proposal for the future of Second Life

[anitaharlow]

there are few people that join in second life metaverse respect the initial 6 years of life.

for someone the reason is the growing of platform game internet connnected, for other second life is a gold mine not properly exploited for still others the interface is complicated and in the end for some others the lack of rules, leads to the creation of many worlds, but with a few people who can do little at the end because they do not know well the potential of the system.

so my proposal is to:

1- linden lab using his database of the worlds in the metaverse, knowing the taste of the people, might to create many very completes worlds for exploration or to play!!!! for example the vampire worlds, or the Lican worlds, ore create worlds that are the part of the same story and than if you want to play in this game you have to enter in diverse world like different levels... than the exploration may be interconnected but based on some rules access rule, if you do not complete before that thing, you does not explore the world after... and in these world every avatar might be assigned to a specific rank... like now, but in a more complete manner, bigger and with more interconnnections between them.  

2- linden lab in collaboration with google might ricreate the "real" world using the google maps!!!! so if someone want to visit a museum in london may simulate the arrival to the airport, or use the coach to arrive to the museum and visit the museum before to do it!!! or you may drive in a Alonso's ferrari during the Monaco gp... but for my opinion is an error to leave that the users build everything... 

3- at the end the presence of a lead, of a guide, in certain worlds is necessary, in fact the people are not so good to create a story!!! and then the curve of passion decrease immediately... and if the curve decrease few people stay here again...

 

what do you think about?

[Sidnella Riler]

well SL has all the dance card full with Oculus Rift, so I do not think there will be new projects in this old SL, and the new one, if they did what you want, the stages thing that sounds more like a Play station than Second life, as most of us think of it as a comunity I do not think putting limits as to where you can enter would work, but, you never know

[anitaharlow]

wow oculus? 

it's amazing!!! but when? 

[Ren Toxx]

While I can see the appeal of that, expecting it to be designed by Linden Labs themselves may not be reasonable. As with current SL, they've always been the creators and maintainers of the infrastucture upon which users then built specific creations; what you describe might entail a whole lot of designing effort in and on itself, and II'd rather they devoted all their resources to creating a platform flexible enough that it will support all of that and more.

[anitaharlow]

but nobody forbids that things can change. because going forward so, things will end very quickly.o 

today only 50.000 people are connected... in other words (like the word of warcraft that is another thing i know but we don't forget that it's a comunity) we count millions of people!!!! millions of way to connect to others!!!!

ya they are the creators of this metaverse, and they give to you the opportunity to create your world... there are tons of worlds completely empty, there are shops everywhere, and land that are only toys for children... 

when 10 and 15 people come, all lags... so when will be introduced oculus... what will happen? 

i think that is the time to change something... and quickly...

 

 

[Harold Jorgental]

Ya anita, i think as you that the things must be changed!!! i don't know how... but in this moment the metaverse is really sad... there is nobody in the lands... few years ago the tournements were full of people... now only 3 or 4... the quality of the items is really better with mesh but i think that something must be done to give to SL a real second... life...

[Parrish Ashbourne]

---

SID Riler wrote:

well SL has all the dance card full with Oculus Rift, so I do not think there will be new projects in this old SL, and the new one, if they did what you want, the stages thing that sounds more like a Play station than Second life, as most of us think of it as a comunity I do not think putting limits as to where you can enter would work, but, you never know

---

SL all ready has a Project viewer for the Oculus Rift, and is still working on improving SL.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Q-amp-A-meeting-with-Oz-and-Pete-linden/td-p/2766954

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Alternate_Viewers

 

[Yingzi Xue]

Second Life is community driven.  This means, the world is what it is because the users make it that way.  That's the beauty of Second Life.  LL has many areas that were made specifically for premium members only (with help from users), but to have a design team at LL making content for the world isn't how Second Life was envisioned and I think it would detract from the world as a whole.  If you've ever been to an SL hub in-world, you might notice that all of them have one thing in common--no soul.  They feel empty and pointless.  This would most surely happen if LL started creating their own content.  In Second Life, people want complete control of their content and they don't want that content coming from a corporation.  What makes Facebook thrive?  It's the user shared content, not content made by Facebook.  Even if LL made all of the attractions you requested, they would be empty because people prefer something that feels active and vibrant, that only comes from users who passionately create in Second Life, not some department at a corporation that craps out canned content.

