A Trip to the Seaside

Teleport 101

I'm still a bit sceptical. A few of us got together with our mentor today to run through the basics of teleporting around SL. Around ten or so students winked into existence at MUVEnation. I still don't understand why the teleport drops me in the stream. (Note to self, set a landmark at a dry destination and see if that works). I say around ten students, because it was hard to be sure... some tags floated above empty space for several minutes... Some bits of the world arrived almost with a sense of urgency, while others skulked around off-stage and missed their cue. Hardware phenomena I assume; yours, or mine, or Linden's... Avatars intersected in disturbing ways... and the overlaid chat got equally surreal... Maybe this is O'Toole's Corollary of Finagle's Law manifesting in the virtual world through 'lag' - "The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum"

I'm not big on rules, but it's clear these situations need some; or at least a more developed sense of etiquette. Maybe experience brings with it a shared understanding of good manners that make it possible for multiple avatars to interact more easily. Maybe these early days are inevitably like children working out how to play nicely, talking over each other, running all over the place, bumping into each other, getting frustrated and going off to play in the corner by themselves. Experiential learning is fine, but I worry about the attrition rate... How much more difficult would this be for youngsters? It felt a bit like the first time I was involved in a video conference. Maybe some simple guidelines would help.... "Use chat when addressing the group, IM when addressing an individual" "If you agree, say so... (nodding at your monitor is not an option)". Not quite "Over and out..." formality, but some ground rules.

In the end, we went to the seaside at Boracay, which was very nice... it's somewhere I'm going back to for a good look around. On first visit, it seemed vell thought through... lots of attention to detail, and lots of fun. And this is why I'm sceptical, but hopeful... You can see the potential in a place like Boracay. But the picture is still rezzing... when I've worked out what it is I'll let you know.

Bascule... Over and out...