It is often the case when wandering the Second Life network you begin to feel like everything is 'old news'. You feel like you have been there, done that and seen everything there is to see. Suddenly along comes a unique new experience. Loco Pocos is such an experience. Not only a full range of innovative products but also an interactive, informative and exciting island to explore.

Loco Pocos is the brainchild of Damien Fate, an experienced and well-respected content creator in Second Life. Loco Pocos, which roughly translated means “crazy tinies”, are highly modifiable and customizable Second Life avatars. The avatars are fully sculpted and come complete with a HUD, which allows for full personalization and also complete control over the avatars appearance, gestures and sound sets. Out of the box Loco Pocos are very reasonably priced with a large range of base animals. The store offers accessory options, which automatically work with the HUD for those wishing to further their enhancement.

Loco Pocos is however much more than your average store, as Damien has said, "Sims can be so much more than just a store, avatars can be so much more than just prims." The main centre of the island is the magical tree named Rokeden and the whole island centers on a story, that of Captain B. Bonnik. Bounty hunters gain more insight to the island and its inhabitants. The treasure hunt is an extremely clever and interesting way to spend time, it captures the explorer’s imagination and each new level offers a new task to complete, from deciphering codes to jumping across lava pits with falling platforms.

It is obvious from the island and the beautifully crafted avatars that Damien has spent a long time working on this unique user experience. I managed to speak to him and asked some questions about this concept.

Trin: What was your inspiration behind Locos Pocos, both the avatars and the island?

Damien: I always try and bring new things into Second Life and wanted to create a new way to customise avatars, as luck had it I was contracted to build a small avatar for an unrelated project (which I can't discuss yet) and it got me thinking about applying this idea to tinies.
Loco Pocos was born with the creation of the first one, Benny (the rabbit), with Benny I worked for around 2 months on implementing new ways to customise an avatar that is fully sculpted and a whole new expression system. After increasing the Loco Pocos avatar range to 10 avatars I decided I need a store for them, but I was so confident in the avatars and the product in general that I wanted more than just a store, a whole island with an experience as rich and exciting as the avatars themselves.

Trin: Who is Captain B. Bonnik and what was the inspiration behind his story?

Damien: Captain B. Bonnik is one of the individuals who found the island and the giant legendary tree, the Rokeden. There was no individual source of inspiration for his story other than the island itself and what would a greed driven pirate like himself get up to on the island. I just kept in mind certain facts about the island (which are known only to me) in mind when I wrote the story, it practically wrote itself. The name B.Bonnik is a play on "Bubonic", the infamous plague.

Trin: Can you tell me about the work involved behind the creation?

Damien: I wouldn't be able to count all the hours of work that went into the project, but I can say I lost a lot of sleep! The avatars were 3 months work, and the island was 2 months work. All were completed mostly in my spare time until the week run-up to the opening date, in which I worked 15 hour days for over a week to meet the deadline and make sure the product was ready. I had a lot of help from some awesome beta testers who worked with me for a month and of course my wife, Washu Zebrastripe was there to keep me going!

Trin: What has your feedback been?

Damien: Feedback has been insanely positive, I always knew that Loco Pocos avatars and the island were special, and had confidence in them - but nothing could prepare me for how overwhelmingly enthusiastic people became about them at first sight. Loco Pocos has been mentioned on blogs all throughout the internet, with some very passionate followers such as Torley Linden and Gabby Panacek who were so excited that they contributed greatly to the project's publicity.

Trin: What is the development plan for the future?

Damien: I plan on releasing new content every week, this weekend (Saturday 18th July) I will be releasing 10 more avatars, male and female versions of a Fox, Warthog, Mole, Squirrel and Rat along with a new kind of accessory for Loco Pocos, pants! The following two weekends will see more accessories being released.
In a month or so I will begin to expand the island experience, it currently takes around 2 hours average to find all the journals and complete all the puzzles, I look to double that adventure time with the next expansion.

Loco Pocos is unlike any other store or island; it is a very memorable experience in Second Life. The question is not should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar but when should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar, it's an experience everyone should have.

The SL Shakespeare Company announced in June it's 'Fourteen Pillars Fundraising Campaign" to raise funds for the companies future, including the full length production of Hamlet along with the bards other works.

