State of the Oceans Address, 2008

[Seven Shikami]

Hiya, folks. Seven Shikami here, lead coder for the 7Seas Fishing Game.

With 2008 in low tide and the waves of 2009 rolling in, I figured it's a good time to sit back and take stock of the first year of 7Seas. We started this project back in March 2008, oddly enough just to have something fun to do with a 512 plot that wasn't renting on our home sim. Most of our biggest endeavors started with "It seemed like it'd be fun at the time" and this was no exception -- something fun to do which ballooned into the game we know and love today, with about 100,000 items (fish, bait, rods, etc) delivered each day.

As the months went on, we started opening up the game more and more to outside development... the newly named "OpenSeas Initiative". This has really proven to be the lifeblood of the game, the reason why it persists and grows. You, the community, are doing amazing work... beautiful new fish, innovative gadgets and gizmos, terrific fishing contests, and startlingly well developed fishing areas. We may provide the tools and the core of the game, but you guys are truly its heart!

We're very proud of the concept of "locality" in 7Seas, mini-communities that spring up around local fishing areas, with unique customs and unique events. This social aspect of it, people having favorite fishing areas and pitching in together to develop them, is absolutely wonderful and I couldn't be happier with the end results. In just nine months you've taken this game and made it your own in a huge way!

So, what do we have to look forward to in 2009? Let's see what I can sketch out for you... nearly all these things were suggestions that came directly from the community. A few good brainstorming sessions with you guys helped us steer the way towards making things you wanted and we wanted to bring you.

(Keep in mind all of this is subject to change, of course!)

The website will keep expanding. We recently added forums, so folks can discuss fishing outside of SL and keep others informed of their local fishing area news. Our list of fishing areas and customs is still growing, and we're looking into ways of automating the submission of that information in the future.

We have a new fishing rod update coming soon, which will add several new features including the much-asked for AutoDecline -- an optional a way to avoid getting those blue Accept/Decline popup boxes, letting you choose what rarity of fish you want to be prompted on and which ones should simply never show up. It'll make your fishing experience as smooth as you want it. Customs and targeted items will always break through an AutoDecline, too, so you don't have to worry about missing something you were looking for.

We'll be introducing new contest types soon, in the form of the Contest Expansion Pack. This will include our classic game AquaDash along with the much requested Bounty Hunter contest, and our new Wheel of Fish contest -- letting you pit your fish against your friend's fish to see whose is the prettiest, the fiercest, the fastest, or even the slowest or the fattest. All of these games will have trophies and plug-in support, just like our normal contest boards.

More Blueprint/Salvage craftable items are coming, including Schools of Fish, low-prim wearable "aquariums" so you can take your pets into high lag environments to show them off without causing any problems. My favorite, which I can't wait to get to work on, will be the Fishing Duel, a WEARABLE contest board that lets you challenge your friends to impromptu contests, complete with trophies, anywhere, anytime!

And of course, we'll be releasing new official 7Seas pets and prizes as we go; new friends to fish out of the waters and new things for you to collect and keep and enjoy. Jen and Meissa have plenty in the works, and will be adding them to the oceans as we go.

Now, the seas may be rocky and we do have to fit our First Lives in around all these dreams. But these things and more are in the works at 7Seas, and with your ongoing support, we can make our second year even bigger than the first!

-7