More Steelhead City Changes

This may be going out of character a bit, bear with me. Fuzzball and The Player are working together to explain everything.


First, I'd like to apologize for the delay in the Jobias storyline. With the recent announcement of Steelhead's expansion plans, the building of the new town hall, and the appointment of new councilors, we've been busy.


Second, interest in Steelhead Harborside has been amazing. Hopefully, everyone will read the covenant and respect our wishes on how the sim is to look. The long term plan for Steelhead was to have up to ten or twelve sims, if at all possible, way things are looking with Harborside, we may be close to that goal by next summer, but don't quote me, may just be six by then.


Third, the overall layout for Steelhead, with all planned expansions, is basically a recreation of the Northwestern United States, Oregon in particular. Our problem being, if you check Steelhead out, Lighthouse Island, which faces the sea, is on the eastern part of the sim. I suggested to Lunar, since Caledon could be considered a colony of the United Kingdom, perhaps Steelhead could be the same. Simply sail west of Oregon, and eventually, you come to this American settlement, and that it's possible to still have that Northwestern feel to it. Another option, see the fourth part below, is flip the sim around. Lunar had another option he may go with, I was just throwing out ideas.


Fourth, it's quite possible that we may move Steelhead to another area on the grid. Lunar's plans for expansion would eventually bring it close to the sim Sleazywood. We may move, we may stay put. Hard to say. So, don't go around saying that we're moving. Nothing is set in stone.


Fifth, This was the reason for this post. How to advertise Steelhead. In the past, we were going along with the term, "Weird Wild West". It was coined by former sheriff/current doctor Darien Mason. At the time, it fit. Unfortunately, as I stated in a different post, the city matured. Oh, we still got the weird, but we needed something catchy that would bring in a curious person who's never been to one of the themed sims (Steelhead, Caledon, Antiquity, New Babbage, etc), and maybe want to stay. Naturally, there was Steampunk, just as Caledon, New Babbage, and a few others have been known for. But....Steelhead needed something different, and NOT because we think we're better. We would never act that way towards our friends from Caledon, New Babbage, Antiquity or related sims. But, you see, Steelhead is..........different.....


Here's an incomplete list of Steelhead resident. One manager (who WON'T wear the tag "Mayor", even though, technically he is) is a Moon Elf. The other manager, "Mrs. Mayor" (I am soooo dead), is our resident girl genius who likes to blow **** up. Our resident doctor, who has lived in Steelhead for over 12 SL Years (two years RLT), has a daughter who's a steam powered android (currently living in Caledon), a son who's a pus.....Neko, his family is cursed, and he also gets a kick out of reanimating the dead (although it's not allowed in Steelhead....."Mayor" said so). And the sheriff, as everyone is well aware, is a werewolf.


So....how best to describe Steelhead, since it's obviously more than just Steampunk. It wasn't until Herr Baron opened up the Europa Consulate in Steelhead, and I learned about the Girl Genius web comic (created by comic book great, Phil Foglio, with his wife, Kaja), that the term.....the proper term to best describe Steelhead City.....was discovered.


Steelhead City is a Gaslamp Fantasy. Gears, fantastic airships, mechanized life and Frankenstein's monsters. Journeys to the bottom of the sea and the center of the Earth, incredible thinking machines and lots of mad scientists--all with a lovely pseudo-historical flair! That was Kaja Foglio's description. She coined the phrase Gaslamp Fantasy. And quite honestly, the whole concept fit Steelhead to a T. Of course, it could also describe Caledon as well, but Steelhead does tend to show more of the fantasy elements. Personally, I think this is the perfect term to use when describing Steelhead, when advertising it.


Steelhead City has a future, and it's looking bright.

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Genius#.22Gaslamp_Fantasy.22

Adding dem dere links

I keep forgetting to add links to other journals......although most everyone probably has all the links already, but what the heck....


Eladrienne Laval recently accepted the position of editor of the Steelhead Anvil. Before, it was only available in world. Now, thanks to Miss Laval, it's now a part of the Wonderful Wide World of Blog. It'll be a monthly "publication", although I'm sure if special needs arise, she'll do a special edition.


The link to it is on the side here. Busy adding more aether journals to the list. More fun to come, stay tuned.

The Expansion Will Soon Begin

I've received word from TotalLunar Eclipse recently, the plans for Steelhead Harborside has been completed. A 3-D map will soon be available of the new sim. This past year has seen some huge changes to Steelhead. All for the better, too. Miss Katt, herself, has expressed how happy she is to see Steelhead's growth.


Lots of people have wanted to see Steelhead grow. Chief among them, Caledon's own Desmond Shang. He had taken Lunar under his wing, and gave him lessons in Desmond Shang's Real Estate 101. It's nice to know that he cares for Steelhead.


