Lately I’ve been focusing my explorations on places where people are, as opposed to those beautiful but empty places I usually find. Naturally, I end up running into gatherings of bots, and I can’t resist breaking into their little boxes and taking pictures. People seem to enjoy it, so let’s see how it works as a regular feature, shall we?

Well, whoever set up this gathering was humane, at least. Instead of being stuck in a box they get to sit on dance pads in the fresh air. Not only that, but they make Lindens by camping. That’s one of the schemes bot farmers use to disguise their bots. They don’t lose anything by paying their bots camping money, since the money goes back to them, anyway. I can tell they aren’t real campers because of a) their extreme Ruthiness and b) the fact that the camping pads are stuck in the sky with no platform or teleport to them on the ground.

By the way, when I checked up on this spot the pads were empty, so if you’e looking to earn an easy L$2 every 10 minutes, there you have it. I left myself camping there overnight just to mess with the owner.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tru%20Colors%20Island/46/62/310

Here’s quite a large gathering. Most of them are pretty standard looking, but one couple snuck in a goblet of wine. Maybe everyone is passing the goblet around. And what’s with the crouching? It looks like they’re trying to set the record for most simultaneous farts. From the looks of things, I’d say they succeeded.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Live/44/132/344

And lastly, here’s a lovely set of Ruths (okay, lovely isn’t the right word), a couple of whom just had to be different and get the prim hair. Sometimes a bot just wants to feel… pretty.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pearls/39/102/761

Imagine, if you will, having a whole region at your disposal, but you only have an hour (or so) to turn it into a work of art. Eshi Otawara did. Her blog post explains more, but she built this entire region-sized poem with only the letters r, o, g, u, and e to start with, left over from an earlier project. (Eshi, by the way, is the person who ran the marriage proposal poem contest I won a while back).

I don’t think I could make a single letter in an hour (at least not ones that looked this good). What’s more, the whole thing is really Art with a capital A. Extending the poem along the ground, the positioning, the use of different text colors… wow.

These one hour builds only stay up for a couple of days, hence the quick bog posting. I wanted you to see this one before it disappeared. But if you don’t read this in time, don’t worry. There will probably be something equally stunning in it’s place. Which gives you a reason to keep coming back, doesn’t it?

No pressure, Eshi.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Desperado/153/255/65

I would have been a much better wrestler in my junior high school gym class if they allowed and counted the kind of dramatics you see on TV wrestling. I was a 98 pound weakling, but acting… that I could do. I did manage to pin a guy, but that was only because (he claimed) I cut off his airflow. Whatever works.

My friend Kat is a competitor in Second Life Championship Wrestling, or SLCW for short. Here she is taking down a guy twice her size. They fight twice a week (noon SLT on Wednesdays and Sundays). I finally made it to a match this weekend. Considering that I don’t even like wrestling in RL, I was very entertained.

Aaaannd he’s done for. I hope he wasn’t planning on fathering any children. I didn’t even know who the first couple of competitors were, but in short order I found myself getting into the spirit of things, yelling “Bite him! Kill him! Ruin his credit score!” The dramatics and the characters encourage that kind of response.

I don’t care if he’s an avatar or not… that’s gotta hurt.When you think about it, SLCW wrestling is no less real than RL wrestling. It’s a show, they know it, and they gave me an hour of fun. You can’t ask for more than that. Despite the occasional technical difficulties (one guy missed pinning the champion in the final seconds of their match, ow!) I really enjoyed myself. My inner thespian is even thinking about applying to be a competitor myself. The Masked Blogger? Captain Thong? The Bald Brawler? Hmmm….

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Davey%20Jones%20Locker/34/68/23

When I was flying through Second Sweden I found what I was expecting for the most part: neat rows of IKEA-like structures. Except off in one corner was this giant die in the air, exactly the sort of thing that gets my attention. 

