| On Monday, June 26th, Linden Lab streamed a special session of Lab Gab featuring Vice President of Product Operations, Patch Linden.
The interview was built around questions submitted by users in the wake of the announcement of the session, together with those asking during the session via the live and asked via You Tube audiences. Notes: |
Table of Contents
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About Patch Linden
[Video: 5:09-14:10]
- Originally a Second Life resident and business owner who joined the platform in 2004, and became a Linden in September 2007.
- Initially worked as a support agent and then as a support liaison. From there he moved to the Concierge team, eventually becoming that team’s manager.
- Shifted focus to the role of Operations Support Manager for a year, then moved to the Product group, the team responsible for defining the features, etc., found within Second Life.
- At Product he developed the Land Operations team, which includes the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW).
- In 2018, he established the company’s support office in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2020 he oversaw the move to larger office space in Atlanta, interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In 2019 he was promoted to Vice President, Product Operations.
- Together with Grumpity, Mojo and Brett Linden, he forms the leadership team overseeing Second Life’s continued development.
- In his management team role, Patch continues to oversee all of the Lab’s user support operations (some 5 teams), including the LDPW.
Premium Membership and Linden Home Announcements
Premium Membership Benefits
- No specific announcements on additional benefits, but this is something LL are constantly reviewing to see what fits with the overall structure of Premium and Premium Plus.
SecondLifeTime Memberships
- Two limited-time offers.
- SecondLifeTime Plus:
- All of the features of the current Premium
- Limited to 200 users.
- Once-time charge of US $749.
- SecondLifeTime Premium Plus:
- All of the features of the current Premium Plus
- Limited to 20 users.
- Once-time charge of US $1749.
- Requests must be made via support ticket.
- It may take time for requests to be responded to.
- Please see this blog post or this official announcement for more.
Linden Homes
- The next Linden Home theme to be released with the the Ranch Theme, which is dropping as a part of SL20B.
- These are for Premium Plus subscriptions only, and have a 2048 sq m land parcel.
- There are 7 styles within the theme.
- They have a land impact of 703 LI.
- The will not be subject to region request support tickets until July 10th.
- See my blog post on the theme for more.
- The next release after this is code-named “Thousand Island” – which is a hint as to the theme – and the code-name derived from salad dressings (coming off the back of “ranch” – geddit?).
- [Video: 1:10:23-1:10:58] The Linden Homes web pages will be updated so that if you already have a Linden Home, it will be possible to see if a theme you’d like to switch to is currently available, rather than having to abandon your existing home in order to see the list of available themes via the web page .
New User Experience (NUX)
[Video – 25:58-35:40]
New Starter Mesh Avatar
- These were previewed at SL19B but are still to be released.
- In the interim, the avatars have undergone further testing and approvement.
- The project now has an overall brand name – Senra (which fits with the Linden branding, given the latter is a tree and Senra is a genus of plant).
- Alongside the new avatars, LL has developed a full line of clothing, accessories and attachments, which will be released at the same time as the avatars.
- A devkit with licensing agreement, for creators wishing to support the new avatar ecosystem and producing clothing and accessories they may wish to sell into that environment, is also in the final stages of preparation for release.
- These avatars and their clothing / accessories lines (both from LL and creators) will be featured in the new Welcome Hub shopping areas (see below).
- The entire system is almost now ready for release, and is just waiting on a couple of pieces to be put into place. One of these is on the web side of SL, where incoming new users will be able to select an avatar and customise it .
New Welcome / Community Hubs
- The new Motown Experience and the additional regions are a new Welcome Hub Experience.
- It comprises multiple regions built around a central Welcome Area, which is part of the renewed Mentor programme.
- Please see my blog post Linden Lab and Motown: a new approach to user on-boarding in Second Life.
- This will be the model for future Welcome / Community Hubs.
- The shopping area within the Hub idea will include times for the NUX Avatar described above, feature other items aimed at new starters, with stores being periodically rotated for different creators.
- Within the current Hub, the Motown Experience will continue to be expanded in terms of events and offerings.
- Other partnerships along this line are under consideration, and may be seen Soon™.
Initiatives in Development: TV Show Partnership
- As noted above, the new Welcome Hub features a partnership with Capitol Record Group via their Motown label.
- This is the latest in a series of partnership with external organisations (Adult Swim, Zenescope, Film Threat, etc.).
- These are likely to continue.
- Currently, development is in the works to see Second Life featured in a “fairly significant TV show” which is currently airing (at least in the US, if not on streaming services in general – details were not made clear – and about to enter its 2nd season). Within it, SL will have a “pretty prominent placement”.
Mainland Development
- Due to the volume of work the LDPW is committed to, there have been changes in priority for various projects, meaning resources do get swapped between projects according to demand.
- However, there are a number of Mainland initiatives underway, which may not always be particularly visible, but which are proceeding as resources allow (e.g. ongoing work to improve the Second Life Railroad (SLRR) and Mainland roads infrastructure).
