[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

There is a lot of focus on whether "SL is better" versus "some other grid is better", as well as for overall costs -- whether SL is cheaper versus some other grid host is cheaper. That focus detracts from the main salient point that some organizations, who are cash strapped and/or who have established IT departments, will find useful: there are options, right now.  Particularly for the organizations that are bringing their students/clients into the 3D world and providing them services there rather than those who are getting their students/clients from the 3D world. The "open" solutions are in beta and are behind SL, but they are noticeably speeding up and already provide a couple of bells that SL does not. As I suggested in an earlier post, organizations affected by the price increase, at a minimum, should host an in-house "open" grid in which all building would originate (to be ported to SL), so that dependable back-ups can be performed.

SL is further along in functionality, physics, stability ... and in particular, participation ... by a long shot.  It is behind in that it is isolated and there is one choice for accessing its features. A resident can lose its entire assets (particularly anything purchased) and investment of resources anytime the rules change, when pricing changes, if the company goes away.

Those terms and conditions are fine for people like me. I use the platform strictly for entertainment and I think it is incredible. However, because of those risky terms and conditions (we have all recently had occasion to re-read the TOS), for as long as SL remains isolated I will never depend soley on SL for a commercial or professional venture.

 

ETA: I forgot to mention, I also tried Inworldz and found it intolerable. Keep in mind that that is also a closed grid, no hypergrid support. On the other hand .... I set up a region on an open grid .... found it much more manageable. Still experimenting though.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Interesting too, just this past June Intel did a demo to show the breaking of the avatar limit, reaching 1000 avatars. So, just because LL can't manage it doesn't mean it isn't feasible.

Another thing, just came out. A treatment center that had sufficient success with an initial pilot program on an open simulator got an additional (much larger) grant for over $850,000 to expand their program in that grid. The center still maintains a presence in secondlife, but they have found that the open sim solution is actually more suited to their needs. Actually, I think maintaining a multi-grid presence is probably a good idea. In fact, if educators an non-profits stay in SL, they should start setting up a presence in another grid and change their building processes (as much as is practical) so that they build in the other grid where they can make full backups of their work, then import it into SL ... stop fearing the potential loss of investment. Also means that, if hypergrid takes off and SL can't avoid joining in, the organizations are already prepped one way or the other.

Yes, there are lots of garage setups. That's because even the average joe can manage to get a low-budget, low-concurrency region set up with an average computer and average internet connection.

That means to me that the not so average college or university with a decent IT group and a packed server can create their own grid that much better than the garage set up.

There are all sorts of things about the whole "open" simulator/grid concept that isn't yet up to par, but the improvements that have been made just in the last year, in the technology and stability as well as the steps toward addressing concerns such as copyright issues says alot.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

David, you serve as a good role model.

 

I thought about it. I would also like to offer a place for those who wish to put a PLAN B in place. I have started the process of setting up 16 regions connected to the OS Grid. I expect to be set up in a few days.

 

I would like to add my support to David's and welcome you to IM me in SL  if that would be of use to you.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

I am with Callie on part of her question ... if you have no plans to engage in a discussion, why enable comments for the blog? I see plenty of their blogs where comments are disabled. When that is the case, conversation moves to the forums.

[Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback]

Thanks Menolly and especially FrankLee. I'm slappin my forehead for not reading carefully enough in the original blog post.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Hmm, you know ... I bet the representatives posting here are in fact brainstorming furiously, just offline at the moment.

This announcement isn't yet a day old and it sounds like there may even be a couple of questions regarding exactly when the costs will change (see posters asking about renewals). Financially, it makes good sense to try in some way just to keep the discount they are currently receiving, play a little poker, at least try the bluff or full gamble (as the case may be) and threaten to leave and see how LL digests it and whether they take that bait.

If that doesn't work, then those who can and have the resources, they absolutely will start coming up with ways to survive this change ... provided of course they have the backing of their organization in the effort.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

In my experience the majority of people that actually thrive in a non-profit environment long-term are those who  have an "anything is possible" attitude. How often that transforms in to self-delusion, I have no idea but I will say that some of the most grounded people I know have made a career in non-profit .. and obviously not for the dough.

