Am I going to have be cut off from SL now?

[SaorlaLhilaeloss]

I keep hearing about the LL new platform being built and that there will be no more third party viewers allowed. This really really bothers me, as I use firestorm and don't like the LL viewers. So now am I going to be cut off from Second Life?

[Innula Zenovka]

The short answer is that no one, including LL, knows the details.   As I understand it, nothing's been ruled in yet, and nothing's been ruled out.   It's very unlikely that we're going to see anything of the new platform for the next year or so, and whatever happens after that, SL1 is likely to last for (at least) several years after that -- really, for as long as there's interest and it's making money.   

ETA  Jo Yardley has written a very helpful blog piece, collecting what Ebbe Linden has actually said on the subject.

[Theresa Tennyson]

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SaorlaLhilaeloss wrote:

I keep hearing about the LL new platform being built and that there will be no more third party viewers allowed. This really really bothers me, as I use firestorm and don't like the LL viewers. So now am I going to be cut off from Second Life?

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Theresa Tennyson shoots an icy glare at a certain TPV developer for her melodramatic message of the day.

There is a completely separate new Second Life version in development. It won't be running full scale for years, literally. When the new system starts up the current world will continue in parallel for as long as it remains profitable. Third party viewers will still work on the world that we currently know. It's too soon in the development of the new world to even know if there will BE such a thing as a "viewer" (for instance, Cloud Party worked without a separate viewer.)

[Madelaine McMasters]

Years ago, I tried a collaborative build with some friends, and finally gave up because everybody was using different viewers. We spent more time trying to resolve misunderstandings than actually building. And now, as one who tries to answer questions from residents who use any number of viewers that all work just a little bit differently, I think I'll be happy to see third party viewers disappear.

I'm having a hard time finding the downside to Ebbe saying that LL is working on a new virtual world that he hopes we'll want to move to. If they don't make it, someone else will.

[Syo Emerald]

Nobody knows when the new platform will be ready or how the interface there will look like...it isn't even sure, if that project will ever reach the market or if it will die before. No need to break out in fear yet.

[Nalates Urriah]

There are no simple answers when you talk about the new SL 2.0, as I call it.

First, consider what third party viewers have done for SL 1.0. For years they have innovated and provided user cases for how people will or won't use features. The array of features in Firestorm has made it the most popular viewer in SL 1.0. The Lab is aware of how popular the viewer is. The Snowstorm Viewer maintenance releases are the path where third party features are brought into the main SL Viewer.

Materials were created by a third party development effort. Third party efforts eventually led to Fitted Mesh, something we probably still would not have without that effort.

The viewers for vision handicapped people are all made by third parties.

The Lab has only said that starting out SL 2.0 will not be open source. There is no generic aversion to open source on the Lab's side. So, there is a good chance the viewer side will become open source.

There is also the possibility there will be no viewer. Unity, Unreal, and others are developing high quality render engines that will run in an Internet Browser. The Lab and others have pointed out that the download and install of the viewer is a major obstacle to user acceptance. So... will there be a viewer? We DO NOT know.

Will the Lab allow open source in SL 2.0? I think there is a very good possibility they will. Will it happen 2014? Not, pretty sure it won't. 2015? I think the chance is slim. 2016? I think from here on the chances get better and better.

But, this is all speculation. So, when some one says 'won't allow' that has to be qualified by a time aspect, when? They are not going to allow it in 2014 because they said they won't starting out. Beyond that not even Ebbe knows what they will do.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

OK, come on everyone. Enough with the chicken little nonsense.

SecondLife, is Linden Research's cash cow.

This so sounds like the wasted proclamations of doom that came about when the very pretty Blue Mars platform which was wonderfully scalable entered the market to a resounding response then went [THUD].

Why was it better? - It was scalable, it was graphically prettier, is was safer because user created content needed to go through a corporate acceptance process to be sold, and so on,

Why did it fail?  it was.......too many no's and had an unsustainable business model. No easy way to customize your avatar outside the range of the framework that was originally developed; No easy method to make user content; No streamlined user created content approval process; and most importantly, no compelling reason to be in that Virtual World.

SecondLife's strength is that it is a User Created Virtual World and Social Community. It mirrors the creativity of the individual. No where else [Other than the similar OSGrid's communities] can you visit another's vision of thier own perfect venue and socialize as you desire.

So let's keep our heads and enjoy SecondLife and just wait and see what Linden Research has to offer for the future.