Act 1 of the fourteen Pillars campaign opens on July 18th (tp) where seven actors will be jailed and made to "woo the audience with only improv acting and their wits" explains producer and director Enniv Zarf. Each actor will need to reach L$100,000 to be freed from their cell. A further $L300,000 will be raised by holding the beautifully crafted SL Globe Theatre to ransom. The building will be turned into a black box theatre during the first even building ransom to take place in SL. Artistic director and executive producer Ina Centaur states "We are truly what we say we are—a group of thespians and other professionals dedicated to our craft, bound together by Shakespeare, and way-too-excited to wait for outside funding".

The funds are needed for this revolutionary Second Life experience to help with actors time and running costs. Following the mini-production of Hamlet in March Sabina Stenvaag, managing director, explains “Scheduling was chaos, and we’ve even had to deal with some last minute re-casting before a show opened.” Co-executive producer and director Enniv Zarf agreed that, “The only way a full-length full-everything production would work is if we had everyone taking Second Life seriously, take their roles as a full time first life job for a month.”

The company provides a very unique experience for those in attendance. Shakespeare classics can be brought to life and witnessed from the comfort of your home computer but for this to continue the company needs your help.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Primtings/9/211/121

Ever feel like you have seen it all in the Second Life pub/club scene? You go in search of a place to be accepted to make friends and to enjoy yet all you ever find is slight variations on a theme? From place to place with a slightly different colour of flashing neon, different arrangement of poles to rules on escorting? Feel like you might scream out if you do not find some pure unadulterated fun in SecondLife without falling into the category of strip joint?

A long time ago I wrote about a very quintessential English Pub, called The Three Lions. Owned by Phill Plasma and located in Bourton Village, The Three Lions was a wonderful break from the norm. No dance poles, no advertising, no malls no pleading for money the Three Lions always boasted a warm homely atmosphere. You could talk up to the bar and choose between some fine English Ale or some Honey Mead, side order of Walkers, McCoys or KPs and go take your seat next to the fire where you could enjoy exciting stimulating conversation, dance the night away at one of the many events and much more, you felt 'part' of something. Feeling part of an extended family in Second Life is a very rare thing to find yet The Three Lions managed it.

It was a great loss when The Three Lions closed it's doors for what seemed forever, however recently the pub has reopened and I managed to catch up with Phill and find out what's happening.What was your inspiration behind the original Three Lions?

At the time that the Lions was created in 2006, i had gotten a little frustrated with the endless stream of badly built SL clubs. They mostly seemed to exist to make as much money as possible or to generate traffic figures, or both. I found a pub in SL called The Blarney Stone, owned and still run today by Ham Rambler, someone whom i have a great deal of admiration for in SL. It was one of the few places back then where you could hangout and meet familiar faces, somewhere you felt you belonged.

What did you want to do with the Three Lions, what did you hope to achieve?

The original plan was very modest, I had just purchased a sim and just wanted to build somewhere for friends to come and hang out. I harassed a few friends until they agreed to come and DJ for the opening and we opened the sim. What i wasn't prepared for were the sheer number of people who felt the same way as i did. The first weekend of The Three Lions saw a hundred members, by the time we closed the pub doors for the last time, we had 4000 members and a staff of 30 pub managers, DJs and other helpers. What made it so special for me was that The Three Lions was so popular despite not ever charging for a single thing and a total ban on any camping chairs, escorts, or money making in any form. We had a tip jar inside the pub which was the sole source of income, anything made there, we spent on live entertainment , DJs and events.

Why did you close?

Inevitably, any project that attracts the numbers that the pub did at its peak becomes impersonal to a degree. I had so much fun there and met so many good friends but the pub just took over and became almost a full time job for me. My passion in SL is building, despite what friends will tell you, I am quite a shy person. I am happiest sitting on a prim on an empty sim creating stuff. I was spending so much time dealing with the daily tasks, finding new entertainment and sorting out problems and the obligatory SL drama that I had no time to build any more or just fly around the mainland aimlessly like i used to, dropping in on random cool stuff. I realised I wasn't having fun any more. There were a couple of dramafests towards the end, that and the place losing a lot of its original identity as a friendly hangout and escape from the rest of SL finally made me decide enough is enough and that it was time to call it a day.

Why did you re-open?

My long term partner in crime kai Sachertorte and i had been spending a lot of time over at Openlife helping out, It's a lot of fun but it's still very much beta at the moment and i was getting frustrated at the difficulties there in building what i had in my head. We were missing friends too so we decided to get another sim in SL. When we returned, the question everyone asked was 'when is the pub coming back?' I had no real plans or intentions of bringing it back but we thought 'what the hell', lets rez the old dear from inventory but this time make sure it keeps to the original idea as a place for friends. I'll still be organising the live music stuff but apart from that, its a lot more laid back and enjoyable for us this time around. We don't even have a Three Lions group this time around, those that want to find it will do.

