Magic Alley Closing
by Pixeleen Mistral on 01/02/07 at 9:57 pm
Metaverse Hogwarts students turned out on the street
by Curious Rousselot, Magical Affairs desk
Surprised members of the *Hogwarts Reborn* group learned the Harry Potter role playing sim, Magic Alley, would be shutting down when they received a group announcement shortly before 5:00 PM today.
Petra Carpenter, the driving force behind the sim, felt she could no longer justify the expense and time involved in maintaining the rich style and flavor of the world based on the works of J.K. Rowling. She confessed in her note that “My reasons for closing it are many and varied but the bottom line is I no longer enjoy either running the role play group or the sim in it’s current form. I am therefore no longer going to do either as I see no point in trying anymore when I am so unhappy all the time. Besides putting a good chunk of my own money toward land fees each month for something I don’t enjoy anymore.”
Petra also promised to return donated money that was given to help pay for the sim, “Those members who paid me a large donation will be getting an IM from me shortly and at the same time I shall return their money.”
The note went on to say that Harry Prefect and Cr0nic MacKay were already planning to revive a portion of the Harry Potter role play experience but on a smaller scale. A number of other’s have already agreed to help Harry and Cr0nic with their efforts, including Lily Lewellen and Cliona Morellet; both long time members of the sim.
There was immediate discussion and outpouring of appreciation for Petra’s effort and sadness at the loss of the sim. The community supports Petra’s decision; knowing that she was paying the bill and not enjoying herself. When asked, Cliona Morellet explained, “like we told Petra, we’d rather have her healthy and happy than miserable. She’s paying for this sim, she isn’t making any profit off it, she should be enjoying it instead of hating it.”
Cliona Morellet and Lily Lewellen at Hogwarts castle
Lily Lewellen, one of the Magic Alley merchants had this to say about the closing, “I have been with the group since the beginning and it will be missed. This is my first shop in SL and was always around here rping with other Harry Potter fans.”
Shortly after the first note, there was a follow-up announcement made by Harry Prefect informing all a bit more about his plans for the future, “Listen up fellow fans of Harry Potter lore, The *hogwarts reborn* group is still functioning and as I type this arranging to get new lands for the role play.”
As we went to press, Harry and his team began scouring the grid looking for a suitable location to try and begin again. In fact, they had already started work on re-building. Harry informed the Herald in an improptu interview, “I have most the buildings already done from magic alley”.
Curious student reporter
Onder Skall
Feb 2nd, 2007
I’ll be interested in seeing how this migration works out. It’s not just a “geographic” shift either, considering everything was once owned by an individual and will now be owned by the group. I wonder if that will make a difference?
Gotta remember to do a follow-up in a month or so…
Ana Lutetia
Feb 2nd, 2007
Oh…
I must go there before it closes!
Curious Rousselot
Feb 2nd, 2007
Sorry Ana but you are probably too late. The merchants and other prim owners were tearing down their shops and objects as the story was being written.
Sabrina Gagliano
Feb 3rd, 2007
Almost all of the shops are indeed gone now… Hogwarts itself can still be seen from a distance, and there are still some private residences, but not much else.
Most merchants have shops in different locations, so you will still be able to buy what you need.
I hope we will soon be able to visit a new Magic Alley.
Rock Ramona
Feb 3rd, 2007
Gee,i hate to say i told ya so but…this is going to happen more and more,people are unhappy and are selling off and spending their hard earned money on other things that will bring them happiness.Yes,the sky is falling kiddies.I cant wait till Pepsi and all the other big companies start fleeing the sinking ship and firing the people that told them this sl thing theyd heard about was going to be huge hehehehehe,fools…………
Prokofy Neva
Feb 3rd, 2007
Yes, it is sad that amateurs with a lot of spirit and ability weren’t able to sustain the difficulties and disasters of a project like this. Their ability to do that is what has made the Spirit of Second Life. It’s what gives meaning to the very concept of having a second life.
Far from firing and fleeing, the Pepsis or the Sonys or whatever are the ones who in fact will be coming in and making the lasting and compelling Harry Potter RPs sims because for them, the cost and the staffing won’t pose the problem that it does for the individual struggling with bad performance of sims, expenses, lack of help, etc.
Everybody burns out in SL sooner of later. It’s a miracle that many last as long as they do. So the winners will be those who have lots of money and staff who can spread the constant debilitations and disappointments of SL and its costs over more people and pay more money to cushion the shocks.
The ultimately result will probably look like something more packaged and sanitized and plastic than the spunky Harry Potter that this person was able to run, evidently, I only saw it briefly once. We will see a lot more dreams crumbling. The notion of Second Life as an individual dreamer’s Second Life will cave to become the notion of a Second Life for the world’s dinosaur media and public relations industries.
dannyboy lightfoot
Feb 3rd, 2007
Much to agree with there Prok. as someone who’s working directly with the major film distributors to look at the part cinema has to play in Second Life, I agree that it will probably take studio money to make projects like this truly sustainable. I also agree that this will probably mean ‘diluting’ certain content, but this may ultimately yield Second Life experiences that are more accessible, and more widely enjoyable.
The fact of any business’ decision to invest money, time and effort in experimenting with Second Life as a permission-based marketing medium seems to me to be far more progressive than simply sticking with what they know; cruder, more profligate interruption advertising techniques.
Taking the movie business as an example, the reality is that Second Life can become a great way for people to share (something like) the experience of going to the cinema with friends who live on the other side of the world. Having stayed up all hours to attend the SL premiere of Ed Sanchez’s ALTERED at the Phreeq drive-in in Motorati with a good SL friend of mine who happens to live several thousand miles away, I know this for a fact.
There are always going to be growing pains as SL develops, and mistakes made. SL might not be in its infancy, but it’s still very much an adolescent application, with more than its fair share of angst and confusion. Bubbles will burst and dreams will be shattered, but the metaverse will retain the potential to change everybody’s lives for the better, and commerce, whatever its faults, has a viable part to play in that.
Some individual dreamers will still be here though Prok. It’s still possible in this world to realise unique and distinctive visions and put food on the table at the same time. That’s what the fine art of film-making is all about.
Harlequin Salome
Feb 4th, 2007
I agree with dannyboy here. SL is still a very young application and we’re all still sort of feeling out what we can do and want to do in it. And there will always be people that try to do more than they can afford. I’ve heard it a thousand times in the combat group circles. “We’ll get a sim. No, three sims, and we’ll rent out land and make money and we’ll all be rich and support our beautiful dream!” and sometimes it works out, and alot of times it doesn’t.
To try and paint this as indicative of the whole of SL not being able to support individual dreams is not quite true. Though I dislike their interests, the Gorean sims are thriving successes for the most part. Caledon is nothing but one shared love of victorian life and what might have been, and going strong.
Even the Alliance Navy (Try to keep the anti-AN stuff out of this, Prok) has finally gotten a sim to ourselves for our own RP and combat play. *shrugs* And such setups as Midian City and Suffugium are shining examples of what *can* be done.
There is still thriving dreams in SL, you just need to actually look.
Hermione fan
Aug 17th, 2009
WHY!!! it looked like the best game ever but now i tried to find it and it is CLOSED!!! please continue it, if you can. and please
inform me if it continues… I love hermione!