I think you are probably right in that last bit, but that takes practice and practice takes time ... this break neck speed of advancing technology just caught my attention in the last twenty years, and I don't have centuries of traditions and habits to escape ... it's still hard for me. I imagine it is much more difficult to universities. At this point, I have no frustrations or opinions written in stone, only curiosity and ideas of how it seems to be.

I do suspect that the 3D of SL has not turned out to be the boon that was expected, but I do not *know* how much of my impressions are correct or leaning toward correct, and that is why I asked a question or two. I plan on watching this thread for a while, in hopes that some of the affected organizations might shed light on the significant benefits they've realized through the SL platform.

I can imagine certain types of educational programs and non-profits and other types of services that might genuinely and massively benefit from a 3D environment ... but most of my imaginings require the ability to modify and program that environment on a much more precise scale. The rest of what I am familiar with, I believe, would gain far more benefit through the website/video-conference/webinar/e-course/forum community type combinations that are quite mature and robust now.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Each project has its own mission.  The return on investment is different for each one.

That's true for recreational users and for profit businesses as well as educational and non-profit projects.  For some, the benefits outweigh the costs, for some they don't.

Yep. I occasionally state the obvious and forget the point of the original question myself.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Talvin, my apologies ...  the pseudo-term I used was an inaccurate representation of what I was thinking. From what I see in secondlife, of course there are gamers, but many are not strictly gamers ...  instead people who like to tinker and have at least some tolerance for technical computer related stuff.

The audience with that tolerance and patience is small. The audience is one that is willing to invest time in learning a non-standard web interface interface. The audience is equipped with above average computer hardware and internet access (if their experience in SL is to be relatively smooth). Which is why 30 - 60 thousand people are logged into SL at anyone time, versus the millions upon millions logged into the rest of the internet.

I hear what you are saying. You have seen a benefit from the SL platform. What confuses me is that there are a wide range of web tools, etc. as I referenced above, that on the surface appear to me to have a greater potential for promoting the various causes, for educating, and for creating a community that is accessible to a much larger portion of the average population ... thereby perhaps providing more real benefit to a larger segment of population, and accessing more of the population that can fund the good causes of those non-profits.

The bang for the buck is important for non profits. When I have visited some of the educational/non-profit sims in my first month or so, they sure seemed awfully bare. My question was genuine, as I have seen a couple of others post here who have had the same experience. Of course that does not mean that my narrow exposure represents the actual state of things, but it did make me curious about whether the majority of non-profits are getting the optimal return for their investment in SL, and beyond that getting the return for their investment that they expected when they first signed up in SL. Obviously, it has been your experience that they do.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

Before I ask a question, I'll say that including a little philanthropy in a for-profit company's activities can certainly go a long way in creating positive PR. I am surprised that LL is moving away from at least the appearance of such ... the seedy-side reputation for SL in the outside world is alive and well, and I do not see how they expect to bring in mainstream mom and dad, and teenager Timmy without doing more to repair its reputation.

That being said, here is my question: How much bang for the buck are educators and non profit organizations actually seeing through the use of secondlife, even at the discounted rate? Especially for the non profits ... Setting up house in SL means accessing a very particular, narrowly focused audience .... that in-between audience of not-exactly-gamers ... and only those that can afford all of the system requirements in order to access SL in any meaninful productive way.

I do understand that a couple of years ago people had big hopes ... that 3D environments like SL would be the next exciting wave to jump on, but that just has not panned out ... the interface is more complex than most mainstream have the patience for. In fact, in the last couple of years, for real-life applications, the movement seems to be leaning more toward the augmentation of real-life (such as projecting live 3D images of actual people into your conference room, rather than having to create cartoon versions of yourself) rather than a substitution for it ... and ways to have a physical avatar presence rather than being tied to a screen.

So, while the non-profits and educators that set up shop here in SL a few years ago had a reasonable hope that it would become a mainstream technology, at this point do you really still believe that?

For $150/month, I imagine you could do a lot more ... reach a far wider audience in the millions or hundreds of millions with non-3D web tools, conferencing services, e-course software, etc.

I guess I am just surprised that non-profits would even want to continue throw their money at a platform like this, and be associated with SL ... with the reputation it currently has and considering the small audience.

[Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback]

Does anyone know what the standard process is for new feature development/implementation? This blog post is almost a month old, with 360+ comments, and no follow-up from a Linden.

I haven't been around long enough to know what is "typical" ... it seems strange that this long period has gone by without input from the company but perhaps this is typical?

