A Word from Blue Linden

Bravo. I really wish I had seen it. Can you play four roles at once, live, on the same stage? Interacting with each other, all visible at once, and with the other actors?


The difference is that Eddie Murphy didn't have a non-removable sign hanging over his head throughout the performance saying "Eddie Murphy".

Eddie may try to play many different roles in one film, and even some cross-gender roles, but he's playing it for comedic effect. No one is supposed to suspend their disbelief for an instant and imagine that the fat black lady with the blonde wig and the old black geezer and the scrawny gangsta character aren't really all Eddie, hamming it up.

When Ceera Murakami walks into the reception chamber in her castle, to greet a new guest, she is one distinct and believable character - a female Kistune in a Japanese Kimono, with the manners and graceful speech one would expect from a highborn lady.

When the male castle guard by the door of that same room steps outside and escorts in a guest to the Court, he appears as he should be, as a somewhat quiet male character who serves his Mistress well, and who is very observant.

A moment later, an elegantly dressed lady wolf enters the room, and delivers food and drink. She later perfoms a musical entertainment for the guests, playing period Japanese instruments.

A female black fox enters, also in Japanese court garb, and Kneels beside Ceera. She says nothing, but watches everyone.

The lady wolf leaves the room, and beautiful nine-tailed Kitsune enters, taking her place beside Ceera on the dais. Ceera and the new Kitsune discuss several matters with the guest, while the guard quietly sends an IM to the guest responding politely to some flirtacious comments made by the guest in an earlier IM, and answering questions asked by the guest.

A child-sized Kitsune enters, bows to her parents in the room, and is introduced to the guest. She speaks shyly for several minutes with the adults, then leaves to go to bed.

How many of those roles that night were played by diferent people? The guest does not know. As far as they are concerned, they met and interacted with 6 individuals. The don't need a program to tell who is who, or what gender the person is supposed to be. They accept the identity of each person they are introduced to, while the guard and the black fox girl may end up remaining nameless for the night.

Aside from the guest, there were two individuals playing one avatar each, and the rest of the people who were in the room that evening at one point or another were all played by one individual, in spite of more than one of them being in the room and actively interacting at the same time.

An impossibility in live theatre, and possible for Eddie Murphy only via camera tricks and multiple takes. Yet I routinely fill multiple roles at once in a roleplay such as I just described. And do it so well that the guest has no reason to believe the castle is not fully staffed. This is possible ONLY because I have several alts, each with their own name, avatars and wardrobe.

I have had the evening to consider our conversation, and the replies both I, you and others have had on this subject.

First, I would very much enjoy seeing you in action. SL presents a variety of difficulties when presenting any sort of theater (I pray I never have to sit through Shakespeare in SL again, I'm sorry), let alone multiple characters. Coupled with costuming and other details to make the effect believable, being able to do what you describe even moderately well would not be an easy task.

Second, I would like to extend an apology. I came off as smug, and I am sorry. People cannot come to agreements or understanding while carrying such an attitude.

Third, I realize I was in error and your thoughts carry well-thought out points. I see nothing wrong with having as many alts as one likes (save for LL's continued use of inflated numbers to boost sign-ups), but at the same time, I also would want to see these alts verified and tied to the same account so that they are not abused the way multiple alts are on the grid today. I think your stance on the issue is a good one, and I agree with it wholeheartedly.

now i want to see this!

Yes, well, it was long ago. I could not effectively menace with a large axe today as I did then.

Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach; those who cannot teach, become writers.

What you suggest and what they "DO" at LL are two totally different things, i would imagine if you ask the open land island buyers what they think of what they were told and what happened, it would be a real eye opener.

I have been here a very long time, and this comes up occasionally once a year...now its new continent, everyone's moving, and yes from the content Blue spoke of, that would include sex beds.

My partner and i have worked very hard to make what we do, once upon a time we even cleared a marginal profit, then they did away with gambling, and the population dropped at least 1/3rd overnight.

Sorry i still see this as a new way for more money for LL, moving a lot more than 2-4% over to the new area, yeah if the percentages where really that low, would we even be here discussing this right now? Reality check everyone..

