interview | Ryker Beck

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Ana Lutetia | 1 Comment

1 – How did you discover Second Life and what made you create an account?
I discovered Second Life through a real life friend a little over three years ago now. He made a remark in passing about Second Life, I asked “What’s Second Life?” He couldn’t tell me in any exact words, so I ended up googling it later that night. Eventually I signed up.

2 – How did you come up with your Second Life name?
Around the time I made Ryker (she was actually my second account, my first was created in November 2006), I was acquainted with a girl who had a dog that I thought was the most adorable thing ever – and the dog’s name was Ryker. So… as embarrassing as it is to admit, I’m actually named after a dog. Barry Manilow, eat your heart out.

3 – Lots of people only stay in SL for a week or a month after creating an account. What made you stay and what motivates you to log back in?
I was actually one of those people that only stayed for a week or a month. I played for about two months and then left for three. I came back for a bit and nearly left again! If it wasn’t for a friend of mine suggesting I get into photography, I probably would have. But once I actually discovered the possibilities of creation in Second Life, I was hooked. I continuously looked for new ways to create.

4 – What have you been doing in SL? Tell us your story: what have you been up to or what have you created.
Well, I began as a photographer and slowly progressed into content creation. I started creating jewelry in SL in January 2008. I opened my first shop, Beck’s Fine Jewelry, on the Bucaresti sim. After about a month, I got too busy in real life to bother much with it, so I just sort of let it dwindle for months. In October 2008, I rebranded and participated in the jewelry sale, where I became Genesis. That was when I really put time and effort into things. In March 2009, I created my first skin, Eden. May 2009 brought about another rebranding to what my store is now – Exodi (an out with the old, in with the new sort of thing). I now create jewelry, eyes, clothing, shapes and skins, and soon – gadgets!

5 – Have you found, developed or improved any skills because of SL?
I’ve been working with Photoshop since Photoshop 4, but I can honestly say that nothing has encouraged me to learn more about the program, the way it works, and the most effective way to accomplish certain things within it more than SL has. I’ve also managed to brush up my programming skills (I develop PHP applications in real life in my spare time, and LSL is shockingly similar to PHP), and have developed an ever-growing love of photography in both lives.

6 – Could you share a funny or awkward story that happened to you in SL?
Hmm! There have been so many incredibly funny things happen in my SL! Especially in the last year I’ve spent with my husband and partner, Dion Bracken. He and I spend a lot of time exploring and generally goofing off when we have time. But some of the most fun times we have is when we’re watching movies together in our skybox – that is always epically funny when we have each other on Skype to yell at about the movie. One of the more recent funny experiences we had was exploring Octoberville. We were both dying laughing as we stalked Master Kaos to take pictures with him in his many, many halloween costumes.

7 – What would you change or improve in Second Life?
I would change the asset server. There is nothing like living in fear of losing your hard earned work. I obsessively back up nearly every texture and sculpt I make now.

8 – Can you share your current and/or future projects for SL?
Currently, I am working on my 5th female skin and my first male one. I always have jewelry ideas popping in and out of my head as well. There is also the gadget-lover side of me that has started developing gadgets, like my soon-to-be-released treasure hunt system which will allow for much more random placement and the actual need to hunt. I’ve also built a skybox that I’ll be texturebaking and texturing eventually. Honestly, there’s too much on the horizon for my SL that I can hardly keep track of it all!

9 – Have you ever had any issues whatsoever within Second Life? If so, how did you reported and was the feedback positive?
Well, everyone has had issues with SL, I’ve yet to meet a person who hasn’t. The griefers and thieves being the most prevalent and annoying presence in SL in my opinion. Filing an AR is about the only thing one can do I imagine, but we all know how those go.

10 – Is Second Life merely an online game or do you consider it more of a metaverse or a virtual world?
I consider it a virtual world, where people come to love, laugh, play and create. It’s something that has opened my eyes to a whole new love of virtual world development and content creation, and I wouldn’t change that for anything, despite all its flaws and problems.

11 – Imagine a new resident asks for your help. What would do? What would you tell him/her?
Honestly, I’m such a hermit these days that I don’t usually encounter any new residents, but if I did, I’d gladly point them to my favorite stores, the Gnubie Store, and let them know that there is more to this metaverse than just the ability to chat with your friends. That’s what I had to discover on my own – once you realize there is more to SL than just a glorified virtual chatroom, it’s like your eyes are no longer glazed over and you think, “Oh… this could be very, very interesting.”

12 – How would you describe yourself in one word?
Complex. You never know what you’ll get out of me. Or what the next surprise will be.

URLS
Blog: http://www.exodionline.com | http://www.rykerbeck.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rykerbeck
SLurls: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zion/143/163/22

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