I first walked the SecondLife grid a little over 2 years ago. Introduced by a friend I was almost instantly hooked. Like many I lapped up the SecondLife experience. Did all the right things and even the 'in' things. Now almost 2 years later, I'm seriously considering leaving.

I started in the virtual world by working in a fairly successful club. At this place I found many of the very good friends I have now. When this club moved to it's own sim I was able to have my first taste of a virtual home. I, at the time played SL with my RL partner. We were in a position were RL living together was impossible and for a moment, we could capture the ability to live together in sl, it perhaps isn't RL but it was the closest we had. I spent 5 happy months 'working' in my friendly 'pub up the road' and living in my beautifully manicured home with my partner. I progressed with her to a rented 1/4 sim where we grew our home.

Suddenly my partner passed away, and in the very tricky, and complex real live situation I was able to find sanctuary in my secondlife. A small number of friends knew about our relationship, and as the shocking news spread of her death, more and more were told. I was unable to lean on many people in RL because of the complexity of this relationship, however unquestioningly our SecondLife friends offered a support network that was unimaginable. I can genuinely say that without this unconditional support, I wouldn't have been where I am now, RL or SL.

In order to fill my days with things I began to write for a well known news site. I also began to estate manage a friends sim. During this time I was re-introducted to someone I'd known at the old club - Aimee Trescothick. Aimee helped with the rental sim and we found and grew our friendship. Using the medium of SecondLife we both realised that we fitted together. We explored together, did work together, had fun together, spent time with friends together. Ultimately we moved in together in SL and met in RL.

The love you imagine, the kind that sells millions of dollars worth of tickets at the box offices around the world, I was exceptionally lucky to find. We discovered we fitted together in RL also. I owe SecondLife an awful lot; the support network, the confidence building and of course the love of a woman.

I learned in SecondLife how to write. I know that sounds rather strange, but writing is something I'd never tried before. SecondLife gave me the confidence to try, I found it was something that gave me enjoyment. From the news site I founded Rez Magazine with Voodoo. Rez is a passion of mine, a truly independent medium for us to write about many things in SL. It gives me the freedom to 'be my own boss' and to cover the things I want too in the way I want too. I opened my Rez Office on the 1/4 sim in a building made by Aimee. Together it was a culmination of lots of work.

From the 1/4 sim, we moved to a rented OpenSpace Sim. The main purpose of this sim would be our home. It might be pixels held on a server in San Francisco but hitting the 'go home' button actually means something. To climb into bed and virtually cuddle, means something. Spending time perfecting the look of home, means something. It is called Your World, Your Imagination, and the ability to create your 'dream home' here, for me at least, is exceptionally appealing and fundamentally needed. We would create our home, but we would firstly create our dream wedding setting. Having complete control on this island, we would take time to create the area that we wanted to marry in. To virtually stand up there and in-front of the collected friends speak of our love for each other. Sounds perfectly twee doesn't, but after-all isn't that the beauty of secondlife?

Aimee and I spent 6 months creating what WE wanted. Arranging the finer details, and asking the relevant people if they would do us the honor of being our bridesmaids, reverend, best man, or the guy who gives (a) bride away. The invites were beautifully crafted and sent out, the flickr group created, even a windlight recommended preset has been made. Two weeks before our 'I Dos' Linden Lab announce the changes in Open Space pricing.

In my two year existence as Trinity Dechou I have been in the middle of drama on a few occasions. VAT price changes, club related drama, estate drama, recently IP theft (unfounded) allegations and now this. I love SecondLife, I love the people in SecondLife. I love the beauty of SecondLife. I love the creation in SecondLife. However, all this drama, all this stress.... isn't this supposed to be fun? It is no longer fun.

In the last two years I remember LL increasing the private estate tier rates, introducing VAT and now this. You will never own your land, you might think you do, but the power belongs to the self appointed Linden Gods. We fight for what we love, we fight for what we believe in; there is only so much fight in us all and I think I've run out of fight.

At this moment there is hysteria and panic. Many people are 'homeless'. Linden Lab did that, no one else. I see no benefit of their action other than making many residents homeless and even questioning their life here. The powers that be have effectively killed off many of their residents and murdered the land market with one fell swoop.

