SL expands to STEAM and improves graphics

[Jo Yardley]

Just in case you've missed it;

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Second-Life-is-Expanding-to-Steam/ba-p/1637751

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Tools-and-Technology/New-Open-Source-Project-to-Improve-Graphics-Rendering/ba-p/1637559

 

In short; SL is going to be offered to about 40 million Steam users and graphics are going to be improved.

Big news :)

[Maryanne Solo]

Second rate Steam. The single page at a time interface says it all really.

Nevertheless, let's hope lots & lots of new people come in and give LL and an abundance of resources to keep improving SL. A new upgraded avatar mesh would be just superb.

It should auger very well for SL in theory. Steam workshop is in its infancy compared to SL.

Both companies should benefit and then get really really serious about top quality/tech, up to date offerings.

That would be so cool.

Edit: I wouldn't call Steam a leading edge technology by a longshot. Don't degrade or de-function SL in any way please LL. The new, (to SL), texture mapping shows LL are working really hard :smileyhappy:

[Seven Overdrive]

I hope the huge under 18 demographic bring their allowance with them.  Just kidding.  :smileytongue:

Does this mean SL is officially now a game?  hehe

[Bree Giffen]

Steam is adding a lot of stuff. I hear they are adding non-game applications. So we can still say that SL isn't a game. They also added this Korean MMO that I play. I didn't tie it to my steam account though. Not sure if I want steam to watch my SL account either.

[Paul Hexem]

This is potentially very good, or very bad. A lot of the game communities on Steam make SL's griefers and trolls seem like perfect company. Particularly the FPS gamers.

 

On the other hand, more potential users could be good for SL.

[sodasullivan]

I hope LL enhances the graphics, and maybe works out a few more bugs, THEN connects with Steam. The current graphics and and appearance would not compare well next to some of the top tier games available. If they do it in the right order, this could bring quite a few people into SL, But i think the current issue of having people STAY in SL will still be a hurdle. A lot of folks go to Steam are looking for instant gratification and are not goingto be very inclined to take the time to learn their way around.

[Paul Hexem]

That's a good point. Compared to some of the games on Steam, SL is like a 1988 Atari game.

[SLAddict Allen]

The Facebook experiement failed miserably because the Facebook crowd already had, well, Facebook, and didn't need another one created by a company that couldn't replicate it anyway, so now time to show a non-game off to 40 million gamers. Gotta love Linden Lab. I guess.

[Jenni Darkwatch]

Steam... meh, whatever

The graphics change does indeed surprise me. Developed by a TPV and LL is adding support for it? What is the world coming to...

[DixonHill Hawker]

Indeed.

 

In a way, it is very good, that LL puts themselfes into a competetive market. Sure, SL is not a regular game, but LL obviously will want to leave a good impression. Coupled with the announcement of materials...yes, i like the direction. 

[Czari Zenovka]

And in the meantime the Marketplace is still in a huge mess.  Major issues that cropped up in April are still in existence with very little communication from Commerce Team Linden on any progress in addressing these.

How about less "shinies" and more work on existing problems for your existing user base that has stayed with SL for years...but which may be shrinking rapidly to be replaced by kids with umpteen games to try and may hop from game to game at whim.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

I am more excited for the Normal maps and specualrity maps coming soon )

[Locke Nider]

Doesn't SL require a rating on steam?  This game is basically M rated, even in some moderated rated sims.

[Herry Maltz]

As much as I would like to say this is a positive happening, I'll have to jump on the fence and say this is going to be a really bad idea in many areas and coming from going on ten years of experience, here's my take on the situation.

We all saw what happened when LindenLab removed the credit card verification back in 2006, well those that were here of course. Not only did we see a major spike in griefing, we also noticed a massive spike in people that did not spend money but were still using the service. Consider this: All these new people connected to the grid will mean more lag for everybody else and probably about the same amount of premium memberships which is little to none due to the lack of worthwhile incentives that program offers. Not only that fact, but look at the age of users? I've been a user of steam services for many years now and get involved in several games on that service... People are down right nasty on a lot of them. Especially the first person shooters with the racist comments and just absolute nasty behavior.

