[Embark on a Quest in Linden Realms: Collect Crystals, Earn Linden Dollars and Have a Blast!]

Oh FFS guys. *Groan* 

Every single blog post LL does about almost anything invites the same old moaning and whining and bitching..the internet truely does bring the worst out in humanity doesnt it? 

I wonder what % of these same bitchers would act and speak the same way if facing the CEO or indeed any person in a RL face to face, eye to eye situation...my guess is less than 1%

Okay those moaning about how they paid for premium JUST to gain access to this game thing...do you also walk around the January sales whining to the RL store staff how a sweater/jacket/trousers/ etc you purchased 4 weeks ago is now marked down in the sale and how unfair that is or how "I only purchased that *blank* because I liked it now EVERYONE will be buying it at discount!!"

Thats life - both on the net and in the high street.

To those moaning that the CEO of LL used to be involved with EA GAmes and "THE SIMS" and this game is competing against the merchants in SL...try thinking outside of the box or you limited imagination.

This is THE very thing that draws new people to SL and new people means new money into the economy.

The two main issues that effects new member retension *spelling?* is:

1) People log in for the first time and then think: "What now?" 

2) People are baffled by the UI it IS quite a steep learning curve compared to most other online games and platforms.

So this offers some kind of game type interaction whilst also allowing newbies to gain experience with the UI and the theory is once they are comfortable with how to move and navigate the IU and get bored with this entertainment they notice they have L$ (from playing the game) and then start to explore other areas of SL perhaps to develop their avatar ID , own their own land with privacy, buy a pet, have simulated sex and so on and so forth.....

Long story short? "It injects more user to user transactions long term"

Its really not a rocket science business move... it has no interest to me but if I was new then yes it would and I can see the bigger picture. 

[The Second Life Economy in Q2 2011]

My account is over 7 years old, my business over 5 years old so I have seen the highs and lows of SL.

 

The highs was when we had no recession and SL was new and shiny and people were not thinking about every single purchase they make or whether they can get it cheaper.

This has caused merchants from countries who have a better conversion rate (China Japan etc) be able to undercut prices of more western countries because $10.00 to someone in China is the same as $100.00 to someone in the USA (don't quote me I am guesstimating) 

There is no blame or single reason, the RL economy has had a major impact on countries, people, jobs and businesses but, and I hate too say it, "If it was me..." I would reduce the tier on land like NOW because SL "as a  game" is very expensive if you want to "play" it with all the bells and whistles, and that means owning an island or a decent piece of land.

SL and associated fees falls into the "desposable income bracket" and due to the awful RL economy people will drop that $300 a month luxury habit like a hot potatoe.

What alarms me more than anything and displays a "sign of the times" is the lack of response to this once very much anticipated report.

The lack of interest to me says people don't believe what is written or they no longer care.

Whilst previoulsy its true to say the majority of responses to blogs like these were anger and frustration, at least that was an indictor of someone who still cared enough to make comment.

When people stop bothering and caring, they stop trying and THAT is my biggest concern with this blog. Not whats detailed in the reports but the lack of response, period. 

 

[Linden Lab's New CEO]

Oh, goodie!

This is indeed promising news and much needed for the 1000s of people who are depending on new user growth for SL and to eventually perhaps have log in numbers that IMVU get as a result of the 1000s of adverts on the net.

I hope what ever technical fixes need fixing to allow stability to cope with 100K users online is at least near the top of the "to do" list

Welcome, good luck and Merry Christmas.

[Help Us Test the SL Web Viewer Beta]

ahhh.

Hmm OK, so maybe it's not a restricted area system with a view to encourage people to "upgrade"

Ah well, time will tell

[Help Us Test the SL Web Viewer Beta]

I logged in last night. Despite the fact this is still in beta the speed at which textures and content loaded was lightning fast. Navigation was smooth both walking and flying and this was on mainland which with the current client is an area I avoid if I can due to the nightmare LAG situation.

I am from the UK, use Safari browser and run an iMac. I couldn't test it with Firefox browser.

I have written a blog post with screenshots here:

http://trutextures.blogspot.com/2010/11/second-life-web-browser-beta.html

[The Second Life Economy in Q3 2010]

Well said Harry.

 

It's common sense that those who are "failing" ( and that could mean many different things for many different people) are going to be the ones ranting and screaming.

If you look at the market place reviews, the majority that bother to leave them are negatives because we "expect" good and so are not overwhelmed with emotion when we get good. Its only when we get "bad" that we tend to need to vent negative emotion. That is human nature and as such the forums and blog comments can not be seen as a true reflection for how the majority of SL users feel.

Those that are managing, coping, dealing, are too busy and pre occupide to spend their entire waking hours complaining for they have nothing to complain about.

The angry spats and "cut throat" tactics we see between SL merchants mirrors the behavior of staff in all RL companies currently trying to survive in this troubled RL economy.