I do consider leaving, strongly. However a few things hold me here at the moment. Rez Magazine is one, but how long before LL govern the freedom of speech, surely it's within their mandate (somewhere). Friends of course being another. I owe so much to these people, my developed relationships, the people who have touched my heart, and hopefully the hearts I have touched. It would be with a VERY heavy heart I pressed logout for that last time, believe me. Thankfully Aimee and I are more than SL, and we don't need it. It would change our relationship, as it is still heavily used as a way to spend time together in the evenings but it's not essential.

In a nutshell, LL have sucked the enjoyment out of SecondLife over the past two years. The harsh reality that these people can do as they please with no way for us lowly residents to shape the change.

IF I stay it will be for my friends, not Linden Lab.


This is my story, as the change in Linden policy is not just a matter of prices and budgets, but people and their lives. If you would like to share your story, please leave a comment

I’m sure many people have often wondered what distinguishes one place from another. In Second Life there is a plethora of clubs; what makes one place stand out from all the rest? Is it is the decor, the build, the themes or does it come down to the people who go there?

Regular readers of Rez will remember I tracked the demise of Durell Celts Lava Pit; a club originally devised by Lord Leafblower and Aava Jeego. The original Lava Pit closed early 2007 and Durell, one of the many members attempted to reintroduce the club. In my controversial and scathing article I noted that the reincarnation of this formerly successful club was rather disappointing.

Since that article was posted, Durell’s version of the club has gone, leaving no trace on the Second Life network. However, Lord and Aava’s Lava Pit has still left its mark even with its suspended absence. That was until September 2008 when The Lava Pit once more opened its doors under the careful wings of the original owners.

The new Lava Pit has a completely different build, different decor and somewhat different themed events. However, whilst the club itself has had a complete makeover the experience remains and same and the new prims have recaptured that genuine family feel. Clearly in answer to my original question, this club stands out from the others because of the people; particularly because of its owners.

I caught up with Lord Leafblower and asked him to explain The Lava Pits journey to date.

Trinity: What did you think of the resurrection club provided by Durell Celt

Lord: It is unfortunate that I agreed to hand over the name and legacy of the club at that time. Contrary to the hype and promises made by the new owner, the resulting place added nothing to the earlier successes and popularity of the original. The Lava Pit was about Lord Leafblower, Aava Jeegoo and all the friends, without those personalities there, it wasn't The Lava Pit.


Trinity: The Lava Pit on Kiva Island closed early 2007, why have you decided to bring the Lava Pit back to SecondLife now?



Lord: Well, to understand why we brought it back, you need to understand why we closed it.


By March 2007, working and personal life for both of us was getting extremely busy. At that time we had already started to think about the forthcoming Boxapixels company and Lava Inside products were just starting to be produced. We were no longer able to commit as much personal time to being in SL as we previously had been.

Secondly The Lava Pit had gotten away from its original small, friends-based hang-out. It had become another overloaded club in SL with gambling, contests, virtual-sex and all the trimmings that come with those aspects. It was totally out of control! And that's entirely my doing as I got carried away with the success of the place.


Another reason was purely personal. The Lava Pit had become too well known. As a result I was the target of constant abuse in IM, notecard drops and whatever other mechanisms from complete strangers. There are quite an extraordinary amount of people that want to be pissed off at anybody seemly ”doing well” out of Second Life. The constant stream of abuse grinds you down eventually even if you try to ignore it. A lot of misinformed people seem to think that so-called ”clubs” in SL are making money for the owners. They couldn't be more wrong :D establishing, promoting, maintaining a successful club or hang-out in Second Life can cost a fortune.


Anyway, those are the major reasons that we closed it down. It went out with a bang, at a popularity high-point and I was happy with the decision.


So 1.5 years later, I felt like I wanted to re-open The Lava Pit, but bring it back in the style of the ”original” small Lava Pit that started on mainland in September 2006. That was small, a low membership count, some mad friends, randomly having events and so on... it didn't need to be occupied 24/7 and was a no pressure situation for us. I had originally started the place in 2006 as I got frustrated at the ”rules” of The Shelter. I couldn't find a place that was a friendly hang-out without being analy retentive. So, true to the nature of Second Life, I figured I would make one.


Now I hope that the new place will become that thing once again.



Trinity: How has the response been to the new Lava Pit?