Second Life IS NOT A GAME, it's a virtual world.  While there are games in-world, there is role playing and combat, that's a small part.  Second Life is a community.  It's a medium that allows people to create worlds only they can image, experience things they can't do in real life.  It's not an MMO and it's not about getting your next gaming fix with throw-away content.  Second Life means different things to different people, but to understand what Second Life is and was meant to be is important.  Losing sight of that is a bad thing.

Second Life as it is has reached the end of its life as far as appealing to new users is concerned.  We're on the cusp of new technologies and the next generation of virtual worlds.  I liken it to BBS's and the internet.  While Second Life is still valid as a virtual world, it's aged 11 years.  New technologies will eclipse it in the next several years and it will be a distant fond memory.  Oh there will still be open sim and people who will enjoy Second Life in some form; there are still BBS's, but they are empty nostalgic time capsules that no one uses anymore.

I love Second Life.  It's the best creative outlet I've ever found.  I've been in SL since 2007 and I still find it as addicting as the day I joined.  I never get tired of it.  Despite its clunkiness, its flaws, it is still the best virtual world.  I can't see LL spending a lot of time or effort into an old platform.  They're focused on the next generation of virtual world, which will be more accessible, easier to use and more immersive.  Look at what High Fidelity is doing and how it works.  It's going to be some amazing stuff.  If LL can equal that or better it, we're going to see some really cool things coming in the next few years (I hope).

I see the writing on the wall.  Second Life isn't going to live forever.  I'll be here til the last day, unless something else is so good it pulls me away.  Where we're headed is exciting.  I see social media being merged into virtual worlds, where there is no limit to what you can do.  I think Facebook sees it too, which is why they're invested in it.

Second Life isn't going to change much from here on out.  I'm fine with that.  Still, there are things that can be done to bring more people in--like reducing prices across the board, having a support network that is community based, foster more community-driven events and locations, bring back those institutions and real-world business presences that left SL because of the price increase--and let them create their unique content.  Then show the world through ads how appealing SL is as a virtual world and what you can do inside it.  I still think they've been missing a huge opportunity all along with how they present SL to new users and how they do nothing to keep it from seeming so complex and daunting.  No real official training on how to build or script, except for the wiki.  There are many things that LL could do in an official capacity that they aren't doing, but making content beyond their infrastructure role is not something I want them to do.

My $0.02 worth.

[anitaharlow]

1) but nobody want to reduce your control to Second Life, we want to add some extra words that may be more interactive with  new tecnologies!!! EXTRA WORDS. this does not detract from the rest of Second Life ... to the limit, it adds a little something extra.

2) i know that is a virtual words, infact my second idea is to create an interaction between google maps with second life!!! this may be a great, powerful, enthusiastic idea!!! you may visit the entire word with your avatar!!! nowaday there's the tecnology to create this kind of things,  in automatic way !!!! 

3) ya it's creative but its viewer must be changed quickly!!! i know there's a discussion forum on this argument. i'm here to make some new proposal. 

 

[Phil Deakins]

---

Yingzi Xue wrote:

Second Life is community driven.  This means, the world is what it is because the users make it that way.  That's the beauty of Second Life.  LL has many areas that were made specifically for premium members only (with help from users), but to have a design team at LL making content for the world isn't how Second Life was envisioned and I think it would detract from the world as a whole.  If you've ever been to an SL hub in-world, you might notice that all of them have one thing in common--no soul.  They feel empty and pointless.  This would most surely happen if LL started creating their own content.  In Second Life, people want complete control of their content and they don't want that content coming from a corporation.  What makes Facebook thrive?  It's the user shared content, not content made by Facebook.  Even if LL made all of the attractions you requested, they would be empty because people prefer something that feels active and vibrant, that only comes from users who passionately create in Second Life, not some department at a corporation that craps out canned content.

Second Life IS NOT A GAME, it's a virtual world.  While there are games in-world, there is role playing and combat, that's a small part.  Second Life is a community.  It's a medium that allows people to create worlds only they can image, experience things they can't do in real life.  It's not an MMO and it's not about getting your next gaming fix with throw-away content.  Second Life means different things to different people, but to understand what Second Life is and was meant to be is important.  Losing sight of that is a bad thing.

