Interview With Tonya Souther of Team Firestorm

By Bixyl Shuftan

It was a week ago that Team Firestorm celebrated it's eighth anniversary party. Among those there was Tonya Souther, whom heads the part of the team that works on the Firestorm  Apple computer viewer, and is a founding member of the team. I recently met up with her to talk about her and her time with the team.

Noting that she had been around since 2009, I asked Tonya how she found out about Second Life. She answered, "I have an real-life friend who ran a club here for quite a long time. She's known as Axi Kurmin inworld, and as DJBronxelf in real-life. And yes, she will happily combine the two. I've known her for much longer than I've been on Second Life. She got me interested, and going to a furry convention (RCFM) that had some Second Life content.  I created this character before I got on SL, and was thrilled I could be the tigress I'd been playing online for years. ... .I was part of a group who'd been together on IRC for years. ... I bought the first avatar within moments, but that's because I'd met the creator at RCFM before signing up."

Tonya's first days and weeks went, "like learning any new platform, but Axi did a lot to help me up the learning curve, and so did the folks at the RCFM sim." One thing that got her attention was the futniture designed for Restrained Life furniture in mind, not just the cheeky aspect, but that people had the ability to design these kinds of things here, "that was what sold me on this platform being something that could be much broader than I'd magined." She would develop and sell her own line of RLV furniture.

Although Tonya became a user of the Emerald Viewer, "I liked the feature set ... I didn't meet Jessica until July of 2010. They had come up with a new release, but there was no Mac version available. They'd had problems getting it running, and their previous Mac developer had left in a huff. I got it working, and got invited to join the project, right before the whole Emeraldgate kerfuffle happened. I was an Emerald developer for a grand total of three weeks before it imploded.

As Tonya had just joined the team, her perspective from inside during Emeraldgate was somewhat limited, "What I saw was the fallout from the metadata data collection and the DDoS. I didn't know any of the players well, but I knew who were the big contributors. When LL issued their ultimatum, I wasn't all that surprised. The big problem for us was going to be to keep the project going. I wanted to have Emerald continue as before, minus the three people that Linden Lab had demanded depart. Two of them did, but one did not...and his refusal essentially shot Emerald in the head."

She described what happened next, "When it became obvious that we were going down in flames, I got with Jessica. She'd made comments about forking the project, and I convinced her that we were going to have to do just that if we couldn't eject that one developer. We did try. Jessica had admin privileges on the Emerald servers and she tried to lock that developer out of it, but got caught and shut off. So I talked her into starting a new project, which came quickly to be known as Phoenix (from the ashes of Emerald). She was reluctant at first. But she realized after I twisted her arm that it needed doing, and she was about the only one who could. And so we did."

Tonya called the next few weeks, "Hectic as hell! We were busting our collective butts to get something, anything, ready to release ASAP, so the users would have something to work with. Linden Lab had been very, very clear in their insistence that if their ultimatum wasn't met, Emerald would be blocked. But we got something built and running and rebranded,-that was most of the hard work, really - and released. And as soon as we did, Linden Lab dropped the banhammer (on Emerald)."

When I asked if the reaction of Team Phoenix to the Lab putting their viewer on the approved list was a sigh of relief, Tonya responded, "Yes, and not from just us, either. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure Linden Lab was waiting for us to release before banning Emerald. They were quite happy that they had an alternative available for folks who didn't want to use 1.23." And the reaction fron the new team to what was left of Emerald signing up with Utherverse the owners of the small "Red Light District" adult-oriented virtual world? Tonya called it, "A collective eyeroll, and that was about it. We were up to our a**es in our own alligators enough, and we didn't have time to worry about what folks Linden Lab had run off were up to, as long as they didn't bother us. They tried. They released a version of Emerald, the 2600 release, that was designed to evade the ban, and got themselves thrown out of SL for their troubles. ... I don't know how many were banned just for using it; I only know that two were banned for releasing it - one of them one of the ones Linden Lab had demanded we eject from Emerald." This was Lonley Bluebird/Phox, "the other was Arabella Steadham, who was Emerald's PR person. Me, I never understood why an open source project needed a PR person in the first place, and when she started trying ot run the Emerald project at the end, that struck me as a serious case of (the) tail wagging (the) dog."

But after their hectic start, things began to calm a little. But they weren't truly out of the woods for a little while, "Once we got the first relase out, things quieted down a bit. We had some teething pains, with one developer trying to take over the world and getting run off, and juggling infrastructure. But it settled down after a few months. That's when we could start back to working on actually improving the code and fixing stuff that had been broken. I'd say we were in a state of flux for about the first six months, and then we could really get on with the business of making a viewer people would actually want to use. We were conscious that we were rising form Emerald's ashes. The topic on the Skype channel we were using to communicate at the time got set to 'Wie Phonix aus der Asche werd ich auferstehen' ...a line from Megaherz's song Kopfschuss. 'They tried shooting us in the head and we rose again.' And we knew that all eyes were on us, just waiting to pounce if we screwed up even a little bit. So we went out of our way to be squeaky clean."

