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Friday, July 30, 2010

Blue Mars Outposts Sell Out

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

As of August 2nd, 2010, the outpost package will no longer be available. The Outpost City program was intended as an introductory program to encourage the development of new Cities in the early days. As the number of Cities in Blue Mars continues to grow, we believe now is the time to promote the development of content within our existing Cities, for those people interested in building on a smaller level.

As an alternative to the Outpost, we want to encourage developers to explore the option of renting Blocks. Block rentals allow you the freedom to build your vision and experiment with the Blue Mars dev tools, but you have the help and input of the City dev, who has already been through the building and uploading process, and can help guide you through it.

The Blue Mars vision for the future is one of varied content, something for everyone. We know people coming to Blue Mars will be looking for different things, exploring, fashion, socializing, and gaming. Just as real Cities develop neighborhoods and subcultures to reflect the wants and needs of local residents, Blue Mars will be a robust collection of the best, most realistic 3D content possible.

If we put the expertise and imaginations of the most talented 3D artists in the metaverse into one platform, and allow them to collaborate with, challenge, and learn from each other, the result will be much more immersive and visually astonishing than having hundreds of single Cities.

The more content and activities are in a City, the more people will enjoy visiting it, and that means they will return to visit again. The more people that visit a City, the more successful Block and Shop owners will be. If Block and Shop owners are successful, it will encourage other devs to build, which will create more content for future visitors to enjoy.

There are Blocks and Shops available for rent in many different Cities including Misty Hollow, Tharsis, Gaia, Cloud City, Caledonia, GridRock City and Fashion Esplanade. The term “Block” refers to a parcel of land, and there are as many different sizes and types of Blocks to choose from as there are ideas for things to build on them. In Capitalantis, a Block is an entire tropical island. And no matter what the general theme of the City might be, the diversity of content that can be built on a Blue Mars Block is only limited by your imagination.

The Blue Mars developer tools are free, and you do not require hosting while you develop your City, Block or Shop on your own PC. So why not experiment and see what you can create? Build something beautiful, and then find the perfect Block to rent to host it. If you develop a great City, you can lease a Village plan starting at $275/month.

Check out our Shop and Block Marketplace to find the ideal location to fit your needs! http://dev.bluemars.com/land/shopblock/

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Monday, July 26, 2010

5 minutes with Dean Sadamune, Avatar Reality's Senior Technical Director

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

You may not know his face, but you have seen the handiwork of Dean Sadamune. Dean has been designing for over 30 years, and has worked as a special effects technical director on such films as Triple X, and X-Men. He brought the character of Nightcrawler to life in X-Men 2.

Dean is now the Senior Technical Director for Avatar-Reality Inc. You can see his influence in the Blue Mars Waterfall level, which Dean names as the best thing he’s ever designed, and the mall in Singtel City, which he re-built.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, he went to the University of California, Irvine, where he studied Biomedical Engineering, and minored in Film. For his graduate degree, Dean attended Tokyo University to study Medical Electronics.

He came to work on Blue Mars because “It is a new and innovative technology that will help people communicate with each other.” According to Dean, the thing that he is most proud of in his professional career, is choosing a career that he enjoys.

Dean isn’t all work. He has two sons, Alex and Ian, with his beautiful wife Bernice, and he is also our resident car nut. All it takes is for one person in the room to mention cars or racing, and his eyes light up.

Dean has many stories, especially about cars, but he lists a race from LA to Las Vegas with a Highway Patrol Officer riding shotgun as one of the craziest things he’s ever done. His favourite car right now is a Dagger GT with 2000hp.

His favourite movies are Citizen Kane, Blade Runner, and Toby Tyler. When he's not watching movies, he loves to play casual games like Tower Defense, watch Youtube videos, especially those by his favourite Youtube group Pomplamoose.

Dean has travelled extensively, all over the world, and his favourite place is Vieques, Puerto Rico. Vieques is home to a bioluminescent bay, where all of the fish glow because of a certain type of bacteria.


