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Rodvik Linden

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Blog Entries posted by Rodvik Linden

  1. Rodvik Linden
    Hello Everyone,

    It’s been a little while since I last updated folks on Second Life.

    Earlier this year, I noted several areas we would be focusing on. Let me update you on each area and share with you our plans for the remainder of the year.

    But first, we’d like to give a warm welcome to our newbies! August was the biggest growth month for Second Life in nearly four years! I hope you all take the time to try out the many different activities in Second Life — there’s everything from clubbing to boating. You might even to want to try your hand at making something new. As a side note, one of the easiest ways to find new things is to check out the Destination Guide in the log-in screen of the viewer.

    Now, back to our areas of focus at Linden Lab:

    Usability 

    With the Basic mode, which we rapidly deployed, new users can now more easily find things, move around the world and manipulate the camera. This has really helped people walk and talk, as well as getting newbies up and running. But it has its limits — particularly when it comes to participating in the economy and creating things. Soon you will see us merge the Basic and Advanced modes, which will eliminate the need to switch. All functionality will be in one mode with easier-to-use controls. After these modes are merged and deployed, you can expect us to release an improved UI into the viewer. This should be a lot more flexible for user flow for all users.

    Deploy Mesh
    Thankfully, this massive feature got deployed on time. Many new creators joined Second Life so they can use their Mesh skills, and some of the creations I’ve seen are truly spectacular.

    Improved Service
    Although our response times have improved, we realize that we still have a ways to go. You can expect continued investment and focus in this area to include expanded support staffing, as well new features (similar to the estate tools we rolled out earlier this year) and revised policies to make the Second Life experience much better for customers.

    Better Customer Value
    Last month, we added exclusive Premium areas such as sandboxes (places where you can go and create), as well as free items. You can expect more exclusive areas, items and features in the months ahead. We have been really pleased by the positive response to Premium by our residents. In fact, last week we reached the highest number of Linden Homes ever. We hope these new Linden Home owners will enjoy their newfound land ownership and check out other ways that Land is available on the Second Life Land Store and through private estate purchases and rentals found through Second Life Search.

    You can sign up for Premium right here!

    Shiny New Things

    Because worlds feel most vibrant when they are full of life, our next project for Second Life is the ability to make “life” within it. Second Life has more than a million real people in it every month, as well as many artificial creatures and people – however, our creation tools have not made it particularly easy for the content creators to build high-quality entities.

    Over the next few months (with testing most likely starting in December), we will be rolling out a series of more advanced features. These will make the creation of artificial life and artificial people much smoother. For starters, we'll unveil a new, robust pathfinding system that will allow objects to intelligently navigate around the world avoiding obstacles. Imagine being able to create advanced pets, creatures or even a living town where non-player characters are walking about. Combined with the experience tools I mentioned above, it should soon be possible to create more advanced MMORPG’s or interactive experiences which use AI right within Second Life.

    I will touch base again in a few months when we have delivered a few more things. Thank you again for being a customer! I hope you enjoy your time in Second Life, whether that has been for years or you have only just joined.
     
    Rodvik

     
  2. Rodvik Linden
    We’ve been very busy at the Lab since I last updated you in March when we launched the SL Viewer with Basic and Advanced modes. As BK mentioned today in the Q1 Economy Update blog post, we have seen a significant improvement in new and completed daily registrations when compared to recent months and an increase in new users exploring Second Life. It’s a solid first step and I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the changes and improvements that we’ve implemented and a small look ahead.

    The Refreshed and Fun Registration Experience
    On the registration front, we’re knocking down the barriers that can sometimes prevent interested users from joining Second Life. If you haven’t checked out the Join experience lately, then you definitely should. New users start by picking an avatar in a dynamic, animated interface that immediately draws them in. We’ve also removed much of the non-essential information, that we used to require in the registration flow, to make it a quicker and more delightful on-boarding experience. We’re going to continue to refine and evolve this experience, but it is a big contributor to the 33% growth in new registrations.

