Alphaville Herald

Interview with Phil Murdock of Empire Vendors

Snow and Phil

In this interview Miravoir Psaltry talks to Phil Murdock, who with Snow Hare heads up the Empire Vendors Group. They turned sex toys and sex animations into an empire! Their story follows.

MS: When I first happened on your store, it was just a small stall with your ball sets. Now you have a corporation (empire) and an entire shopping mall. Would you tell me a bit about the journey from so small a beginning?

PM: My wife Snow Hare and I while playing purchased some of the sex toys back in July and we just weren't happy with them. I was very familiar with poser and had been using it for years. So I decided to give it a shot and try to make some. We made one or two animations and got a great reponse from people who tried them. Motivated by that I made more and more till we have what you see today. I usually try to add one or two a week. It has been a real team effort with my wife Snow Hare and I. She built several pieces of the sex furniture and inspired many of the animations we carry.

PM: The mall started out with just a few friends. 90% of the vendors in my mall have stalls for free. Just fun to have some variety.

MS: How many Members are in Empire Inc?

PM: Well Empire Vendors is our vendor group. It currently has 17 members.

MS: What sort of products do you carry?

PM: Sex toys, sex animations, and sex furniture. We also carry Snow Hare's scripted High Heels, Santana's skins, Mash's funiture, Valladez and Annah's goth and bondage funiture, Lil one's plants, and much more lol.

MS: I noticed you have a lot of BDSM sort of toys, are those the most profitable for you? If not, which are?

PM: They do make money, but the standard sex balls are the bread and butter. They outsell everything else 10 to 1.

MS: What do you think makes a great sex toy?

PM: Intimacy. My best selling animations are the ones that are the closest together and has the most body contact.

MS: Why do you suppose your corporation is so popular?

PM: Variety, low price, and great customer service.

MS: Stroker Serpentine used to be the major ball animations designer. Do you feel you've surpassed his popularity? How would you compare yourself to him?

PM: When most of the major clubs came to me to replace their Stroker furniture with mine I was pretty sure I had passed him. When I first started making balls I had a handful and asked them if I could put a display at their store Eros. I was turned down. Earlier this week they asked me if they could setup at my store and I turned them down :)

MS: Why did you include shoes among your adult items? (I love your shoes by the way - bought tons of them)

PM: First off I had virtually nothing to do with the shoes. I did about 1% of the work on them. Snow Hare my wife designed and made every pair of those shoes. Everybody loves them and I am so proud of her. She got the idea one day I tossed together an animation for her and she has been making the best shoes in Second Life every since.

MS: What do you foresee in the future for Empire Inc?

PM: We are working on new items and new ways of making them work better. Second Life changes daily and we are trying to keep up. We have no grand plan just to have fun and make the best product we can.

MS: if a designer was interested in joining your group, what would be your qualifications in including them?

PM: All of the Sex animations and Furniture were made by Snow and I. Some of the work was inspired by a third party, but it was all done by us. Our vendors are friends or the pick of the litter from some of the best designers in SL. Its invite only.

MS: How do you pay your designers?

PM: I kiss Snow everyday. There is nobody else lol. We also have profit sharing on some of the items we both worked on.

Hamlet the Fashion Maven

Hamlet Linden has been busy on New World Notes reporting on the New World Notes Fashion Expo, so if this is something of interest to you I highly recommend u check it out. Included are some extended discussions with our friend Mistress Midnight and a brief chat with Cherry Bomb Hare, who gets an honorable mention (but *we* say she gets Five Gold Stars!). I'm ambivalent on this whole fashion thing and the way the Linden's hype it. I won't be impressed until I see r/l fashion designers use SL to prototype their designs or until some SL designers begin selling their designs in r/l.

Second Skin, part 5: Mistress Midnight

By Miravoir Psaltry

Believe it or not this is the 5th SL skin artist we've talked to. Previously in this series of interviews we spoke with Chip Midnight, Santana Lumiere, and CherryBomb Hare and Kathmandu Gilman. In this installment we speak with Mistress Midnight, best known for her elegant and sensual goth skins.