Dean loves to try new things, and meet new people, and he is genuinely interested in what you have to say, no matter who you are or where you come from.

If you ever run into Dean, ask him out for dessert (he has a notorious sweet tooth). While you two are eating pie, ask him to tell you some of his stories. I can guarantee you will run out of sweets long before you will run out of things to talk about.

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Refer a Friend this week and win BLU$!

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

Do you love Blue Mars? Spread the word, and win some free BLU$!

Share Blue Mars with a friend this week and get BLU$! From July 26th to August 2nd, Blue Mars members will receive 500BLU$ for every friend they refer to Blue Mars!

And when you refer a friend to Blue Mars during this week, they will receive 1000BLU$ when they sign into Blue Mars!

To Participate:

1) Refer a friend to Blue Mars!

2) After they log in to Blue Mars, they will send us their UserID, and your UserID. That simple.

Send us the UserIDs by:
• Tweet them to: http://twitter.com/BlueMarsOnline
• Message me on Facebook, Jasmine BlueMars
• Email them to me, jasmine@avatar-reality.com


Official Rules:

• Members will receive 500 BLU$ for every friend they refer during this week.

• New Members who were referred to Blue Mars this week will receive 1000BLU$ when they log in to Blue Mars.

• New Members must sign into Blue Mars during this week to receive their BLU$.

• BLU$ will only given to new members who log in, and to members who refer new members who log in.

• Anyone found making duplicate accounts will be disqualified, and will not be rewarded the 1000 BLU$ for a new member account, or the 500BLU$ for the referral! Come on guys, play nice!


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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Mr. and Ms. Blue Mars Contest!

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

We’ve been hinting about it since the middle of June. Three weeks ago, we revealed the prize info. Two weeks ago, we set the date. Now in one place, here is everything you need to know about the Mr. and Ms. Blue Mars Body and Skin contest.

You must send your final submission for the Mr. and Ms. Blue Mars contest to QA on or before Midnight PST on Saturday, July 31st.

These skins and bodies need to do more than just look pretty, they must be functional too. So they need to pass QA to be admitted into the contest!

The 3 categories are:

Best Built

Best Skin

Most Fantastic


First place in each category will receive 2,500BLU$ and have their creations displayed for sale at a prominent place in Beach City!

Second place in each category will receive 1,500BLU$!

To Enter:
1) Make sure to submit the FINAL version of your Skin or Body to QA on or before Midnight PST on July 31st, 2010.

2) On or before Midnight on July 31st, 2010, send a 640 pixels by 640 pixels snapshot of your creation to jasmine@avatar-reality.com, along with your name, and the category you want your Body or Skin to be entered in! The photo will be used so people can vote for your Body or Skin.

3) You may enter an item in two categories, if applicable.

There will be an unveiling party on Wednesday August 4, 2010 for you to show off your creations to the world. During that event, the links for voting will be revealed, and the decision will be in the hands of the public! Encourage your friends to vote for your Skin or Body!

Voting will close at Midnight on Wednesday August 11, 2010, and the winners will be announced on Thursday August 12, 2010.

Good luck to all of our Body and Skin designers. We are all excited to see your awesome creations come to life in Blue Mars!





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Monday, July 19, 2010

Behind the City: GridRocks' Corey Evans

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

Corey Evans, a website designer and builder for the last ten years, began designing for 3D environments 3 years ago. He began experimenting in Second Life because ‘it seemed like a very interesting way to communicate and express myself.’

He started a business selling 3D models to other artists in Second Life. Eventually, he developed an interest in Blue Mars. “Blue Mars really stood above the crowd in terms of graphics, performance and scalability for me, right from moment I got in.”

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything,” said Nikola Tesla.

