The Magic of Ozimals
Posted on 13. Sep, 2009 by Moo Money in Digital Life
Aren't they so cuddly?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard of the pet craze that is sweeping Second Life. No, not those creepy Zooby babies or that 300 script sim-killing Corgi. I’m talking about chickens, turtles, and now, BUNNIES.
With an estimated three different companies producing bunnies, anticipation is palpable and the pressure is definitely on. Luckily, the wait to try them out won’t be long, at least in the case of Magic of Oz’s Ozimal bunnies. Their beta testing program begins on Monday, September 14th, and everyone that applies will get in the beta at least sometime before their October release date, which coincides with their one year anniversary. To sign up for the beta, just join either their in-world or their subscribe group, which is located on the Magic of Oz sim.
I had the chance to check out their bunnies yesterday, and I have to say that I’m very impressed. Sculpted by Aki Shichiroji, of Organica trees fame, these guys have been in development for quite some time! With six different breeds and four colors in each breed to start out with, there will be no shortage of combinations you can come up with. Of course, it wouldn’t be SL without a little magic added in. You see, you can cross breed these little fellas and get the floppy ears you wouldn’t normally get with certain real life bred bunnies. If you’re sick of eggs, you’ll be pleased to know that they breed babies. That’s not the best part, though.
Many have been worried about the prim count, which was estimated to be 18-20. They’ve recently stated that the bunnies will come in at a few prims smaller, which definitely helps, since they’re *cough* affectionate. They also took the time out to address the ridiculous rumors that the bunnies would be 7000L to start out by releasing a pricing structure up front! They’ll end up running you 595L for a starter pair of 2, or 3-4kL for 10. Food ranges from 99L for 4 weeks of the non-breeding variety up to 1495L to feed 10 for a month. These little details aren’t the best part either.
They’ve actually packed loads of features into the bunnies, such as a homing system that will keep them in a specific area, a way to create a special bond between two Ozimals to prevent inbreeding, the ability to stud out your pets, and even fine control of how your bunnies jump around. A quick glance at their pricing post shows that they’ve also implemented happiness, love, and the equivalent of oysters as perks for a fashionista’s best friend. As expected, though, it’s so not even close to the best part.
I saved the juiciest tidbit for last, guys. The creators of Ozimals, Candy Cerveau and Malkavyn Eldritch, wanted these pets to be extra special, so they contacted an extra special pose maker, Dove Swanson of Long Awkward Pose, to pull off the announcement of at least the next month. Wait for it … wait for it … You can hold your bunnies! Not just any bunny either — your bunny. Pick it up off the ground and you can wear it from your inventory. According to Dove, they have a female stand hold, a female sit hold, a male stand hold, and a male sit hold.
Bunny Stand 1
Cuddle whores of two years ago remember the article that our very own Tenshi Vielle wrote for the Second Life Herald about the unicorns you had to have sex with to get a baby. There were also gigantic spiders that violated you in order to give you one of their offspring. Now you can cuddle up a storm without giving up your dignity. Isn’t that exciting?
So obviously if you want more info, you can read the Ozimals blog. Beta testers are required to sign up for the Ozimals forum to submit their bug reports. Their official website also has some info on it too. Something to be aware of is that, according to their beta procedure, in order to maintain fairness, they’ll be wiping all the beta bunnies at the end of their testing period. You’ll get an exclusive Beta Tester gift with a lifetime bonus as thanks for testing, though. The rest, I believe, is up to us to discover as of (hopefully) tomorrow!
Ann Otoole
Sep 13th, 2009
Obviously I live under a rock. I need to come out and make some L$ collectors like that myself. Something truly horrid and awful I think. Something that bites. And gives infections.
moomoney
Sep 13th, 2009
I believe that's called Bloodlines, Ann.
Ann Otoole
Sep 13th, 2009
crud. there goes another idea someone beat me too.
Boogers
Sep 13th, 2009
Is this another chicken-like thing?
Ann Otoole
Sep 13th, 2009
Trademark oopsie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_of_Oz
scd
Sep 13th, 2009
Good thing it says "Ozimals".
