Adam Spark

In my 30s, hardly a boomer. Boomers play games with no insecurity whatsoever. Video games have always been enjoyed by adults without questioning. SL has several elements used by games, yes. None of which make them games. What makes them games are quests, points, level advancement, strategy, ect. None of which apply to SL, except in part in certain gaming regions.

The confusion lies in the idea that Resident is a true last name. It is not. When they did away with last names, the system, in various ways especially scripts, continued to assume that last names existed. A placeholder, Resident, was introduced to keep everything working (since the Lab couldn't be bothered with anything more difficult than patchwork systems and workarounds, thus the poorly implemented Display Names). Here, nothing changes for you unless you are premium. Basics with no last name will continue with one name, using Resident when a two name identity is required. Resident is rarely actually seen anymore, as at least in TPVs you can trim it from tags and friends lists and the like.

Is it one particular subscribo that is giving you the problem? If so you might need to contact the person sending - the notecard may not actually be in there. However, if you are accepting it and it isn't in your inventory, try a relog. It may be there and just not showing.

Homes are just an example. Venues do the same thing. I own one and I am redecorating. You'll have to excuse me if I can't be convinced that doing so on Linden Lab's schedule (with faith they won't break something) would not be a deal breaker. I know how instancing works and I know it exists in the abyss known as Sansar. It basically is a way to scale. You can have hundreds if not thousands in a venue without killing resources. Problem - I wouldn't see you if I was in a different instance. One of the reasons I stopped trying out Sansar.

The tech behind it does not make it a game. Games have storylines. And while some, like World of Warcraft, can be played in a manner of your choosing, choosing to go back and fight NPCs you already destroyed does very little for your advancement. The principle of advancement doesn't even exist in Second Life. Every time somebody asks me "how do you play SL?" I tell them you don't play it. You log into it and you discover it. Logging into Second Life is akin to visiting another country or planet, with the exception that it exists online. It is a world, not a game. We aren't players. We are residents. You can make a game out of it. That's fine. But in and of itself, its no more a game than Facebook.

In short, Second Life could run on a mobile client if it became something it isn't. Fair enough. What you are basically suggesting is akin to, say, the bellissera continent becoming the app. But even in Bellissera, where the general area including the homes, roads, most foliage, ect., are curated by the Lab, real-time object activity is a MUST HAVE. I am decorating for Christmas currently. You are seriously suggesting a scenerio where I submit user created decoration to Linden Lab for an update on their chosen time frame? How can one even make this up?

from app description: • Role Playing game with dozens of exciting locations! Go to clubs, the beach and many more places! So in other words, nowhere near the 24,000+ regions of user created content in Second Life?

I mostly agree with this except to point out that some people think beyond how it affects them. I care about the community (No, I am NOT saying you don't. Judging from what I've seen of you here I am sure you do). I won't like it if I see them doing something that I believe (rightly or wrongly) will negatively affect the community or does not make sense. I will fight to my death for Second Life and all that I think it can become, and if I see Linden Lab doing something that in my opinion (again, rightly or wrongly) is adverse to that in any way, I'll state it and go back to enjoying SL for what it does for me.

Putting SL on a mobile app would be akin to taking Pokemon Go, all those other augmented reality apps you mention, social media apps, and many others and putting them into a single app. It would be cluster...

Absolutely, just like you can play games in your RL living room. But that won't ever get crammed into a mobile app, either.

The biggest difference is that Second Life is not a game and that mobile gaming is a completely different category from virtual worlds. Its like comparing sports with music.

Millions of free homesteads? They might have to spin up that many if they gave them to every current user of SL including basic, maybe (thats a stretch in my opinion). But we're talking high tier premium here.

Greedy? No, I happily pay for what makes sense to me. I've even made paypal donations to creators of free stuff (Adblock browser plugin for one). I approve of the MP increases. I hope to see that go further, quite frankly. Paying for premium features makes zero sense to me quite frankly.

If you own it, you are getting the money. There is no collection process. Your L$ balance should rise with each tip. If not, your jar is not working and you need another. If somebody else owns it, they are getting it. If you are supposed to get the money from a shared tip jar, check with the owner or get another jar.

Yes, its a premium feature thats not even free to Premium members. Go figure.

*deleted*

I'm with you. In my opinion SL is usable on 17 inch monitors at a minimum. Now, a mobile client is useful for merely connecting with people when you cannot otherwise log in. But for doing anything else, I don't get it. I tried Lumiya. I can use it, but having the functions on different pages or tabs is a PITA on a good day. A mobile Marketplace app, on the other hand, I would be all about that.

There is pent up demand for going back to simply letting us have last names. Time will tell how much pent up demand there is for making us pay for it.

Its great software with a lot of adjustable filters and adjustments. Happy to help if you need it.

PhotoScape X. Cannot put into words how awesome this is, especially for free software

Maybe they are customers who DO buy their stuff but also want to tip extra? Maybe they picked up a free group gift and donated because they felt it worth a fee? Donating for free items happens online all the time. Adblock is a free browser plugin that accepts paypal donations. They charge what we feel its worth to us. And yes I have donated as a thank you for things I use.

Somewhat off-topic I know, and at risk of starting a debate, but I feel it needs cleared up. Resident is not a true last name. Its a placeholder for old scripts and systems that look for a first and last name from the way things used to be. You really only have one name if your "last name" is Resident.

That is because no details have been released yet. All they have announced is a confirmation that Premium Plus is coming in 2020. Nothing (worth it, or otherwise) is known yet about Premium Plus other than its coming.

While I, too, don't like EVERYTHING about this, I think some things are going unnoticed. Lets break this down: Premium only for last names? Ok. That should satisfy SOME of the folks who asked for it. Not great (and I'm premium, I just care about the community and think beyond how it effects me), but its a start. Contest with albeit limited giveaways of free name changes to anyone is a nice compromise. A premium feature that has to be paid for additionally, however? Alrighty then. Marketplace commissions are going up. Ok I get it. But did anyone notice at all that listing enhancement fees are being reduced? Besides, this is the first time this spike has occurred. Prices of everything go up. Without exception. Thats life. I'm amazed this hasn't happened sooner, and we should be grateful. This is a business, folks. Having to pay for event listings. My initial feeling was mixed, but now that I see 10L for premium and 50L for basic, I'm thrilled. This will undoubtedly curb spam. I just hope initially it doesn't make it harder to convince venues to post their events when we are now asking them to pay for it. Eventually I think venues will bite when they see how clean the events calendar will become. The ability to follow event hosts sounds good, but I would suggest it should allow us to follow SLURL's instead, because of host turnover. I don't want to miss out because JaneDoe doesn't work at Club X anymore. A personal events calendar? A news feed? Potentially huge.

This wasn't nearly as true when twice as many people would log in to the grid.