Tesla was an infamous inventor and engineer, and he is the inspiration behind Corey’s futuristic GridRock City in Blue Mars. Corey was motivated by Tesla’s incredible insight and innovation. “Tesla was probably the smartest scientist of all time but for some reason he is overshadowed by the likes of Edison and Einstein,” he said.

GridRock City, which is a collaboration between Corey and one other designer, has been in development for about five months.

Corey describes it as ‘part Tesla fan site, part science-fiction/fantasy world’. “The name GridRock came from the idea of changing the way I thought about the worlds I had used before, like Second Life and Opensim, and trying to shake up the notion of a world that is bound by grids and distinct lines,” he said.

As a 3D designer and long time denizen of virtual worlds, Corey believes we can use them to make observations about real life marketing, social dynamics, and business. “People are people, and even if they are represented by an avatar, the personality always comes through. Virtual worlds give people a forum to get together and share ideas where they would otherwise have been inhibited by location or other barriers.”

Corey encourages other developers to forget what they know about other worlds and approach Blue Mars with a fresh perspective.

“It is a very flexible and powerful platform that can be daunting but the results are well worth it. Remember, just about anything can be changed and customized. It represents a freedom to do things that have never been seen before in virtual worlds,” he said.

Visit the GridRock website for more info: http://gridrock.com/

Check out this video from GridRock City: http://www.vimeo.com/13473955

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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Blue Mars Screen Shot Contest!

-- Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

It’s time to show off your photography skills! This week, July 10th to 17th, send in your best Blue Mars Screen Shots to win BLU$ prizes!

All photo submissions will be uploaded to the Blue Mars Flickr and Koinup accounts for voting between July 18th and 25th. The photos with the most comments and favorites in each of the four categories during that time will win BLU$, so encourage your friends to vote for your pictures!



First place in each category will win 1,500 BLU$, and Second place in each category will win 1,000 BLU$!



The Photo Categories are:

Best Avatar

Best Scenery

Most Creative

Best Edited


To Enter:

Send your best Blue Mars photos to jasmine@avatar-reality.com, along with the following information:

1) Your Name
2) Your Blue Mars ID (the name in the parentheses when you chat)
3) The Title of your photo
4) The Category you would like your picture to be judged in
5) A description, or at least the location in Blue Mars


All photos will be uploaded to the official Blue Mars Flickr and Koinup accounts on Monday July, 18th 2010. The description of each photo will include the photographer's name, the category of the picture, and info about the contest, encouraging people to comment on and favorite their preferred photos.

Voting will end Monday July 25, 2010. The photographers of the top two pics in each category will have the prize money credited to their Blue Mars member accounts.



In addition to BLU$ prizes, the top photographs in each category will be featured on the Blue Mars blog, and on the Blue Mars Facebook page.

Winners will be chosen based on comments and favorites, so make sure to beg, plead, and threaten to reveal dirty secrets about your friends if they don’t visit Flickr or Koinup to vote for your work!

Official Rules:

1) The photos in each of the four categories with the most and second most combined comments and favorites from Flickr and Koinup will be the first and second place winners, respectively.

2) Only the first comment on each photo from one individual will be counted as a vote!

3) Send us your best work! Only one photo per category per person please!

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Friday, July 9, 2010

Blue Mars Fashion Roundup!

--Jasmine Spearing, Marketing Associate

Looking for some new styles for your avatar? Here is a cheat sheet to all the best shopping in Blue Mars!

Caledonia

Mako Magellan makes Caledonia his home, with a shoe store exclusively devoted to his line of women’s heels and boots, and a clothing store showcasing his elegant designs for men. Whether it’s a morning suit, a tux with tails, or a hairstyle from 1830 you’re after, just stepping into this shop will make you believe chivalry isn’t dead.

The future and the past collide in Posture is Everything, which offers everything from Victorian inspired gowns to futuristic latex mini skirts.

Irkmade displays a line of hair for men, and a collection of leather boots, and some funky tribal dresses for the ladies.

