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18 Years and counting...Got SL News? Get it Published! Contact Lanai Jarrico at lanaijarrico@gmail.com
Showing posts with label The SIMS Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The SIMS Online. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2018

Role-play & Achievements Drive Play in the beYou World Shiny Blackheart reporting







The life simulation game,The Sims, is one of the mot successful video game franchises series of all time. No one might have predicted this at the start of the games creation. Designer Will Wright had conceived the game while recovering from the trauma of losing his home to fire and using the construction of a “virtual dollhouse” to rebuild his life while also creating a new home in the physical realm. A game without winners or losers, driven by an AI built on an armature of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Hamden Turner’s mind maps, role playing life in the digital universe has been a great success and it should be no surprise that in the world’s largest virtual community, Second Life, a game within the game called beYOU World help players strive for life’s big and little achievements, giving them a sense of accomplishment.

After months of brainstorming in 2013 Brianna Altneu, Moxie Polano and a few other community members like Gunner Walker, Forda Fairlane wanted to begin this “game within the grid of second life.”



Brianna Altneu and Moxie Polano are the founders of beYOU World but the team has had a few different members as the beYOU project developed.They say they have the “perfect team” currently: Moxie Polano (art, design, game play and 3-D Mesh), Brianna Altneu (in-world scripting, game development, art) Treon Bikcin (backend developer/web design and in-world communications and scripting) and Denis Tristan (3-D Mesh Art wizard and animations guru).

The game is very complex and the team took over a year testing in a beta version and adding things as the process unfolded. The developers explained, “The game will always be released in steps as its real-life based ideas, so it’s never ending and always changing in natural order.  There will always be more stages and things to add like professions, new quests, crafting supply's, recipes for cooking in the kitchen, farming crops and more and more!”


When asked what is the core mission that drives all this effort founders sayIn beYou you can be me, be you, or be virtually anything or anybody you want. The beYou team realizes that everyday real life can be overwhelming and hard at times. Some of us may have disabilities that hold us back from things we would love to do in the real life. Some don't have real families or friends to even interact with. Regardless of your RL situations, our main goal is to provide players just that and to make it fun and entertaining. We want to give the players a game where they can feel like they are apart of a family and community that care for each other. Community, it’s what brings people together.  Players can also choose from out many professions available. Perhaps be a Doctor, Lawyer, Farmer, or even a Chef. All of these professions are geared with the end goal of personal accomplishment.”



“The goal is to create a community based economy that grows from different professions that are interconnected between each other.  This progression acts just like real life progression, which takes the time and drive, depending on the level of role play you wish to involve. You make it your life to enjoy and fulfill as you wish.”

The game begins with retrieving the role-playing HUD system, found and purchased for free in the SL marketplace, and creating an account. Of course a player must agree to the terms of service, and should read them because like in any community not understanding them or abiding by guide, can get you exiled.  A note card with account creation instructions is delivered along with the HUD.

“The HUD isn't the main focus of the game. Although you do need it to interact with beYou World and it will show a player their personal stats. It's just one part of the whole system. [The beYOU website is] more important because the game is based on assets you hold in your beYou account.” the founders explained. The website, http://www.beyouworld.comis a crucial part of the gaming experience.




Some information in the registration process like your account key and legacy name are set-up automatically but then you will choose some attributes that begin to create your game experience. Is your player a teen, adult or child, male or female are the first few choices.A player who wants to be the best furry lawyer in SL for example is also available; just select the option from human, vampire, furry, or supernatural as per your preference from the race selections.

Once registration is complete just login and make sure you have the beYOU HUD and your beWorld meter.

The meter tells the player their stats in the categories: Hygiene, Energy, Reputation, Social, Wellness, Mana, Mood, and Dedication. As soon as game play commences the player’s 100% reading begins to diminish, as these stats require sustenance, care and skilled activity to sustain.

Skill Points are rewarded by wearing the HUD and being in world as well as game-play. As Skill points become available they can be allotted to seven different abilities: Charisma, Logic, Creativity, Spirituality, Fitness, Cooking, and Mechanical.

