Tag: Roblox

Lil Nas X to Perform Three Virtual Concerts in Roblox on November 14th and 15th, 2020

Following in the footsteps of other game worlds which have hosted virtual concerts (e.g. the Marshmello event in Fortnite on Feb.2nd, 2019), the online game platform Roblox is presenting three performances by Lil Nas X.

Old fart that I am (I’m now almost 57 years old), I actually had to Google “Lil Nas X” to figure out who this person is. Apparently, I have been living in a cave; he is a gay, black rapper who currently holds the record for having the longest-running number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart since it debuted in 1958. (Ryan sighs, takes another swig of Geritol, and shakes his cane, yelling at those damn kids to get off his lawn.)

The official Roblox blog says:

Get ready because Lil Nas X is going virtual for our first concert experience built and performed exclusively on Roblox on November 13-14! Featuring the debut performance of his new single, this event will also see the Grammy-winning artist bring some of his favorite songs to life like never before.

Tune in for the preshow this Friday at 4 PM PST to watch behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the Roblox concert, along with a special Q&A session. You’ll also get the chance to unlock an exclusive Lil Nas X emote by completing an in-game scavenger hunt!

The preshow will then be followed up with three global concert performances starting Saturday at 1 PM PST. Check out the showtimes below:

Concert Showtimes

– Saturday, November 14th at 1:00 p.m. PST
– Saturday, November 14th at 10:00 p.m. PST
– Sunday, November 15th at 9:00 a.m. PST

The concert venue is now open HERE! Jump in early to pick up limited-edition, Lil Nas X-inspired items for your avatar, including a free Old Town Cowboy Hat! More items will become available leading up to the main event, but get them quick because they won’t be around forever.

This immersive concert experience is the first of its kind on Roblox, featuring Lil Nas X rendered digitally with motion-capture performance. This unique celebration represents our next step in digital music experiences and opens the door for all kinds of incredible experiences. So, set your calendars for November 13-14, and keep an eye on our official Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages for even more updates about the event as well as the exclusive items that will be available.

I have written about Roblox before on this blog (notably, about the 1867 Luxembourg project, which moved from Second Life to Sansar to Roblox). It’s also on my comprehensive list of social VR platforms and virtual worlds.

I would usually say at this point, “see you there”…but you won’t, because I’m an old fart 😉

UPDATED! Editorial: 1867 Luxembourg, After Moving from Second Life to Sansar, Moves from Sansar to Roblox: Is This a Sign That Platform Loyalty Is Coming to an End?

In November 2018, I reported that the 1867 Luxembourg sims (also known as Pfaffenthal 1867) moved from Second Life to Sansar. This was one of the first major moves from SL to Sansar by a roleplaying community, no doubt helped along by the fact that Sansar had lots of free space available for building. Not having to pay Linden Lab for seven sims in Second Life would have been a strong incentive to move.

Well, it would appear that the creators have packed up yet again, and moved from Sansar to Roblox! Here is the trailer for the new 1867 Luxembourg:

I have explored the new Roblox version of 1867 in my VR headset, and it does have some interesting features, such as sudden downpours of rain (keep that umbrella in your backpack handy, you’re gonna need it!) and the cycling of day to night, which feel quite natural. Overall, the texturing and lighting, while not as high-quality as Sansar, is still very convincing. It’s beautiful work, and it definitely stands out among the more cartoon-like fare hosted by Roblox.

But what I don’t understand is how the project manages to hold on to their userbase! In hopping from Second Life to Sansar to Roblox, they must have lost a few users along the way. According to a comment attributed to 1867 Luxembourg community leader Hauptmann “Cyberpiper” Weyder, in Wagner James Au’s coverage of the move on his blog New World Notes:

Sansar has been a disappointment. We managed to do a whole street eventually, but had to start over because of too much lag, trying to figure out ways of more efficient texturing or building. Also Sansar had promised mobile development, which was then taken off the roadmap, a big disappointment for us.  And… we all know it… no traffic in Sansar… for now…

So we have put Sansar development on the backburner, and decided to develop our own MMORPG, starting off by developing a ‘childrens version’ on ROBLOX…. 

This is a loss for Sansar that could not have come at a worse time. It reminds me of how the MetaMovie project moved from High Fidelity to NeosVR earlier this year. Perhaps now, in our “winter of discontent” for social VR (or, as Caitlyn Meeks puts it even more succinctly, “VR Winter“), we can expect more such moves by projects in search of platforms that meet their needs better.

It would appear that there is less platform loyalty out there than before. This might even be a good thing—if the platforms losing projects get the message that they need to pull up their socks. (I’m not holding my breath. I honestly don’t expect to see any major new developments to come out of either High Fidelity or Sansar for the forseeable future, as both companies seem to be hunkering down and focusing on survival mode until we reach our “VR Spring”.)

It will be interesting to see how the 1867 Luxembourg project develops over time. Will they eventually give up on Roblox, too, if another platform beckons? You can follow the ongoing saga via their Twitter feed. And you can pay a visit to their new Roblox build here. I wish them well, and I give them one piece of advice: pick a place and STAY PUT FOR A WHILE. 😉

UPDATE Nov. 24th: There’s a brand-new, 13-minute interview with Cyberpiper, the creator of 1867 Luxembourg in Roblox, which goes into the background and history of the project as well: