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Does LL Advertise SL Well?


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Does LL advertise SL well, or could they use some help in that area?

And if you think they need help advertising, what would be your suggestion/s?

I think SL should advertise more and invest in better servers.  IMUV had some great advertisements they ran and you could get 27,000 of their currency to spend in IMUV if you simply joined Netflix.  I thought that was a terrific deal and a great way to advertise.

For SL, I see almost no adverts and I wonder why? 

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I have only seen their ads from their affiliate program, (lil ads people can put on their web pages) but other than that I don't think they advertise at all. They don't seem to want to take SL seriously or to any extremes with ads and getting more servers if the ads did bring greater numbers of people. They seem to be scaling back on staff and changing their ceos over and over again. I fear the dream has been lost or realized with no other greater aspirations to go forward have been adopted.

The flaw might be the having control and not listening to the users that make the content worth having and keeping the system alive, the same downfall as myspace. Without their users myspace is all blank web pages waiting to be filled in. As for SL without it's users the mainland is being abandoned leaving more and more plain grass fields of nothing.

They have a lot of work to do on the basics before they can even consider advertising. They need a dream worthy that of virtual reality not a virtual world, an environment of people not a product and most of all a need to fill not a balance sheet.

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I've seen ads (of sorts).  In fact a one minute short "interview" with a real person who was a resident on SL is what brought me to Second Life in 2005..........I just wrote down the URL to the web site that was superimposed across the bottom of the screen during the entire interview.  There also was an episode to two in one of the CSI series a couple years ago.......Linden Lab had to have a hand in that.  Then there's the bad publicity that occassionally pops up.  Every one of those "ads" (of sorts) brings droves of people in........few stay.

 

The reason is that SL has not defined goals, no defined set of instructions on how to "play", it has inherent problems other online games do not have (user content being one of the larger contributors to those problems) and it's pretty foriegn to the gaming crowd.  How do you advertise something like that?  The used to have a motto (a form of advertisement) "Your World, Your Imagination"............and it pretty fit.  But, then people started taking the "Your World" part very literally expecting LL to give them some piece of the "world" for their very own..........they dropped that motto.  Second Life appeals to a niche group...........and how do you effectively advertise to a niche group?

 

SL have survived for 8 years now with little or no formal advertisement.........it's even grown from the days I came with concurrency running less than 2,000 to pretty close to 50,000 regular users.  I don't think LL thought much about advertising in the early years..........afterall it was a niche group that developed it in the first place.  Then, after seeing how difficult it was for many people to "get it" they settled for what it is.  A choice I'm glad they chose..........if SL turns into a real game then I'm gone.  If it turns into a solely social networking platform, I'm gone.  If it turns into some real business platform, then I'm gone.   If it continues to be all of the above I'm here for the duration...........now tell me how would you advertise something like that?  I mean honestly.

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LL has done an extremely poor job of advertising SL, but it's a bit more complicated than saying they need to improve their advertising, run some sort of gimmick sign-up drive, or advertise more.

No, first LL needs to do a better job of presenting SL to new users. A bad first impression costs LL in both the short term and the long term. SL sees lots of sign-ups, but abysmal retention, They need to find ways to keep people here and to do that they have to ask themselves why new users don't stay.

Second Life is UGLY.

It doesn't have to be. Actually, there's some gorgous sims in SL which illustrate just how good SL can look in the hands of an experienced artist. But...most SL users are not experienced artists, and obviously LL has no experienced artists in a position to affect starter avatars, the new user orientation, or overseeing the face LL puts forward when marketing SL.

As a result, to the public at large SL like this.

Ugly, maleformed avatars in blocky, poorly textured environments. The images LL uses to market SL are often not much better. This is only reinforced by the new user experience, where users are given a selection of t-rex armed, pin headed avatars to choose from before diving into confusing, fullbright orientation areas that don't really teach them anything and then drop them in one of a selection of hand-picked, but usually not very well made, locations.

 Getting people to join SL only backfires if you drive them away with an awful first impression. Before LL throws money away on making that bad first impression they need to completely revamp the new user experience.