Miravoir: what is your focus in skin art, are you going for direct photorealism, or do you paint your designs?

Mistress Midnight ----Not so much going for photo realism, I dont want Pores and zits on my real face, so why would i want it in sl :) hehe

Miravoir: i noticed many photorealistic skins are either mottled or have seams at the arms, if you use photos, how do you overcome that

Mistress Midnight ----I feather in a solid color, all of my skins are seam free :) --i hate seams! to me, it may take 10 more uploads, but i won't be happy until its seamless

Miravoir: why did you decide to go with your style?

Mistress Midnight----I am not sure, I guess from the skins that are out right now, im constantly getting requests to have my makeup added to it, so i figured, i'd just do some myself :)

Miravoir: what is your philosophy of beauty?

Mistress Midnight----Beauty is a personal thing, whatever makes you feel confident will make you glow, and a glow can come through in attitude, so clearly visible in game :)

Miravoir: how much are your skins

Mistress Midnight----My skins are $3500 with 4 makeup textures included, right now i have light, dark, and gothic skins --modifications are 1k

Miravoir: how much detail do you put into your skins

Mistress Midnight----Everything that I would like, i put in, i have textured stud earrings on my personal one, and a silver tooth in the back too :) no one can actually see it, but i guess its my skin trademark :)

Miravoir: What is your favorite design?

Mistress Midnight: My favorite design is my goth skin...

Miravoir: Thanks so much for your time :)

Mistress Midnight: You're welcome

Francis Chung: Hugs and Guns

Kudos to Hamlet Linden over on New World Notes, for his two part story on the legendary SL scripter, Francis Chung, who not only has made the best guns in SL (the Seburo Compact-Exploder) but now has made the best hugging animation too! Erm, as you all know, I?m not down with hugging, but I?ve included some pics of the gun. Of special interest in Hamlet?s story is the integration of thus gun into a PvP system.

Seburo Compact-Exploder


Uri is strapped!

some of the detail

Interview with virtual erotica publisher, Marilyn Murphy

Marilyn Murphy is the publisher and force of nature behind Players Magazine in Second Life. After I contacted her about the possibility of an interview she summoned me to her mansion where I was greeted by a scripted message bot called ?son of man.? I found Ms. Murphy holding court, with two lovely and intelligent subs (Nathalie and Sara) at her call. After Nathalie regaled us with recitations of passages from William Blake's Book of Urizen, Marilyn and I sat down to chat, with Sara kneeling at her side. Our discussion ranged from Marilyn?s history in SL, to the mechanics of publishing a virtual skin magazine, to they ways in which Players deliberately evokes the Playboy aesthetic. Why does she imitate Playboy when there are so many other possibilities? Read on to find out?

son of man: Hello Urizenus Sklar. Welcome to the Players Magazine Mansion.
son of man: Please come in and look around.
Marilyn Murphy: may i call u uri??
You: yup!
You: pleasure to meet you
Sara Bauer: Hi Uri
You: hey sara
Nathalie Jensen: Pleasure to meet Urizen , lord of rationality :)
Nathalie Jensen: ...eternals, I hear your call gladly...
Nathalie Jensen: dictate your swift winged words of wisdom...
You: haha someone has been reading William Blake!
You: anyway Marilyn, any chance I can interview you for the Second Life Herald?
Marilyn Murphy: uri have you done any background on me?? do u already know anything about me
You: nope, lol
Marilyn Murphy: okay? then yes
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
Nathalie Jensen: Mistress, can I take an hour off :) ? or is it more convenient later
Marilyn Murphy: no do it now hun
Marilyn Murphy: go have fun
Nathalie Jensen: thanks :)
You: congrats on your sub
Marilyn Murphy: she is special
Marilyn Murphy: sara
Sara Bauer: yes?
Marilyn Murphy: kneel hun
Marilyn Murphy: you forget urself
Sara Bauer: yes mistress

