Second Life's Nascera now nascent
by Tateru Nino 
Dec 16th 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Betas, Business models, Economy, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Player Housing, Virtual worlds
Nascera, which we know sounds uncomfortably like nasal and viscera jammed together in some rather bizarre agglomeration, is the name for the new continent which is hosting Linden Lab's experimental house and land incentives for premium Second Life users. The beta buildout is done and you can go see the results for yourself.
Mind you, if you already have rented or owned land in Second Life, the Nascera offering really isn't for you. You, like us, really aren't the target demographic. Nor is anyone we showed it to, which is probably why they all made those nasty faces when we did.
There are several distinct areas. The first is the "California Modern" area:
The second is fantasy themed:
The third is a whole A-frame modern log-cabin dealie:
The last one is the Japanese themed area somewhat reminiscent of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and actually seems to have gotten the best reaction of the bunch from our completely unscientific focus group:
The houses in each area are all distinctly separated, out of local chat range, and to stop objects... you know... creeping up on you (as they so often seem to do) the parcel boundaries allow not even a centimetre of margin beyond the building walls. The parcels are an exact fit to the shape and size of the houses, so no gardening for you.
You can go check these out for yourself. We're interested in your own thoughts. Whether or not it appeals to you, do you think it might still be a success as a premium account incentive?
 |
Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop. |
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
iggyono said on 6:15PM 12-16-2009
Tateru, I need to be the first in on this one. I'd planned to do my monthly road-trip to the continent, but I don't think there are any roads!
First impression: kudos to Malvina Reynolds. From her "Little Boxes":
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
http://web2.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/mr094.htm
Reply
botgirlq said on 9:41PM 12-16-2009
Ha. I did a little music video on the free home program last week using Little Boxe: http://vimeo.com/8004521
Eris said on 6:18PM 12-16-2009
Just received the email invite to beta-own one and the selection process is handled well - a web interface that lets you preview and select which sim and which house-style you would like.
Unfortunately the houses themselves are all pretty awful and of no interest to me, even as a curious beta-tester so I logged out again. I applaud the initiative, I've thought SL needed something like this for a long time, but when the houses themselves are a bit awful and un-modifiable it's slightly disappointing.
Reply
joannamkay said on 7:23PM 12-16-2009
So jokaydia managed to score a little box of our very own!... and erm... im bored already! ;) http://www.flickr.com/photos/jokay/4190608083/
Reply
Velicia L said on 7:47PM 12-16-2009
I think the "hobbit hole" style house is pretty cute, and if I saw it as a prefab for sale I'd probably buy one. Not sure I'm interested in living in a sim full of identical prefabs scattered like someone dropped a bag of marbles, though.
Reply
Jacek Antonelli said on 8:44PM 12-16-2009
The Japanese themed houses are very well made, and are definitely my favorite of the bunch. They are also the only area that actually had paths/walkways among the houses, and likewise the only area that felt to me like an actual neighborhood, rather than a jigsaw puzzle of houses.
Mind you, the other areas are not awful, but they feel very artificial, especially the modern one. The modern and cabin area need big trees to break up the monotony, like the fantasy area has. It's a pity SL doesn't support megaprims.
Reply
Jay said on 8:45PM 12-16-2009
Imagine the lag as each of those x many residents per sim puts their two or three doggy style sex balls and maybe a Gorean slave kennel on each scattered property. All those scripts!
Reply
Uccello Poultry said on 8:55PM 12-16-2009
This is a good concept, overall, and I think it will have some success. Of the areas offered at this time, only the Elderglen (Fairies) area has any appeal. Some of the locations are really prime spaces and the builds are surprisingly good. I can see this becoming more of a community, too, as there are added benefits beyond housing, as I blogged for the Lucky Kitty Crew http://luckykittycrew.blogspot.com/2009/12/elderglen-freebies-from-lab.html
Reply
Dirk Talamasca said on 9:25PM 12-16-2009
I got a treehouse in Pixy and I have a little garden space which is just enough and I like it.
