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September Update


Linden Lab

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September brings new developments to Second Life for Premium Memberships, improvements to Profiles and an update on mesh. These are all part of Linden Lab’s ongoing focus in 2011 on improving service, performance and usability.


New Premium Membership Benefits

At the beginning of September, we introduced some new benefits for Second Life Premium members. The first improvements? Exclusive gifts and Premium-only sandboxes.


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Getting access to your new Premium rewards is easy. Premium Gifts can be claimed now by members via one of the many inworld Premium kiosks, and the Premium-only Sandboxes are already open.

Even more benefits are on the way, so this is just the beginning. Read the original blog post for more details about Premium Sandboxes and Premium Gifts.


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Not a Premium Member? There couldn’t be a better time to sign up. We’re running a special limited-time promotion for new quarterly Premium memberships from now through Monday, Sept. 12 at 50 percent off the regular price.

Get Even More Out Of Social Profiles with Location Posting

September also brings a new social sharing feature to the Second Life Viewer. Residents now have the option to conveniently share where they are inworld by adding a location to their Profile posts as a tag:


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This means that people reading your posts live can teleport directly to your location and join you. Those who see your post later can also check out the location to see exactly what you were talking about even if you’re no longer there.

Of course, you can always choose not to use this feature it’s just there when you want it.

These “Locations” tags get really fun when combined with your Profile's “Nearby” feature. To check it out while you’re inworld, follow the menu Me → My Profile. Then, click on the first icon:
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Then click the second tab, “Nearby”:
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Now you’ll see posts from people nearby wherever you are inworld. Some of these posts might even be made by people in the same location at the same time you are there. It’s a great way to connect with others to start a conversation.


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You can also use this feature to browse through older posts, which can give you insights as to what kind of activities and conversations typically happen in that region. For example, you might uncover posts about recent or upcoming live music shows, hot new stores or the insider scoop on the hottest local dance clubs.

So... let people know where you hang out and why — or keep quiet, and just see what others are doing and saying.

If you haven’t heard the full story of Social Profiles, check out our post from last month for more details and the big picture.

Mesh Update


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With the arrival of mesh, a number of Residents have already started to create some impressive mesh items inworld. Since its inception, we’ve seen more than 9,000 content creators enable mesh, and more than 20,000 items have already been uploaded to the grid. And we’re looking forward to seeing what creations you make next.

There’s a lot of excitement around what mesh models can offer — for more information or to try it yourself, check out this page. You can also browse through some of the first mesh creations in our Mesh Showcase. The Lab is working on continued improvements and the next mesh release will include upgrades to how we show resource weight and land impact of objects.

Mesh rolled out in August as an added option to all inworld building tools to help Residents craft even more creations inworld. For the best mesh experience, you’ll need the current version of the Second Life Viewer (Version 3.0) or a comparable viewer.

Go create something great,

Linden Lab



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Wow, so many whiners and constant complainers! Lousy and greedy business people too, and especially the lag masters who haven't got a clue on how to create an enjoyable visitor experience in their clubs and stores. Thanks Linden Labs for the update and you're making good progress with useful features and more stabilized performance. Performance is the most important to me and crashing has become a very infrequent occurence, thank you. SL is still the best virtual platform out there and I'm satisfied you are listening to your residents and making improvements. Keep the focus on stabilizing and improving performance, listen to the residents that care, and ignore the whiners and complainers.

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Just because people don't jump up and down with enthusiasm we're labelled whingers, ignore them blah blah. Reading through the last 2 posts re premium benefits, I'd say the 'whingers' are in the majority, and on the last post about the previous benefits LL actually thanked everyone for their comments. I'm hoping they act on both the good AND the negative.

Fact is the 'whingers' usually explain their reasons for beng dissatisifed ie. they're dissatisfied customers, something all business should actually listen to Edward. No company ever managed to survive by ignoring genuine customer dissatisfaction. Customer loyalty and rewarding the same is a big deal in business, and when long term customers get ignored they take action. One big SL business recently got rid of half their sims because of service. Another former business in SL closed 10plus sims. This isn't whinging. As for me, put my money where my mouth is? OK. I did. My land is for sale and once its sold who needs premium? LL wil be down my membership and about $150 a month, and I doubt I'm anyhthing special. There's land going up for sale all over the grid. But please, just because people genuinely feel put out by these measures they're not whinging for the sake of whinging. Constructive criticism is good in all aspects of life, or else how does anyone learn from mistakes.

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WOOOOHOOO Lindens way to compete with your customers again.... lets give away FREE furnitue this time and see how we can kill another area of the economy.....way to go huge kudos and yeaaaaaaaah on the free sandboxes......again why am i paying tier anymore when i have all this?

