Is SL's Player Base Declining?

[Janet Voxel]

12 minutes ago, Maryanne Solo said:

Maybe the KFC thread has the answer?

Or repeating the same thing for years.....

[Sashiku Kas]

I have played second life for years and years. I have always played as a kid since i was only really interested in building and exploring and I have always been a child at heart. Years ago, there was a thriving and kind kid presence on the game. A lot of them were playing that way for similar reasons as I was. There were hundreds of sims surrounding the kid community, even whole sims. There were endless activities to do, like bowling, picnics, swimming, fishing, renting houses with in game family, camping, school, summer camps, scouts, ALL kinds of activities and I joined in on as many as I could. I loved going to summer camp and being in scouts. I felt really content and I never thought things would end up like this. I have left SL many times in the past few years because the declining kid community caused me a lot of sorrow. I have so many good memories within it. Starting in mid/late 2018, I logged in again for the first time in almost a year. I wanted to visit some of my fave places but all the landmarks were broken or led to random places. I searched it up and found only about 2 dozen kid places. Most of them abandoned. I went to one of the top kids places that had the most traffic and oh my god. It was like I went to a alternate dimension. There were kids everywhere but I don't think you can actually call them kids. They were wearing really skimpy clothes, and one even had... a chest. There were a lot of adult men avatars standing around the kids too. I was in shock. And then, i got an IM from some random dude who said some horrible and invasive things to me. I never went back. I quit SL again after that and I am just coming back for the first time in almost a year. I looked up kids places on the search.. only 6-7 places. One place I feel safe and a adoption place. The 4-5 others? 2 playgrounds just like the one I stated, NOT PG even though they SAY they are, one nude beach tagged for families and kids???, a lodge I have little intention of checking out, and a family beach *I don't trust it*. It makes me SO ANGRY that I have lost so many friends and all the good things in SL are gone. I can't go anywhere, I can only stay with a trusted family member or friend now. I come back because I have a soft place in my heart for SL. I made so many wonderful memories in it and I come back, hoping to make more. I hope somebody makes a new game like SL. I would love to start over in a fresh world where these things aren't rampant. I have no interest in the adult side and I kinda hope the next game after SL doesn't even have it.

Sorry for writing so long, but I feel like I had to say this. I'm tired of it and I wish LL would crack down on this behavior. It wasn't NEARLY this bad before.

TL;DR: SL is full of predators now and I'm afraid to even login these days.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Sashiku Kas

[Flea Yatsenko]

Second Life still depends on the PC and Mac platforms for users. You can't get it on PS4, Xbox, Switch, Android, or iOS. PC and Mac have been in steady decline for the last 10 years as other devices take over. People are always comparing SL to things like Roblox or Fortnite. You can play Roblox or Fortnite on your phone or a console. Same with games like Minecraft. Almost every major game people compared SL to that has had staying power (GW2 did well but died quickly) is on platforms besides PC and Mac.

As someone with a store, I think it's really important to grow SL by expanding into new markets. Sansar was sort of the right idea, LL wanted to expand into the VR market with a virtual world. But they left behind all the people and content in SL to try and start anew. They should be trying to bring the good content and good people of SL to new markets instead of trying to find new markets with new products.

I'd like to see something like a new continent open up that's specifically more tame for consoles, mobile, etc and to see SL clients for them. SL is declining very slowly. I think it's correlated to the shift away from traditional computers and more towards mobile and consoles, and SL only being available on those platforms. I also don't think SL will die, because it's got a steady user base and a large amount of content, and PCs and Macs aren't going to completely disappear. They'll find a balance soon, you could even argue they already have reached the bottom.

Short term SL needs to make SL more reliable and run better on lower spec hardware. SL having reliability issues with 40k users logged in limits growth because the platform obviously couldn't handle something like a surge of 35k in a day.

[Alwin Alcott]

3 hours ago, Sashiku Kas said:

