by Alexa Bliss, Kyar Chi, Jenna, Heavenly Angel Moon, Gwynevery Golightly & Aero Bigboots
Thank you to everyone who had a chance to respond to our SLCS Level System Survey. The survey results are here:
Based on your survey responses we have produced this Road Map for developing the SLCS Rank Controller 3.11 into the SLCS Cheer-o-meter 4.0
Cheer-o-meter 4.0
Thank You!
We are a small team of 6 working on this SLCS Level System Update project. We wouldn’t be where we are without the help and helpful ideas from many Cheerleaders. Thank you to all for your insightful feedback and suggestions. We’ve done our best to take everyone’s input and create this Road Map for a transition from SLCS Rank Controller 3.11 to a Cheerometer 4.0 that embodies everyone’s ideas.
Adult Squad, Comets, Spitfires, Metrics, Drill Team
All squads are equal.
All Cheerleaders are equal.
Every Cheerleader is important to SLCS, worthy of respect and love, and worthy of equal treatment in Spirit Points, Leveling Up, Squad Opportunities, Service Awards, and all other SLCS considerations.
Spirit Points
Apparatus Points
We think a fair interpretation of the survey numbers is that we should limit Apparatus Points, but not eliminate them.
Points + Time
We do want to end the “One-week Cheerleader V (Co-Captain)”. And we also want to end the Panels requirement of “Cheerleader IV (Lieutenant) + 60 Days”. We instead simply want it to take 60 days to reach Cheerleader IV.
In the Feedback Post https://katenova.uk/cheerometer-comments-survey/ Cheerleader #7 argued that:
If we’re going to remove the field equipment as a way to earn the points we should replace it with something else. Just getting points from others is far too slow, IMHO.
This brings up 2 important questions:
- How long should it take to reach each Level?
- Is the current rate of Cheerleader-2-Cheerleader points accumulation too slow? Is this slow rate part of what pushes new Cheerleaders to do thousands of mini-tramp jumps?
Leveling Up
How Long to Level Up?
We don’t know the will of the squad on how long it should take to reach each Level.
With one important exception: Panels require Cheerleader IV (Lieutenant) AND 60 days. We think it’s fair to say that this long-running standard means that a “true” Cheerleader IV should take 60 days.
We want to stick with the Spirit Points for each Level as currently implemented. Otherwise we might Promote or Demote someone when we changed systems. The current Spirit Points for Cheerleader IV (Lieutenant, 0 stars) is 48,000. If we divide that by 8 weeks (60 days, actually 56 days) then we get that the most Spirit Points a cheerleader should be able to earn is 6,000 points per week.
How to earn 6,000 Spirit Points?
What should an “Active” Cheerleader do to earn 6,000 Spirit Points in a week?
Thursday Practice, Friday Party, Weekend Events, Tuesday Training, Wednesday Game Night/Training Games, are all great options. So is sitting by the fireplace and talking. Or doing something outside SLCS with another cheerleader(s)
Let’s say 4 contact hours/week will get you 6,000 Spirit Points. At base rate of 1. So dancing, at the Friday Night Party, or dancing at any club on the grid with 1 or more other cheerleaders would earn 1,500 Spirit Points/hour.
- In a Formation? Spirit Points accrue at 1.25x
- Driving, Sitting on a Panel, or Interacting during Metrics Hours? Spirit Points accrue at 1.5x
- In a Formation During Metrics Hours? Spirit Points accrue at 1.75x
- Driving or Sitting on a Panel During Metrics Hours? Spirit Points accrue at 2.0x
And you can earn up to 1/3 of your weekly max, 2,000 Spirit Points, on Apparatus. By yourself. If you do it with someone else, you can get up to 2,000 Apparatus Points plus contact time points.
Each week a Cheerleader can earn between 0 – 6,000 Spirit Points from any combination of Contact Activities and Apparatus Work.
If she does the max every week for 8 weeks, 8 x 6,000 = 48,000 Spirit Points = Cheerleader IV and can sit on panels.
It can’t be done in less than 8 weeks. It could be done in more than 8 weeks. A cheerleader can level as slowly as she likes.
Metrics Hours
SL Time = California Time = USA Pacific Time = PT (PST or PDT depending on season)
Our tentative definition of SL Hours (North American hours) is
- 2 pm – 10 pm SLT (SLT Afternoon & Evening)
- 14:00 – 22:00 SLT
Therefore this makes “Metrics Hours” when the Spirit Point Multipliers above are in effect as:
- 10 pm -2 pm SLT (SLT Late Night & Morning)
- 22:00 – 14:00 SLT
8 prime North American hours a day are “SL Hours” and the other 16 hours each day are “Metrics Hours”.
