Some of you may remember I spoke to Daniel Voyager on the brink of his eighteenth birthday as he prepared to transfer from Teen SL and into the main Second Life grid. At the time Daniel was hopeful and excited about the adventure that he was about to embark on and little melancholy about leaving his teen friends behind. Also at the time there was a lot of discussion about the potential merging of the two grids which of course I asked Daniel about. At the time he said he believed they would be merged and indicated he felt this would be a good move.


I took the opportunity 10 months after his birthday to catch up with Daniel to see his his hopes had been realised and if he still felt the same about the possible grid merge.

When we last spoke you were preparing to move from TeenSL to the main grid can you tell us a little about the process involved for that to happen?

I can't believe it's been 8 and a half months since I transferred from the Teen Grid. The process involved in transferring from TeenSL to the main grid went smoothly and I managed to send my support ticket way in advance before my 18th birthday to be transferred on time. I created a TG transfer status updates page and posts on my blog to countdown the remaining days left in TSL. I spent the last few days doing a final tour of TeenSL and saying my final goodbyes which was very emotional to do. I remember sending my support ticket with my ID on the 11th of December 2008 and then got a reply back from Linden Lab the next day saying my ticket was assigned to the appropriate queue. I checked my ticket early on my birthday and it said "Happy Birthday! I have set the process to transfer you from Teen Second Life to Second Life to run on your next login. Please contact us if there is any difficulty with the transfer. Chiyo Linden!"

I couldn't wait any longer so I closed down my windows and started Second Life straight away. I few minutes later I arrived on the Main Grid, afterwards was teleported over to the TG Transfer Station along with tons of other cool places to meet new friends, SL Mentors and catch up with former TG friends. I was then flooded with IMs (50+), birthday gifts, cakes, notecards, landmarks and SL guides all day long. In the evening many residents set up massive birthday parties just for me and I enjoyed every second of it all. Today I'm known very well on the Main Grid and many do think I'm a celebrity. haha :)

Do you feel there is any way the transition process could be improved?

Yes. The TG Transfer Station located in Baffin needs to be the home location when teens transfer because recent former teen grid residents are saying they have been put in Welcome Areas around the grid. The TG Transfer Station needs to have information kioks and build to be switched on because it's not at the moment for some reason. The TG Transfer Station needs to host parties for new teens transferring turning 18 which would be great to see happen. The Teen Grid transfer groups could become more active by having weekly group notices on new transfers, upcoming parties and more.

What do you miss from Teen SL?

I miss being around my TG friends, blogging about activities happening in TeenSL, exploring, building, uploading snapshots to Flickr and not being able to help out TG educational projects anymore. I miss sending out group notices to educational, news groups and friend groups to let everyone know of interesting TG events and upcoming things in the community. One of things I will miss more than anything is mentoring new teens to the TG community because I loved doing that. Today I still keep in contact though email and messenger services because I wouldn't want to destory the relationships we had.

You said you were looking forward to the new exciting adventure that awaited you in Second Life, has it been such an adventure?

Yes, it has been a exciting new adventure on the Main Grid so far because I've been to hundreds of great places in Second Life. It's been great exploring a new grid which I've never been in before. I have enjoyed visiting Showcase places in Second Life and I have enjoyed attending great events in Second Life over the course of this year. I've been working on exciting projects in Second Life and being able to do things I couldn't do back on the TG. I have enjoyed attending office hours because every week there is always something cool happening. Mentoring on the Main Grid has been awesome helping new residents out at infohubs, welcome areas, help islands and sharing knowlege with them.

Has there been anything that's disappointed you?

Not that I know of because the experience so far has been great.

What sort of reception have you received from the main grid residents?

I have received a happy, fun, relaxed reception from main grid residents since I've been on the Main Grid. When I arrived I was so happy to meet so many cool people and friends. Many friends took me on a tour around the Main Grid on my first week showing me what's what which was great. Others sent me birthday treats, christmas gifts and IMs to make sure I was doing alright in the new big adult world.

Being new into the main grid, but not new to the interface do you believe there is any way the main grid could be improved following your experiences in TeenSL?

I believe there are ways for the main grid to be improved for former tg residents by having regions set up for former tg residents to meet up and have fun in. Having enough information about the main grid is important for former tg residents because many don't know where to start when they arrive on the main grid. This could be done through the TG transfer groups already set up ensuring that teens have the best experience possible when they arrive.
Be inspired! Have fun!

Following your Main Grid experiences do you think TeenSL and the main grid should be merged?

No. I think both grids should remain separate and Linden Lab should spend more attention on TeenSL issues. I changed my mind earlier this year after being featured on a metanomics show about the future of both grids. If the grids were merged together it would cause alot of serious problems and it wouldn't be right at all because it's a bad idea. There will be tons of lawsuits by residents taking action against LL, residents quitting and the TSL community will fall apart straight away. But whatever happens in the coming months or years I hope Linden Lab are making the right decision.