Sara (on knees) attends while Marilyn talks to Uri

Marilyn Murphy: so where were we uri
You: if now is a good time we should find a place to talk.
Marilyn Murphy: okay
Marilyn Murphy: just stay with me sara u can go later
Sara Bauer: yes mistress
You: Ok, Marilyn, maybe we'll start with some context setting historical questions..
You: is SL the first MMORPG you have been in?
Marilyn Murphy: yes
You: when did you join?
Marilyn Murphy: i came here from solitaire
You: when was that?
Marilyn Murphy: 7/23/03
You: were you in the bdsm lifestyle before you got here?
Marilyn Murphy: oh you mean d/s no not at all
You: so you discovered it here?
Marilyn Murphy: yes
Marilyn Murphy: about january i actually studied and learned what it was about// still learning of course// before that i had been approached quite a bit to be domme due to my gaming practices
You: is that before or after you started Players?
Marilyn Murphy: i started Players in january
Marilyn Murphy: i had closed my club and retired, retirement did not suit me
You: What kind of club did you run earlier?
Marilyn Murphy: i ran the first successful exotic dance club in the game
Marilyn Murphy: club vogue
You: For my readers, what is an exotic dance club in SL?
Marilyn Murphy: they call them strip clubs now// its very different from the club i ran tho
You: there must not have been many dance animations then
Marilyn Murphy: no, i worked out two routines using the limited ones available, and had set music i danced to
You: did you have many dancers?
Marilyn Murphy: about 6
You: Why did you decide to start publishing Players?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, i was bored, and i read in the forums that no publication had made a go of it in sl// seemed that they were trying to publish how to guides and tech manuals and wondering why they did not sell
You: hahah
Marilyn Murphy: and i thought, doh.... uh.. what would sell
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
You: did you have any experience in publishing?
Marilyn Murphy: none. Total experiment.
You: ok, so did you do this on your own or did you pull together some friends to help you?
Marilyn Murphy: well I hunted down people i knew and brow beat them into writing
You: hahaha
Marilyn Murphy: i did have a 1/3 partner on the first issue, but there were problems, and i took it solo after that
You: ok...In the Second Life Herald I speculated that this was the first erotic magazine of/for avatars. As far as you know is that true?
Marilyn Murphy: without a doubt
You: so Erogenous Zone came later?
Marilyn Murphy: yus
You: any other competition in SL now?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, i dont feel that i have any competition now
You: haha, *attempted* competition
Marilyn Murphy: someone runs to me and says did u hear they are putting out a new magazine...etc...etc... i hear that 6 times a month
You: lol
Marilyn Murphy: and i think i have seen like two others out personally for sale
You: ok, now how do you find people to be centerfolds or models or whatever we want to call them
Marilyn Murphy: i am approached by many
Marilyn Murphy: i will scout for it also
Marilyn Murphy: i like to find them on my own really
You: You look for talent in clubs?
Marilyn Murphy: no
Marilyn Murphy: just anywhere
You: do they get paid?
Marilyn Murphy: no
Marilyn Murphy: the first 3 issues did
You: they do it for fame?
Marilyn Murphy: no i dont think so
Marilyn Murphy: its fun
You: so they do it just for fun, yeah
Marilyn Murphy: yes
Marilyn Murphy: i do get turned down
Marilyn Murphy: it has happened
Marilyn Murphy: aimee weber wont do it, launa fauna wont, sigh, my holy grails
You: what does a copy of the magazine cost now?
Marilyn Murphy: 85 lindens
You: can you say anything about sales? Like how many copies you sell per issue?
Marilyn Murphy: i sell enuff to meet expenses
You: Well, what are the expenses?
