Month: December 2008

Bloodlines: more than a nuisance

Posted on by Inara Pey

First, I’ll (like others) pre-empt this by saying I’m not against vampiric role-play in SL per se. It’s not my cup of tea – but then, there are probably a lot of vampire players out there who don’t find my D/s preferences to their liking. However, SL is a big place to rattle around in, so as long as we all acknowledge one another’s right to hold individual views and interests, and not impinge our own on those around us – then we can all enjoy this metaverse to our hearts’ content.

That said…there is one aspect of vampire “gaming” that has, over the last several months, increasingly climbed up my left nostril, where it has smelt increasingly bad. That aspect is Bloodlines.

Why?

Well, first and foremost because it is intrusive – thus breaking the second half of my “live and let live” statement above. I’m frankly sick to death (no pun intended) of Tp’ing somewhere and getting hit with 1, 2, 3 – sometimes even 4 – pop-ups from people wanting to “bite” me. OK. So it is easy enough to click these requests away by hitting IGNORE – but this doesn’t prevent the whole thing becoming an annoyance very quickly. And the whole thing is far, far more insidious than this.

But rather than rattle on about it myself, I’ll direct you over to Boy Lane’s blog, where she has given a very eloquent post on why we should all treat Bloodlines in a very circumspect manner.

Again, to make this clear – I’m not having a bash at vampire players in SL; nor am I hitting out at those who enter Bloodlines with a sincere desire to extend their roleplay enjoyment. What I am doing is – like Boy – highlighting the more insidious aspects of this particular “game” and the manner in which the organisers target the unwary for their own gain.

Certainly, given the sheer nuisance aspect of bite requests landing on people Tp’ing to a new location, rest assured that anyone spamming visitors to i-Squared stores and properties in this manner will be summarily ejected and banned.

Two years on…

Posted on by Inara Pey

This Friday marks my Second Anniversary of re-joining Second Life. Yes, I will have now been here two full years almost entirely without interruption.

For the most part, it’s been an entertaining time; looking back, and despite the fact that certain things cause us to look on SL with jaundiced eyes the longer we are here, I’ve got to say things have changed mightily in that time – and for the better.

Yes, it’s still far from perfect: stbility is an issue; the viewer needs a lot of work; Linden Lab still needs to understand words like “communication”, “two way”, “transparent” and “users” – and the benefit of investing time and effort into them; more needs to be done to stem the flow of bots, etc. BUT…. only a fool would deny that overall the experiences we can have now with SL in these broad terms are 100% better than they were 18 or 24 months ago.

For me the most precious thing about SL is the fact that it is a unique window on a whole world of people I’d otherwise never have come to meet. After two years I’ve come to regard many of those people as friends. Some I know better than others, but all have – knowingly or not – brought something precious into both of my lives, SL and rl.

So, to mark my second anniversary I don’t plan to have a party or much of anything else. I just want to say “Thank you” to all of you whom I know in-world, for making my time here memorable and fun. YOU, more than anything else have made SL a very special place.

And without being overly sentimental, I especially want to thank:

Rena – for being the most amazingly talented person I’ve known. Mother and educator in real life, model, photographer and artist in Second Life, you’ve been a constant source of joy and happiness in my SL life, and I love each and every minute we get to chat and discuss everything from the cost of bread through to the meaning of life, the universe and everything…

TJ – you may have gone from SL now, but you have always been one of two exceptionally special friends who were there in my darkest hours, loving, supporting and enouraging me when I needed it most. Your boundless optimism and your amazing sense of fun were always like long, happy summer afternoons I could simply bask in and enjoy. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss you.

Lasher – my Angel, (literally!) and the other pillar of my SL life when things were bleak. An irrasible rogue with a heart of gold. I miss our chats now you’ve left SL, and hope that I’ll get to chat with you again some time.

Anna – genrous, giving, loyal. Thank you for sharing a part of your SL life with me.

James – my Dearest James! The conversations we’ve had! the long nights (for me) happily curled in my chair chatting with you about Everything! The welcome you gave me to your SL home; the confidences we exchanged! I’m still touched by your generosity, belief and support. I know rl keeps you out of SL a lot nowadays, but I still very much enjoy the times when we do get to catch-up in world.

Ollalla – friend, playmate, wonderful tease! Is it really almost two years since we first met? Thank you for your friendship, loyalty and wicked humour!

Chey – generous of heart; warm and loving – and the best latex outfit designer I know – and believe me, I know many!

Alma and Blysse – it’s been a thrill to be a part of your SL lives and plans and to share the excitement as your real lives have grown closer and closer together. You both stand as a genuine testament to what can grow between two people both in SL and in rl.

RM – for simply being you.

Sylvesz – adorable sub and so much more; I’ve known you for over a year, but it is only in the last few months that I’ve really come to know you. I’m glad I’ve been here to listen when you’ve needed to talk, and I’m touched that you view me as someone you can trust.