So what was the feeling of the team at their first anniversary? Tonya described it as, "Surprised we'd made it that far, and relief that we'd put the worst behind us. We figured that if we'd lasted that long, then we were going to keep going indefinitely. Most of that was due to Jess. It's actually very rare for an open source software project to be led by a non-programmer, but she's done a masterful job of it." When asked what the biggest challenges the team faced since their first few months were, she remarked, "The biggest challenges have been personalities, mainly, Jess will joke, as she did at the party Sunday, about having two developers near each other who aren't trying to kill each other, but our disagreements have been ... passionate, at times. But we get through them."

I asked about the times Linden Lab stepped in and asked them to remove something, such as the feature early on that told users what viewer others were using. Tonya answered, "A few times, yes. We go back and forth with Linden Lab quite often about what goes into the viewer and what stays out. Most of the time, we agree pretty quickly. But there have been some serious arguments. That was one. The reason Linden Lab gave - that it was leading to bullying of users not using Phoenix - I think was BS, but LL does have the power to demand that we do things a certain way. And in the end, we do them if we can't change Oz's mind. Fortunately, he does listen to us and champion us internally. I asked if that was the biggest difference of opinion between the Lab and the team. She answered, "Mrrrr...that's a good question. I think it was, but there have been others almost as big. Take our 3-reelase policy, for example. We now will disable versions of Firestorm older than the current release minus two. We didn't want to do it, but the Lab insisted and said that we could either do that or else use their automatic updater. We're all about giving the user choices, so we do it our own way."

And while the team had their share of challenges, what were the parts that were the most fun? She answered, "The fun parts for us are when people discover something in Firestorm they didn't know was there that makes their lives easier. That gives us a real boost.  Events? We don't really have things that turn us on as a team. We're proud and happy when Jessica gets recognized for the work we've done."

Being part of Team Firestorm is only part of what Tonya does. She also runs a sci-fi roleplay inworld, about a group of Earthfolk whom are in a symbiotic relationship with extraterrestrials known as the Lategum, "Roleplay is alive and well in Second Life! I've got a sim I manage, and a group, that has an ongoing roleplay with some serious worldbuilding behind it. That's been rewarding, not just for its own sake, but as a place to belong among like-minded people. I'm wearing the uniform of the RP group, where I am known as Sister Alpha 8369. We spend quite a lot of time with each other, and it points out the real genius of Second Life: we can be who and what we want to be, deep down inside, and enjoy the company of others with similar interests."

Tonya showed me one of the meeting areas of the roleplay, "This is our common gathering area. ... We're actually 3 0 meters below the surface of the island nation of Jimat Pulau, in the South Pacific not far from Tahiti." There were some pictures nearby in a hallway, "We have a couple of furry artists among our members. But we are not furry-exclusive. We'll happily accept any species we can make a uniform for. In practice, that means they need to use a body that's SLUV compatible. Making uniforms for all fo the different mesh bodies is a rabbit hole that goes very, very deep. I made the uniforms, originally, and have adapted them for Maitreya and Omega."

"Second Life is a big part of my life, in general," Tonya told me, "Without Firestorm, I'd have left long ago. Yes, I'm a developer, but I couldn't do it by myself, not even close. We have a pretty large team, and every last one of them does something we need. They all deserve thanks."

Tonya Souther can either be contacted inworld, or email her at tonya.souther@phoenixviewer.com

Addition: Tonya Souther also has a blog, where she talks about "Second Life, from the perspective of a user, builder, vendor, and third-party viewer developer." - http://secondden.blogspot.com/

Bixyl Shuftan

Phoenix Squadron

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last month, I was told about a group of pilots performing for a charity event in Second Life, the KT Festival raising funds for Worldwish.org. This was the Phoenix Squadron. Unfortunetly, I couldn't make the event. But I did meet up with one of the fliers shortly afterward, May Silvercloud. Meeting up at the museum area at Baitoushan International Airport (164, 180, 3001), she showed me three planes of theirs, a WW2 torpedo bomber, a 1940s "Shooting Star" jet, and a Vietnam War-era fighter-bomber, all painted crimson red, "This is our display. We are the group of the month for December."

I asked about the name, and May answered, "Well, some of the team were members of another, called the Moths. And when that team disbanded, we rose like a Phoenix, and formed Team Phoenix." She stated the team has three Americans, two Britishers, and one Brazilian for the pilots, as well as a DJ and announcer, "We train twice a week when we don't have a show, and the week of a show we will train everyday beforehand." There was no association with the Firestorm Development Team, which used to be called the Phoenix Development Team in it's earlier days, though there was a Phoenix airport that they later based at.

