[New Premium Membership Features]

Looking a gifting horse in its mouth i do not prefer, however may i add a critical note.

This perhaps is a start after 3 years of discussions about benefits for premium members, however what is exactly the benefit? A dedicated sandbox, pardon but i can't exactly see the advantage... I mean what in all are the added values other than a few extra items in the inventory for the home. There are already so many freebies of similar quality available for all.

Added value would be access to monthly economic metrics, concierge style support, access to specific special groups, stipend weekly to 500, exclusive rights to visit special super high quality and higher performance regions for premiums where 100 avies can meet with the same level of performance of 10 in normal regions, things like that.

However it is a start perhaps.

[Mesh goes gridwide: Create, sell, buy & enjoy all-new things in SL]

I'm a bit reserved to actually be that enthousiastic.

Mesh certainly seems a step forward to actually gain on competition when it comes to graphic looks, however i don't see the point with mesh and 5 fps or so where it was 4-10 times higher for so many... So many seem to report that problem which started with 2.7.5 for Windows, Mac and Linux with Intel Duo Cores.

All that Customer Services at LL can do with new a ticked is wait with a reply and then point to at a newer SL version. With yet another showstopper. There is simply not much else they can do.

Since the UI of V2/3 is horrid i will just wait for better days. If they are not coming it seems a way out for me then in the end since i am not going to buy yet another computer for just SL and then prey if it works.

Personally i didn't see a step forward with concurrent users in the last years. It has peaked yesterday (Sunday) at around 65k, but mostly it has been around 58k or so, where it was 85k Dec. 2007. Given that a pile of them were actually scripted that time i would have hoped at least to see SL gain daily concurrent users, however it doesn't seem to happen. The Basic login and 2/3 UI both don't seem to do the job.

Actually sign ups seem to have increased. How many of them are really new is the question as i have met many of so called newbs, but they just wanted to experience the bells and whistles all recent changes and see how it looked like. They were actually in SL since 2007. So this late slight increase of sign ups is to be further analysed by SL.

Fun inworld is also not very much progressing and improving and i strongly do have the feeling that more and more silent types seem to find a way into SL which is no fun at all. They don't chat, no IM, no voice... nothing, agressive profiles, and just being the silent individualist as in RL. I thought this was a social platform ?! Where is the interaction other than clubs where nasty IM's and chat spam are usually a garantee

Mesh is fine, just the majority of users also should be able to actually have joy with it, and with 5 fps... it just isn't and UI2/3 is already hardly to be accepted since it looks terrible, thick and visually bulky. 

Where does this all go... Old time users who actually have learned to understand all the misery on their SL path, however.. newer users to actually stay more... i don't know... 

 

 

 

 

[The Second Life Economy in Q2 2011]

Very good comment Scars, i can't agree more on all you say.

Things i want to add...

Server rent (or a parcel of it) is a 3D space in SL, but it is way too expensive and could be much more obtainable at a lower rate. All prices in IT had a strong down force in the last years... except SL. LL used to operate IBM and Dell rack serves to my best knowlegde. These are very cheap these days, but if i am right SL is now operated by Apple mini servers which are even positioned at basic price while more reliable, solid and with a lot less cables. 

When do we see a down force of prices of 3D spaces in SL... ?

The inworld experience has hardly changed since 2006 when i came. There are no build in quality animations like swimming, kissing, shaking hands, hugging... and so on.

There are no decent avatar physics to control other than a copy from Pheonix which is most silly.

The UI of 2 has been spoken about already by so many and so many. Visually it is thick, bulky and screen cluttering. The former UI was much more playful and could be seen even as more elegant and adding value to the immersive experience. Perhaps the skins were not that good, but that was a matter of desiging a decent elegant skin.

LL claims to have more registrations since the Basic login. While this seems the case, it is hardly so much more to lift SL. Dare i say that i met many new friends in the last months via the Basic mode, but what did they do? They told me they liked The Sims better, so i never have seen them ever again. My question would be, is this new CEO not too conservative (as he explains in an interview) and just copies many of the ideas he had at Electronic Arts. If so that is going to be a bad call.

Obtaining some L$ for newbs has become ever more hard is what i also do notice.

