they've torn the life blood from your naked eyes

Saw this sign in USC Textures today:



Really? Unlucky chairs now qualify as "realistic violence"? Is this a new ruling? Because that makes zero sense. ZERO. SENSE.

Can anyone verify this? Because in an hour of searching the SL blog for new adult content rulings on unlucky chairs, I've come up with nada.

MMORPG has an article on customer service sins, from the gaming standpoint. It's short, and wanders, and is not particularly on point, but this comment from Myrdinn in the forums after snagged my attention:

"That being said, CoX's (City of X's) CS are also top-notch from beta on to today: however, they seem to be a reflection of my first point. They play the game... it is reflective in how they respond to issues found in game. Kind of hard to explain it, but the grammar and vocabulary used often reflects how the in-world users of a game phrase and talk about issues. CS folks in other sites don't always do that..."

I know they're talking about the City of Heroes/City of Villains game, but it's a good point for dealing with Linden Labs and Second Life. At this point, I know automatically if I have a customer service need, and I get someone who knows SL terminology, that I'm likely in good hands.

But the controversy over the formation of Ursula, and everything that's followed since the renaming to Zindra, has more than convinced me that no one involved in that entire continent build, start to finish, ever plays Second Life. The simplest terms evaded them completely--even the loud protesting over the co-opting of "AO" to mean "Adult Options" when every single resident on the grid hears "AO" and translates it as "Animation Override"--did nothing to convince them they needed to employ folks who actually play in the world the Lindens own.

Some random shots from Kowloon sim.



(Rotating metal fish that appeared in a cloud of pink smoke, festooned with vacuum tubes, and disappeared as quickly.)

I've been wandering around in Kowloon off and on for a while now. It started when I was in FallnAngel Designs, and saw a small black cat with a turning particle head:



(First sighting of the Kowloon Kitten in Azriel Demain's domain.)

This thing is very cool, but also very creepy...but, the more you wander Japanese sims? You realise this thing is everywhere...

The problem is, it doesn't appear to be for sale anywhere. WangRen Frog made it, but he doesn't seem to have a shop, or anything listed on his profile, except--a picture of the Ubiquitous Kowloon Kitten, and...a mention of Kowloon.



(Main Street, Kowloon sim.)

The detail in this sim is impressive. The quiet is a bit unnerving--I've only ever run across one other person in the sim, and she never spoke a word. I'm sure there are people who populate the sim, but...I've rarely run across anyone.



(Hazeran. Cafe? Pleasure house? Eatery? I wasn't sure, but things were vibrantly red in and near it.)

Many of the places in Kowloon are so detailed, I forgot I was wandering on a sim and started wondering how I'd gotten lost in a Singapore coastal market. Then I actually got lost, wandering in the 'residential' zones above the street.



(Another plume of pink smoke, another odd construction bobbing in the hallway.)

I turned a corner and suddenly saw another burst of bright pink smoke. What faded into view afterwards, however, was not easy to describe. A drill...wrapped in slick flesh...that hovered and rotated in midair. Before I could take a step forward--or run away--it disappeared as the cyber-fish had.



(Lazily spinning fan above aged plaster walls in Kowloon.)

The detail's very impressive, even in the back corridors, and--while I got the idea that taking pictures wasn't allowed--somewhere in all the back corridors is a box, that gives out a HUD, which takes you on a visual virtual tour of Kowloon. While you're in the sim. I can't explain it better than that, but it's a fascinating process.

I plan to go back...one way or the other...I'm finding out who has that kitten.