- As the page is turned with regards to the old Linden Homes themes and mini-continents, it is anticipated that more Mainland-focused work and activities will come to prominence. For example (and allowing for their historical value) Mainland Hubs might be given an update / refresh in the future).
- In addition, it is likely that new features such as the upcoming PBR Terrain project (see: 2023 week #20: SL CCUG meeting summary: mirrors and PBR terrain – this blog, and Sneak Peek: Shaking Up the Terrain with Physically-Based Rendering – official blog, for details), although it was noted that care with this would have to be taken in how this is done to ensure full and proper consistency across regions and parcels.
- Mainland residents with ideas for Mainland improvements can (preferably) submit them as Feature Requests through the Second Life Jira, although they can be accepted via a Support ticket.
General Q&A
- General observations in opening comments:
- Linden avatars may at times be carrying a tablet. This is apparently clickable and related to the Bellisseria / Mainland passport system (run via the Bellisseria Bureau of Bureaucracy – residents who have a BBB passport can touch an Linden’s tablet and obtain their “passport stamp”.
- The inclusion of Adult themed regions at SLB20B and the Shop and Hop was a conscious decision to express all of SL’s diversity at a milestone event.
- [Video: 40:19-42:55] Last Names:
- Will previously-offered Last Names be brought back? – Probably not, unless the name generates an exceptional number of requests for it to be brought back – and even then it would mean reversing a public statement that “used” Last Names would not be re-featured.
- Will the cadence of new Last Name options be increased? – releases have largely been with an event / seasonal focus (with some themed offerings as well). It is unlikely this will change.
- [Video: 43:00-45:40] Adult Linden Home Regions:
- This has been requested from time-to-time. However, as:
- Adult activities / furnishings are permitted in private homes within Moderate Regions (+ Parcel Privacy can be invoked),
- And additional research by the Lab suggests there is not a general request for residential places with Adult activities can be acted on in public,
- It is not seen as offering benefit at present, at least in terms of replicating the current themes of Linden Homes within Adult-rated regions.
- That said, this doesn’t preclude the potential for a special “Adult Theme” of Linden Homes within their own regions, were sufficient demand to arise. There are just no plans in the works for anything like this at present.
- This has been requested from time-to-time. However, as:
- [Video 45:49-47-29] Zindra / Horizons:
- Is Zindra (the Adult continent) ever going to be “finished” (in regards to shape, coastlines, etc)?
- Yes. There are plans to add on to the Adult continent. However, this may not be done utilising the current Zindra “theme”.
- Rather there are plans in development which may result in a complete overhaul / update of Zindra (at least in terms of the core builds by the LDPW).
- Is it possible to order Private regions attached to Zindra or the Adult Horizons regions? – Yes, but with a caveat:
- LL operate the Community Land Partnership Programme (CLPP), and requests for Private regions to join with LL continents as a whole (including Zindra and Horizons) must comply with the requirements of this programme.
- Is Zindra (the Adult continent) ever going to be “finished” (in regards to shape, coastlines, etc)?
- [Video: 47:47-49:50] Can users consult with LL directly over issues of ToS, copyright, and other policies?
- The best route for general enquiries / questions on matter of TOS and other SL policies as enforced by LL is via Support, who can generally answer general questions and provide assistance with navigating the policies to gain a clearer understanding.
- However, Support (and user-facing LL staff in general) cannot consult on legal matters or provide any form of legal advice or recommendations, although very specific questions might be escalated to the Legal Dept for feedback.
- Where matters of TOS / Community Standards / violations are concerned, users should file these via the Abuse Report mechanism.
- [Video: 54:55-58:34] The SL20B Sweepstakes:
- For general information see: SL20B Sweepstakes in Second Life offer impressive prizes and the official pages for the SL20B National Sweepstakes and SL20B Global Sweepstakes.
- The differentiation between prizes (physical world car and gaming laptop for the US-centric National Sweepstakes and Premium / Premium Plus prizes for the Global Sweepstakes) for purely practical reasons (taxation, shipping, etc.).
- [Video: 58:46-1:03:39] Demographics over the years:
- There have been shifts in demographics over the years, some of which are clearly visible in-world, thanks to the changing face of content creation (e.g. from hobbyists happy to bang prims together to semi-professional mesh creators).
- There have also been other shifts that have been visible – from the technically curious and engaged to the more socially-seeking users (in terms of making connections, seeking social events, etc.).
- Demographics and changing patterns as a whole are something the Lab tracks as a part of efforts to try to encourage more people to enter SL and become engaged with it.
- This will continue in the future as LL continue to seek to engage and draw and keep SL vibrant and active as a platform. It may include casting back to older initiatives and trying them again (hence the recent informal Twitter poll by Alexa Linden on Teen Grid and perhaps bringing that back), if it is believed they might work – not that a return of Teen Grid is currently in the works.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 