I have played second life for years and years. I have always played as a kid since i was only really interested in building and exploring and I have always been a child at heart. Years ago, there was a thriving and kind kid presence on the game. A lot of them were playing that way for similar reasons as I was. There were hundreds of sims surrounding the kid community, even whole sims. There were endless activities to do, like bowling, picnics, swimming, fishing, renting houses with in game family, camping, school, summer camps, scouts, ALL kinds of activities and I joined in on as many as I could. I loved going to summer camp and being in scouts. I felt really content and I never thought things would end up like this. I have left SL many times in the past few years because the declining kid community caused me a lot of sorrow. I have so many good memories within it. Starting in mid/late 2018, I logged in again for the first time in almost a year. I wanted to visit some of my fave places but all the landmarks were broken or led to random places. I searched it up and found only about 2 dozen kid places. Most of them abandoned. I went to one of the top kids places that had the most traffic and oh my god. It was like I went to a alternate dimension. There were kids everywhere but I don't think you can actually call them kids. They were wearing really skimpy clothes, and one even had... a chest. There were a lot of adult men avatars standing around the kids too. I was in shock. And then, i got an IM from some random dude who said some horrible and invasive things to me. I never went back. I quit SL again after that and I am just coming back for the first time in almost a year. I looked up kids places on the search.. only 6-7 places. One place I feel safe and a adoption place. The 4-5 others? 2 playgrounds just like the one I stated, NOT PG even though they SAY they are, one nude beach tagged for families and kids???, a lodge I have little intention of checking out, and a family beach *I don't trust it*. It makes me SO ANGRY that I have lost so many friends and all the good things in SL are gone. I can't go anywhere, I can only stay with a trusted family member or friend now. I come back because I have a soft place in my heart for SL. I made so many wonderful memories in it and I come back, hoping to make more. I hope somebody makes a new game like SL. I would love to start over in a fresh world where these things aren't rampant. I have no interest in the adult side and I kinda hope the next game after SL doesn't even have it.

Sorry for writing so long, but I feel like I had to say this. I'm tired of it and I wish LL would crack down on this behavior. It wasn't NEARLY this bad before.

TL;DR: SL is full of predators now and I'm afraid to even login these days.

You'r adult. Act like one. You'r no kid, only dressed up as one.
If you encounter behaviour as described, report, mute, derender and move on.
If there are no places you look for, create one.

 

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Flea Yatsenko said:

SL only being available on those platforms.

No. 

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Alwin Alcott said:

If there are no places you look for, create one.

It's really kind of a bad thing to say when you have no idea what the person's financial situation is and now we have Covid-19 on top if it.

Look before you leap.

Think before you hit that Submit Reply button.

[French Couturier]

It's declining because

1.) It looks like a game from 2007

2.) it's not very easy to use (again, probably because it's old)

3.) there aren't much fun things to do in it, except creating things, but that isn't very fun when the game graphics look like something from 2007 and the game itself is outdated. You can't create a car or boat that drives smoothly, for example. Anything you want to create is limited, difficult and doesn't have great results.

I can't imagine this game still being around by 2030 unless they make some major changes and improvements. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by French Couturier

[FairreLilette]

5 hours ago, Sashiku Kas said:

I have played second life for years and years. I have always played as a kid since i was only really interested in building and exploring and I have always been a child at heart. Years ago, there was a thriving and kind kid presence on the game. A lot of them were playing that way for similar reasons as I was. There were hundreds of sims surrounding the kid community, even whole sims. There were endless activities to do, like bowling, picnics, swimming, fishing, renting houses with in game family, camping, school, summer camps, scouts, ALL kinds of activities and I joined in on as many as I could. I loved going to summer camp and being in scouts. I felt really content and I never thought things would end up like this. I have left SL many times in the past few years because the declining kid community caused me a lot of sorrow. I have so many good memories within it. Starting in mid/late 2018, I logged in again for the first time in almost a year. I wanted to visit some of my fave places but all the landmarks were broken or led to random places. I searched it up and found only about 2 dozen kid places. Most of them abandoned. I went to one of the top kids places that had the most traffic and oh my god. It was like I went to a alternate dimension. There were kids everywhere but I don't think you can actually call them kids. They were wearing really skimpy clothes, and one even had... a chest. There were a lot of adult men avatars standing around the kids too. I was in shock. And then, i got an IM from some random dude who said some horrible and invasive things to me. I never went back. I quit SL again after that and I am just coming back for the first time in almost a year. I looked up kids places on the search.. only 6-7 places. One place I feel safe and a adoption place. The 4-5 others? 2 playgrounds just like the one I stated, NOT PG even though they SAY they are, one nude beach tagged for families and kids???, a lodge I have little intention of checking out, and a family beach *I don't trust it*. It makes me SO ANGRY that I have lost so many friends and all the good things in SL are gone. I can't go anywhere, I can only stay with a trusted family member or friend now. I come back because I have a soft place in my heart for SL. I made so many wonderful memories in it and I come back, hoping to make more. I hope somebody makes a new game like SL. I would love to start over in a fresh world where these things aren't rampant. I have no interest in the adult side and I kinda hope the next game after SL doesn't even have it.

