An Open Letter to LL from Content Creators

[SLcontentcreators]

Dear Ebbe & Linden Lab,

The recent changes and future plans of Linden Lab have caused serious concern amongst SL Creators and Residents and we're worried of the direction things are going. We have written an open letter for you addressing our concerns hoping to open a dialogue with you. The letter has been signed by nearly 3000 residents and we sincerely hope you will take the time read and respond

https://www.change.org/p/ebbe-altberg-an-open-letter-to-linden-lab-825f27f4-6215-4041-bd6b-d107633c96b7

Edited June 24, 2019 by SLcontentcreators
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[Blush Bravin]

As a content creator I object to the title of this thread and do not support the opinions expressed by the anonymous author of this open letter.

[Love Zhaoying]

..and LL may never see the post..

[Garnet Psaltery]

The petition gives the impression that the OP believes Lindens never engage with their world.  Granted there are so few of them now that it's rare to see them inworld, but there are alts after all.  I'm also a bit wary of the suggestion that LL engage 'experts' from the resident community; this is something that is done now and then, evidently, but the wording just reminds me of the regular call from the disgruntled to be hired, because the staff just don't understand.

[Amina Sopwith]

I've largely stayed out of this debate because I've never been a merchant or creator, nor even ever had a Premium account (though I have bought Ls). But, much as I think it's fine to make suggestions and ask for dialogue, something about the overly emotive "we need to feed our children" tone of this letter doesn't quite sit right with me. I can't quite explain it.
 

[Qie Niangao]

37 minutes ago, SLcontentcreators said:

The letter has been signed by nearly 3000 residents 

How do I get this list, so I know who to boycott?

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

Just now, Qie Niangao said:

How do I get this list, so I know who to boycott?

Same!

And what's with the anonymous letter, OP?

[Coffee Pancake]

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This letter is written on behalf of a population of residents within Second Life consisting primarily of creators and other earners, with the support of other residents who understand the implications of the changes you have recently made.

We would like to start by thanking you for your retraction of the decrease in groups for residents who do not hold a Premium Membership. This is beneficial not only to those residents, but to creators and other business owners within Second Life that rely on groups for their marketing purposes. We are confident that you understand how important it is that businesses should thrive within Second Life.

We are, however, disheartened by the other changes that you have announced that are scheduled to be implemented this month, specifically the doubling of the processing fee from 2.5% to 5%. While we understand that Linden Lab is a business that needs to profit in order to thrive, we feel it is necessary to remind you that we are running businesses, too. As you know, many of us are more than just hobbyists, we rely on the money we earn in Second Life to pay our bills, feed our children, and survive. Rather than simply protest the changes you have made, we come to you hoping for an open dialogue to both understand your needs to implement such a drastic and high percentage and possibly come up with alternative solutions for Linden Lab to generate profits without punishing those you depend on the most to keep Second Life going.

Everyone takes a cut of the money at every step from L$ to your bank. The extra 2.5% at processing is a drop in the ocean. Add 10L to your item prices and you most likely have it covered.

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Linden Lab has a symbiotic relationship with residents, especially with content creators. Without content, Second Life would have nothing to offer. And, in reverse, we would not have a platform on which to sell our content or provide our services. We need each other. We understand that ultimately Second Life is your product and you have every right to make decisions regarding the platform without seeking consultation or permission from its residents. You are the ones who take the most risk, have the most overhead, and shoulder the most responsibility. However, if your creators and other earners in Second Life are not kept happy and confident in your decisions, you risk a great loss that would eventually render Second Life obsolete.

The is not the end of SL. 

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We believe that the decisions you make should not be done in a vacuum. The voices of residents have given you guidance in some of the best choices you've made in the last several years. Bento, Linden Homes, new default avatars, animesh... all of this was achieved with input from resident creators. We feel there is a place for resident consultations beyond content creation. Second Life residents understand this platform on a level that Linden Lab employees cannot achieve without becoming immersive residents who shop, live, and love. We are the ones immersed. We are the community. We are the culture. We have a keen insight into our own needs and many of us are competent, intelligent, and capable enough to advocate skillfully on behalf of the residents.

The lab have a huge number of people shouting entirely different and conflicting things at them constantly.

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We seek open and honest discourse with Linden Lab to better understand each other's needs.

I didn't have any input on this letter you wrote on my (and other creators) behalf, and now you want to have an open discourse on our behalf. Good luck with that.