Lord: When I sent out the invitations to the ”opening” to the people I wanted to know about it, the up-take was practically 100%. So that was kind of fun. 
The response to the ”change” of the place is mixed, but generally people like the place, the new style, the new look and the original idea.
 There is no active promoting for The Lava Pit going on, and the events are not regularly timed, so it's difficult to compare it's attendance and acceptance with the previous place. The objective is totally different, and there is no camping, so... =)



Trinity: The design of the club has changed significantly can you tell me why?



Lord: The original Lava Pit on mainland was built in ignorance. I didn't really know my way about building in Second Life so well. So the result was basically a box with stuff in it. It grew of course.


Then by the time I bought Kiva Island and put the new Lava Pit there I was in such a rush to get the place moved, that I just built a Bigger Box :D If you remember, the place was constantly evolving, but I never really liked the build as it was so ad-hoc.


The new Lava Pit today is how I would have liked it before. It's round (ish), small enough to not be intimidating, but large enough to cope with 20+ people.


If you make a big club place, you need to fill the spaces to allow it have any kind of "atmosphere". That invariably leads to a large place full of unrelated crap that follows no theme or style =) So it was good to avoid that.


The newly opened Lava Pit has set out with very different themed events. Opening night was “Worst in whatever” and one of the most notable events since then was “Big Fat Av”. I wanted to know Lords inspiration for these events and what some of the feedback had been to the particularly non PC themes.



Lord: I'm not sure there is any inspiration other than "be controversial", but I will explain a little about why they are as they are.


Well the place has one rule, ”don't piss each other off, everything else is OK!”.


That rule is a bit subjective, what pisses one person off, makes another laugh.
So I thought, the owner should at least be able to piss everybody off! =)


No but really, the main reason was being utterly bored with the mundane ”Best In ” contests that are done to death in Second Life. Best In Black, Best In Leather, Best In Blaaaaa and so on. So I vowed never to have a ”Best In” contest, and that lead to some unconventional and controversial events like ”Big Fat Av” and so on. The funny thing is, the people that attend those events have split their sides laughing at themselves and their friends. And *that* is what it should be about. Anybody getting on their high-horse about ”immoral event themes” needs to take a deep breath and worry about something serious in life =)



Lava Inside, club products range, was born on Kiva Island alongside the Lava Pit. Even after Kiva Island closed, Lava Inside continued to grow. Lord added a Lava Inside main store to his estate which also includes The Lava Pit sim, Boxapixels Sandbox and Mall and the under development Leafside Heights weapons area. I asked Lord about the growth of these sims and the creations born from the original Lava Pit.


Lord: Lava Inside grew out of two things. Firstly my programming skills in RL and secondly the need for devices and gadgets for the Lava Pit as it was growing. Lava Inside started to take over my SL time away from The Lava Pit. It was nice to see some revenue coming from efforts in Second Life rather than just being a money ”pit”. Then it just kept growing as I thought of other things to create and sell. Now, Lava Inside is a thriving supplier of items in Second Life.

Leafside Heights is a new project and still under work. It is a free-for-all weapons area with damage and push enabled. But rather than just be a weapons sandbox I wanted it to have some theme and atmosphere. So I thought it would be fun to build it as a run-down urban place. It's a fun playground =)


The Lava Pit was certainly held sacred in the hearts of its many members in SecondLife. It is responsible for my personal development here. Like so many, the reincarnation of the club under new ownership, clouded the wonderful memories of THE Lava Pit. I certainly believe this particular club owes its success to the people and I for one am very happy to see it back where it belongs. Here ends The Lava Pits happy ending.



It was only when I was re-reading my most recent article, on board games, that I realised that something didn't sit right. When writing about AZT's Connect 4 game, I had mentioned that there were three editions of the machine on offer. One that was transfer/no copy, for personal use, one that was copy/no transfer, so that one person could set out many copies of the game for all to play, and a special version, whereby the people playing each had to pay to play, the winner gets more than they put in, and the owner of the game gets a cut, which I referred to as the "gambling version". When re-reading this I was suddenly whisked back to over a year ago, when I was writing for another site, and found myself at the Linden Village, surrounded by angry people waving placards, covering a protest against the then recently introduced ban on gambling in Second Life, in line with the United States' "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006", a comprehensive and enlightening explanation of which can be found here. So, has gambling resurfaced in Second Life despite the rules? Is this new gambling legal? Or is Linden Labs actually not bothering to enforce their own policy?

