Last night, I received notice that a little over 20 months after its presentation to the world, the World Trade Center memorial in Second Life, the one that I had designed for the 2003 official design competition and funded with the help of some very good and capable people, is no more, another victim of the economic downturn.
(more below the break)
I received the notice of this removal in mid-March. The explanation was direct - a collective decision by my former partners in the memorial project that business needs greater than the memorial had come into consideration, that some downsizing of the memorial needed to be done and that given all the other elements in the larger overall memorial, the star-shaped array of granite pillars that was the heart and very reason for the project's existence needed to be removed and replaced with... something.
While not specified at the time, I have since learned is that an information hub, an incentive for new resident in the virtual reality to hang out and read notecards and, not coincidentally, advertisements for various services in Second Life, would now be the heart of the memorial. The rest - the virtual WTC towers and the commemorations to the firefighters and rescue workers, would remain.
When the formal announcement came, I have to say it was well written, certainly respectful in presentation.
I of course respect that economic factors heavily influenced the decision. The financial downturn has caused companies close to reckless lending to go bankrupt, get bought up, lay off workers and cost families jobs, income, security even their health. It is a stressful time for us all, and sometimes there are hard decisions to make.
So I take the removal of the WTC memorial - my portion of it, leaving their own contributions intact - as being understandable. After all it was, as they say in the United Kingdom, redundant. And the design, as I described in the write-up long ago, was designed to change over time.
And the dire recession hitting the real world has come to the virtual realities as well. Add to that radical changes to the regulation of commerce and activity (and pricing) that take place there, and making the land pay for itself is a priority. Which is why an estimated 10% of the land area footprint and and 1% of the server capacity utilization of the overall memorial simulation must be removed. For the greater good.
And there is no finer memorial to those who perished on 9/11 than a living city. Call it triage. Some is given up, so the rest may survive.
That is of course a hard business, Building this memorial touched so many lives - not just those who came to visit- I've posted accounts from some visitors in some of the linked diaries above - but in their own as well. For those who have the time to listen, here is a podcast. I think their own spoken words say it best, what necessity is forcing them to forsake.
For it is a tremendous value to know you are giving something special to the world that none other - to date -has provided. A place where the moment of loss is remembered..the names honored..not just for those who perished but for all the billions worldwide who were stunned to silence and horror by that day.
And it could be that even this won't be enough to do the job, and other sacrifices will follow.
To my friends, to all who helped - We relieved many people of their pain, did we not? Gave them release from a wound that many, who did not lose loved ones that day, did not even know they had. As for those who were there, who did bury friends and family, or never came home at all – We remembered. We always will.
Once you said thank you to me, as we were saying hello.
Now it is my turn to thank you, as it is time to say good-bye.
Update I was just thinking I should try to help somehow. After all, these are friends. And it really isn't their fault that the memorial had to be cut back. They really have been trying.
Running a profitable business in any world. After all it might be 2035 before the real World Trade Center site is fully redeveloped. Times is hard.
The real estate economy is likewise in the dumps in Second Life, where it is challenging even when times are good. Why, during the year I was underwriting expenses, not one month passed without a loss.
As for how things are now. Wow. I cannot imagine how hard it is now that 1. the real world economy has crashed 2. the main source of supplemental investment is gone 3. several of my friends have lost real life incomes 4. home values have dropped and 5. the structure of economics in Second Life has changed radically once and is about to again. It's really hard to keep afloat, to attract advertisers, renters, get stores to set up shop, to simply pay the rent in such a situation. It would test the most gifted of administrators to keep track of all the issues and support them effectively, even in good times. And these are not good times.
Like I said - I do wish them well. But if I lost $11,000 with them in a good economy, I cannot imagine what the risk exposure is, now that they have tripled their scale and the economy is half what it was. Oh, and with the real world economics of the partnership suffering too.
What they need, and I am calling for anyone with means to consider this, is a white knight investor - someone who discount the risks, that all businesses are incurring, to reach out and help persons who are willing to sacrifice in order to preserve culture, selflessly, for the benefit of others.
My own risk tolerance wasn't so robust even when the economy was well. The ride is a bit too bumpy in this economy.
Perhaps other investors have the risk tolerance to help out? I mean, it's only money. Just because I lost, oh, the money we might have have used to remodel the kitchen or to have my firstborn's college education already covered doesn't mean others will incur the same results. After all, 2007-08 was a different economy altogether.
I will of course advocate for help to the distressed business of my friends.
I salute their efforts to keep the ship afloat in stormy waters and will always wish them every good thing.