Delura Ling

So, you leave SL through 4 years of decline only to return now, one year too early, because of a premonition that 2012, pretty much half a decade later, would finally be that year SL rebounds? Did you have big plans for a club or something because I'm not sure what kind of change you were expecting to justify a full return especially with reduced everything and frustrated everyone? Judging by your final thoughts though, I wouldn't be surpried if you're part of Linden Lab or even the CEO himself, tipping us off on what's to come just to see what kind of reaction you get. I guess we'll see right? Well, yeah... I wanted to restart a business I had thought up several years ago but didn't have the time or money to work with it. It's going to take a while to get going, so I figured that I'd want it working right prior to the SL economy uptick. I haven't experienced a lot of the frustration yet, I guess... As I get into it, I suppose I'll start running up against the issues described here and then get appropriately frustrated. And, no... I'm not an LL troll... lol

Mike, These are all solid points and I"m glad you're willing to think about alternatives. I played SL for a while back when it was the "wild west" (before the gambling ban) and then quit for a while and just got back a few months ago. I don't have any ill-will towards Viewer 2 and I don't really see what the big deal is. I don't find it particularly unstable or slow... I do think they should have a viewer that has *significantly* lower hardware requirements. That's partly why WoW is so successful, it will run on any old trash laptop. LOL Regarding the economy, however, I think you're missing one thing. SL spending is probably directly related to job recovery. People who have stock portfolios - which are now on the way to recovery - are probably not a big part of the SL population. It's working stiffs. And working stiffs are still struggling today and will be through 2011. I think 2012 is the year of the rebirth for SL, which is why I wanted to get back into it now. Regarding your other points, I think you're on target for some, but I need an explaination of others... * what rules have they changed? it seems very similar to the way I left it. * what costs have increased? private land was always outrageous and I think they should reduce those costs, but we'll see, right? * the SL marketplace, while convenient, is killing the point of having the platform. SL Marketplace is turning SL into a dress-up-dolly simulator. :-/ do not want. * I don't know what questionable improvments you're referencing, but I can think of a few that would help out a lot. Maybe this isn't the place for it, but I really believe that a robust, yet standardized, skills and combat system would remake this game entirely. As an opt-in system, it would allow the existing roleplay communities to leverage a native skill & combat system that is baked into the viewer without resorting to the kludgey overlays they're currently running... or maybe I"m just off track here. Anyway... what do you think of my previous, more coherent points? lol Del

Might the slowdown be related more to the fact that we're just now coming out of the largest global recession in decades and less about the viewer? I've just come back to the game precisely *because* of the recession ending... I'm betting that there will be a nice uptick in revenues for the game as people have more disposable income to spend.