Recently the talented Machinima maker Draxtor Despres started on a new series of short videos about Second Life.
Especially meant to show the other side of this virtual world, those people and communities who are part of something, behave or are involved with those things that most outsiders don’t know are possible in our online universe.
That side of Second Life that is not just about shopping, chatting or virtual hanky panky.
Because, unfortunately, most people who are not themselves a part of Second Life, seem to think that that is the only thing that happens there.
I feel that one of Second Life’s biggest problems is it’s reputation.
So many people have no idea what Second Life is about, all the options it has to offer, all the possibilities.
And if they have any opinions about Second Life at all, they are usually negative.
Shaped by the horror stories from the media but also because Linden Lab isn’t actively trying to change that reputation.
They themselves often promote Second Life with images that reinforce some or all of the preconceptions people may have.
There is nothing wrong with that side of Second Life and I am sure many, if not most people here feel that shopping, chatting and the horizontal tango, are the most important sides of their online adventures.
Not something as boring as education and history.
But even if that is true, it can’t hurt to let people know that this too is a part of Second Life.
After all, the secret behind Second Life is that it is what we make it.
WE and YOU build it and we can make whatever we want.
Once visitors realise that, they stick around.
So I feel that Draxtor’s series is quite important as it is spreading that message as well.
The first episode was about Kriss Lehmann the owner of Botanical and creator of some very nice trees.
Our 1920s Berlin sim is full of them!
You can see this episode by clicking here.
I was very proud when Draxtor asked if he could make his next episode about the 1920s Berlin project and me.
Over the course of a week, Draxtor immersed himself into our little community and shot lots of film, eventually editing it together into the second episode of ‘The Drax Files’.
The episode turned out very nice and we’re happy to say that it has been received very enthusiastically.
But we’re also very happy that Draxtor felt so much at home in our neighbourhood and has been returning to our streets even after his work there was done.
You can see the episode here;
The 1920s Berlin Project 