Search the Community

Last time I was using SL viewer search to try to find some sims with vibrant communities and when I TP-ed to lands appeared as the top search results I found lands with no people on them or just bots. I always look to tp to lands that on search listing appear on top and with highest traffic number in hope to find people to meet and to talk to. I believe its same case for everyone else. We're in SL mostly to interact with other people while sharing same 3D space/environment. 3D worlds that are empty (SANSAR) fail. In my opinion SL search is highly dysfunctional and it is not really serving its purpose. I also think general SL community and everyone who cares for Second Life should keep putting this topic in focus. Let me give a simple example how its indirectly hurting Second Life's growth potential. A new SL Resident uses SL search to try to find a land with community of interest to him. He gets search results clicks and teleports to a few lands and finds all lands empty and no people to interact with. Closes the SL viewer and never uses it again. I think it is very bad for Second Life that its very hard to find lands through SL search who have genuine real human traffic and communities. It hurts SL. Bots traffic manipulation is the biggest reason why SL search doesn't really work and can not serve its main function of connecting individual with communities based on keywords of interest. I think if LL appointed at least 1 employee or just even 1 - 2 work hours a day for someone to be checking if there are bots (bot traffic gaming) going on in the TOP 10 listed lands on search it would considerably improve the SL search user experience (no matter what kind of algorithm is employed as long as its based on trying to showcase genuine foot traffic - where most people hang out). (If the problem is money - it can be solved by organizing willing and caring participants from SL community to do that in similar fashion as SL moles are organized). I always liked to take perspective of Second Life as sort of 3D internet and SL lands/sims as websites. In Second Life you want to be able to find communities that you would like to take part in. It needs to be easy, fast and convenient. If new people coming to SL can fast find communities that they can get integrated in that also contributes helping to solve the player/user retention rate (a problem LL management should in my opinion always keep highest on list of priorities). Just imagine if Google search was listing websites who artificially inflate their visitors numbers with bots. How fast do you think Google would loose their search engine market share against others who focus on preventing that? In early days Google managed to become the most successful search engine company because Larry Page and Sergey Bring managed to come up with a website ranking algorithm (I think its also based on points / score) that helps highest value information providing websites be ranked higher per keyword. Google and other search engines improved what most people understand under "internet" and search engines became synonym with internet while internet as TCP/IP and many other protocols is much more than that. So to improve Second Life in the perspective that it can be seen as sort of 3D web where the main goal is to connect people with various interests with communities of their interest. There are so many communities in Second Life - it is amazing. The sad thing is that many of those communities are not represented. Many communities could be bigger and stronger if Linden Lab can improve tech for people find them more easily. Second Life is not all about the community. Second Life is all about communities. There are many! Top SL destinations and special editor picks in my opinion are also unfair and any system that depends on being featured land on landowners own submission (but that is a topic for a whole new topic and discussion). Hope my topic that I am opening can lead towards a positive, healthy and productive discussion. Linden Lab is an OK company and the people working in this company and even the owners are constantly changing. But there is 1 thing that is always staying and that is us the users. As users we shouldn't vilify the company just because it isn't doing something that we think or consider should be done or did mistakes in past. Lets try as a community to gently push them in the right direction. Be positive always. I always say positivity is a constructive force while negativity is destructive force. SL is full of dreamers and builders. If we want to build and grow we need to be positive. \O.. O/

Is it worth suggesting and possible to create a new category for Gatchas? Bring it up at the next round table please? Because right now, these gatcha uploads are destroying the marketplace. Is there a reason they cannot have their very own listing category? They are burying every single other category and many of these (most) of these gatchas include huge sets that also include a hat, pants, shirt, top, necklace, gun, weapon, goggles etc etc etc.. you get my point. This is a daily issue. Everyday. Not some random event. When you release a product and it is instantly buried under a mountain of Gatchas with an hour.. like by 30-50 uploads, how can anyone seeing this not think how destructive it is for the overall marketplace or for gods sake the average consumer who just wants to shop for a single hat to not have to filter through these things. I have customers who cannot find my items. I have to send them a link to it. Really so now I have to sit here and pass out links instead of working. Oh they eventually do find it on their own. And their number one response? "Oh Wait I founnnnnddd it Marx, its on Page 30 and after only 6 hours. Just wow! Gatchas are not evil. But they do need their own category. I'D be glad to even make some myself some day. But id expect to sell them under a Gatcha Category. just As i do when i sell a hat, or anything else. Back to work so I can continue to get buried.