LL needs to hire a creative director. One who has both experience as a professional designer, and a solid understanding of SL. They need to give that person authority to make decisions, like quality requirements for new user starter avatars contracted out to resident creators so they're not just getting more poorly proportioned 7' tall bad impressions as starter avatars.

Someone to design, or oversee the construction of new welcome areas. New users should log in for the first time and instead of seeing this they should see this or this.

LL needs to encourage and promote amazing, great looking and interactive builds in SL. They also need to, through a revamped new user orientation and improved search, teach people how to go out on their own and find amazing content. 

In short, new users need to be able to look good right off of orientation island, be exposed to high caliber content right off the bat and shown how to find more.

That's just the visual side.

There's nothing to do in SL!

That's not true, of course, but it's a common complaint. There's definitely some truth to the complaint in that it's extremely difficult for new users to find a reason to stick around, and LL doesn't do anything to really help them.

LL also needs to hire people who understand getting users engaged and invested in a social/game environment.

Linden Homes are something of a misstep. Right idea, bad execution. Good because Linden Homes get users "owning land", which is an investment in the environment. Bad because Linden Homes are ugly (See the entire first point about presentation above) and they hurt the resident run land business by putting LL in direct competition with them. A third point is that they fail to build community which is another key to makeing customers (residents) invested in the product (Second Life).

A better way of doing it would to have created better looking, more prim efficient Linden Homes but made the homes actually count against the 512sq.m. parcel's prim limit.

Why would this be a better way?

  • If LL could make nice looking houses that were actually prim efficient they could illustrate just how much can really be done with a 512 parcel, which encourages users to strike out on their own buying land elsewhere, in turn leading to the person becoming even more invested in SL.
  • Showing how much you can actually do with a 512 parcel would encourage people not interested in Linden Homes but wanting land to pick some up by showing them they don't need to own a quarter of  a sim just to build something nice.
  • Resident Land Barons would not be at a disadvantage competing with Linden Homes. They would have the advantage of unique living experiences and themed communities to offer new residents, without the prim limit handicap.

I'd probably also make an easy to find in-client tutorial about finding land in SL, complete with a short Torley video showing off resident run communities (tho probably not naming them, just showing them to drive up interest in the resident).

 

LL can drive up a sense of community by improving profiles and land information pages.

It seems new social-oriented profiles are coming, which is great, but how about land? Why not turn the page that appears when you search for land display multiple screenshots? Say, three? And also have it include a shout board/wall for visitors to post messages, impressions, etcetera (moderated by the land owner themselves).

Just throwing an idea out there, but how about letting people rank sims? Just a 0-5 stars, no need for an actual text review just short Tweet length wall post.

How about the land page actually displays upcoming events that will be taking place on that land?

 

And what about groups?

Groups should be a hub of social gatherings. How about instead of "group IM" that pops up whenever there's a new IM to the group, make a group "room" instead. An IRC-like chatroom people can join or leave at will. A group shout-out board. A list of events linked to that group, etcetera.

 People shouldn't just be using groups for titles or build rights. Groups should be an actively engaging part of the SL experience. A draw that brings people back again and again, and keeps them connected even when unable to be logged in.

 

 

LL doesn't need to do all this before marketing, of course, but they should at least improve the new user experience so it doesn't drive potential new residents away, screaming and telling others how horrible SL is. Once the new user experience is improved, LL should begin marketing heavily, even if they're still trying to improve in other areas.

LL should advertise all across the board, as SL has extremly broad appeal. Gaming sites, YouTube video advertisements, hobby magaine page ads, etcetera. Target the ads at specific markets. An ad on a videogame site would show off the game like elements of SL. RP areas, cyberpunk cities and combat sims. Other ads could focus on the social aspect, or the Farmville like social games, or just play up the sexy like IMVU tends to do.

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---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Second Life is UGLY.

It doesn't have to be. Actually, there's some gorgous sims in SL which illustrate just how good SL can look in the hands of an experienced artist. But...most SL users are not experienced artists, and obviously LL has no experienced artists in a position to affect starter avatars, the new user orientation, or overseeing the face LL puts forward when marketing SL.