Second Life as it is has reached the end of its life as far as appealing to new users is concerned.  We're on the cusp of new technologies and the next generation of virtual worlds.  I liken it to BBS's and the internet.  While Second Life is still valid as a virtual world, it's aged 11 years.  New technologies will eclipse it in the next several years and it will be a distant fond memory.  Oh there will still be open sim and people who will enjoy Second Life in some form; there are still BBS's, but they are empty nostalgic time capsules that no one uses anymore.

I love Second Life.  It's the best creative outlet I've ever found.  I've been in SL since 2007 and I still find it as addicting as the day I joined.  I never get tired of it.  Despite its clunkiness, its flaws, it is still the best virtual world.  I can't see LL spending a lot of time or effort into an old platform.  They're focused on the next generation of virtual world, which will be more accessible, easier to use and more immersive.  Look at what High Fidelity is doing and how it works.  It's going to be some amazing stuff.  If LL can equal that or better it, we're going to see some really cool things coming in the next few years (I hope).

I see the writing on the wall.  Second Life isn't going to live forever. 

I'll be here til the last day, unless something else is so good it pulls me away

.

  Where we're headed is exciting.  I see social media being merged into virtual worlds, where there is no limit to what you can do.  I think Facebook sees it too, which is why they're invested in it.

Second Life isn't going to change much from here on out.  I'm fine with that.  Still, there are things that can be done to bring more people in--like reducing prices across the board, having a support network that is community based, foster more community-driven events and locations, bring back those institutions and real-world business presences that left SL because of the price increase--and let them create their unique content.  Then show the world through ads how appealing SL is as a virtual world and what you can do inside it.  I still think they've been missing a huge opportunity all along with how they present SL to new users and how they do nothing to keep it from seeming so complex and daunting.  No real official training on how to build or script, except for the wiki.  There are many things that LL could do in an official capacity that they aren't doing, but making content beyond their infrastructure role is not something I want them to do.

My $0.02 worth.

---

If writing all that was your $0.02 worth, then you can write for me at those rates 

I know this thread isn't about SL2 but I just wanted to chip in about something you said (bolded and in red by me)...

That's the whole point of SL2 - ".... unless something is so good it pulls me away". Something will almost certainly come along sooner or later, that's so good it pulls you, and the rest of us, away. LL intends being the creator of that something, before another company does it and pulls us all away. I do wish people (not you) would stop whinging about what they are not going to be able to carry through to SL2, and recognise that it is essential for LL to embark on it if the company is going to.continue successfully. They may already be too late in getting started, but they have to do it in case they're not. On reflection, they may have started some time ago. I remember them talking about new products. SL2 might have been one of them.

Note: I am not an LL fanboy. I have no time at all for the company, and I do not wish it well in any way. I'm writing with what someone described as cold hard common sense. That's all.

[Yingzi Xue]

Although it's a cool idea to tie Google Maps in with Second Life for real-world/in-world locations, there are inherent problems with that.

 

1. Second Life mainland is unique and doesn't resemble real-world land mass.
2. The amount of space and resources needed to create real-world continents alone would be impossible.
3. If you use existing mainland continents for real-world location replicas, it wouldn't translate very well, there would be a disconnect because it's a real-world location located on a fictional continent.  Thus, Google Maps would be pointless, except as a pointer to an in-world location.
4. Who would maintain these locations?  Who would run them?  LL wouldn't.  Finding people to adopt these locations and try to turn them into places the community wants to congregate, that's a challenge in itself.

Second Life is what you make it.  Therefore, if that's what you want to see, make it happen, create it.  It should be noted that open sim is more suitable for a Google Maps project, since you can separate the grids.

[Yingzi Xue]

I am excited about the possibilities of SL 2.0, but the confidence that LL will be able to pull it off is low.  The good news is, if LL doesn't fill those shoes, possibly High Fidelity will, or someone else will come along.  It's happening, that's what is promising; it's the future of virtual worlds.  If none of them meet the grade, we still have Second Life or an equivalent.

[anitaharlow]

regarding the integration between google maps and SL i think that this may be useful only for some cities or hystorical zone... i'm thinking about the Louvre zone  in Paris or the colosseum and the "fori romani" zone in Rome with all others hystorical zone. obviously all the globe is now impossible (now) but in 10 years might be possible. 

 

i'm excited too for second life 2!!! i'm very happy to know that there are so many news about SL and i hope that the new tecnologies will be more simple to use inworld!!! i know that everyone here want to ameliorate this system but i also know that the intrinsic limit of the freedom is clear...