Staff in RL companies are insecure over job losses and pay decreases and as such they back stab and blame their bosses and work associates, complain "if it was MY company we wouldn't be in this mess"

My partner used to love his job but the environment has become to competative between himself and his work associates they are telling tales, tripping each other up and generally scratching each others eyes out in the hopes of securing another 6 month contract. They have to re apply for their own jobs twice a year and this causes much speculation over "who, when, why and what" is going on "at the top"

SL is a luxury I always expected the RL economy to affect the SL one and those that made claims that SL would "boom" during a recession because in house entertainment historically gained in economic hard times, were naive.

As a merchant you can "blame the game" or you can work harder than you ever have, accept less sales and hope to see better times when consumer confidence begins to return to post 2008.

[Viewer 2.2 Available Today!]

Yea, I'm ashamed to admit even after several years I've been in SL I still depend on the "camera box thingie"

I suspect many serious builders dont use this tool anymore . I think it was only ever created for ease of use  for noobs but once you get used to something it's hard to adapt to a new way.

I don't build so I have no real reason to try using the keyboard short cuts for the camera but I totally hated the camera controls on V2 and it looks like they still exist in V2.2

I am still on V1.3 because of my exp with V2 but I am on an iMac and based on the issues posted above, I will be sticking to my V1.3!

Glad to see people are more optimistic about this viewer though.

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

Compulsary - as I said as long as its not Compulsary.

I have never hidden my real ID I run a business i prefer to be seen as a real business.

But again, that's just my opinion and my choice, I would never say " I love facebook so you can can go jump if dont!"

I totally appreciate and respect your opinion and decision but again, to clarify I see no harm in the "option"

People already using FB that don't know about SL won't have the same issues than those who are already in SL and don't use FB.

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

The predictability is overwhelming lol

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

Galileo

The "what can we get for free" is not limited to FB, it's a www wide, SL wide, world wide issue and it's caused by and large by merchants and freebie websites who are trying to capitlise in an economy and using the fear of spending in their favor to then sell advertising space in return for high traffic)

SL is almost notorious for the freeloading culture thanks to the imbalance of people selling quality content to people giving quality content, people just "expect" a freebie or at the very least greatly reduced. But again, this isn't limited to SL its the effect of a recession on the net.

This is the first time the internet has faced any form of economic collaps of this magnitude and we're seeing the merchant/consumer changes for the first time in history.

I have 2 websites one did offer texture stock for free (at the lowest resolution) we had 2000 members in less then 12 months and over 2000 texture downloads a month (of the free textures) For one of the higher resolution images they would only need to spend 1 dollar and we did allow commercial use., well needless to say very few people spent money, no one said "thanks" and so we pulled the plug on the freebies.

Regards FB - people do spend money on FB not sure where your getting your information from but there are game companies investing time and money into making addictive and "user to user" competitive games which encourage players to buy "gold' (or what ever) once they are addicted.

And of course more residents = more content creators,  but the ratio will not be in the content creators favor, most FB users are just people who want to socialise online, share photos, compete with their "friends" in Farmville,(why?? lol) upload videos from their mobile phones, flirt with strangers and so on, so having the ability to own their own 3D appartment , play "dress up" and invite their FB friends into a 3D space would be very tempting and again, free...

Where ever LL advertises there is always going to be a certain % of sign ups that decide to be a merchant, not sure why you think FB would hold a higher % in that regard to any other area.

Look at IMVU - see how many people are logged in and then ask yourself why because it isnt the client, it sucks, Ive tried it. ( cartoon avatars and environments, no freedom to do much of anything other than jump from one targeted seat to another targeted seat ) but that aside they have been very clever on how they run things.

Quote "try attach a subscription fee to FB and watch people leave like the tide rolling out"

Well, yea if its compulsary but that would be the same for SL or any other service that initially allowed free access.

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

I am all for Facebook association and twitter (which I have never used) because everyone and their dogs see the benefit to having the association, news programs, TV programs, news papers, so why people are moaning about it I don't understand.

From a business pov its a no brainer why LL would "connect" to FB people using FB are prime target market for SL and if LL don't do it you can be sure as Hell some other site will (IMVU always has)

When SL is released as a web based client the potential to expand the amount of users logged on will not be capped as it is now.

Web based User + Facebook = more SL residents = more user to user transactions = stronger SL economy.

It really isn't rocket science.

And for those who prefer to keep their real pictures and real lives private, well, make a Facebook account for your SL name and avatar. People make FB accounts for their dogs and companies after all.

There is nothing to fear, nothing will be compulsory (i doubt) just like Voice isn't compulsory and I recall all the "tears and tantrums" about that when it was announced by the lab.

I for one can't wait for SL to be linked to social network sites. I think it's a positive move to make and will in the long term benefit us all...  "as a whole"