RSS SL

1. OMG Patch is leaving!

   It is not enough to put new models in the themes without researching what people want. 4 new Log models—has it made any more claimed homes? Tree houses added to fantasy—has it made more than a tiny rise in the number of claimed homes? And the most surprising: 4 new Houseboat models, and still over two thousand available homes?! It is really strange since water themes are so popular. It must be because the way the boats are stacked in long rows. People reject them, and the square plots are much more popular. In RL, the distance between houses is a sign of wealth, and houses in a row are for poor people. Sacrifice some boats and set in more landscaping so all boats are not so close together. Joining two and two plots for 2048-sized houseboats would be very popular. I do not think a few hundred available homes in a theme means that it failed. It is beneficial because those who browse the homes page will see they can have a home before they commit to upgrading from Basic. I do not know how to save Fantasy. I think the whole theme failed from the start because people were excited about Hobbit houses, small wizard towers, ruins, and cottages with thatched roofs. Instead, they got high elf mansions in a well-made but too-special landscape. It was a fantasy theme that appealed to few. The Log Land is pretty and has lovely forest landscaping. I can only guess that the new models were all too large since people have different needs. I believe it is too many themes that ignore the wishes for modern houses. Almost all themes have windows with small glass panels. I do not know the technical word, but when glass production was new, they could not make large sheets of glass. So instead they put glass in frames of wood. And then came Newbrooke with its special container-style look. Our first modern theme concentrated on one kind of modern, instead of broad appeal. Newbrooke is still a success IMHO; a few hundred available houses is not a failure. Newbrooke was "saved" because of variety and because people could have small houses on large parcels. I still think Newbroke has an ugly exterior, but I like that it is finally something modern. A way to make more modern options for us could be to make generic modern houses with new floor plans, nothing outrageous, and add them to Traditionals and Chalets. They would be using the styles of the original houses but with larger windows.

2. How Does Your SL Look Today?

   Get well soon.

3. Do you think the community in Second Life is a high trust society or a low trust society?

   How were we “recruited” as an earlier population though? SL was, as far as I know, always free for everyone to sign up for. If anything, I remember meeting an even wider variety of people from wildly different backgrounds in the early years than I do now. And honestly, drama and griefing felt far more common back then too, so I’m not sure we were ever as like-minded or shared the same values as much as nostalgia makes it seem. What I do agree with is that, over time, people settled into their own groups, preferences, and social bubbles. That probably creates an added layer of trust with the people in them, which makes sense. One of the things that bonded people in the early years was the shared exploration of this strange new world and all its quirks. We were collectively figuring SL out. Nowadays most of us already know the mechanics, the culture, the tricks, the pitfalls. We simply don’t need each other in the same way we once did an without a shared purpose, trusting others becomes harder.

4. Farewell and Gratitude to Patch Linden

   My thesis, if you bothered reading my post in full, is that it is not impossible that there is PR value in the manner in which they sent Patch off. We don't truly know their motivations, but we know they are small and NOT operating as an innovative startup, so it's a fair assumption that they simply want to maximize profit/EBITDA/whatever. An empty chair at the large table is a penny earned. So truly, who cares about SVPs, this one or the next, if the platform is on autopilot printing money. The platform doesn't really scale horizontally, so SVPs are not cheap. With these in mind, it's possible they are in no rush to fill the vacancy. They might even take it as an opportunity to restructure whatever Patch controlled and bring it under another wing. Additionally, dispatching Patch in the unceremonious manner they did is a controversial signal that pleases the side that currently trusts LL far less than the pro-Patch contingent. I don't know how you got "Patch's fans don't matter" out of any of my claims. Patch's fans ARE important, but they are simply very loyal already. Pleasing them even more is not a growth move.

5. Farewell and Gratitude to Patch Linden

   It's always the same problem when an employee of a company becomes a big personality, ends up the face of the company and then gets a cult of personality around them. Whenever they leave the company, whether by their choice or the company's they leave a bunch of fans behind who make an outcry, without knowing the full story.