Second Life Viewer

Have a safe and fun Halloween this weekend, all! There are lots and lots of locations in Second Life with a ghostly theme; the DPW is glad to mention three of our own:The Fairgrounds (along with the Bay City Alliance):   ... [More] http://slurl.com/secondlife/North%20Channel/78/129/28The Asylum:   http://slurl.com/secondlife/North%20Channel/169/11/28Pyri Funfair:     http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sandeulbaram/217/228/22Oooh, spooky! [Less]

The Second Life economy continues to be steady, with nearly all key measures staying within a narrow range of just a few percentage points up or down over the last year. The largest changes compared to last year's Q3 were an increase of 7.2% in World ... [More] Size, a decline of 11% in User Hours, and a 115% increase in Web Merchandise Sales Volume.Over the last year, the number of people participating in the economy has also been consistent, ranging from 480,000 to 496,000 (currently 486,000), as has L$ Supply, which has ranged from US$25.4 million to US$26.2 million, and was at a 12-month high in Q3.For a definition of the metrics in this post, please see this wiki page. Click on each image below to see a larger version.AVERAGE MONTHLY REPEAT LOGINSAverage Monthly Repeat Logins fell 2.1% from Q2 but still rose 5.3% year over year.USER HOURSUser Hours fell 3.7% from Q2 and 11.0% year over year. The most significant quarter-to-quarter loss of user hours was from the heaviest usage segment (accounts logging over 300 hours per month).AVERAGE MONTHLY ECONOMIC PARTICIPANTSActive economic participants fell 1.0% from Q2 and year over year.AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATEAs expected from the fluctuations in June, the average exchange rate of L$ per US$ rose 1.7% from Q2, or 2.5% year over year. Note that a rise in the L$ exchange rate represents a drop in the value of the L$, as one US$ now buys more L$ than it did last quarter.L$ SUPPLYThe equivalent US$ value of all Resident-held L$ grew 1.2% from Q2, or 6.1% year over year. Although there may have been fewer economically active accounts in Q3, this suggests the L$ in those accounts did not exit Second Life.LINDEX VOLUMELindeX volume in Q3 fell 3.8% from Q2 and 2.8% from Q3 2009. With fewer economic participants, there was less need to replenish L$ balances from the LindeX.WEB MERCHANDISE SALES VOLUMETotal sales volume on both Xstreet SL and the new SL Marketplace rose 8.5% from Q2 and grew 115.2% year over year. Note that the SL Marketplace was only in beta during Q3 and makes up less than 10% of total Q3 Web volume.WORLD SIZETotal world size fell 1.4% from Q2 and grew 7.2% year over year. [Less]

Jack Linden recently announced "Viewer 2.3 Beta Available Today With Display Names and More"! In response to hot Resident requests, we made a bunch of design upgrades so that it's simple to do some everyday things you'll be using often.Question: "How ... [More] can I grab a complicated display name made out of characters I can't even type?"Answer: We've added an easy Copy To Clipboard button. All you need to do is open a Resident's profile, which is is accessible in many places via an inspector (green circle icon with an "i").Just click Copy To Clipboard, then Ctrl-V (Cmd-V on Mac) to paste both the display name and unchangeable username in any standard text field, including outside of Second Life. This video shows you how in action: Remember, this is currently only available in the Viewer 2.3 Beta, so be sure to get the special Viewer and go to a supported region like this:Because we need to ensure that Display Names operates correctly, we will  not enable Display Names for the entire grid immediately. Today, it  will work in a few thousand regions; once we see how it performs,  we  will dial that up over the next few weeks until the whole grid is  enabled. If you want to try using Display Names, then head to Blake Sea  and Bay City, as those areas will be enabled first.Learn more about display names in our help pages!^ I was writing these but have been transitioning them into the care of Bea Linden, feel free to comment and let us know your suggestions. [Less]

