wonderland posts

Evolve your 3D avatar

by Tateru Nino May 21st 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Evolver (currently in alpha) is an interesting service. It allows you to build a 3D avatar either from scratch and components or from a photograph of yourself, and export that avatar as an image, a functional 3D model in a couple of different formats (presently Maya [MA] or Kaydara 3D Data Exchange Format [FDX]), or a ready-made avatar for a number of 3D virtual environments.

They've got more planned it seems, like the ability to potentially embed a little animated 3D avatar in places where you might today be using a 2D image. Think Gravatars only in 3D.

Tags: 3dxplorer, activeworlds, avatars, betas, cobalt, evolver, exitreality, facefx, gravatar, opinion, realxtend, second-life, torque-game-engine, unity3d, vastpark, virtual-worlds, wonderland, worldviz

Cinemassively: Wonderland documentary focuses on virtual adultery in cyberspace

by Moo Money Feb 6th 2008 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Real life, Video, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima

The BBC recently aired a documentary about Second Life that focuses on a much darker side of it. A husband, Lee, starts to notice that his wife of nine years, Caroline, is spending more time online and less time with the kids. When he tries to come into their bedroom, she'll shove him out and dodge questions about what she was doing.

This leads to heartbreaking revelations by her kids, who feel that she doesn't care as much about them as she does SL. Caroline ends up risking everything to meet her lover, who lives on another continent! Will she come to her senses and realize that she has a family at home? You'll just have to watch this sad tale to find out.

[Thanks, Fenlock!]

Tags: bbc, caroline, documentary, lee, linden-lab, machinima, second-life, sl, virtual-adultery-and-cyberspace-love, wonderland

Hello Kitty FOR THE HORDE!

by Akela Talamasca Nov 5th 2007 at 4:24PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Screenshots, Opinion

Actually, the Hello Kitty UI interface is faction-agnostic. And I'm not sure how HK would voice her allegiance anyway -- she has no mouth and she must scream. Regardless, Alice over at Wonderland links to two separate instances of a Hello Kitty-themed interface for WoW, one of them from famed virtual worlder Joi Ito. As she says, "Bloody hell ... it's horrible :o)"

If Blizzard released an epic set of Hello Kitty armor tomorrow, how many of you would jump at it?

Tags: blizzard, cthulhu, faction-agnostic, hello-kitty, horde, joi-ito, massively, user-interface, wonderland, world-of-warcraft

Second Life "Wonderland" scandal hits mainstream media

by William Dobson Oct 31st 2007 at 7:00AM

Filed under: Real life, MMO industry, News items, Second Life

UK media outlets are blowing up with stories of "Wonderland", a virtual playground in Second Life where Ageplay is the go. Sister-site Second Life Insider has been following the various stages of this story over the last day, including its growing coverage by mainstream press and the reply from SL developers Linden Lab.

For those who need a little background, Ageplay is when an adult roleplays a child. This need not be for sexual purposes, but to use the quote from SL Insider of Sky News reporter Jason Farrell, "Wonderland is a virtual children's playground where paedophiles cruise and kids are solicited." Even though there probably aren't real children controlling the characters, it is still an offensive community for others within SL, and a Kid Avs community representative has already spoken out about it. It is also something that SL fans wouldn't want to be mistakenly associated with -- now that it has hit the mainstream, it may be one of the first things that people remember about Second Life, akin to "Oh, wasn't that the computer game for pedophiles?".

The response Linden Lab provided to SL Insider essentially says that they have found no wrongdoing after investigating the Wonderland community. I'm not sure how well the rest of the media will take this answer. Provided below is a link to SL Insider's on-going coverage of this story as it develops.

Tags: ageplay, Kid-avs, Linden-Lab, mainstream, mainstream-media, mainstream-press, media, paedophiles, press, reply, response, Second-life-insider, Sky-news, SL, SL-insider, virtual-playground, wonderland, wonderland-scandal

Next stop Wonderland

by Amanda Rivera Oct 22nd 2007 at 10:00AM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles

So I admit it. When I first heard of an MMO called Wonderland Online, I rather expected to be running around an American McGee's Alice sort of world, full of Escher-like puzzles and creepy caterpillars. Boy was I off. Wonderland is a teeth-rottingly cute MMO, and the most recent game to be added to the IGG roster. You play as one adorable character from a pre-created selection (perhaps like a chibi Soul Caliber), and romp around fighting dancing pudding and mushrooms.

If cute is your thing, you will definitely love this. No announcement has yet been made on a release date, but you can bet your fairy wings we'll be on top of it to let you know as soon as more information is available.

Tags: IGG, wonderland, Wonderland-Online