The last ten days have been something of a blur.  We launched Microsoft Visual Studio Island last week, not knowing how the Mystery of the Blimp would be received.  Since then, thousands of avatars wearing armbands have quested through Second Life hunting tiny eggs and solving logic puzzles.  The average player is spending dozens of hours and the truly hardcore substantially more.

Those detemined few have won access to the Blimp and¬† been given land in the adjacent island, aptly named “Coder’s Cove”.¬† Watching this society take shape is wonderful, mysterious and invigorating.¬† On the one hand, you might wonder what these people actually have in common aside from lots of patience and determination.¬† The truth is, they seem to share a lot.¬† First, they’ve shared a particularly intense experience.¬† Secondly, many of them actually coped with the difficulty by forming teams and solving the problems collaboratively.¬† We’ve had winners from the U.S.,the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia to name a few.¬† And in true Second Life fashion, they’ve begun building some amazing things, ranging from mathematically inspired homes to tiki bars.¬† So swing by Coder’s Cove and say hi.¬† And stay tuned for more.

This podcast makes for amusing listening.

After many grueling hours hunting down eggs hidden all over the grid, the first two winners have emerged.

Here are some photos of last night’s party and pics of Little Penguin, the 1st avatar to make it through the 10 eggs and into the blimp.¬† His prize?¬† A plot of land on Coder’s Cove next door, which as you can see below is being built out into a techno-utopia.¬† Better hurry egg hunters — only 58 plots of land remain. . . .

Wow!¬† After some small audio glitches, the opening night party for Microsoft Visual Studio is drawing to a close.¬† We had 55 avatars on the main island and 25 - 30 on the overflow sim.¬† And the games have begun with people donning their scoring wristbands (specially designed with 10 lights, one of which ignites as you find each successive egg on your quest to discover the secret inside the blimp).¬† So far we’ve had 7 people find the first egg and 2 find the second one.

Unscramble this clue to find the 1st egg’s location for the brainy folks searching the land,. . . . “A LOBE PLOT”.

Happy Hunting.

For the last several months we’ve been preparing something very special.

This evening, all I can offer is a question, a screenshot and an invitation.

More to be revealed at the launch 6 PM SLT Thursday. To attend the event join group Visual Studio
or IM Baccara Millionsofus .

More to follow. . . . ..

Article here.