In commenting on my last post about the Teen merger, Ayesha Askham raises a point that has been touched upon before – and not only by me; and that is LL’s seeming inability to think things through.
While I still stand by my view that the merger will not result in the heavens crashing down around our collective ears, how the matter has been handled is, as Ayesha rightly points out symptomatic of an ongoing problem we, as users, face every time a policy change is announced.
That problem is this: once LL has determined a course of action, they resolutely set their faces towards that goal in spite of whatever reasoned arguments are put forward, or what later transpires to demonstrate that maybe we, the residents, do actually have a better grasp of the complexities of SL than those (currently) employed by Linden Research itself.
In this respect – and as many, many, many people have elsewhere pointed out – HAD Linden Lab sat down and listened to people back during the time of the Great Adult Policy Change farrago, and genuinely considered the overall benefits of defining a PG continent then the merger of TSL and the Main Grid would now be a non-issue.
But this doesn’t mean that we, as residents, are actually free of a portion of the blame here. The painful fact is that over the years, we’ve become our own worst enemy in trying to deal with LL. So often, we react to almost anything LL has to say as if they were the Axis of Evil actively and maliciously working to bring about the collapse of SL, and thus to be despised and vilified at every turn.
And if you don’t accept this, let me ask you: just how many times do you react to any news at all that may impact your enjoyment of SL with a roll of the eyes and a bitingly sarcastic swipe at LL? Even as recently as this week, and the news of the Apez collapse, I personally heard several people react with sentiments amounting to, “Bloody LL, killing the competition!” (or words to that effect) when LL had nothing whatsoever to do with the Apez crisis.
And herein lies my point: truth be told, we share a portion of the blame for LL not listening. I say this not to excuse or legitimise their cock-ups; I’ll let my record for calling them out speak for itself. What I am saying is that even when we do offer logical, sensible, achievable and workable solutions to perceived issues / problems (as in the aforementioned case of establishing a PG/G continent), we do so with such force of anger / negativity we actually encourage LL to ignore us. The result is that – as Ayesha points out – LL and SL constantly seem to lurch from crisis to crisis. And even when they’re not to blame for problems – they still get a pasting.
And so the disconnect between company and users persists, and even those who once made an effort (however kackhanded) to involve themselves with users end up retreating into their own little ivory towers as they scale the dizzying heights of LL management, and so perpetuate the problems and the angst (Good old Jack).
Some saw the “return” of Philip Rosedale as CEO as a sign that this circle would somehow be broken (as it was myopically and wrongly seen as being “Kingdon’s fault”). However, the fact is that while he may still appear to be the Cool Dude of SL, Rosedale himself has a lot to answer for when it comes to LL’s approach to its product and its users. And – whatever portion of the blame we ourselves should be prepared to hold up a collective hand to and say, “mea culpa!” – it cannot be denied that the circle can only be taken by someone at LL being prepared to “screw their courage to the sticking place” and make a decision to actively engage with users in the knowledge that in doing so (to mix my Shakespeare very thoroughly), they’ll have to risk the “slings and arrows or outrageous fortune” (or at least, outraged users) and by debating them, soothe them (so to speak).
But that isn’t going to happen until LL get an CEO who can actually break the mould within the company – and that is going to be hard.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
The founder of this company actively encouraged backstabbing among it’s departments and this policy was never changed. The dynamic between the company and it’s customers is a reflection of it’s internal dynamics.
Nothing can change it. M tried to but failed. It will be the same for any CEO.
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Yep – which has always been my point here :). People blame Mark Kingdon for a lot – but the truth is, the rot was well a truly advanced from well before his arrival. Let’s face it, PR never actually “left” – he was Chairman of the Board throughout, intimately involved in the decision-making process and, as you say, responsible for everything that happened during the *years* prior to Kingdon’s arrival.
Kapor also isn’t precisely blameless given his attitude towards the user community, which can be summarised as, “Good to have had you around, now get lost”.
And yes, a new CEO will face an uphill struggle in the face of these two individuals. But, stranger thing have happened; although as much as blue suits me as a colour, I’m *not* holding my breath.
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Well, I’m going to stick my trotter in here again. Mark K must’ve wondered by the end of his forst day at Linden Lab: “What the Hell is going on here?”
However, there is one very salient point to be made.
Not every suggestion made by seasoned SLers who are also skilled and experienced in the use and generation of multiuser environments is made in a confrontational manner. Even when reasoned and friendly constructive ideas are put forward, they are either ignored or met with blank non-understanding by Linden Lab staff. This, to me at least, suggests that LL are not merely not listening, but are unwilling/unable to incorporate outside suggestions into LL projects.
The Adult Content idiocy was simply one instance of many. Working from that unhappy premise, none of the latest stupidity from Linden Lab is in the least surprising. It smacks somewhat of the attitude of the Master of of the Titanic, and sadly we all know what fate befell that ship.
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Yup… I agree that LL turn a “deaf eye” a lot of the time – as per my opening comments – even when ideas and suggestions from us mere users are valid. I personally do not ascribe it to any maliciousness on their part, however, as I’ve stated elsewhere; rather those at the top have isolated themselves so much from their own product and the changing dynamics of its use, they have encouraged such a mindset among their employees.
I’ve little doubt that rather than deciding for himself not to directly engage with users, Kingdon “encouraged” by those he worked “in the same pod with” (aka Philip Rosedale) to avoid all contact. Certainly, in the one in-world meeting he did hold directly with residents, he came over as someone far more willing to listen than others at LL and he modified his stance on communications thereafter, and sought himself to give more rounded explanations as to what was going on with SL and to allay fears. The policies did change, for sure; but he at least tried to clear the air when many thought LL were just trying to blow smoke up people’s behinds.
So don’t get me wrong; I’m more that aware of LL’s faults. But to blame them alone for not appearing to listen, or in acting precipitously is somewhat unfair. Whether we like to hear it or not, there are times when we ourselves have come across as belligerently intimidating – and the Adult Changes, Homestead, etc., are all cases in point: for every attempt at reasoned debate on our part there was equally one of snarling, threats and other negativity that had even those trying to engage with LL appealing for calm. And this is, I’m afraid, a point we should acknowledge, however distasteful.
For sure, we did’t start the circle of negativity, and LL do have a habit of stirring it up a lot more than we do (recent announcements of changes to Classifieds in the face of 12 months of Search suckiness is a case in point). But there are times when we do add to the stirring. And pointing the finger and saying, “Well they started it!” (as some in the forums are wont to do…constantly…doesn’t actually help.
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