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Utilize us as the asset we are, which is so much more than people who make pixel things. Utilize our intellect, our experience, our vision... and grant us the respect of acknowledging that we are necessary and important pieces of Second Life who deserve to be heard and with whom should be amply informed, if not consulted, regarding major changes that will affect our businesses and income in Second Life. Because Linden Lab currently hires expert creators to create content,  we would like to ask you to consider hiring expert residents as consultants for both the Second Life experience and Second Life policy updates and changes. Not just residents of yours or our choosing that seem particularly well-recognized or popular, but residents who can demonstrate competence and expertise in various Second Life areas (roleplay, music, events, adult entertainment, etc.) and real life practical areas (business, economics, marketing, psychology, etc).

Something something herding kittens.

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Apple wouldn't hire anyone who wasn't an active user and fan of Apple products, neither should Linden Lab only employ people who aren't active users and fans of Second Life. We believe you have been missing out on your greatest asset. Us. We propose that you rectify that oversight and let us help from within to make Second Life thrive and be everything we all want it to be.

Apple totally hire people who aren't sycophants.

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We would also like to discuss the possibility of negotiating the 5% processing fee.

What's acceptable to you .. whats acceptable to me .. 

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We understand that Linden Lab does have a final say,

I'd like a better negotiator.

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but we have a long list of innovative and insightful ideas of how Linden Lab might increase profits without relying on land and without creators having to bear such a severe financial burden. The primary areas that we feel we could address to improve profits in the long- and short-term related to retention, marketing, and platform stability, as well as Premium member benefits. We would love to share our ideas and insights with you regarding these subjects and more if you are willing to give us the opportunity to do so.

You can just post your ideas on the forums, LL staff do read. Sparking the discussion is great way to bring attention to an issue.

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We would like to ask to also be more informed about the plans that Linden Lab has to improve Second Life, especially when the recent fee increases are significant enough to require many of us to rebudget our personal finances and make budget cuts in our real lives.

Here is how you work out how much to increase your prices by

PRICE x 0.025 = INCREASE

10L will cover all sales up to 400L 

This is small change.

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It may be easier to accept these changes if we know what is being done to improve retention rates, enhance the new user experience, and increase processing times. We’d also love to have some insight into what the marketing platforms you plan on utilizing to promote Second Life, what you are doing to protect intellectual property, what other projects are currently being worked on, and anything else that would explain the need for the increase.

Ultimately, our main goal here is open dialogue. We know we can’t always get our way and that things are done behind the scenes that we simply don’t understand. Our hope is that you will address our letter to lift the curtain a little bit, help us to better understand, and engage us to develop solutions together. We have not named specific leaders for our cause at this time. However, should you agree to have a direct conversation with representatives for those who have signed this petition, we will work with you to choose those delegates.

We look forward to a response from you and we do thank you for the wonderful platform on which we work and play. We are on your side and wish to be involved in doing all we can to help you achieve all the goals of Second Life to the benefit of us all.

Pick your battles, this one is DOA.

[Beth Macbain]

#NotAllResidents

I'm willing to bet it would be fairly easy to find 3,000 people to sign a petition that says they don't give a hoot. Is there a guarantee that these 3,000 residents are actual users of SL? Unique users? It could be 10 people with 300 alts. 

Here's my open letter!

Dear @Ebbe Linden and Linden Lab, 

Don't spend a lot of time fretting over this petition.

Love and kisses,

Beth Macbain

PS - Give @Quartz Molea raise. Like, double whatever he's making now. Maybe triple. Thanks!

[Kurshie Muromachi]

18 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

The petition gives the impression that the OP believes Lindens never engage with their world.

I don't think it's fair to assume that they don't participate when we know they do. What I'm more concerned with is how in-depth they use the product in much the same way as the community does. Does LL use it and abuse it like their users do? Sometimes LL is amazed themselves at what we can accomplish, so it makes you wonder.

By the way, f*** delegates.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

Pass not signing it, because it has information that is not true anymore, which they are refusing to change and that makes it a scare tactic to get users to sign,  also you do not speak for myself.

Edited June 24, 2019 by bigmoe Whitfield

[Selene Gregoire]

@Whirly Fizzle posted a link to the petition in another thread a week or two ago, if not longer. Didn't seem to get much of a response, if any, at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[November Velde]

3 hours ago, CoffeeDujour said:

We... ... capable enough to advocate skillfully on behalf of the residents.