Another thing to worry about is that many high quality designers and builders have left SL. And mesh is also not going to be for the average creator i am quite certain. In other words... creation is becoming ever more complex for the average.

And another huge worry... which has hardly ever changed... inworld services and services from merchants. One of my biggest frustrations has always been delivery of the purchase and as advertised. LL should check in their servers if a transaction had been completed within the server environment, if not the purchase should be made undone. Undo the stalled delivery, debit the merchant and credit the buyer. If i am not happy with the purchase because it is not as advertised (since many creators pimp their vendor by photoshop) it should be enabled to undo the purchase within a certain time a buyer/user is online. For example enable a trial period of 1 hour. Because don't we all know the average service from merchants in SL... s**t (pardon). Some are very good but they are rare what i have experienced since 2006. And with 24 Mill accounts, but only ~60000 online at peak times what are the chances a merchant will actually address your case soon or ever... It is one of the reasons i refrained from shopping in SL and started to make my own creations so that i had at least full controls and garantee my own services. Lately i thought about shopping again and tried again after many years... however 50% was not as advertised (was added as copy/modify, but was not at all... Bad!) I was thinking of finally buying a horse... but i refrained from the idea because 25% of replies said it was never delivered or at lowever quality than the demo. So... Not i am not going to pay 1500 or 4000 L$ on such, sorry. 
Earlier i was thinking about buying the Swimmer AO, but the Demo had strange flaws so i dropped a notecard to the merchant before i was ready to buy the official version... a well know old name in SL... Reply... zip although he appeared 2x times right at my face... I thought he'd perhaps missed my notecard and dropped it again on his account name... zero reply although he appeared at my face again without any reply. So... no i am not going to buy that junk, sorry.

Perhaps there are many more ideas to avoid old well known frustrations and come up with new ideas INworld not around it.

Best of luck

[Support the Japan Earthquake & Pacific Tsunami Relief with Linden Dollars]

Wonderful idea. I have already donated to the red cross in RL. I have no words for what is going on in Japan and my heart goes out to the Japanese and espcially those effected.

Can we read somewhere how much Linden Lab themselves from their own financial assets will donate in future to certain charities ?

 

Let us also stay critical. Be aware please that the Japanese government very clearly stated they don't want or need money. Japan is a highly developed country. Hands on help is highly needed. However the red cross is a voluntary organization depending on donations. However, please do realize that Japan has no need of money actually

 

 

[The Second Life Economy in Q4 2010]

Although statistics sure can be manipulative i do feel the latest report to concurring what i experience inworld. The economic development of SL is going sideways since a year or two.

Actually i don't think LL is that motivated to let SL grow further. Since 2007 they have established an annual income of appr. 70 Mill. US$ by tier alone from appr. 30k regions. They have created a pretty stable business in RL from a financial point of view.

I do think too that tier should be cut by half at least, but i don't think it will happen; it would mean that LL should compromise their stable monthly income by half while i personally still don't think SL can be technically scaled up by 200%. And SL nevery became ready for the mass anyway.

And Philip has been working on a newer project: the love machine which he promotes to IT companies.

All that said, I think LL keeps SL as a niche; a stable cash cow that is for them.

[Getting Immersed in Second Life]

A very warm welcome to SL Rod.

I do hope you actually have fun rather than... let's behave funny because i have to professional wise.

Your intro looks wonderful though

[Technology Improvements for Q1 Including Raising Group Limit to 42]

Nice improvements, but a link to FB after all these security scandals? hmm, interesting.

Is LinkedIn now becoming more of a social media than a pure business platform? It's a trend i seem to see continue here now in SL. Not good (!)

[Linden Lab's New CEO]

A warm welcome to SL Rod.

[A Farewell From Jack]

A happy further travel Jack in your career.

My impression has always been that Linden Lab and Jack have not been the most excellent match. It has nothing to do with Jack or LL, just the combo wasn't top to my feeling. I do credit Jack for the cleanup of the mainland. The fast growth of mainland in 2007 was a disaster. The bot policy has had some effect, but the solution isn't really top. And the Search has always been a pain for far too long.

