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JohnSynclair

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Posts posted by JohnSynclair

  1. SL is in the same state now that it was before the news of the new development was announced. The same people are making the same things, putting on the same activities, showing the same creativeness and artistry. It will be for years to come. So, sure, come on in, enjoy YOUR Second Life!

  2. When I first heard the news, a few days ago I had a mixture of excitement that a new Virtual World was on the way, and one built by the Lab. Like it or not, Linden Lab has been supportive of Virtual Worlds from the start and are amongst the few companies that have made it their living.

    My initial response was scepticism. How will this work? Will my existing computer be able to handle the new stuff? Will my Broadband be capable of handling the extra data? All the "domestic" things that go through the minds of "ordinary residents".

    Then there was fear. Fear that all my inventory, built up over the past 6 or so years will disappear. Fear that my "learning curve" on SL (which is not the easiest of things to learn) would have to begin all over again. Fear that I would be a "newbie" again, having no inventory, no Linden Dollars, no experience with the new building tools so that I would feel like i did when I first joined SL.

    Fears about what it will be like. Will it be like SL in that it will have green land, beaches, landscapes and all the things that I love about SL or will it be some nebulous thing where on region is like earth and stepping onto another region is like teleporting to Mars or Saturn? Will creators be able to adulterate the land so that there is no consistency or continuity? Will everything be in the sky, as much of SL is at the moment? Will I be able to explore like I do on SL or will it be mainly private regions with no mainland to speak of? All things that "normal residents" consider when using SL and all things that drew me in to SL in the first place.

    Then came the concerns about my own creations, not that I could be called a "creator" as such but I have made stuff in SL that I cherish because I made them and they are my own creations. Yes, I still have stuff that I bought or made in the first few months on SL and I still use them. I was concerned for sentimental reasons as much as anything else. Will prims I made here be transferable to the new world? Will scripts work or, since I'm not a scriptor, will I have to buy new ones? Will my skins, shapes and system clothing that I have made be available or uploadable to the new world? Will the new world avatar even be the same; attachment points, joints, structure. Even if my mesh creations are tranferable or uploadable to the new world, will they fit the new avatar? Will the attachment points and skeletal structure of the new avatar be so different that I will need to make or buy new ones? All domestic fears about having to "start again from scratch".

    Then there was the realisation that I was basing all my fears and concerns on things that had not even been hinted at, much less stated by Ebby or the Lab. I began to think... what have we been told? We have been told that Linden Lab are developing a new virtual world that will utilise modern technologies better than SL does. We have been told that it will have better inworld capabilities than SL has because current SL technologies are somewhat old and out dated and a new platform, build from the ground up will enable better and easier inworld creation. What does that mean to me? I don't know. I look forward to finding that out when I can eventually enter the new world and experience it for myself.

    The initial disappointment that I felt at what some think is the "beginning of the end" of SL as we know it was based on nothing. Nothing I have heard, nothing I have been told and nothing that has been implied by Ebby or the Lab itself. SL will continue. The new world will be developed, go online and be tested. Some will love it, others will hate it. SL will continue and those who choose can stay there.

    Then there's the worry that eventually all things must end and that one day the Lab will simply "shut down" SL. I doubt very much that it would happen in that way. The statistics of users on both worlds will, I'm assuming, be available for all to see and it will be evident long before it gets critical that things are going to change. We will have plenty of notice before that happens, if indeed it does! Notice to tell our friends and meet with them elsewhere, whether that be the new Linden world or somewhere else.

    Do we really believe that Linden Lab hates us all? Do we really believe that they couldn't care less about their customers? That they are deliberately ignoring our requests, complaints, worries and concerns? It would be a very strange company that neglects its customers to that extent and any company that does so is doomed to fail. Linden Lab has been around since the 1990's and SL for 11 years, so I see evidence that they are doing something right here, otherwise they would have gone bye-bye years ago. I see no sinister plot here. No devious plans to "force" a new virtual world upon us.

