Immortal Herald

While "Blackdog Ashbourne" isn't a well known avatar in RP circles, his "Empower Magick" Hud is gaining users and notice from competitors across Second Life.  In an unusual marketing standard, updates to the Magick hud are free to users for life.  Updates occur every few months, with not just more spells and effects added, but features and interface improvements based on customer feedback.

 Now, on the heels of that product, Blackdog  is wrapping up a public beta test of a new RP HUD called "Empower Immortals".  The website blurb I first encountered reads:

Empower Immortals

Immortals walk among us!
You may have reached this page by receiving an Awaken or Feed request from an Immortal.  If so, click here for information on what it means to roleplay with Immortals and how to opt out if you do not want to receive further requests from them, or read on to learn more about the system.  This system is currently in Beta testing, with a release planned mid 2013.
In this Second Life Role-Playing system, get the HUD, choose your species, select your abilities and begin the adventure!  There’s a lot more than Humans, Vampires and Lycans out there.  Fae, Dragons, Angels, Witches, even Gods, Devils and Demons to name but a few.

The game doesn't work on you if you don't opt-in.   The opt-out system is rather simple: a TP, touch a prim at the home store (where the game itself has been disabled) and the none of the players can target you.  While looking into it, I  I caught the usually pixie-looking Blackdog in a few quiet moments to do this interview, continued by e-mail and copied here.


Arth:   Another vampire HUD?  Why develop "Empower Immortals"?
BDA:  I was approached by one of my "Empower Magick" users who wanted a "better vampire HUD", since the current offerings didn't meet their needs.  It seemed like a great opportunity to go a step further - there's a lot more than Humans, Vampires and Lycans out there and the existing systems don't support them.  So we've done it in a way that supports Vampires, non-vamps who like to role play with Vampires whilst maintaining the integrity of who and what they are (e.g. Fae, Angels, Witches - you name it) and even made it relevant to those who don't like Vampires and want to be able to deal with them as an equal when they encounter them.

Arth:  What issues did the players have with the other vampire systems in SL?

BDA:   Well, the main objection was having to pay to play.  We've designed Immortals so that once you purchase the system, it is complete and self contained.  All of the items you need to go with it are available for free.  You don't pay for Vitae, which is the life force that fuels Immortals - Vampires think it's in the blood, whereas an Angel may consider it to be Eternal Light.  You don't pay for refilling limited attacks.  You don't have to buy the extra RP items, such as Gems to store Vitae or Cages to hold souls - these are all available for free.  Over time, third party providers may well sell special versions of these and we don't object to that, but there will always be a free version available.

Another of the guiding principles we were requested to follow was that the system should not encourage groups to have their members gather so much of this or that in order to remain members.  So souls in our system have no value other than sentimental.  It's all about the Vitae, which can be obtained for nothing.

Once we decided to have the system support so many different species, the limited choices available in the current systems turned out to be another objection people had, they just hadn't mentioned it until we suggested it.

We were also asked to include as many of the relevant special effects as possible - animations, sounds, particles - all of which are used for turning, changing or the various other functions the system provides, so that people didn't have to go and buy something else to get the effects they want.  This is a tough one, but we've built the system in a way which means people can customize a lot of it and make it work just the way they want.
 
Arth: There is also the issue of  Vampire systems (like Progeny and Bloodlines) being treated as a banning offense on many sims because they see the systems harassing and spamming non-players.  Will Empower Immortals be any different?
BDA:   It sure will be.  The systems you've mentioned come under attack either because they prompt for permission, or because they don't, so it's one of those things where you can't please all the people all the time.  Our approach has been to not prompt people who are already using the system and ask those who aren't for permission before acting upon them.  Since this can still be contentious, we've also allowed land owners to control the system's behaviour, or even whether it's allowed, by adding a short string to their parcel description.  In addition to that, individuals can opt-out of the system entirely without having to purchase anything, simply by clicking on a crystal in our store.  They will then never be prompted again and are "off limits" to all Immortals RP.  Similarly, if they want to play along for free, they can opt-in in a similar manner.  That gives them access to our website and lets them choose their species, without having the full experience available when purchasing a HUD.  For many who just want to RP with Immortals, that may be all they want.

Arth:   Will owners of your "Empower Magick" HUD have any advantage in "Immortals"?

