Recently, I deleted over 500 old landmarks from my inventory. It isn’t as though I haven’t spent any time at all attempting to manage them, but there are periods when they do keep piling up. Some were several years old, at least three and maybe four.
Attending to the essentials of my human’s life, doesn’t allow for following Flickr feeds; there’s a vast amount of changes in destinations that I’m unaware of. Many older destinations still exist to be explored and enjoyed.
An Italian sim, LOST TOWN – LA CITTA’ PERDUTA, is one such location. The architecture and quirky furnishings still look great.
Many galleries had disappeared. The Alpha Tribe sim, showing builds and other creations by the artist, Alpha Auer, is still rezzed, waiting to be explored.
These photos have been cropped; Some have been sharpened a little, many have lightened exposure, otherwise they are unedited.
Many times in my teleporting, a destination no longer existed or I would find myself landing under water, under a building or deposited just outside banlines. I was denied entry to one location unless I accepted an ‘experience’, for which I didn’t really have time.
The photo above was taken at Sommergewitter (since March 2015). The rain and lightening storm is still happening.
Many of what I’d considered destination sims are now partially residential. That is understandable; some seem to be managed better than others. I chose not to explore or keep the landmarks of almost all, but I am including Baja Norte by Lauren Bentham, who does great work. She has kept her older, mainland parcels too!
Awhile back, I’d heard that Mont Saint-Michel was in peril of disappearing, then was saved. The above photo was taken near this SLurl for *Edelweiss* Le Mont Saint-Michel.
I noticed how the older, prim builds rezzed much more rapidly on my viewer. My experience with most of the new, designer sims is greatly diminished by the vast gray blobs seen, while waiting for textures and objects to load. Lag walking and sliding is not so great either. It isn’t enough to make me give up on Second Life but it makes more sense to just glance at a photo of a destination taken by someone with a monster machine and with editing software and skills.
Many of the old landmark locations have numerous shop rentals, which somewhat surprised me. How can they thrive? The sporadic attention I pay to shopping gives me the impression that it’s all about events. Or that avatars have shut their inworld stores and maintain a MP presence instead.
One of the biggest surprises was the continued existence of lle Sainte Marie-les-Baines.
I had been quite charmed with it when it was new, had joined the group for roleplay but it simply didn’t work in with the rest of my life. Not wearing clothes of the era, I carefully looked to make sure there was no one around, left the welcome area and snapped this photo, shown above. By now, all the teleporting about was straining my resources; my avatar was missing some bits.
From the land description: “Everyone who seeks a retreat to relax is welcome to Ile Sainte Marie-les-Bains.The Island is at the Cote d’Azur.Time is around 1900.Please wear time fitting attire.Historic,Art Nouveau,RP,Edwardian,Mademoiselle’s,Galerie Intemporelle,1910, France”
There were also a fair number of locations of rp sims of the “hordes” type and instructions to “Walk Towards the Bloody Gate”. Some of the former destinations had been on Adult rated sims and are now sex clubs.
Above, is a photo of New Kadath Lighthouse Art Gallery. From the land description: “Home of the exhibit “Maps of Second Life”, an exploration of the Main Grid’s history, geography and culture as depicted via maps and cartography. Also hosting a rotating selection of themed visual art. Juliana Lethdetter, Curator.”
Part of me was hoping that this endeavor would reward me with the discovery of a hidden gem. At least, previously hidden to me. That didn’t happen; maybe next time.
I’ll end for now with a photo of the amazing Vintage Village, shown above. “Come and experience this unique village filled with fantasy. You can listen to live music or shop around where you will find beautiful buildings, innovative gadgets, accessories for your shop, avi or residence. The ambiance of Hungary, Central Europe”.
Million Happy Endings 