A nearby sign instructed me to click a side, and sure enough an entrance appeared. The rest of the instructions said to hang on and have fun.

Hang on? Okaaaay, I went inside.

Floors were where walls should have been. Couches hung upside down from the ceiling. Then something nearby announced, Rotation starts in 5… 4.. 3… 2… 1.

Suddenyl everything changed. It’s not just that the die rolled (and it did, watch the die from outside and you’ll see). Walls and objects shifted as well, so I quickly lost any point of reference. The rotations occured every 60 seconds. After sitting on a poseball for a few minutes and and adjusting my camera to compensate for the changes, the direction I fell in when I stood up was a complete surprise.

It’s the sort of marvelously creative thing that you only see ion Second Life. Imagine if this were adapted to a club setting? That would either pack ‘em in or scare ‘em off. In fact, some of the poseballs inside the cube are dance balls, so the idea isn’t that far fetched.

The notecard you get when you when you click the instruction sign suggests setting your environment to midnight, as the multicolored interior lighting helps in figuring out where you are. They also suggest bringing your friends, which can only make this more fun. WTF moments are best when shared.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Sweden%2010/207/27/25

I like to think I’m a pretty smart guy. Okay, I consider myself math-challenged, but that’s because of a traumatic incident during my youth involving a nun, some flashcards, and a ferret¹. Despite the language barrier I can usually figure out what’s going on in a Japanese region. Not so with Invast.

Okay, there’s this nice looking Stonehenge, see? A beam of light shines down from the flying orb (I guess the spaceship dealer was out of saucers). A hangar with little flying saucers (ah, there they are!) is nearby. And there’s this little guy and his companions, and they… I just don’t know.

Whoever they are, they make nice crop circles, though.

Up in the spaceship, though… I just don’t get it. Upstairs you and a companion downstairs can play Othello. Downstairs you can engage in some sort of quest. This is where I get confused… you stand in front of these aliens, click one, and and up somewhere else. I’m not sure if that’s part of the quest or if I’ve insulted the aliens in some way. Maybe being clicked on offends them.

I’m sure this would be a lot of fun if I only understood what it was. I still don’t have a clue what Invast is, or does. I’m not going to be too hard on them because there’s plenty of information there in Japanese and I’m not the target audience. It’s just a little frustrating to find something like this and not be able to make heads or tails of it.

Meanwhile, I decided to visit the Pocky region while I was nearby. Except the Pocky region is gone.  When I found out a little part of me died inside. A chocolaty part.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/INVAST%20sec/128/127/22

¹ Okay, I lied about the ferret. And the nun.

Sure, some landowners use bots to make their land look busier than it is. It makes us feel deceived, and a little bit used.

But what about the poor bots? Stuck inside a plain room hundreds of meters in the air without even a dance ball to entertain them. Wearing the same plain t-shirt and jeans day after day after day. And what about lone female bot in this region? There are 36 male bots and her in this box. They must be flooding her with horny IMs. I know I look just like the other bots, but really, I’m different. I hope she knows how to use the mute button.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Twickenham/22/16/496

And if you think that’s bad, here are 71 female bots made to sit with a box on their head. I didn’t even know a region could support 71 avatars. At least these girls get to be in the open air… oh, except for that suffocating box, of course. I mean, I know Ruth is unattractive, but please, show some respect for the lady.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Quark/216/122/650

Meanwhile, a poor group of 53 grey ladies are forced to stare into the distance from inside their invisible box. Go, fly, be free! If I can break in, surely you can break out!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/7%20Sins/130/13/601

Sometimes Japanese regions are neither wierd nor wacky. Pull up your map and zoom in to the extreme lower right end corner of the grid and you’ll find Tempura island. You won’t find any batter-fried foods here, just breathtaking views and countless romantic spots. As I told a friend, it’s like an English muffin; there are all these little nooks and crannies.

