27 June, 2010

with me disaster finds a playfield

I came to Rampart Castles to see this:

shopping,castles,wanderings,Second Life,virtual worlds,building,art,architecture

The Eye of Mercy lighthouse. Clocks in at L$950 and worth every penny. It is startlingly distinctive, and gorgeously textured. But while I was there my jaw dropped more than once at the castles for which Rampart Castles is known.

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The mini-castle: L$880, copy/mod permissions, 88 prims in all; 20x20 footprint. The only sized castle one could realistically call quaint, but it is, it truly is. Compact without feeling abnormally cramped.

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The Castle of Mercy: L$5950, 573 prims including the sculpted rocks on the base (you can see those if you click to see the larger image); mod/copy, 9+ rooms, and torches included, along with an owner security system. You'd need half a sim to set it up, practically, but it is gorgeous.

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The Castle of Fortitude: L$14,950. 1,314 prims. Takes a 100x100 footprint space, but mod/copy, realistic (and original!) textures, and it comes with a secret cave underneath the castle!

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If you're looking for a large castle, and you have the space--and the finances--this is the one. It has a fully primmed-out inner courtyard in addition to multiple rooms on multiple levels, plus--the doors lock.

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It even has a hidden secret entrance, to the secret lair. The lair--as you can see in this image--is apparently deep enough underground to hit lava. That, or lava's just closer to the ground on the grid.

They're all surpassingly beautiful, and there's more on the sim than just the castles. But the castles--and most especially, the lighthouse Eye of Mercy, which won at least one award (justifiably so, I should think)--are worth the trip.

There are more than a few reasons I don't play World of Warcraft, but if I ever had strong leanings towards playing it--or any upcoming Blizzard game--learning about their RealID system just killed them. There is not a chance in any universe I will download and voluntarily enable a system that only goes by my real name. If I wanted the entire world to know my real name, I would use it online.

I don't. It is a flawed and foolish system that expects anyone else to, as well.

How'ver, apparently the White House plays. Released today: news that the government is working on a system to develop trusted internet identities. Why? Got me. Is it Big-Brother-esque? More than a little. Is it sponsored by Homeland Security? Why, yes. Does that make it terrifying?

Probably. I'll be watching that link to see how it develops.

Finally, passing age verification on SL doesn't mean you're an adult:

[13:32] Freyja Nemeth: So....who wants a sneaky look at the new Angelina outfit in the gorgeous Pearl colour? I tinted up my pair of white Booty Bay boots for an almost perfect match: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Genesis/103/120/43
[13:33] Chrisrox Silverblade: i want ur boobies yesh
[13:33] Freyja Nemeth: You can buy those in store too, the Siren skin has excellent ;)
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: Not the ones i buy
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: i just want urs
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: and ill put my dick between them
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: IN AND OUT!
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: then make milk come out
[13:34] Chrisrox Silverblade: oooh yeah

[13:35] Freyja Nemeth: I think you want to be banned, too.
[13:35] Chrisrox Silverblade: i was kiddin
[13:35] Chrisrox Silverblade: sorry


Yeah, that's not an 'oops, pardon, I bumped into you' event. That's someone who really doesn't care what group he's in, with severe foot-in-mouth disease. How is that "kidding" in any sense?

Hard to believe he's only six days old, huh?

4 comments:

Rhianon Jameson said...

That is an amazing lighthouse.

Regarding trusted internet identities: I'm in complete agreement with you about World of Warcraft (or SL, for that matter). While 95% of the people I've met online seem like fine folk, one never knows. And then there's the other 5%.

Not to defend DHS, however, and God knows I think small government is better than big, but I can imagine cases where having my identity known and verified is a good thing. Maybe it'll be completely screwed up, or compromised, subject to hijacking by identity thieves, or worse. And having Big Brother use this to keep track of what people do online is a frightening idea. Having said that, though, I think it's worth a try.

Emilly Orr said...

Here's my problem with it: I have no problem pairing--for specific agencies--my RL info with a single net handle, to identify me. That way they know it's me if I email; that way I know that place can be trusted because they know I tie to a real person. That's fine.

What I don't want is an overarching 'nanny network', tying RL info to every account I have on any service and binding it all to IP and home address and phone number. Screw that. That is unsafe, psychotically unwise, and scares the hell out of me.

Sphynx Soleil said...

Yea, fsk that, I KNOW there's whackjobs out there that would show up at my doorstep at the wrong hour, unannounced, and being a total headcase.

Thanks, someone ELSE can have them show up on their doorstep. I'd like mine to stay free of idiots and maniacs. :)

Emilly Orr said...

Pretty much.

Add to that governmental maniacs, and thank you, but no.

Hells, we already went through that on a nigh-yearly basis when my uncle worked for the state department, and he was *supposed* to be working for *our* side! You'd think the people sent out to verify info would be less crazed.

hide away, they say, 'cos we don't want your broken parts

Yeah, so...remember that thing I was recovering from? You know, last year ? Yeah. I did it again. So this is Em Faw Down Go Boom part ...