Delzo's Avatarian

Second Life Viewer 2 - Broken?

2010-08-02T12:43:00.004-06:00

There's nothing like a good old Second Life controversy to inspire a long overdue post. To give context to what follows, here's a snippet from Linden Labs, commenting about their new Viewer 2 search features...

What is different about Search in Viewer 2?
The new search capability in Viewer 2 has been enhanced in three important ways. First, the interface has been redesigned making it easier and more intuitive to find people, places and content in Second Life. Though the look and feel is new in Viewer 2, you’ll find the same, familiar category and sorting features from Viewer 1 are still available. Second, we’ve enhanced our use of the industry-leading Google Search Appliance (GSA) technology and improved our own proprietary search engines. The result is a better Search experience that will help all Residents discover the variety of things Second Life offers and strengthen the ecosystem of the inworld economy and create more opportunity for Merchants and Land Owners. Third, by moving to a web-services based architecture, Search can now release features and bug fixes dramatically faster than ever before.

Now, this sounds great doesn't it? But upon trying the new viewer after returning to Second Life from an extended hiatus, it appears that although Viewer 2 is sleek, looks visually appealing, and does have a handy search box at the top right of the window bringing it in line with the common internet browser, the search results are static. What I mean by this is that you certainly get relevant search results, but I couldn't click them to teleport to any location listed in them.

Thinking that maybe this was a glitch with my system, I re-installed, logged in and tried to click a search result. Again, Viewer 2 would not teleport me to the location. It didn't even try. It just sat there as if I was clicking on static text.

Always giving the benefit of the doubt, I tried the old viewer 1.23.5 next, fully expecting the problem to be with my system. Upon installing the older viewer, logging in, searching, and selecting a location from the results, I clicked and...

...I was instantly teleported to my selected location.

Now, I'm all for improvement, and to be fair, the looks of Viewer 2 are very sexy. I could even get used to the new location of my commonly used features over time. However, there is no excuse for releasing something as a primary viewer when even the most basic navigation functions are buggy to the point of not working. For Linden Labs to be pushing this viewer as the recommended experience can not be good for encouraging new residents to stay. As "unfriendly" as they claim version 1.23.5 is to new folks (presumably because you have to menu-dive for some features), I would think that as a new resident I would prefer a little menu navigation to outright broken features.

I know that Viewer 2 will get better over time, but I'm using Second Life now. I know which viewer I'll be using for the foreseeable future. I'd rather take a rusty old Pinto for a drive than a new Prius that won't turn over.

Public Relations Disaster - And I Missed It!

2007-05-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

Being a member of the Second Life group "Things to Do", I get a daily notice about a new place on the grid that we as a group will visit.

Sometimes it's fun like surfing at the Weather sim or go-carting, other times it's seminars or press conferences.

I've been busy with RL work lately, so I've missed a few of our gatherings recently, but group leader and Metaversed.com author 57 Miles tells of a press conference gone wrong just the other day that he and the group attended.

It's tough, because a lot of these companies testing the waters here in Second Life don't know how to deal with this new world and it's rules. They don't understand the viral nature of the thing if they can make a positive impact. They also aren't used to being only able to speak to the 40-50 people that a sim will take before it buckles.

57 Miles does a very good job at explaining just what went wrong at the new Intel sim launch.

Atmosphere Upgrade - Before and After

2007-05-29T16:15:00.001-06:00

These pictures were taken in Second Life, less than 30 seconds apart, in the exact same place, in each of the viewers.

There's no way to describe the way the clouds creep across the sky. You just have to see it to understand how nice it looks.

HINT: You will need to go into preferences and reset all of your graphics settings again as they are not retained from the primary viewer. The new "sky bling" might not be visible until you do this. At least that's the way it was from my experience. The viewer installs with minimum graphics frills.

More to come as time permits!

Viewing Second Life In A New Light

2007-05-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

Linden Lab has just announced that the First Look viewer for Second Life's new atmospheric rendering engine has been released and is available for download.

Go ahead and download it to see what all the hoop-la is about, but remember, this viewer operates on the main grid, so changes made in-world are permanent. Don't go spending money or deleting stuff unless that's what you reeaaally want to do.

Rolling Restarts Begin On Second Life

2007-05-25T13:02:00.000-06:00

Linden Labs just announced in-world at noon SLT, that rolling restarts will be taking place across the Second Life grid to address issues that arose yesterday.

As history would tell us, this means that they will restart sims in a north-south or south-north direction with warnings ahead of time so that you don't have to logout of Second Life entirely.

You will likely see a blue warning pop-up on your Second Life screen telling you if the sim you are in is about to restart. This means you'll have time to teleport elsewhere until the sim is back up.

Stay tuned.

Second Life Growing Pains And Voice Plans

2007-05-24T20:02:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's Second Life update, Linden Lab discovered that there was a problem with group voting, which was shut down until the problem could be solved.

Today, while I was logging on to join 57 Miles from Metaversed on his "Things To Do" group outing at the Weather Channel's sim (look for an entry and pics tomorrow right here) I noticed that login was painfully slow, and that once I was finally in, part of my body was female while the Second Life client reassured me that I was the only one seeing this embarrassment.

Earlier this evening, Linden Lab confirmed that there are indeed widespread "slow logins, slow or failed group chat and teleports, and presence issues" (friends list to the rest of us). Their techs are looking into the situation, but expect slowdowns and other assorted weirdness until it's fixed.

They've also released an explanation as to why they waited to release voice chat, and gave a rundown of their plans for it, which involves a releasing the First Look viewer, which is basically a "test" viewer to be used on the Live Grid in the next couple of weeks. It will be optional to use this viewer, and if used they stress that anything you do with it "is for real". You can just imagine somebody thinking that the "test viewer" is running on the "test grid", spending all their $L on poseballs, and then using voice chat itself to complain. What a headache.

If you just can't wait to try voice chat in Second Life, check out these instructions on how to get on the Beta Grid where voice is live right now. You'll need a set of headphones with a microphone.

For the rest of the folks who aren't comfortable with a "beta" viewer, and aren't in a hurry, just keep using the viewer you've got and when voice is ready for good, it will be released in the main viewer at that time.