The community in beYOU world is very diverse and anyone who has watched the group chat of beYOU World will find a helpful community of administrators and players managing the beginning learning curve and strategizing their gameplay. Founders are encouraging helpfulness in the game because they claim the community is“still growing [and] we are seeing all kinds of different types of people from everywhere
beYou is a very versatile gaming environmentand gameplay is approached in different ways. Some players are role-playing the family unit, while others are happy totest their culinary skills and farm all on their own.




Founders saywhat makes beYOU different from other experiences in SL is “that there are no bounds to what can be added to this experience, you decide.  We will continue to provide the tools and content to enhance your experience by enhancing and expanding out he careers and game features as much as possible.”

When asked if beYOU is solely about the virtual experience or is it a RL educational tool as well the team says, “We think that with everything in SL there is a commitment from RL if you plan to progress in anything worthwhile and productive. Some people may make huge commitments to their careers in beYou because they can generate Lindens by selling their products to other customers. Others however might only use beYou in passing and stay clear from any RL time commitment.”






Visit the website for information and registration. In Second Life visit the beYOU City Hall to get started, explore careers. In the Learning Center you will find links to informative instructional videos or go direct to their beYOU World YouTube channel.



Additional Information: 
Group: beYOU World

Preferred contact: InWorld Ticket System


Spotlight Interview


Q. Shiny: How did beYou begin?

A. beYOU Founders: Back in 2013 Brianna Altneu, Moxie Polano and a few other community member like Gunner Walker, Forda Fairlane  come up with some ideas to make a game within the grid of second life. Moxie and Brianna had worked together on some other projects in world and become great friends. They enjoyed working together as well as shared the same rare work ethics. Although it took months playing with ideas even to begin a foundation, they come up with a game based on real life role-playing with achievements based on gameplay that gave the players a feeling of accomplishment.



Q. Shiny: When did the community launch? Did it go through stages?
A. beYOU Founders: We started testing with the community in a beta, and add things as we went. It took about a year in beta because the game is so complex. The game will always be released in steps as its Real life based ideas, so it’s never ending and always changing in natural order.  There will always be more stages and things to add like professions, new quest, crafting supply's, recipes for cooking in the kitchen, farming crops and more


Q. Shiny: Who are the founders? builders?
Brianna Altneu and Moxie Polano are the founders. Through the years there had been a few other team members but we found the perfect match for the current team that includes Moxie Polano (Art, design, game play and 3d Mesh), Brianna Altneu (In world scripting, game development, art and overall master), Treon Bikcin (Back End Developer/Web Design and in-world communications and scripting) and Denis Tristan (3d Mesh Art Wizard and animations guru).



Q. Shiny: Who designed the HUD?
A. beYOU Founders: Overall it was a collaborative team effort on the function of the Hud. Moxie Polano did the HUD design /art and Treon Bikcin did the scripting. The meter was designed by Denis Tristan and also scripted by Treon Bikcin.


Q. Shiny: What is beYou’s core mission and goal?

A. beYOU Founders: In beYou you can be me, be you, or be virtually anything or anybody you want.   The beYou team realizes that everyday real life can be overwhelming and hard at times. Some of us may have disabilities that hold us back from things we would love to do in the real Life. Some don't have real families or friends to even intervene with . Regardless of you RL situations, our main goal is to provide players just that and to make it fun and entertaining.  We want to give the players a game where they can feel like they are apart of a family and community that cares for each other.. Community..  it’s what brings people together.  Players can also choose from out many professions available. Perhaps be a Doctor,  Lawyer, Farmer, or even a Chef. All of these professions are geared with the end goal of personal accomplishment.


Q. Shiny: How would you describe the community? What makes it distinct from other experiences in SL?

A. beYOU Founders: We have a very diverse and helpful community. Because it is still growing we are seeing all kinds of different types of people from everywhere and  one common trait we like to push within our group is helpfulness. Users always help each other out with information they’ve gained over time. Of course, we also provide the community with experienced CSR’s as well as encourage player interaction to assist in anyway possible. beYou is so versatile, gameplay can be approached in several different ways.  For example, some people really enjoy role-playing the family unit, while others just want to cook and farm and keep to themselves and do their own thing. I think what makes it different from other experiences in SL is that there are no bounds to what can be added to this experience, you decide.  We will continue to provide the tools and content to enhance your experience by enhancing and expanding out he careers and game features as much as possible.




