SL5B
June 5, 2008 activities, child avatars, policy, volunteer No Comments((
Okay so it appears Linden Lab® will allow builds in the names of the PG kids groups such as SLC and BSSL. This comment by Katt Linden on Dusan Writer’s Metaverse’s blog post Linden Regroups and the Kids Are In.
On 06.03.08 Katt Linden said:
Dusan,
It doesn’t matter what sort of avatar you have, everyone interested can submit builds to the Birthday Celebration.
If any submissions aren’t accepted it’ll be because they are too “adult” in nature, not because of the looks of the avatar.
As someone involved in the original brainstorming about adding to the celebration, I assure you that we’re trying to make it more fun and valuable for everyone, full stop.
Thanks,
– Katt Linden
This should clear up any lingering doubts left by the less-than-clear LL official blog post SL5B: Birthday Expanded and New Submission Deadlines by everettlinden.
Overall this is a very good thing. It is good that Linden Lab finally realized that they must remain true to their principles. Second Life® is a platform of creative expression and should not be unduly limited. As much as Linden Lab wants to shift the focus of Second Life to the more profitable and laudable corporate and education interests, it cannot forget its foundations. The cynical way to put it is, Linden Lab needs to “dance with the date who brung ya.” I think a more tempered way to put it is that the two goals are not mutually exclusive. Heh… Dusan’s going to get a second link from me today. But I can’t say it better.
Dusan Writer – Children, Chains and Cold Cash: The Business Case for SL5B
Which leaves us, of course, with collaboration and education. But first, this event is not a “business showcase” and it’s not an “education fair” it’s a community event. And if they think that businesses and schools will be scared off by some kids and some leather-clad men then I hate to break it to them – but that horse has already left the barn. It’s not as if this stuff will be all that NEW – if you’re a school and you’ve decided to look at SL, you’ve already SEEN the press, you KNOW what’s there, and you either come or you don’t. A few little builds at a community even it hardly going to repel your corporate pocketbooks – they’ve already been repelled already or they’ve sucked it up and have come on board.
Stop to think, why are businesses and educational institutions interested in Second Life? Is it because it is a squeaky-clean environment with absolutely no controversy, no weirdos, and no freaks? I haven’t been a party to discussions between LL and potential clients, but this seems quite unlikely. They are interested because it is an open and creative platform. They are interested for the same reasons I am, the same reasons everyone comes here, the same reasons Second Life was created in the first place.
I’m glad LL decided to take the good with the bad.
As an added bonus, this event caused what I would call an outpouring of support. Honestly, more than I thought we’d get, considering we’re all a bunch of pervs.
It looks like Kids5B will go on, in parallel. The organizers say they will submit the whole thing as a proposed build. I don’t know what will happen, and I’m not worried about it one bit. I’m sorry I can’t take a more active role. Since I’m not taking a front seat, if the whole thing falls apart, i.e. if any of Kids5B, SLC, and BSSL’s contributions fall through, I can’t say a word. I know many of the people involved in all three projects have put alot into it. But I also know that of all the builds, the official SL5B SLC build was the only one for which planning started before June 1st. If the others happen too, I look forward to contributing what I can. If they don’t, oh well.
When I start building my arts and crafts display for Kids5B, I’ll start posting about that.
))