You: not the numbers, but what costs do you run into
Marilyn Murphy: uploading photos, for every layout i upload over 20 pics, then i pay for articles
You: how much do you pay for articles?
Marilyn Murphy: depends on the article
You: do you pay by word?
Marilyn Murphy: nope
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
You: ok, now I've only seen edition 6, and I sort of had the impression that its content was very much like that of a r/l mens magazine. is that just a function of the issue I saw?
Marilyn Murphy: they are playboy for sl
Marilyn Murphy: this mansion is the playboy mansion for sl
You: ok, so that is the intension. It's a little surprising that you don't have much content aimed at the bdsm lifestyle
Marilyn Murphy: i dont understand why that would be surprising i guess
You: well, there is a large community in the lifestyle here...
You: and you are a member...
You: and it seems that given the opportunity to start fresh you might do something different rather than something so similar to Playboy format
Marilyn Murphy: nope
You: well ok, why
Marilyn Murphy: it is not broken
You: so don't fix it?
Marilyn Murphy: yus
You: Have you thought about releasing other magazines? -- starting a publishing empire?
Marilyn Murphy: this is way more already than i really want// the work load is staggering, each model i publish in the magazine takes about 4 hours to shoot, edit and go over then file and name.
Marilyn Murphy: and that?s not dealing with writers
You: on average how many hours a day do you spend on the magazine?
Marilyn Murphy: go deal with writers for a day
Marilyn Murphy: oh, some days i just don?t do anything
You: but if you averaged it out over a month...
Marilyn Murphy: its like, okay i know i have a deadline i set
Marilyn Murphy: and because i am not getting some stuff i need i know its going to be missed
Marilyn Murphy: and i rush like mad to at least get the photography done
Marilyn Murphy: so for a week i work all day every day on it
Marilyn Murphy: then i chase writers when i am done with mine
Marilyn Murphy: then i publish
You: How does the distribution in game work?
Marilyn Murphy: i have friends who let me display in their stores,
Marilyn Murphy: and i go put up displays
You: How many distribution stands do you think you have?
Marilyn Murphy: about 25 i think
You: can you say whether your sales are in the hundreds of copies?
Marilyn Murphy: i can
You: ok... now when I posted a couple centerfolds on the Herald I got some comments...
You: some people say... this is sick. others say, this is silly. Any reaction to those reactions?
Marilyn Murphy: those people are not my customers
You: you don't know, maybe they are, lol
Marilyn Murphy: could be
Marilyn Murphy: its fun
Marilyn Murphy: the bottom line is its fun, profit be damned
You: but let's face it, for some people it?s not just cute, but is a masturbatory aid, no?
Marilyn Murphy: if they choose to use it in that fashion i am sure the girls would be very flattered
You: well have you thought about the differences between your erotica and Playboy? is there a difference?
Marilyn Murphy: none
You: no difference?
Marilyn Murphy: i pose girls in a tasteful way, i never show sex acts, its very mild porn, i don?t even think of it as porn,.. its not porn to me, its displaying talent, the ability to make an attractive female avatar with the tools provided, and i display that beauty at its best
You: well ok, but now some people will object like this: why use your talent to recapitulate the playboy aesthetic of women as childlike innocents? why not do something new different edgier?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, look, detractors complain about anything, you cant walk across the street without someone thinking u walk funny, let em say what they will, the girls who pose tell me its a lot of fun, its fun for me, and what are we here for???

