Tol Daeannon in Sharindlar

Well as you know I love to explore and whenever I find a sim that keeps me coming back I tend to want to share my joy. My sisters of the Amazon Celt Clan and I go exploring via horseback and on one of those journeys we happened to wander into Tol Daeannon in Sharindlar.

First let me say that the landscaping is breath taking to say the least. I found myself just aimlessly walking the sims and exploring the many beauties it contained. The poeple of Sharindlar are equaly beautiful in their friendliness to strangers as well as their strong commitment and love for each other.

I opened a small shop in their trading ship and was invited to group. Soon after I received a group message about a melee training class.... so I quickly TP'ed there and participated. Bimbofun or General Bim as they like to call her is the leader of the Kings Army and also an excellent teacher. She runs her classes in an orderly fashion and usually keeps the fun factor high.

My favorite thing about this sim is their constant training and battles. They plan and implement complex team strategies and create scenarios for their warriors to work with. Spell Fire scripted weapons are the norm here and THANK GOD!

So in essence I have found another sim to explore and have fun in. Two thumbs up!

Spell Fire Weapons & Amazon Celt

I have been making swords for a while now but stayed with DCS2 compatible weapons only. But as time went by I needed something different.... something that would work with targets that take damage. Enter the Spell Fire weapons and combat system.

Special is in the "bullet" class of weapons. Bullet meaning that it actually fires an invisibe bullet that hits or misses your intended target. This takes much more skill then the typical DCS2 key bashing fest that you see often. These bullets are also of various levels. For example: a single hand sword does less damage then a two handed but is faster.

I started crafting Spell Fire weapons as soon as I got the scripts and tested them. I am very pleased with the results and also with how effective they are in combat. Speaking of combat.... I recently joined the Amazon Celt clan as a Blacksmith and keep pretty busy forging various weapons for them. This is a wonderful sim of sisters who all love the amazon life style. Beautiful builds and landscaping make this a great place for roleplay, romance, battles, celebrations of just relaxing to take in the sites. I have found a new home!

So stop by the Amazon Celt sim and while you're there visit the market and look for my Brave New World weapons vendor. See you soon! *kisses*

Surf's Up SL

So I was out looking for some good surfing and discovered a fun place called " Action Extreme Zone". WOW what a fun place for anyone who likes surfing, jet skiing and more. My closest friends and I enjoyed the ultra realistic waves and FREE surf boards which are rezzed on the beach. Whoever designed this place really captured the essence of a tropical beach and surf spot. I know I'll be coming back many more times. Come see it located at: Action Extreme Zone (3, 123, 21)

Vampire Business?!?!?

That's right the title of this blog is "Vampire Business" and why? Because I recently experienced a person who embodies every single one of the qualities I described in my "Art of the Vampire" blog. You know the kind.... the ones that treat BloodLines like investment property. These used car salesman will lie, cheat and steel in order to get a soul and hold it ransom. I will tell the story but I can not reveal the names of the people involved as it is considered a ToS violation to do so.

The story starts with a friend of mine who was very nervous about joining bloodlines. He was spam bitten before and only started wanting to learn more when we started talking about the what makes bloodlines cool.... to me. I described to him the awesome role play possibilities if one searches for it and also warned him of the opportunistic con artists out there that will tell you anything to get your soul. He was very excited and after much thought decided he wanted me to rescue his soul and turn him to vampire. That was not so easy as I was right in the middle of moving an entire sim and our schedules were clashing a bit.

One day I get an IM from him saying that a woman "friend" of his rescued his soul but told him it wouldn't effect him coming to me. This "friend" talked (conned) him into drinking a Hemlock potion and being bitten by her. She told him that all this would do is take him out of the abyss but failed to mention that she now possesses his soul. I informed him of what it really meant and he was devastated..... but... was happy to learn that he can still liege to me. All was well as far as I was concerned but it bothered him that he was not told the truth. He started learning more and more about Bloodlines and his in his heart still felt like he was not "all mine" and wanted it to be fixed. I told him "Simply tell her there was a misunderstanding. I'm sure she'll have no problem with transferring your soul being as she got you on false pretenses." Well.... I was wrong.

When he contacted her she immediately un-friended him and placed him on ignore/mute. He was shocked and realized at that very moment that she was everything my blog described about the "soul whores" of bloodlines. But it gets better.....

I contacted her on his behalf and for a few minutes got no response. Finally she responded. Here's the conversation with names removed.

[19:46] Shayna Korobase: hello... XXX just told me that you are upset that he wants his soul to be with me. Can we talk?