Besides the KT Festival, they had taken part in other events. Probably the most memorable, "would have to be one we did for Willow Spring Horse Auction place.They were having an event for Relay for Life. The sim was packed and the lag was really bad. But we stuck to our plan, and it turned out great." But as they had taken part in larger air shows and times with other teams, others might have a different idea. Of Second Life's flight squadron's she called Phoenix, "one of the most varied of all the teams ...  the variety of maneuvers we fly (and) we fly very close, and also keep formation. Other teams spread themselves more, which (in our opinion) distracts the viewer from the team, focuses on individuals rather than the team. And Phoenix is all about the team."

She told me the team would be meeting up on Sunday, and some days later I dropped by where they were at the SecondLife International Airport at the Antilaghi (244/189/24). The four others besides May were Mr. Pilot Sinn (Aviator747), whom was the only male in the group, Destiny Bellarose (Destiny0000), Diana266, and Mila Kowalski. They were seated at the moment, and invited me to sit with them. May described her introduction to Second Life aircraft , "I was introduced to it by a friend, and then trained by Diana and Pilot in a group called NAS (Naval Air Squadron)." Pilot stated, "I am a real-life pilot, so I enjoy anything to do with aviation." Destiny told, "I stumbled upon it all by accident and trained myself by trial and error until joining an aerobatic team about 3 years ago, and then really learning how to fly. My husband is an air show pilot in real life." Diana commented, "Dest is an airshow groupie." Destiny giggled, "Yes, I've been to them all over North America." Mila informed, "I am part from that group called NAS that May talked before." May mentioned the pilot who was absent, "We do have another pilot called Melody. She is away in real life for a while."

Destiny went on, "I have partied with and flown next to the real-life Blue Angels. ... love flying in both worlds. I think it took me about a year of flying everyday to learn how to land and airplane on a runway. It is harder than it looks." Mila added, "Same here Des." May stated of the group's purpose, "We do this to promote flying in Second Life, and because we love doing it. As Pilot says, it's amazing how many people don't know you can fly in Second Life. And when they see it, they are amazed." My response was, "That seems a bit odd to me, considering one of the first things one learns around here is pressing the 'fly' button." May answered me, "Yes, but not in planes. Most people never get to experience it as they are in clubs or on sims without flying." Pilot added, "I have talked to some people in sl that have been here a long time,and they had no idea you could fly a plane in Second Life."

Eventually May suggested, "Ok, shall we take Bix for a flight?" The group went to five jets parked just outside the hangar. May invited me to get into the back seat of her jet, and they started the engines, "hold on to your hat." The planes then went down the runway, picking up speed, then taking off, raising the landing gear. To see around, I had to expand my draw distance, but lower the quality of what could be seen. We were out over ocean, so that helped things rezz faster. Among the things I saw in the water was Ahab's Haunt, an island with a huge creature's skeleton that Gemma Cleanslate had written about years ago. I also saw that we weren't along in the air. Someone else was flying around these skies at the moment. The squadron flew about, doing manuvers and going about in formation. They would loopin formation, fly stright up and seperate and reform, and other manuveres. It was quite a ride.

Eventually, it was time to head back. So the squadron made a return course to the airport, made their approach to the runway, and touched down. Despite all of those sim crosings, no one had crashed. Thr group did feel one thing gave them some trouble, May saying, "That boat caused me a lot of problems with lag spikes." Diana explained, "Many of the older boats have lots of scripts and are high prims." Destiny felt the problem was something else, "I had too much eggnog last night. I thought my left hand was my right hand." I asked about boats and buildings in combat areas that are scripted to fall apart when having taken enough damage. May told me, "They can be bad if they fall apart when we are near them. But not so bad normally."

Commenting about the variety of planes around, I asked if they had any favorite planes in aviation history. May answered, "Mine is definitely the Spitfire." Pilot added, "Mine is the P-51."Destiny spoke, " My favorite is the Spitfire as well. Love their manuverability and the sound of that engine as the plane roars by you." Mila commented, "Mine is (the) Hell Diver I think." Of the planes' mechanics, Destiny commented, "We have a great fly script thanks to our plane's builder, Shana." Mila added, "Yes Shana is the best!" "She builds a great product for what we do."

I asked about occasions in which things went hilariously wrong. May answered, "Well, we did a display, or tried to. But when we entered the sim, all but I crashed." Destiny chuckled, "Sometimes we get crazy and crash into each other and giggle to death. I had to edit out of a creek (on) the day May speaks of......I was soooooooooo embarrassed. The lag was insane that day." May stated, "Although we are serious fliers, we don't take ourselves seriously." Destiny added, "We are here to have fun, but, we have that professional side that requires commitment."