Today, we are excited to launch the latest version of Viewer 2 -- Viewer 2.3 Beta -- that makes it even easier to connect to friends and relevant experiences in Second Life. We’ve come a long way since we first launched the first Viewer 2 Beta in ... [More] February. We’ve dramatically increased performance and stability while adding cool new features like Shared Media. We’ve also made many usability improvements, based on your feedback, that make it easier for content creators and developers to build in Second Life.With the Version 2.3 Beta, Viewer 2 takes another big leap forward. This Beta not only includes many performance enhancements and bug fixes, but it also allows you to more freely express your inworld identity with Display Names, introduces helpful pop-up hints to make it easier to learn Viewer 2, and gives group owners more control of SL Events.Display Names Arrives on the Main GridDisplay Names, as you know, gives all Residents two names: a unique username and an optional Display Name that you can change on a weekly basis. Display Names gives you the ability to use Unicode characters and multiple words so you can use your current SL Name, your real name, a pseudonym, or a gamer tag. It’s your choice!Since we originally blogged about Display Names, and subsequently launched the Display Names Project Viewer on the test grid, we’ve made a range of changes to the feature that address the Resident concerns and feedback we received around impersonation and griefing. If you want to learn more, there’s a video below showcasing the enhancements and a full list detailing each change. We have also compiled a Frequently Asked Questions wiki page and two Knowledge Base articles, one on Display Names and another on usernames, complete with video tutorials from Torley that show you how to use this new feature.Check out this video to see Display Names in action: Because we need to ensure that Display Names operates correctly, we will not enable Display Names for the entire grid immediately. Today, it will work in a few thousand regions; once we see how it performs,  we will dial that up over the next few weeks until the whole grid is enabled. If you want to try using Display Names, then head to Blake Sea and Bay City, as those areas will be enabled first.Group Owners Can Now Control Event SchedulingThe Viewer 2.3 Beta now allows group owners to control events scheduling on group-owned land. Please read more and see our step-by-step instructions on the SL Events wiki pages.Viewer Hints Make the Switch to Viewer 2 EasyWe understand that there’s a bit of a learning curve when you make the switch from Viewer 1.23 to Viewer 2. So, we have added helpful pop-up hints for newer users around commonly used features, such as walk and chat. These disappear when the user takes the appropriate action, or dismisses the hint, and then you’ll never see them again.Download the Viewer 2.3 Beta today, try it out, and Twitter your thoughts using the #slviewer2 hashtag.Helpful LinksDownload Viewer 2.3 Beta (Version 2.3.0, Beta 1)Windows | Mac | LinuxViewer 2.3 Beta Release NotesDisplay Names FAQs Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback with VideoDisplay Names Knowledge Base Article with Instructional VideoUsernames Knowledge Base Article with Instructional VideoSL Events WikiSL Answers on Display NamesSL Forum on Viewer 2 [Less]

I won't mince words, and I know it's human to feel this way: IT SUCKS WHEN HELP EXISTS AND YOU CAN'T FIND IT. You search, it doesn't turn up. You manually browse, you attack the darkness, still doesn't come out. You're all like ... [More] "Double-you-tee-eff!!!!!" until a helpful fellow Resident points out that there's a broken link that was blocking you, or something else which should be ridiculously easy to fix. But that helpful Resi also understandably gives an exasperated sigh on the inside, because they have to manually do this each time someone has the same problem — and it's a hot problem!If only a Linden knew and did something about it.That's what this is about, since Resident Enlightenment (good gosh, what is that?) is one of my so-called "key responsibilities".Let's talk real, not theory. Leading off from my recent post specifically about the Scripting Library, you know I love folding multiple steps into one, removing slop and waste so you get what you expect. Or better.And often, putting useful instructions in front prevents much wasted time later. That's why I'm on a rampage — a help rampage — to connect the dots.For example, I often encourage Resis (endearing abbreviation for "Residents") to check out the help pages on the Second Life Wiki (linked to from the Support Portal) and to search and contribute. But as followup, I found myself tediously typing out the same instructions time and time again — I paused myself and dealt with the root, by updating the wiki's own navigation links and pages.The wiki now has a revised, friendly About & Help page, and it'd be swell if you took a sec to have a look.Among numerous other "little things that make a big difference", I've also (for now) highlighted the wiki's search box in yellow to give it emphasis. This, in response to the many "How do I search?" I get. Seem obvious? Don't laugh, we were all new once. Also, astutes may be wondering 'Why's there a Go and Search button?" See that previous link.Okay too much words for now so a picture.My wiki co-showrunners (listed on that About & Help page, of course) are working on further goodness.Still can't find something you've seen before? Let me know the specifics in the comments and I'll research.Now, onto the forums...These might not have proper "stickies" (why?) and Featured Content has been buggy, but as a "something far better than nothing", I can certainly add a widget box which makes super-useful threads more visible, as seen in the Scripting Library. (I can change font size later, this is all subject to adaptation and removing unneeded redundancy.)Do you have a nomination for an ultra-useful forum thread that you're frustrated having to bump up for newcomers? Let me know in the comments.To set expectations, I'm only including what's broadly useful (which sadly, disqualifies lolcats, altho they're broadly memeful) and in some cases, it may be better to have a single link to a page collecting useful links, as is the case with the earlier Scripting Library example. But I don't know that until I hear from you.Also, for the purposes of this post, I'm focusing on the (1) wiki and (2) forums, but I'd still like to hear about "help breakers" that are flat-out wrong or confusing on our official secondlife.com properties and in the Viewer. Like the fact we do support 64-bit Windows 7.I'm done now. But I'll be back in the comments, promise. [Less]

