Linden Lab Prunes Staff by 30%

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james_io

June 23, 2011 at 7:02am

Second life was a great game, but now it has been damaged by all the losers destroying the community.

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Phrish

June 11, 2010 at 3:38pm

SL had such a wonderful concept, but alas they have grown tired and stale for years.

I used to spend a bit of time on the grid, but lately I might pop around once every 6 mo or year or so. Nothing changes. Nothing. At least that's how it feels. The tech is the same, it suffers from the same tired old modeling/rendering, there is never an update that makes me say "wow!"

If LL approached SL a bit more like governments, it might have some continued appeal. As the Linden gov't, build a network of roads, or of raceways, or of space tubes. Claim junctions between properties for communical areas that connect to other communal areas. Build national parks. Simulate a "city" of post-nuclear survival. I'm talking Linden here, not individual developers. With Linden doing it as a "gov't" entity, greater areas can have greater cohesion of character. Then individuals build within that cohesion.

Right now, I can go buy/rent a go-kart, motorcycle, car, train, or whatever, then I can drive it on exactly 30 feet of pavement before I run out of road. I can buy a space ship or flight belt, and fly a few hundred feet before I smack into some walled-off private property. Meh, I say! MEH!

The loading times are atrocious. There is no ambient sound or environment (global or regional). Avatars still feel like stick figures. Even pimped out avatars with new bodies, skins, clothes, movement mods, etc. still feel like something from a 2001 FPS game.

It was cool at first, as I explored a bit. But after years, nothing changes. Nothing. Changes. Nothing. Nothing. Feels to me today, like it did years ago. It feels segmented, laggy, and oh so lonely.

I still pop back from time to time. Really there's nothing like it that's not a "game" still. But after a few min, I get bored and play some L4D2.

Good luck LL. I just don't think you "get it."

- Phrish

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BlazePC

June 10, 2010 at 9:35am

It's funny how press releases refer to Linden Lab wanting to take the platform to a "social network" vein.  What the?  It's already social network, that's ALL it is.  There's no game aspect to that platform, it was and always will be Yahoo Chat Rooms with cartoon barbie doll-ville 3D action with a huge side order of dating service pathetic-ness.  Nothing more.

LOL, man what a spin job of FAILED IT!

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Biceps

June 10, 2010 at 11:03am

I agree that SL is just one big social network... but they have really done poorly on expanding the reach of SL beyond their own 'borders'.  Done right, one should be able to send Twitter updates from SL, update their FB pages from SL, have a linkage (if they want) between their SL account, FB and Twitter accounts.  All of these things (while too much for some people) will give SL a lot more visibility.  SL has lost that in the past few years, since it lost its novelty.

A browser addition of SL would make it easier to integrate with OTHER social networks. To be on FB or MySpace, and to be able to see one of your friends online, and then invite them to come 'hang out' in SL, right now, could be a powerful motivator and should increase usage of SL significantly if the implement the whole thing correctly.

SL has needed to change for quite some time... I think that they need to target the masses, and it won't be until they are significantly better and have successful monetized their business model that they will see real commercial interest.

I have to also disagree about the 'fringe' comment.  While you are right that people don't want to live around the corner from a BDSM club, something like 90% of the internet used to be purely porn.  Over time, that percentage has dropped to something more reasonable, and I don't think even one company ever said, "Try to sell our products on the internet? That's just crazy!  Only porn freaks use the internet." Catch my drift?

 

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votre

June 10, 2010 at 5:37am

100% with kevaskous on his points.

Same goes for some of the more fringe parts of SL. 

I've got nothing against fringe. But it's hard to sell people who want to use SL for more serious purposes when the "adult" aspect of the service gets so much press coverage. It's no different than asking a business or family to move into your neighborhood when they know there's an active S&M club one street over.

And just like the in real world, it doesn't matter if lifestylers keep to themselves and don't cause any trouble. People know they're there - and many go elsewhere as a result.

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Mighty BOB!

June 10, 2010 at 1:26am

They're just the kind of social phenomenon that would probably do well on Facebook so it's pretty wise of them to be making a browser version.

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kevaskous

June 09, 2010 at 8:42pm

Yeah, those being trying to stay afloat, game is a dying breed, ruined by griefers and lowlifes :)

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