    What I see is a company that has created an environment that has fostered and encourage self-development of its users. One that has developed its technologies to enable creative input from hundreds of thousands of "ordinary people". Not just the technically minded, not just the artistic, not just the professionals but everyone. I see a virtual world that has evolved, because of its users into a diverse and innovative place with everything from BDSM clubs to childrens' playgrounds. Everything from sci-fi regions to Pagan countryside. Everything from Slave roleplay to support groups.

    Will a new world be able to compete with that? I doubt it. It could not compete with such an established world. No. It can only succeed such a world and can only do so with the support of those innovators, users, support workers, creators, lovers, kids, furries, tinies... you name it. Without support from them, any such venture is doomed to fail. Even the best technologies are just that - technologies. The SL world is much more than the technologies that enable it to exist. It is deep within the people who live there.

    So, what about my fears over my creations and purchases being lost? Don't I care about that? Don't I care about the existing land owners, creators, animators, scriptors, sculptors, builders and entertainers?

    Let me put it this way...

    I go back some time in computing. My first computer was a Synclair Z80. I did a lot of programming on that, making little games and gizmos that were all limited by what the computer could do. The technology held me back. Then I moved up to other computers... Synclair Spectrum... Amiga... 386... 486... Pentium,  8Bit... 16Bit... 64Bit... using various operating systems along the way, all with their own limitations. When one couldn't do what I wanted, I'd move up. Technologies come down in price, fortunately, so I might not have been amongst the first to move up, but I did move up and enjoyed the experience. The cash I had invested was well worth it. The experiences I had are still there with me. But the technologies change and I changed with them. Had I said back then "OMG! I can't move on because my stuff won't work and I'll have to start again", I would still be be playing Pong and Superfrog. I would have stagnated. As difficult as it was to give up some of the old stuff, it was necessary for me to advance my own experience and move on.

    Reading through this thread, I can see that some are in a panic, some in a flat spin wondering how they will manage in the future, whether it is even worth investing in the present because it will be gone one day. I understand. I'm not a wealthy person myself and know about having to start over. But that's not what we are being asked to do here. SL is continuing and, even when the time comes when it must end, it will not mean a complete new start. Some inventory will be transferable to the new world. Some won't, though and IMHO it may have been better to wait a while before announcing the new world until it is better known what will and what won't be compatible. But telle est la vie and what is said is said. I'm confident that when more is known on the compatibility issues, we will be told.

    We have been told that mesh will probably be compatible, prims will work differently and that sculpties will probably have to be converted to mesh. That indicates, to me, that the new world will be largely mesh-based. I hope, then, that the problems we see in SL with mesh not rezzing properly, half-rezzing or being half-transparent will be addressed in the new world, otherwise it simply will not be attractive. The problems we have with "fitted mesh" or "liquid mesh" are even greater and I am reluctant to even buy such objects at the moment, much less invest time learning to create them. In a new world, where it works, I may be more inclined to pursue such and learn more. At the moment, as SL is today, I have no incentive.

    The new economy will be based on Linden Dollars, as I read earlier in this thread. Good. However, how that economy is managed from the start is important not only for those who have lots but also for those who have little. I'm sure that lots of us can remember property trolls who went out and bought up huge swathes of SL only to sell it on at exorbitant prices that drove all but the rich out of the SL property market. But I get ahead of myself. The simple fact is that nobody knows what the future will hold but one thing we can be sure of is that the future will be different from the past and present.

    For the current designers, creators, builders and innovators in SL, I think it will be a good thing to have a whole new world to develop. Especially, as has been alluded to in this thread, that you can take compatible inventory and your Linden Dollar balance with you. Just think of it as an extension to Secondlife, rather than a Nemesis.

    I'm quite upbeat about the new world. I'm upbeat about SL, too. Both can work. Both will work if we allow them to. Don't pine for a past where some have done little but complain and moan that "it isn't good enough". Those same people who are not prepared to go into a future but would prefer to throw their toys out of the pram and give up. If my car is too small for my family, I can either sit and moan about it, blame the manufacturer, blame my wife for having too many kids, blame myself for not thinking ahead... or I can buy a bigger one! Moaning is a lifestyle choice. Future thinking is a lifetime necessity.

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