Second Life Sex In Five Random Clicks

2007-05-24T10:47:00.000-06:00

If an average person were to judge Second Life by the mainstream media, they might think Second Life was crawling with furry, yiffing, bondage practising, sex club crawling, illegal gambling psychopaths.

The problem with this, for me, is that most of the folks I have met in Second Life are quite normal. I've only ever seen a few naked avatars, one or two furries, a few casinos, and I just found out a Second Life neighbor of mine across the road appears to be into bondage or dominatrixing or something but doesn't believe in roofs.

So I decided to do a little experiment. I decided to see if Second Life was the cesspool of sex and illegality that the media makes it out to be. I decided that the best way to get a gauge on the Second Life community's practises was to randomly pick five places on the grid, teleport to them, and then report on what I saw. Going into it, I expected to see lots of genitalia, lots of yiffing, gambling out the ying yang and more spikes and leather than what you'd find in Arthur Fonzerelli's closet.

To make my picks as close to totally random as possible, I switched off all of the beacons on the map so that I wasn't drawn to congregations of people or events, but I left 'Land For Sale' showing, so that I didn't waste time teleporting into a big empty lot. I also avoided the two northeastern continents since a lot of them are still just big empty lots. I also only chose Mature rated sims that weren't in areas I was familiar with to increase my chance of seeing some good ol' fashioned depravity.

Once I set my map, I randomly clicked on the map and teleported...

SIM: BaikUn (99,154,22) Mature

I land in a area called the Welcom Business Group(sic) which appears to be a home to a mall called the Karlsruhe Mall. When I go to the mall directory, a small distance down the road, I see two buildings called Sex and Sexy...perfect! Off I go.

What a disappointment. One only had clothing, maybe a little low cut and a few pieces of underwear for sale, but nothing rated 'R' unless you rate the Sears Wishbook 'R'. The store next door had not much of anything until you clicked on the spheres on the floor and realized they were sexual pose balls. I'd have never known what they were unless I clicked on them. Nothing flagrant at all here.

Overall the architecture is quite nice in this area. Very classy.

SIM: Gwangeo (116, 187, 91) Mature

I land upstairs in another retail building. Downstairs I find mostly unrented stores. There is a vendor which sells Remote Controls for your "slave" which basically lets you control another avatar from another sim and spy on their chat. No nudity is shown, and none is implied. Another wall sells avatar shapes. The pictures are a little underdressed, but hey, go to a real life breast augmentation doctor and he'll show you pictures with more detail...that's how you know what you're getting. Nothing overt here, but again...architecture isn't bad in this area.

SIM: Hawthorne (160, 75, 92) Mature

I land in an area called Chase's Manhattan which has nothing to do with the bank. From what I could tell, the land is owned by an avatar named Chase Rutherford. It appears to be just a lot of empty buildings, maybe an abandoned project or still being put together, but what is here is actually...pretty nice architecture. There is a fountain outside one building. Another building across the street is reminiscent of 18th century styles. What happened to all the crap builds I was supposed to be seeing on the mainland? Moving to the next sim south, which is Stanford, there's a mall with some sexy clothing, but again, nothing 'R' rated.

SIM: Winyah (207, 206, 104) Mature

Ok, now I found some crap builds. Upon landing I immediately see a particle emitter emitting giant yellow spheres. On the other side of the road is an absolutely huge plywood building with no windows or doors. But, no nipples or anything.

Expanding my search to the neighbors in the Great Pubnico sim, I find a mall selling jewelry. There is a kiosk for the adult SL magazine called Slustler, but nothing overt, and all the naughty bits are covered with black bars. Nothing worse than what you'd see in a convenience store magazine rack, and probably less.

SIM: Ziczac (151, 19, 151) Mature

I land near an Outy's Particle Paradise. Outy is one of those folks who are sort of like Starbucks...there seems to be one on every corner, but you know what...he's still around so he's doing something right. Nothing but particle tricks here, and none of them have anything to do with "flying penises", since that's a buzzword the media seems to have latched on to. Nearby is Forest Mist's skybox shop and some dreaded parcel cut advertising.

So, there's my five random locations, not influenced by anything except that there had to be something there...no empty lots. What did I find? Well, I found lots of clothing, some jewelry and all being sold inside some nice architecture. There were a couple of vendors selling things that wouldn't be intended for the average person, ie they were filling a "niche", but I saw nothing illegal, and certainly nothing blatant.

So, do I think that the Second Life community is perfect then? No of course not. There are some real perverts roaming around the grid, I just don't know any, and I've been hard pressed to see many. I don't know any on the internet or in real life either, but I know they are out there.

So what does all of this mean? Well, it basically means that Second Life is not a cesspool of illegal sex and gambling shops that the media is making it out to be. You probably have just as good of a chance of seeing an adult shop or a back alley hustler in real life as you do in Second Life. Second Life at best represents us as a reflection of our society in the real world, because without the people in Second Life, it's empty. Whatever you find in Second Life was brought in by real people. Plus, you can't find anything in Second Life that isn't already in the real world. Ok, maybe you won't find the flying people...or the talking foxes. But I digress.

In the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker's question about the tree cave parallels a lot of curious people's questions about Second Life.

"What's in there?" Luke asked. Yoda replied...

"Only what you take with you."

Second Life Update Running Late

2007-05-23T12:44:00.000-06:00

Well, the folks at Linden Lab are reporting that the 1.16.0 (5) update to Second Life is going to run past 12 noon PDT so it looks like you're either going to have to get your kicks on the Beta Grid for now, or just hang tight in your First Life. I mean, really...it was first.

You might want to go ahead and download the new Second Life viewer. All you need to do is go here, download the appropriate one for your system and then run the installer, as this is easier on the server. Or you can open Second Life like you normally would and it'll prompt you to download the new viewer from there. But either way works.

In the meantime, in case you missed it the first time, check out Linden Lab's official documentation on Sculpted Prims to pass the time.

UPDATE : The grid is now back up.

How To Sculpt Prims In Second Life

2007-05-23T07:01:00.000-06:00

Ok so we're currently waiting for Second Life to come back up.