Now, I don't think Steelhead will ever grow as large as Caledon. I'd say, maybe, ten to twelve sims total. Then again, it's all a matter of supply and demand. Never know where the path may lead. Naturally, this will all be a ways down the road, but it's great to see it getting started.

CSI:NY In Second Life

Discovered the article in the Metaverse newsletter that I posted the link below. CSI:NY has an upcoming episode that deals with a Jane Doe being murdered, and she looks like an avatar found in Second Life.

For a clip from the upcoming episode (October 24) check here: http://tinyurl.com/32y46h

Oughta be interesting.

Steelhead And Caledon In The News

http://www.metaversemessenger.com/pdf/2007/10/MM20071009.pdf

Scroll down to page 14. There's a very nice article on the recent Harvest Festival that Steelhead City and the Independent State of Caledon held.

Recently found letter

A letter was found in Caledon, dropped by the ever vigilant Caledon Postal Service.....rain, snow, sleet and hail may not stop the post office, but lag.....yea, that's a bitch. Letter was found, when it was discovered who it was from, it was brought to my attention. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, he's back. He's also seems to have done his homework.....


Dear Seigfried,


My faithful butler, how are things in the Old Country? I have found our prey, after all these years. It's true, he left the Old Country in order to search for his sister, the one born without that damnable curse. He has been many things during that quest. A war hero, a gambler, a wanderer.....now, a town is foolish enough to choose him to be a lawman. Steelhead City, located in the Pacific Northwest.


This Grid is a most unusual place. One that definately needs better governing. Too many non-humans are allowed to roam the streets. HE has gained allies amongst citizens of The Grid, both human and other. I have watched them, and studied them, looking for their weaknesses.


I have travelled to the Independent State of Caledon....yes, the same Caledon of legend. His allied are in abundance there:


Lady Amber Palowaski, 15th Baroness of Baeurhoff De Caledon. A woman of magic. Through a few contacts in the Caledonian Underworld, I have learned that she has offered her magical services to him.


Diamanda Gustason, they have come to refer to her as "Lady Whoop-Ass". I have seen this with my own eyes, the woman is superb with the sword.


Hotspur O'Toole. An Irishman. Member of Caledon's MI-5. An enemy of The Dark Ocean Society (get in touch with our contacts in that organization, let's see what they know of him).


These are but a few. As you can tell, he has befriended some high ranking people.


As for Steelhead City, you will be receiving a seperate package, this will include all the information regarding it's citizens.


In particular, there's Doctor Darien Mason, son of Jeremiah Mason. Claims not to be like his father, and is an old war friend of the Lycan, but......as they say, "Like Father, Like Son".
But, have no fear, my faithful manservant, my plans have been put in motion, and I will have my revenge on the Lycan, despite his allies.


Ortega will be disposed of, mark my words. Then.....well, as I said, the Grid needs better governing....perhaps world domination should start here.



Your employer and Master

J. Barthelmess

Oh, Come on, Second Life. Give A Lycan A Break

More redmapping. Become a regular thing in Steelhead. I hate it, not because it's screwing with events that I'm providing the music, but because it's what people are starting to remember Steelhead for.


Perhaps TotalLunar Eclipse might explain this in more detail.....even better if Tensai Hilra had a blog of her own, but this much is certain, Linden Lab has done everything, including moving Steelhead to a different server (more than once if I understood the conversation right), and we're still redmapping. Have no idea what's happening.


Something else that's weird.....I seem to have an early warning system when there's problems in the sim. Seems to be just me, as nobody else I've talked with has seen this. The columns at the Kokopelli Stage, as well as the outer walls on several of the buildings across town, start changing color, kind of a rainbow. Sure enough, when I see that, my stream starts screwing up or the sim will redmap.


As for the stream, having only one computer, I'm not aware of songs skipping or knowing that there are problems hearing the music unless someone tells me......or some asshole is rude about it. Let me assure you, a huge percentage of that issue is due to the problems Steelhead has been facing, a smaller percentage is me having to stream using Winamp (I had SAM by means other than paying for the full version, and lost it when the old computer fried) with Windows Vista (which I think is the reason I'm getting the early warning system scenario, while nobody else is).


I've got a gut feeling that when Steelhead Harborside rises from the depths, and we had several events over there, there would be no issues with the stream. As far as the issues in Steelhead City.......we must be patient. We have two of the best managers in all of The Grid, even though they are frustrated by these circumstances, they haven't given up. We'll get to the bottom of this. As the old saying goes, "Caledon Wasn't Built In A Day"