gap. Because, it's not that big, that gap. A little politeness, a bit of interest in the language and culture, and you can work it out.
It's well worth it.
-Stoic Ixchel
There are a lot of cool things going on in the Japanese community of Second Life, but it can be a daunting task to discover it all. This blog will pry interesting treasures from the Japanese-language pages and serve them up for you English speakers with a side of cheese fries.
I found this write up recently: http://albero.slmame.com/e774054.html
It's the Green Festival over at http://Slurl.com/Secondlife/Hyssop/68/219/60
The whole place is packed full of organics, grass, landscaping, rustic housing, house plants, and other things. Good landscaping is rare enough brand new trees are golden.
)
)
I brought a friend, but poor impulse control made her run screaming from the scene with armfuls of products before she burned through all of her money. My wallet didn't escape unharmed either. My house is currently crawling with new plants, though I think only the one is going to get enough light.
I'll be delving deeper into what's going on with the Japanese users in the coming weeks. I'll attend shows, talk to shop owners, and let you know how it goes and how you can bridge the gap. Because, it's not that big, that gap. A little politeness, a bit of interest in the language and culture, and you can work it out.
It's well worth it.
-Stoic Ixchel