 

 

 

[Perrie Juran]

 

 

---

anitaharlow wrote:

regarding the integration between google maps and SL i think that this may be useful only for some cities or hystorical zone... i'm thinking about the Louvre zone  in Paris or the colosseum and the "fori romani" zone in Rome with all others hystorical zone. obviously all the globe is now impossible (now) but in 10 years might be possible. 

 

i'm excited too for second life 2!!! i'm very happy to know that there are so many news about SL and i hope that the new tecnologies will be more simple to use inworld!!! i know that everyone here want to ameliorate this system but i also know that the intrinsic limit of the freedom is clear...

 

 

---

Making a 3-D image or representation of anything is getting "easier and easier."  First video.

The problem is with the "physics," being able to put an Avatar on the ground where they can interact with the environment.  Second video.

I watched a "proof of concept" video a couple of years ago but I can't find it now.  I think it was an Australian company working on it.  But it was taking military grade simulators at the time to get it to run.

It's amazing how far we've come since Primitar.

[anitaharlow]

wow!!! amazing!!!!

ya the first video represent what i've ever think about the possibilities of second life!!!!

as you sufggested the major problem is to interact with this kind of word... 

once linden lab has fixed this problem there is an other problem, infact all these building are empty... but Linden Lab might sell to you the buildings.... ad you might modify it as you want... and Linden Lab might sell to you even your home!!!! the potentials are without end... really without end!!!!

 

[Phil Deakins]

---

Yingzi Xue wrote:

I am excited about the possibilities of SL 2.0, but the confidence that LL will be able to pull it off is low.  The good news is, if LL doesn't fill those shoes, possibly High Fidelity will, or someone else will come along.  It's happening, that's what is promising; it's the future of virtual worlds.  If none of them meet the grade, we still have Second Life or an equivalent.

---

I completely agree. LL may not be able to do it and, as you said, we'll still have SL - until such times as some company or other manages it and pulls us all away. Because of that possibility (probability really), LL has to try.

For years, SL users have gone to try out whatever similar things come along. They go to see if it's as good or better than SL. I have no doubt that, because of LL's treatment of it's customers through the years, if something did come along that's even as good as SL, let alone better, loads of people would migrate to it and SL would have a problem.

[anitaharlow]

ya i'm agree with you, a step like this, obviously if it's possible, has to be prepared with great attention!!! 

i don't know if Linden Lab has the strenght to do a thing like this!!!

maybe a major company like Microsoft, Adobe, or Google i think may be more prepared for this.

 

[Yingzi Xue]

Even though it's 11 years old, Second Life would be huge shoes to fill.  There are several things I would require for me to even think about moving to another platform.  If you've taken a look at High Fidelity, there are some really cool features that I think are going to be a necessity to even be able to compete with it.  Combine SL and what they're doing with High Fidelity, SL has their work cut out for them.  Look at what High Fidelity can/will be able to do.

 

• Scripting language with powerful control over what you create.  HF uses Java currently.
• Intuitive building system that supports mesh in-world and voxels that can be sized to atomic level.
• Complete in-world avatar customization, including custom skeletons/bone arrangements.
• Allows people to share their computers with each other to act as servers or as scripted interactive content.
• Allows many different people and institutions to deploy virtual world servers, interconnecting those servers so that people and digital objects can travel among them, and harnessing shared computing devices to scale their content and load.
• When used with the new display and input devices coming to market, High Fidelity will enable a planetary-scale virtual space with room for billions of people, served by billions of computers.
• The server architecture alone is genius.

[Phil Deakins]

---

Yingzi Xue wrote:

Even though it's 11 years old, Second Life would be huge shoes to fill.  There are several things I would require for me to even think about moving to another platform.  If you've taken a look at High Fidelity, there are some really cool features that I think are going to be a necessity to even be able to compete with it.  Combine SL and what they're doing with High Fidelity, SL has their work cut out for them.  Look at what High Fidelity can/will be able to do.

 

• Scripting language with powerful control over what you create. 
  HF uses Java currently
  .
• Intuitive building system that supports mesh in-world and voxels that can be sized to atomic level.
• Complete in-world avatar customization, including custom skeletons/bone arrangements.
• Allows people to share their computers with each other to act as servers or as scripted interactive content.
• Allows many different people and institutions to deploy virtual world servers, interconnecting those servers so that people and digital objects can travel among them, and harnessing shared computing devices to scale their content and load.
• When used with the new display and input devices coming to market, High Fidelity will enable a planetary-scale virtual space with room for billions of people, served by billions of computers.
• The server architecture alone is genius.

