TFHVI: This year's shoe

Each Femdom Hunt has used the same hunt object: a shoe. While the shape of the shoe has remained the same we've always textured it a little different each time. For The Femdom Hunt VI we felt it was high time that we retired the original sculpt-based shoe and started afresh with mesh.

So, this year, you'll be hunting for a brand new shoe that was made specially for the hunt by Reven Rosca of Meshopotamia.

We think that it's a great "reboot" of the original Femdom Hunt shoe, used back in 2011. Many thanks to Reven for the work she did on this. Please do take a look at her shop; these days there are even full-perm shoes for a well-known mesh foot brand available.

TFHVI: What happens next

Now that the first walk-through has taken place, this is a good time for us to outline what'll happen next in the hunt, how the gift will be packaged and hidden, who's responsible for what, etc.

Over the next couple of weeks, here's what'll happen:

• Before the end of the weekend (the 4th October) you'll receive v2.0 of the hunt sign. This is a version that will let you set and display your hint -- there will be a post early next week that details how you set the hint (don't worry, you don't need to decide your hiding location or hint just yet).
• No later than Tuesday (October 6th) you'll receive an update pack. Please watch out for it and please let us know if you haven't received it. If you don't have it by Wednesday 7th, and we've not put out a note to say there's been a delay (there shouldn't be, but you know how SL and RL can be), let us know. This update pack will include your hunt object (the shoe -- this is the object your gift will be placed in and which you'll hide) and some items that will help you publicise the hunt.
• The hunt object (the shoe) will be pre-named for you and will have a script and a landmark inside it. Please do not change either of these things. The name is set so that hunters can easily organise the folders they'll receive from your object when they hunt. The landmark inside the shoe is the landmark for the next location in the hunt after you (in earlier hunts we've had a couple of people "fix" the landmark because it was "wrong", doing this will break the chain of the hunt so, if you think there is a problem with the landmark, please contact us first).
• On or after October 8th we'll be doing a second walk-through. We'll be expecting to see that you've replaced v1.0 of the hunt sign with v2.0. We will also be expecting to see the hunt object (the shoe) rezzed near the sign so we can see it. Do not put your gift inside it yet. We just want to see it so we can be sure that you've received it. It also lets us double-check that we sent you the correct shoe and that it has the correct landmark inside it.
• After that the next key date is October 15th, the evening before the hunt starts. By this time we require that you've built your gift and have placed it inside the hunt object. The hunt object itself should then be hidden at your location.
• At midnight on October 16th (just to be clear, because it can cause confusion: we're talking about the midnight between the 15th and the 16th) the hunt starts. By this time your object should be set so that people can get their gift. More on this below.

As with the last few years, the shoe now uses a script to give the gift to the hunters (they get the gift by simply touching the shoe). The script will give a copy of the gift every time it is touched. If the owner of the shoe touches it it will also give a count of how many gifts have been given out.

This approach sometimes raises a few obvious questions so we'll try and answer them here:

• Doesn't this mean that people can take multiple copies of my gift? Yes, it does. If your gift has no-transfer permissions (common for clothing, vehicles and other worn items) this isn't an issue. For some it can be a concern if your item is no-copy/transfer. Most vendors handle this by, if possible, making the item no-copy/no-transfer. It should be said that, in many years of taking part in hunts, we've often used this system and have never seen anyone abuse it. 
• Can I replace your script with one that tracks who has had a copy of my item and which doesn't give duplicates? If you wish, yes. We won't be providing such a script and we do ask that you let us know so we can note this in the location list (this helps stop hunters getting confused and it also helps us know which locations might be a problem -- these sorts of scripts can and do fail, especially if a hunter doesn't successfully get their first copy). We also ask that you have your script give the gift and landmark inside a folder that's named as per the name of your shoe when you received it.
• Does this mean that people who aren't in the hunt can get my item? Yes, it does. However, it's worth noting that there isn't really such a thing as "in the hunt". Many hunters will do the whole hunt. Some might only do part of it. Some people might be at your location, shopping or visiting, and might stumble on the gift and take a copy. In the latter case that might mean that they either get to try your build and will like to come back for more, or they might not have known about the hunt and your contribution pulls them in and they join in. Either way, they'll be walking away with something that might pull them back to your location at a later date.

Hopefully the above answers most of your questions about how the hunt will start. As always, if you have any questions, no matter how small, please don't hesitate to ask us. Just IM or drop a notecard on Antony Fairport (sending an IM with details is best, they go to email if he's offline and he'll be able to read and reply, if required). He'll reply as soon as he possibly can.

Applications now closed

Applications to be a location in The Femdom Hunt VI are now closed. Before the end of the weekend we'll be sending an update pack to all contacts given for all locations in the hunt. This will contain an updated copy of the hunt board. This differs from the v1.0 board in that it contains information about the hunt for potential hunters (the current boards contain information for potential hunt locations). It also has a copy of the shoe attached so people will know what they'll be looking for once the hunt is under way.

Please note: Your actual shoe, the one you'll hide your gift in, will follow next week. We'll be sending out more details of what'll happen over the next couple of weeks in a day or so.

Please don't forget that the first walk-through takes place at some point this today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday, depending on how RL goes). This is simply so we can check that your SLURL is still correct, that you still exist and that you have a sign on display.