The Erogenous Zone: SL?s Erotica Magazine

A couple days ago we introduced you to Players ? the first virtual men?s magazine, complete with nude avatar centerfolds. The Erogenous Zoneis a little different ? a virtual magazine devoted to erotica more broadly construed. Available only in game, it includes illustrated erotic stories, poetry, centerfolds (yes of avatars), and some nice info on erotic-ready clubs. Four issues have appeared so far, and we understand that issue 5 will be on the stands shortly. Adults may read on for a few screenshots. Children, avert your eyes!


What does 'erotic' mean to me? Hmmmm....

Afterglowmaker Friendricks' Story about a woman getting her first Estes Rocket

I like cartoons, but this one was kind of hard for me to follow...

Call me oldfashioned, but shouldn't a centerfold be, like, naked? I guess this is the difference between porn and erotica.

In this illustrated story a Secondlifer discovers what the biking lifestyle is REALLY all about.

The cover of Volume 3: members of species Odonata and Lepidoptera engage in an interspecies embrace.

Players: The World?s First Avatar Skin Mag?

I?m not sure if these things exist elsewhere, but Players magazine in Second Life is certainly the first virtual Nudie Magazine (ahem, I mean Mens magazine) that I have seen and its also the first I?ve seen (virtual or otherwise) in which all the nudes are avatars. As far as I know it?s only available in game (nicely bundled together as a series of notecards and image files and available for 80 Lindens). I?ve appended some of the pics below, but actually, I only buy it ?for the articles.? And they are quite excellent. In issue 6, which am reading, there is an interview with ex-TSO denizen Big John Jade, who now runs the controversial Club Elite, and An Ingenue reports on her discovery of the BDSM scene:

?My first question was, what sort of person enjoyed being a Dom/me. I was directed to a few very high profile ones and sat down with them to talk. One word that was used by all of them was "nurturing". They all considered themselves as nurturers that tended to the needs of their pets.?

Calling Dyerbrook?


The fabulous Jillian poses for Players.

The lovely Karma bares her fangs (and everything else) for Players.

The striking Loki strikes a pose in Players.

i saw it: waiting for godot

--humdog

last night i attended a performance of act 1 of waiting for godot at the diamond memorial theatre in Alphaville (TSO). if you haven't got a ticket yet, see if you can get one because it is one of the most interesting theatre experiences i have had in a long time.

the play will run july 9th through july 11th, and tickets are mostly already sold out except for the saturday matinee.

pierce entertainment is really to be congratulated for the ingenuity and brilliance with which they brought this play to the stage using the rather limited set of interactions provided to sims. they managed to convey a wide range of emotions and gestures that made the play come alive in a very convincing manner.

beckett's play is a difficult, although masterful, exercise in what, in lesser hands than the pierce company, would have been pure monotony. the play, written in 1949, is about a group of people waiting for an appointment with a person named godot. we never learn much about godot.

david pierce, eliza collins, shawn ryan II, charlize theron, and suni each brought energy and a dynamic dimension to their roles -- sound was carried over radio 365 -- that made the play come to life. this company really did a great job with this play.

sims can get tickets, if available, for a performance this way: if tickets are available, the property information will say so, starting an hour before the scheduled performance. this is, i think, the hottest ticket in alphaville right now.

don't miss it!

July 10 addition by uri: Here are the screen shots...

Gaming Open Market dumps PayPal for YowCow

As reported earlier, GOM has ceased transactions in all markets except Second Life. As of July 9, they are also dumping PayPal for the payment service YowCow. Apparently YowCow is being more helpful about payments for virtual goods.Meanwhile, this issue has generated a lot of heat on Terra Nova. Jamie Hale's latest press release follows.

It's funny. I have a very short attention span, and yet I frequently write enough volume to bore even the most patient of people. With that in mind, I've put the important bits at the top here. Those of you with lots of time on your hands, please feel free to read my rantings that follow.

1) As of midnight eastern time on July 9 2004, Gaming Open Market will no longer take deposits from or send withdrawals to PayPal accounts. As of that time, we will begin transferring all remaining cash on deposit to our master YowCow account. YowCow will be the main payment service, although we will make Interac and e-gold transactions more accessible. If you leave your cash with us past July 9, you will simply have to choose another method of withdrawal - your GOM account balance will remain!

2) Effective immediately, trading of all game currency *except* the Second Life L$ is terminated. Without the combined support of the game companies and payment services, the risk for us is too great. If you have currencies on balance in any of these other games, please request withdrawals in the usual way and contact either Tom (for MTGO, SWG or There) or myself (for the rest) to schedule them. THE RECENT FRAUD IS *NOT* THE REASON FOR THIS CHANGE.

Now on to the gushy stuff.

First, let me send out a sincere thank you to everyone that emailed offering their support over the past week. There have been some really nice things said about Tom and I and our work, and let me tell you, it's great to know that the work we've put into GOM over the past 9 months is appreciated. If I haven't responded yet, I'm sorry. I'll try to get to everyone in time.

Second, to those of you who have made donations, again, please accept our most sincere thanks.

