Fred Beckhusen, co-creator of the Phaze Demesnes sim that closed in Second Life at the end of the year, has now written a heart-tugging memoir of lessons learned and friendships forged during 6 years of running the Phaze sim. Because he wrote this incredibly informative and hilarious recollection in a fleeting Google+ post, I am taking the liberty of reproducing it here for the sake of posterity.
But before I do, I would like to make just one teensy correction in what he writes. He says that you will fall in love with your prims and then “cry (a lot) when you finally delete them. And then write about them when they are all finally gone.”
Well, I have to suggest to Fred (Ferd Frederix in Second Life) and his partner Debbie Edwards (aka Wavinggirlsav Voom in Second Life) that this is not entirely true. I have, at last count, 98 of their stunning creations (including countless prims) safely stashed away in my inventory, where they shall remain, unless of course the flocks of birds are out flying on my land, or the dragons have gone to new castles to do battle.
Also, there are many pictures of their creations that spot the Internet, and I include a few of my own below to prove my point. And since a picture is just one step shy of a prim, Fred, perhaps prims linger with these pictures and are not “gone” after all. I believe prims, like friendships, last forever.

Fred Beckhusen’s Memoir
A few of the things +Debbie Edwards and I learned from running the sim “Phaze Demesnes” over the last six years:
It’s not just about planting pretty plants, or building things, or writing cool scripts. It’s also about building friendships that last forever. Be sure to plant and nurture those, too.
I hated to delete all the data on vistors and games and stuff like that today. I always thought Phaze would slowly wind down, and stop from lack of interest. But 504 people visited Phaze Demesnes the last day it existed, and many left us notes and messages of support, and money. Proof below in the image. Each dot is a person/minute.
Continue Reading “Is a prim forever? Lessons from running (and closing) a Second Life sim”