Second Life Wiki
Advertisement
Splitface

Echo Omega, featured on the split-face website design

Echo Omega is a "fictional" NPC account created by Linden Lab during an ad campaign which was directed by Rivers Run Red (a company owned and run by Fizik Baskerville). The ad featured an image split into two, on one side was a picture of a real woman intitled "Kat Ramirez" with "Office Manager" as a job title under it, and on the other side was an image of an avatar entitled "Echo Omega" with several descriptions changing under it, finally settling on "Tycoon". The campaign was meant to show the dual possibilities of having a "normal" job in the real world while being able to be anything in Second Life.

The name "Echo Omega" (and "Kat Ramirez") may have been inspired by resident Catherine Omega (who is real), a skilled and successful resident who has been in Second Life since closed Beta. Echo Omega initially only existed in the ad and no account in SL by that name could be found. Residents ran with the concept, turning Echo into a "Carmen Sandiego"-type figure, and even blaming Echo for bugs or other things going wrong. Sometime later, an account was made for Echo Omega (born 2/13/2004), which has been rarely seen, and "she" became partnered with Bub Linden.

The picture used for the Kat Ramirez portion of the image was a stock photo and is not anyone who works for LL or any known resident. The backdrop of the image was composed from various screenshots taken around Second Life and the place depicted does not exist anywhere in-world.

The initial ad campaign has since been dropped and Echo Omega with it. The account for Echo Omega does still exist, but Bub Linden has moved on to Pony Linden.

Advertisement