The main thing that we're all waiting to try, besides several very needed bug fixes, is sculpted prims. But, just what the heck is a sculpted prim? And how would you go about sculpting a prim?

Simply speaking, sculpted prims are basically flat image files, created from a 3D shape in a 3D design program, that can describe a complex shape to Second Life and use a bare minimum of prims...landowner's paradise! No more leaving creations half done because you're at 117 prims already. Imagine a human head; how many prims would you need to design one? With sculpted prims you could theoretically model one with only one prim. Amazing? You bet.

So while you're waiting on the grid to come back up, why not download and install a copy of Blender (an open source 3D designer) and head on over to Amanda Levitsky's excellent beginner's tutorial on how to sculpt your own prims with Blender.

UPDATE : Looks like the images have disappeared, but the instructions are still there.

Voice and Sculpties Coming May 23?

2007-05-22T14:44:00.000-06:00

Well, the lid is about to be opened on a new can of worms in Second Life.

It's officially been announced on the Linden Blog that with tomorrow's update, there will be a required download of a new viewer which has several residents proclaiming that voice chat and sculpties are going to be released after a pretty short development cycle.

On the other hand, Which Linden has apparently said that voice will not be part of tomorrow's update, but sculpties are...a definite maybe.

Sculpties for the most part will allow modellers to work on models in a way that is a little closer to the method that is common to the 3D industry, allowing tools like 3DMax or Maya to be used to create shapes before importing them to Second Life. Sculpties are generally favored as an add-on to Second Life although there is a concern by some that this will distance the professionals from the hobbyists.

Voice on the other hand, while exciting some residents, is a concern for those role playing the opposite sex, such as transgenders and transsexuals who believe that it would "out" their true identities along with age verification.

One thing is true, no matter what improvements or additions Linden Labs makes to Second Life, it is now populated by such a wide variety of people that they will have to take the griping in stride as no addition will please everyone.

Hopefully Linden Labs will confirm one way or another later today on the Official Linden Blog which bugs will be addressed and which additions will make it into tomorrow's update.

UPDATE : It's official, no voice yet but sculpties are in as are some bug fixes.

Wait...Did You Just Say VRML???

2007-05-22T08:37:00.000-06:00

In yesterday's post Do You Dream In 3D regarding the my predictions for the future of the web and the virtual worlds it currently houses, which was prompted by Raph Koster's post Web In World Or Web In World I spoke about my belief that one day the virtual worlds that today currently exist on the web, would someday grow up to house the web itself.

In the comments section of that post, Andrew Johnson made the following comment:

I remember back in the days of VRML and all of these predictions about 3D desktops and so on. Why isn’t this great 3D internet here? Its all about usability. I don’t need 3D to read and write e-mail. I don’t need to walk down a hall and open a door to launch my web browser!

While I can understand his viewpoint, it seems to me that someone with his interest in making money from a website would be very interested in a 3D implementation of a website. I mean, a 3D web would represent more opportunity for online marketers at the least.

VRML is brought up as a reason that the 3D web won't happen. The reason? Because it hadn't already happened back when VRML was the chosen way to show 3D on the web at its peak in 1997.

This argument already has a pile of holes in it. If in 1810 someone had told a horse owner about the automobiles of the future, they might have said, "I don't need a machine for that! My horse already does all of that, and I don't need to buy all that oil and steering and brake fluid you described." Well, that may well have been true, but if Henry Ford had heard that and given up we might not have had NASCAR or the F1 circuit today.

Which brings up another point. Automobiles weren't built for racing, racing was built for automobiles. In other words, racing was a side industry created by the invention of the automobile itself. Once the 3D web becomes reality, who knows what side industries will spring from it? One I can foresee is some of the pioneers of the 3D web will make lots of money consulting. Those in the know will make money simply because they know.

Another point about the horse/automobile example is that the technology wasn't ready at the time to be able to create the automobile. At the time, it might well have seemed an invention that was too impractical, too expensive, and too hard to do. But the day eventually came where it was possible and practical at the same time.

Justifying that something doesn't make sense at the time, isn't a good way to justify that it will never happen. At one time, people thought that it was easier just to type a letter on a typewriter than on a computer. But look at the improvements the computer has made in our productivity today, even if you only consider word processors, let alone e-mail.

I often look to Second Life for an example of what the metaverse will be like, since business has already noticed it, and started to populate it. And yet, folks still refuse to admit that something like a 3D web is useful for market share and branding purposes, the same way the 2D web justified itself before transactions became easy and secure. It reminds me of the naysayers when the 2D web was just taking off business wise.

No, you don't need a web presence for business. It's just a big waste of time and money. You can't make money from the internet. Nobody's going to spend money on the internet. Not enough people will use it.

Sure, there were a lot of ridiculous companies put onto the web, and yes there was a big shakeout of the ones that didn't make fiscal sense, but in the end, here we are. Business is booming because we invented the proper precautions and securities required to successfully do business on the internet. If there is money in something, business will pave the way for it to happen.

True, today it's easier to communicate on a cell phone, or e-mail but that's because that's the way our infrastructure is currently built. The 3D web is forming and anyone who gets in on the ground floor is going to be rich. True, it's not quite viable yet, but anyone who stands in it's way is likely to be as wrong as the folks who doubted business on the internet could fly.

You can't just say something doesn't make sense because it doesn't make sense right now. Because if you do, history will add you to the list of folks who doubted Christopher Columbus, the Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, and the value of having a web presence.

Do You Dream In 3D?

2007-05-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

Raph Koster, world designer from such games as Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies has an article about the online community MyMiniLife. This morning many bloggers seem to have adopted MyMiniLife as the hot topic of the day.

In reading about this topic however, it appears to me that many people are seeing Flash objects as the future of the 3D web. That is, they are saying the web of the future will be based upon the same old 2D underlying structure of the ancient concept known as webpages, and the 3D experiences will be served on those webpages in the form of an embedded Flash client.

I, however, believe that while Flash clients may be where the internet is heading next, it will not stop there. When you look at computing history, you see games evolving from Spade Invaders in 2D, to Half Life in 3D. Windows went from 2D Windows such as Windows 3.1 to Vista which has now has 3D spinning windows.