Does LL, after bringing up something like this that is facing a lot of negativity, usually just implement the feature quietly or do they make a big announcement? Or, did I miss a PR thing where they already announced a date when this would be implemented?

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@Jopsy - I'm posting to you because I can't find a button to reply to the OP.

@Jack - I prefer the user names as they are now. However, since LL is going to implement display names, LL should not exempt "Linden" or any other realistic last name. Instead, LL should change all it's employees to have the last name "LL", and block that. No other last names should be blocked, period. That would ensure that even the Susan Lindens out there could still have their display name.

I've logged onto the test grid. The user name is clearly and unmistakably available for display in all areas:  chat, the av, the  profile, object profiles. It is no where near as cluttered as I  had expected. I see no way that the display name will  risk anything, unless LL allows ARs to be submitted based on display names and bans avatars based on ARs without investigating logged data tied to the user name.

The accusations that the display names increase the risk for identity thieves is only true for those who go ahead and use their real name. For the rest of us, the USER name--not a display name--makes it easier for identity thieves. The user name, unique in the system, is 1/2 the login, and we all have access to the exact unique user name of every av in SL. Most people are lazy about their passwords .... it is displaying the user name that increases the risk. If you have payment abilities in your account, you risk real monetary loss if you do not excercise common sense in password selection. The display name does NOTHING to increase real life identity theft in SL accounts. The risk is already, and has always been, there.

The honest expressions of individual personal dislike of the feature, the personal nostalgia for the SL provided last names that identify when you signed up, and the dislike of the feature from a Merchant's profitability perspective are all valid, and should be expressed. Along with the display name feature, I would recommend providing the ability to create unique store names. Merchants (and artists and other famous/established avs)  will have to develop unique store and/or brand names, as real life merchants do, and for established Merchants that will be a pain, but not impossible. Disliking something does not make it dangerous and does not justify claiming that it is. Making exaggerated claims will weaken any other valid arguments you may have.

It may be that the overstatements of risk introduced by display names are a desperate attempt by people to prevent what they see coming down the pipeline after display names. I have seen a very few mentions of those expectations. If LL wants to reinvent SL as a social network, albeit a 3d social network, then even I can imagine things coming that I will not like. I will kill this account when:

• My security preferences get reset to no security, over and over, as FB has done to its users.
• New "sharing" features get introduced to the viewers that default to "share" on ANYTHING.
• My screen gets cluttered with "share this" when I buy something, click on something, look at something.
• When I use my "sneeze" guesture, I get prompted to update my "status".
• When I buy something, a pop-up screen loads 20 thousand other things I might like.
• When my viewer repeatedly pressures me to share real life information.
• When my viewer tries to trick me in to clicking buttons to share anything or to open any preferences.

If I took anytime to really think about it, that list would be about 3 pages. The first time I discover that I've unintentionally shared anything as a result of FB-like tactics ... it will be over.

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Hello Infiniview,

LL wants to provide the same "Display Name" feature that Facebook has. An extra av does not solve the problem, extra avs are already available.

If you were to look up "Susan Jones" in Facebook, dozens and dozens of  pages would be returned with links to each "Susan Jones" profile, some post pictures and some do not. Each  user in facebook has a unique login, their email I think...but on their  profile page, their Display Name appears, such as "Susan Jones" ... but  they can also change that name, such as when Susan gets married or Susan  feels silly ... maybe "Susy Cakes" .... whatever.

First city that came to mind .... Chicago, IL .... has 80 Susan Jones  (of those about 5 Susan A. Jones), 300 Tom Smith, 295 Mary Smith ....  Just for fun, there are 4 Susan Linden ... and that is the first city I  hit, and the first first name I chose for a Linden that came to mind in  fact.

 

Edit: Posted to hastily .... as far as I can tell in the comments here, the biggest concern among the merchants and others who do business inside SL is that the famous Merchant "Susan Jones" will be impersonated by others who will also use "Susan Jones" as their display name, or even simply confused with the other 79 genuine "Susan Jones"

[Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback]

I have heard others discuss the limited maximum capacity of the grid as a whole. Assuming that is true, I still suspect the following:

• Even LL does not expect a massive and sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of FB users signing up. Look at the next couple of years as a period of transition. From the typical user that exists now ... over to the typical user that has FB, twitter, ad nauseum accounts right along with and tied to their SL account. That takes time. And, in the mean time ...
• LL has definitely hinted about the desirability for a new fast/easy SL, one accessible through mobile devices. To me, that (along with the frequent mention of those FB users) is a signal that something is in development ... maybe a stripped down viewer, maybe a farmvillized version of SL ... or perhaps just a significant influx of cash from those new FB users that will allow them to beef up their hardware.

