Involvium... Hmmm...

EDIT (25th Aug 07): Sod it! I'm playing the game, at least it's fun and well set up (only wish I could create that sort of content for The Island and Burro posts but as I'm as artistic and techie as a brick, I'll stick to photos :D ). Pop along, read, join in - after all, why not :)

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Right. Every bugger else has blogged about them, I might as well. Involvium Energy Ventures. Where to start? Facts first, I think:

1) They appear to be a media marketing firm. I’ve no real clear idea what this is.
2) They are changing their name. I don’t know why.
3) Seemingly to promote this change they are running a multi-media viral campaign with a ‘spoof’ blog, website and YouTubes.

The blog is written by an avatar named J.S. Tomorrow where she is an embedded reporter with the Involium expedition team who are searching somewhere in SL for a certain power source first discovered in the early days of Magellen Linden*. You may have noticed the links and a feed from the blog over on the left. I’ve put that there because, well, it may be an exploration worth following. Then again, it may not. I just can’t be sure.

If, at the end of this marketing campaign, the pay off is “Here’s our new Island! Come get your free tee-shirts!” I’ll be very disappointed. Why? Because I want mystery, drama, story… not an over-blown advert for something I’d never buy or use anyway. I want them to live up to the promise of their self-created adventure, not wimp-out with a yet another corporate zombie sim no one ever goes to.

Look at this blog – ask yourself how happy you’d be if at the end of The Island, the poor shipwrecked hero set up a vendor stall selling real estate? I would hope you’d come in-world and kick my arse! What would you feel if the Backpack Burro posts were nothing but an excuse to advertise my own range of backpacks?** Cheated, I would imagine. All that time and emotions dedicated to following a story only to have someone turn round and point out that their make of double glazing is better than someone else’s.

So JS and Involium, I’ll read your blog*** and follow the expedition, but Hell’s Teeth it better be worth it!

HeadBurro Antfarm… waiting…
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* If this point means nothing to you, you may want to check out some of SL’s rich history and some other blogs:

• SL Insider: What is Invovium?
• SL Insider: Involvium Unearthed.
• SL Record: Involved
• Magella Linden History
• Involvium’s History

** Don’t worry, I’m not – I’m not selling anything, I’m doing it for fun.
*** I’m enjoying the blog but I think that JS Tomorrow, as an embedded reporter, needs to give us more reportage. It’s all a little disjointed at the moment. Let’s meet the other team members on the exploration. Let’s read about a typical day with them. Tell us about the land around you. Don’t just draw a tree with pod things hanging out and then not try to draw some conclusions about what the chuff it is. I’m hungry – feed me!