As i have seen in a Dutch interview by Jeroen Smit (a Dutch Journalist searching for what modern leaders should be about since conventional management methods crash our world) taken shortly after M left and broadcasted here on last Sunday evening, Philip explained that LL uses its "love machine" in where top

talents only are naturally selected by its peer employees who are internal competitors to make the best bid

for tasks published on LL's intranet, however with the catch that the result of all tasks are evaluated by internal peers. A positive evaluation results in a bonus on top of the accepted bid and the employee concerned is likely assured that her/his next bids will be selected.

Either Jack's time was up because his bids were being less accepted or he just moves on further, either

by another job offer or by his decision.

Whatever it is, Jack, i wish you happy further travel.

[Viewer 2.2 Available Today!]

2.2 Seems to go to the right direction, my compliments.

It does actually fire me up consider using it. A thingy that has always hugely bothered me though is the less screen space due to the bulky UI, and i so much love the friendly frivolity of the pie menu.

Who knows... i might give it try with the next iteration as it is going to a positive direction

Not right now really because FPS with 1.23.5 went up high for me since a month or so, all runs stable and i can do all the things i want to do quick easy and fast. My experience with an upgrade has always been that speed was compromized, and i did hear horror stories of going back to 1.23.5 after installing 2.x was problematic in cases.

However my feeling for jumping over to 2.x is getting pretty close.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Mmm, another decision by former M softly overwritten by Philip? Did M not want non-profit and education into SL? And were these brands actually filling this 3D world with numbers, joy, entertainment and sociality? Dunno, i did meet few 'so called' academics (yep aged grey facial hair, glasses and unexotic bodies included, eeeew)... quite an unenergetic experience in the end, and hardly much fun really. Is Philip steering the 'ship' back to it's original course? yup, back to basics... SL as a pure immersive social imaginary platform as it used to be. Cool Ehmm and i am dearly hoping it will still not be too late, however internet companies never get a second chance when it comes to it, although Philip seems to try hard... well, we'll see

[Second Life Economy Stable in Q2 2010]

What does actually interest me is to see LL is not disclosing consistent info that actually matters. Since 2006 the economic information published never had much consistancy. At some day real metrics were published 2 times and then they poofed. Then LL started to publish stats per quarter, however not in a consistent way and mainly uptrend stats had been shown, with a few selective critical remarks here and there. For a few years we had the statistics page, and now that is to poof. And now again we actually see a whole different set of information.

Confusion, confusion all over the place. Sorry, but i can't actually sustain little trust in all this.

I just follow my scans inworld. That is, mainly old avs seems to keep it together. More and more land is being abandoned, venues where the same avs tip and donate the same avs over and over. The same event list day in day out, week in week out. The same avs present 24/7 at hot spots tipping eachother over and over. Total still and silent accounts/(alts) all over the grid. Declining users. Land now at prices worth pennies on the market.

hummm... shall we all return to RL perhaps and let this baby die. We might have better things to do. Well, it was worth a try and it was promising back in 2006/7. But it seems to not attrack the main stream internetters.

[Introducing Kim Salzer, Our New VP Marketing]

Hi Kim,

A very welcome to SL.

I am very thrilled to actually see a corporate talent with partly a gaming track record with the mix of music and marketing. Excellent. Exactly what SL does need to my opinion.

What i personally do hope is that you will find a formula to get SL a bit more filled, and being known in main stream with a positive sound to say the least. What i experience is that it is a vast empty 3D space with not very much happening really, and piles of alternate accounts just to fill the space to make it look iteresting and filled. But they don't say too much; consequently the experience is not very thrilling lately, so i log out quick recently.

And... to bring youngster into SL. The age band has gone up seriously. With all respect, but the overall effect of it all is that too much in SL looks the same and is about the same genre all over the place. And not too much is happening per square metre. If you check the Event list, that one is day in day out about the same too. Within a few days i was done with those places already a year ago, and not much has changed since with that Event list... empty or filled with piles of silent alternate accounts. The Event list is about the same, day in, day out, week in week out, year in year out even.

SL, does have potential however.

Overall, i hope you will succeed to bring SL to a broader much more variant sustainable audience and change the image a tad more positive.