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Very constructive Tako, I guess if we're geriatrics that makes you a baby by comparison. There are people who don't use the forum who were thinking of signing up for the offer as premium members. They stopped themselves when they read the small print and realised the limitation of it. ie. just a discount of one payment, then it goes back to normal. The people I know who were thinking of it are far from geriatric, as am I. They simply looked at the facts and worked it out fo rhtemselves.

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In my four years the number of crashes is at its worst, border crossing is far from satisfactory, each new viewer adds more problems to textures. Do you actually bother trying to move around sl Vintner  ??

Something tells me you rarely use the tp or move between regions. Is your avvy a tortoise or the proverbial ostrich forever burying its head in the sand ?

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We'll never get a true improved deal for long term members because for everyone who puts forward an argument that would benefit anyone who spends the long term in sl theres some idiot who cant do anything better than shout whinger or blab out total inaccuracies about lindens performance ...

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Unfortunately I won't be able to enjoy the mesh and the rest that the recent SL viewer has to offer. I bought a new laptop February of 2011 and in August 2011, with all this new upgrade stuff, I am not able to use viewer 2 anymore because my new laptop driver is no longer compatible. Fortunately, a third party viewer is available to let me in SL. I am not able to financially afford a new computer or to update my drivers so I guess I won't be able to enjoy the new stuff :(

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By the way ViNtner its all very well calling people whingers and then going on to stab at large groups of people in sl who dont keep you happy.... incidentally if SL performance is so good how come you need to complain about people generating lag in SL ??

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Okay!!  So, LL has seen some light and realized that lowering a price will get them more sales.  Huzzah, yippee, and hot buttered squid-on-a-stick for everyone. 

Now, if they can figure out that permanent lowering of prices on land and tier will bring about lots more land sales, just as lowering the price (albiet temporarily) on premium gets them more premium memberships (for 3 months anyways), then there just may be some hope for SL after all.  We now have a CEO who grasps the simple fact that we are in Second Life to do things we cannot do in Real Life.  This is outstanding.  Once he also figures out that he can get more customers and money by fixing the excessive cost of the land, this ship will finally stop sinking and we can get back to fixing the long-standing technical problems again. 

Let's say you have 1000 islands at 300dollars a month.  You change the price to 200dollars.  Suddenly people begin buying up islands, and all those servers that were idle (and you still have to pay for) are in service again, making you money.  Suppose only 75% growth occurs.  You were making 300,000 a month before the price cut.  With 75% more islands, you now make 350,000 a month.  And the additional people this brings in means more L sales and purchases inworld too.

The customer isn't always right, but they are always the customer, until they decide to take their money and go.  LL has driven far too many of the deep-pockets away, and as they are learning (and as we warned them 2+ years ago) those willing to pay outrageous amounts for something they don't own are the first and second adopters.  After them, the money starts drying up quickly.  LL can forget about churn solving its problems with land sales -- the newcomers aren't buying, partly due to price, partly due to the lab's reputation for shenanigans.  Lowering tier and purchase price for the land is critical for improving land sales.  And no amount of social media gadgets nobody can find (is it really so hard to add a button on the homepage?) or mesh or shadows will cause more people to buy fake land that they no longer get to own, but is still priced as if we own it. 

The improvements this year have been nice.  But they don't fix the real problem, and LL knows it.

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Thank you LL for a nice set of new perks for being Premium. Compared to 2007 (when I rezzed) my SL is remarkably stable, works well most of the time, and when I find something to fix it's usually been on my end. Come to think of it that's better than my work software lol.

It sure would be nice if people kept their posts civil; if SL upsets you so much, maybe you should try a different hobby?

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@Cincia:  Ah, but you see, that's just it.  We DO love SL -- the original SL we had before GrupenFuerer Kingdon tried to beat it into a powerpoint presenter.  We want the days of freedom and silly times back.  And much change and repair will need to be made before such a party attitude can exist in SL once again.  Wandering mainland USED to be fun, barring the odd griefer attack.  It would be nice if I could once again wander the mainland and see neat stuff and meet neat people, like I did 5 years ago.

It would also be nice if the tech problems from 5 years back were fixed.  Half a decade, and we still have simcrossing issues and max people counts in sims.  From an engineering perspective, that's pathetic beyond belief.

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I have been in Second Life since 2006 and I canceled my premium account back around the time that Linden Homes first came out. M Linden was still around and a ton of Lindens got laid off. I canceled because at the time I was paying anually and I didn't feel confidant enough in the future of  LL as a company to invest another $72. I was not sure that LL would even be around for another year. Well I am glad that I was wrong. I have seen so many improvements in the last couple of months. So many fixes and new features that people have been begging for on this very forum for YEARS. I'm happy to say that I again went back to Premium membership today. Keep up the good work LL.

