Greetings One and All...:)

As I prepare to celebrate my 8th year in Second Life and my 7 and a half years in Antiquity, I am still as optimistic about virtual worlds as ever. I have been blessed over these years to have lived and become a part of the Antiquity family and be surrounded by the most the most talented and wonderful friends from the Royal Courts. These family and friends have created some of the most beautiful places, with some of the most beautiful clothes and accessories, furniture and art, to rival any in Second Life.

From the start, creating courts and estates in SL was always a challenge. The courts were not satisfied with the ordinary. They wanted detail, extravagance, to surround themselves with the ornate excesses of the era. And if that was not hard enough, there were other burdens piled on. The extreem cost of tiers in SL, the building limitations, 10x10x10 max prim size, no mesh, basic sculpts, all added to the difficulty of establishing, maintaining building a top rate estate.

Today, we have few of the old estates. Versailles, one of the most beautiful courts ever created, is no more, the courts of Sweden, Prussia, Imperial Russia and others, lost. And it is a loss not only for them, but for us as a whole. These are works of art i wish could have been preserved as historical. The creators put their hearts and souls in the design and construction. For period estates it has always been harder to draw new people and blood. Most just want to have fun, go to clubs, party.

With all the difficulties facing courts already, new changes are coming, that will further challenge our communities. As some of you may know already, there is an SL2 on the way. This new world, will be more advanced then our current SL1. SL2 will not be 100% cross compatable with SL1. It will be mesh only, with a whole new scripting language. From what has been discussed already by Ebbe Linden, CEO of Linden Labs, avatars will be able to be carried over to the new world and possibly property. I believe that beta testing for SL2 will start sometime in summer or fall with full world coming online a year or so later.

This, in my opinion will have a major effect on our worlds. Not only will SL2 draw people from SL1, it will make it even harder for us to draw people into the royal courts. That said, it will also open some opportunities for the courts. InWorldz and Hypergrid are just one such opportunity. When SL2 makes its appearnce, I thnk it will force people to consider grid hopping. Ebbe Linden, as quoted on Der Speigal Magazine in germany, stated that the tiers were too high and they were looking at that. This could be a direct result of the coming new SL2, and the direction virtual worlds are going in general. SL1 will be running the same platform that IW and Hypergrid are and will have to compete with their price structure.

Oculus Rift, Sony's Morpheus, and other 3D headsets are on the cusp of being released. Facebook is developing its own 3D platform/world to back up its Oculus Rift. Prices for InWorldz and HyperGrid are much more affordable. All residents of SL1 will face the question on what grid to stay on, SL1 or SL2. Once given that choice, I think alternative grids will become a viable option.

Over these past years, it seems the relationships between the courts has been one of suspicion, rivalry and competition. This has been the saddest part of my time involved with the courts. We all have differences, but they are not large enough to be considered a true hurdle to cooperation.

The Royal Courts, in proportion to SL, is a small community. We pale in size to other similar type rp groups, Gor, being an example. It is my fear, that the coming changes will even further splinter our groups, spread everyone out on different grids, stretch our groups even farther.

What I would hope is that we can all come together, and work as a team to prepare for changes, help strengthen the royal courts, as a block of designers and consumers. Market our goods as a group. The one thing the courts have, are some of the most beautiful and detailed accessories that can be bought in SL. Antiques of splendid quality. Gowns and art that are top notch. It has taken designers from all over the royal courts, to produce the clothing, furniture and stuff needed to create the splendid courts and estates we have now. Moving to SL2 or even IW or Hypergrid, we will be starting all over again, and need the participation of all our great creators to bring up our quality of living in these new worlds just as we did over all these years in SL1. I will be clear, Antiquity will always maintain our main estate in SL1, but I will be looking at exporting my goods to other markets and possibly embassies in other worlds.

There are things we should also work together on copybotting and other issues of security should be top of the list. Lindens do not always follow through on copybot complaints, as I have submitted many and have not had any results. These people should be identified by the group, and their exposure and banning for our areas should be swift and across the board on all estates when evidence is with out a doubt. Copying items should not be tolerated at all.

These are just some of my thoughts on what is coming for our worlds. I would love to hear from anyone in the comments. If you have ideas or suggestions, or thoughts on other grids. There is some basic cross estate participation, but would like to see more. For merchants, maybe discuss expanding our markets. Working as a group to target new markets, maybe establish on other grids to make sales. There are opportunities that will be opening up soon, that I had only imagined when I started SL.

Thank for reading, and again, I would love to hear suggestions or comments. I look forward to discussing or working with anyone that might have some ideas on how to better promote and grow our community.