As a result, to the public at large SL like this.

Ugly, maleformed avatars in blocky, poorly textured environments. The images LL uses to market SL are often not much better. This is only reinforced by the new user experience, where users are given a selection of t-rex armed, pin headed avatars to choose from before diving into confusing, fullbright orientation areas that don't really teach them anything and then drop them in one of a selection of hand-picked, but usually not very well made, locations.

Getting people to join SL only backfires if you drive them away with an awful first impression. Before LL throws money away on making that bad first impression they need to completely revamp the new user experience.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

So you are advocating that LL discontinue user created content, delete all that's been user created and supply professionally created content in it's place?  That's about the only way you will get past that "Second Life is Ugly".  You might be able to put into place some basic skills requirement for content creators......Blue Mars tried that and look where they are now.  That would also drive most of the present residents away.  Then it's starting over with a brand new demographic.  It might work.  And LL might make billions if they did it (doubtful, but it's possible).  And Second Life would then fall from unique to mundane............another run of the mill virtual game/world/social network.  It wouldn't be SL whatever it would be.  White washing it will "new user experience" doesn't change what it would mean to the platform.

 

The first point in a "report" such as you posted is the tone setter for the entire report.............that first point is discribing something other than what SL is.  It says a great deal about the reporters knowledge of the subject.  When someone says SL is ugly and LL should............*fill in the blank* they just demonstrated that they know nothing about Second Life.  If you want SL to become something completely different then just say so.......don't try to impress by showing ignorance.

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Peggy Paperdoll wrote:

So you are advocating that LL discontinue user created content, delete all that's been user created and supply professionally created content in it's place?  That's about the only way you will get past that "Second Life is Ugly".  You might be able to put into place some basic skills requirement for content creators......Blue Mars tried that and look where they are now.  That would also drive most of the present residents away.  Then it's starting over with a brand new demographic.  It might work.  And LL might make billions if they did it (doubtful, but it's possible).  And Second Life would then fall from unique to mundane............another run of the mill virtual game/world/social network.  It wouldn't be SL whatever it would be.  White washing it will "new user experience" doesn't change what it would mean to the platform.

No, that's not what I advocate at all, and also you are very wrong that such a course of action would be the only way to make SL look good for marketing materials and new residents.


Peggy Paperdoll wrote:

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Second Life is UGLY.

It doesn't have to be.
Actually, there's some gorgous sims in SL which illustrate just how good SL can look in the hands of an experienced artist. But...most SL users are not experienced artists, and obviously LL has no experienced artists in a position to affect starter avatars, the new user orientation, or overseeing the face LL puts forward when marketing SL.

As a result, to the public at large SL like

Ugly, maleformed avatars in blocky, poorly textured environments. The
are often not much better. This is only reinforced by the new user experience, where users are given a selection of t-rex armed, pin headed avatars to choose from before diving into confusing, fullbright orientation areas that don't really teach them anything and then drop them in one of a selection of hand-picked, but usually not very well made, locations.

Getting people to join SL only backfires if you drive them away with an awful first impression.
Before LL throws money away on making that bad first impression they need to completely revamp the new user experience.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first point in a "report" such as you posted is the tone setter for the entire report.............that first point is discribing something other than what SL is.  It says a great deal about the reporters knowledge of the subject.  When someone says SL is ugly and LL should............*fill in the blank* they just demonstrated that they know nothing about Second Life.  If you want SL to become something completely different then just say so.......don't try to impress by showing ignorance.

Making comments like the above, which are directly contradicted by the contents of what you're replying to, make it seem like you didn't actually read before commenting.

The bolded, underlined comments that "SL is ugly" and "there's nothing to do in SL" are common complaints, not my own judgement of what SL is.

In fact, if you read the very next sentence you'd realize that.

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Great post and good points.I agree with you in the main.I follow your posts in the other place and am even with you with size and scale.LOL.

I joined after the big hype in 2006 and the thing that kept me was "1st Land program".You were offered a 512  plot for 1L$ a meter and took your place alongside of hundreds of noobs all in the same boat.All trying to do something with their own little plot.It promoted community and gave the place a lived in feel.New players tend to log in more and you were never alone.Loads of green dots in your area.