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EDITED (06/05/2013): My Second Life is a great feature.  A little glitchy and it can be improved, but it's great nevertheless.  The only Premium Gift product I bothered using was the Premium Sofa, and it was also nice.

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ahhh to some SL is only a hobby to waste there invalueble time on and pixel boinking and for us others it is in investment and a business and a job .... some people need to get that smacked into there heads at times,but alas they will never get it lol

 

some things in stability are better but the shiney new furniture for premium peoples pfftt i used it to heat my sim this month thanks Lindens ( no insult intended to the creator of the fine furniture)

 

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Don't forget parcel privacy settings. An awesome feature that people have been begging for for years.

Don't forget dynamic light and shadows. An awesome feature that people have been begging for for years.

And yes, 64 meter prims.

And yes Mesh.

I bit the bullet and went on Viewer 2. Now I'm on viewer 3. It works. You can get used it.

You can't expect them to fix everything at once. They are headed in the right direction.

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It's true, the Lab have done some marvelous things.

Mesh,  sizable big prims, dynamic lighting and shadows, ambient occlusion, benefits for new premiere users, bug fixes, better border crossings,etc, etc

But unfortunately all the good things the Lab are doing are FALLING ON STONEY GROUND. No growth is possible.

Tier costs are killing SL's potential.

Concurrency has been falling all year. Grid size is stagnant or shrinking.

The biggest problem we have is High Tier cost and it is sucking the life out of SL and turning SL into a glorified 3D chat room instead of a thriving virtual world

Unless the Lab reduce tier costs substantially SL will continue to stagnate and shrivel

It's a real shame to see such an exciting medium choked and smothered.

High tier costs create an elitist class system in SL.

If it had cost 300USD for a website in the 90's there would be NO INTERNET and because it costs 300USD for a full sim, SL is a tiny niche product compared to the world changing massive success that it could be.

High Tier costs are killing SL's potential

 

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Lindens Premium User "gifts" are cringeworthy in the extreme. A small group will use the sandboxes, and good luck to them. The vast majority however will not, so what possessed Lindens to try and make a virtue out of it?  A nothing "gift". Add the "gift" of furniture and the mind boggles at Lindens groupthink, I have to wonder who uses that family's brain cell. Again a mircoscoptic group might possibly need furniture (no offence to the gifters), so what made Lindens offer such a useless item?  Lindens should look at question why should people continue giving money for no real rewards.  Increase the stipend for each year as a premium member would be a start.  Offer increased housing sizes for each year would also be of value.  Sadly it will be another offer of useless things in the next round of gifting and more spin to try and make a silk purse from a sow's ear

 

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I would like to say thank you for these new things.  As a loyal premium member for nearly 4 years, its nice to be getting extras even though they may not appeal to everyone.  I look forward to seeing what comes next.

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As a person who played SL when it first came out and left due to it going downhill, not sure why most say old owners. I came back a month or so ago and I think its gone leaps and bounds compared to what it use to be, there is the odd problems but you get them in every online game. I hear people complaining about this discount, I have to say to them...have a look around the other online games. I have played online games for years and every company does this at some stage you need to intice new players into the game or players who left before, I just signed up and didn't get a discount and I have to pay for land. Am I annoyed, no because 9/10 companies do this.


On the part of lack of payment methods, I use a pre pay card via pay pal and pay in euros and have no problems. If you wont use a pre paid card to sign up for Pay Pal thats your choice. LL isn't stopping them as I used it this morning to pay my land tier fee's. The one I use is payzonemoney.ie and nothing links to my bank account.

Keep up the good progress LL

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Hello,

 

Just my 2 cents...

Being in my first year of a premium member, the reason for becoming one still stands. I am happy to pay a reasonable amount of money to support a company that gives me a challenging environment. A place to meet amazing people from all over the world, so I can broaden my horizons. All that through an interface that enables the creativity of people that choose to participate in it.

If that little amount of money enables LL to keep in business for the next year, so I can enjoy SL further, then I consider this money well spent.

And on 50% off for new customers: so what! Do you react the same way when your cell provider does a marketing campaign, and gives new customers 6 months for free?

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This thread reminded me why I don't talk to any of you people any more. Can't even look at what's basically just patch notes without wading through full grown adults who are old enough to have grandkids spew their ignorance like the 12 year olds on AoC forums.

 

Cry moar, LL is finally taking out the trash. In world has already cleaned up quite a bit. When's the last time you've had someone orange ask you to cyber?

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@ Amythyst Opaline, I can't imagine anyone EVER wanting to cyber with you.  :-)

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