Yeah, no need to speak for me. I'm capable to skillfully advocate for myself.

 

This whole thing doesn't sit well with me. Speak for yourself or name the people you are speaking for.\

Edited to say that I know CoffeeDujour didn't say what I've quoted. I got the quote off her amazing response!

Edited June 25, 2019 by November Velde

[Jerilynn Lemon]

It doesn't speak for me either. I distrust anonymous petitions.

If the OP had the balls to sign their name to the bottom (instead writing "Your Residents"), I'd reconsider. But since they signed in earlier today into this forum and posted just the petition, that loses a lot of credibility to me.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

42 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

@Whirly Fizzle posted a link to the petition in another thread a week or two ago, if not longer. Didn't seem to get much of a response, if any, at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was passed the link to it by an in-world group at least a week or more ago.

I'm a bit surprised by the response here. There are some annoyingly whiny aspects to it, and the whole anonymity thing, as well as pretending to speak for everyone, kind of bothers me, but . . . isn't it just asking for more dialogue between LL and residents?

[Pamela Galli]

I saw it, did not read much of it or sign it. I am advocate of making this forum the one best centralized place to hear and report news, and interact with Lindens.

[NeevaBecketEmagan]

As a content creator the changes LL did didn't affected me as the letter wants to claim. I also want to know these 3K residents to boycott. And I'll never sign a petition from an anonymous source (looks like the haters that come to fishing groups to spam they stupidity).

Wanna know what make the life of creators difficult? Spammers and haters in our groups. Specially the haters driven by pure envy. Greedy people that think is ok to blame you because they are not earning millions with your work, instead of doing the hard work by themselves.

I have business not only in SL, but in RL too, and in RL is 100x times (a bit exaggerated, but some days looks like it) harder than here.

The only thing concerning me is the actual state of the BOM. But then I remember of my own bugs, I sit and just wait to see what happens.

[Penny Patton]

This is adorable.

[Prokofy Neva]

7 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

How do I get this list, so I know who to boycott?

That's awfully pernicious. You should be astounded -- as I was -- that this letter got a whopping 3,000 signatories! That is a hell of a lot of creators! That is very likely merchants you regularly shop at. I signed this statement when one of my favourites sent out a notice, and I watched in real time as this list filled up with 2,000 people -- now 3,000!

What has to be said is not only the cashout burden now doubled, that act has devalued the Linden by two points, creating more loss. 

[Coffee Pancake]

I would be interested to know just how many of the signatories even have SL accounts.

[Evangeline Ling]

9 hours ago, SLcontentcreators said:

Dear Ebbe & Linden Lab,

The recent changes and future plans of Linden Lab have caused serious concern amongst SL Creators and Residents and we're worried of the direction things are going. We have written an open letter for you addressing our concerns hoping to open a dialogue with you. The letter has been signed by nearly 3000 residents and we sincerely hope you will take the time read and respond

https://www.change.org/p/ebbe-altberg-an-open-letter-to-linden-lab-825f27f4-6215-4041-bd6b-d107633c96b7

I officially sign the petition AGAINST this petition...

The changes RAWK

MOAR LL Changes... MOAR!!!

[ananoelle]

1 hour ago, Prokofy Neva said:

That's awfully pernicious. You should be astounded -- as I was -- that this letter got a whopping 3,000 signatories! That is a hell of a lot of creators! That is very likely merchants you regularly shop at. I signed this statement when one of my favourites sent out a notice, and I watched in real time as this list filled up with 2,000 people -- now 3,000!

What has to be said is not only the cashout burden now doubled, that act has devalued the Linden by two points, creating more loss. 

Whos your favourite I'll happily never buy from them again

[ananoelle]

I dont like that this petition is done anonymously. I also dont like that the link is posted by a 2day old account. 

If you wanted change why not do it on your account instead of hiding on a throw away alt? Yes I'm talking to you @SLcontentcreators

[Kyrah Abattoir]

@SLcontentcreatorsI couldn't find your store.

[ananoelle]

Exactly @Kyrah Abattoir. 

The thing with petitions on change.org is you dont even have to be a resident to sign, because of that reason I cannot take those 3000 signatures seriously. People will sign anything why, because people want to say they were apart of something.