Bunny – what can I say? Optimism and love incarnate, rolled into a heart of gold, a devious mind and skilled hands!

Solacious – the finest sister and mentor I could ever have asked for in SL.

Minxy – with love, always. Thank you for your infectious sense of fun.

Kelly – dearest Kelly. Would that we were all like you in heart and mind; you truly are extraordinary, and I’m so happy to have you here in SL with me and a part of my family here.

Inara – almost eighteen months on from our first meeting. We’ve played together, laughed together, cried together; just like real life, we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve teased one another, we’ve excited one anther…we’ve exasperated one another. Yet here we are, still together, still learning, still growing. There is nothing in SL I’d want to do without you; you remain my muse and my love.

Premium Accounts – why bother?

Posted on by Inara Pey

I wasn’t going to comment… Honest.

But the (relatively) recent blog posting by Tom Hale (another recent Linden joinee demonstrating an unhealthly Bond fetish streak by adopting the sobriquet “T” Linden) raised the question, after a long-winded piece of marketing ploy, “But what could make a premium subscription truly premium?”

On cue, a load of suggestions followed. Some seemed quite reasonable, almost all are well-intentioned.

And all miss the one essential rejoinder Hale’s question actually deserves, which is: “Why bother?”

Leave aside the classic piece of mis-direction inherent in Hale’s blog, which like Katt’s (un)memorable first posting, comes at a time when there is a real crisis within SL (back then it was overall product stability and LL’s unwillingness to provide even the most basic comminications with users; this time it is something more endemic: a systematic loss of trust from users to Linden Lab due to the latter’s recent actions vis-a-vis OpenSpace sims). Back in April, rather than deal proactively with the core concerns of users, Katt elected to put her efforts into….obfusticating what few clear lines of communication were left from users to Lab (the blog and forums).

Similarly, when trust in LL is at an all-time low, and when many are actively engaged in looking elsewhere to continue their virtual lives, Hale’s first act is not to address the loss of trust and faith, but rather to fiddle about with premium subscriptions – the very same thing his boss, the CEO of Linden Lab, dismissed as being “immaterial to [LL’s] business, at the start of the month.

So, if premium subscriptions are “immaterial” to LL’s business – that is, they neither generate quantifiable revenue or advance any of LL’s palns for SL – then it is fair to say LL are hardly likely to devote substantial time, resources and money to “improving” them. This being the case, Hale’s question is perhaps purely rhetorical.

Frankly the best thing that could be done is to disband premium subscriptions completely. They simply are not necessary, given Kingdon’s comment. Yes, it it true that they enable people to “purchase” land from Linden Lab & ostensibly get preferential support for their land holdings (if nothing else) – but this hardly justifies having them. The fact is land holders could still get the preferential support via Concierge, etc., without the need to hold a “premium” account.

And opening out land “purchases” to the entire community could be beneficial in revitalising SL’s ailing economy – particularly after the OpenSpace farago.

Some have suggested that rather than “upping” premium accounts, LL should consider restricting free accounts. While on the surface their ideas seem to have merit, they simply don’t stack up against the facts which (in an abbreviated form) are:

  • Premium subscriptions account for less than 17% of SL’s “resident” community – a figure that is dropping month-on-month
  • The vast majority of “free” account holders are as dedicated to their time in SL as any premium account holder
  • The majority of commerce within SL is driven by non-premium account holders through their “purchase” or “rental” of land, through their consumer buying of other content: skins, shapes, hair, clothes, shoes, attachments, houses, furniture, toys, gifts, equipment, pets, transportation, etc.

Thus, to apply crippling limitations on such accounts, such as 24-hour inventory sweeps, as River Ely suggests would be grossly unfair to the majority of free account holders who use their accounts fairly and wisely – to say nothing of the overwhelming damage it would do to SL’s user base.

Certainly it would do nothing to stem the tide of campers and bots in SL as River naively suggests. Such avatars have no need of inventory, and thus would be unaffected by routine inventory sweeps.

Again, if there was a compelling reason for maintaining premium accounts, such as the income generated helping to support LL’s investment in SL and the grid, then River’s ideas might have some merit – but as we’ve heard from Mark Kingdon himself, this is simply not the case. Premium subscriptions are immaterial to Linden Lab’s business focus and revenue generation.

So it remains that the best thing that could be done with premium susbscriptions is to simply abandon them. At a stroke this would end the artificial view of a “two tier” Second Life while, with the attendant revamp of policy around land “ownership”, could do much to inject new life (and money) into SL as a whole. It would also end the ridiculous tiering of user susport (itself only introduced last year in a lame attempt to “justify” the existence of “premium” accounts).

So Tom, “T” or however you wish to be addressed, if you’re reading this – give us all a break and be the first senior manager in Linden Lab to do something sensible in an awfully long time, and just get rid of them once and for all.