Looking to further investigate this, I went into the search menu, and tried looking for further evidence. I found no results for "casino" or "gambling" under the classified tab, but when I looked under "gaming" I found a host of places offering cash prizes for playing various games, such as Golden Palace whose advert features a picture offering "The Real Casino Feeling", Fortuna Games who have an ad featuring a photo of a real life Casino, $$Redness Gaming$$ and many many more besides. Considering that casino style gambling is strictly not allowed under the US laws in force in SL. One thing that all of the gaming places that came up in the search had in common was that they offered residents the opportunity to play a game called Zyngo, with the promise of big cash prizes. So, I figured the best way to investigate this a bit more would be to contact the creator of arguably the most popular and widely used Zyngo machines inworld, Aargle Zymurgy, to find out about how his machines have become such a phenomenon, and how they are allowed to exist at all:


Voodoo Buwan: Am I right in thinking that Zyngo is your invention?
Aargle Zymurgy: Well the game itself actually existed outside SL, and I'm not the only implementer. I played a competing version when I first got in SL, but was appalled how badly it ran. So, I set out to make my own with all the features I thought games here should have. Pretty much everything I put in Zyngo was immediately grabbed by other game designers.
Voodoo Buwan: Roughly how many people are making Zyngo games inworld?
Aargle Zymurgy: Currently, I think just 3 of that style. 3 besides me, that is. And under different names
Voodoo Buwan: Have you been surprised by just how successful Zyngo is in SL these days?
Aargle Zymurgy: I'm always surprised here. :-)
Voodoo Buwan: One thing I'm curious about is how the gambling ban in SL affected you, and your sales?
Aargle Zymurgy: In January, 2007 when I started work on it, if you asked me if I'd be doing what I'm doing now, I wouldn't have believed it. I've only had 2 months with declining sales: one was just after the initial gambling ban, things were a bit uncertain for everyone then.... the skill-based games were still secondary to gambling equipment at the time. After that settled out, things were fine. The other was during this past month with the US economy apparently in some turmoil. I'm hoping that smooths out too. :-)
Voodoo Buwan: You'll have to forgive me for not being an expert on how the game works, but can you explain how Zyngo is less gambling, and more of a skill game, than say, Poker?
Aargle Zymurgy: well, ok, I'll admit up front most people find this answer confusing... especially if you mention poker. No-one is saying poker isn't a game of skill. However, it's specifically dis-allowed in SL. so, you can't really bring that into any comparison. No, substitute "craps" in your question, and it can be answered. I have a general rule in game design: if you only choice is to play or not play, then it's a gambling game. Otherwise, there are other factors. Back after the initial gambling ban, I did a classic test on the game.... it was done to whist 150 years ago... I set up a dozen zyngo games what all played identically. Same numbers, jokers, etc. came up every time and that way, I was able to get a group of players and established that some definitely played more skillfully than others. I did the same with Quince. From that point forward, I was just careful with the whole issue.
Voodoo Buwan: Have you had any discussions with Linden Labs regarding all this? Did you have to prove your point to them?
Aargle Zymurgy: I DID prove my point to them. But, at this point, the Lindens still don't do "approvals" of games. However, their governance team knows the developers and knows we know the rules.
Voodoo Buwan: So they have monitored the situation, and know it's all above board?
Aargle Zymurgy: I regularly attend the g-team meetings. I send courtesy copies of my games to members of the team. plus to a few of the developers. It seems a few of them like my games. LOL... I had one here on this little island to check a script I had left out for testing purposes for the dev team, and I had a new game in development nearby.... he was distracted playing the new game when I arrived. And I love that..... I like when people get addicted to my games.
Voodoo Buwan: So would that be your advice to anyone else looking to develop their own game inworld? To get to know the governance team, and to work with them?
Aargle Zymurgy: Well... hm... that's another tough question..... I've helped new game developers before... but it's a tough market to break into now. One did a very nice game, but couldn't attract any interest or get any sales.
Voodoo Buwan: So, it's a bit of a sealed market?
Aargle Zymurgy: I wouldn't go as far as saying that. But there are some definite top dogs in the market. I brought Lamorna (his Business Partner) with me back when I was just beginning. She got making board games which do very well. Prior to that point they were poorly done and in the last year, she's done well with arcade games, too
Voodoo Buwan: So, with good work, and perseverance... anything is possible?
Aargle Zymurgy: I like to think so. I think I did quite a few things right, but to some extent by accident and some things I just did that were right without expecting results.

