Betty Jeffers

Ummm... Well except for the 10 minute visits here in SL to talk to old friends left behind, I rarely if ever visit SL in 2011. When I decided I could not stand V2 I voted with my wheels and decamped to InWorldz and Avination. I think the mesh will further level the playing field between SL and it's descendants. Those of you who like the constant turmoil and glitchs the changes here bring can surf the big waves and enjoy the ride. Others of us who like being pioneers and being in worlds where our input is welcomed and implemented will settle in cozy and less stressful enviroments. In my 5 years in SL I can't recall being asked what I would like from LL. In the competing grids they are small enough I have had an owner come to me and call a developer in as well, spending an hour to help me sort a problem. I have come to regard SL as the "Old Country". The place I was born and emigrated from to the new worlds. And one more thing.. Since I started in SL there have been two times I have logged in and found that practicaly new and rather expensiive computers were not up to minium specs following upgrades. It's not practical to shell out a thousand or more every couple years because the Linden's boffins want to dazzle with some new thingummy that I didn't really want in the first place.

Umm I kinda rediscovered the old magic... sorta kinda SL circa 2006. It's out there you know.... Just not here if you get my meaning. I don't wana get "moderated". So I won't mention a competing grid... They are listening here.Shhhhhhhh.

Warmest greetings sir.Good luck.

Why is it I greet the news of yet another Viewer Two iteration with the enthusiasm I would have for a call from my doctor, that included " Doctor would like to see you as soon as possible, also bring your husband or priest."

I do not care to have any connection to the social networking sites. I do not like Viewer Two. I think Display Names are stupid. Perhaps the business plan is to reject the old residents and court the Myspace/Twitter/Facebook generation. I can't see the rationale of ppl in a role playing and fantasy environment wanting to link that to a social network, If you want us to all go to Inworldz just ask us to go. I went there three days ago, there was a constant rain of ppl rezzing in their welcome and announcing their SL departure. Inworldz founders are waiting there in the welcome area answering questions and listening. They are 18 and over only and adamant on that. I have 5 years in SL, I am invested here and have spent many happy hours. I have the impression Linden Labs is turning it's back on it's established customers.

Well, lets see. I have been in Sl for 4 years and belong to 12 groups. Hmmm. 42? Prolly won't use that but thank you :-) Teleport and sim crossings finally fixed? well that's good, and about time too. Viewer 2.5? 5 different versions in less than a year and it still isn't the most popular client. Might be a reason for that. If LL had any confidence in V2 they wouldn't have kept 1.23 as an alternative. Also after the Emerald fiasco most companies would have banned all TPV, if they had confidence in their new flagship product....All different versions of old viewer soon made the previous ones redundant. and yet a year after V2 the old viewer and it's offspring still dominate... Hmmmmm can you say "Edsel?" Group chat easier? 99% of it is annoying and I have opted out of all of it. Joining a group just invites endless spam to comon down and hear DJ Somesuch at club Somewhere. And lastly, Facebook, My Space Et all. Never been there. Couldn't care less about them. Twitter? why would anyone care that Joe is eating a sandwich and watching football ATM? Why would I want to go to Twiter to see that Joe's avatar is dancing at club Somewhere and he is eating a sandwich?

Buh Bye!!! So Long!! Adios!! *Hands you your hat* Via Con Dios!! Happy Trails to You!!

Should you be giving them ideas? *Visualizes Scenario* (Dark gloomy throne room, Minion approaches Lord Phillip Mepockets, wringing hands and grovels) "Master! we have another revenue enhancement!! We will make them deposit 10L for each 10 minutes of game play!!" "Then *evil laugh* We will use display names to show only question marks, they must pay to see name of an avatar!!!" "If they complain, the department of obfuscations will divert their TP's to send them naked to a G rated ageplay sim!!" "We could permaban them and notify authorities they are pervs and be rid of them!!! Mwahahahahahah"

Simply Amazing. It's as if Toyota was spending it's time making an advert on the thrill of driving. Then demonstrated the adrenalin rush of having a car that will do 130 MPH on it's own and who's brakes and steering were uncertain. Your market place in nearly non functional. People pay and do not receive. Merchants can't sell or advertise on it. Your new viewer to access SL is buggy and frustrating. Third party developers are struggling to make something of it so people will use it. User base is dissatisfied and shrinking. I haven't any contacts in world who feel confident anymore. Many have started accounts in other worlds. Contrary to Microsoft Corporate policy, Bugs are not "Enhancements" Don't follow their lead. Why not sort the users complaints, then advertise?