I feel a similar program would succeed again.Along with mentors and live inworld help with a simple IM.I remember getting stuck and being helped inworld ,It made you feel you were "involved".

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That's an interesting question on how I would advertise SL, so let me think about it.

I know of one success in the musical industry where they went to mega-stardom at the time WITHOUT touring, and that group was Steely Dan.  They became successful by partly using the word of mouth technique; however, Steely Dan had radio play of their songs and if it weren't for the Dj's of that time backing Steely Dan and playing them so much, how would they have even been heard since they preferred not to tour at all?   

But again, let me give it some thought as to how I would advertise.  If I owned this "game" which is really not a game because you don't win anything like one would in a card game for example, I just know I WOULD advertise. 

ETA:  After a quick glance at the Wikipedia on Steely Dan, they did not tour for almost a period of 20 years.  I don't think that type of stardom has ever been achieved since and may never happen again.  Not touring for 20 years; it amazes me how they became so popular and/or even thrived in "the biz".  It's an amazing story to me anyways. 

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Does LL Advertise SL Well? Nope

I was lucky to have caught a short article in a magazine several years ago and that was the last I've seen of paper 'advertising'.  Like Peggy, nearly on a chance whim, I just typed in the address later that night and enjoyed it enough (or was at least sufficiently intrigued) to stick around.

Interestingly, since the advertising comparisons with IMUV have started going around I've noticed their little currency cards at the grocery store check out.  Does seem like a brilliant idea, although I have no idea how successful the cards are. 

Assuming the IMUV cards are successful then it sort of answers the "how do you market SL" question cause those IMUV cards provide no explanations either... just cute happy faces.  As Penny points out, there's plenty to be proud of in SL if it were only presented appropriately, and I can imagine all sorts of little cards that would look far more enticing than the IMUV ones I've seen if SL went that direction (they might even provide an entry to paid memberships and encourage sticking around).

Enjoy your SL!

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Linden Lab does not advertise Second Life AT ALL.  The only coverage SL gets is when some reporter does a piece on SL, or some TV show uses SL in one of their plots.

It's one of the reasons SL is growing so slowly...nobody knows about it, or they only know about it because "that's that website where they have all the pixel sex, right?"

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Usually i dont believe in advertising very much, but i do think LL should advertise SL.

And in the AD's they should tell what makes SL so great. And that is ofcourse being able to create everything and that everything is user created. "The biggest and most advanced virtual world"

AD campaign should have several different AD's at the same time. Targeted to different SL users. Some fo content creators. Some for the social group. Some for the horny ppl. Some for the party ppl. Some for the combat ppl. ..and so on... SL has everything.

The advertisement should be targeted to us adults (or almost adult people). So no bratz-doll advertising like IMVU does.

No advertisement where LL tell that you can come to SL and pay RL money to rent some silly lil plot with pre-built home next to 9000 identical homes.

Before i finally found SL, i actively searched for some ways to let my creativity loose. SL existed this time but i didnt find it. Wasted my life in other places. Oh how i wish i would have found SL earlier.

But not at all sure if this is the best time to start advertising. v2 still seem to have lots of all kinds of problems. Will prolly take atleast 2 more years before it get close to the old client.

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There doesn't seem to be any disagreement that the new resident experience is critical, maybe in how to fix it...

When I returned recently I was stunned to learn that the mentor program was no longer running. When I came through orientation there was usually a Linden in the welcome area; handing that off to the mentor program seemed a brilliant way to leverage LL's resources while still creating a good atmosphere for newbs who reached the welcome area for the first time.

I was also reminded of how Events used to be fairly easy to find in the ancient clients. There are probably a lot of reasons for this change, but being able to easily find newb-friendly instructional events, or even newb-to-newb social events, seems like a must-have. I'm sure a lot of bytes were spilled over that in the past, or about the end of the event fees...