What has the feedback been about the reopening?

Very positive indeed, i have had countless messages from old pub regulars genuinely excited about the return, many of them with stories of how they met loved ones there. We even have one couple who met at the pub and are now together RL with a new baby. I have also been fortunate enough to keep in regular contact with many of the old regulars, some of whom formed their own successful bars and clubs, so news got around very quickly :)

Any future plans?

Oh yes, a gazillion plans. They change about as often as my clothes. I am busy building the new sim at New Bourton. The Three Lions is just a part of the plans there and it's so nice to see people just dropping by to say hello while kai and I are working on the place.
As for the long term plans, who can say? All i know is I am enjoying SL again and having a blast. That's good enough for me :)

People tend to talk about Second Life as a game. I would argue that as an assessment, there are some fairly major flaws in Second Life's game-like qualities. When you look at games, and more specifically computer games, they all have several things in common, which SL tends to lack. There are rules (which even though the occasional law is made, there are not strictly in SL) and directions. There are challenges (whereas the big challenge in SL is not ripping your hair out when the lag takes home) and objectives, and if anyone inworld thinks there is an objective to the "game" they are likely to wildly differ (everything from being a celebrity, to making money, or just getting laid). There are tasks to undertake, and items to collect. However, I must stop on this point, as there are items that you can collect in SL. There are items that many residents thirst for, whether they be furry, gorean, businessman, escort, builder, performer or even just a casual wanderer. An item that you can only get by speaking to one of our Linden parliament, and asking them really nicely. The Linden Bear.



Recently I attended Djai Skellerup's superb 2 hour set at the SL5B sims, and whilst there, who should turn up but Kate and Tofu Linden. As everyone, Djai included, was getting excited about such celebrities in our midst, I thought it would be a good idea to shout out, "Everyone! Get bears!". Two minutes later, and without any further word from me, Kate Linden dropped a bear into my inventory. I was so chuffed that I kept going on about it until my significant other asked Tofu very politely for his, and kindly received it, I think partly to show that it's not that tough to get a Linden bear, and shut me up. However, it was only when we got these bears home and rezzed them, that I noticed something a little strange....

You see, the point of the Linden Bear is that it is a piece of individual expression, encapsulating the spirit of that particular Linden, in bear form. The thing that was weird about both of our bears, was that both of them had not been built by the Linden who gave them to us. Kate's hadn't even been built by a Linden at all! With this in mind, I decided to check out if this was a widespread phenomenon. So I headed over to the Linden Bear Museum

Upon arrival, I started to right hand click all the bears on display, and check who was listed as creator. I am sorry to report, that while Torley, Spike, Plexus, Niko, Cogsworth, Trinity, Ekim, Mia, Nicole, Catherine, Ethan, Michael, Teagan, Colton, Dee, Rowan, Garry, Alexa and Dusty Linden all made their own bears; Kate, Tofu, Twilight. Data, Everett, Robin, Lexie, Colton, Amber, Lawrence, Wilder, Kona, George, Sally, Sabin, Babbage, Cyan, Benjamin, Lotte, Izzy, Zee, Belinda, Zero, Bunny, Liana, BigPapi, Jeska, Echo, Jeremy, Jello, Jack, Prospero, Bub, Charlie, Governor, Philip, Pathfinder, Coco, Aric, Sidewinder, JP, Cupid, Kosmo, Liana and Glen are not listed as the creators of their own bears. This means that out of the bears checked, only 30% of them appear to be made by the Linden who's name they bear, and that number can go down a little more, since Teagan appears to have gotten someone else to make her new 2008 bear for her. I also hear on the grapevine that even the enigmatic M Linden is having someone else make his bear for him. It should also be noted that quite a few of the bears were created by either Nicolle or Mia Linden, which at first gave me the image of these two having "Linden Bear Maker" somewhere in their job description. It was then suggested to me by my lovely voice of reason that maybe Nicolle and Mia make a basic bear, and then give it to the other Lindens to customise, and maybe I am being a little unfair about how many of them might not put the effort in to make their own. Which is a fair point, except for one minor detail... WHY? What is so hard about making a bear from scratch???