The FB users may be wooed over to SL, but I have a hard time imagining that with SL as it is now. I have major, severe, serious doubts about the typical FB user being willing to part with any cash for what they perceive as a game ... and much less for a new, hard to use platform for social networking ... for the FB users I actually know, any mention of money sends them running for the hills. BUT ... for whatever reasons LL has not yet shared, they do believe in the potential profitability of their apparent chosen path.

[Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback]

QFT

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Hello Phoebe

I am well acquainted with real life facts and consequently, my thoughts are in line with yours.

LL is taking a gamble and I think there is a very good chance that they are wrong, at least with SL and current viewers (even viewer 2) as they exist now.

But they ARE taking the gamble ... they ARE going to try to reach that 500+ million audience of Facebook users (or users like them), the ones that like updating their statuses 50 times a day through their iPhone or iPad, the ones that are addicted to Farmville mindless games, the ones that friend everything that moves. They may even have a stripped down phone app viewer thing in development behind closed doors ... now ... as we speak.

I think that it is quite possible that LL may find themselves in the same situation that your old ISP found itself. But LL obviously does not see it the same way. And, that is what matters ... how LL sees it.

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I agree. Voting isn't on the table. My "It would be interesting ... " comment was not meant to imply that I believe otherwise.

I also agree with the the basics of the rest of your comments, though I do not have the financial and emotional investment in the outcome that others do. I have my preferences (no confusion, no clutter, no imposter issues, etc.) and have voiced them. If the changes take away the fun I have, I won't experience a loss, I won't be angry or upset, I just won't play.

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It would be interesting to see the result of such a vote.

Come on LL, lets take a real vote and see if your customers really want this feature.

But ... which customers? The 1 to 2 million current SL users? Or  the potentional 500+ million typical facebook users LL is gearing up to court?

I doubt that LL wants to loose it's current users, but if it comes down to 2 million versus 500+ million ...

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Agreed. Aside from that, premium membership is about 70 USD a year. Out of that, the premium member gets back all but about 5 USD in perks (512 m parcel, 1000 L bonus, 300 L per week).  What should really be expected in return for 5 USD? For FAR less complicated software than SL it is common to pay in excess of 100 USD for 'premium' type subscriptions.

As long as products always include the user name, as long as payments can always be tracked back to the user name, and as long as ARs will NOT result in banning until evidence tied to the user name is investigated, then the security issue is fully addressed, even for merchants. I am concerned about that last one and whether LL has any intention of being that thorough.

I do agree with others that display names that are CHANGEABLE will increase the level of confusion, especially for new residents but for me too. I'm too old to remember that Harry was George was Tom was joey312334. With the introduction of a separate changeable display name, I'm going to have to remember both a user name and a string of everchanging display names.

I would much prefer the display name for a given avatar not be changeable. I would be less concerned about whether they have the same name as me, if the first display name they choose is the only one I have to remember over the long-term. As others have suggested, a titler attachment seems more appropriate for those that want to change names frequently ... or an alt for that matter.

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I am also wondering why. If the user name is still going to be the only valid id that is used for tracking ... what you build, what you say ...

What additional value do the Display Names provide that you couldn't get from one of those titler objects? If I am in a class and want to display my real name along with the other students ... why do you need more than a titler object?

[Changes to Display Names Based on Your Feedback]

Just curious about something. What will conversations be like once this feature is implemented across the board?

People who hate the whole idea will have the feature disabled, some people will have it disabled by mistake, and people who love the idea may not wish to answer to their user name. Say, for example you have 10 avatars at a cafe. Of those, 5 have the feature disabled. The other five keep talking about the crazy things that "Joan" is saying. The first five, looking around and seeing no "Joan", figure she's not rezzed in yet, or there's a crazy chat lag going on.

The possibilities of how this will change SL culture reminds me of the continuing discussions and strong opposing emotions that revolve around voice chat.