 

PS - A nice thing about it being 2011 is that most reasonably-current middle-of-the-road computers seem to be able to cope with running a viewer. Hell, my early 2008 MacBook with integrated graphics from Intel can manage well enough to get by. Nice change from 2004, when you had to hunt down a top-of-the-line graphics card and high-end PC...



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They don't because they don't need to.  LL management listen to their accountants first, possibly lawyers next, Lindens with any reasonable ideas after that and then , um.....that's it.   

They are making money quite nicely, and let's not forget they trimmed the staff last year into the bargain.  The golden egg that is selling people virtual land that they don't actually own and never will AND rent via reframing the word 'rent' to the word 'tier' is, when you think about it, quite brilliant in the world of corporate capitalism. 

Next golden nugget in their arsenal is the amazing fact - and I believe more than one Linden must sometimes shake their head in wonder at this - that they retain a lot of long term paying residents even though they do not listen to them or value them to any real degree.  What other company could even think about getting away with this, let alone actually doing it?

Therefore, I do not think LL need advertise until they hear from their accountants. Once those guys sweat, Rod will act. 

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Kasya Sciavo wrote:

They are making money quite nicely, and let's not forget they trimmed the staff last year into the bargain.  

Generally cutting 60% of your workforce, including skilled people in critical positions, generally is not considered a good thing. Not the sign of a company "making money quite nicely."

Fact of the matter is concurrency has dropped since the peak of the hype bubble and LL also lost a lot of lucrative corporate accounts because they failed to develope the platform in a direction that was useful for such accounts and their entire idea of corporate accounts within SL (Basically framing it as a virtual office space) was ill conceived.  As such their heavy investments in products such as "Enterprise" amounted to tossing money out the window.

Also, they do advertise. I see SL advertisements now and then. Too often it looks like they're mimicking IMVU's marketing and usually the imagery they use to promote SL more likely feeds people's bad impressions of SL.

 Their new CEO strikes me as a pretty savvy guy, so I'm thinking he realizes they needed to fix new user retention before trying to draw more people in. Due to some good changes they're starting to see better retention. When it gets up to a comfortable level they'll likely start pushing the advertising side of things more.

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I had to remove a link, but the advert in the link was at first IMVU.  What happened was I went searching for a free avatar and decided to look for a Lord of the Rings avatar and in less than a two-minute search for a free avatar, the advert was for IMVU.  I see these IMVU items all over the place. 

SL needs to hire an advertising team in order to upgrade and get things working properly, imo.  They also need hired helpers or perhaps a program where u can earn lindens for helping. 

I took out the link because the advert changed into another advert.  But the IMVU advert had an avatar doing a dance that I have that I bought from SL.  IMVU is copy-cating some of the SL user items, or else some creators are creating for both SL and IMVU.

Anyhow, IMVU everywhere, SL no where just about. 

 

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Don't compare SL with IMVU. There isn't any point in that.

SL is a free 3D world and the only barrier to this world is our imagination.

IMVU it's a messenger with graphics!!!

LL have many issues to resolve for a less buggy and less laggy enviroment and that need serious investement and technical management also.

I think they doing the best to keep population and hardware in a balance.

You can't get 150000 users in SL from one day to another, without concequences, if you don't have the backround to support such number.

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Oh I agree that there is no comparison with IMVU and SL.  I was just comparing their advertising.  IMVU all over the place; SL almost no where.

I do see your point about 150000 new users suddenly showing up, but when IMVU struck that deal with Netflix, I thought what a coo and a smart move.  Although 27,000 of their currency must be way less than SL's currency, although I did download IMVU when I saw that Netflix deal, however, about all I liked about IMVU was I thought some of clothes were cute and IMVU's clothes are about the same as SL average, running about 400 on IMVU per outfit, so 27,000 of their currency must be a lot!   Anyhow, did not like the IMVU set-up itself, so I removed the program from my computer.  Plus, IMVU did just seem like a chat room with avatars dancing.   I didn't care for IMVU, but they sure do advertise well. 