I am not an expert builder. My personal constructions have perhaps most kindly been described as "Old School". And yet, even someone with my basic abilities can manage to make a bear, entirely from fresh prims, and a few choice textures found in my overfull inventory. Like so:

Notice if you will, that my little Voodoo Bear is similarly bespectacled with a pair of funky goggles, has a similarly omnipresent cigarette in it's mouth, and I even managed to make little recreations of the tentacles that I so often wear. To add a little bit more Voodoo to the Voodoo Bear, I even stuck some bloody pins into his tummy. So, there you go. One Voodoo Bear, made entirely by me, personalised, and all complete in under an hour. So, not that hard then.

Which brings me to my challenge, dear readers! Let's show them that making a unique, and interesting bear is achievable by anyone. When you have a spare few minutes, put together your very own bear, and send me, Voodoo Buwan, a copy inworld. In exchange, I will send you a Voodoo Bear of your very own, and if we get enough, we will showcase some of the best in this very magazine. Who knows, I may even bestow a prize for the best resident bear I receive. So come on, bring on the bears!

You would have to have been in a virtual coma in Second Life to have not heard of or been to one of the many Rezzable Sims, however major changes are afoot.

The UK based company is responsible for over 25 sims including some of the most interesting and innovative places around. Ranging from the Glow inspiring world of Tunnel or Light, the dark mysterious place at The Carnival of Doom, the wonderful and inspired creations from the Greenies to the amazing statues and creations at Black Swan


The company announced recently on their blog that they would begin to charge for sim access. The first sim with this new ruling is Black Swan. Rezzable indicate this is something they have considered for a long time following the disappearance of major corporate sponsors.


Admission to Black Swan is priced at 199 $L and comes in the form of a watch which even tells you the time! This admission is not pay-per-visit, you buy the device once can return as many times as you like, however for many 199$L can be a lot of money and also enough to stop newbies experiencing the amazing creations on display at Rezzable. As you land at Black Swan you arrive into a skybox to be greeted with a message telling you how to purchase an authorisation device. Then you tp down to Black Swan using the enter button (NB I like to be a rebel, tried to go down without my shiny watch got the following message: Sentry Drone: You have 2 minutes before being escorted from the sim. Please purchase a Black Swan Watch in the entry hall if you wish to explore further.)


Black Swan is the first Rezzable sim with an admission charge; however the company say they would look to introduce this to other sims in the future. Rezzable say they are exploring “the right revenue model for virtual world content”. The company has indicated they are aware this might limit the visitors to the sim but hope the high quality content on show makes it worth the expense.

I have embarked on discussions regarding this development. Opinions vary, thoughts are this move is desperate and will not work; that Rezzable are closing access to their ‘portfolio’. Of course the underlying question during those whole process is ‘can second life be profitable?’ Major sponsors have pulled the plug on their funding for Rezzable, why? Are Rezzable doing the ‘right’ thing? That of course is very much up for public opinion. Will this move provide the income stream needed? The answer to that question will follow once this development for admission charging has time to settle down and accounts are processed. Rezzable are testing admission charging on one of their premier sims in SL, this will give a good indication of income and arguments against. Perhaps they are closing access off to one of their portfolio sims, however if Rezzable need the money to keep said portfolio open surely they should attempt to charge rather than risk losing the presentation all together?

As this has only just been announced there is a lack of public response to this. If you feel so inclined leave us your reply or visit Rezzable Blog and leave them directly for Rezzable. However, before you run off I’d like to forward MY personal response to this move.

Rezzable have brought a completely new dimension to content creation in Second Life. They have given us multiple sims with new innovation that make the vast majority stand back and simply say ‘wow’. The other main point about Rezzable is the fact they give back, not only through content creation but also for instance the recent Race for Life Relay, they donated the sims to RFL. Personally Black Swan is most certainly on my all time favourite Second Life locations, 199 $L for a watch to view it over and over again, where do I sign?

Quite a while ago, I was hanging around in one of SL's many art galleries, and across a completely empty room, a female avatar wandered into view. The name above her head rang a very small bell, so I decided to go over and have a chat with her, to see where I knew her from. It turned out she was an inworld photographer, and I had seen a couple of her pics in the official SL Flickr Group. We chatted for a bit, then out of nowhere, I got a little notice saying she wished to hug me. "Bit overly familiar, but no harm in it" I thought. Next thing I knew, I was upside down, with my head stuck in the floor, and Skycat Ranger was taking a photo of me, to post on her own Flickr stream, while falling about on the floor laughing with glee.