Thank you, Ghosty. That was one of the most gracious and well worded apologies for a disagreement caused by misunderstanding that I have seen in quite some time. I think we are both in agreement now, and I do think, from that post and many others of yours that I have seem elsewhere in the forums that I would very much like to meet you some time as a friend.

Both you and Nina are welcome to come visit my Japanese Castle some time. It's a replica of Hikone Castle in Japan, which I built in SL as a home for myself and my SL Partner. We will have to make arrangements to do that at some point.

I fully agree that 100% of all accounts should be linked to some sort of identifying information that LL has access to. I think one of the most grevious mistakes that LL ever enacted was when they dropped all pretense of id validating on 6/6/06 and opened the floodgates to unlimited numbers of instantly-available, completely anonymous and unverified accounts.

I hope and pray that Blue is right, and that the day when they consider opening the main grid to Teens is not at hand. Right now, I have a 13 year old daughter in RL. She'd like to get a Teen Grid account. I have refused to allow it, in part because of the current uncertanty over the possible merger of the grids. I will not risk having her account suddenly switched to have access to the main grid, without my consent as her Parent. (There are other reasons she can't have the account, like not needing another distraction from the time she should be spending on her homeworlk and school activities. But the uncertain status of the merger remains a factor.)

Some day, maybe, if they actually implement many of the privacy improvements that residents have been requesting for years, so a walled area and closed door can prevent a minor from entering the brothel, then maybe I will allow my daughter to use SL before she turns 18. It would be nice to have my RL daughter be able to play the role as Ceera's daughter in-world, instead of having to use an alt and playing the role myself. But I am not holding my breath.

As an aside, Blue has said, in conversation, email and this forum, a combined total of five times that there are no plans to merge the grids. Couple this with the statement in the adult content forum transcript ( http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Adult_Content_Forum_Transcript ), which states it again, and I would say the matter of a grid merge is a dead one, at least until LL resuscitates it.

I'll bet ya $L5 that happens within a month of the Adult Content Continent opening.

There is at least one teen grid user that I would occasionally follow on flickr. Seeing the what neat stuff they might have in there. I got the impression along the way that NASA has(d) a presence in there.

Maybe we can just let them in and keep them in work camps?

OMG...I WANT!!!!!!!!!!

I promise I'll never be snarky toward a Linden ever again.

I was at the hangout a few months ago (just make that "a hangout". There was someone there acting goofy, darting around, dancing, etc. Slightly nerve wracking, but eh.

Then the other people there started talking about booting this person. Banning them.

And eventually he was tossed.

And I had realized, after the fact, that I both was doing some of the same things he was, and had been for a long time at this "hangout".

Griefing can be in the eye of the beholder.

I've seen three instances of griefing. One at a fireworks show that was quite annoying as it blocked sight of the pretty explosions. One at a Mad Max event. Someone was dropping bombs on the event. I asked if that was part of the event or were we being griefed. Turned out we were being griefed. But it went perfectly with the event. So the griefer got bored and left. (third time involved going to a store and seeing cubes with the face of Bill Cosby on them suddenly start bombarding the place).

if they're anything like the teens in this general vicinity that will do nothing but double your own workload...

Griefing is such a hysterically overused word. Maybe because the real griefing, sim crashing and such really has died down, people are now calling people who annoy them personally griefers. I agree with Lexxi, in the early days of the Cartel and the Hangout, what nowadays is called griefing was a normal day at the office

People need to just lighten up, sometimes.

Thanks Lexxi! Since Blue didn't send a bear, this will have to do.

Just wanted to say thanks Blue for the office hour open chat about teen grid, and teens in SL and all that.

Blue closed by saying he's gonna post the transcript to the wiki, y'all.

Lindens, whoever it may be, red, blue or yellow can't handle the current situation as it stands now with the teens seperate from the adults and you think they'll be able to tackle the problems that will surely arise if teens and adults mix up?

Please!

Maybe if you're just getting to sl and you don't know any better you may think so but those who have been here a while are not that naive. Well, some anyway.

Then it wouldn't be you, Connolly.

Hush You! I want the bear!

Even in 2005, someone showing up with a floppy dong and a noisemaker was already considered a griefer. I know a lot of normal maps have passed under Z=20 since you were a newbie, but I never heard that it was worse in 2003 than 2005 before.

Forgot to thank you for that part. (If they aren't doing that already though, I am surprised.)