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Deltango Vale

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Blog Comments posted by Deltango Vale

    Nelson Linden

    Posted

    A couple quick points:

    • Feedback email link does not work. For some reason, Gmail is not recognized. One must manually open Gmail and type the address
    • Ads appear in the wrong slot. Purchased top slot, but ad appears in bottom slot
    • Campaign seems to have begun two days late (8th instead of the 6th)
    Jack.Linden

    Posted

    The sidebar remains a design failure because it blocks HUDS, maps etc when it slides onto the screen (making it detachable does not really help). Also, the microscopic media control buttons remain squeezed into the top right corner instead of on the bottom bar where they belong. Sigh. These are basic design mistakes. In my opinion, V2 is, was and will ever be a kludge. I'm sticking with Phoenix.

    Nelson Linden

    Posted 

    So  this and mutterings about the seedier sex side of SL were enough to make  these RL companies run for the hills in their over priced training  shoes!

    Second Life is where it’s at for sexual play in an online environment... Second Life was continually credited with holding the cutting edge on adult content. (March 2006)

    http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2006/03/27/gdc-2006

    RL companies did not flee SL because of sexuality. Indeed, sexuality has long been used to sell products in RL. They left because they did not know how to exploit the virtuality of Second Life and because they could not trust the integrity of the property-rights structure. The release of Copybot in November 2006, changes to the TOS and a series of policy reversals undermined confidence in Second Life and Linden Lab.

    Terrence Linden

    Posted

    What angers people most is that Linden Lab is dishonest. A thousand times the company was asked if there were plans to merge the grids. A thousand times the company said 'No!"

    The main grid is 18 and over, so no “parental guidance” is necessary.

    http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Maturity_ratings

    There are no immediate plans to change Teen Second Life. (as of August 2010, now removed)

    http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Adult-oriented_content_controls_FAQ

    Tali Rosca: No. But are there plans to allow teens on the main grid? ANSWER
    Blondin Linden: NO
    Blondin Linden: LET ME SAY THAT 2X - NO

    http://forums-archive.secondlife.com/352/01/312352/13.html

    The agony of rezoning (Zindra, XXX content policy) was digested - painfully - and, as it turns out, at great cost (Mature and PG mainland values have fallen about 66% in the past year) - on the understanding that Linden Lab wished to reach a wider adult (grown-up) audience by providing "a more predictable user experience". Would the Teen Grid be merged with the Main Grid? A perfectly reasonable question from people who needed a predictable policy framework (business owners, landowners, content creators, general residents). The answer from Linden Lab was always, "No, no, no, we will not merge the grids."

    This policy reversal, therefore, has not only introduced great unpredictability, it has ruined Linden Lab's reputation in the eyes of its residents - especially those who pay tier and produce goods and services. No one will ever believe a word you say anymore. You can't be trusted.

    And you will ignore these 500+ posts just as you ignored the thousands of posts concerning the Zindra/XXX content policy. You will bulldoze your way through everyone in your mad quest for whatever blind idealism or unethical business practices you feel are appropriate for the moment. It is embarrassing to watch you throw away your reputation so flippantly.

    Terrence Linden

    Posted 

    The fresh supply of new 18+ customers for the grid is potentially endless by nature if you advertise SL properly. The simple solution is, to just wait on them and doing some professional advertising to catch them.

    Agree. Moreover, teens are fickle. They flit from flower to flower like bees in a meadow.

    When I think of the misery that Linden Lab has inflicted on its residents over the past year with its 'XXX', Zindra and teen policies - all for the sake of a handful of kids who will dart off to the next cool thing in the blink of an eye - I begin to question the sanity of Linden Lab as a company.

    Torley Linden

    Posted

    Something no one has mentioned so far is the "whole-universe-on-a single-page" design fault. Since the days of Plato and Aristotle, it has been known that human beings organize information hierarchically in terms of categories: sets and subsets, classes and sub-classes, general to specific.

    For example: LivingOrganism->Plant->Tree->OakTree->WhiteOakTree.

    For some reason, many web designers are unable to think in terms of categories and therefore put every scrap of information on one page. Without structure, such websites are functionally useless.

