Do You Still Care About Second Life?

[Evola]

I know LL themselves care, but to me it's clear their greater priority has been making enough $ for future investments such as Sansar(and prior projects) and ongoing SL improvements to a point where a more balanced ecosystem fell to the wayside. Which led to them chasing and catering to different demographics(actually I'd say this preceded it, and I think they were fairly open about it at times). Changes in popular creators tools have been a contributing factor, but I'm not convinced it was the only one or even biggest. That said, I do think LL manages much better than most who have near unlimited resources for this stuff(even in the past under M..granted, that's comparing to others where standards are pretty horrid)

 

[Chin Rey]

but is Linden Labs going to do what it takes to get the average joe back in to it?

No, they aren't. Nor is Sansar ever going to be for "the average joe".

I don't think LL is able to but even if they were, it wouldn't be a good idea to broaden the market for SL. It would take drastic changes to the software, the content, LL's corporate culture and the SL's culture.

 

[Lewis Luminos]

I still care and I'm still inworld at least 2/3 times a week. I have no interest or experience of any other VW, aside from trying out the occasional one here and there.

Content creation in SL has moved above and beyond my skills and capacity to learn, which makes me sad.

 

[Chalice Yao]

I'm still logging in daily since 2007, with the exception of a Minecraft-fueled break in most of...2013. So yeah, I still very very much care - but dear god, time flies :|

 

[Kalel]

I want to care more but lately i haven't been logging in.. as i feel no reason to. my shopping addiction has dropped off.. most people i speak to are busy and my best friend left SL due to issues in RL. everyone else just wants to have sex with me and i'm tired....it's like i have no purpose anymore other then the practice my photoshop skills.

i've been considering doing a wipe of my friends list for the first time in ages and looking to make more friends and places to hang out.... most of my landmarks are broken.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Yes, I''ll be logging in shortly.

 

[Experimental]

One thing I've noticed in the transition from SLU to here is that there is not nearly as much discussion about SL. Obviously at this point I guess there's not a ton of new things to talk about regarding SL - I'm just curious.

I still log into SL almost every day and I maintain my premium, but it's just that I don't really care about talking about it or even about posting much on VV in general. I gave up on building a real second life and just log on when I want to ERP in some bestiality pornography sims. Hardly a topic for regular conversation.

 

[Han Held]

Slightly off-topic, but this is also OT for the "nobody cares" thread which is where we post personal/bloggy stuff.

I've decided to pull my stuff up off of Funadama and tell my landlady I'm leaving.

Between SL and Opensim I'm throwing away almost $100/mo but I'm not getting $100/mo worth of enjoyment out of any of it. So it's time to sort out my finances and use them better...

 

[Penny Patton]

I still care about SL, despite it all. Not enough to invest money into it anymore. I stopped doing that years ago. I still care in that I want it to improve, but I long ago realized that just wasn't going to happen. LL believes they have made no missteps, so they'll never fix the problems or address the shortcomings. LL is a company that feels its product is perfect, or at least "good enough", and that if the users don't like it then it's the user's fault and not LL's. I've been around since 2005, and most of what was broken then is still broken now. Most of the features I felt it needed then are still missing now.

LL has talked some good talk in the past couple of years, and begun working on features SL has long needed, but I'm not yet convinced LL has truly changed. And even if they have, I'm not convinced that LL still has the resources to implement the fixes and features in anything resembling a timely manner. If it's going to take them a year or two for each new feature, it's going to be another 15 years before SL has improved enough to be where it should have been in 2002. And while LL is working on some of the bigger stuff they should have done long ago, I'm not convinced they realize all of the little things they could be fixing to make the SL experience a lot better for all of us, with very little effort on their part. From what I've seen, LL still considers those problems "unimportant" and a waste of their time to address.

