The Shrubbery Plot, acquired October 2007
We recently acquired a large plot of land in the heart of Chilbo due to the courtesy of a long time resident who gave us first option to purchase. Many folks have jumped ship from the mainland to hang their shingle on pristine islands with full control and and a larger palette for creativity. I understand it completely, but it makes me think of the future of the mainland. I wonder if it will be a relic in some way, as these virtual worlds evolve into other configurations.
Creative framing of a griefer fireball left behind on deadhead land.
The key to the mainland is patience. It’s not a short term investment, it’s a long haul project. Deadheads who’ve abandoned their land more than a year ago leave us with all manner of artifacts. Some you never figure out how to integrate into the scheme of the community, others you decorate around and incorporate into the landscape. You’re dealing with many more personalities and needs/wants/goals and desires, but you also get exposure to new tools, ideas, ways of doing things, and you make friends in the process. Mainland really requires collaboration, cooperation. And it can work.
Chilbo overhead 12/10/2006
Pardon if I’ve gotten nostalgic – this month marks the one year anniversary of the Chilbo Community Building Project, which began as an experiment of sorts. After being a member of a well established BBS community since my teens, I wanted to see how to try to do the same thing in a virtual environment. The initial idea was an almost simplistic mapping of the BBS “rooms” construct onto a 3D world. Build a jazz club for people to talk about music. Build a bar for people to chat and practice their pick up lines. Build a town hall to talk about community. A museum for people to talk about art. Find others who are interested in the broader view of humanity, in looking at our own society and culture to learn from it, critique it, and improve it.
Residents of Chilbo viewing Scalar’s Paddlewhack physics experiment in the Sandbox.
But of course, virtual worlds don’t work like BBSs, it’s not the same thing. The BBS has easy tools for asyncrhonous text communication and Second Life isn’t so hot at that. (Notecards are the bane of my existence.) The draw for a conversation in SL may be the same, but not the the draw for _location_. You IM someone whenever you feel like contacting them, but you don’t necessarily want or need to invite them to where you are. The sense of presence with another avatar _is_ compelling, but only when you need/want a shared visual experience. The rest of the time, text chat is just fine, and feels like IMing someone you know in RL. The IM experience is _richer_ because you’ve “met” in avatar form, but you don’t always have to be in avatar form to do it.
Chilbo Layout Plan 11/2006
So in some ways, the CCBP failed my initial expectations completely. The bar remained mostly empty, the museum took almost a year to build, and La Bella Dam might even have cobwebs. Rachel makes her rounds and keeps the place neat and tidy, but in large part, we’re all off elsewhere doing other things – me working on the UC island and trying to keep abreast of all the changes in the virtual world and educational technology in general, others doing other projects in other sims. Or just trying to keep up with real life.
But in most ways, the Chilbo community is nearer and dearer to my heart than any of my other endeavors, and it has been successful in ways I never imagined. It hasn’t exploded with vast numbers of people, but has taught me so much about what is possible with virtual worlds. It’s given me a longer view of Second Life, of technology evolution cycles and how to work past the glitches, and the patience to wait for growth opportunities and new partnerships.
Chilbo in October 2007
And it has helped me meet so many terrific people, either random visitors who stumble upon us or those who seek it out, it’s been great fun. So thank you all for a terrific year in Chilbo, for all the great adventures and events and conversations and builds. I’m really, really glad we met. And I look forward to seeing what Chilbo will teach me in the coming years as well.