A lot of you have written in offering suggestions of ways to help prevent fraud, like the event this past weekend, from happening again. All of them are valid suggestions, and we appreciate the feedback. Don't for a second think the decision to terminate trading has been made without a huge amount of thought. We have reviewed the options, and we're confident our choice is the right one.

PayPal is a funny company. They have *so* much exposure, and so much weight in the marketplace. If they were to put their minds to it, they could revolutionize game commodity trading. With a little pressure from them, they could no doubt get a few of the game companies on board providing signed documented proof that deliveries actually took place, eliminating *most* of the fraud that occurs in our community. Our community by the way, that of the North American game commodity trader, spends on the order of $25-50 million USD per year, a number that's growing steadily as more games are released. For some reason, I'm just not able to get through to them.

YowCow, on the other hand, is a relatively small but fast-growing payment alternative. Small, in this case, is terrific for us. They are agile enough to work directly with us towards more fully integrating our services. These guys are working very hard to make online payment safer for you. Check them out! (And help us out by using our referral link! http://www.yowcow.com?578)

Last Sunday, as most of you are aware, we were the victims of over $3000.00 worth of fraud through PayPal. This is not why we are closing markets. Let me repeat that. THE RECENT FRAUD IS *NOT* THE REASON WE ARE CLOSING MARKETS. The fraud was simply a slap in the face, making us sit up and take serious notice of our situation.

In order for us to provide a safe place for you to trade, we need three things:

1) Game publishers need to recognize the commodification of their game worlds, and accept that out-of-game trading is going to occur. Plain and simple. Until they do that, no trading, mule or deposit account is safe. Of course there are *many* good reasons why the companies might not want to do this, and I won't bore you with the details. (Email me if you would like to discuss it.)

2) Payment services have to start recognizing that FedEx courier tracking numbers are *not* the only way to prove delivery was made. PayPal doesn't, and has no interest in considering it.

3) Game companies have to become open to working together with payment services to prevent fraud. This isn't hard. The game companies simply have to be willing to provide documented proof for the payment systems to use when defending themselves against a claim. What's so tough?

Working together with Linden Lab and YowCow, we *can* provide you with a safe trading environment.

This is why we're terminating the other markets. Not because we've been beaten down, but instead to continue pushing boundaries. With more time to focus on a single world, you will witness Gaming Open Market grow its list of banking and financial services. What's in store? Well now you'll just have to wait and see won't you?

To everyone that has traded with us over the past 9 months, we send a heart-felt thank you for taking part in our tiny piece of history. While we sincerely regret what we have to do, we feel confident that what we have built *is* the future of game commodity trading. Watch your worlds for Gaming Open Market branches re-opening soon!

Sincerely,

Jamie Hale
President - Gaming Open Market Corp.
[email protected]

EA Tech Support with Ozzy!

By popular demand, following is that cartoon about EA tech support from the now defunct EAsucks.com.

Product Review: GIR: Nyk's new Pizza Bot!

By Ian

TSO's best 3rd party program designer, Nyk has just released one of his greatest inventions......GIR (which is in honor of Invader Zim's robot Gir, and stands for Great Innovative Robot)...The new invention automates everything for you. With a decent machine you can make up to 35,000-45,000 per hour. It autogreens; puts your sim to sleep, showers it, sends it to the toilet, makes your food, and plays pool. And I am not done......GIR logs you out in the morning for the Maintenance period, and then logs you back in...you set the times when to log off and on......That's right folks, you don't even have to be around while this little guy make you some money. Another great feature....If you happen to get a buzz from an EA Rep, the bot reads it and automatically shuts your TSO Windows down.... And thats just the Pizza Part...The bot was just released in the wee hours of Friday March 19. It only makes pizza for now, but the devloper, Nyk, plans to introduce a Band and Code bot (very soon by some reports) and if Maze decides to be re-introduced, he will add that. All of these new bot updates are free when you buy the verision that is out now. Current Price is $100 US dollars. This product receives a big thumbs up from me!! But if you are interested you should buy the product immediately as only a limited number of bots will be released to keep the Simolean Market stable.