[19:48] Shayna Korobase: hello?

[19:50] Shayna Korobase: so either you are ignoring me or you are the sort of vampire that deceives (even your friends) to get ahead in this game.... such a shame

[19:53] JG: im queen of ND

[19:53] JG: kinda busy

[19:53] JG: brb

[19:56] JG: whats in it for

[19:56] JG: me

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: what's "in it" for you?

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: I thought you and he were friends

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: am I wrong?

[19:56] JG: just doing business

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: business?

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: this is a game... not business

[19:56] Shayna Korobase: are you one of the poeple I wrote about in my blog?

[19:57] JG: well im a queen its business to me i paid for that soul

[19:57] JG: and he has not talked to me in a long time so i guess he is not that good of a friend

[19:58] Shayna Korobase: you told a friend "XXX" that there was nothing to worry about and that it wouldn't effect him coming to me

[19:58] JG: whatever

[19:59] Shayna Korobase: oh come on....

[19:59] Shayna Korobase: is that what you told him ?

[20:00] Shayna Korobase: are you one of the types of vampires that deceives even your friends just to get ahead in this GAME?

[20:01] Shayna Korobase: listen...... I don't care about soul counts and all that silliness.... I just want XXX to be happy

[20:01] Shayna Korobase: so you are ignoring me now?

[20:03] Shayna Korobase: you may want to read this http://shaynakorobase.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-of-vampire.html

One of JG's friends asked her on our behalf and she responded with "fuck them and the horse they rode in on"

My vampire friends..... if Bloodlines is a "business" to you then you are an INSULT to vampire lovers everywhere and have no "business" being involved in this game we love. You are the type that buy souls and walk around saying "I am Queen of blah blah blah" yet you have absolutely NO role play. Bloodlines is so much more satisfying when you actually RP and play with honor and dignity. True vampires don't suffer from burnout. The true vamps don't eventually "walk into the sun" like the business vamps.

So when you crash and burn we'll be there to scatter your ashes, gather up your orphaned minions and teach them the TRUE path of the vampire.

Dealing with Griefers

Griefers are a major pain in the ass. They TP into sims and rez annoying objects or orbit anyone not seated. They are really good at turning people away from popular sims..... and that's what they want.

Griefers are mostly only interested in hurting a sim they were ejected from. They are angry little children most of the time (not necessarily in age) who decide to cause trouble when they don't get their way. They are usually good at griefing using alternate avatars known as ALTS and banning them is nearly impossible if they really want to keep annoying you.

So how do you handle a griefer who has targeted your favorite sim? read on.....

Usually a sim/land owner has security officers that can eject or ban unwanted griefers. But when a griefer constantly changes to a new ALT the security team basically is rendered useless.... but only if they rely soley on ejects and bans.

One way to stop griefers before they can grief is to turn off objects on your land. If a griefer can't rez then they can't lay down their annoying objects or shoot orbit cages. This is a great way of dealing with what I call "Rez Griefers". Turning off scripts is also a way to stop them. Griefer weapons are scripted and scripts need to be allowed to work, so shutting off scripts works..... most of the time.

Some times however a griefer doesn't rez anything. They TP in to harass people verbally (using chat) or visually wearing outrageous outfits. To stop them you can place them in MUTE by clicking their profile and selecting the mute button. You'll no longer see what they type nor will you see what they are wearing as they turn gray. But in typical griefer fashion they will leave and come back with another ALT.

So what do you do when you have a griefer in your midst and there is no security around or if the griefer keeps coming back with ALTS? Please read this carefully..... this works much better then bitching which many would rather do. FILE ABUSE REPORTS WITH LINDEN LABS!!!!!!!!!!! The trick to this however is in numbers. A single AR sent to the Lindens wont get a lot of attention right away. But a bunch of AR's filed by multiple people will. Please note: make sure YOU only send one.

If you are in a group of people getting griefed then ask all of them to send an AR at the same time. If you are alone then start IM'ing people to come assist you in filing AR's. Five or more AR's from the same place at the same time has a much higher chance of being seen by the Lindens and acted upon. As my good friend Jeadeen Niles of The Green Lantern Core and a Justice League Unlimited recruit told me "If there is anyone around when he griefs, everyone there should file an AR. Only one per person present though." On the subject of ALT's Jeadeen had this to say: "If you can make a connection between the alts, then you can put it into the AR sent to the Lindens. Gives LL a reason to investigate how he logs in. If they find common indications between the Alts and his transgression are severe enough, then it could end up in the griefer being permabanned."

