Exploring SecondLife: Neverwhere

Since there are so many places that are worth visiting (and some that are not) in SecondLife, I'm starting an occasional 'review' of sims and places that I visit. Neverwhere is the first one I am writing of. For those of you unfamiliar with what a 'sim' is, it's a region of land within SecondLife.

Wandering around SecondLife, you might get tired of the same old yard sale events where people are selling the same stuff. Neverwhere (SLurl: Neverwhere) offers a little more; the Neverhwhere blog states:

What will you find in Neverwhere?

Let's see. I have to say first that you will find Kya's and my shop, Escape! Moving counterclockwise from us is Paca's Skulls 'n' Stuff. Then you will find the Tiny Store, the home of the original Tiny! Wynx's Whimsical Wonders is sitting right on the corner. An Abranimations outlet comes up next as you walk 'round the sim. Beside that you will find Noramyr's Flights of Fantasy. Birdworx by Psyra is the next shop down. Plant's The Jade Tree is beyond that in Bob's Shattered Lands. Coming back into Escape!'s corner you'll find Dark Skye Designs.

And you will find those places. But that really doesn't say too much, does it? So off Nobody Fugazi went, exploring this sim as he did when it was once Renfest Island (where Nobody hung out a lot during his first month). There's a history here of evolution from a Renaissance Festival to what is here now - enough so that people still teleport in and ask where RenFest Isle is, which shows that they do great work. They now share the sim with others who do great work, as noted in their blog, but what's there?

When you teleport in, you land in a Labyrinth which you can fortunately see over and fly over. There were no Minotaur droppings, so I wouldn't be too worried. I decided to follow the directions in the blog.

'Escape!' (Escape blog here)is mainly ladies clothing. Since I don't wear ladies clothing, I can't say much about it BUT I have heard from people who do wear ladies clothing (women) that these are some of the best fashions for women available in SL. In fact, one woman couldn't stop talking about how the shoes she bought at Escape! don't look funny on the dance floor (which I suppose only a woman would notice). Yet there's more in Escape, including homes (RenFest era), witches outfits, and a lot of cool cat avatar stuff - from a bell that jingles to little paw prints you can leave behind as you walk around. And there's the Archery range and Aura Combat System, written by Ferret Bjornson.

At the archery range, for whatever reason, there is a tank there. I'd hate to think of what it could do to a target. I was later told by Ferret that it's part of a new tank game that he's working on - where you can wander around and blow your friends up in their tanks, all within the Aura Combat system and without really hurting each other - sort of like that old coin operated game I can remember playing (Battlezone?). Of course, I saw a great deal of other things as well (you can take a look at the Neverwhere Pictures).

As luck would have it, Ferret showed up in a tiny tiger avatar - a flaming tiny tiger avatar. We hadn't seen each other in a while, so we chatted about this and that and I mentioned the tank at the archery area with an arched eyebrow. Before I knew it, he was in a tank next to me and informed me that it was the tiny version of the tank. I felt a little odd talking to a small furry tiger in a tank, but then - this is SecondLife, and this is Ferret. I've been known to do odd things myself (I almost got banned from RenFest by wearing my thingamajig a few times - where I became an amorphous blob).

Paca's Skulls and Stuff was completely new for me and had some interesting stuff - with space for more. Weapons, glow in the dark skulls, cigarettes, skull staffs that emit particles and thrones. A good Halloween stop.

The Tiny store has all those Tiny avatars so you can wander around being cute. Or, for builders, so you can stop clicking on yourself when you make stuff (which is why I sometimes wear my tiny penguin avatar). There are just too many of these avatars to name here, but I did get my penguin avatar from the same folks and it's very good. I really look like a penguin when I wear it. Of course, tiny avatars have different gestures and animations, and you can find these here as well.

Wynx's Whimsical Wonders has all sorts of interesting stuff - like flying pony avatars. Bunny avatars of different colors, and an ape avatar as well - and pet ravens and bunnies and cats that sit on your shoulder (such as a wizard kitty I bought for a friend). The Mad Cat avatar looks kind of interesting...

Abranimations has all sorts of interesting animations and gestures for your avatar, and even an arm wrestling game. There's a big mousetrap upstairs - go ahead, grab the cheese - I dare you. If you feel the urge to shoot your avatar out of a cannon- they have it. Need a couples animator for playing with your friend? They have it. Dance animations, Chi fighters, Fire Breathing, floating on water... unicycles... too much. Go see yourself. Fun stuff here. I might get the Voodoo Doll, actually.

Flights of Fantasy has all sorts of little avatars. I didn't bug the dancing Noramyr Gullwing in her store (and she has a really cool looking avatar), instead just panning the camera through. If you need ducks, she has them here. Prehistoric, Avian, Mammal, Mythical and Reptilian avatars, as well as the ubiquitous multigadget. Turtles too.

The Halloween store has a bunch of cool stuff for... Halloween. Actually, the whole sim is decorated for Halloween at this time, and Ferret told me there were plans for a party later this month.

Next up - Birdworx. More avian avatars, and a place to fly around with your avian avatar and roost. This is a cool spot to just fly around in; it was designed for the avian-minded, and then Black Feather avatars with - yes - more avian avatars. The selection of avatars on Neverwhere seems almost endless!

The Rest Area has what appears to be a Loch Ness Monster; it was friendly enough and didn't eat me. Nice area to just hang out with a few friends.

The Jade Tree has all sorts of cool furniture inside, and upstairs Bob Bauhaus has some other things like a carrot costume, a bra hat, and... biplane wings. There's some wild stuff in his vendors, worth looking at!

Last on the tour is Dark Skye Designs - stuff made by Skye McCardle, like eyes, candles (which you should keep separate), water fountains, wild wall lights and the promise of jewelry with what appears to be her first necklace. If you do bump into Skye, don't be alarmed. She's a dragon now and then. My AV wears eyes she made because she does great work.

Overall Ratings

The sim doesn't take long to load, and lag seems to be kept to very manageable levels by the experienced sim owners. Textures and stuff might take some time to load here and there on slower connections, but overall - low lag, which is high praise.

The sim itself is well designed, though I did mention I don't like getting tp'd into the center every time I come here. It's a tradeoff - they want people to look at everything, not just go to one store and leave. They've tried to make the sim an experience, and I would have to say that it is a pleasant experience - especially for those newer to SecondLife.

Overall, it looks like fantasy met SecondLife in interesting ways here - where bricks and bushes aren't the theme but used to accent. Where waterfalls aren't overdone, and where... who knows what you'll see with other people, sometimes literally, swooping through.

Neverwhere gets a thumbs up - good sim, good people, fun experience, good stuff, and a Loch Ness monster. Beware tiny tigers in tanks.

The SLurl Neverwhere SLurl should get you there in SecondLife, or just search for Neverwhere under 'places' with your search button in SecondLife.