It's just human nature to evolve our computing and entertainment tools to be more like real life. I don't think it's far off track to assume that the web itself will someday be presented in full, glorious 3D.

Flash 3D worlds on 2D pages may well be "destination NEXT", but I'm still foreseeing a fully 3D future for the web.

In the meantime, let's remember that Linden Labs has allowed secondlifelib to be developed and used to create alternative clients for Second Life. I wonder how far away we are from a Flash client for Second Life?

Although all of these current Flash client worlds are "cute", Second Life is on it's way to becoming the first large virtual world that has more than one way to access it. Sort of like the web can be accessed by IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.

Second Life has yet to prove that it is the web of the future, but Linden Labs appear to fully understand that the more ways to access their servers, the more eyes will see it and adopt it.

Now that Linden Labs have thrown open the gate to the open source community, we'll start to see all kinds of clients for Second Life, including Flash, I bet. It appears that whichever train leaves the station, whether it be a Flash-based environment, or a fully 3D client, Linden Labs will already be on it.

Areae, Linden Labs, and all the Flash worlds all appear to be going head to head within the same virtual space and market. It'll be interesting to see which way this shakes out.

Second Life Times...They Are A Changing

2007-05-15T13:22:00.000-06:00

The last time I wrote on the topic of Second Life, was just short of a year ago.

Well, in only a year, things have changed, as was expected. Moonshine Herbst bought his own island, abandoning the mainland. I used to view him as a great example of someone who didn't need the hype of a full blown island to become a success. A sort of "See? You can do it too!" story for the rest of us without the funds to buy an island. But good luck to Moonshine. I know he will prosper wherever he hangs his virtual hat. He creates and runs fun establishments complete with games, music and free money for newbs and greeds.

Jamie Bergman was in full flight about how by the end of 2006, the Linden Dollar would hit a measly L$500 per USD. I haven't heard much from her since then, and it's no wonder. Linden Labs has grabbed control of the economy, and the $L now floats stably at L$270 per USD. Nothing left to argue there.

The Southern Continent has basically doubled in size since I was last in Second Life, and all of that land surplus that I was worried about...well, let's just say I missed an opportunity to grab as much of it up as I could as an investment. The land prices back then were pretty darn good compared to today. It seems Linden Labs dissolved the First Land program, which means that all new land is basically purchased by residents and then resold at whatever price the market dictates, instead of purchased by newbs and resold for quick cash. I think this is a very good thing, because there was a bit of a scheme going on by land barons to offer way less than the land was worth, and toss a house and a tree on it and sell it for double calling it an "improved" lot.

Back in 2006, having 6,000 simultaneous logins was a great achievement...today, 30,000 is low. How many of those folks are alts and how many are uniques is hard to tell, but I'm anxious to get a feel for that topic.

So, Delzo Delacroix has returned to Second Life. It'll be interesting to see more of what's changed underneath the surface, because I've just begun to scratch it.

Star Wars Galaxies: The Beginning Of The End

2006-08-28T18:23:00.000-06:00

You know, I actually remember in Pre-CU being in the Bestine Cantina healing my mind. There were only a couple of entertainers there and they were probably AFK. Someone came in with a friend and started talking about how SWG was going down, because Bestine Cantina should never have been this empty. I didn't really believe them because Coronet, Mos Eisley, and other major cities' cantinas were always packed. How could they draw this conclusion from just Bestine? I also remember hearing tales of Anchorhead being Rebel central. But anytime I'd pass through on my way to Jabba's Palace, it was a ghost town.

It was all I ever knew. Bestine itself was always busy (I was a Master Doc and always could find patients in the Med Center) and the starport was always busy, but for some reason the Cantina there was always empty. And that really worried me that if SWG was really falling from glory that the game I knew and loved may decay further and I'd lose the only game that had drew me into it the way SWG had. So I've got to agree with you that SWG, even though I was trying not to see it, was already decaying.

But man, CU killed half of my profession's worth instantly (buffs) and made the Med Centers barren and then the NGE killed the population that were my patients. After CU there was nobody inside the starports anymore, and after NGE there was nobody OUTSIDE the starports anymore, which was always the main hang out in any city. That's when I knew the game was dead.

CU was the start of killing the professions interdependency on each other, and that's really what intrigued me about SWG...every profession had a purpose and was needed. But I still have trouble believing the game would have been as dead as it is now, without the CU or NGE. Yes it was decaying, but not at that rate.

Where Does Second Life Go From Here?

2006-06-25T22:52:00.000-06:00

With the Second Life Third Birthday Party celebrations winding down, where do things go from here? Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) gave some of the newer players a look back at what Second Life was like three years ago during his speech, and led up to where we are today.

His vision includes Second Life as the Metaverse, where Second Life would act as the next logical step for the internet, with 3d "websites" that "avatars" (a digital person that represents you in the virtual world) would browse by actually walking through them. I can definitely see that as an exciting destination for Second Life. Imagine browsing Newegg.com by actually walking up and down virtual aisles of geek gear! Nerds rejoice!

How about heading over to the 3D Slashdot.org site in Second Life (doesn't yet exist so don't bother looking) and argue with their "anonymous cowards" (virtually) face to face! I can feel the joy!

Now I don't know about you, but that to me is truly exciting. But what if Second Life were to go one step further? What if they were to combine real-time real-life facial movements and expressions as demonstrated here by Phillip Torrone from his "Make" blog? As it stands now, your Second Life avatar can indeed move around, show different emotions or animations, but none of them are tied to (the real) you. It's all computer generated and activated by clicking buttons.

How long will it be until 3D worlds like Second Life start incorporating real world gestures into the metaverse? Imagine controlling your avatar with the arrow keys, but having your head, eyes, and mouth being controlled by your real head, eyes and mouth. How long before input devices are created so that even your arms are controlled by you? Only time will tell. The exciting technology is being created right now. Who will implement it first in the 3D universe that we live and play in?

When Is Privacy Actually Privacy?

2006-06-21T18:55:00.000-06:00

Over at the Second Life forums, a bit of a debate has erupted over the lifting of the ban/access limits from 40m to 200m over any piece of land, which basically sets who can and can't access a certain property.