Before closing I'd like to add that dealing with griefers should be done the "Legal" way according to Linden Labs Terms of Service (ToS). If you attack a griefer there is a chance they will report you instead. Now don't get me wrong, I have personally obliterated griefers in the past who have tried griefing me on my own land...... but always followed up with an AR to LL for record purposes.

So to all of you in SecondLife I wish you the very best and stay safe out there!

After writing this blog I had a long conversation with Jeadeen and what he had to say was so important I asked permission to include the conversation here. Enjoy...

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Griefers are normally just people that want to mess with others. Most do not have a specific motive.

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: ok... tell me what you think the motives of griefers are so I can add it to the blog :)

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: some times I over simplify

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Most just find it fun to gross out and annoy others.

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Sometimes they are lashing back out for a perceived wrong.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: It also depends on where the griefing occurs.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: In sandboxes it is almost always just people who take some sort of perverse enjoyment out of annoying others.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: can I quote you on that?

[13:40] Jeadeen Niles: Sure.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: awesome :)

[13:41] Jeadeen Niles: But I would also state that griefing comes in many forms and anyone could be a griefer.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Although, one has to be careful with labeling a griefer. Some griefers are getting smart enough to give other noobie residents "presents" which are really griefing tools disguised.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Once this "present" starts replicating across a SIM, it is the noobie that looks like the griefer but the real griefer is standing around laughing.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: Now the noobie gets the AR bombardment and potential for action from LL.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: That is why I always offer to the owner of a griefing object to let them clean it up in case they didn't know what it was.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: I judge my need to AR on their response to my question.

[13:46] Shayna Korobase: WOW that is great stuff as always .... Thank you very much!

[13:46] Jeadeen Niles: You are welcome.

The Arcanum

I like HUDS! I like big flashy things that go boom and dazzle the senses. I also like the ability to be a griefers worst nightmare. This passion for HUDs started when I was very young to SecondLife and owned my very first free tier and very small plot of land.

One day after TP'ing home I saw three people on my land. Now at the time I had no idea what security Orbs were or even ban lines. Yes... I was for all intensive purposes a NOOB! Well I asked them very politely to leave which resulted in me being orbited. I was shocked! I never even knew what being orbited was until then. When I finally made it back they were gone and I vowed from that day forward to always have the bigger gun and learn as much as possible about ToS (Terms of Service) and HUDs.

This started my love afair with collecting weapons to combat greifers and eventually lead me to a place called Arcanum created by Zachh Barkley.

Now by the time I discovered Arcanum I already had over a year of HUD experience and was quite capable of defending myself and my friends.... so I wasn't really looking for Arcanum... it sort of found me. Like in Harry Potter, "The wand chooses the wizard." I was drawn to Arcanum after seeing a friend use a magic wand called "The Wand of Sorcery."

I purchased the Wand of Sorcery at the old Arcanum store and started learning how to use it. Now unlike HUD driven devices the wand is controlled by chat commands. If you memorized all the commands then you can quickly conjure up a spell.... but... if like me you own so many toys you can't remember chat commands for them all then this can prove to be a problem. However, I love the wand! It is loaded with over 20 great magic spells that are visually impressive as well as effective.

The second item I purchased was the "Runemaster God Spell System". Unlike the wand which is a single item held in the hand the runes are 3 symbols (prims) worn on the forehead, upper arm and hand. Like the wand it is chat command driven which means more spells to memorize. The runes are powerful indeed and again in typical Arcanum style...... visually appealing.

Almost a year went by before I purchased my next item from Arcanum. I was at the Treasured Vamps sim one night and got into a nice conversation about HUDs. The person I was speaking to had some special effects that were mind blowing and soon I was asking "What was that?" She told me it was "Wishmaster" from Arcanum and soon I TP'ed over to the new store location (Incantation (159, 135, 21),) looking to buy it for myself.

*GASP*!!! A HUD?!?! OMG YES! A HUD!!!! That's right... the Wishmaster is a HUD and a beautiful one at that. Super fast response from the buttons and the spells are absolutely incredible. It even has FREE add-ons like the Targeting Wand which enables you to lock a beacon on just about anything and then unleash your spells upon them. The ONLY issue I have with this HUD is that above 1,500 meters some spells wont work well. Like the "Bless" spell for example. My girls club is high up in the air and some times I have to try blessing someone 4 times before it finally works. A minor glitch I'm sure Zachh is working to fix. But this HUD is awesomeness in it's purest form and I rarely if ever take it off. I give it 5 stars even with the minor glitch.