One thing I did like about IMVU other than the clothes, was that when a room was full, it was blocked to more people coming in. They probably have it set up this way so as not to crash or get laggy.  IOW, they had a room limit which in some ways is smart but in other ways is a pain.  However if a room was full on IMVU, it gave you a ton of choices of other rooms to go to that were not full.  That could be too controling for SLifer's, but it is kind of a good way to keep the experience good, free of lag or free of crashing.   On IMVU they call them rooms not sims, but with their limit set up per room, IMVU could handle 150000 new users because they have a limit per room, which is really more like a chat room.  I was on IMVU for about 4 hours and didn't like it tho.

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In most issues I agree with you, after all we both seen things from SL resident perspective, if you lived in SL for a few weeks then nothing is comparable tho :) As far I'm concern, IMVU it's not strange for me. I'm a premium member for long time but even if I paid there I haven’t login in for months. For me the worst are two things, first the "room" restriction to ten (as already you said) and the "pay to listen -music"! Some " radio/scripts are just for laughs! One of the best things in SL, it's the "parcel streaming option" that I loved for the first sec Iogged in as a noob.

P.S. I don't say that I don't like IMVU at all, it has many good things (clothes are very precise and wonderful for example), why? The best thing (that SL hasn't) the official compiler/previewer tool it has for user creatiing items.

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Penny Patton wrote:


Peggy Paperdoll wrote:

So you are advocating that LL discontinue user created content, delete all that's been user created and supply professionally created content in it's place?  That's about the only way you will get past that "Second Life is Ugly".  You might be able to put into place some basic skills requirement for content creators......Blue Mars tried that and look where they are now.  That would also drive most of the present residents away.  Then it's starting over with a brand new demographic.  It might work.  And LL might make billions if they did it (doubtful, but it's possible).  And Second Life would then fall from unique to mundane............another run of the mill virtual game/world/social network.  It wouldn't be SL whatever it would be.  White washing it will "new user experience" doesn't change what it would mean to the platform.

No, that's not what I advocate at all, and also you are very wrong that such a course of action would be the only way to make SL look good for marketing materials and new residents.

Peggy Paperdoll wrote:

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Second Life is UGLY.

It doesn't have to be.
Actually, there's some gorgous sims in SL which illustrate just how good SL can look in the hands of an experienced artist. But...most SL users are not experienced artists, and obviously LL has no experienced artists in a position to affect starter avatars, the new user orientation, or overseeing the face LL puts forward when marketing SL.

As a result, to the public at large SL like

Ugly, maleformed avatars in blocky, poorly textured environments. The
are often not much better. This is only reinforced by the new user experience, where users are given a selection of t-rex armed, pin headed avatars to choose from before diving into confusing, fullbright orientation areas that don't really teach them anything and then drop them in one of a selection of hand-picked, but usually not very well made, locations.

Getting people to join SL only backfires if you drive them away with an awful first impression.
Before LL throws money away on making that bad first impression they need to completely revamp the new user experience.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first point in a "report" such as you posted is the tone setter for the entire report.............that first point is discribing something other than what SL is.  It says a great deal about the reporters knowledge of the subject.  When someone says SL is ugly and LL should............*fill in the blank* they just demonstrated that they know nothing about Second Life.  If you want SL to become something completely different then just say so.......don't try to impress by showing ignorance.

Making comments like the above, which are directly contradicted by the contents of what you're replying to, make it seem like you didn't actually read before commenting.

The bolded, underlined comments that "SL is ugly" and "there's nothing to do in SL" are common complaints, not my own judgement of what SL is.

In fact, if you read the very next sentence you'd realize that.

The very next sentence is, "It doesn't have to be". Perhaps it was not your intention to agree with the first sentence but the only conclusion to be drawn from the words as you wrote them is that you agree that Second Life is ugly (later you point out that some non-ugly places also exist) but doesn't have to be that way. All we need do is have fabulously talented graphic artists design every single thing we have.

There are a great many of us who while we very much appreciate the work of gifted and hard-working users (there are some sims that are incredibly beautiful) we are also perfectly happy in more mundane surroundings as we explore, interact, and learn. I personally place much more emphasis on the social aspects of Second Life than the visual.

