It's official: April 17th will be Remembrance Day in Second Life

by Akela Talamasca Dec 2nd 2007 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Events, in-game, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Free-to-play

[Update: Changed 'officially planned' to 'made recognition'] For those who recall, there was a recommendation put forth from the Second Life community that April 17th be a day of remembrance for Ginny Talamasca, as reported here. I'm as amazed as anyone when I say that Linden Lab has stepped up to the call to action and made recognition of the 17th as a remembrance day -- just not specifically for Ginny. From Robin Linden, VP of Marketing and Community Development:

"We think it's a wonderful idea to have an annual day of remembrance in Second Life, to honor everyone we may have lost through the year," Harper wrote. "We're happy to have that day be on April 17. In addition, we'd like to donate (two island sims) for the purpose of holding any memorial type events ... It's our feeling that such a day will enrich Second Life, and the loss of Ginny is a reminder how important it is that we remember all our friends -- hence the move to a broader recognition day."

I think this is a wonderful thing, but I do wonder if it was something LL felt pressured into doing, rather than something that ought to have been in planning all along and just received the push from the residents. While there's no word on what this day will be called, or what these proposed sims will contain or look like, this move could help LL's perceived reputation as hands-off, draconian landlords.

[Via news.com]

Tags: ginny-talamasca, massively, remembrance, robin-linden, second-life

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Daman Tenk said on 9:30AM 12-02-2007

I'm really glad they didn't turn it into Ginny Day, but instead a general remembrance day.

"but I do wonder if it was something LL felt pressured into doing, rather than something that ought to have been in planning all along and just received the push from the residents"

Linden Labs are a company. A commercial company at that. Not a good cause. Of course they only do things like this when pushed by their customers.

TigroSpottystripes Katsu said on 9:40AM 12-02-2007

"Remembrance Day" sounds good for me :)

Ordinal Malaprop said on 6:19PM 12-02-2007

Oh no, no, I don't agree with this at all. I am sure that Ginny Talamasca was a lovely person, though I never met her, and an "SL Remembrance Day" is a fair enough concept (though the name needs to be changed as there is already a Remembrance Day, and perhaps there could be other "official" days for different purposes as well, but that is by the by). The two should not, though, coincide.

It is no good saying "well this is a general remembrance day, it has nothing to do with Ginny" because clearly it does, it isn't on that specific date by coincidence.

Daman Tenk said on 6:58PM 12-02-2007

I actually like a remembrance day, though I don't want to hear about Ginny ever again. Her fanclub really went too far.

And I'll definitely be there on the remembrance day. And I hope damn well for the Lindens that they'll make sure to stick to the goals they themself set for the day, to be dedicated to all those lost from the Metaverse, and not just one attention-hog.

Nicola Escher said on 7:08PM 12-02-2007

Well, said, Ordinal. This is but one in a very long line of Linden Lab caving to a very small but vocal minority of SL residents. They don't do it as often as they used to.

In the past they've been accused of showing favoritism to that vocal minority and have always had to wrangle the community in a constant cycle of favoritism/mea culpa. Granted I think it usually tended to happen on what at first appeared to be inconsequential things (to them), and they (Robin & Jeska's sanity) paid the price for the company listening to that very small minority.

In this case LL probably feel like they have a sure-fire win on their hands. Accusations of favoritism (however non-Ginny specific it appears to be) won't be as loud given the solemn subject matter.

At this point, unless LL pulls a bug-free, stable Second Life out of the hat, no gesture will be great enough to mollify me.

Crap Mariner said on 6:34PM 12-02-2007

Is there any significance to the day 4/17?

Ordinal Malaprop said on 6:56PM 12-02-2007

I assume that this was the date that she died. It apparently has some individual significance as it was the one called for originally.

Daman Tenk said on 7:01PM 12-02-2007

I thought the date she died was only a month or two ago?

Her rezday maybe? Or her RL birthday? I'm not sure.

Ordinal Malaprop said on 8:03PM 12-02-2007

Ah - apparently it was her birthday.

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/showpost.php?p=56718&postcount=69

Hiro Pendragon said on 9:32PM 12-02-2007

It's not "official". Linden Lab said that they would support it, not that they were declaring it. You have your facts very wrong.

RobinLinden said on 10:31PM 12-02-2007

We have Burning Life, the Winter Festival, and the annual anniversary celebration in June. Adding another day and celebration which holds significance for the community of Second Life doesn't seem out of line, and I think this particular idea is a good one. Please keep in mind that we see our involvement in all these events as facilitators. For the past few years they've been largely organized by the Residents with help from us in creating groups and donating land. I expect this new event will be the same.

I thought the SLCC program notes which called out the names of all those lost over the past year was particularly meaningful, and I see this opportunity as an extension of that memorial.

You know, even while Linden Lab focuses on building out Second Life as a development platform, I think supporting the community remains a priority. These events, while small, add texture to the fabric of the Second Life experience, and I think that's a good thing for us all.

Katt Kongo said on 10:39PM 12-02-2007

http://secondnature.wordpress.com/

This will be a resident created holiday for remembering people behind the avatars who are now absent from the grid. It is only supported by LL -- it is not funded by them, promoted by them, created or designed by them.

The residents will do all of the work on this, and no one will be excluded. If you will to be involved, you only need to e-mail me or IM me in SL.

Additionally, it did start as a day about my friend Ginny. It has grown more broad than just being defined by a single person, and I'm happy it has done so.

As for the date, the day of remembrance has to be set for one day out of the whole year, and everyone will have a different day that they wish to recommend. How would a choice to be made as to which day should be the one for this holiday?

I think the simplest way is to have the day be the one whose idea this was in the first place, and that is what has been done.

sirhc DeSantis said on 10:04AM 12-03-2007

I've seen too many gone. Whether they died (I know one did) or just slipped away. I support this - but yes please change the name. I will be there

phaylen said on 1:17PM 12-03-2007

There is no definitive name for the ocassion yet, but it as much about a day of respect as it is an opportunity for those of us left behind to have a place to express the loss. Yes, while Ginny's death inspired it, it has grown into something that will be an asset to us all as a community. I hope that you can see that nothing political motivated this, there was no vocal few or fanclub, it was something that Katt saw as relevent to all of us on one level or another who have been impacted by the loss of another.