Reply
DustyArtaud said on 10:13PM 12-16-2009
This suburbanization of the metaverse totally depresses me. Guess I am not the right demographic. Now, an urban center with tall co-ops and condominiums and a 24-hour corner deli - that I might find appealing.
Reply
Opensource Obscure said on 11:14AM 12-17-2009
DustyArtaud, not sure why you mention "the metaverse" when this one is a very limited project with a specific target (new users on Premium Account that don't need/like/want to create).
Second Life has 30,000 regions - most of them are different than these ones. I'm sorry such a small section of the SL metaverse could depress you!
:P
Doubledown Tandino said on 11:07PM 12-16-2009
At first I thought WTF....
... but then I remembered my days of having a first land. Back then, when we each got our own lil 512, in some random sim on the mainland, we felt like a neighborhood. I knew my neighbors. I felt like when I left my house and my neighborhood, I was "out exploring the world".
Perhaps this concept is bringing back the "first land" feel, but with an overlay of simple developed land and structures. Personally, I don't want a plot or need a plot.... but , if you haven't got a home, or a neighborhood to call home in SL, why not consider one a these Nascera spots?
Reply
Amiryu Hosoi said on 5:37AM 12-17-2009
Been visiting the regions yesterday and I must say the houses are not that well made. I was expecting way better with for instances some shadow baking and stuff.
Also dissapointing is the lack of terraforming. there are no hills, no slopes, no waterways. just uninteresting flat land. Further, the density of the houses is way to high, leaving no room for views whatsoever.
When I visited I got a FPS rating of 7 and I was the only avatar. Emagine what FPS will be whith 20 avatars!
Anyway, overall I think it is s nice plan but needs to be tweaked a lot.
Ami
Reply
Opensource Obscure said on 11:14AM 12-17-2009
Amiryu, I was a bit disappointed too. I think Linden Homes are decent and they also feature some very good elements - I saw some sculpted prims with baked textures - but nothing amazing, and I also definitively saw some low/medium quality thing (windows and statues made with not-so-great alpha textures).
About the terraform, that's temporary: they used a scripted rezzer to place buildings that is very efficient, but it also had issues with hills and mountains. So right now the land is flat but they're going to improve the landscape in the future.
WIth regard to lag, I can't confirm your report - I had average/high performances when visiting these regions, definitively much more than 7 FPS.
Eebahgum said on 6:35AM 12-17-2009
117 prim allocation? That's my chair sorted then. I think I'll pass.
Reply
canolli.capalini said on 7:14AM 12-18-2009
You need a better chair then.
iggyono said on 8:31AM 12-17-2009
@botgirlq--twisted minds run in the same track.
I'm going to profile that wonderful video on my blog! Great work...
Iggy
Reply
Garmin Kawaguichi said on 10:31AM 12-17-2009
1) Nascera is victory in arabic
2) for example in th Calif style, certain houses are separated by 4 meters windows to windows
3) I don't like that the region and the place in the region cannot be chosen by the Premium holder! LL = lotto!
Reply
Opensource Obscure said on 11:36AM 12-17-2009
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think that not all houses are actually separated and out of local chat range.
That can be seen in the left-bottom corner of the first photo - "California Modern" area - where it looks you have 4 adjacent houses.
I made this point to Michael Linden yesterday during his Office Hour and it looks like this could be an issue for that kind of Linden Homes.
One can limit voice to her parcel, but you cannot limit local chat.
-----------
by the way, why Massively comment always need a confirmation even when you're a member? ;0
Reply
mpdivo said on 3:09PM 12-17-2009
except for the lack of roads, these are more pleasing to the eye than most SL neighborhoods.
I would much rather rent land though.
I will not be doing much of either until SL figures out how to use VISA gift cards.
...which btw, you think they would be working hard on. That is a lot of money they could be earning.
Reply