Umm, Err Mr. Jack Sir? You thought this idea of having all players with the same second name of "Resident" was clever ? Why? I would like to understand the point, I really would. Was this discussed at all? Some games introduce obstacles for the players to overcome like fire breathing dragons. Are broken features, incomprehensible UI's and totally useless "enhancements" designed to add an element of difficulty so we are challenged and stimulated? The online Urban Dictionary has "Lindened" listed as a verb meaning "To break something in your attempts to improve them" Dosn't that sort of rankle people at Linden Labs? Franklin Rosevelt replied to the question of why his party seemed so disorganized in it's attempt to solve the Great Depression. He said "There is only one way to go backwards". Is it the strategy at LL to just toss out ideas that anyone there seems to be able to make run and see if any stick? I have rather invested myself and my capital in your platform. There are other similar alternatives up and coming. Are you nice people attempting to help them succeed by making it easier to compete with SL? I will await the favour of your reply. Thank you for your time sir.

Bad Business conversations in History: 1925 Ok what we do here is loan money so people can buy stocks. Their values will always increase. 1936 Lets Just fill the Hindenberg with Hydrogen 1957 Ok we will call this new car Edsel 1973 If we merge all the car makers in the country and let the government run them we can call them British Leylands 1985 Alright, then we are going to call this "New Coke" 2003 Alright, what we do here is let the banks loan money for houses no matter the applicant's income. Property values will always increase. 2009 Yeah go ahead with that Viewer two thingummy, and just for laughs add that intern's idea for display names.

Well I have just had myself a look arround the old neighbourhood. I have come away with such a warm feeling now. I saw so many avatars with the same second name. Apearently the Resident family is haveing a reunion in Second Life. Or perhaps Sl is becoming more like those rustic villages where family trees do not fork. I am a bit confused, which is a natural state for me. When I look at the profiles of today's noobs there is a first name and then all have the same second name. So, if I know 27 Joe Residents how will I sort them? If I run into a 28th Joe Resident and he greifs me how will I file that AR that LL ignores? Will one of my Joe Resident mates get the blame? Or assuming they planned for that at LL will no one in SL ever be able to use the name "Joe" in the future? All new residents will now be Residents. Wouldn't it be simpler if we just called them all "Bruce"? Just to avoid confusion? And also why bother with different shapes and skins? Lets continue and acheive the Marxist ideal. Complete equality for all Residents. If I Google "InWorldz" I can get the link to register there... Right?

Well then, the need for Display names is becomming apearent. The mindset at the labs is reflected in game. Hide yourself behind a double disguise. I envision a room full of Lindeneers, Glasses with false noses attached. Some with bags over their heads as well, never making eye contact. Mumbleing "No I didn't think of that code...."

Rene, I gave a great laptop. My lap top was made especially to play games. Asus G73. Intel Core I7 2.6 Ghz. Radeon 5870 HD graphics. 8 gigs ram . Before I bought it I specifically searched for specs that LL recommended. It was as expensive as a decent used car. It handles The Sims 2 and 3 brilliantly. Blue Mars and Twinity run beautifully. If I was a boy and played shootem up games I am sure it would handle them as well. My computer stumbles and stammers on SL. Is it my computer?

I guess spending money and time to make SL stable and runable on more computers wasn't glamorous enough. They could have made a stripped down optional viewer that ran on less powerful systems. Just in time for a world wide economic depression that forced people to stay home more and buy cheaper computers. Or a viewer ap for smart phones. They didn't. They made Viewer 2 that I have found only about 1/4 of the people actually like. Added display names to it. The reaction is underwhelming on that one too. Company's often get blinder vision after success. Linden Labs made the most successful Virtual World. Now they are the gang that can't shoot straight. RCA was once a huge electronics company. They marketed radios in the 1920's and in the 30's invented network broadcasting. Founded NBC in America. 30 years ago they proudly released a video disk system (CED) that used a LP record disk and needle to show films at home. It bombed against tape and RCA is now just a brand owned by Thompson Electronics in France. Polaroid was a photographic giant. Made instant pictures possible. Digital cameras replaced them they went broke. Didn't help they spent a fortune to invent "Instant Movies" based on film when Video Tape was introduced. They were focused on chemical film and the world passed them by. If LL asked me (and they didn't) I would recommend suspending all future developement on V2 and instead set a technical standard and then let the TPV people loose to create a viewer. The most sucessful will cost LL nothing and I am sure will run rings arround the Cyber Edsel they delivered. I favour the Imprudence Viewer myself. On Imprudence's blog they announce they are remaking V2 and will be offering it in the next year. It is interesting to note they state they will be less focused on Second Life and more on the open grid worlds. Much as Atari never saw Nintendo coming until it was too late, LL check your mirrors, someone may be overtaking you while your engine sputters...