--
His Royal Highness Jacon Cortes de Bexar Prince of Antiquity, Duke of Cumberland, Duque de Bexar, Duc de la Valliere, Marchese di MSB
updated by @jacon-cortes-de-bexar: 06 Oct 2016 06:34:17AM

Your text is wonderful.
As a rookie was very difficult to learn and to enter this "historical world". Fortunately I had the patience of many who helped me, but you must create a draw for new members come in, and make cooperation with all members.

yes, I do think better cooperation and communication between courts and estates would be a good first step. the power of group thinking would be a benefit to all here. It seems every day, the people that participate in the period lifestyles we do, get smaller and smaller. With all the possible avenues that lie ahead, working together will get us farther. At least that is my thinking

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His Royal Highness Jacon Cortes de Bexar Prince of Antiquity, Duke of Cumberland, Duque de Bexar, Duc de la Valliere, Marchese di MSB

Seems that you & I ponder many of the same things, Jacon I have a lot of thoughts but will try to keep it short.

Overall I remain optimistic regarding the future of SL. I'm interested to see what SL2 will bring and keep reminding myself that the ability to adapt is essential for any business. To be clear, I believe that good business practices are relevant whether we're speaking of creators, merchants, landowners and/or the community at large.

This site exists because, like you,I believe that our niche community is much better off working together and it helps facilitatecollaboration by acting as a central location for information.

As can be expected with any group, the success of our collaboration has varied over time and I expect it willcontinue to do so. It's heartening to think that those endeavours that have survived the test of time have perhapsdone so because the people involved were honest, professional and interested in the well-being of the community at large. I think that if we all keep that in mind, it will go a long way towards what you want to accomplish.

Speaking of the community; merchants/landowners have a responsibility to provide goods & services that their clients desire. On the flip side, it's worth gently reminding community members that thehistorical environments they enjoy can use all the support they can get. Renting land, buying goods andlending a hand to organize events keep us all in business. Fortunately, there are supporters who do just that and I can't thank them enough.

Content theft is a subject that deserves a topic all its own so I'll leave if for now.

That seems like enough words for a start Looking forward to hearing from others!

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Proprietress of Tatiana's Tea Room ~ Owner of the Provence Coeur Estate ~ Webmistress of this site

Great minds think alike I guess....lol....I have admired your dedication to this site for a long time. I cannot thank you enough for offering us this platform to be able to network better between the courts and estates. I agree with everything you have said. Your estate has always been top knotch as is your designing.

When I started this, I had no intention to run Antiquity. I was very satisfied as an obscure somewhat terrible jewelry designer. But as events played out, you play the hand dealt you. And you are 100% correct. It is not force or power that creates and enduring estate. It is caring and loving it, honesty and fairness.

I think there are various opportunities that will present themselves to our community. Finding ways on on collaborating on some of these i think will be beneficial to our community as a whole. I look forward to working with you and all and am ready to help in any way I can.

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His Royal Highness Jacon Cortes de Bexar Prince of Antiquity, Duke of Cumberland, Duque de Bexar, Duc de la Valliere, Marchese di MSB

Thanks for the kind words, Jacon.

I think many of us fell into our roles here in SL and are continually juggling them

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Proprietress of Tatiana's Tea Room ~ Owner of the Provence Coeur Estate ~ Webmistress of this site

A wonderfully written and thought provoking post. Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to read and replay. As I stated, Antiquity will be in SL for as long as there is an SL. But that said, there are changes coming. I believe, we are in a unique position. Over the years, the residents of the Royal Courts have together help set a standard for quality and detail. The creators of the various Royal Courts and Estates, were not satisfied with the plain. I remember the days of 15 prim chairs. Even with the high prim count, we figured out a way to still fill the palaces and estates we had created. The gowns, another perfect example. The ladies of the courts demanded the highest quality gowns and accessories. This push our creators to create even more detailed and elaborate gowns. It was the high standards we set for our estates, that in turn, created a demand for the highest quality items.

Everyone that is part of the Royal Courts and Estates know this, but SL at large does not. Yes, they have beautiful items for sale. But as a group, we have some of the most talented creators in SL. There are beautiful mansions in SL, yes, but we also have some of the most elegant and detailed estates in SL.

This is our strength. and with all my previous rambling, it boils down to just this. I believe we could find ways to work together, to highlight all the creative talent that is living with us and further promote and highlight to possible new residents, the oasis of beauty that is the Royal Courts and Estates of SL.

--
His Royal Highness Jacon Cortes de Bexar Prince of Antiquity, Duke of Cumberland, Duque de Bexar, Duc de la Valliere, Marchese di MSB