I generally don't talk much in Rez about people already on my friend list, because I would be loathed to be accused of favouritism, but while having one of my wanders across the SL5B sims, I stumbled into a gorgeous little gallery of enhanced inworld photographs, and when I saw Skycat's name on a giant leaf above the door, I decided that to do a story was less about boosting a friend, and more making use of a contact who is doing something amazing. In other words, as is becoming my mantra at the moment, giving respect where due. So, the moment I noticed her come online, I dragged her down to her exhibit, amongst the giant blades of grass and ladybirds made for her by the clown prince of SL, Jay Prospero, and had a chat with her about her work, and her own personal sl experience:


Voodoo Buwan: What originally brought you to SL?
SkyCat Ranger: I was playing a game called "Doufus". I was a fisherman, had to sell the fish I caught and make potions for killing magical beasts to move up. It almost got like work lol. I went to wikipedia to look up a potion and SL was mentioned. So I went and never sold fish again. My first night I met a joker and a ninja shooting, so we shot each other all night
Voodoo Buwan: And what made you decide to start snapping pictures of your adventures?
SkyCat Ranger: I actually remember when I learned you could. I was sitting with the joker, jay, on a bigger than life bear. I learned how and haven’t stopped. SL has awoken my sprained soul in many ways, art being HUGE.
Voodoo Buwan: A lot of your pictures have some amazing effects on them. How do you achieve that?
SkyCat Ranger: I got PS (Adobe Photoshop) in Oct 07 and literally just started clicking buttons. I now make unusual flowers and cityscapes with it. Default tools that are designed for other purposes. I’m to scatterbrained and busy to watch tutorials and I am going to make myself do it. Most people with training take years to learn SP. I know what I don’t know, but its ok, I’m having a blast.
Voodoo Buwan: So, you very much just kinda learn by doing, and make it work for you?
SkyCat Ranger: Exactly. I really don’t know why I love it, but I sure do. Possibilities are endless and I think I love the surprises. It has also opened anther universe of people from SL I met on flickr.com that I admire and have been helped by many. At first I was intimidated, but I found these SL flickr people to be fantastic.
Voodoo Buwan: So, has Flickr become an extension of your SL?
SkyCat Ranger: Yes, I may spend more time there. My SL life and close friends have grown and changed and I found my niche. I met a photographer on flickr named SkyShaper from NY, and he helped me figure out what kind of RL camera I should get, and now I have over 300 RL pics on flickr also.
Voodoo Buwan: So, how has the feedback been to your SL photos, generally?
SkyCat Ranger: Well, responses are always positive (not boasting here). I welcome any response though. A lot say, how do you come up with new pics, from PS that is. All I know is, I open a picture and have a blast. None are preplanned. My prob is, flickr could be a full time job, responding back. I try not to focus on responses or amount of views.
Voodoo Buwan: Just be true to yourself, yeah?
SkyCat Ranger: Yes and I've never sold any, I'm afraid it would change it. Hey, but open to offers lol
Voodoo Buwan: Do you use any inworld tools to help get your photos?
SkyCat Ranger: I do a like to find "in depth" shots, as I recently learned about setting snapshot to "in-depth".
Voodoo Buwan: Do you use a photobooth, or do you prefer to find places inworld to use?
SkyCat Ranger: Both, but I don’t have a photobooth that works at this time or a place to keep it. I get my best shots at my friend Jay’s area then I add flowers whenever possible. I also do alot in a flickr SL group called "picture pile ups". We edit each other’s pictures and I learned so much by doing that, sneaking my flowers in lol. But to answer you, I prefer SL to a photo booth, but it has its place.
Voodoo Buwan: Any advice on how to find the best places to photograph?
SkyCat Ranger: Well I heard there is a list but I don’t know where it is. I always use search and type what I'm thinking of, or if I go to a store, I check rest of the sim out. Friends and helping others I’ve run into the most unexpected pictures. Although when I was little my nickname was "Greta Garbo". “I vant to be alone?” It’s fun to fly off alone and see and find.
Voodoo Buwan: So, what has being a photographer in SL brought to you?
SkyCat Ranger: Good question. It’s brought me confidence and joy and excitement but mostly awoken my sprained soul, and now I wish I could fly in RL to take pictures. I have a set of churches from SL, like 67 or so. I was surprised to find so many. I now do that in RL, and with doors in SL too. I also have a set of more than 100 cool signs in SL and doing the same in RL.
Voodoo Buwan: Finally, what advice would you give to any budding shutterbugs in SL?
SkyCat Ranger: Have fun and the pictures will come from that attitude, and join flickr groups. There is help and encouragement out there. Oh, and Torley Linden has great tutorials on the SL website, which can really help.