    Even after some thought, SL Marketplace has got it wrong at times. No one thinks of Mainland or Private Islands as the highest-level category; they think of Land as the highest-level category with Mainland and Private Islands as sub categories. Much confusion results when people scan the list alphabetically for 'Land' because 'Land' is nowhere to be found. Only savvy residents have the wit to understand: "Ahh, there is Mainland and...okay, down there is Private Islands; weird, but I get it now." The noob goes out of his mind looking for 'Land'.

    The same problem plagues the help pages. One gets flashburn when visiting help because about a terabyte of information is crammed onto the top page. It's simply impossible to read it or make sense of it. Therefore, I strongly suggest Linden Lab hire someone who is capable or organizing information hierarchically. Present only high-level concepts on the first page then build a tree structure down to more detailed information based on subcategories. I think you will find that human beings respond positively to such a structure.

    Torley Linden

    Posted

    I sometimes get the impression that Torley, Guy and Philip are the only people working at Linden Lab. I have visions of a converted warehouse in the outskirts of San Francisco, rows of empty workbenches with flickering screens and Torley in his swivel-chair rolling across the floor from keyboard to keyboard, laughing and talking to himself as he manages the entire public relations side of the company. Off in the distance, I see Guy in a corner near the stairs, single-handedly managing the Main Grid. Philip pops in from time to time, plunks himself down at a random desk, does a 12-hour shift of frantic programming then collapses in an old army hammock stretched between two rusting water pipes. Now and again, the occasional semi-retired Linden empties the wastepaper baskets and passes a mop over the floor. High on the wall, Max Headroom babbles from an antique plasma screen.

    Thank you Torley for staying in touch. Some of us residents are collecting used clothes and canned goods to send you guys in appreciation for holding Second Life together. We love you.

    Vogt Linden

    Posted

    Maybe I'm missing something, but, if the transaction was successful, it should appear in the transaction history of your SL account page. If the item is recorded in your transaction history then it should also be recorded in the seller's transaction history.

    Personally, I'm not sure it's worth bothering LL customer support over three bucks. My experience is that some sellers bend over backwards to fix mistakes while other give you the finger. Needless to say, word gets around. Sellers with good reputations prosper; sellers with bad reputations go out of business.

    While I don't mean to disparage your complaint, I sometimes wonder if folks don't expect too much from LL customer support. The company would have to hire half of India to deal with every single complaint. Life (RL and SL) is not perfect. Sometimes, we just have to roll with it and move on.

    Vogt Linden

    Posted

    I think I can sum up the general level of frustration.

    Many people are paying hundreds of US$ to Linden Lab every month. I personally pay US$500 per month, every month, whether I have an income or not. That works out to US$6,000 per year on top of my Premium membership.

    Do you pay US$6,000 per year for car insurance? Helathcare? If so, do you expect good customer service? If you bought a new TV for $6,000 and there was a problem with it, would you not expect prompt and reliable assistance? If your doctor says, "Take two aspirin, look up your problem on WebMD and call me in the morning," would you not be a bit angry?

    I think Linden Lab must start taking Second Life seriously. You have an exceptional product, yet you treat it like a toy. For some strange reason, you seem willing to squander your reputation on whipsaw policy changes, weird outsourcing projects and whimsical strategies that are utterly incompatible with the core nature of your product.

    I think Philip is a good CEO. I believe his heads-down assault on long-term infrastructure problems is correct and necessary. Yes, it will take time to get your house in order after three years of failed initiatives, but trying to convert Second Life into Habbo 2 is just as silly as trying to convert it into Facebook 3D. You are killing the golden goose by trying to convert it into a duck.

    Give us some assurance that our US$500 or US$1,500 or, in some cases, US$50,000 per month is worth it. If not, you may find that all you have in another year is free, Basic accounts.

    Vogt Linden

    Posted 

    The  policies have to be fixed first or there will be no-one left to care  about the meshes, the shadows, the mods allowing 500 people on a sim,  etc.