---

Correction: it uses Javascript.

The whole thing looks very interesting. It remains to be seen whether or not it can work well enough. Perhaps LL will pinch some ideas from it.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

SL is not a game, it is a virtual world, where you can play games within it.  There are already regions for playing in the type of themed worlds you are suggesting and HUDs you can buy for score keeping, levels etc..   If you don't like what is available, you can buy one or more sims and create exactly what you want yourself or hire professionals to do it for you.  LL won't do this though as they only provide the platform and users must create the content.

I don't want a bunch of LL employees creating content for SL.  That would be a BIG mistake.  Do you really think that they'd do a better job than some of the RL professional artists and designers already creating content? All you have to do is look at some of the content they did create to see that the answer is no.

I admit there could be a lot more done to improve retention,   I am not sure that more training or guides is the answer.  At one time there was teaching of basic operations in SL before you entered the main grid.  However, when that was offered the majority of newbs skipped it and were impatient to get on the main grid.  Providing guides would mean hiring an army of them, something not in LL' s budget I am sure.  A lot of people come to SL expecting a game and when they see it isn't a game, they leave again because they have no clue how to entertain themselves.  They want entertainment handed to them immediately, with rules and goals.

SL is a very complicated and sophisticated world and it would be very hard change much of the interface at this point.  I certainly wouldn't want to see it dumbed down any.

Perhaps the new grid will provide tools for better content creation and be easier for newbs to navigate and use.  LL has already stated though that it will be residents who create the content.

 

[anitaharlow]

i'm not sure that my words are clear.

i know that SL is not a game. I donn't want a game as you.

1) I' wish hat the total potentiality of SL either be used by everyone but now the situation is far to be real. you have not to think to a simple play. but a very big region, were thousands of people are contemporary in the SIM. and... in this land everyone has his own rank in order to a rule that is esablished by the rule of the sim (as now happen in all the sims of SL). everyone has a lot of gadgets, and do what he want!! BUT this big region may be connected to other hundreds of region with other kind of access... for example the rank or other things... 

 

2) i think that IF the LL assume some good graphic designer, it will be able to create a real masterpiece. if WE are able to do this why a graphic designer could not able to do this? simply they (i.e. LL ) don't want!!!!

 

3) nobody is preventing the other avatars to create their own worlds.

 

4) if i buy a region and i pay to build a game probably, i lose my money and my time because the grid don't work properly!!! the first thing to do is to update the grid system...

[anitaharlow]

thanks Yingzi,

these point may be very important to remember to LL staff...

[Kenbro Utu]

---

anitaharlow wrote:

2) i think that IF the LL assume some good graphic designer, it will be able to create a real masterpiece. if WE are able to do this why a graphic designer could not able to do this? simply they (i.e. LL ) don't want!!!!

 

---

The thing that makes SL unique and what it is today, is that the world was not shaped by one company's vision of what it should be.  It became what the residents and creators wanted it to be.  It evolved naturally by the melding of the imaginations and desires of thousands of people over time.  

LL made the canvas, they provided the tools, they are not the artists.  We are the artists, and the resulting art is what we created.  No company could do this, no matter how many "professionals" they hired, it would limit the creation.

[Yingzi Xue]

Thanks Phil, yes that's what I meant, Javascript.  In my haste I didn't type the complete word. lol

[Yingzi Xue]

1) It sounds like you're describing an RPG.  SL is not an RPG or an MMORPG, but it has role playing areas.  As has been said many times in this thread, the people make SL what it is.  If you want something to exist, make it.  To expect LL to all of a sudden become a content creator after 11 years of being the facilitator/infrastructure provider, is a bit much.

2) Here's the problem I have with any corporation hiring graphics designers to make anything.  Look at Microsoft's OS's from Windows 3.1 to Windows 8.  The graphics have sucked the whole life of the Windows operating system.  That's just one example.  The real problem is if someone isn't emotionally or creatively invested in a project, it ends up being lifeless.

3) This is correct, which is what makes SL what it is, being able to do your own thing, create your own world.

4) They're not going to upgrade 11 year old technology.  That's like someone asking Microsoft to rewrite Windows XP to work with new hardware and new technologies, like gigs of memory, larger hard drives and expanded graphics capabilities.  The architecture doesn't support it and never will.