This has erupted into a bit of a debate, with arguments splitting into two main sides.

Side one has the argument that they own the land, they paid for it, and the Terms of Service from Linden Labs says it's so. They can set ban on everyone for privacy and that's that. Oh, and eject you from the land without any warning.

Side two of the argument are people who own planes, rocketships or any other flying machines. They love to get out, fly around and basically just get from Point A to Point B because Point-To-Point teleporting can be boring. By the 200m Ban heights, this means that their flight is now hampered, potentially bouncing back and forth off of these properties, turning a quick 2 minute flight into a longer frustration.

Some might say "just fly higher than 200m" and this would be a good solution. The problem is that draw-distances don't go that far without dragging your computer to a halt. So that would turn flying into a flight with no landmarks.

The solution for this issue will hopefully make both sides happy. What that solution is remains to be seen.

The Lindex Is Stabilizing

2006-06-03T12:49:00.000-06:00

There have been many people complaining about the value of the $Linden (Second Life's artificial currency). For a while, it was on quite the freefall and several outspoken people in the community gave Linden Labs no credit that they could fix it.

Take a look at the image above. Notice the levelling off of the $L price that started around May 25.

WHEN was it that LL implemented the Limit Buys again? Oh yeah, May 22.

The reason this works is because the outbidding works in both directions. The only thing that surprises me is the size of the gap between the Limit Buys and Limit Sells price. I expected it to be much closer.

I was wondering why we haven't heard many doom and gloom posts lately. Now that I've looked into the reasons I understand...there's nothing left to complain about.

Of course, I'm sure someone will think of something :)

Second Life Accounting Holes

2006-05-16T19:49:00.000-06:00

A recent post on the Second Life forums opened my eyes to what is perhaps a main reason why Linden Labs is not yet profiting. Let me show you a few of the ways that Linden Labs appears to actually be leaking money.

First of all, you can start your Second Life for free. You don't need to spend a dime to exist in this world, ever. I believe that this "world" is rich enough to sustain a large community without a permanent free handout. Why not make Second Life free for 30 or even 60 days? This is way more liberal than the average MMO experience available today, where the norm allows only a 7 or 14 day free trial. By giving a permanently free experience away Second Life seems to be attracting freeloaders which in my opinion is an unneeded load on the system and throwing money away.

Second point. If you want to own land in Second Life, you must have an account. The price on a Premium Account starts at $9.95 per month and comes with the ability to hold 512m² of land, and a free L$2000 monthly stipend. At the current L$/USD conversion rate, that is equal to about $6 of free money per month. This means that Linden Labs is still making about $4 per month on the monthly paid Premium Account. This is good.

The next step up is the quarterly paid Premium Account. For the equivalent of about $7.50 per month, this includes the same land and stipend allowance ($6 per month). This means that Linden Labs ends up making about $1.50 per month. A slim profit, but a profit nonetheless. This is good.

Here's where it gets weird. If you pay for a year in advance, you get your Premium Account for the equivalent of $6 per month. The same land and stipend allowance are in effect so this means that you actually get your $6 back. This means that you pay the same as a Basic subscriber (nothing) but with the ability to own 512m² of land!

Lots of companies offer better and better deals to entice their subscribers to outlay the most possible money. It's just smart business. But I don't believe it's good fiscal responsibility to allow players to not pay you anything. In my opinion, the Annual Account should be the one priced out at $7.50/month ($90 as opposed to $72) to allow for a small profit. Make the Quarterly Account $8.50/month ($25.50 as opposed to $22.50) for a little better profit and keep the monthly account at $9.95. Over the long haul this should bring in more money bringing Linden Labs closer to profit.

I believe that Second Life should indeed have a free trial, but not indefinitely. When I joined the Second Life community, I was hooked the first week. A 7-day trial was all I would have needed to become a paying customer, and even if I would have prepaid an Annual Account for my suggested $7.50/month, Linden Labs would still be profiting from me.

Contrast this with what is happening now. I could have never become a paying customer. I could have freeloaded forever. As long as I didn't want to own land, I could have been a member of Second Life, taking up resources just like any paying member. Except for free. I could have built my items in the sandboxes and sold them through vendor rentals. All while taking resources and L$ from the system and never paying Linden Labs. Oh, and I could have also upgraded to an Annual Account, and played for free as well as own land, taking even more resources!

And it's all happening right now. People are playing for free with basic accounts, and people are playing for free with Annual Premium Accounts. The only customers Linden Labs is collecting money from every month is the Monthly and Quarterly Accounts. When 50% of the ways you offer your customers to play winds up in you not making any money, it can't be a good thing.

My theory is that Linden Labs has a very strong addictive environment that would still attract and retain customers (especially with the media frenzy they are enjoying right now) as well as bring them in a profit from each of their customers every month. It's not a crime for Linden Labs to profit for providing us with an environment that we enjoy every day that we log in.

Emergency Cheese Order...We're Drowning In Whine!

2006-05-15T18:20:00.000-06:00

Back in early May 2006, Jesse Linden of Linden Labs and Second Life posted a warning to the players of the popular online meeting place to stop spamming their events calendar with non-events. You see, just like the regular web, the metaverse is just as susceptable to spamming to certain types of listings.

His request was for people to stop posting the same event over and over, by posting only a different time. He also warned people to stop posting events that had no host, ie yard sales with no one running them, and for the commercial advertisements to cease on the events calendar as well.

Well, apparently there are still quite a few people who don't get it, and keep on posting repetitive junk to the events calendar. So today Jesse Linden posted yet another warning as a first step before starting to charge players for event listings.

This has led to the wambulances arriving on scene protesting even the thought of having to pay for listing an event. These folks have it within their power to keep the events listings free by simpling stopping the idiocy of posting the same event over and over or posting non-events, such as commercial products, with the thin disguise of calling it a "product launch".

They are going to have to come around, or be prepared to deal with the consequences which seem to be quite clearly stated. I guarantee that none of them would be happy if the game stopped tomorrow. I believe that most of these folks doth protest because their properties just aren't interesting enough to attract people on their own merits.