    SL Viewer Basic Will Soon Have a Wider Assortment of Avatars to Choose From
    When we first launched Basic mode, we started with a basic set of human avatars that helped get new Residents immersed in Second Life without having to worry about configuring their avatar to socialize and find cool things to do, in the integrated Destination Guide. But, we know that the beauty of Second Life is the diversity and richness of how we choose to represent ourselves inworld. So, we’re adding 12 animal and 12 Robots and soon we’ll have Vehicles too. Then, we’ll also commission another set of human avatars that represent a wider, more diverse audience.

    Have You Noticed the New Dynamic Login Screen?
    If you use the SL Viewer, then you might have noticed a change this week. The login screen is one of the most important pieces of real estate that we have to communicate with you. To start, we’ve added announcements and the blog feed. In the future, you’ll see more feeds on that page--like cool things in SL going on right now, highlights from the Destination Guide, and more. So, next time you log in, take a moment to check out the new feeds before you enter SL because you might find some new places to explore or learn about new features or initiatives going on at the Lab.

    The Return of the Resident Help Network (RHN)
    Thank you to all our Residents who suggested this. For those who might be unfamiliar with the program that began a few years ago, the RHN is a grouping of communities dedicated to helping new users get acclimated to Second Life. The RHN includes over 15,000 volunteers from the following organizations: Help Sandbox, Hobo Helpers, Mental Mentors, New Citizens, Inc., Phoenix Wave Mentors, Second Ability Mentors, Virtual Ability, and the White Tiger Mentors. The program has been in a bit of a holding pattern on the Linden side, while each of these groups continued to do their good work. I’m happy to report that we’re officially bringing back the RHN network and look forward to partnering with these communities and integrating them more tightly into our new user experience.

    For those who are wondering why I haven’t mentioned our initiatives on fixing lag, and other updates from the technology side of the house, FJ and Bagman will be updating you on those items next week. In the meantime, thanks to all of you for your continued support!

    Over the past few weeks, I have explored cyberspaces, flown aircraft, gone sailing, attended music concerts, made a battleship, attended charity events, and met some wonderful people all within Second Life. I hope to see many of our Residents old and new inworld soon!

    Rod
  3. Rodvik Linden
    I want to thank everyone who downloaded the SL Viewer Beta with Basic and Advanced modes, gave it a try, and shared feedback with us. Since the initial launch last week, we’ve also deployed an additional beta version with fewer bugs and more stability and performance improvements.  

    Today, we are releasing the SL Viewer into general availability and it is now the default download for new users. A few new features that are included are the destinations guide which allows rapid access to selected areas around SL for new users by interest, the ability to change avatars quickly and “click to walk.” Just click on a point ahead of you and your avatar will automatically start walking there. Additionally, we encourage you to fill in your “Interests” in the Edit Profile tab of your Profile page. Eventually, you’ll see that we are going to do some fun things with Interests once more people fill them in.

    Keep in mind, that we’re just at the beginning of developing the Basic experience for new customers and that we will continue to improve it, and add features, as time goes on.

    An important step in this process is to get new users trying the software. With a simplified user experience, we should see an increase in new customers staying in Second Life to explore, make friends, and find interesting things to do. And, ultimately, the more customers in Second Life, the better for everyone. Once a new user is acclimated to Second Life, and has learned some basic inworld skills, then they may want to switch to Advanced mode to use voice, purchase virtual goods, join groups, and create content.

    We look forward to working with you to help make our world grow.

    Thanks,

    Rodvik

    Helpful Links
        •    Download SL Viewer with Basic and Advanced:
             Windows  |  Mac  |  Linux
        •    SL Viewer Release Notes
        •    SL Viewer JIRA for Bugs (And click on the "bugs" button on the upper right.)
        •    Knowledge Base FAQs on SL Viewer Basic Mode
        •    Feedback Forum on SL Viewer Basic Mode  
        •    Twitter hashtag #slviewer
  4. Rodvik Linden
    I would like to thank everyone who sent me messages on how to improve Second Life. For now, I will leave aside longer term goals around creativity, new windows into Second Life, and other initiatives. Instead, I want to share three important areas that we are focusing on in the short-term, based on your suggestions:
     
    Service: We have added significant resources to better address customer service times. Many of you will have noticed that our response times have improved both for individual cases and larger community issues. In addition, we are actively working to reduce commerce friction. We will continue to work hard to work out the kinks and improve these services even further. Lag: We have already implemented some server-side performance enhancements to improve lag and there will be far greater focus on that area in the months to come. Usability: This is the topic of today’s post.  
    Many of you have noted that Second Life is difficult to use, both for yourself and when inviting friends inworld. This usability issue is more complex than the user interface as it not only includes finding people and places, but it is also is dependent on some of the items above. We want to make an experience that helps you overcome some of the big usability hurdles that you’ve shared with me.