Viewer 2 is the answer to a question no one asked. I think our best bet is to go to Imprudence or Phoenix's new viewer developments and let them know what functions we want. It seems to me that the TPV projects are more creative and responsive to customers. It is interesting personally that Imprudence now states they will be more directed to the open grid worlds. I think SL will be the Atari of the 21st century. Make the market and then fade away.

It's as if the passengers aboard Titanic are staring in horror at the approaching Ice burg. They scream in terror and shout loudly to change course before tragedy strikes. And up on the bridge the officers are having a jolly time playing with stick on name tags and congratulating one and other how clever they are.

With my deepest apologies to the Devs who make my beloved Imprudence Viewer, May I suggest renaming Viewer 2 to " Impotence"?

Then might it be useful in the requirements to state that? Seems to work perfectly with Sims 2 Sims 3 Blue Mars and Twinity.

I am near to apoplexy. I have upgraded my computers 3 times in 4 years to comply with changing requirements of SL. I have today what is supposed to be the PREMIER gaming machine in a laptop. 1600 quid I paid to play SL. Intel coreI7. Radeon HD5870 Graphics. 2.6 GHZ. 8 G ram. I looked for a graphics card specifically recommended in requirements. Nope, not good enough for SL. I get crashes, video display errors and even with newest drivers installed SL recommends the lowest settings. Good god almighty, what does it TAKE? Instead of wasting time, money and effort on this crappy viewer just make SL WORK!. And all this for an interface that is frustrating to use. Functionality? don't get me started on it's functionality. And my god people, "Display names"? so what? who the *#@! cares? My avatar's name was fictitious to begin with!! You brag that you added display names. It's like Toyota saying "Never mind the cars are running wild on thier own, we changed the location of the MP3 jack on the radio".

It is like watching a monkey trying to pull a peanut out of a pickle jar. Fist closed tight about the nut, two large now to pass back out the opening. You know that the only way to be free of the problem is to just let go, but there is no way the monkey will release the prize. LL still struggles to perfect the concept of a viewer that is as practical as a Football Bat. Viewer two progresses on and on. A vain attempt to answer the question no one asked. Ok I will once again try to keep an open mind, I will download this iteration. But I know I will regret it. My SL experience contains a daily reminder of the first time I put that awful thing on my computer. Still have empty system folders in my inventory I can't delete. No matter what TPV I use they are there to mock me and remind me of the time I took the chance to try Viewer Two. I approach the task with all the aprehension of someone offered to sample a rare cheese that frankly smells horrible. Nose wrinkled, eyes squinted. I wonder to myself if the Lindens have heard of the Edsel or perhaps the New Coke. If it isn't working this time people, time to put it on the same shelf.

Well the deck chairs have been rearranged. Did anyone notice that iceberg dead ahead? I will happily rent a wood chipper to process Viewer two through. We can at same time build a lemonade stand for the Pre 18 year olds to keep busy until they are old enough to join adult grid. I see the Lab's attention is still on bad ideas like the display names. How nice that they will let us have 40 groups. I have been to open grids that allow 100. I'm am sitting here remembering The Sims Online. Lively by Google and There. All virtual worlds that are gone now. It doesn't seem to be all that hard to fail at running a virtual world. But how has LL managed to survive? In my opinion it is letting the users create content and make money at it. But the Lab seems to continue to fix things that are not all that broken. And the things that are stumble along.... I cringe at every new features announcement. I wouldn't be the least supprised to hear that LL was attempting to introduce a football bat next. And the things that want mending are ignored. I have visited other games that run perfectly on my computer. And here no matter how much I spend and try to comply with requirements I have graphics troubles. It seems the video cards and drivers supported are very narrowly available. That would be a good place to work on troubles. Perhaps more people could join here if their computers could run the viewer.