Sorry for writing so long, but I feel like I had to say this. I'm tired of it and I wish LL would crack down on this behavior. It wasn't NEARLY this bad before.

TL;DR: SL is full of predators now and I'm afraid to even login these days.

It's a recipe for failure to have kid avatars mixed with an adult triple-X rated world.  

But yet the kid and doll avatars (like Chibits) don't really have anywhere to go and some are very cute.  I like the Chibits as a doll but not the kind with the doll face and the teenage body too much.  I have always loved dolls but never was into teenage dolls.   

Do you know anything about the tinies?  We are (mostly) animals with human characteristics kind of like Mickey Mouse is a mouse but wears clothes, walks and talks.  However, there is a wide variety of tiny avatars from the seasoned Petites which are small fairies to flower avatars that can dance the SL dances that already exist.  Some tiny avatars need a special dance but most tiny avatars can use what already exists.  

I am a Dinkie now in SL and I much prefer it because I am not into pixel slex and it's almost lag-free unless there are more than 4 high polygon human mesh avatars at the event.  But, as tinies can have events of 80+ with no lag.   

Tinies are asexual.

If you'd like to get a start as a Tiny, IM me inworld.  

p.s.  A Dinkie is a cat with human characteristics.   And tinies can use a variety of items that are unrigged.  

Edited March 15, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Jules Catlyn]

14 minutes ago, FairreLilette said:

Tinies are asexual.

I have to disagree with you there. I recently was involved in an event where i met quite a few tinies and although they were fun and polite, they were far from a-sexual.

[Alwin Alcott]

3 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

where i met quite a few tinies and although they were fun and polite, they were far from a-sexual.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Alwin Alcott

[Alwin Alcott]

59 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Think before you hit that Submit Reply button.

perhaps try for once a orange instead of lemon/lime

[FairreLilette]

25 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

I have to disagree with you there. I recently was involved in an event where i met quite a few tinies and although they were fun and polite, they were far from a-sexual.

Do you mean in their speak or action?  It's rare, imo, that tinies even speak of anything sexual.  I've been a Dinkie for about six months now and there may be jokes about sexual things but it's pretty tame.  Tinies cannot do a lot of the animations that exist in SL; they have to have their own special animations.  If you mean Tinies et al, Dinkies can do about 80% of the human animations except the hover is a problem with ground sits and some dances but I have not met any overtly sexual Dinkies nor Petites nor dancing flowers....etc.  A lot of "tinies" could not even be sexual due to the way they are built plus there are no genitalia.  

Furries have genitalia.  Tiny furries...I've never seen one with genitalia.

Meeb below...just rented a new house...does my avatar look like it could engage in sexual activity?  

Edited March 15, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Jules Catlyn]

30 minutes ago, FairreLilette said:

Do you mean in their speak or action? 

Very much in their speak and how they engaged me.

[lucagrabacr]

1 hour ago, French Couturier said:

It's declining because

1.) It looks like a game from 2007

3.) there aren't much fun things to do in it, except creating things, but that isn't very fun when the game graphics look like something from 2007 and the game itself is outdated. You can't create a car or boat that drives smoothly, for example. Anything you want to create is limited, difficult and doesn't have great results.

I can't imagine this game still being around by 2030 unless they make some major changes and improvements. 

Some newer things generally look nicer and are on-par with most modern games out there c= and try GEMC's cars and Bandit's / The Mesh Shop's boats, they make the best realistic cars and boats around

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Alwin Alcott said:

perhaps try for once a orange instead of lemon/lime

Hiya Kettle. 

[FairreLilette]

35 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

Very much in their speak and how they engaged me.

Well, I've never been spoken to in a sexual way from a tiny in IM, not even once because sexual activity is not even possible.  

In local chat, there is most likely an adult human behind the keyboard.  

And, this is basically the deal - as SL is not a G-rated platform, as a Tiny, you can be invited to events that are General, PG or Adult.  If you are invited to a G or PG rated event it usually in the invite asks you to please act accordingly because most likely there could be kids in the room with the real people behind the avatars.  But, act accordingly I think is more related to what a child in the room could hear such as a song or gesture rather than what is typed in local chat.  But, it's best to act as the sim has suggested because we are being invited as a guest.   

It's usually the invites that ask you to "keep it clean" is because it's real Mom's and Dad's with kids in the room.  Otherwise, there are no basic rules as rules come from sim owners and the TOS. 

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 hours ago, French Couturier said:

I can't imagine this game still being around by 2030 unless they make some major changes and improvements. 

Many swore it would never still be around in 2020 regardless of any changes...................... yet, here we are.