I found myself somewhat enlightened from my conversation with Aargyle, but there were still some outstanding issues. His statement that his games were exempt from the rules due to the skill aspect relates to the part of the Act relating to what is a bet, where it's stated that a bet is "the purchase of a chance to win a lottery or other prize the award of which is predominantly subject to chance". The use of the word "predominantly" is the important one, although Aargyle was incorrect on one thing, namely when he states that: "No-one is saying poker isn't a game of skill." The article I previously referenced explains that the issue is not whether there is some element of skill, but rather that:

"Most U.S. jurisdictions apply the Dominant Factor test to determine if a contest is a game of skill or a game of chance. That test looks to which elements predominate (51%) in determining outcome of the game. If the elements of chance predominate, then it is a game of chance, notwithstanding that skill elements are important, but not predominant."

This Dominant Factor test is akin the the test that Aargyle describes, but apparently the mathematical analysis on games of Poker are not seen to stand up to prove that the skill factor is more than 51%.

I decided to see if the creators of any other gaming equipment could offer a little more clarification, especially since another part of my conversation with Aargyle that had left me curious was the fact his checks with Linden Labs seemed mostly due to him knowing them, or them knowing him. If he hadn't known them, what would have happened? I had heard of the re-emergence of Sploders, the raffle balls used in clubs, touting themselves as "Legal". With this in mind, I messaged Brandi Cazalet, the owner of the shop Sploder Craze:


Voodoo Buwan: Hi there. I'm wondering what makes the Sploders you sell at Sploder Craze legal, by the rules of the gambling ban?
Brandi Cazalet: They do not pay out randomly like the old sploders did. The payouts are based on a cycle and I freely give the cycle
Voodoo Buwan: But surely this is still a chance situation rather than a game of skill? How does the cycle stop it being a game of chance?
Brandi Cazalet: The reason it is a game of skill is because the way i have it set up. I freely give the cycles to those that buy the sploders. They should post the cycles in their clubs. It tells the participants exactly when they should pay in, of sorts, because the winners are based on what point they play in the game. So the cycles are posted and it is more strategic to pay in at the correct time it doesnt just pay automatically
Voodoo Buwan: So it's like a race to be, for example, the 8th person to pay in?
Brandi Cazalet: Well not quite like that, lol, but for example, in the first sploder game played the first person in would win a certain percentage...and each person after that would win a certain set percentage. They know exactly what they will win, based upon when they pay in. It pays 9 winners each game. Then on the second game those percentages would change so they are not the same every time.
Voodoo Buwan: Ah, I think I understand
Brandi Cazalet: I tried to get them certified thru linden labs, but they tell me they don't do certifications, but they are aware. I have been here for a long time:)
Voodoo Buwan: Did you have to go to them, or were they keeping an eye on you?
Brandi Cazalet: Nope. I've never been contacted by anyone. I freely imed several of the Linden employees on the action team, because I did not want to do anything wrong, back when I opened. I never heard back from any of them and they have never been to my shop. I have been open about 8 months... sold probably 3 or 400 but I im'd every one of them with nothing in response. I have never had any confiscated either so i guess they are ok with me being here

And there is the biggest question out of all of this. Are Linden Labs paying attention to all of this? They set out a ban, in accordance with the rules that apply to them, since the servers that host Second Life are in the US, and the law applies whether the player or the provider of the "site" are based in the US. However, are they actually actively doing anything to enforce it? And since most of the Lindens are programmers or customer service representatives, rather than lawyers or police officers, how can they enforce the law correctly? Could someone with enough knowledge make a decent enough arguement to talk rings around them, and their governance team, to convince them that there is no need to worry about certain gaming? Or, since they are not doing official "approval" of games, are those investing in the creation or usage of these new gaming machines running an enormous risk, since Linden Labs could turn around, and confiscate their equipment and funds at a moments notice? Or, ultimately, did Linden Labs create the ban to show that they are trying to comply with the law, and give them a level of deniability, but don't have the inclination or manpower to enforce it? And are we worrying over nothing? I wish I had the answers, but until then, it's not just the people playing Zyngo or chucking money into the sploders who are taking a risk, with the hope of financial reward.

Article
by Neuron Bandit

The definition of ‘Art’ is in itself is a rather complex, personal and debatable issue. My personal reflection of the word in its simplest of terms would be…

‘Art is the expression of thought, emotion, opinion and observation, by stimulating one or more of the five senses in order to communicate these experiences to another.’