Your Own Pace
While it is possible for a Cheerleader to achieve Cheerleader IV in 8 weeks, it is in no way expected or required.
- Level Up at your own pace. No Cheerleader is required to reach any Level in any specific amount of time.
- Or, don’t Level Up. Many Cheerleaders enjoy the challenge and achievement of Leveling Up. But it is not required. Once an SLCS Cheerleader, always an SLCS Cheerleader. No Level required.
No Banking
If a cheerleader participates more than 6,000 points worth in a week – go you! You’re living the good life! – but you don’t bank points for future weeks. We don’t want someone to earn 330,000 points in one week, then disappear for 54 weeks, and return as Cheerleader VI (Sr Co-Captain)
Spirit Points & Time for each Level
| LEVEL | OLD LEVEL NAME | RANK CONTROLLER 3.11 SPIRIT POINTS REQUIRED | CHEEROMETER 4.0 SPIRIT POINTS REQUIRED | MINIMUM WEEKS TO REACH LEVEL @ 6,000 SPIRIT POINTS/WEEK |
| Cheerleader I | Jr. Cheerleader | 50 | 50 | 0 Weeks |
| Cheerleader II | Cheerleader | 3,000 | 3,000 | 1/2 Week |
| Cheerleader III | Jr. Lieutenant | 15,000 | 15,000 | 2-1/2 Weeks |
| Cheerleader IV | Lieutenant | 48,000 | 48,000 | 8 Weeks |
| Cheerleader V | Co-Captain | 130,000 | 130,000 | 22 Weeks |
| Cheerleader VI | Sr. Co-Captain | 333,000 | 330,000 | 55 Weeks |
SLCS Org Chart – DRAFT
In Rank Controller 3.11 the term “Co-Captain” was a Level in the SLCS Game. You earned it through Participation and Apparatus Points. It did not mean that you had any specific knowledge, abilities, or a role at SLCS.
In Cheer-o-meter 4.0 the terms “Captain” and “Co-Captain” are no longer Levels in the game, but Roles in the SLCS Organization. They are earned not by Spirit Points but by applying for and being selected for a Role or Job that you have qualifications for, regardless of your number of Spirit Points.
We see the squad as having one President, and many Captains:
- Christi Charron, President, Second Life Cheerleading Squad
- Sayrah Parx, Information Technology Captain
- Taylor Temper, Comets & Spitfires IT Captain
- Charlize Bellic, Squad Operations Captain
- Maddy Perennity, Uniforms Co-Captain
- Lumyai, Uniforms Co-Captain
- Shawna Trang, Activities Captain
- Kimberly McBlaze Lemongrass, SLCS Airways Captain
- Joni Temple Shadow, Practice Captain
- Kezz Bayn, Training Co-Captain
- Kitty Darkfury, Training Co-Captain
- Kezz Bayn, Trainer
- Gailyana Bayn-Bennett, Trainer
- Ealwen Tenwe, Training Sisters Captain
- Alexa Bliss, Training Sisters Co-Captain
- Alison Moore, Cheermaster Captain
- Amber Hazel, Mentors Captain
- Catherine, Metrics Captain
- ?, Comets Captain
- ?, Spitfires Captain
- ?, Drill Team Captain
- Cutie, Stadium Operations Captain
- JoAnne Royal-Stark, Security Captain
- ?, Builders/Renovation Group Captain
- Gailyana Bayn-Bennett, Relay for Life Captain
- Swoozy Stark, Squad History Captain
- Sayrah Parx, Information Technology Captain
Please forgive us if we missed you or mislabeled your role. It was not done as any sort of slight, but only out of our ignorance. Please message one of us, or leave a comment at the bottom if you, or anyone you know, is not listed or should have a different title.
Hovertext
Display Choices
A Cheerleader like Sayrah Parx, who has a specific role at SLCS, is a Ring of Honor member, and currently has 4,678,965 Spirit Points, can choose one of these Hovertext display options:
- Ring of Honor
- Captain
- Cheerleader VI
- Cheerleader
- 4,678,965
- [hovertext off]
A Cheerleader like Aero Bigboots, who does not have a specific role at SLCS, and currently has 205,123 Spirit Points, can choose one of these Hovertext display options:
- Cheerleader V
- Cheerleader
- 205,123
- [hovertext off]
Sports Teams
There can also be a Blue Menu option where a cheerleader can select her favorite World Cup Football or American Football team. One Cheerleader might select the hovertext “Dallas Cowboys” and another might select “FC Barcelona”. Displaying these affinities might prove to be a nice conversation starter.
No Hovertext?
Many SLCS Cheerleaders proudly display the status they have earned in their Cheerometer Hovertext.