I'm gonna try to start posting these on the Friday before the  deploys. I'll have less specific information, but hopefully it makes the  week-of a little less hectic for people. As you know from last week,  the two updates to LeTigre and Magnum were ... [More] delayed. Both of those  projects will continue to move forward next week. Here's the plan:BlueSteel The internal tools project deployed here last week will likely see an update on Wednesday due to a minor bug.2010-10-27 10:00am: Deploy update to BlueSteel regions (release notes)LeTigre We'll be rolling an update to the TCMalloc project for real this time : ) This will be on Monday to get maximum grid-time for this project. It has seen a number of set  backs, and in the unfortunate event that another bug turns up, we'd like  to be able to get a fix in early.2010-10-25 9:30am: Deploy udpate to LeTigre regions (release notes)Magnum Display Names will be turning on here. Since these regions are  running code older than what's on the rest of Agni, I will do a full  roll of these regions to that same server version plus enable  the Display Names configuration option. I know there is much debate  about the DN project. All I can say is that the Release Candidate  process is available so that we can see the actual consequences of a  release, be they server crashes, griefing incidents, etc. The Release,  QA, and Support teams will review statistics (Jira, support load) from  this project before any full grid rolls.2010-10-26 9:00am: Deploy the current "Second Life Server" code + Display Names configuration to Magnum regions (release notes) Join the fun over in the forums! [Less]

The Pyri Funfair is now open! Tickets available from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pyri/60/47/115Or catch a boat ride from http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sandeulbaram/217/228/22 Disclaimer:The management holds no responsibility for any ... [More] faulty rides, and residents partake in all activities at their own risk. Height restrictions may apply, and some rides are not for the faint hearted!---------------------------We also have attached a recommended Windlight file (see bottom of this page), to add to the spooky fun! Instructions on adding the file to your Viewer can be found at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/WindLight_settingsThe short version:  add the file to the Windlight folder, within the Viewer's "User Settings" folder.The full version: InstallationFirst, quit the Second Life Viewer. Then:Open the skies and water folders, and drag their .xml file contents into the skies subdirectory within the right windlight folder, depending on your operating system.These are the usual install directories, yours may look different but similar:Windows XPSkies - C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skiesWindows Vista and 7Skies - C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skiesMacSkies - In the Finder, use Go menu > Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Application Support/SecondLife/user_settings/windlight/skiesLinux - The folder that contains the "secondlife" boot script (for example, "~/Desktop/SecondLife-i686-1.21.6.99587/"). Its exact location depends on where you extracted the Viewer .bz2 archive after downloading it.Tip: Everything, a lightweight search utility, makes it easy to find these directories. Search for "windlight".How To UseLogin to Second Life.Go to Me menu > Preferences.Click the Graphics tab.Set Quality and speed to High or Ultra.If you click Advanced, you'll see that both High and Ultra have Atmospheric shaders checked, so you can fully see WindLight.Click OKGo to World menu > Sun > Environment Editor.Click the Advanced Sky button.Select the Creepy Pyri preset.Close the pop-up windows. [Less]

Along with general usability touch-ups, Viewer 2.2 also brings a builder-friendly feature, useful in situations like making a single texture appear cohesive across several prims. Esbee summarizes this as:Builders can more easily align textures across ... [More] linked prims using planar mapping:  This feature allows builders to align textures across faces so that  several prims can look like a single prim. Simply select the faces of a  set of linked prims, then open the Textures tab of the Build tool, make  sure your Mapping setting is set to “Planar”, then click the checkbox  labeled “Align planar faces.”This video shows you how you can get started making it work in action, which looks like magic. And we like magic. More context behind this feature's benefits and limitations can be found in SNOW-586 (which almost reads like a patch's equivalent of a How It's Made ep), and a gracious thank-you to Resident Thickbrick Sleaford and others who helped get it into release.Even with Mesh on the horizon, "classic" prims continue to enjoy broad use. As I like to say: simply use what's useful. And keep being creative! [Less]

Fall is upon and so's Second Life Viewer 2.2! As highlighted in Esbee's post, Viewer 2.2 brings more of the "little stuff that makes a big difference".In this video, I show you some of the tweaks that could/should very well find themselves into your ... [More] daily Second Life — from common-sense button bar reordering to Mini-Map improvements — all so you can get on and enjoy. Don't forget to check out our Release Notes for more details. Many of the 2.2 changes are linked to Bug Tracker issues with explanations, to help you understand the "story" behind why and how something got fixed. [Less]

The Moles of the Department of Public Works have been busy planting, dredging and otherwise preparing a couple dozen sea Regions, now known as the Sea of Fables.There are lots of things to explore and discover, including a few small towns, ancient ... [More] ruins, and lots of underwater scenery. There are two race courses for sailors, with start lines in the Arafura and Adriatic Regions. I'd recommend that you start at the docks in Bohol, get a free boat from our vendor there, and sail about looking for adventure! [Less]