Whither Logica?

You may have noted that my rate of posting has dropped somewhat in recent times. Now while I admit that I am spending less time in Second Life, and when I do I am often engaged in building and scripting stuff - I think there is something else going on here. I do still spend way too much time looking for new (or at least, new to me) non-residential islands. However, the chances are few of stumbling upon something new and of sufficient interest as to justify the hassle of putting a post together. Oddly, there's actually a clutch of places I really like, but have not written about (yet). However, I sort of 'missed the moment', failed to write about them and now don't feel fired to do so.

But I digress... I think the main reason why I am finding it a struggle to locate new corporate sims, is that the flood has slowed to a trickle. Sure, I am probably missing many thrilling new sims - but I don't get the impression there is that much happening out there. In fact, it looks like the tide may really be receding - for now at least. I recently noted that BWM had left Second Life. Today, while doing a routine search I noticed that the sim belonging to Logica CMG no longer appeared on the Second Life map either.

I have not seen any announcement about this, and perhaps there is another explanation, but for all the World it looks like they've not renewed their maintenance and the island has been reclaimed. A shame, given the effort that had gone into building it in the first place.

If you know of new corporate sites - or indeed anything non-residential and worth the trip - then do let me know. Alternatively, if you know what's happened to the Logica CMG sim, then I'd love to hear.

Logica CMG Revisited

Back in April last year I wrote a piece on European IT giant, Logica CMG and their (then) new - and eponymous - presence in Second Life. At the time, this was planned to be a largely private sim, providing meeting and networking facilities for Logica staff, and it was modelled as a sort of laid-back beachfront, with a lot of water, a few low-key constructions and a chunk of beach. Maybe this reveals how my memory works, but today I was squinting over the map when I noticed Logica CMG again - and I could see immediately that the sim was totally different from the incarnation I witnessed 8 months ago. So I poked the teleport button and went to have a look.

The island is indeed radically different. For one thing, it now seems to be aimed at the outside world, rather than the internal, company world. It is still, despite the company's international credentials, a Dutch build. For example, one of the buildings is only too happy to give me information on the company's many locations - provided I stick within The Netherlands. There's an auditorium, informal meeting and dancing areas, and a number of information zones. There is also a plethora of mini-skyscrapers, emblazoned in the company's non-too-fetching yellow and grey livery, that seem to serve no particular function at the moment. It is a very.... "busy"... place. There's a lot crammed in here, and the cramming is made somewhat claustrophobic by the presence of glass walls and corridors - a lot of glass walls and corridors. Quite what benefit these provide I do not know. The overall impression I have is of a giant hamster cage - though mercifully without the giant hamster.

As far as I can tell, the build is not quite finished. There were a few rough edges, default textures and the like, that are no doubt being ironed out. While I admire the zeal with which they have applied themselves to squeezing so much into a single sim, to me it feels confusing and overdone. I think the old maxim that "sometimes less is more" is something worth pondering. To be blunt, I think the first incarnation worked better - at least, it worked better for me. And here are a few snaps to ponder: