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The Rodvik Review


Porky Gorky
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Rod Humble joined Linden Labs 2 years ago in Jan 2011 and recently celebrated his 2nd rezday. 

How do you think he has performed so far?

Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?

What impact do you think he has had on Second Life and Linden Labs?

What would you like to see from Rodvik in the next 2 years?

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I've no idea what differences he might have made but there's a needed change that definitely hasn't happened, and I believe has got worse in his time. Linden Lab and customers are in the form of Them and Us, and we ought to be much more together. The lack of customer-facing LL is horrendous.

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You're not surveying me are you? :smileymad:  :smileyvery-happy:  jk


He hasn't burned the building down, nor has he unplugged any wires in the server room; that's a good start.

They have signs in the server room warning "Do Not Uplug" written in angry bold chicken scratch font, typically found in the scribbling of super geniuses.

My question is; how did it become such a problem, that a sign was necessary?

 

I didn't have any expectations, see: Jira:// my hope is in the toilet.

 

What Impact? You obviously haven't meet Bigfoot, because it's like that. 

 

To start, I would like to see him still working here.

I would like to see him to buy lunch for the Office everyday, because it's tax deductible.

Find the money to properly host SLB, Burning Man, Bunny Jam with egg creation contest, and other events.

Build a tradition, in order to create a legacy. Endeavoring to achieve a steady state of happiness, is an admirable goal; but in practice, many will find that we live looking forward, moment to moment.

 

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in terms of fixing ancient bugs and completing half-made functions then i think he has done good. he promised us this when he first came

he change the codey culture in the company. from do whatever you want that makes you the codey personally happy. to: fixit fixit fixit fixit fixit

i think that upset a lot of codeys on the inworld side of things. not being able to work on whatever they liked. and now have to grind it fixing all the past stuff they half-made broken

 

 

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Darren Scorpio wrote:

Stuff still breaks every Tuesday and Wednesday. The Marketplace is still broken. He never gave us last names back. Customer service has gotten worse. I'd say two years is long enough, time to find a new CEO who actually cares about the product and its users.

My biggest dissapointment is that he seemed profess an understanding that he personally needed to be more engaged with the community.  That, by and large, has not been the case. Therefore, he appears to not really understand the needs of the revenue producing portion of the community, the buyers and sellers of goods and services in second life. 

I disagree that customer service has gotten worse though. In general, tickets are actually responded to now, usually within 24 hours.  I had tickets sit for months on end without any response before he arrived. For me anyway that particular situation has been much improved. 

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Eve Greymoon wrote:


Darren Scorpio wrote:

Stuff still breaks every Tuesday and Wednesday. The Marketplace is still broken. He never gave us last names back. Customer service has gotten worse. I'd say two years is long enough, time to find a new CEO who actually cares about the product and its users.

My biggest dissapointment is that he seemed profess an understanding that he personally needed to be more engaged with the community.  That, by and large, has not been the case. Therefore, he appears to not really understand the needs of the revenue producing portion of the community, the buyers and sellers of goods and services in second life. 

I disagree that customer service has gotten worse though. In general, tickets are actually responded to now, usually within 24 hours.  I had tickets sit for months on end without any response before he arrived. For me anyway that particular situation has been much improved. 

I am actually quite happy with the support i have been getting. It has been much improved from what it used to be! Though maybe I just drew the lucky straw.

Unfortunatly I don't monitor the lindends enough to know what they work on... Future project is to get in touch with that side of the community ;P Learn the newest developments..For now though...teaching haha

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"How do you think he has performed so far?"

he has not made Second Life mainstream yet, but he is working to make Linden Lab mainstream, with other products besides Second Life. he repaired here and there, improved the acceptance of the official viewer when viewer 2 was in crisis and bringed mesh, something that probably would have been abandoned leaving Second Life in the past while every other modern 3D game used mesh. i dont blame him much for not talking to us anymore because users can be quite destructive when critizicing, specially when what they wish is not accomplished. one of the decisions that i have mixed feelings was the destruction of General Discussions.. altought they have the right to take control of their place, and the lack of moderation was giving Second Life a bad reputation, the old GD was a reflection of what Second Life is, a place where everybody could do almost anything they wanted.. i liked that he took a look at enhancing the tools under the idea that for a world to be better, better tools were needed.

he has performed good, he is making an effort to make Second Life more viable but there are so many things to repair, from lag, to marketplace, search, customer support, lack of income, making new users stay, etc. it will take time and dedication to repair all of them, he has advanced good so far but he needs more time to fix everything that is wrong.

"Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?"

he has lived up to my expectations, i didnt agree with some of his decision but he hasnt given up, and still is focusing on what is more important to the users, improving the creation tools, search, and diminishing lag.

"What impact do you think he has had on Second Life and Linden Labs?"

he has given us a hope, he is not M Linden or Philip Linden, he came with a good background, and it seems to know what he is doing, in comparison of fails vs wins, he has been having more wins, the community has complained less than with M Linden, Second life has been fairly stable.

"What would you like to see from Rodvik in the next 2 years?"

i expect an improvement in speed and on the visual aspect of the world, i expect a good ending on the projects he has been working on, maybe some new ideas that some will reject but they will be good overall, i expect that he will give a better image of Second Life after his work is done, not turning Second Life mainstream, that seems impossible, but turning it into something more acceptable to the masses. i would also expect an improvement that can be waiting if fixing everything that is wrong in Second Life ends in less than the next two years.

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Porky Gorky wrote:

 

Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?

No.gif

First he was communicating a lot, promising things.

Then he saw how difficult we are to deal with.

Then he decided that it's easier to be silent, secretive.

:smileysad:

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Porky Gorky wrote:

Rod Humble joined Linden Labs 2 years ago in Jan 2011 and recently celebrated his 2nd rezday. 

How do you think he has performed so far? 

Better than Michael did, but still not up to par IMO.

Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?

No, mostly in communications.  I find it totally unacceptable that he uses outside platforms to communicate with SL residents.  I don't want a facebook or twitter account and I should not be forced to have one to get important news about SL.  Yes, SL residents can be difficult, but what does he expect when service is so lousy and LL acts like it could care less about what we think? 

What impact do you think he has had on Second Life and Linden Labs?

I admit he has improved a few things, but a lot more could have been done.  The lack of transparency that he fosters has alienated a lot of customers.  He has asked how can things be improved to retain more new residents, and gets lots of good suggestions, but then nothing happens.  As far as LL, that remains to be seen.  The new products haven't been a rousing success so far and SL seems to have stagnated and be just a cash cow for LL other products anymore.  The money that SL earns LL should be reinvested mostly into SL to help it realize its full potential, which it is far from doing.

What would you like to see from Rodvik in the next 2 years?

Better customer service.  Better communication.  Nothing should be posted on facebook or twitter unless it is also posted on the blogs on the SL web site also.  I wish he'd listen to his customers and take the things they tell him more to heart. I'd hope for more support for the business community too because if SL businesses are successful that is more profit for LL in the form of tiers for stores and commissions on MP and more support for entertainment venues.  He should emphasize fixing things and test things to get out more of the bugs and problems before bringing them out on the grid. I'd love better in world building tools so the focus is on building in world rather than using outside software.

 

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It's not a nice thing to talk about, but I have to wonder about Rod's health. He's been nearly silent not just about Second Life (which might be explained by having lost interest in the ol' cash cow), but about the new products, too--and that's unusual, both for the expected behavior of any CEO with new products, and for Rod's past behavior. There's something wrong with this picture.

One can't blame Rod, solely, for the utter lack of Linden communications, but he does have responsibility for management direction. And some half-witted manager was allowed to castrate the Jira with a rusty hatchet. That this happened, and that the policy change wasn't immediately reversed, I'm sorry but that obvious and epic F*-up stops on Rod's desk.

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I like him but I'd like to hear from him more often. I haven't heard nor seen or heard of him or any Linden in a long time. It's too bad it can't be like it was rumored to be in early days when they just popped in world to say hello. I think they even stopped the snowball fights, didn't they? They should've increased things like that instead. Or if they wanted, in summer, a dunk tank and carnival. :)

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Porky Gorky wrote:

Rod Humble joined Linden Labs 2 years ago in Jan 2011 and recently celebrated his 2nd rezday. 

How do you think he has performed so far?

Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?

What impact do you think he has had on Second Life and Linden Labs?

What would you like to see from Rodvik in the next 2 years?

1)  I think Rod has done well under the circumstances of a world-wide global recession, which makes for tight money.  For a company to weather a global economic downturn, and still make a profit, is testament to not only to the product, but those who run the company. 

 

2)  I had no expectations when Rod came on board as LL CEO.  Other than to keep SL up and running, which he has done. 

3)  As for impact, I don't think I, or any of the other residents really see the total impact, as we're like the people sitting in the cave watching shadows on the walls.  (in a metaphorically philosophic sense)   I only know what I see and hear.  For total user experience, my personal SL experience has gotten better. 

4)  Personally, I'd like to see a continued effort by LL to reach a broader user base.   I think SL is misunderstood, and that the world at large was not ready for a product like SL when LL first launched.  The idea that you create your own world, game, interactions, and that there is constant learning that must be done...*that* was a revelation to people.  It's what we SL residents LOVE about SL, but is something that the population at large....just didn't "get".   But, the technological and information revolution is now further along, and the larger population may be ready for the concept of an activity where *you* create and control what happens. 

I'd like to see (Rodvik) LL use the learning aspects of SL as promotional material.   Life-long learning is paramount to good mental health and well being.   This amazing platform and the vast array of learning that SL residents undergo is a positive element in our brain's capacity to stay healthy.  I've read article after article, that tells how mentally learning new tasks and information, fights off the decline of the brain, and here we are in SL, constantly learning new things.  SL residents must read, learn/comprehend, and put into action what they learned.  It's an educators dream.  People willingly tackling complex information and data to continue in SL!  Yet LL does not seem to understand what a goldmine that is. 

 

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Coby Foden wrote:


Porky Gorky wrote:

 

Has he lived up to the expectations that you had for him when he came in 2 years ago?

No.gif

First he was communicating a lot, promising things.

Then he saw how difficult we are to deal with.

Then he decided that it's easier to be silent, secretive.

:smileysad:

When he first introduced himself to us in the Blog it sounded like he was going to engage with us more.  He had made an Avatar and was out and about in the World.  It looked like he was making SL 'his own.'

But outside of scattered comments every where else but here, it has basically been silence.

Maybe we expected him to be the voice of SL the same way we saw Torley or Philip.  Maybe that was a false expectation.

I do know he promised better communication and that communication has not happened.  Just look down to the Merchant Forum and you have a prima facia example.

If he wants SL to grow he has to engage with us better.

Linden Lab may provide the platform but **WE** are the ones that build the World.

 

eta: shpelling

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Phil Deakins wrote:

 Linden Lab and customers are in the form of Them and Us, and we ought to be much more together.

I disagree.  The weird way that LL interacted with customers when SL first started was not a normal method or a good one.  LL employees cozying up to SL residents, hanging out them, playing favorites.  This caused big problems.   There should be very little "together" as far as LL employees interacting with SL residents.  Because, it's impossible to stay objective when you're interacting socially with people.   The objective nature of management is paramount in making sure that all SL residents are treated equally under the TOS. 

Although, LL employees and SL residents can have the same objective:  A successful and continued SL. There's no need for the Lab to be anything other than Them to our US.

 


Phil Deakins wrote:

The lack of customer-facing LL is horrendous.

I'm not interested in "customer-facing" from a company.  What I want is for the company to be like magic elves that I never see, and just successfully run the damn thing so I can experience and enjoy it.  An occasional announcement about new features and/or fixes, and I'm fine. 

 

 

 

  

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Nuhai Ling wrote:

12% drop in private regions last year... enough said!:smileyfrustrated:

I agree. That says it all. And, unfortunately he doesn't know how to reverse this decline because he doesn't know when or why it started. But all the data is there for him to see.

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Trinity Yazimoto wrote:


Czari Zenovka wrote:

Major Fail!

THIS  !

btw useless to waste my time explaining why eh ?

(edit vocabulary)

Exactly.  I stated examples and thoughts over the last year until my face is blue but anyone can find them if they care. ;)

Something I notice in how SL residents perceive LL/how Rod has performed as a CEO - it's similar to the tale of an elephant and three blind men.  Each man touched a different part of the elephant and then said, based on that touch, what an elephant was.  I can't recall all of it, but one man touched the tail and said, "Oh, an elephant is much like a snake."

One's "sphere of involvment" in SL can greatly influence how one perceives if SL has improved, gotten worse, or remained static.  Someone who is 100% into dancing/socializing/shopping - as long as they don't have much lag and the graphics are good for them they don't understand the complaints.

A Land Baron would have a completely different viewpoint based on past rental occupancy compared to current.  Business owners, including those who own clubs, stores, etc. have yet an entirely different view based on their interactions, or attempts thereof, with Lindens.

I have my toe dipped in many waters so to speak in SL and I know if I primarily participated in only one activity - a social one - I would likely have an entirely different view than my experience as a merchant.  The past year in that regard has gone from so-so to really bad on many fronts.  To the point entire blog articles from long-time residents are writing about it.

Edit: Clarification

 

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I disagree, Lindens should be required to maintain a Residence in SL.

If I could host a luncheon for the CEO's of Swanson, I would serve them Swanson dinners. 

I bet, that they will not be able to stomach their own product.

What does that say about the product?

 

Do you know how much server space you can rent from a real Host for $275 a month? So what do we have; a program. They are letting us use the program. If they act only as a host; how do you justify the cost? They need to participate.

For proprietary reasons, many abilities are limited. Residents do Not have the tools required, in order to operate autonomously in SL, and independently from LL.

 

I believe that there should be Life in Second Life.

 

 

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Nuhai Ling wrote:

12% drop in private regions last year... enough said!:smileyfrustrated:

I don't think this is entirely Rod's fault. The majority of people who own private regions generally try to subsidize their tier payments by either selling content on the sim or renting land to merchants. I think the change in consumer habits in SL that we have seen in the past few years has resulted in allot more business being conducted on the Marketplace and allot less inworld. So more and more merchants are giving up or downsizing their stores inworld as a result of this. Either their businesses are failing to compete on the over-saturated MP or they smply cannot justify owning a region to support the declining levels of traffic inworld.

So the question is why has this happened?

It's partially because LL failed to develop an efficient, fair and competitive system inworld within which people can conduct business, and it's partially the fault of merchants for not effectively streamlining the shopping experience for their customers. Both factors meant that inworld shopping could not compete with the Marketplace's Efficiency. I think this is the direct cause for the majority of lost private regions in the past 2 years.

So who is to blame? I don't think it is Rod as the ball that would partially destroy inworld commerce started rolling long before he arrived. IMO The introduction of the GSA search engine got the ball rolling, the purchase of Xstreet and the subsequent merger of inworld and MP L$ balance help speed up the process considerably and the introduction of direct delivery just added insult to injury as far inworld commerce was concerned.

Whilst the rate at which private regions are being lost has increased substantially during Rod's tenure as CEO, I don't think he can be held responsible for what is happening now, He is just dealing with the end result of a process that started long before he arrived.

However, what he is guilty of is not doing anything to stop the increasing loss of private regions. He may not be responsible for causing the problem, but he is responsible for fixing it, and from where I am sitting he has taken no notable action to address this issue.

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Knowl Paine wrote:

I disagree, Lindens should be required to maintain a Residence in SL.

If I could host a luncheon for the CEO's of Swanson, I would serve them Swanson dinners. 

I bet, that they will not be able to stomach their own product.

What does that say about the product?

You're confusing two different ideas here.   I agree that Lindens should be required to be in SL, so they may understand the platform and how best to improve it.   

But, I don't think it's a good idea for "togetherness" to be an ongoing function of LL employees and SL residents.     In the past LL employees hung out with SL residents   LL employees had inworld businesses running under their alts.  Some LL employees may still do this.  But, that type of involvement creates conflicts of interest, favoritism, and bad management.

 


Knowl Paine wrote:

Do you know how much server space you can rent from a real Host for $275 a month? So what do we have; a program. They are letting us use the program. If they act only as a host; how do you justify the cost? They need to participate.

Again, you're mixing up two different concepts.  

 Look at the history.  LL employees becoming too involved with Zindra and the adult community to the point of letting SL residents pull their strings.  LL employees having feuds and power struggles with SL residents.  It was a mess.  (some of this is fairly recent too)

Logging into SL everyday, and experiencing the platform and it's various issues, is something that LL employees can do without palling around with SL residents.

 


Knowl Paine wrote:

For proprietary reasons, many abilities are limited. Residents do Not have the tools required, in order to operate autonomously in SL, and independently from LL.

I agree wholeheartedly that the SL residents do not have the neccessary abilities and tools, and that there's huge room for improvement in this area!   A big focus needs to be on mainland, to improve the experience there.   Mainland is a SL resident's first experience when they come inworld.  Since there are so many issues with being on mainland, many ditch that, and go to private islands.  Fine for the private island owners, but it creates a *ghetto* on the mainland that is not the optimal experience.  So new SL residents are constantly exposed to the ghetto first, and we wonder why they don't stay. 

 

*ghetto* (the word ghetto is used for the less than optimal mainland areas.  I do know there are places on mainland where enough residents have banded together, and purchased land to create a positive location.  But, it's a constant struggle and wears down even the most dedicated SL residents)

 


Knowl Paine wrote:

I believe that there should be Life in Second Life.

Huh?    Not sure what that statement means.   But, if you mean more SL residents, and more active participation from those residents, then I agree.   

 

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