As of lately we've (as residents) had enough of a problem with both problematic people and lag issues throughout various places within Second Life. Many long time members such as myself have enough of a waiting time when it comes to contacting LindenLab on things that we need and with all these new troublemakers? I'm not implying all Steam users are trouble but the majority are. Just watch some youtube videos about some of the FPS and you'll get an idea of what type of racism and behavior we're going to potentially have to deal with in addition to what we already deal with in the game without this added promotion of this platform.

Opinions? 

[Luc Starsider]

I agree.

Steam... Meh...

But the improved graphics. That's a totally different category. The sooner the better - but not too soon Make it work first.

- Luc -

[Alazarin Mondrian]

Herry, I hear your concerns about the *ahem* lack of propriety *ahem* of a significant proportion of steam users. My own guess is that the majority of that crowd will take one look at SL, laugh at the [by comparison] crude graphics and return to their "action-packed" FPS shooters. Who knows? We might get the crowd who are growing out of the action/quest gamer scene and looking for something new. Maybe SL will be repositioned as the 3D hangout for gamers.

My main concern is that LL, in their rush to make SL appeal to gamers who are used to a much more polished visual experience, raise the hardware requirement bar so high that the default 'SL user experience' is only available to hard-core gamers with deep pockets for high-end graphics cards. For example I'm an oldbie resident and most likely will stick with SL to the bitter end however I already have to disable the current raft of visual shinies just to have a framerate that is in double digits.

I suppose it really doesn't matter but as a part-time builder it helps to know what stuff I build is going to look like to people who have all the bells'n'whistles. For years I had no idea that a majority of my builds looked like radioactive glowing beacons simply because my graphics cards at the time couldn't process that information adequately. As a result I set [and enabled] light and glow at ridiculously high settings... so now I have to go back through years of work tweaking [or disabling!] light and glow settings all over again. *Sigh*

[Paul Hexem]

---

Alazarin Mondrian wrote:

Herry, I hear your concerns about the *ahem* lack of propriety *ahem* of a significant proportion of steam users. My own guess is that the majority of that crowd will take one look at SL, laugh at the [by comparison] crude graphics and return to their "action-packed" FPS shooters. Who knows? We might get the crowd who are growing out of the action/quest gamer scene and looking for something new. Maybe SL will be repositioned as the 3D hangout for gamers.

My main concern is that LL, in their rush to make SL appeal to gamers who are used to a much more polished visual experience, raise the hardware requirement bar so high that the default 'SL user experience' is only available to hard-core gamers with deep pockets for high-end graphics cards. For example I'm an oldbie resident and most likely will stick with SL to the bitter end however I already have to disable the current raft of visual shinies just to have a framerate that is in double digits.

I suppose it really doesn't matter but as a part-time builder it helps to know what stuff I build is going to look like to people who have all the bells'n'whistles. For years I had no idea that a majority of my builds looked like radioactive glowing beacons simply because my graphics cards at the time couldn't process that information adequately. As a result I set [and enabled] light and glow at ridiculously high settings... so now I have to go back through years of work tweaking [or disabling!] light and glow settings all over again. *Sigh*

---

Not to single you out, but this is a terrible hobby to have if you're not running a gaming machine. Like it or not, it is a 3D game like the others on Steam, technologically speaking. If you can't/won't keep your computer up to par, it might be worth considering spending your time and money on other pursuits.

Then again, I could simply be biased. I'm always super annoyed by builders that don't build on ultra graphics, then won't listen when the flaws are pointed out.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

---

Luc Starsider wrote:

 The sooner the better - but not too soon

Make it work first.

- Luc -

---

Hehe Amen brother. I totally agree there

 

[mikka Luik]

Good point on the demographic, brought to mind this old bit of news especially the part where it says 'Valve has advised users - or their parents' =^^=

Made me smile

[Herry Maltz]

I agree but I used to run a very large gaming community that supported a number of Steam games. Look at minecraft for example, absolutely terrible graphics with building and yet its popular. Garry's mod with a similar aspect. I ran into many games that were free and on steam, that people would join just to cause problems (aka troll) because it was free and they were bored of their primary game. That's what I'm afraid of seeing here. Then say we do have masses of these individuals bored of their main game and coming on here to cause trouble? 

