Thank you all for joining us for the THIRD ANNIVERSARY of Velvet Thorn (and my fourth rezday :-) We are a strong vibrant community and VT could not be all that it is without all of you and what you bring to the sim. We have over 3500 members, It would be more but I went through and cleared out any who have not logged in the past year, tidy sim, tidy group, LOL.
This is the sixth build in the Velvet Thorn. So why the twice a year rebuilds, you might ask? Well the answer is complex and it is simple. I love to create community and I love to build and that is reflected in the sim. Each iteration of the sim has been built using what I have observed of how the sim is used and the sum of the feedback I have received.
This new build is a fairly large departure from the previous ones in that I wanted more play on the ground with room for more “public play” on the “wild side” while keeping the casual chat area and the same VT that you know and love “inside” the Grand Salle and Shopping Gallery here.
At the moment the only play area in the sky is the medical center, which Duchess Raffila has set up there, you can get to it from the sign up behind the fountain. I am not sure if the other play areas will go back in up there, it will depend on demand and available prims once we are done here on the ground.
We have updated rules today, which you can get from the entry fountain or the rule signs up around the sim. Not a great deal has changed, we have mostly tightened the wording. One thing that has changed is that while nudity “inside” is not allowed, once you are over the river to the wild side you can be as nakies as you wanna be and run through the bushes (please don’t moon the swans hehe it makes them cranky). :-D
I would like to ask you all to help us as we transition into more public play. Play is for us all to have FUN, it is not for creating drama and mayhem. Please use common sense and good manners when engaging in public play, particularly with those you don’t know well.
We are always open to suggestions here, but please don’t take it personally if all suggestions can’t be worked in. There are a lot of considerations but ideas are welcomed, because, hey, we can’t think of everything!
We put a lot of thought and discussion into balancing the needs of our members. Those needs are many and varied:
- How to retain and maintain the safe comfortable chat area
- How to get more public play in sim, for those who enjoy it
- How to keep the merchants in the mall (who’s rents pay for this sim) happy and continuing on with us over time.
- How to improve the “findability” of things in the sim- from play areas to information about the sim.
I would like to give a special thank you to all of our Duchesses and Staff, both current and past for all of their dedication to Velvet Thorn. Please join me in giving a hand to our current hard working duchesses:
- Vixanne Dreamscape – Grand Duchess and my right hand in the sim.
- AdyBa Quinnell
- Dita VonTheas
- Eve Terr
- Frifta Orellana
- Laura Garmes
- Mistress Zadark
- Raffila Millgrove
- Twilight Xaris
The staff is too numerous to list here, and include many hard working and dedicated staff, from our DJs and Teachers to our subby minions. And one more special thanks to Kornet (as subby minion) for all his hard work setting prims to their perfect mathematical centers for me around the build and sweeping up my building dust.
I never wanted VT to be “Star’s One Woman Show” sim and it really heartens me to see the way that even when I am not here, the community takes care of itself, and continues to grow and thrive. I think that is a truly rare and wondrous thing in SL. The Velvet Thorn is my labor of love, but it is only as great as its members and supporters. And hey y’all, YOU ROCK! :-DDDD