I've seen lots of places in Second Life. Some are very, very interesting. And I'm sure that I've earned some pretty good dwell for some of the owners of these places by touring their properties.

But some of them have also been downright putrid. Folks, if I can't make heads or tails of where I'm supposed to go, or can't see a clearly defined purpose to your property, the very next thing I do is plan another teleport. No amount of event post spamming will keep me on your property if you don't have interesting content.

If you think releasing a new product is an event, then you are either out of touch with reality or are quite aware that you are bending the definition of the word. Either way, you are the exact type of person that should be paying to post events.

And don't pretend you haven't seen...

Tringo 1pm
Tringo 2pm
Tringo 3pm
Tringo 4pm
Tringo 5pm
Tringo 6pm
Tringo 7pm
etc...

Folks if it's an event that you are splitting into seperate hours just so you can have multiple postings on the events listings then you are gaming the system and it's you're fault that this policy is being considered.

Yes read it again...they are still only considering...it's a warning. Relax...and stop trying to beat the system. Post real events.

Many of the violators are demanding that Linden Labs state their rules more clearly. This is, in my opinion, a stall tactic worthy of a lawyer. The rules have already been spelled out with a simplicity a child could understand. When Linden Labs decline to treat it like an episode of Sesame Street, brought to you by the letters W, G and the number 5, the violators will claim that Linden Labs never told them the rules.

No action was taken today by Jesse Linden short of a warning. It's up to the players to decide what happens with this. If Linden Labs does go ahead and charge for event listings, they will have done so with just cause.

When or if it happens, there will be much shouting and screaming on the Second Life forums as there always is anytime a policy is changed. The complaints will be from the same folks as are gaming the event listings today. A lot of them are playing on free accounts which gives nothing back to Linden Labs to improve the community.

If it happens, it'll have been deserved and Linden Labs will have another stream to try to get profitable with. The future of Second Life probably depends on it.

Linden Labs And The Silent Majority

2006-05-14T10:17:00.001-06:00

Let's start today with a quote from an article I wrote on the downfall of the MMORPG "Star Wars Galaxies":

"Sony Online Entertainment had lost touch with what was fun by listening to the complainers. They had fooled themselves into thinking a great overhaul needed to happen to save the game, but nothing was further from the truth. The game did not need "saving". They had a great game. The game needed a few bug fixes, specifically for the Smugglers, but in other areas too. Nothing more. Instead we got a completely different botch of a game that was not fun to play."

I believe that SOE heard a certain amount of whining on their forums and thought that their game was not any fun. It turns out that the opposite was true. A large number of folks did enjoy their game. This was discovered when they changed the game so much that most everyone quit. It was a hard lesson to learn.

The fact is that complainers speak up most often. Those who are happy rarely feel the need to jump up and proclaim their happiness. This leads to an easy assumption that the world is full of bickering and complaining when in fact actually only a small percentage is doing this. They are, however, the most vocal.

Think about it. Let's say you buy a dress at the mall. When you get it home, you find out it has a black stain on it. You take it back and complain. What would have happened if you got it home, wore it, and absolutely loved it? Nothing. You wouldn't have gone back to the store to tell them how great their products are, or how nice the salesperson was. Why is this? Why do we only speak up when we are unhappy?

This being said, I am really hoping that Linden Labs does not take the whining on their forums to heart. It comes from a very small minority who probably don't speak for the masses. If Linden Labs catered to this small group of people, you'd find that in the end Linden Labs would have ended up creating a game that the same minority likes. And the majority will move on to seek a game that they actually like.

Forums are a great way to build community, because of its inherent property of allowing easy self expression. The problem is that it leads to the impression that everyone is unhappy because only the complainers are inclined to speak up. I am really hoping the smart people at Linden Labs realize that this is the case before it is too late. They've got a game that a large number of people enjoy. Let's hope they don't alienate this large group of people by catering to the minority.

I will leave you with a reworking of the quote I used above. I hope it is a quote that I end up writing in a couple of years from now.

"Linden Labs has not lost touch with what is fun by listening to the complainers. They did not fool themselves into thinking a great overhaul was needed to save the game, because nothing was further from the truth. The game did not need "saving". They already had a great game. The game needed a few bug fixes, specifically for the interface, but in other areas too. They fixed them and nothing more. In the end we got a game that was extremely fun to play."

Second Life Doomsayers Are Not Productive

2006-05-13T18:19:00.000-06:00

Due to the recent flood of negative activity on the Second Life Forums, I've decided that I needed to talk about it.

If you check the first post of this blog, you'll see that the whole reason I am in the Second Life community, is because my previous online community, Star Wars Galaxies changed so much that most of the main core of the game that gamers left to find other things.

The reason I mention this, is because the actions of Linden Labs and the actions of Second Life players are starting to mimic the exact situation that occurred between Star Wars Galaxies owners Sony Online Entertainment and their player base. The players wound up complaining so much that it became impossible for SWG's programmers to do anything right. No matter what they did, it was wrong according to the more vocal of the community.

This I why I believe the powers that be over at Star Wars Galaxies appeared to be so unattentive to their players...they were going to be raked over the coals for anything they did. It led to them thinking that the game was broken as-is and needed a major overhaul to secure its future. In the end, it was this major overhaul that killed the game. Yes there are still people playing it, but the numbers are far reduced from what they were even just a year ago.

This whole article is a warning to my fellow players of Second Life. If you continue to rant and rave, you will force the repeat of history, only this time the death will be dealt to Second Life. Creators of online games are usually only attentive if they know they will be treated fairly. Do you notice the Lindens backing off in terms of communication? King Philip has been mostly absent lately. Do any of you wonder why?

I believe it's because no matter what they say or do recently, they are repeatedly attacked by the community. I don't know about you, but I don't hang with folks that don't treat me with respect. Do you think they don't know what the bugs are? Do you think they are sitting back sipping espresso? Did it ever dawn on you that they might just be overworked?

Imagine you owned a company. You ran it with just you and another person. Your whole job was to maintain a website, and answer the questions of your visitors. You offer freebies on your website, but you only make money if someone buys something. Depending on your traffic, you could probably handle it very easily.

