To Telehubs Like Moths to Flame

by Alphaville Herald on 13/04/05 at 1:45 pm

by Walker Spaight

Will the Grid soon find itself teleporting into the middle of the holiest of holy sites on Second Life‘s new northern continent? Formerly inhabited by moth-worshipping stilt-dwellers, the continent recently dubbed “Mothball” by one wag has so far been free of telehubs. But if one Linden has his finger on the pulse, the moth gods may soon see avatars appearing in their midst as if from the heavens beyond.

At a public talk earlier this week, hosted by Prokofy Neva, Xenon Linden filled residents in on some of the history and techniques of the Content Team at Linden Lab, the typists responsible for the Linden builds that pepper the Grid.

He also touched on questions of just how extensive the new continent may be, and whether residents will be subject much longer to bad jokes like “I just flew in from Periwinkle and boy are my arms tired!”

“I am not at liberty to discuss what lies beyond the void, but it is quite a bit more,” Xenon told the assembled.

Asked about whether a telehub would soon be installed in the new continent, Xenon responded, “I believe this Temple will be converted to telehub status soon.”

The hint came as a surprise to some, considering the fact that forum sentiment had run almost two-to-one against the installation of a telehub in a recent poll. Several local landowners, however, later indicated to the Herald that they were pleasantly surprised, and looking forward to the increased business opportunities a telehub would present.

Consistent with recent remarks by Philip Linden to the effect that Linden builds in the new continent would not be wiped, Xenon indicated the moth temple would not be taken down and replaced by a telehub, but “The temple will be the hub. It will remain protecrted Linden land, used as a telehub.”

Some in the audience, however, expressed their dislike of the over-crowding and lag often present at telehubs. Xenon’s response: “I hate the head-banging as much as the next avi, but I think the hubs serve their intended purpose: Getting people to at least see the land between the hub and the destination, as well as serve as a central point where you are likely to see some folks. Also they give us (Linden Content Team) a place to help seed ‘themes’ to the world.”

Though the talk ended before Xenon could expound on the sowing of Linden seed, the Herald would like to thank him for taking the time to give residents some insight into Grid history and fill us in on new developments. We hope to bring you more excerpts from the historical side of his talk in the coming days.