In case you missed it, SLink, a major creator in SL for a very long time, closed their doors on the 1st of January, effective immediately. While I was aware of it at the time, I generally don’t report on events such as this on the blog, but I’ve just realized that every article I post is linking to a now nonexistent region.
Slink made the original replacement for the (horrid) system avatar’s hands and feet. I wear both on a day-to-day basis, and as such, at least the hands get photographed in every post I do.
So, I will use some magic on the blog and redirect the Slink links to this article so newcomers don’t get confused. If you ended up here, that’s why.
Details on Siddean’s decision are on Slink’s blog, but as I’m sure that site will disappear in the future, here’s the article quoted directly:
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It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the closure of Slink, One Bad Pixel and Cinnamon&Chai in Second Life.
Second Life has been an all-consuming part of my Real Life since I first joined in 2007. I opened Slink a few weeks after I joined with a single skin, a single t-shirt and a single skirt. Slink has gone from strength to strength since with the release of my first sculptie shoes in 2009, my avatar enhancement hands and feet in 2011/12 which set the SL shoe market ablaze, and then the Physique Original body in early 2014, followed by Hourglass and mens bodies in 2015 and 2016.
I have curated and cultivated a wonderful cottage industry of my fellow Second Life creators and enjoyed a lot of support from them over the years. I’ve also really enjoyed teaching people how to create for Second Life, building in blender, weight painting, troubleshooting etc. I think my desire to assist and enable others to create is what motivated me more than my own creative endeavours.
Following two stressful years of pandemic which I am sure we have all been affected by in one way or the other, I suddenly lost my mother in September of 2021, my grandmother in January of 2022 and my cat Cleo in June. I have been unwell and enduring a lot of chronic pain. I have to be very honest, my spark has dimmed a little and I no longer have the energy to pour into this business like I once did.
I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last 18 months and have come to the very difficult decision that for my own physical and mental wellbeing, I need to move on from Second Life. I am starting something new, and can only hope it will be half as much fun and as fulfilling as my time in Second Life has been.
For my loyal customers – thank you from the very bottom of my heart for your support over the years, for your engaging and entertaining conversations in our group chat, for your enthusiastic cheerleading for me and the work I do, for whispering in my ear when I made some oopsie, so I could sneak in and fix it! I cannot express what your support has truly meant to me, and I know these words will never be enough. I love you all, and I will miss you so very much.
For my brilliant creator community – you made what I do so much better! Thank you so much for your fabulous, innovative and gorgeous creations that made mine look so awesome. Thank you for jumping on this incredible ride with me!
I never imagined I would do this for even 5 years, let alone 15. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment about what I have done over the last 15 years, the impact I have had on the development of Second Life through the various Linden Lab projects I participated in, and opening my very first creators kit which let other SL residents design nailpolishes for my hands and feet. I have learned so much as a business owner, and grown so much as an artist, and I feel ready to embark on my next adventure.
The Slink Mainstore sim and Marketplace store will be closing on the 1st of January, 2023. The Slink and Slinkwest accounts will not be available for contact.
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