SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN HEARTS..and other happy valentines from Linden Lab!

SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN HEARTS..and other Happy Valentine’s from Linden Lab!

It’s Valentine’s Day and Second Life is aflutter with love! This year, in addition to the Kiss a Linden, Kiss a Volunteer event and an unveiling of a newly revamped Cupid Linden avatar, we invite you all to explore your world in search of the Valentine’s Day Golden Heart!

Here are the contest rules:

• Contest runs from 12:00am PST (midnight) on Friday, February 13 until 12:00am PST (midnight) February 15
• More than 1000 candy boxes are scattered around Second Life
• These Boxes are filled with candy hearts to collect and trade (including special edition Linden Lab hearts)
• Mixed in are 20 special boxes containing golden hearts
• Those who find the golden hearts will win L$5000 credit at Xstreet SL
• Search the world and find them all!

And, we have a second valentine  for you….

We’ve made it easier to share the love with a new gifting feature on Xstreet.  You can now send a gift directly to any avatar in Second Life.  Here’s how:

• Go to Xstreet, find the gift you want and click on it.
• On the right, you will see box, “Choose Payment Method”

• When you click “Purchase as a gift”, write in the recipient’s name.
• Complete your purchase, and the gift will be delivered to the lucky Resident!

Take our Valentine’s Day Survey

In the future, we’ll be adding new features like registries, and we need your help! We’re sending an email survey to a select group of Residents to help shape these features.  Take the survey and opt-in to a focus group so we can make this product serve your needs.

So send a little love this Valentine’s Day, and make this the year when you don’t have to say, “it’s in the mail”. Of course, you can always claim Friday the 13th….

Happy Valentine’s Day!

FINE PRINT

1. Eligibility. Contest is open to all Second Life® world Residents (“Residents”) in good standing, 18 and older as of the start of the Contest. Residents of embargoed countries, countries where such contests are not legal or where access to the Second Life world has been blocked or disabled, as well as Employees and affiliates of Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”), and their familiies are not eligible to participate. Contest void where prohibited. Subject to all international, federal, state and local laws. No purchase is necessary to enter and win

2. How to Enter. Between the hours of 12:00am PST (midnight) on Friday, February 13 until 12:00am PST (midnight) February 15, explore the Second Life world in search of up to 20 Golden Heart objects. Along the way, you may also discover other special edition Linden Lab Candy Heart boxes scattered around. Click on the Golden Heart to claim it!

3. Prizes. Total Linden Dollars (LS) awarded as prizes: L$100,000, to be awarded to twenty (20) Residents as (20) awards in the amount of L$5000 Xstreet SL credit, There is no monetary value associated with the Prize, and (as with all L$) no promise or guarantee of redemption of any or all L$ awarded. The prize is for entertainment purposes only. Note: you will need an active Xstreet SL account to claim your prize. Register here: http://xstreetsl.com/

4. Prize distribution: Gifts will be awarded by Linden Lab via email, inworld or by mail. Linden Lab will notify winners by mail, in-world or e-mail of procedures for redeeming prize. The prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be exchanged for cash or credit. Winners who do not wish to accept the prize as offered may opt to forfeit the prize. There will be no substitutions. Awards are limited to one award per each natural (actual “real world”) person.

XStreet SL and OnRez to Join Linden Lab!

Xstreet SL and OnRez to Join Linden Lab!
Today we are very happy to share some exciting news with you: Linden Lab has acquired Xstreet SL and OnRez – the two leading Web-based marketplaces for buying and selling creations for Second Life. Over the past few months we’ve been working with the folks at Virtuatrade and the Electric Sheep Company to hammer out the details, and today is the first day that we’ve been able to talk openly about this next step in our evolution.

The Next Chapter for Xstreet SL and OnRez
First off, we’d like to congratulate both teams for their vision, passion and commitment. Xstreet SL and OnRez succeeded because they provided great opportunities for merchants, built delightful experiences for shoppers, and fostered dynamic and creative communities. Hats off to them!

We’d especially like to welcome Apotheus Silverman and the Xstreet SL team.  Apotheus and key members of his team will be joining Linden Lab to integrate the Xstreet SL platform deeply into Second Life. This new team will shape our future plans and will continue to provide the high standard of service and support that Xstreet SL customers have come to expect.

Welcome Xstreet SL and OnRez merchants and shoppers!
Our second order of business is to extend a warm welcome to the merchants and shoppers of Xstreet SL and OnRez. The Xstreet SL and OnRez communities are (and will continue to be) critical to the success of those marketplaces, and we look forward to partnering with you and providing a fun and engaging shopping experience. As we go forward towards a single, unified Second Life marketplace, we are excited to build on the work that you, along with Xstreet SL and OnRez teams, have done.

I am an Xstreet SL/OnRez merchant or shopper, what should I do now?
Our goal is make this transition as smooth as possible for you in the weeks ahead. Because our plan is to build on the Xstreet SL platform, so this will be a painless transition for Xstreet SL merchants: your business will continue as usual. Check out the FAQ here for more details.

For Xstreet SL shoppers, no action is necessary as your balances and account information will be unaffected.

We will continue to operate the OnRez marketplace until February 11, 2009.  Before that date, OnRez merchants who don’t already have an Xstreet SL account should create an Xstreet SL account and move their assets, balances and account information over to it. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Details on creating an Xstreet SL account are here.

If you are an OnRez shopper with a current balance, please transfer your account balances to a Second Life account before February 11, 2009.

New Opportunities
For many residents, shopping inworld is one of the most engaging parts of Second Life.  But as many Xstreet SL and OnRez users already know, having a web marketplace to browse and search is a great way to find new designers, keep up with the latest creations,  or just find that perfect gift/texture/dress/home/weapon/couch. Our goal is to make the web marketplace a wonderful complement to inworld shopping and a great benefit for all Residents.

Bringing these marketplaces together under the Linden Lab banner will unlock new and exciting opportunities for merchants. We can make it easier for new Residents to discover the wealth of products that can enrich their Second Life experience, and this in turn offers the opportunity for new users to become more invested in Second Life. We look forward to helping you reach new customers, promote your businesses, and build your sales.

There is also potential to evolve the shopping experience with new tools (sharable wish lists, anyone? Gifting to non-Residents? Scheduled deliveries?) and capabilities. But like Amazon or Ebay, the core of the experience will always be about efficiency.  Kitting out your avatar, buying a house/castle/skybox, or getting your inworld business off of the ground can be done in minutes. The range of offerings is both impressive and accessible and the goods are delivered inworld quickly. And because the shopping experience is browser-based, it’s easy to shop from work (on your lunch hour, naturally!)

If you haven’t visited Xstreet SL yet, check it out.

Let us know your thoughts
While there are many exciting features to contemplate, we’re in the very early stages of this project and we have plenty of work ahead of us just to get the basic integration done. We will have much more to say about what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts about what you would like to see or what would be the most beneficial to you and your inworld business. We invite you to join us in the forums, check out the acquisition FAQs, or simply browse for something to buy.