As for those who say there's nothing to do (and I hear that on the Forums from time to time) Second Life will not lead you by the nose. It isn't a video game, where you start with an obvious task/situation/problem and progress from there. If you expect that you'll be disappointed. It is up to the user to find something interesting all on his or her own. To me and, I suspect, to Peggy P and to a lot of us in the 'niche' that is what makes it such a beautiful and rewarding place.

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Personally falks, I love to see childish or amateur efforts, that makes me feel for this world that is more REAL  and pleasant.

A perfect, flawless environment look like sterilize by purpose and that make me feel bad.

Truly, all of us started the same way as noobs, ins't?

and we learned things during time (for some that trip is longer, like me LOL).

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  • Lindens

'Kay, so while I can't speak in-depth about the Marketing & PR aspects of things (I'll leave that to the Linden experts in that area), we actually do advertise on YouTube and other social sites. If there's somewhere — like a specific community — you think we should target which we aren't, say so! Maybe even at a User Group, altho there isn't one for Marketing.

I've amassed a metric frakton of firsthand Resident experience over the years, and I'm currently in the Editorial Division of Linden Lab's Experience Design Team (or xD for short, if you get the emoticon reference). We've recently added some new team members who bring a lot of aesthetic talent and fresh perspective, and while it can be herculean to enact sweeping change, we're persisting, piece by piece. I'm fond of overcoming baggage while preserving our culture.

Linden Lab hasn't actively used some of the pics Penny linked to in eons, although I totally agree with the finer points of every time I see appreciation for design. Every time we read feedback like that (and we do read a lot), our heads are like those water-drinking bird toys that keep bobbing up and down. I'm an avid gamer (read: shaderholic) and I've often talked with our engineers about how we can get some more of that expected gloss and shine in SL. Eye candy to support rich social creativity. What are we actually doing to make progress? Here are some examples that we can't toot the horn enough about:

A big one is, as repeatedly suggested, we've worked with some awesome creators to come up with dozens of new avatars (that post also has other social news). You can wear them right now.

You may have noticed us increasingly promoting the Destination Guide over time, so PEOPLE SEE COOL THINGS FIRST. We want to put that up front so newcomers are amazed without dickering around, and although we know many SLers are on lower-end hardware, tech keeps getting better and cheaper and there's still a lot of dynamics for improvement. Brett and Gabrielle Linden have been amazing with curating the DG and responding to Resident requests, check out the FAQ to learn how it works.

Oh, and if you haven't done the "see the world as noobs do" thang in awhile, login in Basic mode.

What's more, here's what a couple of our recent promo vids have looked like:

Make sure to view fullscreen in HD! Brett and I collaborated on these, and I can certainly reassure you that while I was filming, at the forefront of my mind was thinking about all the times I've found wonder in SL thanks to our Residents. Then what I can teach to empower you. And I'm always growing and learning along with you, as new opportunities open up and there's a new floor of "Wow! You can do that?"

And, I emphasize: this sentiment is also precisely why several of us believed we should have login screens (the first thing you see before going inworld!) that show you what's around the curve of what's possible with Second Life, and I took those pictures feeling madly inspired.

As you can see, these "tectonic plates" are shifting.

Yet, it's true, doing great things isn't enough. They have to be spread widely where people new to SL don't have to consciously think to ask about them, they can simply enjoy and dive in. Because as Seth Godin famously said, "Ideas that spread, win." And that's where awareness, whether it's word-of-mouth or ad campaigns, comes in.

Highlighting most excellent Resident content also has the dual-wielded benefit of inspiring others about what's possible. I've heard from so many people who came in thinking they couldn't build or otherwise were subconsciously limiting their creativity, and now run successful businesses, sprawling RPGs, and other prosperous aspects of our community. Experimentation is inevitable, though, and that's why we have sandboxes (both literal and figurative) on our path of growth.

And re: "social/game environment", our CEO Rodvik has shared some insight in recent interviews, with more to come.

But, keep persisting with these ideas — I hate seeing great stuff that's still valid in the future get forgotten, and we Lindens need to be continually reminded of what's still true. At least I feel that way.

tl;dr An excuse for me to share cool stuff :)

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