Chimeric Fashions, with its line of Victorian dresses, will take you back to a simpler time.

Once you have your corset laced, and your lace handkerchief fluffed, step into Candy Bytes to find Victorian hairstyles and high button boots to complete your look.

Caledonia also features shops Adam and Eve, and Barsoom Beasties, which will be adding merchandise soon.

Fashion Esplanade

Fashion Esplanade is a newly opened fashion boardwalk designed by the lovely Estelle Parnall. There are both men’s and women’s fashions available now, but keep checking back, as there will be new merchandise added regularly.

Tharsis

Tharsis Estates features two shops. Tirion Designs, offers a range of fun and funky clothes for women, and slacks, button down shirts, and tees for men. Also featuring a variety of shoes and hair styles for both sexes.

Grounded showcases the versatility of the exuberant Marlii Rev, displaying everything from jeans and tees, to vintage 50’s and 60’s inspired pieces.

Beach City

There are 4 multi-designer shelf shops, with clothing for men and women located on the ground floor of Beach City near the spawn point.

Check out our newest Beach City shops, located on the second floor of Beach City, directly across from the spawn point. Estelle Parnall’s sophisticated ladieswear, Arzach Mills’s imaginative clothing and avatar skins, featuring everything from Minotaurs to Dragons, and El Electron’s casual menswear, offering jeans, tshirts and sneakers.

Cloud City

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow- visit the first Blue Mars hair shop, featuring fun styles for men and women!

Looking to play dress up? The Women’s Store in Cloud City offers creative options like a sailor outfit, a French maid ensemble, and a Mrs. Claus suit that will keep anyone off the Naughty list!

The Manly Man store offers great options for those Blue Martians with a Y chromosome.

Cloud City offers you another place to see Marlii Rev’s designs, she recently opened a second Grounded store.

Misty Hollow

DRX Designs is the place to be if you’re looking for a cowboy hat! Also featuring men’s and women’s clothing, and bunny slippers, for your inner Thereian.

In the market for some sandals? Zuma designs offers a great line of flip flops.

Check in at Orielle and Antaios' Pink Fizzy Soda Designs for flirty dresses for ladies, and bunny slippers, preppy sweaters and a fun line of custom bowling shirts for men and women.

The Misty Hollow General Store features jewellery, sunglasses and quirky graphic tees from a variety of designers.

Grid Rock City

It’s time to get a little futuristic! Bring out your inner Judy Jetson in sky high moons boots, latex tube tops, and shiny body suits. The girls don’t get to have all the fun, shops Nebula West and Rom-U-Licious also have graphic tees, jeans, leather jackets, and some seriously spiky moon boots for men.

Grid Rock City also features an outdoor marketplace, displaying skins and clothing from various designers.

Gaia

Blue Mars’ resident DJ Sage Sapphire designed the City of Gaia, the Sage designs shop, and all the clothing inside! Pop in to see her Goth inspired looks!

Port Town

Visit Moxxi in Port Town for beautifully designed skins for men and women, and funky new fashions for your avatar.

Shade City

Located in the dome directly across from the spawn point, Shade City clothing offers a large variety of tops, jeans and dresses for women, and some cool Shade t-shirts for men.

Venezia

Gear up for Halloween at Venezia’s new Costume Trends shop! Show off your inner witch, take a Frankenstein mask for a spin, or command authority in a security guard ensemble.

Singtel City

Swing by Singtel City to view a small sampling of clothing items, just a teaser of the bigger things to come!

Remember, new merchandise and new stores are appearing in Blue Mars daily, so keep exploring to stay ahead of the trends!

For more Blue Mars Fashion info, check out http://bluemartianmode.com/, Marlii Rev's Blue Mars Fashion Blog!

If you are interested in renting a shop in Blue Mars, visit our Block and Shop Marketplace to find a property that lets you express your creativity! http://dev.bluemars.com/land/shopblock/

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