    You are right, of course, but, sadly, Linden Lab is deaf to all advice. Rarely have I seen a company so out of touch with it's own product. If Linden Lab were a public limited company, it would be ripe for a takeover.

    In my opinion, Microsoft would be wise to buy Linden Lab. It is obvious that SL is the backbone of an IT revolution on the scale of the internet (1995) and Windows 3.0 (1990). I can easily see Second Life becoming "Skylight" (Windows 9). It makes perfect sense to combine a cloud-based operating system with a virtual world. Forget Snowcrash; I strongly recommend an earlier novel by William Gibson called Neuromancer.

    Grant Linden

    Posted

    Superb article.

    I am undecided whether LL is putting its house in order for a buyout or cleaning up the mess from its failed 3D Facebook strategy. When, oh Lord, will LL realize that SL is a 'virtual country' and not just another internet application?

    As for SLM taking stores out of inworld SL, perhaps this is a good thing. Most inworld stores are poorly designed lag pits, which are a pain to actually shop in - if you can even find them. As for club owners who bracket their clubs with a mall, would it not be better to have ads pointing to SLM? It would not only free up space and reduce lag, but someone on the dancefloor would much prefer to open a window to SLM than walk/teleport/cam off the dancefloor to go to the mall. Goth event? Want a new necklace? Open SLM in a new window, search, buy, deliver, wear - all without missing a beat while dancing and talking. Perfect.

    Grant Linden

    Posted 

    I wish  they'd change the "buy" terminology to "lease" everywhere in the SL  experience so the UI would match the material I write for my estate. I  run into too many people who get confused because my documentation  describes taking a lease while the Viewer says "Buy Land". I can't bring  myself to use LL's misleading terminology, though.

    Agree. LL needs to bite the bullet on this one as part of the Fast Easy Fun program.

    In theory, all that is required is a simple test in the software to know which window to present for About Land. If estate, present window A; if mainland, present window B.

    A far more sophisticated approach - and truly impressive - would be to build lease/rental functionality into the About Land window.

    You might be interested in this:

    https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-15679?

    Grant Linden

    Posted

    Grant,

    Many thanks for getting SLM up and running relatively quickly. My experience so far has been very good. I will, though, remind everyone that:

    Private Islands -> Parcel Sales should be changed to:

    Private Islands -> Parcel Leases.

    One cannot buy or sell a private island parcel; one can only lease a parcel from the island owner. While private islands can be subdivided into leasehold parcels, those leasehold parcels cannot be bought or sold. Only an entire island can be bought or sold - whole, not in part. It is very confusing to new residents who (falsely) believe they are buying an island parcel. Fixing the terminology in SLM would be a partial solution to a major, longstanding problem.

    Terrence Linden

    Posted

    The most important thing to remember is that Second Life was not created as an enhanced communication platform for RL organizations. SL Enterprise failed (as predicted). 3D Facebook failed (as predicted). Why? Because Second Life was not designed and built for that purpose. Second Life was designed and built as a virtual 'country' -  a parallel universe of privacy and fantasy for adults (grown ups) from around the world to escape the constraints of their RL existence and transact with each other within an advanced political economy. As such, Second Life prospered.

    While inviting RL educational organizations (and RL businesses and government agencies) to participate in Second Life is commendable, Linden Lab must not put the cart before the horse. Education is only a tiny fraction of the whole. Linden Lab must learn the lessons of SL Enterprise, 3D Facebook and Avatars United and return to its roots. Key now is keeping underage players a million miles away from residents. The alternative, Disneyfication, is toxic to Second Life.

    Terrence Linden

    Posted 

    There are  many many merchants (as an example) who now operate on PG land  specifically for the purpose of being reachable by the teen market when  that happens. Splitting the mainland would require something  Zindra-esque to take place, and we all know how much happy fun that all  was.

    I accept your point about not being Pareto Optimal, but, in my opinion, the non-educational market for 16/17s is so small as to be insignificant. The benefits of upgrading mainland sims from PG to Mature so greatly outweigh the disadvantages as to be self-evident. Remember, Mature = Moderate = normal. It is critically important to prevent Disneyfication of the main grid.

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