Counter to Chinrey's comments, the changes needed to breath new life into SL aren't all that drastic and worrying about SL's culture changing is silly because it's already been changing over the past 15 or so years, and will continue to change over time for as long as SL sticks around. When people say they're worried about that, they generally mean they're afraid that to make SL more appealing to others means making SL less appealing to them. For that to be true you have to believe SL's flaws and shortcomings have nothing to do with it's difficulty in bringing in new users, or retaining those it has. That the only way to make SL more appealing to others is to change what appeals to those who enjoy it now. Removing things they like about it now. And that line of reasoning falls apart pretty quickly if you've ever had any complaint at all about SL. Be it lag, bugs, or the lack of any features you feel would make your time spent in SL more engaging.

So, despite my lack of optimism, I feel that Linden Lab is still in a position where they could breath new life into SL, so much so that they could reach a level of success beyond what they saw in SL's boom years. They just need to open their eyes. Of course, they won't always be in this position. The longer they wait, the more likely anything they do will become too little, too late.

 

[Sid]

I bought a new parcel a few days ago and I'm decorating at the moment.
For the first time ever I have put up a house that I have build my self. Damn that took only almost 12 years to happen.
So yeah, I still care for SL.

 

[Jupiter]

I care about SL. I log in almost daily. I guess I don't post much about it here is because I'm no longer a newbie, but I'm also not as knowledgeable or skilled as others here. I'm a consumer, not a builder, scripter, designer, or business person, so I have little to contribute in these areas.

 

[Vitolo Rossini]

I still care a great deal about SL.
The group Survivors of TBI still keeps growing, and we still have meetings. While notices of meetings and activities do not go out to
all members of the group, the original Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors (75 of them) are still very active. There are 104 members, but we do not send notifications to 29 that are not considered Survivors or supporters.
I am logged in every day, all day.
The SL Destination Dogland Park still has many daily visitors, and loads of dogs for visitors to play with and observe.
Our RL Pet Memorial keeps growing, and we keep adding more spaces for residents to add images and notecards for their RL
Pets that have passed. At this time there are about 200 dogs on the wall (each plaque gives a notecard written by the pet's owner)
Those owners come to Dogland on a continual basis, to visit their fallen comrades on the wall.
We sell a number of types of pets. There are Macaws, Parrots and other birds, and there are Dogs available, both for sale, and those older dogs that are transferable are available on a pretty regular basis at low costs.
We have Shoulder Pups that are animated.
We house D&D Dogs, the very first virtual dogs ever made in SL, true pieces of Second Life History, dating back to 2003. There are also D&D Dog Avatars.
We also have Rhoda Menu Pups, Dogs that function using drop down menus, at very reasonable costs.
We have Dogland Guide Dogs that are provided in a dozen breeds for those SL residents that are visually impaired in RL. There is no cost for this service.
We also have at no cost "Max" the original SL Guide Dog.
We keep pre-2011 VKC dogs and we usually have a couple of them available, for relocation.
There are other Prehistoric animals, and non domestic animals that function independently, and that can be ridden.
We have programmable fish, sea creatures, and wearable dogs available.
We have two dimensional dogs that bark when touched, and free dog supplies and toys at the park.
Please feel free to visit us at Second Life Maps | Rhoda
If interested you can visit the Dogland park store at https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/29260
Yes... I still care a great deal about SL, and am actively at the keyboard, as is my RL/SL wife a minimum of
8 hours a day.
We provide those with no funds with wearable, and programmable dogs as a service, because I know what a difference it makes to have these pets as a focus to enhance one's SL.

 

[Beebo Brink]

No, they aren't. Nor is Sansar ever going to be for "the average joe".

I don't think LL is able to but even if they were, it wouldn't be a good idea to broaden the market for SL. It would take drastic changes to the software, the cotnent, LL's corporate culture and the SL's culture.

Overall, internet usage is shifting toward tablet and mobile for "the average joe" because it's cheaper, easier, portable, and because most people don't need the better quality provided by a desktop computer.

This is very similar to what happened to radios. The first radios were large, built into consoles that were like a piece of furniture, and with excellent audio. Along came transistor radios that had tinny sound -- nowhere near the quality of a console unit -- but they were cheap and they were portable. You could carry your radio anywhere, play music at the beach. The quality issue wasn't enough to compete against price and convenience.

