Jenna swung by my little parcel, “Aero’s Happy Place III,” my third (and I hope final) location for my little piece of real estate in Second Life.
We had a nice, long chat about, you’ll never guess!!! The SLCS Rank Controller! We made a plan for possibly updating it in 2026.
I think Jenna, Gwyn and I could be a good team for this:
- Jenna – (Power Point Jedi) recently presented to the SLCS Ring of Honor for her plans for SLCS Training Sisters and received the RoH’s approval.
- Aero – I’m just a blogger (what you’re reading now). I don’t actually DO anything. But I try to motivate talented people to do stuff.
- Gwyn – the actual scripter and the one who would implement the project. When we tried to update the Rank Controller in 2023 she made a prototype dubbed “The CheerMiter” rather quickly. It was a lot of fun.
- Kyar – Kyar Chi was a big supporter of our Rank Controller update project back in 2023. Sadly, she passed away in early December 2024. We’ll have to do this update without her help. But perhaps we can do it in her honor.
Ancient History
Back in 2023 Gwyn and I tried to update the SLCS Rank Controller:
We got a lot of positive support, but also negative feedback. In the end we didn’t achieve enough of a critical mass to push our update through.
New for 2026
In the absence of our amazing Founder/Saint Christi Charron, the SLCS Ring of Honor has taken the reins of SLCS. If we can present the Rank Controller Update Project to RoH and get their approval, we might be able to finally update the Rank Controller without too much friction.
Keep It Simple, Sister!
Aside from the change of having RoH as a governing body to present to and get authorization from, I also have a new, simpler vision for this project.
In 2023 we kind of proposed everything all at once. Like change the name from the militaristic “Rank Controller” to something more sororal like “Cheerometer.” Making several changes at once would achieve a lot! However, it also gives us a lot more opportunities for objections.
If we strip our proposal down to the bare minimum, or THE SMALLEST CHANGE THAT WILL MAKE A REAL CHANGE, we might have less for anyone to object to and a better shot at getting approval. And if we do successfully update the Rank Controller, we might be better positioned for other updates down the road.
The Smallest Change
I think the one big thing that we all agree on is that the present algorithm overvalues meaningless repetition like 10,000 Vaults, and undervalues sororal activities like spending time with cheer sisters, participating in formations, Driving, Game Night, RFL, and so on.
What if we just asked for permission to update the Rank Controller (create a new RC) to change one thing: reorganizing the points to reduce or eliminate Vault jumps, and to emphasize sororal activities?
OK, Two Things
And we should probably also have time stops. Like, no matter what, you can’t reach Sr. Co-Cap in a week. Or maybe the new points can be structured so that is impossible anyway.
No One Loses Anything!!!
Last time some cheerleaders were quite angry that we were taking away something they had earned. I don’t think that was the case then, but it’s critical to make it clear that it is not the case now.
- No one will lose any rank they have achieved
- No one will lose any spirit points they have earned
It should also be clear that we aren’t making it “easier” or quicker to level up. Rather, we are shifting the focus of what it means to participate with SLCS.
Project Summary
- Reduce or eliminate Spirit Points for Vault jumps.
- Increase Spirit Points for activities valuable to the squad, including Time with Cheer Sisters, Participating in Formations, Driving, and participating in our events like RFL, Game Night, and others.
- Add time requirements in addition to Spirit Point requirements for each Rank.
- Make it clear that no one loses any rank they have earned or any spirit points they have earned.
New Scripting Language
The history of the SLCS Rank Controller, as I understand it, is that our founder Christi Charron originally scripted it. For a long time now it has been under the watchful eye of Sayrah Parx who personally pays for a web server to store the RC data.
Gwyn’s idea back in 2023 was to use a recently introduced Second Life Data Structure to store the data in-world so that no external server would be required.
Now in 2026 we have the long-awaited introduction of a new Second Life Scripting Language, “SLua.”
SLua brings modern programming language features to Second Life while maintaining full compatibility with your existing LSL knowledge. Built on Lua: a language used by millions of developers worldwide. SLua offers faster execution, ~50% less memory consumption than LSL/Mono, and powerful new capabilities that make complex scripts easier to write and maintain.
- Further Details – https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/announcing-the-slua-open-beta-modern-scripting-comes-to-second-life-r11237/
This might be an opportune moment to both update the way the Rank Controller rewards participation in SLCS, and to update it to our new scripting language.
Moving Forward
If you have any thoughts about updating the Rank Controller, please leave them as a comment below, or message me in-world.
Cheerleader, Roller Derby girl, Barista, and Host. I’ve seen so much love, beauty, and desire in SL. I’m touched by the tiny acts of kindness that surround us every day.
