Posts tagged doleo design

I have been working on a new store for :Doleo: Design. It is smaller and much less ambitious than my previous business ventures in 2nd Life. It is, however, also more enjoyable and a true labor of love. 

The concept and theme for the store is as follows: simplicity and multipurpose. It is located on a 16,384 sq. m. lot, rather than a full sim. It is housed in a 30m x 30m skybox floating at 1,500m. It is vendor based with a strong Second Life Marketplace presence. It is designed to serve many purposes, including 1) a small build area, 2) free and public photo studio, and 3) a comfy hangout for patrons of both :Doleo: Design and :Doleo: Life.

The new store is still a work in progress. It will remain that way for sometime as I tweak things and begin to bring my inventory and vendors online. In the meantime, I wanted to showcase my new baby :) So… Here are a few photos for your review and pleasure. When the new store is truly ready to open, I will announce it here and in my 2nd Life profile and provide links and landmarks.

Enjoy…

Here are some photos of a terraforming project that is very near and dear to my heart. It is Doleo Sanctuary, my current home in 2nd Life. Not a full sim, yet a very lovely and peaceful 16, 384 sq.m. lot designed in my signature tropical style. Originally, Doleo Sanctuary consisted of two 6,144 sq.m. lots that I joined. I, recently, added a small adjoining 4,096 sq.m. lot that became available.

Although altering the terrain is allowed in the land covenant, I left the land mostly intact as I found it. I did of course create two corridors through the rough mountains to join the three lots, as well as smooth and refine the the general terrain. For the smaller 4,096 sq.m. lot I lowered most of the land deep into the water and created a small lagoon with the land I left exposed.

Other features of the is project include the following:

• Performed all landscaping.
• Added three out-of-sim elements: a reef, an island, and a stylized head.
• Created a small volcano out of one of the existing mountain peaks.
• Sourced and arranged all prefab structures.

If you are unaware of Ener Hax and her blog, iliveisl.com, you owe it to yourself to stop by and take a look. It is a wonderful read and, here lately, Ener has been discussing issues that are very relevant to both the future of 2nd Life and other 3D virtual worlds based on the server technology developed by Linden Labs for 2nd Life. 

A couple of days ago, Ener posted an article titled, Copybot and Steal Anything, Even Avatars. This article discusses the evils of Copybot and other such programs, but in a larger context and touches on other issues, like content licensing, the DMCA, moving creations from 2nd Life to OpenSim (or other grids), and legitimate backups.

Her article generated a heathy debate in comments and that brings me back to :Doleo: Like others, I responded to Ener’s post and gave my 2 cents (something I feel I am good at…lol). My comments are listed at the end of this post, edited for typos (and general mistakes associated with writing them when I should have been sleeping). 

Although you should read Ener’s article, along with all the comments it generated, to keep things in context, there are three points I would like to voice here on idoleo.com. They are as follows:

1) Linden Labs, over the years, has failed epically concerning inventory backups both in-world and out. This is especially true considering continual reduction in the support channels available to 2nd Life patrons. My inventory currently contains over 40,000 items, many of which are full permission textures and terrain files I have bought and use in my own creations. That is a huge investment and not one I wish to have just disappear one day.

2) There is a real need, at this point, for creatives and content developers to recognize and understand the evolving virtual world environment, as well as the growing number of grids and choices available. Linden Labs and 2nd Life are no longer the only game-in-town. There are real options and choices out there now and many are based on the same server technology as 2nd Life. As such, creatives and content developers need to adopt a broader licensing model that allows their works to be both used and ported from one grid to another.

3) From the day that Copybot was released in the wilds of 2nd Life, creatives and content developers have been hyping the reality of its use. Yes, Copybot, and other programs like it, present a real problem. Having said that… Many of the creatives and content developers in my circles piss and moan not because someone used Copybot to copy their creation pixel-for-pixel. They piss and moan because someone manually recreated a similar creation or improved upon it. To those creatives and content developers, I say… Get over it and yourself. That goes on in the real world everyday and is perfectly legal. 

Yes, I know the points presented above probably generate mixed emotions for many. That fact, however, does not change the reality that these issues are upon us and will only become more urgent and polarizing as more and more people choose to leave 2nd Life for other viable alternatives.

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Comment posted on iliveisl.com on June 28, 2010.

I took a hard read of this post and frankly I am very torn by the ideas presented here.

As a content designer and terraformer in 2nd Life for years now, I absolutely hate those that would outright copy pixel-for-pixel the creations of others. Having said that, though, Linden Labs has failed terribly in allowing 2nd Life patrons any real way to backup and protect their 2nd Life investments and creations. And… From 2004 to present, this has only gotten worse with the continual reduction in the support channels available to patrons.

I, for one, get sick to my stomach thinking my current avatar’s inventory of over 40,000 items, many of which are full perm textures, is at risk. Sure… I backup what I can in world, on my land, in inventory boxes so they are linked to the region backup. That, however, is very time consuming to setup and maintain and does not address the issue of having my backups locked into the 2nd Life grid.

Then, there is the issue I see emerging concerning virtual world content licensing. Essentially, all virtual worlds based on 2nd Life’s server technology are the same. Yet… Most designers and content creators to not see this or recognize it. As such, if you buy content in 2nd Life or design content in 2nd Life using other’s creations only licensed for use in 2nd Life, you are locked in with no way out. There was a time and place for that. We are no longer there and creatives and content developers need to adopt a broader license. 

The essence of the last two paragraphs is this… Some of us for better or worse have invested large sums of real money in 2nd Life. In the end, it looks like we are going to be screwed for doing so and without any good reason for it that I can see. For me personally, I will feel this the most with textures.

I would also like to second Winters’ comments concerning creatives crying wolf or hyping the reality of copybot. Yes, it is a problem and has been since it came along. In my circles, however, that is never really the root of the problem for the content creators I know and interact with. The real problem is they are pissed that others have or try to recreate their ideas or improve upon them manually. I am sorry, that has been going on in the real world since…forever…and that is absolutely legal.  

An example of this is a photo or texture. Yes, both can be copyrighted (and possibly trademarked). Having said that, if I take a landscape photo of the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Utah to sell, that does not prevent anyone else from taking a similar photo to do the same. What it prevents is others claiming or using my photo as theirs, as well attempting to profit from my work.

So… I think there needs to be a middle ground here. I think the ideas of fair use combined with broad content licensing need to be embraced to protect the investments that many of us have made. I think this is a major issue that will impact the success or failure of 3D virtual worlds regardless if they are based on 2nd Life or not. This is especially true for the content creators that actually make those worlds enjoyable and fun for the patrons that live in them. 

Here are a few images of a 2nd Life terraforming project I did about a year ago. This was a complete region build for the homestead sim named Alcedonia. The theme was somewhat medieval or gorean. The scope of the project included the following:

• Modified a custom terrain file.
• Applied custom terrain textures.
• Performed all landscaping.
• Sourced and arranged prefab structures.
• Built a custom temple platform and a hidden hot springs.