    Today, we’re launching a new version of Second Life Viewer Beta which introduces two modes that are available to everyone who downloads it--Basic and Advanced.

    Basic mode is an easier, simplified experience designed to introduce users to Second Life. It includes simple communication and navigation tools such as click to move and hold to move the camera, a choice of 24 pre-configured avatars, and an integrated Destination Guide to help you connect to friends and interesting places quickly and easily. Certain functionality, such as voice capability, building tools, and the ability to purchase virtual goods, is not available in Basic mode.

    Advanced mode is for those already familiar with Second Life who use the full feature set of the SL Viewer.

    There are a couple of things that I want to share right off the bat. First, both Basic and Advanced modes are built on the same code base and are included in the standard download of the SL Viewer Beta. You can think of it like two skins on the same piece of software. New customers will default to Basic, and if you already have the SL Viewer loaded onto your machine, the new version will default to the Advanced mode.
     
    Our goal is to get new users comfortable in SL using Basic mode and then have the option to toggle to the Advanced mode when they are ready to conduct more advanced activities such as using voice, purchasing virtual goods, and building. And, it’s easy to switch back and forth. Simply toggle to the alternate mode in the Login Screen, and then log back in.

    Lastly, we know that the Basic mode is very lean, and we’re only at the beginning of developing the minimum feature set--keeping it simple and working on the basics of usability first. We anticipate adding additional capabilities to Basic mode, so your feedback is important before we make this version of the SL Viewer the default download for new users.

    This is a first small step towards making the world that you have created more accessible and enjoyable to use for everyone.

    So, download the SL Viewer Beta and try it out.
     
    Thanks,

    Rodvik

    Helpful Links
    Download SL Viewer Beta with Basic and Advanced: Windows  |  Mac  |  Linux  SL Viewer Release Notes SL Viewer JIRA for Bugs (And click on the "bugs" button on the upper right.) Knowledge Base Article on SL Viewer Feedback Forum on SL Viewer    Twitter hashtag #slviewer
  5. Rodvik Linden
    Hello, everyone!
    Firstly, thank you all for your kind words of welcome. It has been an unexpected delight to receive goodwill messages from so many Residents. I also appreciate the many thoughtful comments on BK Linden’s blog post announcing my appointment. I have read them and will be addressing some of your questions as soon as I’m a bit more settled in.
    One of my highest priorities, over the last few weeks, was spending as much time as possible exploring inworld (with an alt and now Rodvik Linden) to better understand the product experience, your needs, and the culture of Second Life. I have discovered so much. I am amazed on a daily basis by what you have created. Over the holidays, I enjoyed many winter landscapes and seasonal activities. And, more recently, I have been playing around with vehicles and animals.
    On the creation front, I am slowly learning how to build by playing around with the land tool and the building environment. I love trees and plants, so I probably overdid it a bit there

    Next, I wanted to see how the scripting system worked. So, I made myself a “mail post” that emailed me. I was very impressed by how easy it was to get up and running.

    Having no shelter on my island seemed a bit odd. So, I built myself a shack. It doesn't look like much, but it’s home.

    Finally, I like the water so I built myself a simple raft to cruise around in. (OK, it’s very simple. But it works!)

    Getting immersed in Second Life is the fun part of the job and I can see why you love the world that you’ve created.
    I’m in the process of getting up to speed and working with the team to finalize our plans for 2011. I hope to start sharing more in coming weeks.
    Until then, thank you again for such a warm welcome and please follow me on Twitter @rodvik. I look forward to serving you--our customers--in the times ahead.
    Rod Humble / Rodvik Linden
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