1. Don't have any, but it is interesting how most of us will use a new medium to reproduce an older one until the artists emerge to show us the new possibilities.

Posted at 2:46PM on Mar 22nd 2007 by Lucy Tornado

2. I own an ancient Roman themed sim called ROMA. It is not a reconstruction of any specific part of the ancient world, and no build in it is a 1:1 reconstruction of any ancient Roman building. Instead, I decided to create unique architecture based on canonical Roman architectural forms while allowing for a great deal of reinterpretation. This has created a hybrid build that is at once instantly recognizable as ancient Roman, but also hopefully fresh and absorbing. We have a large population of roleplayers and people interested in discovering the history and culture of ancient Rome.

One of the most important aspects of ROMA is the fact that virtually every building and structure in the sim sports a bright red ‘info button’. A visitor can touch this button and receive historical information about ancient Roman culture pertaining to the build (such as gladiatorial combat info at the Arena) and details about the original Roman structure it was based on. We also have interactive museum exhibits in the sim as well that present various aspects of Roman culture (the current exhibit is on Roman views of sexuality).

Here is a slurl for the sim: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ROMA/214/25/22/

Thanks!

Posted at 7:01PM on Mar 22nd 2007 by Torin Golding

3. My systematic recommendation would be to consider reproducing the sites listed in UNESCO list of world heritage. This obviously includes a multitude of historical, natural, cultural sites ... much too much work of course!
The benefit of this approach however, would be that national entities could pursue the virtual reproduction of their own heritage, each contributing, thus dividing the task.

Considering that the scarcity of production capacity/capital and the consequent need for priority, I'd recommend to proceed by 1) selecting a few showcases and 2) defining some basic criteria for selecting historical scenery and settings that merit primary focus.

My criteriae would be:
A. historically/pedagogically interesting to humanity as a whole (and not just to one or another nation or culture or for instance the major nations in terms of SL citizens share which seems heavily overrepresented with caucasian and asian). From my human moral ethical aesthetical standpoint it is important that it not be some ethnocentric criteria.
B. ideally suited and appealing for roleplaying
in fact I think it's more than probable that many people would vest their SL identity in such areas and that lodging and spendig time in historical settings would be appealing: I for one would find that interesting and would certainly consider owning a flat in historical Cairo or Firenze rather on some dubious Dubai island.
Events, festivals, historical games, representation of historical occassions, workshops (working ateliers, crafts etc) would all add to the fun.

This leaves the question of how to regulate access, activity and behaviour in this scenery? Ideally I guess, any avatar going in there would voluntarily accept choosing a skin/uniform and maybe even the assignment of one or another role in these part universes. The idea of a contemporary proxy with scores of toddlers on recreational excursions in modern clothing, tourists, and vogue shopes in historical centres etc. is less appealing in my eyes.

Who should finance this?
Finance what? Financial ressources to some extent for the basic coding may be necessary, quality control and intellectual property is also an issue (for who endorse and accept the given version of Big Ben, Taj Mahal, Versaille for instance?) National cultural ministries or agencies. Historical societies. Maybe a collaboration with Sid Meyer's Civilizations would be worthwhile considering - business wise.
The implication of historical societies and interest groups (in Scandinavia for instance there are IRL community based voluntary associations of people interested in the vikings who perform summer plays and populate open outdoor viking museums; in germany during summer I've seen medieval festivals in the fantastic townships like Gosslar (Luthertown) an Rothenburg ob der Tauber to mention but two examples).

So I'd love to see for instance:
the medieval central european township
the viking settlement of Birka (key to migrations as far as byzantine/Istanbul) and the population of Russia (which means swedish!)
Fort Elmina in Ghana (slavery) or Ile Gouré of Senegal.
... and Olinda in Brasil.
Historical Cairo or Damascus (read John Irwings book Introduction to 1001 nights for an epic description).
The casbah of Marocco.
Historical Athens and Rome.
Forbidden city.
Taj Mahal.
The historical centre of Yemen.

I'm ready to go. Take me!
Hope this may inspire someone....

Posted at 5:21AM on Mar 23rd 2007 by Chantal