So the pool of potential users of SL is not growing larger because desktop computer sales are flattening. But SL on mobile or tablet is a limited experience at best. I can't see that as a feasible future market.

Sansar is definitely a different product from SL. It's embracing an even more limited pool of users. Perhaps VR -- which demands a powerful computer -- can buck that trend, but I'm dubious. For now, at least, VR in general is most appealing to a niche market of IT hobbyists and gamers.

 

[Selinica]

I still care a great deal and log in somewhat often enough.
Mostly just to sail and drive now, a lot of my friends have moved on and the places I went to are mostly gone and I've yet to really find a new place and people. If it was one or two places that would be easier but it's every place (and a couple dozen friends who have just moved on in one way or another and for most of them I don't think it's because their life situation improved or anything).

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I still do very much care. It's a part of my daily life and a part f my income. It just doesn't seem like there's a lot to discuss at this point. I'm also not the sort to start a new thread, and I generally don't feel comfortable posting here a lot anyway (this is just a "me in general thing" not anything about the forum in question).

That is a shame, because I do enjoy seeing your posts here (and in SLU). I just hope you don't disappear completely.

I still care about SL, but life gets in the way of logging on. And even when I do log on, I can't think of anything to do. I could go back to building houses again, but without knowing how to work with mesh and using prims only, my house building would be a futile labor of love only. And, walking around in a circa-2010 skin and prim/system clothing on a system avatar, I'd look rather dated. Plus, pretty much all of my friends have moved on and are no longer in SL, so there's nobody I know online. But I cherish the memories I've made in SL, and it will always have a special place in my heart.

 

[Sunshine Carami]

I'm coming up on my renewal and I am having trouble deciding on renewal. I have a tiny spot on one of the SL rivers. I haven't really been in SL in years but for some reason losing access to that tiny sliver of river access really upsets me. I don't have disposal income, just got laid off a job I've had over 30 years, but damn I am struggling to let go of that spot.

 

[nebula]

I'm still logging in daily since 2007, with the exception of a Minecraft-fueled break in most of...2013. So yeah, I still very very much care - but dear god, time flies :|

I am also still on daily, mainly for support though. We miss you in WT.

 

[Zaida Gearbox]

I am on almost every day as well - at least for a few minutes.

 

[Beebo Brink]

After a long time-out, I'm starting to feel the love again. My computer is repaired, so I can function inworld, and I'm remembering how much fun SL can be when it works. I used to own about 2/3 of a sim, but I've downsized to a smaller tier-free parcel, just enough room to play, but not so much that I feel obliged to "do something with it."

 

[Caliandris]

I still care. I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment, I've had the use of Oclee's sim for 12 years and I'm not sure when it will be going but it will be the next few weeks. I've been putting out stuff he made, and wondering if I will ever be able to rez some of it again, as he was a magnificent prim builder and those things are primmy to the max.

I think it is a shame that many of the past creators feel that they have been left behind and made irrelevant by the move to Mesh. I've bought a lot of meshy stuff I never use because creators will insist on using lots of 1024x1024 textures all over their stuff. I still see people using flexi stuff and sculpties as well as mesh. I'd like to know how much further prim building might have progressed if it had continued to be the only way to build.

As for renergising the grid... I don't think LL appreciated how much energy came from being able to build yourself, learn how to script and texture builds. The momentum was lost once external creation came in. If they could only produce a way of making meshes in world, I think the momentum might pick up again. Yeah, I know there are tools to do that for some objects but it still means moving it out and importing it back in and to do it efficiently you need to be using blender or similar. It's odd that so many people who love building in prims absolutely hate building in blender. I know I do.

The one thing from Sansar I'd like to import is the ability to have land for free. I don't like the movement or building in Sansar, possibly because I don't have a VR headset. So I'm keeping my SL for now, thanks!