We'd really like to thank everyone who has helped get the word out about the hunt -- if you've blogged about the hunt already do please let us know. We'd especially like to thank everyone who has applied to be in the hunt; without your support this wouldn't be the fun event it always is.

As always, if you have any questions about the hunt, please do drop a line to Antony Fairport he'll do everything he can to help.

TFHVI: Last couple of days for applications

Just a little reminder to everyone that applications to be in The Femdom Hunt VI close at midnight on the 30th (Second Life time).

We're processing the applications as they come in and, generally, nobody has had to wait more than 48 hours to receive a reply. So if your favourite Femdom or Femdom-friendly store isn't displaying the hunt sign you might want to prompt them to check if they'd like to apply.

Also, as we do each year, we're maintaining a page where we keep track of blogs where the hunt has been mentioned. If you've blogged about the hunt, or you know of a mention somewhere, do please drop Antony Fairport a line and he'd be delighted to add it to that page.

Vendors and Femdom owners: expect to receive a package from Antony some time in the 24 hours or so after applications close. This will be a small update pack that will include the next version of the hunt sign (the one that contains information for hunters) ready for the first walk-through. More information about this will follow.

As always, if you have any questions about the hunt, please don't hesitate to drop Antony a line.

Announcing... The Femdom Hunt VI

Z&A Productions are excited and delighted to announce that the dates for The Femdom Hunt VI have been decided and that applications are now open.

The hunt will run from October 16th until November 1st 2015, inclusive. As with the previous five hunts we'll be taking applications from a mixture of vendors and Femdom regions and hangouts, making the hunt a journey through the wider Second Life Femdom community.

Applications are now open. Please note that applications are made online and that vendors and Femdoms have separate forms. If you have any issues or problems filling out your application please don't hesitate to contact Antony Fairport.

We will start processing applications (sending out welcome packs, etc) early next week and, once processing has started, an application will probably be processed within 24 hours -- a little longer at weekends. If, once the processing of applications has started, you make an application and don't hear from us within 48 hours, please do make a point of getting in contact with Antony.

And, as always, if you have any questions about the hunt, any at all, just get in contact with us and we'll do our very best to help out.

PS: If you are fairly new to hunts, either as a location owner, or as a hunter, we'd like to recommend a read of this post from Evelock. There's some great advice in there.

About The Femdom Hunt

The Femdom Hunt VI is a grid-wide treasure hunt created by and organised by Z&A Productions. It was first thought of around September 2010 and five hunts have taken place since (in April 2011, October 2011, October 2012, October 2013 and October 2014).

The idea behind the hunt is to interweave a traditional grid-wide hunt (one that includes shops of all types (fashion, household, fetish, RLV toys, etc...)) with a hunt that links together and showcases many of the Femdom sims and locations to be found in Second Life. To this end the Femdoms who are supporting the hunt are spaced evenly throughout the location list, and the hunt itself is designed as a circular hunt. The last location in the hunt points to the first and we encourage everyone to treat any Femdom region (or indeed any location on the hunt) as their starting location.

The hunt starts at midnight on October 17th (the midnight between the 16th and the 17th, Second Life time) and runs until the end of November 2nd (Second Life time).

There is a group for the hunt:

secondlife:///app/group/4ca9753e-395a-0d59-ec7c-a9c72233a896/about

The group will be used to keep people informed of hunt-related news and everyone will be encouraged to use group chat to support and help each other -- and possibly have some Femdom-related fun along the way.

TFHV: Thank you

Another very successful Femdom Hunt is over and so, for the fifth time, we wanted to write a short note of thanks. As we say each time, and we feel it's important to say each time, there would be no hunt without everyone involved. The hunt only happens thanks to the vendors and Femdoms that are involved; and the Femdom hunt is a Femdom hunt thanks to the involvement of the many and varied Femdom regions and locations that exist in Second Life.

Also, there's no hunt without the hunters. In combination with the vendors and Femdom locations you've made the in-world group, and the business of organising the hunt, so much fun. We can't thank you enough.

We'd also like to thank Eve Terr for being an invaluable set of eyes and ears, keeping an eye on things when we've not been in-world (or have bee in-world but dealing with something else). The same thanks goes to everyone else who has alerted us to any issues that have cropped up. Your help and support in that way makes everything run smoother.

As for what happens now: over the next few days we'll be tidying up the blog and hiding the pages that aren't needed until the next hunt. We will leave the location list in place should you want to go back and find a particular location. We'll also do the usual cleanup of the vendor tag in the in-world group. We do encourage staying with the group, especially if you're a vendor, as that will be the first place that TFHVI will be announced if and when we decide on dates.

And... that's it. For this year, at least. All being well we'll see you next time.

Vila Pixelmaid/Zardia Avindar

Antony Fairport

The Femdom Hunt V closing dance

Last night we had the "not quite but pretty close to the end of Femdom Hunt V" dance at the Z&A main store. The evening was filled with great music, silly banter, displays of outfits made up from items found in this and previous hunts as well as a display of a selection of rezzable gifts from this hunt.

We have an album of photos from the dance. You can also find some photos from Lady Loes of The Mistresses Femdom over on their blog.

Here's a few highlights from the dance:

We'd like to thank everyone who came along and added to the fun. We really appreciated it.

For now it'll be back to the normal Raven Park dances. Hopefully we'll see you in a couple of weeks!