CobaltBlue Mill

It is fair to say that SL is not what it was nearly 15 years ago when I joined. That does not mean it's dead or dying. IRC is not dead although it is not what it was in the 1990s, and there are still people using short wave radio, although it is not what it was 100 years ago. The thing about SL is it's open structure--that a user is free to make anything of it they want. I have nothing against Wow or MC, except for people who come from those venues and try to disrupt what other people are doing. Respect for a group is needed.

It is important to realize that those who come from a WoW or MineCraft environment will view SL as a game. But those who come from AOL chatrooms, IRC, or the Palace view it as a chat venue. I come from the latter and feel that makes it a more enriching experience. Groups form which are both educational and fulfilling. I realize LL dislikes people seeing beyond the av, but that IMO cheapens the experience. When you get to know the person behind the av and see their real lives it broadens everything, Games have winners and losers, chat enriches us all. I realize there are the deeply paranoid who don't let even relatives see into their real worlds, their loss.

All internet venues have their rises and declines (sometimes, rinse and repeat). SL is no exception. When I joined in 2006, I almost immediately joined a then-thriving community. Slowly it fell apart. But that is the nature of online communities; be they an AOL Anxiety Disorder and Flirting chatroom, an IRC writers channel, a Palace social palace, or a SL Pagan group. Facebook and Twitter are poor substitute for real-time chat (although I have problems imaging the Twitter in Chief grasping the complexities of SL). There are probably steps LL can take to ensure SL's survival. Adopting a more realistic view of SL's profit potential for individual avs or groups is a big one. Also realize that land ownership is beyond most avs means and make it more affordable--SL should be about building communities, not a wealthy person's plaything. And off-topic, I read the article when it was posted on Digg, which led to some people attacking Digg. Yet Digg was indirectly connected with my joining SL. Digg co-founder Kevin Rose used to work for the late, lamented TechTV, with Leo Laporte who went on to start the podcast This Week in Tech.. One episode in early '06, talked about SL and got my interest, having recently left the Palace and looking for another place to chat. The Palace still exists in some form, IRC is around but a far cry from it's 1990s glory days, SL will survive, not as it once was, but where else can you fly around looking like a scorpion?