We have five senses in which to interpret our environment and communicate with each other. We can express ourselves in many ways including music / singing, writing / poetry, imagery / video, dance and sculpture.

There are many ways to create a picture, or to compose music, even the choice of words in our writing, expresses the mood, personality and education of the author.

Ok so where am I going with this?

Second life is a virtual, digital reality that runs in parallel with our everyday lives.
This is a great platform to meet, socialise and express ourselves with people that in all likelihood we would never have the opportunity to befriend. A consequence of this flexible system, it brings a great many people closer together. Closing the boundaries set in place by physical constraints, we can meet people from all nations within a few virtual footsteps, and maybe a TP ;)

This system (being internet hosted) maintains a separation from reality and creates some very important changes to the way we communicate to each other. We only have two of our senses within the realms of our sl. ‘Voice chat’ is now a popular tool to communicate, however this is a relatively new feature and many residents still choose not to use it including myself. My point being it is one thing to read discussions in your chat bar, but quite another to sense the tone in which it was said. This highlights that our communication options are limited from our everyday existence and sl citizens have adapted to accommodate these limitations.

Second life stimulates the creative sparks / motivations within us, whether in our imaginations, the objects we build / texture or the avatars we shape and dress. We are from conception expressing ourselves by designing our appearance and the very environment that we live in.
More so than in our real lives, having been given the power by God (Lindens), to have a full body make over, (change species in some cases) Fly down to the nearest B&Q, buy bits to make your house, TP back to your land, instantly erect your new home, just in time for your ‘best in neko’ disco party at 8pm ;)
Situations that simply couldn’t exist in our reality are readily created, further increasing artistic potential.

I am an artist myself, and I look around sl appreciating an environment saturated with creative and artistic self expression.
Stop for a few moments and think about what you are experiencing. Everything has taken thought, consideration and time to bring it into existence.
The construction of a building or the texture applied to its walls, it says something about the creator, or their intention for presenting it this way.

Here are two contrasting ways that residents have chosen to present their locations, both creating different atmospheres and for very different purposes.

An aerial photograph of Svarga shows off the majestic structure that dominates high up, on this beautiful nature reserve.


This shot from the crack den contrasts that of Svarga in atmosphere and mood, not quite my holiday preference; having said this beauty is not the purpose of this location.

We cannot even take the natural for granted, landscapes, trees, grasses, lakes and skies are all creations from our fellow residents.

The Lindens created the canvas and supplied us the tools to paint our picture. Many of us have our own small piece of the larger picture, those places we call home. It is here we personalise our piece of the jigsaw. We design the homes we’ve dreamt of, then decorate and furnish; making them our comfortable space :) Just like the real world we all have varying likes and dislikes and so the final painting continues to expand.

Creativity is such a fundamental part of our sl, that without it there would be no second life to live.

For us to use it we must first build it!
For us to enjoy it we must texture and script it!
Only then can it be appreciated!

The key that unlocks the gates to the vast, rich content flowing over the grid is in the minds and imaginations of those of us that call it our home.

If the recent scandal over on Facebook regarding the popularity of Scrabulous, and the subsequent actions by the makers of Scrabble to make sure they got the spotlight from the huge number of users, has taught us anything, it's that online board games are as much fun, if not more, as real life ones. With this in mind, I decided to check out some inworld versions of popular games, to find out the best and worst on offer.

Seeing that Scrabble was the inspiration for this little consumer test, I decided to find a product to give you the entertainment of the word based game while in SL. The best and most popular version appears to be SelbyWord by Moore or Less Creations. At 1499$L it is one of the pricier games in our list, and at 229 Prims it is unfortunately the most prim heavy, meaning that those with only small plots of land probably won't even want to bother thinking about buying themselves a copy, and rather go to one of the inworld pubs which allow you and up to 3 friends to use theirs. On the plus side, SelbyWord does come with a full manual, instructing how to set the game up, and explaining the rules and how to play, which is fortunate, seeing that, possibly due to the trouble the makers of Scrabulous got into, SelbyWord has some fairly big changes from your standard Scrabble. The introduction of half score spaces and scoring being based on where you place tiles, rather than the tiles having intrinsic scores are fairly interesting innovations, but the fact that the scoring has changed so that you only get points for the tiles you put down rather than for the words you make, is frustrating for anyone who enjoys the original game to the point that you may decide to not even bother.