Q. Shiny: Is beYOU solely about the virtual experience or is an RL educational tool as well? Or both? How does that relationship work? What do you think users are looking for in the beYou Community?

A. beYOU Founders: We think that with everything in SL there is a commitment from RL if you plan to progress in anything worthwhile and productive. There are certainly some aspects of careers that allow for learning and may translate over to RL in some ways. Additionally these may not always translate over as people would expect. There is certainly a dichotomy to it. Some people may make huge commitments to their careers in beYou because they can generate Lindens by selling their products to other customers. Others however might only use beYou in passing and stay clear from any RL time commitment.


Q. Shiny: Why should other SL users join beYou in you opinion?
A. beYOU Founders: Not only is it fun and exciting but it can make them lindens. Players can create their own farmers markets and craft things to sell as each profession offers items that others professions may need in their business. It is a great way to meet other people and share common interests. We are always taking suggestions from our users on how to improve the game and the more people there are contributing the better the experience ends up being.


Q. Shiny: What I one of the greatest success stories, or interesting moments in beYou’s history you would like to share?
A. beYOU Founders: It’s difficult to pinpoint any specific success story to stand out from the rest, however we think it’s safe to say our biggest success story is getting beYou off the ground and running. The amount of work that goes into building and maintaining a successful role play system like this is huge, so huge it took years of development. We have managed to get to where we are now with a relatively small group of people actually grinding away behind the scenes so we are proud of our progress so far.




Q. Shiny: What are beYou’s current challenges?
A. beYOU Founders: Current Challenges is keeping up with the community's excitement. We have shared many things that will be added to the gaming system and they want them as soon as possible. It can be quite complex to add one thing even as small as a recipe let alone a new profession. The beYou team works diligently to provide more content on a regular basis to enrich the gaming experience.


Q. Shiny: What are beYou’s future goals and visions?
A. beYOU Founders: This game is so expandable so really the sky's the limit.  Plus we can't share all the secrets :) The goal is to create a community based economy that grows from different professions that are interconnected between each other.  This progression acts just like real life progression, which takes the time and drive, depending on the level of role play you wish to involve.   You make it your life to enjoy and fulfill as you wish.



Q. Shiny: Decribe the beYou HUD?Speak to its development and features. What do you want readers to know about the HUD?

A. beYOU Founders: The HUD isn't the main focus of the game. Although you do need it to interact with beYou and it will show a player their personal stats. It's just one part of the whole system. More important because the game is based on assets you hold in your beYou account , the website located at http://www.beyouworld.com/ is a crucial part of the gaming experience.





Q. Shiny: What are the important landmarks for beYOU? Where should people visit to learn more?

A. beYOU Founders: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/beYou/112/151/30  is the landmark to our help area and learning center.



Q. Shiny: Are there any important upcoming events that you would like readers to know about?

A. beYOU Founders: We are heading into our one-year anniversary for going live. There aren’t any specific events that we are holding right now but one thing is for sure, we are expecting to make many more improvements and add more careers in year two. Expect for more beYou products and fun game additions to come out in the next few months.


Q. Shiny: Is there anything I haven’t asked and you want to share with readers? Any images?

A. beYOU Founders: We are continuously working on game content on daily basis to add to the already literally thousands of items already implemented into the game.  Each and every item is scripted to enhance the gaming experience of each and every player.  For example, living room suites, yoga mats, bedrooms, dinners, drinks and so much more.  beYou developers have introduced crafting items to expand each profession's productivity.  Every item for beYou is made to directly interact with the game HUD and enhance the RP experience or each and every player. And if you want to have a little laugh the team here at beYou has great humor, just start reading the back of some of the product labels and packaging as we do like to have a little fun as we work!!!


- Shiny Blackheart
digital artwork by Shiny Blackheart

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The SL Enquirer turns 12 Years Old Today!