Spells and HUD systems aside the Arcanum sim itself is a magical place that is captivating! There is much to explore and if you like being surrounded by magical things then you'll want to tour this sim. I put on my Bellatrix Lestrange style outfit and lose myself in the experience. There is even an arena where Witches and Wizards can gather for battles or just plain old magical fun. There are several hidden portals in the sim that take you to secret places. I had the pleasure of getting a tour with Heed Fate as my guide. The places he showed were beautiful and very majestic.

If you are into magic then Arcanum is for you. You can see on their land decscription that they say they are "Your #1 Magical Resource in SL!". Well I have yet to see a sim top this one..... so they are true to their word. Go check out Arcanum.... you'll be glad you did!

The Mortuus by Creep Wolff

One of first few people I met on my journey through MotorWorld and the 5 adjoining sims was Creep Wolff over at CC Custom Choppers in the Route 66 sim. I was immediately drawn in by his well put together avatar, Mohawk, sexy girlfriend and good sense of humor. Not to mention is amazing customer service.

I kept looking at Creeps bikes because he has some great stretched choppers. I TP'ed friends in and they purchased bikes from Creep. But I hadn't made up my mind yet on which CC bike to purchase. Until I ran into some "Roadkill".

My best friend Freyakc purchased Creeps bike called Roadkill and I was blown away with how sinister the bike looked and sounded. I was already talking to Creep about a custom bike for me and my main goal was an evil looking stretched chopper.

I'm a believer in the power of the subconscious mind and I knew that if I just asked myself what I want that the answer would eventually be revealed. Well it did and pretty soon I was in my workshop building a mock up for Creep to check out.

I started by searching for full perm sculpties of skeletons and sinister looking skulls. After some searching I found what I needed then proceeded to positions the parts how I wanted them on the bike. Once the model was done I TP'ed Creep to my shop who said... "I LIKE IT!" YAY!!!!

Creep went to work figuring out how to make my dream a working reality and within a week he and Dawn Ember (his very hot girl) created my new custom ride. I named it Mortuus which is Latin for "Dead".... MU HA HA HA HAAAA!!!

Very rarely do you meet builders like Creep and Dawn. They are super friendly and very open to ideas. I am so fortunate to call them friends and I recommend their work with two enthusiastic Thumbs up! So if you're looking for a good ride then you owe it to yourself to check out CC Custom Choppers at Route 66 (157, 88, 45). If you hang out long enough you're bound to see me hangin' around.

World Trade Center Memorial in SecondLife

I was in the middle of working on another review when sweet Melody Regent sends me an LM and says "Check this out when you get a chance." Seeing the name of the LM (WTC Memorial & Statue of Liberty, Voices Island (125, 140, 21) I dropped what I was doing and TP'ed right over. Now I never give too much real life info about myself but I will say this....... I was born and raised in New York City. So when I got to this sim I had my eyes wide open to basically be disappointed in yet another bad NYC sim. Well I was wrong and pleasantly surprised.

The designers of the sim did a great job with the look and feel of the city streets, buildings, allies and stores. They even added a quaint little park and a "Little China" style plaza. There is a very large Statue of Liberty behind The New York Public Library and the most noticeable section.... the World Trade Center "Ghost" Buildings.

I looked at these buildings and had to catch my breath. I started remembering what happened to my beloved NYC and the friends that lost their lives. I started thinking about all the families that lost loved ones and I have to tell you...... I had to walk away from the computer for a moment. When I got back I started looking at the giant slabs on the ground with all the names of the fallen victims and listened to the radio as each name was read. But I wasn't prepared for what was next......

In the distance I spotted what looked like a firehouse. I walked closer and saw a statue but couldn't quite see what it was exactly. As I approached and rounded the hedge I realized it was a statue of a fireman. I walked around the front of this statue and read the words of the Fireman's Creed engraved on the stone. I then turned around and read the words on the wall... "Dedicated to those who fell and those who carry on. May we never forget." At this point the tears streamed down my face.

After all that I decided to continue my tour on my motorcycle and parking here and there to check out various stores that caught my eye. I found myself unable to leave the sim. I guess you can say.... I was home.

I have to hand it to Melody yet again. She really knows how to capture the essence of a theme. Her team of builders consists of Talin Sands who built the Fireman and Statue of Liberty. Motor Loon and Talin Sands built the Library. Sunday Ayres who did the rest of the sim and layout. Hellfighter Solvang provided all the firehouse stuff and made the fire trucks just for the sim.

All I can say is if you want to experience a great sim then the World Trade Center Memorial & Statue of Liberty sim is the place to be. From the emotional memorials to the buzz of the city streets this place has it all. I'll be coming back...... see you there!