BDA:  Immortals will be available as either a standalone HUD or a module that Empower Magick users can load into their existing HUD.  It works with Empower Magick, but it is in no way required that you have them both.  One doesn't really have an advantage over the other and we've made sure that owners of other spell HUDs aren't disadvantaged, but the two do work nicely together as you'd expect from two products made by the same people.

Arth:  How did you settle on the name "Immortals"?

BDA:  We wanted a name which encompasses Vampires as well as the various other species that the system supports.  Even Humans are powerful in this system, so it needed to be a term that set them apart from the mundane, rather than anything specific to a particular class or species of character.  Of the many attributes which define Vampires, the one which seemed to cover all the other "Specials" that the system supports was immortality.  Even a human may be elevated to Immortality, allowing them to deal with Vampires on their own terms.

Arth: When and how did you begin the actual work on the Immortals HUD?
BDA:  The initial request came through on 3 June 2012 and I cut the first line of code on 9 June 2012.  Since I take a very collaborative approach to the work I do, I started out by consulting with my closest advisers from Empower Magick, some of whom are Vampires, then extended it to a small group of core Vampire RPers, those who RP with them and more importantly, those who have absolutely no interest in Vampire RP.  By the end of June, we had our first design and a prototype HUD up and running.  It's been through a lot of changes and refinement since then, of course, but the core is much the same.  Of course, I had the advantage of having the Empower Magick base to build on and it really accelerated our ability to get this up and running fast.

Arth: So, after a year of development and play-testing, what happens next?
BDA:  We want to see the system run for a good time with no changes.  We're already locked down to "bugfixes only".  We'll need a little time to work on packaging and marketing and we're still considering sales models - in-world only, marketplace, only from other Immortals who are prepared to train those they sell to - but however we do it, it's not far away now.  After that?  Well, we're very much driven by the requests of the users of the system.  As you noted with Empower Magick, where we have the same approach, this resulted in quite frequent updates adding new features in its early days.  I'd expect Immortals to go along similar lines.  Although it's had a good soak during Beta and that resulted in a lot of improvements, we already have quite a store of requests and great ideas which we had to refrain from implementing to ensure stability as we prepared the system for release.  The sky and the imagination of our team and the community of Immortals is the limit.

Arth:  Blackdog, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Good luck with your release.  

You can visit the store to find out what's happening, and get some freebies at Blackdog's Smallhaven sim.

the Game of Bumps

Children's games often train skills of coordination and speed. This is "tag", re-invented for Second Life as a simple and fun way to master control of your avatar in active areas.

BUMPS

The Basic Rule: When "it" bumps you, you have to bump someone else, then say you did so in chat to make someone the new "it"

Object: to avoid being bumped by and therefore becoming "it". As "it", to accept the role in chat and then bump another and announce who the new "it" is in chat.

Equipment: any area roughly 40m across. It need not be utterly clear of obstacles nor fully delineated.

Players: any number greater than two.

Preparation

The group chooses a player to be the first "it". Traditionally, this role belongs to the player who suggests the game or whoever was "it" at the end of the last game.

The players choose an ending time of the game. All players are prohibited flying in the game.

Suggested: Each player opens the "Bumps, pushes & hits" window in the "help" menu, so one can see who made contact with oneself, or wears a script that tells when such things happen.

Optional: Each player can activate a radar or a map, either thru a viewer or a HUD (like Mystitool), so one might see who is close and who is not.

Playing Bumps

~ "It" chats a sentence saying "I am it".
~ "It" attempts to physically bump another player by avatar.
~ Other players move inside the playing area to avoid "it".

~ When "it" actually bumps another, their hit windows will confirm it.
~ "It" must chat, by any sentence he chooses, the name of who he bumped within hearing (20m) of the one he bumped.
~ Others and "it" may move and repeat that that idea until:

~ The one bumped acknowledges "it" in chat.
~ He or she becomes the new "it" and play continues as above.

Ending the game.

Anyone may, but the person who suggested the game must announce in chat "5 minutes left", "one minute left", "ten seconds left" and "Good Game."
The last "it" loses the game, but that hardly matters, does it? Now enjoy sharing what happened.

Irregularities:

"It" crashing appears to others as "it" disappearing, or going motionless. When this happens, or "it" must leave for a while, the others should gather in the center of the playing area and choose a new "it". Traditionally, "it" is assigned to the one who bumped the crashed "it" or the first "it".

