interview | Aemilia Case

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Ana Lutetia | 2 Comments

1 – How did you discover Second Life and what made you create an account?
A friend from Halsoft chat told me to check it out, she had already taken me to There.com, which was fascinating. She got me to sign up after showing me a picture of her AV and tp’d me out of the orientation area as soon I rezzed in. I was pretty much stuck after that. SL fascinates me still to this day.

2 – How did you come up with your Second Life name?
Aemilia is a name I had in There, so dragged it over so i could remember it. The last name is less exciting than that even. I was scrolling through all the last names and was getting impatient, so stopped on the C’s. Figured Case wasn’t so bad and grabbed it.

3 – Lots of people only stay inSL for a week or a month after creating an account. What made you stay and what motivates you to log back in?
I get stubborn and dig my heels in hard. My computer couldn’t run SL back then properly, the lag was horrid and an fps of 3 didnt make it conducive to looking around a lot. Soon as i could i got an upgrade on the pc, dsl etc and came back to poke. I was a major explorer then and loved seeing all the different things, architecture, water, animals and avs.

4 – What have you been doing in SL? Tell us your story: what have you been up to or what have you created.
I started creating things in SL mid 2007, mostly accessories under the brand Philotic Energy, that led to making hair to try something different. I have just rebranded to Fusemelon, and trying my hand at clothing, jewellery and more hair. Heaps of fun and huge learning curves for me. I always like to challenge myself with different things.

5 – Have you found, developed or improved any skills because of SL?
Oh wow, everything? I used to “paint” avs in Halsoft chat using paint shop pro. I’ve taught myself photoshop specifically for SL, anything I need to learn i generally hunt down tutorials or bug people till i understand something. I have never worked in a 3d environment before so learning to build was a massive learning curve. I am trying to take those skills to other 3d programs to learn how to sculpt properly. So textures, building, photoshop, a ton of things I wouldnt have done before joining SL.

6 – Could you share a funny or awkward story that happened to you inSL?
When I first started in SL, I had no clue about home locations and whatnot. I had gone exploring and logged out poking around someone’s house, from memory it was still being built. The next time i logged in I saw in local chat “I really don’t mind you using this as your home base but it would be nice if you changed it to the lounge room”. I was mortified, I’d rezzed inworld on top of a couple in bed. Needless to say I got out of there quick smart and made sure I logged out in open area from then on in.

7 – What would you change or improve in Second Life?
I’d love to see improved content permissions on objects/clothing. I’d adore having a better Av mesh as the one we have is way outdated now and really needs fixing. I really want flexi sculpts to come in, that I think is going to have as big an impact on designs as flexi and local lighting had way back when.

8 – Can you share your current and/or future projects for SL?
Currently I am working my butt off trying to make more things for Fusemelon, hitting that painful learning curve with clothing but getting there. Looking forward to a few collaborations with people that I think is going to be completely awesome.

9 – Have you ever had any issues whatsoever within Second Life? If so, how did you reported and was the feedback positive?
I’ve had a few things copybotted, done the report thing. Now most of it is in biab boxes so not much can really be done. I’ve had great support from customers and friends regarding that sort of thing. One thing is I won’t give up, no matter how many times it feels like a punch in the stomach.

10 – Is Second Life merely an online game or do you consider it more of a metaverse or a virtual world?
Second Life is definitely a virtual world. Real people are behind those avatars and real emotions that go with them. Like any world there is going to be conflict, love, sadness and a vast range of emotions. It has never been “just a game” to me.

11 – Imagine a new resident asks for your help. What would do? What would you tell him/her?
I love helping new people out. I always have. I have folders set up for different landmarks to learn, get them started and some fun places to go to that I keep updated regularly. I also have a couple of new resident kits that i often give out. I got given so much when i first started by so many people and I love to give that back to new people. Second Life can be so so confusing to start with, if I can help out that little bit it makes it worth it.

12 – How would you describe yourself in one word?
Funky

Your urls

Blog: http://aemiliacase.wordpress.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aemilia_case/
SLurls: http://slurl.com/secondlife/descolada/95/104/31/

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