Yesterday was the first rezzday of my good friend (RL and SL) Pip Scribe. Being that in her first year she has been a busy lass with her Djing, being manager of a mall, so didn't really have much of a chance to explore some of the more beautiful places of SL. I felt it was my duty to readdress this in balance, and do decided to take her to one of my all time favorite beauty spots - Svarga.
For those of you that have never been to (or heard of) Svarga, what made it unique was it held its own eco-system. It had clouds that rained down on flowers that actually grew, and were pollinated by tiny bees that darted back and forth trying to avoid the hungry birds (which you could also feed if you stood really still).
It also held the music castle with its elven drum circle (a real blast if you and half a dozen friends came along to play) as well as the whispering platform, which was an experiment to make music from voice chat.
In addition to all these wonders, it also had many hidden cuddling spots, and mythical creatures, as well as one of my favorite areas, the floatation chamber, which could be reached by a telepod at the base of the main structure. In this chamber you floated in space with lights and patterns swirling around you and gentle music soothing your senses.
I spent hours on this wonderful sim, and never tired of its beauty, always promising myself when I got a better graphics card I would go back and document some of its wonders for my flickr account.
Last night was the first chance I had to get back there, what with the pressures of business, and to my horror I couldn't tp in. So I thought that maybe my landmark was out of date, and used main search. First off, I was surprised to see that it was reporting a traffic of 0 (now it wasn't unusual to get the "sim full" message on tp when I tried, so this should really have warned me of what was to come).
We had already been to Lauk's Nest - this was as a taster for her, and a new experience for me too as I had never been there either and the only other entry on search was the "Svarga Memorial".
Heart in mouth I clicked on this entry, and couldn't believe what I read. It seemed that my beloved Svarga has left the grid for good on the 11th of Aug 09 - I read it twice, somehow trying to make sense of it.
I have read so much about how tier prices are forcing people to give up their land, and how SL was in danger of loosing some of it finest areas, but it didn't hit home that it could effect me until I saw those few lines of text.
I tp'd over to the memorial with Mote and Pip, and there, on the edge of the water, are three of the lovely trees, a few flowers (with a diligent little bee taking care of them) and a marble slab that shows some snapshots from others that loved it as I did, but none of them do true justice to the majesty that we have lost from our virtual world.
Tonight, I will be going in search of some of my other favorite places, praying that they have not too fallen into the mists of time to be just memories of a better time, and if they are still there, I will be stuffing some money into their tip boxes to try and keep them alive for all to enjoy!
If by chance, any at Linden Labs find this entry - I have a heartfelt appeal to send to them, please, please, please, look at the tier policy for places like Svarga, help us to keep some of what makes SL so amazing, don't let yet more beauty fall to dust.
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1 comment:
I know you were upset at seeing it gone hun and wish that I could have gone there with you before it vanished as I know that others did before me.
Like you I think that LL could, some how, support the better areas of SL that have no chance of making money but that are an inspiration to all of us builders and land owners in SL.
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