SL7B: Underwhelmingly Conventional

I’ve just finished a tour of the Second Life 7th Birthday (SL7B) “celebration” sims. The “theme” for this year is “unexpected collaborations” (aka, “you never know whose exhibit you’re going to end up sharing sim space with”). The truth of the matter is, it might just as well have been “underwhelmingly conventional” inasmuch as once again, it demonstrates a complete lack of original thinking among those “guiding” the event within Linden Lab, and a reliance on the principle of the “same old, same old”.

To be sure, there are a lot of imaginative builds and exhibits, and hidden away among the avenues are some startling examples of what can be achieved within Second Life – kudos to those behind them! But it does remain a sad fact that “the” major talking point around the event is not about SL or the remarkable diversity of cultures, imaginations and ideals it represents….but is rather all about a nipple or two.

Of course, LL are caught between something of a rock and hard place; given the recent layoffs, any loud trumpeting of the event on their part could be taken in some quarters as crass and extreme poor taste. BUT…that doesn’t mean we should lose sight of the fact that seven years on, SL *is* still here; we’re all, despite our moans and groans, getting on with things. So in that regard, the relative lack of promotion from LL is surprising,

Aside from a minimal blog posting, there has been very little said. Unless I’ve failed to get the e-mails (a distinct possibility), I’ve seen nothing advertising,  or anything else on upcoming talks or presentations or even parties. Even the Wiki carries scant up-to-date information. Instead we’re left with the Resident’s SL7B blog as a source of information. While this is undoubtedly good, it doesn’t even get much of a mention anywhere but at the foot of the Wiki page, and is conspicuously missing from the official blog announcement.

Not even Philip Rosedale’s address gets a direct mention anywhere in the official blogs (outside of Torley’s attempt).

Away from this and Nipplegate and the lack of anything above General / PG rating (come on LL, so some maturity yourselves!), SL7B is, it has to be said, a saddening exhibit of much that remains wrong with SL and which upsets so many residents so much of the time.

• The lag, even on relatively empty sims, is appalling
• It is impossible to move freely between connected sims without (sometime violent) rubber banding
• Rezzing takes an eternity
• Get 20 people in an event and the sim may as well be hovering on the edge of a black hole.

It may sound bitchy raising these points – but the fact is, they represent four reasons why, for every person visiting SL7B, there are liable to be 2 people who won’t.  They are also why, when he talks about LL getting “back to basics”, Philip would do well to get his Executive Management team to focus on ensuring effort is put into resolving such basic issues.

For me, though, the major disappointment with SL7B is that  – with due respect to all those who have worked hard to build exhibits and provide interesting features and displays  – there is simply nothing that compels me to tour SL7B. Oh sure, there are live events: singers, performers, etc., but these events are localised to just five stages. And truth be told, I can see them elsewhere in SL at times of my own choosing.

Of course, part of the responsibility for making the exhibits compelling lies with the exhibitors – but part of it also rests with Linden Lab. Hanging the entire event on some clever “theme” that actually doesn’t really inspire isn’t enough.

I’m sure that, come the end of the event, it’ll be hailed an “outstanding success”. After spending over two hours rambling . flying and tping around the sims looking at exhibits, my own thoughts are once again, and very sadly, “missed opportunity”.