When you land on the island you start on a platform facing an arched walkway that leads to the main building. To your right is an autumn forest bathed in golden light; to your right is a misty summer grotto where dapples of sunlight illuminate waterfalls and a river below. Venturing further into either of these areas is rewarded. In the autumn world you’ll find deer and a romantic tumbledown cottage. The summer side will find you in a hilltop jacuzzi with stunning views of the region. Nearby you can lay in a field of pink flowers, because… hell, that’s somebodies fantasy.

On either side of the arched walkway are platforms and smaller buildings. They appear to be for dances or events (or group Tai Chi) but nothing is posted. In fact, the area is surprisingly devoid of signs or anything stating its purpose (though after a while the romantic intent is obvious). Once in a while you’ll find a donation kiosk, but that’s it.

On one side of the main building you’ll find a warm spring (it look warm, anyway) and a fallen tower. Why? Like I said, nooks and crannies. The region is not empty, but neither is it crowded. If one spot is occupied it’s easy enough to find someplace equally romantic to move on to.

On the other side of the main building a seashore scene punctuated with glowing flowers. I’ve never seen glowing flowers growing out of the seashore before, but who cares? It looks great and there’s a couch where you and the one you love can lounge and watch the sunset. My friend Mori IM’ed me about her visit after I told her about the region and made a good point — it’s always sunset in Tempura.

The main ballroom itself is just a stunner. There are intricate architectural details, and amazing building textures I’ve never seen anywhere else in Second Life. The ballroom floor reflects the surroundings so it looks like real marble (thank you, Windlight). There’s more to see in the domed tower and rooftop platform.

On either side of main ballroom are beautifully appointed honeymoon suites, complete with cuddle rugs and funny functional canopy love beds. Be warned, however, that the doors don’t lock. On my first trip to the region these rooms were empty. When I returned to take pictures I accidentally barged in on a couple in flagrante delicto, and the second suite was occupied as well . No, I didn’t take pictures, you sickos.

If there is any downside to the region it’s so jam-packed with prims that it can often be laggy. Your mileage may vary. Even so, its worth exploring, if only to find the stuff I haven’t told you about.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/tempura%20island/128/128/0

I’ll let this one speak for itself because there’s not much can say without spoiling your fun.

1. Teleport to the Suguru Bank region.
2. Proceed to the teal Visa teleport platform and go wherever it takes you.

3. Watch the movie.

You will laugh…

…in spite of yourself. Is it this cheesy and silly on purpose? Probably. Who cares? I mean, doesn’t everyone need a credit card so impressive that it makes your hair burst into flames?

http://slurl.com/secondlife/SURUGA%20bank/128/127/36

There are few things that make me happier in Second Life than finding set of Japanese regions I haven’t encountered before. I’m going to spend the next few posts extolling the wonderful, wacky weirdness we’ve all come to expect.

First up: Fujitsu has a giant ”Bingo” game. They call it Bingo, but really it’s a gravity driven gumball game, only you’re the gumball.

The idea is to get your ball through the Bingo gate to win a prize. Step inside the ball, position it, and let yourself drop down. After that, it’s all up to gravity and paddles. You have no control.except for where you release the ball and the timing of the release relative to the spinning paddles. It’s not so easy, and I imagine it would be loads of fun in groups.

Next door there are some fairly awful eyeglass freebies. I point them out, only because of the advertisements, which break what must be the first rule of Second Life promotion: Never display your wares on an avatar with system hair.

The entrance to the Fujitsu Eco Park is nearby. It’s a pleasant walk, punctuated by signs about the birdsongs you’re hearing and (of course) Fujitsu’s own ecological initiatves. At the top of the hill you can pick up a freebie pet plant.

The airborne portion of the Eco Park demonstrates Fujitsu’s commitment to methane power. At least, I think that’s their intention, because it’s held aloft by a gigantic, smoking turd. Go take a look. My picture does not do the sheer turdiness of it justice.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/FUJITSU2/166/126/26