May commented, "There would be a lot more shows if there wasn't so much rivalry amongst creators. ... Certain designers won't go to the same sim as others. A friend of ours tried to organize a huge show, and it got canceled because of (rivalry)." Destiny spoke, "I think that rivalries and egos are everywhere." May went on, "If designers would just accept that customers don't all want the same thing. It would be much easier. Some want realistic flight capabilities, and some don't." "Diversity is so necessary," Destiny commented. The talk returned to Shana again, May saying, "We publicly support her, and she has helped us as a group enormously." Destiny added, "Yes....and she tries to come to our shows and various events."

It was about this time Pilot had to leave, before I had another question to ask, "With him being the only guy, I take it there's been some minor ribbing on occasion?" "No, not minor," May answered, "major." Destiny giggled, "He puts up with lots of girlie talk." May added, "but gives as good as he gets." I asked, "Any stories, or are the readers just asked to use their imaginations?" May stated, "I take the fifth on that." Destiny joked, "Well .... as an example, as we were taxing out today, he made some sound in his mic. And I simply asked him, 'Hey, Pi, get a hair caught in your zipper?' " The group chuckled. Destiny continued, "I harrass him like that all the time. He takes it all in fun." May stated, "We have all been friends for about two years now. So we know each other inside and out." 'We don't take ourselves too seriously," Destiny added, "and, we can be brutily honest when called upon." I did half-seriously ask if with the red coats of paint on the planes, were there any jokes about diving with the sun behind them. That led to a conversation about combat sims, and they reminding of their start in the NAS.

It was about this time we went our seperate ways. May reminded, "We are here to entertain and hopefully raise money for the various charities." Destiny offered to answer any questions readers of the article might have.

So if you're interested in Second Life aviation, this is one group of people who know plenty about it. And if you want an air group to perform at a charity event, they'll be more than happy to help.


http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Antilaghi/244/189/24

Bixyl Shuftan.

Jessica Lyon Discusses Phoenix at Ambrosia Live

Last week, the head of the Phoenix Viewer team, Jessica Lyon, made an appearance at the Ambrosia Live Second Life talk show. She answered some questions from hostess Ambrosia Kamala, then took questions from the audience.

Jessica told Ambrosia that contrary to what some thought, she was no “coder genius” - “the team are the real geniuses. I’m just good with people.” She stressed that everyone at Team Phoenix was a volunteer, whom contributed without pay, including herself.

Jessica felt Linden Labs had the viewpoint third-party viewers, Phoenix included, were becoming more of a necessity. She brought up Viewer 2, having the opinion Linden Labs wanted a newcomer-friendly viewer, and about halfway through realized their efforts were leading to something quite different from the old viewer, and older residents would probably be hesitant to adopt it. She reasoned they went ahead, feeling third-party viewers would help “take up the slack” of the old viewer no longer being supported.

Someone asked of there would be a Phoenix viewer as an application for handheld devices like iPhones and iPads. Jessica responded that it sounded like a good idea, but their team didn’t have the time to both work on that and it’s computer viewers.

Jessica mentioned that the SpotOn 3D Grid, another virtual world much smaller than Second Life, had adopted Phoenix as it’s official viewer. Their dealings with Linden Lab were brought up. She explained that when the Phoenix team was first formed, it was a bit difficult dealing with them because much of the sense of trust had been “destroyed” from the Emeraldgate controversy. Time, however, was allowing it to slowly rebuild.

Talking more about Linden Lab’s motivations for encouraging the use of Viewer 2, Jessica felt the Lab has to convince residents to switch to a “2.0 base” before Second Life can truly progress. One example is the Mesh feature that was under development. It was designed to work only with Viewer 2. On Viewer 1, Mesh objects look scrambled.

She mentioned one disadvantage Linden Lab has when competing against 3rd-party viewers: expense. They had expensive overheard 3rd party viewer teams didn’t need to get. While Team Phoenix could just have a group chat inworld to discuss updates for the viewer, Linden Labs has to have a roundtable meeting in an office in real life, with developers paid $40 an hour.

With Jessica was Ed Merryman, another of the Phoenix Team. He mostly left the speaking to Jessica, though made a few jokes about the word “wiki.” He also mentioned that the source code of Viewer 2 was much cleaner than the old viewer. The old viewer, he commented, had been patched and updated so many times, it had become a tangled mess of codes.

Following the show, Jessica talked with a few of the audience, which was a diverse mix of avatars, including a number of ethnic human, furred, and tinies.

Ambrosia Live takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 6 PM, located at the aMuse sim (32, 16, 2994). It's a fairly new show that's gotten some attention, including a media award.

Bixyl Shuftan