Now imagine that News.com, Wired, and Newsweek all post articles about your website. Your traffic spikes intensely, and your workload as well. Since you offer freebies, that is what most of your millions of new visitors pick up on. You make no money from the freebies, but the questions about the freebies and the amount of work involved to maintain the website are all no longer in your ability to keep up with.

Since you run a forum where anyone can say anything, your visitors start to make little comments here and there about your slow response. Slowly but surely a gang mentality builds up, and before you know it everyone is slinging dirt about your lack of support, how you are running the website wrong, how you should be running it and while your workload has increased exponentially, your cashflow has increased only somewhat.

Would your enthusiasm for the website increase or suffer? Ultimately, no website will survive without the enthusiasm of the one running it. Star Wars Galaxies went through everything in the above example. The freebie was the first Starter Pack (SWG+JTL+ROTW). But then it died. I'm seeing Second Life following the same trend. Since I was there when it happened to SWG, I can instantly smell when the gamers are killing their own game.

Second Life Community...there may not be a second chance. Do you want to play ActiveWorlds, or Second Life...the choice is yours.

Let's treat the creators of our favorite online experience with some respect so that their enthusiam spawns the game of our dreams.

Second Life Stuck On Me...Or Is It The Other Way Around?

2006-05-13T17:22:00.000-06:00

Originally posted May 7, 2006 in my Pop Culture blog, Current Event Views.

I'm officially addicted to the game that is Second Life.

My activity in Entropia Universe has all but ended, due to being bored, but I know there has to be something to that game that I'm missing since it's a fairly active world with many of the same elements of Second Life with more of a MMORPG wrapping. Maybe I just haven't given it enough time.

But it's official, all of my gaming time is being spent with Second Life. Now, to address my original quest, that is to see if Second Life can replace Star Wars Galaxies Pre-CU as my game of choice.

The answer is...so far. The reason I am hesitant is that I've only been playing with it for a few days. The reason I think it can replace Star Wars Galaxies Pre-CU is that I am as addicted to it as much as I was SWG Pre-CU.

Will all SWG Pre-CU refugees like Second Life as much as I do? That depends...did you play SWG for the economy? For the social aspect of hanging in clubs, gambling in the casinos or just chatting with those in world? For owning your own house? If you answered yes to any or all of these, Second Life could be the fix for your SWG habit as well.

Ok, so who wouldn't like Second Life as a replacement to SWG Pre-CU? Most everyone who played SWG for the hunting, PvP, and combat-related acitivities probably won't like SWG, if that's what they look for. Although you can program your own games and such in Second Life (or visit other people's games), it doesn't fill that particular void specifically enough for hard core PvP or combat gamers.

But the fact is, if you played SWG Pre-CU and quit after CU or NGE and you are looking for an alternative game with similiar qualities, there is a free trial available.

Second Life Still Intriguing

2006-05-13T17:16:00.000-06:00

Originally posted May 4, 2006 in my Pop Culture blog, Current Event Views.

I've been messing with the Entropia Universe a little bit, but I'm still developing the land I got in Second Life.

In Second Life you can earn money by creating items, giving classes on how to play, giving tours, or just about anything you can think of.

You also have the ability in Second Life to fly. What?!?!?!? Yep, you can fly. Now today I'm thinking, doesn't that take the fun out of selling player-created vehicles? Wouldn't it be a bit more fun if you had to take a bus to get around? This would open up a lot of possibilities for players to earn money as a cab driver, or bus driver. Then you would see car lots spring up, with another way to make money, because those with vehicles would get around faster.

As is it right now with players able to fly around, I just don't see the point of vehicles in Second Life other than a decoration for your yard.

Entropia Universe A Little...Different

2006-05-13T17:13:00.000-06:00

Originally posted May 4, 2006 in my Pop Culture blog, Current Event Views.

I'm discovering that the Entropia Universe is a little, er, weird.

You can move forward and backward with the arrow keys but to turn, well, you need to click both mouse keys. What happened to the left and right arrow keys? That's a little weird.

I'm also hearing comparisons of Entropia Universe to a slot machine. Apparently a year or two ago the game was rigged so that you can't get anywhere without putting money into it, even though the game is marketed as a 'free' way to make real money.

I'll keep trying it out and let you know.

Project Entropia Discovered

2006-05-13T17:11:00.000-06:00

Originally posted May 3, 2006 in my Pop Culture blog, Current Event Views.

I'm toying around with Second Life, and I've got some land there that I'm developing. It's a huge open ended world where anything can be built or created. You can even sell your creations for a profit.

Although I'm not quite sure if this is where I'll hang my gaming hat, I've found another virtual world called Entropia Universe (formerly Project Entropia). This one sounds closer to a game as you are located on a sci-fi planet called Calypso, and you can mine and hunt in addition to building your creations. It sounds like it might be closer to a replacement for Star Wars Galaxies than Second Life but I've only just looked at their website so far.

I haven't tried it yet, but it'll be interesting to see if you can get as detailed with your creations as you can in Second Life, what with the item scripting abilities that are available there. I'll be messing with Second Life for at least a few more days, but Project Entropia is definitely on my must try list.

Second Life Grabs My Attention

2006-05-13T17:04:00.000-06:00

Originally posted May 1, 2006 in my Pop Culture blog, Current Event Views.

The game Second Life is grabbing my curiosity as I've now heard it compared to Star Wars Galaxies' economy-type play several times now.

As you know from several of my previous posts, this was the part of Star Wars Galaxies that I miss and loved.

Vehicles, the marketplace, the economy, the opportunity to make money in game.

I think i might sign up for a trial and report back on what I find for my fellow Star Wars Galaxies pre-cu fans, and even for everyone just curious as to what this Second Life is all about.

My Re-Introduction To Virtual Worlds

2006-05-13T16:28:00.000-06:00

This is a reprint from my other blog called Current Event Views, originally posted on April 25, 2006. It is a blog that focuses on Pop Culture and briefly got sidetracked talking about virtual worlds such as Second Life, ActiveWorlds, There and Extropia Universe. Because it is a topic that entirely devoured the blog as its own, I created this new blog specifically for talking about virtual worlds. I post this as the first post to give you an idea as to what initially propelled me into exploring virtual worlds for a second time. My first time? Back in 1996, I played around with ActiveWorlds for a few weeks. I stopped because realtime 3d rendering over dial-up with a 28.8 modem and a stock 1996 video card was choppy at best. It was an idea that was about 10 years before its time. Finally, in 2006, virtual worlds have now become a realistic reality.