GraveDiggers

While hanging out at the MotorWorld sim and discussing various techniques for dispatching noob griefers my good friend Gully mentioned the GraveDiggers. Being a lover of weapons I excitedly asked for an LM and TP'ed over to buy them. And I'm glad I did!!!!

These guns are very well put together. They don't lag much at all and the bullets it comes with are absolutely sinister. Giving credit to the title in which the gun was aptly named. The HUD is also pretty easy to figure out and is placed in a position that can be clicked open and closed to enhance ones view.

The Targeting HUD is pretty interesting. Although not as fancy and hi-tech looking as the VX-7 Scorpions, it does what it was meant to do by giving an easy to understand readout of the target.

One feature that took me by surprise is the GraveDiggers Drone. The Drone is a bot that will follow you and provide extra features like shielding, nonphys, scanners, spy options, and weapons. I personally think of that as a nice little touch and rare among guns I have seen and used.

I would recommend these guns to just about anyone who needs a feature packed and powerful weapon for self defense against griefers and even for just plain old target practice. Very good stuff!

Discovering MotorWorld

Anyone who knows me knows I am a Shopaholic. I loooooove to shop! Well I decided to go to one of my favorite clothing stores Avid to see some of the new releases I heard about. As I teleported in I noticed a beautiful Chopper parked near the front entrance. I couldn't take my eyes off it! It was beautiful! I clicked the bike out of curiosity and it gave me a note card (clever monkey) and I immediately read through it. I discovered that this work of art was created by Motor Loon and the card also had a landmark. "Well hell... I'm goin!" I thought to myself. I found myself in a sim called MotorWorld and was greeted not by a hostess but by friendly bikers. I asked someone to show me where the bikes were and was promptly shown the MLCC demo vendor. "WOW! You mean I get to test ride these beauties?" I said out loud. Soon I was clicking through the various styles of bikes and after some time narrowed it down to 2 bikes. I ended up getting the one I first saw at Avid which is called.... "BOMB". Well... it is indeed THE BOMB!

I took the bike home, unpacked it, followed the directions on how to adjust the seating so it fit my avatar just right, then teleported back to MotorWorld to drive my new bike. WOW! I'm in love! I ran a few laps around MotorWorlds open road but was soon IM'ed by the same guy that helped me pick my bike... Doug Kerang told me how to cut corners sharper and how to get more air on my jumps and so on. Pretty soon I wasn't crashing as much and after a while not at all. Thanks Doug.

Here's the cool part.... you'd expect bikers to be well.... bikers. You know, like the rude slobs you see in the movies. But no not here. Even though many of the people here dress like bikers they are are SUPER NICE! This is hands down one of the friendliest sims I have been to in a long time. Constant joke cracking, bike talk and more.

To further the experience my best friend Freyakc (who also started riding) told me she joined a group called "Regent Riders" which allows you to cross the border into Death Valley. Now this group costs $250 to join for a lifetime membership and I was a little dogdy about joining a group just to cross the sim border to another track. But one night Stacia and I took a chance and joined. Now let me tell you border crossing in SL hasn't changed much. It's still risky and you want to approach it slow to reduce the risk of crashing. The owner Melody Regent and staff knew this and put warning signs. Thanks Melody!

There are 6 sims in all to explore with tons of bike shops, clothing, toys and more. Some of the bike shops I visited are VBCC, BTB, The Bikers Gear Box (where I purchased new guns), CC Custom Choppers and the MLCC headquarters. They are all wonderfully talented builders and I look forward to hopefully test riding more of their bikes soon. If you have the time TP over to MotorWorld and check out each sim in the order in which they are laid. They are MotorWorld, Death Valley, Route 66, Sunset Crater, Mojave Desert and MLCC. And remember..... slow down at the sim borders!

If you are looking for super high quality bikes and great people to hang out with then look no further then MotorWorld and great makers like Motor Loon and Creep Wolff. You'll be glad you did!

The Bomb

Neon Glow and Skin

Nidia's Dark Gift

The Box hits 1k

Well it's been about 5 months and The Box is doing fine. Just recently we had our Box 1k party to celebrate 1,000 members. But.... as I write this we currently have 1,200 members.

I'd also like to give a shout out to our "Hottest Box" winners Nymphora for taking first place and runner up Gillian. You girls are so awesome and it's obvious because so many poeple voted for you. YAY!!!

BIG BADA-BOOM!!!!

After many requests I decided to make a bomb pack.

Rez... set timer.... RUN!!!!!! LMAO!