Open Letter to SLE Fans from Lanai Jarrico

WOW! Has it really been 12 years??? I can’t believe how time flies when you are having fun.
 I am proud to see SLE still standing tall amongst the media sources used by Second Life residents today.  With over 3700+ articles, 18+ millions views on Google+ and blogger and thousands of followers on social media. We have certainly staked our claim as the longest running independantly owned virtual world news source on the planet!

 I can remember the first day I launched the original TSO Enquirer in The Sims Online, on October 4th 2004. It was a random fluke just to entertain a couple of online friends.

  I’ve been engaged in virtual world news for 12 years, 7 months, and 6 days, but who’s counting. Not only is it 12 years for the newspaper but it is coincidentally my SL rezzday.

Every year, I’ve hosted a big event to mark our anniversary. They have always been over the top extravagant parties with lineups of top musicians, luxurious giveaways and sim-crashing turn outs. (Included a Linden or two hiding in the bushes watching the festivities).

For the past 2 years, I’ve celebrated modestly and just reflected on just how far SLE has come. I am humbled by the outpouring of love and support.

 It truly is amazing when I think back to the day I thought it would be “cool” to write about my experiences and share them with my circle of friends. Little did I know my friends would share it with their friends and their friends would share it with others. Going viral wasn’t something I set my initial goal out to do but it lead too so much more- not just in my virtual world experience but it cultivated great things in my real life. 




 I think I owe a great big thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey, including a couple of griefers. Let me start with my first inspiration. He was a Gorean Role-player. At the time I had no clue what that was but my encounter with him was what set this whole media thing in motion.

 I cannot explain the situation verbatim but I will say that he was exceptionally rude and belittled me as if I was beneath his foot. I didn’t understand that was the mindset of Gorean masters, all I can remember is being inspired to write about the encounter with a nice cheeky headline calling him a “Gonad”. That article became a hit with my friends who encouraged me to write more about the crazy things that were happening, so I did. 



Over time using humor in my writing, it attracted Mafia family role-players who were dominating The SIMS Online.  They had no real voice amongst the other families so they turned to “TSOE” as a bridge of communication. 

OHHHH the Mafia days! (Laughs)

 I have to admit, it was full of drama, mudslinging and war of words between the families. It boosted our readership. If it wasn’t for them, my news source may not have never found its way into the virtual world called Second Life.

It was nearing 2005 and many of my friends and readers were disappearing into this new virtual world. Some of the feedback I was getting was its too laggy… you need money to do anything and the sexual content was outrageous. I wasn’t convinced I wanted to check it out until French filmmakers contacted me to take part in a real world documentary project.  They flew to the US to meet with me over a 3 day period.  We did some filming and talking about Second Life. They suggested I migrate the news source to SL because people there were talking about my newspaper. So, I decided to check it out.

 On May 9th 2005, Lanai Jarrico was born with newspaper in hand. At first I was having a difficult time cutting through the lag and constant crashing, I had a shoe up my (BLEEP) and was extremely annoyed. My first real encounter with anyone other than the friends who greeted me upon my arrival was the shoemaker. I thought he was griefing me by causing the shoe to be lodged in a very unattractive position but he explained how to fix the problem and off I went on my Second Life adventure.

I really didn’t understand the big picture yet but I thought it was cool that I could design my own avatar any way I wanted. That was a big leap from the cookie cutter “Sims” characters I got to choose from in The SIMS Online.  I decided I wanted to look like a belly dancer, so I found a pink silks outfit with a veil. My hairdo was hideous but at the time but I thought I looked cute.




Little did I know I would encounter Goreans again… For some reason they kept approaching me for sex.  I was still a little wet behind the ears and couldn’t understand why until I realized… I was dressed like a Gorean slave girl.  To make a long story short, if it wasn’t for that look, I don’t know where I would have ended up. Within a month or two I was approached by photographers who wanted to take my picture. I said sure, and went about my business.

What happened about 6 months later took me by utter surprise.

 When that day was a faded memory, I was approached again by the photographers. They invited me to an exhibit in the Soho distric in New York City where my avatar along with 12 others was displayed on canvases throughout the Postmasters Gallery, while simultaneously an in world exhibition was happening at the same time. 