Star Wars Galaxies Lament

In November 2004, Star Wars Galaxies was my first experience with a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. MMORPG for short. It was the first game to grab me and pull me into the gameplay as no other game could before.

In fact, my entire history of playing PC games (or platform games when I had my 8-bit Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X, Sega Saturn and finally Sony Playstation) was to rush out to buy the newest, hottest game, play it for a few weeks and then get bored of it. The cycle would then repeat with me going to the local games store looking for the newest, hottest game.

Star Wars Galaxies changed that for a whole year. When I first started playing, it was absolutely amazing to me that I was standing in the middle of a Star Wars city. Players were scurrying about doing who knows what, and still others were standing around chatting. The coolest part was that when each player spoke, you could see what they said in a voice balloon so you could see who was saying what...instead of having to match a name in the chat box with a name on the character.

This was the way I learned how to do a lot of things in the game, as sometimes you'd catch a player explaining how to do things easier, where to go for certain items or other general game tips.

Before long I chose to be a medic. The reason is because I understood Star Wars Galaxies to be a game where you could live in the Star Wars universe, and have jobs and just...LIVE if you wanted to. You didn't have to get all caught up in the griefer battles that plague most online games. You know the ones, where people who have played for a while go around and kill newbies just because they can?

I loved the medic profession. I loved that you could go to the medical center and heal the other players who were wounded from battle. The best part was hearing the stories about what they were doing or how they were wounded. The game had a great social aspect to it. Even when my medical profession called for me to practice making medicines, I would do it in the medical center because I loved the social aspect.

Soon enough (say a few months) I made it to Master Medic, and then to Master Doctor. It was a long journey but I was now at the top of my profession. By this point I was doing a little adventuring too, so I would go to the cantinas to get mind buffed (an increase in stats to make adventuring/battles easier) and healed. Yeah, I could have healed myself, but like I said...I loved the social aspect. And besides, only entertainers could heal mind damage. The cantinas were always packed with people dancing and playing music. You could listen or watch and get healed while chatting with other players.

While dancers and musicians could buff mind, Master Doctors could buff the body. I soon learned that the Spaceport at Coronet on the planet Correllia was where most people went to get buffed so often times that's where I set up shop, but there were lots of Spaceports to buff at, and you could also buff at the medical center.

All of this was fun to me because I was living a life, interacting with other people, each of us helping the other through our own professions. I was healing Teras Kasi Artists, Crafters were creating furniture for my house, (oh yeah did I mention you could own your own house and place it in a player-city? I had neighbours!), Shipwrights built my spaceships, and every one of them had shops in their player cities.

It was the best player driven economy in a game I had ever seen, because each profession supported the other professions. I couldn't make good medical supplies without the meat that the Marksman or Brawlers brought back to sell. They needed to hunt to increase their skills but didn't need the meat (or at least that much of it) so they would sell it to others for a profit and it would supply me with what I needed to be a good Doctor! The economy worked great and forced people to interact without them even realizing it.

Crafting was not a click and create system, at least not like it is in other games where if you craft a widget, it'll be the same quality that Billy Joe crafted. Everytime you crafted something it had the potential to be a real stinker based on the quality of the resource spawns that you used. This was awesome! This meant that the most patient crafters were able to find the best resources and therefore craft the best crafts. When you went shopping, if you didn't need a Super Duper widget, you could save a few credits by buying just a cheap widget. This is called a real working player driven economy folks. It was a very cool part of the game.

Have you noticed that I haven't even mentioned battling the Rebels or Imperials yet? That's because this game was not about that to me, and I think it was the same for a lot of people. If you wanted to go out and battle the Imperials, there was plenty of other Star Wars games out there where you can do that. This game was about living in the Star Wars universe...a sort of a Second Life for Star Wars fans.

At the beginning, I think that SWG really did a great job making this a reality. Sure there were bugs, but it was very playable and very addictive. But then they got the idea somewhere that Star Wars Galaxies wasn't Star Warsy enough. I have no idea where they got that idea, but it ruined the game. First, did a botched overhaul of the combat system in April 2005. They tried to make it twitch-based instead of skill-based, but in the process they made it neither because it wasn't fun. It also included a level system like World of Warcraft. You know, I played Star Wars Galaxies for many reasons and one of them was that it was NOT World of Warcraft. They also killed the buffing system. No more buffs as we knew them. Suddenly thousands of people didn't know how to play their favorite game...and for what?

At this point, because of the buff death, you would go into any medical center and find it empty. No healing, no chatting about the day's adventures, no community. Go into the cantinas...same thing. The spaceports were barren.

Then, in November 2005 they killed the 32 professions in favor of 9 iconic professions. So instead of being one of many professions that supported each other in the universal economy, you had 9 professions that all ran around doing basically the same thing...killing each other. There was little to no support between the professions anymore. Oh and get this...medics became the game's uber PvP characters. Instead of being known for healing, doctors were now being created because they were the best fighters. So in a battle, the doctors would not be hanging back and healing, they'd be tanking.

This was the final straw for the majority of the players. After this second overhaul, you could go into any city, and find it empty. A couple of folks ran back and forth doing whatever it was that they had found to do...but the cities were empty.

Sony Online Entertainment had lost touch with what was fun by listening to the complainers. They had fooled themselves into thinking a great overhaul needed to happen to save the game, but nothing was further from the truth. The game did not need "saving". They had a great game. The game needed a few bug fixes, specifically for the Smugglers, but in other areas too. Nothing more. Instead we got a completely different botch of a game that was not fun to play.

It's a sad ending for the first game that ever addicted me, and convinced me to pay $15 a month to play. Today, in April 2006, the game is still run by Sony, but it's dead. No one plays anymore. And there's nothing like the original SWG out there to switch to. Oh well, that's $15 still in my pocket...but anyone who could make a game like the original SWG could have it.