Ann Otoole
Sep 13th, 2009
Guess I should have mentioned it involved the sim name DOH! But the book is absolutely not copyrighted at all in the USA and therefore open season on it and it's characters. Except for that movie someone made that probably created an enforceable copyright off of the work of the original author's back. I have "black monday" excitement because LL commences active copyright and trademark enforcement tomorrow and a lot of stuff is likely to go poof. Maybe. We will see who gets the enforcement hammer and who gets a pass.
scd
Sep 13th, 2009
I dunno Ann, it'll probably be a lot of smoke and mirrors… you should IM me in-world and we can chat about this
Ann Otoole
Sep 13th, 2009
Maybe not trademark. And you know what> The author died in 1919 so it may even be out of copyright! This might be a first for SL! Someone in SL using a book name that fell off copyright and was never given an ISBN! Apologies.
Candy Cerveau
Sep 13th, 2009
indeed, The Magic of Oz book is in public domain now,along with all the other books that were written by Baum but thanks for looking out for us!
And yes, Ozimals is our own little made up trademarked word.
Renee Harvy
Sep 13th, 2009
Oh goodie, something else to feed
Darkley
Sep 13th, 2009
Might be Australian rabbits
Ayumi
Sep 13th, 2009
This has the makings of being a sion lag farm version 2.0
Pass. I'd rather grow non-physical prim cubes with a plywood texture. The rabbits dont even look that well made.
scd
Sep 13th, 2009
Are you serious? Did you SEE the chickens and the turtles? These things are glorious.
Clementine Ishtari
Sep 15th, 2009
I agree with scd. Compared to the chickens the rabbits are utterly adorable! Two thumbs up Ozimals!
Clementine Ishtari
Sep 15th, 2009
And as far as lag? It's not just these animals causing lag but I love how people love to pick on them. What about Zooby pets and (shudders) babies? What about objects with runaway scripts and collisions? It just seems people aren't happy unless they're bitching about something.
CyclicGearz
Sep 13th, 2009
A fat French Lop will be MINE!
DracoNacht
Sep 14th, 2009
I want one too!
isle lunasea
Sep 13th, 2009
These look so damned awesome, and Dove poses for them? Doesn’t get better. Consider me sold. Absolutely.
TeenaB
Sep 14th, 2009
I actually enjoy my chickens quite a bit, but I've begun cutting down the number of chickens I own in anticipation of these lil beauties. The thing that makes me excited about these is the range of options I can enjoy with them, they can be pets not just breedable stock.
Polero
Sep 14th, 2009
Ann, go for it! How about a pet tick that has a chance of giving its owner or anyone within 5m Lyme Disease? Then you could produce a 'cure' that the victim has to take regularly, plus combine it with the Bloodlines idea, and the ticks have to drink the blood of a noob every 6 hours or so? Has to be a winner, surely?
Wrenja
Sep 14th, 2009
so you and pick it up and put it in your inventory without killing it? Cause that is a plus.
AmylaWakowski
Sep 14th, 2009
I'm so excited for the bunnies! I could never get very interested in other breedable pets like the chickens or turtles because they just don't meet my cuteness requirements, and needing pens and things was extra prims I couldn't invest. I have limited prims available for play and I'm not keen to rent more land just on the chance I might have fun with primmy pets, so I'm very psyched to be able to try just one or two bunnies without taking a big bite out of my prim allotment. Being able to set an anchor point for their roaming radius sounds genius!
Rene Erlanger
Sep 15th, 2009
The prim and texture work is far superior to Chickens & Turtles. What i like about these..are the options of having them as non- breedable pets at minimal costs (99 L cost per month for food and water) or the option buy the Breeders pack. This way the target audience could be potentially far larger than either Turtles or rip-off Sion Chickens. I also like that you can set HOME for your Rabbit and select radius distance ( a technique my partner does with her animated Fairies)…..so people of all Land sizes can enjoyt their Pets/Breeders without the need of requiring a Cage or whatever.
From what i understand it breeds by increasing the "Love" meter as opposed to "anger" levels form Sion Roosters…..and holding and stroking your Rabbit increases those levels. Another big plus is that your rabbit won't die if it finds it's way back into the Inventory…either by picking it up or straying off world and landing up in your L&F folder. I think Ozimals have struck on a win win formula……for both pet lovers and Breeders alike. I just hope they manage the market alot better than the creators of those Sion Chickens ( I believe greed has killed their own market!)
Rene Erlanger