Other Cheerleaders worry that focusing on status is a distraction from the sororal values that motivate them to continue participating with SLCS. Some in this second group choose not to wear their Cheerometer (Rank Controller) as a way of taking themselves out of the status game. While this choice may be admirable in some ways, it can have the unintended consequence of not sharing Spirit Points with other Cheerleaders, especially New Cheerleaders, who might like to Level Up at SLCS. We suggest that an alternative for this second group can be to go ahead and wear your Cheerometer and simply set Hovertext to Off.
Bells & Mega-Bells
Rank Controller 3.11 has 6 Levels (Jr. Cheerleader – Sr. Co-Captain) and 6 Degrees (0-5 stars) within each Level for a total of 36 Steps.
Cheer-o-meter 4.0 also has 6 Levels (Cheerleader I – Cheerleader VI) and 6 Degrees (0-5 stars) within each Level for a total of 36 Steps. The Spirit Points for each Step are the same for Rank Controller 3.11 and Cheer-o-Meter 4.0.
Bells
As with Rank Controller 3.11, Cheer-o-Meter 4.0 will have *BELLS* each time a Cheerleader advances a Degree (gets another star)
Mega-Bells
Just as the Cheermaster has Pyramids and Mega-Pyramids, Cheer-o-Meter 4.0 will have Bells for each Degree advanced, and Mega-Bells for each Level advanced.
Party of Five!
Anytime a Cheerleader reaches the number of Spirit Points for a new Degree, their Cheer-o-Meter will signal the milestone with Bells!
When a Cheerleader reaches the number of Spirit Points for a new Level, their Cheer-o-Meter will temporarily hold back bells until the next time when there are at least 5 other Cheerleaders present. At that time their Cheer-o-Meter will burst forth with MEGA-BELLS!
Development Timetable
Timetable
- Develop Cheer-o-meter 4.0 — 15 July – 30 August 2023
- Review, Integration & Test — 1 September – 15 October 2023
- Deploy Cheer-o-meter 4.0 to all SLCS Cheerleaders — 1 November 2023
Tasks
- Build Cheer-o-meter 4.0
- Coordinate with Sayrah’s projects
- Coordinate with Taylor’s projects
- Integrate with Training Apparatus
- Integrate with Cheermaster
- Test Cheer-o-meter 4.0
Data Storage
As we understand it, Rank Controller 3.11 uses an external web server to store data (a BlueHost server that Sayrah generously pays for herself). We believe that Taylor’s project also uses an external web server.
Our plan for Cheer-o-meter 4.0 is not to use an external web server for Spirit Point data. Instead we plan to store data internal to SL using Linkset Data.
- https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linkset_data
- https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:LSL_LinksetData
- https://modemworld.me/2022/11/02/linkset-data-lsd-a-new-feature-for-second-life/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shard_(database_architecture)
Beyond the Scope of this Project
SL Group Permissions
While outside the scope of this SLCS Level System Update project, we like the suggestion that several Cheerleaders made in the feedback, to have 3 Group Roles (in addition to other Roles like “Office”, “Security”, and so on)
- Everyone
- Cheerleader – has ability to Send Notices and Change Music Stream
- Captain – can set Role for others, eg: Everyone >> Cheerleader, or Cheerleader >> Everyone
Like all SL Groups it’s a fine balance between active, robust interaction and spam. As long as Notices are SLCS Related and not excessively repetitive, it seems like granting all Cheerleaders access is a nice idea.
SLCS Advisory Board
Also outside the scope of this project is the creation of an SLCS Advisory Board. The board might be composed of 6-8 members. Half SLCS Cheerleaders with a range of seniorities, and half notable SL people like Draxtor Despres, Strawberry Linden, and others.
If our beloved Founder and President should ever choose to step back from day-to-day operations, she could assume a seat as Chairperson of the Board and help to choose her successor.
What Else?
Did we miss anything? If you have ideas, suggestions, issues to be considered, or anything else, please IM one of us and let us know, or leave a comment below.
Thank you to all SLCS Cheerleaders for helping us organize this Cheerometer 4.0 Road Map!
~ Alexa Bliss, Kyar Chi, Jenna, Heavenly Angel Moon, Gwynevery Golightly & Aero Bigboots
I’ve worn many hats and tried on many identities as an avatar. I’ve been young and I’ve been old. Skinny and full-figured. Black and white. And red and green. A cheerleader and a derby girl. A barista and a host. I’ve seen so much love and beauty, so much desire, so much hunger for love and connection in the virtual world. I’ve seen that hunger and need expressed in unhelpful and destructive ways. Ways that can make living in this world as frustrating as living in the first life we came from. I’m touched by the tiny acts of kindness that surround us every day. If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere.