The exhibit was called “13 Most Beautiful Avatars” by Ava and Franco Mattes. Unbeknownst to me they happened to be real world artists and pioneers of Net Art, operating under the pseudonym 0100101110101101.org

I went to NY that day and it was there that I realized, Second Life was not just a game, it was full of creative people sharing their skills on a global scale. I wasn’t at the event promoting The SL Enquirer (by this time I had crossed completely over and changed the name) but people knew Lanai Jarrico.  They were approaching me and shaking my hand. I even had a real reporter following me around trying to conduct an interview until I excused myself to the restroom and tried to hide in the crowd.  The whole experience seemed surreal but it was a lot of fun.




If it wasn’t for those unique chance encounters, I don’t know if The SL Enquirer would have grown as fast as it did, but I am glad it did. It taught me so much and led me to grow tremendously in my real life goals.

2007

I learned how to build the foundation for what SLE is today by trial and error.  I built its reputation from the ground up all while learning the importance of professionalism with an entrepreneurial approach.

As you may know with attention comes haters and people who will say things to try to cut you down. I will never understand why some people treat others so cruel.  But rather than crumble to the negativity, I used the things they would say to prove to myself that I was not as they tried to make me seem. I was determined to build The SL Enquirer into something more than just my personal open diary. I wanted to give other writers a platform to share Second Life through their eyes too.





 One woman, whom I didn’t know, told a mutual friend that the paper would fail because I was “uneducated”.  Her reasoning was that I had no real professional writing or journalism experience or degree. That part was true. I wasn’t “educated” in media, but that didn’t diminish what I was capable of or what I loved to do.

She was my inspiration for enrolling into college and getting my bachelors of Science degree with a concentration in Communication and Technology. The perfect combination for what I do.


Sorry, couldnt help myself lol

If she is reading this, here is my sincere thank you. I can now say, I am educated to the standards that others may think matters when it comes to using true inner creativity and just being good at whatever it is you do.

I think it is safe to say with 12 years under my belt, I am a professional blogger aside from a real world position as an Operations Manager. 




From as far back as I could remember my love for writing came natural. When I had something I needed to release from my thoughts. I jotted it down, wrote it out and typed it up.  It has always been my artistic therapy and it still makes me happy to share it with whoever wants to read about whatever it is that inspires me. I haven't been writing too much theses days cause life has gotten busy and managing SLE behind the scenes takes a lot of my time but my passion remains.




 I cannot express in words the feeling it is to write alone in solitude and look up and realize there is an audience. To say the least, it has been a spectacular decade of experiences in Second Life with lots of wonderful memories created, crazy situations, funny episodes, dramatic moments, heartwarming stories and a lot of amazing people I have met on this unique journey.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you all for your continued support by being a true friend and believing in me, every readers who has commented and shared articles, my writing team for contriuting their journeys and advertisers for helping support what we do. 

 It is because of you that SLE continues to thrive.  I am inspired to keep doing what I love, meeting new people, exploring creative places and just having fun while providing a source that has withstood the test of time. 



I look forward to seeing what the future holds for SLE as well as Second Life and I hope you come along with me for the ride.

With Love,
Lanai Jarrico

CEO, The SL Enquirer

Thursday, May 9, 2013

SL Expert or SL Addict? Celebrating 8 Years in Second Life- Lanai Jarrico Reporting…





Entering Second Life in May of 2005 was nothing like it is today. Everywhere I looked, there were smut shops and escorts working every street corner.  Online relationships and drama were plenty while voice chat was nonexistent, letting many gender imposters get away with “catfishing” before the term became mainstream.

 Many avies were amateur strippers working the pole or shamelessly handing out lap dances for lindens used to save up for a small rental property to call home. Real estate was popular then, just as it is now, but there were more slum lords and greedy land barons that bought land at a low price, altered it and turned around and sold it for an obscene amount just for high profits. Land bots were also an annoyance that would do a sweep of land and buy up everything. It seemed like a scavenger invasion of griefers and Alts more than a grid of opportunity and creativity for decent professionals or those with artistic skills like it is today.
Freebie lots and small shops bombarded the grid and beta testers were just wrapping up. Banks, Casinos and Gambling were popular and noobies were everywhere!  There were also more Linden workers on the grid until many of their jobs were slashed.

 
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