[Coffee Pancake]

2 hours ago, FairreLilette said:

..does my avatar look like it could engage in sexual activity?  

If this wasn't SL .. I'd totally agree with you. But here we are.

[ItHadToComeToThis]

3 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

It's really kind of a bad thing to say when you have no idea what the person's financial situation is and now we have Covid-19 on top if it.

Look before you leap.

Think before you hit that Submit Reply button.

Don’t start linking everything to Covid19. It’s enough that the media is consumed by it. We really don’t need people plastering it at every vaguely possible opportunity around this forum as well. Let’s keep this forum free of the panic and a place where people can come and get away from it all.

[FairreLilette]

15 minutes ago, CoffeeDujour said:

If this wasn't SL .. I'd totally agree with you. But here we are.

All I know is from General animations I've used to make things.  I've made 3 holding objects, 1 drinking object and 1 purse holding object.

For any drinking animation, the arm goes under the head...although I did finally find a drinking animation that can be altered for tea drinking for a Dinkie.  

The bodies are quite different.

But I don't have the time to discuss what everyone has seen in SL.  I've been a Dinkie for 6 months and had my own personal experience and experience with making objects as described above...a lot of alteration has to be made for the animations just to hold an object.  

But, again, you decide whether you want to go to G, PG or Adult sims just the same as I do or anyone else.  

Edited March 15, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Sashiku Kas]

12 hours ago, FairreLilette said:

It's a recipe for failure to have kid avatars mixed with an adult triple-X rated world.  

But yet the kid and doll avatars (like Chibits) don't really have anywhere to go and some are very cute.  I like the Chibits as a doll but not the kind with the doll face and the teenage body too much.  I have always loved dolls but never was into teenage dolls.   

Do you know anything about the tinies?  We are (mostly) animals with human characteristics kind of like Mickey Mouse is a mouse but wears clothes, walks and talks.  However, there is a wide variety of tiny avatars from the seasoned Petites which are small fairies to flower avatars that can dance the SL dances that already exist.  Some tiny avatars need a special dance but most tiny avatars can use what already exists.  

I am a Dinkie now in SL and I much prefer it because I am not into pixel slex and it's almost lag-free unless there are more than 4 high polygon human mesh avatars at the event.  But, as tinies can have events of 80+ with no lag.   

Tinies are asexual.

If you'd like to get a start as a Tiny, IM me inworld.  

p.s.  A Dinkie is a cat with human characteristics.   And tinies can use a variety of items that are unrigged.  

Hi! Yes, I joined the tinies because I'm always a furry and I fit right in. They were really the last community I made friends with before I quit last. 😆 I have a dinkie too but my main avie is a NAM. I get what you mean about kids on this platform, but I thought it was wonderful to explore all the amazing sims. Most of which were PG rated. I rarely ventured on adult sims, and even then mostly for combat and the only other times were to visit friends who lived on them. I felt honestly safe back then for the most part. 

Also I am asexual myself. So tinies fit perfectly for me. Thanks for kinda giving me hope. I was really down this morning about all this. I appreciate you.

[Sashiku Kas]

I feel a bit better now.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Sashiku Kas

[Sashiku Kas]

On 3/15/2020 at 11:22 AM, Alwin Alcott said:

You'r adult. Act like one. You'r no kid, only dressed up as one.
If you encounter behaviour as described, report, mute, derender and move on.
If there are no places you look for, create one.

 

Who cares? No. So what? I'm not harming anyone and you aren't the boss of me. I play SL my way so long as I obey the ToS.

I cannot create one. I'm on very limited income and the food shortages here are skyrocketing food prices.

God the people on SL are really not very compassionate.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Sashiku Kas

[Cindy Evanier]

2 minutes ago, Sashiku Kas said:

And lastly, You're an adult, spell like one. >:) *I had to.*

You do realise not everyone speaks English as a first language so calling out people for their spelling is wrong.  

[animats]

11 hours ago, lucagrabacr said:

Some newer things generally look nicer and are on-par with most modern games out there c= and try GEMC's cars and Bandit's / The Mesh Shop's boats, they make the best realistic cars and boats around

Yes. I'm amazed at the detail in some vehicles.

Getting the performance of SL closer to modern game standards is not impossible. It's tough technically, and would take considerable development and a larger dev team, but it's not impossible. I've written about this before. Speeding up SL is far, far easier than getting an SL-sized user base for a new virtual world. See Sansar, High Fidelity, SineSpace, etc. clearly demonstrate that. SL's world and content are valuable.