Being "Out of Bounds" incurs no penalty because it isn't much fun. One should simply return to the playing area directly when discovered out of bounds. One can still bump or be bumped while out of bounds.

One can quit the game by going out of bounds and stating "not playing" as often as needed, but it is bad manners to re-enter the game after quitting.

When flying is noticed, the one flying should immediately return straight to the ground with "page down" only. If "it" is under the descending flyer, the bump counts and may be called. If "it" is the flyer, no bumps need be acknowledged until "it" lands and spends 10 seconds motionless.

Missing chat: One may, if bumped, accept "it" before the old "it" announces one was bumped, but it's better to remind the old "it" he or she needs to announce who was bumped. Handle someone not replying to a chatted bump after several chats as "it" crashing.

Players joining mid-game can learn the basic rule as they play if others guide them thus: When "it" bumps you, you have to bump someone else, then say you did so in chat to make them the new "it".

Strategies,
with links to more complete player guides:

The real object of the game is to improve the players ability to move, chat, and view the world screen in rapid succession. In more detail:

To move, use the keyboard arrows (or ASDF if your chat is closed) alone or in combination with shift and/or your mouse. To activate running, use Menu/World/Always Run, or Ctrl-R toggle.

Views include the default view where you see your avatars back, mouse-look where you see thru the avatars eyes, and custom focus views. Try using mouse-look (activated by mouse-scrolling your view into your avatar's head or pressing M with chat closed) and regular view (activated by escape key or M in mouse-look) and Custom focus. Each one of these might be preferable to you at different times, and each allows different custom options.

Chatting begins in mouse-look with the Enter key, then type your chat and press Enter again to send. If out of mouse-look, click your chat window, then type your chat and press Enter to send. If you can see another player's name-box floating over their head, they can hear you in regular chat. If the name-box has dimmed to invisibility, they are out of normal chat range, and you must move close to them or send a "shout" (using control-Enter). One can repeat the last thing said with control-up (ctrl-↑) then pressing Enter.

Game Variations:

~Voice can make an easier game if all have voice on and use it instead of chatting who bumped whom and who is it.

~Automating bumps would make an easier game if each player wears a scripted object that says bumps in chat, so "it" need not chat the bump. The new "it" must still chat that they are "it" unless all wear a script that keeps track of "it" by chat, float text and/or particle emission.

~RSVP: whenever anyone chats your name (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) in your hearing, by itself or in a sentence, you must immediately chat a reply. This will leave you unable to move until you have completed your chat, and vulnerable to bumps.

~No tag backs, where "it" may not bump the person who bumped him or her, works best in a group larger than five.

~No running creates a slower-paced game; shrink the playing area to 25x25.

~Flying, when allowed and encouraged, is best played in a thick 40x40x40 box.

~ Rezzing. For an advanced group, encourage players to rez barriers in the playing area. Owners of the items may move, delete or change their own barriers at any time, of course. Simplest to allow only creating and editing non-scripted, non-physical default prims during the game, but the group may choose to allow anything, including scripted or physical items to appear and disappear.

Have Fun

Fair warning: in many areas, bumping another avatar might be grounds for a complaint to the management. Don't play Bumps in busy, public areas where non-players may get you in trouble.

Herald in Battle.

Yesterday, I learned I hate to attack another, even in play.

I made an appointment with an expeerienced battler to learn the basics of mock battle in Second Life. After some delay, we are gathered, and equipped. When our sensei, Sjeyanne, asks us to spar, I cannot speak. I dread to say "Rahan, engarde", nor, even worse, "Aria, I am ready to fight you." I am relieved when SJ offers to spar with me, but even her, a stranger who knows there is no anger, only the desire for a skill that she uses everyday, she says "ready", I am looking at her, and I want to throw down my weapon and leave - I have no wish to hit her. But I take up my sword and tell her "Ready", but in truth, mon ami, I am never ready.

My son is an expert battler on computer games. He loves them. I was never a challenge for him, even from age 10. He is a RL expert, regularly placing well in computer fighting tournaments. Here I face another true expert, and am cut to the ground in mere seconds. Then I am caged - of all things that I hate, I hate nothing more than cages. Not for me, not for any one. I apply the /1 reset remedy, and, oh no, my HUD settings are destroyed! This is true injury to me - I will need to take time fix this sometime.