I could certainly be wrong, but spending three years dealing with these people on a daily basis... I'm willing to bet I won't be wrong and I can almost guarantee its not going to bring in much in the way of premium memberships which I feel LL is hoping to achieve by this move. Maybe sell some land through private estates but overall far more users at the expense of LL as the cost of providing the service will increase. 

That was one of the reasons that I ended up shutting down my servers. Another was denial of service attacks on servers that were being popular. Granted, I'm unsure if they could really touch SL with denial of service but I reckon it wouldn't be too hard to do which would be one of the many ways that our experience as paying residents could get messed with. 

Computer wise, with the price drop in technology its not that hard to get a machine that runs things well. Sure few years ago you'd be paying a grand or more for a decently put together machine but now... Its far easier to keep your machine up to par without spending an arm, leg and ear. 

[Alazarin Mondrian]

---

Gadget Portal wrote:

 

Not to single you out, but this is a terrible hobby to have if you're not running a gaming machine. Like it or not, it

is

a 3D game like the others on Steam, technologically speaking. If you can't/won't keep your computer up to par, it might be worth considering spending your time and money on other pursuits.

Then again, I could simply be biased. I'm always super annoyed by builders that don't build on ultra graphics, then won't listen when the flaws are pointed out.

---

Ah yes, you are biased, but I'm used to comments like yours. Digital social darwinism at its finest. I'll be around in SL for a long time to come.

 

[Paul Hexem]

---

Herry Maltz wrote:

I agree but I used to run a very large gaming community that supported a number of Steam games. Look at minecraft for example, absolutely terrible graphics with building and yet its popular. Garry's mod with a similar aspect. I ran into many games that were free and on steam, that people would join just to cause problems (aka troll) because it was free and they were bored of their primary game. That's what I'm afraid of seeing here. Then say we do have masses of these individuals bored of their main game and coming on here to cause trouble? 

---

Yeah, I played (and still play) a lot of L4D2. If that community finds its way into SL, it'll be nothing but headaches for all of us.

---

Herry Maltz wrote:

Computer wise, with the price drop in technology its not that hard to get a machine that runs things well. Sure few years ago you'd be paying a grand or more for a decently put together machine but now... Its far easier to keep your machine up to par without spending an arm, leg and ear. 

---

Right. These days, if you can't afford hardware that can run SL decently, you've got bigger problems to worry about.

---

Alazarin Mondrian wrote:

---

Gadget Portal wrote:

Not to single you out, but this is a terrible hobby to have if you're not running a gaming machine. Like it or not, it

is

a 3D game like the others on Steam, technologically speaking. If you can't/won't keep your computer up to par, it might be worth considering spending your time and money on other pursuits.

Then again, I could simply be biased. I'm always super annoyed by builders that don't build on ultra graphics, then won't listen when the flaws are pointed out.

---

Ah yes, you are biased, but I'm used to comments like yours. Digital social darwinism at its finest. I'll be around in SL for a long time to come.

 

---

And hopefully during that time, you'll upgrade your computer.

 

[Amie Kaestner]

I like how people are lamenting that the trolls, griefers and generally unpleasant community of Steam will leak into SL and create chaos.

I already see such people thriving in the welcome areas, and we still manage to cope. Have you forgotton about the block/mute option?

[Theresa Tennyson]

I'm not too familiar with Steam but it looks like everything's tied to a central account and I saw that you're only allowed one account per E-mail address. Seems to me someone coming from Steam would have a lot more accountability and trackability than the average SL account, particularly disposable ones. If someone's looking to make trouble it would be much easier just to create new anonymous SL logins than to create griefing accounts through Steam. With everyhing tied back to a central account they could be threatened with losing their entire account for all their games if they cause trouble.

[Lindal Kidd]

I'm not familiar with Steam either.  Does Valve police all their users???  Will this mean there will be a "higher authority" than LL to appeal to?