MAGNOLIA CITY – SECONDLIFE’S PREMIER ROLE PLAY COMMUNITY: JOSH (THOMAS1 BELLIC) REPORTING

Sooooo..I was out sim hopping the other day, looking for new stories to share with our SL Enquirer readers.  It was getting late, and I was just about to call it a night, when I noticed a glow on the horizon.  I was intrigued and thought I would give a look before heading home.  The closer I got, the brighter the glow, until I realized this was no mere hovel I had stumbled upon in the vast expanses of the SL Grid, but was instead a fully functioning CITY of massive proportions!

At the side of the road stood a sign, noting that I had entered the great and fabled RP build – Magnolia City. I located the Municipal Center and located the office of Mr. Vic Mornington, Director of Marketing.  He was busy approving some newly printed posters announcing the upcoming FLICKR Photo contest they are running, and he graciously agreed to chat with me about this marvelous build.

Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) (JB):     Hi Vic...for the benefit of our readers...just what is this place called Magnolia City all about?

Vic Mornington (VM):     Hi!  So, to break it down to its basics...Magnolia City is a family roleplay town which, as the name suggests, is set up for town style roleplay.  We have the foundation elements already in place, police, fire dept, hospital etc.  It's based in Florida, somewhere south of Miami. Its currently at 7 regions, with the 7th region, the marina, currently under development.  There are plans for future expansions of the city.

JB:     But aren't there several "RP Cities" in SL?  What would you say is the "Magnolia City" difference"?

VM:     At the last count, at least in the Destination Guide ran by Linden Lab, there are about 16 RP towns and cities.  Some of them are in the past (Victorian Age) some of them are sci-fi and set in the future.  Magnolia City is set in the contemporary current times.  Practically all of the large RP town and city communities are set either on the west coast, or the north east coast.  Magnolia is unusual in that its set on the south east coast...Florida, where we can do some things a bit differently than a lot of other communities have done, especially with the landscaping of the regions

JB:     OK.  Share with us some of the history of Magnolia City?  Is there anyone still around from those early days?

VM:     It officially opened on June 1st of 2024, so it’s still a relatively new community.  At the start, it was a group of people who were already all friends due to being in another RP town which was having difficulties, later on that RP town basically shut down. 

At the beginning of May of this year the original Magnolia website was launched with a 30-day countdown to the regions opening up.  Most of the people who moved in to the then two region sized city are still around to this day,

JB:     Who are some of the key Movers and Shakers here?

VM:     Well, you have Niko as the owner, then Jenna as the City Admin and Roxy as the moderator.  The landscaping is down to Dacio and Violet, with Dacio being the design director for all 7 regions.  The main departments, including my own (marketing) is listed on the site here https://www.magnolia-sl.com/officials/ there are a lot of people who are running the roleplay side of things, the Fire Dept and Police Departments for instance.

When it comes to the IT side of things, the Magnolia City website is run by Niko and includes some things not seen before in websites that cover Second Life RP towns.  Character sheets, job applications, a direct chat tie in to discord – it’s all available on the Magnolia website!

Events are very important for any community in Second Life as well.  Well-run and regular events ties a community closer together.  Electra runs the events department, and she going to get busy with the Christmas season just around the corner.

JB:     What types of activities can folks get involved with here?

VM:     Events and RP are the mainstays of Magnolia. Every week there are regular events on like Bingo.  Murphys Old Ale House has live singers on as well and Loose Change has semi regular parties.  My own bar will hopefully soon be starting up mid-week events.  Trivia night has recently become a regular event in the city too and we also have games nights ran by the Dept of Public Works.

The events aren’t just dictated by the staff either.  Anyone living in Magnolia City can submit an event idea in the Discord channel and the events team will work with them to see if it can be done in Magnolia, the team will help organize it and even provide a DJ if the person with the event idea doesn't know any DJ's.

On top of that, there is the roleplay.  The police dept, fire dept, department of public works, hospital, criminal group (yes, we have a criminal group), and the DMV all roleplay around the town, currently the Dept of Public works is replacing all the fire hydrants in the town, and medical dept is in the process of giving residents flu vaccinations. Whatever your flavor of RP, there’s something to do in Magnolia.

JB:     I notice several distinct areas here.  can you break it down for our readers?

VM:     The original two regions, Magnolia City and Paradise Palms laid down the foundation of what is the eastern end of the city.  A more contemporary themed Floridian city with the beach and boardwalk taking up the far eastern edge.  Those two region themes move north into the Coconut Terrance and Sunshine Keys regions which are an extension of that city feel.  The western side of the city though slowly transforms into something you would expect to see in the south of Florida.  Swamplands.

Bramble Brook, Mango Grove and then Mandarin Marina is the first stage of the westward expansion of the city, with Bramble Brook and Mango Grove being the first section of what will be a large swampland area in Magnolia.  The way it was landscaped is a "Partial Drained" swampland, so yes, there are houses actually in the swamplands that are only accessible by boat, there are off branch roads leading in to more contemporary streets which are surrounded by swamps.

The entire northern edge of the town is the "Downtown" area of Magnolia.  High rise condo apartments and hotels and a concentration of businesses surrounding them (including the gym).  The main events park, which is a 100m x 60m open land area is, as the name suggests, set aside for large events, like the Christmas event which is currently being set up by the events team.  The area surrounding the events park is still currently under construction but eventually will have the docklands and the new city hall.

JB:     So, Vic.  Tell me about this FLICKR contest?  There must have been a typo on the poster I saw because it said there are 40 THOUSAND lindens in prize money up for grabs.  Really?  40K?

VM:     Nope it's not a typo!  The Flickr contest runs until November 30th and the prize money is from the sponsors of the event, those three women you seen in the video with the Scottish accents.  They go by the name Charlie's Angels in Second Life.  So, they are putting up the money for 1st place (25,000), 2nd place (10,000) and 3rd place (5,000).  Judged by the angels and two of their blogger friends if a tie-break should happen.  If you want more info, have a look at the post in the Flickr group here https://www.flickr.com/groups/magnoliacity

JB:     Just where might someone go to learn more about Magnolia City?  Social Media sites, SURL, etc?

VM:     All of the major info on Magnolia can be found on our awesome website, to gain access to it all you’ll need to make an account but once you do, you’ll have access to job listings, character sheets and more!  https://www.magnolia-sl.com

I run the social media side of things, the two to keep an eye on would be:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/magnoliacitysl/  and

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@magnoliacitysl

However, the Discord is the central place for chatter and news. 

The Discord main channels (Chat and RP Chat) have got relays into the same group channels within Second Life.  So, if you are in the RP and chat groups for Magnolia City inworld, you can chat to those groups via Discord and vice versa!  You can find the Discord link on the social media bar at the very top of the site page.

JB:     Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

VM:     If you do decide to visit Magnolia, I hope you have an awesome visit!  Also, we have been running a Thanksgiving month special rental offer for current and new renters.  If you rent three weeks, you get one week added free!  That offer, like the Flickr contest, ends on November 30th!  If you have any other questions, pop into the discord or just pop a message off to me inworld! :D

So, there you have it, Folks.  Whether you are a noob RPer, a more experienced person interested in the field, or one with years under your belt as a seasoned RPer…or just interested in visiting this amazing build…Magnolia City is DEFINITELY worth checking out.  

So, head on over to Magnolia City. Tell ‘em Josh sent ya. You’ll be glad ya did

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magnolia%20City/208/41/22

Be there! Aloha

JB