The next game is actually one that I have at my own SL abode, Chess from The SL Chess and Sudoku Club, rezzing at a reasonably mid range 73 Prims, and priced at only 390$L. The board does come with useage instructions but no rule explanation for those who might not know how to play the game, such as which pieces can go where, although it does stop you making an incorrect move with a piece. Unfortunately unlike the previous game, this is limited to only two players, meaning it might be a good choice for you and your significant other to play on a quiet night. The board is relatively simple, opting to go for a 2D display, rather than making more prim hungry three dimensional little pieces; and has a easy click piece, then click destination interface, and apart from trying to figure out which is the King and which is the Queen, is no problem to use.


Simple is not a word I would necessarily use for the inworld version of Ludo I found, named "Avatar Don't Worry" and made by Takeshi Newman Games. The board game itself is only 18 Prims, making it the lowest prim game in the selection, but can be bought with a table and chairs for it, but since the game alone is 650$L, while adding the extremely basic furniture adds another 75$L to the price, I personally would just place the board on a table of your own instead of forking out for the frankly ugly table and chairs. The game comes with no instructions whatsoever, which is a massive shame, since it's been a while since me and my friends had played this, so when we sat down to play, we were kinda having to figure it as we went. We were doing ok at recalling the rules, but were fought every step of the way by the games horrible controls, thus leading to us missing turns, or not understanding why the lag riddled die sent me 3 spaces, when I still saw a 6 on it from the last person's turn. It got so bad that, to be honest, we couldn't make it through one game, and gave up.


Another game which we unfortunately had more rule problems with was Mah Jongg by Chiyosuke Wise. This game narrowly took the prize for most expensive, at a princely 2000$L, and was second highest on the prim count, at a hefty 199 prims. So, why bother, you may ask? Well, it is very well built, and although it has no instructions, it does work with a free HUD that it gives all of the 2-4 players. However, here is where we get the point that this might not be the best review. You see, none of my party had any experience with this game, so the lack of instructions made life a little tricky. Learning from last time, we looked up websites with the rules (such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong), but for some reason the more we thought we had got a grip on the rules, the more we scored badly and were thrashed by the computer player. However, what I can say is we did have fun trying to figure out the massively complex rules, and anyone who does understand how to play, and has the money and space for a table, will probably have even more fun with this finely created game.


I hungered for something a little simpler and less confusing at this point, and fortunately found Connect 4 by AZT. Now this game, although unsophisticated, wins the top prize of price, at a mere 300$L for a Transfer/No Copy version, although it's 1000$L for the Copy/No Trans one and Gambling version costs even more. However, we're concentrating on the home use one, so with it's price crown in place, and coming in second on it's prim count by just one prim (19 in total) this wins the award for being user friendly regardless of size of wallet, or size of your land. As you would expect being basic in price and basic in prims, it's fairly basic in design, but then, it's thankfully also basic in rules, meaning that you and your other player should have absolutely no problems using it, which is good, since there are useage instructions but no actual rule documentation. I will say, that if you can't understand the rules of Connect 4, you probably can't also figure out how to download and log into SL, so that's not really a worry. So, taking into account price, prims, and ease of use, we have our winner...


Only we don't. You see, Connect 4 is a joy to use, and is a superb buy that any resident should get many hours of happy use out of. But, my recommendation for best board game is not the cheapest (at 1995$L it's the second most expensive), and is not the least prims (it comes 4th out of 6 on our list, at 103 Prims). It does at least have instructions, and a superb user interface that helps guide you along, but has no rule book par se. So, why is my recommendation out of all the games, the Second Life version of Monopoly called SLopoly, by K.R. Engineering? Well, for one very important reason... It's the most FUN! In fact, our very own Trin has now become thoroughly addicted to this game, complete with it's SL specific styling, with all the properties being renamed to popular sims, the train stations being replaced by infohubs, and the chance and community chest cards all talking about things inworld we will all be familiar with, such as "You won Best in an Arbitrary Colour competition, collect 10$L" or "The Asset server lost your item. Linden's look up from their desks and do nothing about it, Lose 100$L". The game supports anything from 2 to 8 players, and can provide hours of frustration or joy, and either way, will keep you coming back for more. If you aren't convinced, have a go for yourself on the copy I have out at our Monema Office. Oh, and if your friends are all too busy to play, you might well be able to convince Trin to try to kick your ass at it.