But I continue with the horrible lesson. She compliments me on my weak hits, like a good teacher. I cannot even see her move, she is so fast: her experience is great, she handles her mouse and interface expertly, in battle after battle trying to teach me. I cannot see myself, I cannot see her, I press buttons randomly. Phuii. This is frustratng and terrible. I have no improvement,and no idea what to do.

I whine, like an ungrateful child. I tell her I cannot see, I cannot tell wheat is happening, "I hate this" to her. Rahan and Aria are in the distance, merrily bashing one another. SJ is understanding and helpful, even showing me new ways so I can see Arth and her. You see part of this instruction - you make the world dull and flat, with no sky - then, ironically, you are fast enough maybe to fight. I am still 3 times slower than her. I improve a little, still losing every spar and falling to my face in the hated cage. I sudeenly realize I must immediately go.

On my return, we are in another place, a new area with more people. I have one small success: with the new system, I learn an interface trick that even my sensei does not know in mere seconds.I pray, please God, I don't want to fight, but I am committed to learn, for so many I truly respect admire this part of SL. And my prayer is granted:

Idiot Anthony appears, gun in hand, firing, and my practice is disrupted.

You handled him expertly: communicative, with exact truth. Arian acts on instinct and shoots him, creating some escalation. Most others have no idea what to do. I quietly IM him to teach him to see truth for himself on who has harmed him. He says Arian hit him. I tell him I will talk to her. He leaves, apparently satisfied. I IM Arianwen that Anthony might file abuse on her, but I don't think he is smart enough.

Then, I don't recall whether this is before you leave or after - he comes back with another to shoot us all, completely disrupting our sparring again. I am SHOUTING at him in IM and threaten to BAN him from SL. But he hits Arian hard. He leaves and says he nor his friend will not return.

Anthony is a liar. Moments later, I am covered in a 10x10x10 box on the sparring floor. The boxes say he made them and owns them - I learn this by left click - edit. I look at my bumps and hits - it is empty: the boxes are not physical, merely annoying. I can file abuse for this by right click - more - more - report abuse, but I do not. I shouild have. My HUD tells me he is nearby, so I find him (using a programmed particle that, untill today, I only used to find my best friends) standing on a neaby hill, Once again, he lies and says it not his boxes. The boxes are gone now. I see his profile - he is player since October 06. "Anthony, you have been here too long to be such a n00b." He says he doesn't come in much. "Good thing", I say. He claims he is invisible and doesn't know what is happening - (is he lying? did someone "orbit" him?). I tell him to log off as his remedy.

One moment later, there is a huge ocean liner on the tournament floor. I have no doubt. Right click object, -more-more-report. Yes, it is Anthony. Send a photo. Copy paste chat to report window: multiple object grief. 10 seconds, report is done. Anthony will get a warning from SL. If he already has warning, he will get suspended or banned. SL is reliable in this.

His profile indicates I can eject him and the liner from the area. I do. The SIM reports I have no permissions, yet he and the liner and gone in seconds. A moment later, he is back with another large weapon. With no hesitation and with no feeling of anger or joy, I trap him and eject him again. He is not even pretending to be making errors now, simply taunting me. I am "grass" he says (I have no idea what this means) and he continures to call me grass. His profile now has one word in it, the very word I wear constantly: Ask.

An expert griefer is baiting me. Who knows why? A million reasons could exist, and there is not point in my guessing: he is the one who needs to find why to truly handle things. I simply need to be effective in removing this annyoance, like swatting a bug. Further eject will not deal with him. Reports will, surely, but most important, remove his target: me.

Of course Anthony returns. I freeze him again. I politely ask those remaing in the arena (none of them are the people I came with - they have all left already) to file Abuse reports on Anthony at the slightes provocation, and tell them how to do it: either from your menu > Help > bumps screen if you have been fired upon, or from object > right-click > more > more > report if there is a large object in the way. Anthony is chattering inanely in IM - I am grass, he could report me, but he is not grass. I tell him I have lost my patience with him, and that is very hard to do to me. "I am done with you, Anthony."

I leave the sim. I have left him behind me. I have also left behind an illusion, thank God: whether I am sucessful (as trapping and neutralizing Anthony after failed diplomacy) or unsuccessful (as using swords in SL) no battle is attractive to me.

I will still learn weapon battle, it is an important part of roles I must play. God help me.

Love, Arth.