[Back to Basics Technology Improvements]

FJ, I feel cautiously optimistic about many of the changes addressed in this blog entry. It does sound like a positive step to fix things that have been broken for years. Kudos to the team on that fact, it's very encouraging.

I would like to ask a direct question, though. You stated that the group increase to 40 will be rolled back to 25 if it causes too much lag. Has this been stress-tested very much? If it hasn't, people need to be cautioned not to count on those extra 15 groups sticking around, as this whole thing is the stress-test.

I'm also concerned about the ability to stress-test this, if such testing is only going to happen when it goes live on the main grid. How many avatars will be increasing their group memberships to do this needed stress-testing, if they know they run a risk of it falling back to 25 again?

The issue of stress-testing the group increases absolutely gives me some cause for concern there.

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

Now, you ask how this will benefit someone who uses "Blue Mars".  Whatever makes you think Linden cares in the least about Blue Mars?  It isn't a Linden product, so it isn't worth consideration unless it's a threat.

You're right, Blue Mars is not a Linden Lab product. Neither is World of Warcraft. Or InWorldz. Or any of the other sites whose members Avatars United was created to embrace and serve. But, there is something every last one of the users of these other non-Linden Lab products, who also have accounts with Avatars United, have in common:

Every last one of them is already one of Linden Lab's customers, by virtue of their purchase of Avatars United. They are not customers of Linden Lab to use Second Life. They are customers of Linden Lab to use Avatars United. This segment of their customer base is being told straight up that they don't matter because they're not using the right virtual world.

Do you matter to Linden Lab because you use Avatars United? Clearly no. Therefore, do you matter to Linden Lab because you use Second Life? Obviously you, too, can be discard on a whim, because Linden Lab does not care about their customers.

So should LInden Lab care about somebody who uses Blue Mars, when this person already is a Linden Lab customer? You bet they should. Simply because they have a responsibility to their CUSTOMER BASE.

[Saying Farewell to Avatars United]

I have a question, Jack.

Avatars United was intended to be a site embracing ALL virtual worlds. It is not specific to Second Life, nor was it ever intended to be. Whether you use Second Life, Blue Mars, Inworldz, World of Warcraft even, or any other online virtual community, Avatars United was supposed to be for you.

Now you're shutting down Avatars United and incorporating "some" of its technology into the Second Life platform? How is this supposed to benefit somebody who uses, say, Blue Mars?

I think you at Linden Lab have completely missed the point on this one. Bad decision.