Runitai Linden in both his “Classic” (Primitar-esque) look and his more recent avatar look
Update: subject to direct correction, I believe (from comments made) that Runitai is moving to work as a paramedic.
During the Content Creation User Group meeting on Thursday, January 16th, it was announced that Runitai Linden (often referred to as DaveP) is departing Linden Lab.
One of the now longest-serving employees at the Lab, Runitai joined the company in 2005, and has been a core member of the graphics / rendering team throughout most of that time, although he was moved over to work on Project Sansar, remaining with that project through to its launch as Sansar, before transferring back to Second Life when the Lab suspended work on Sansar in early 2020, prior to its eventual sale to Wookey (then Wookey Projects Inc).
Commenting on his departure, Runitai stated:
It’s been almost 20 years, and I’ll always be grateful for the time that I’ve had here, no doubt, and everything Second Life has done; and I’ll always be proud of what Linden Lab and the residents have accomplished here. But I’ve been convicted [sic] recently to pursue a career in public service, and at the same time I felt that calling things stopped coming together in my head for doing the work that needs to be done here; I really feel that I’ve done all that I can do and it’s time for me to go on to something else.
I wouldn’t be able to do that if it wasn’t for all of you. The career I’ve chosen doesn’t exactly pay a living wage, so I’ll definitely be living off my savings! But I feel this is what I have to do. I also feel that the Second Life team has never been stronger, everybody at the Lab and the open-source community does such great work, such talented people; world-class engineers all round. I have no doubt that Second Life will thrive in my absence.
I will definitely miss all of you, I’ll miss this place – it’s been a rollercoaster, that’s for sure!
One of the things very much marked by Runitai’s return to Second Life following his time working on Sansar, has been the drive to update the visual fidelity of the platform more it towards established graphical standards. While this initiative may not have originated entirely with him, his involvement in this work has been instrumental – particularly in looking at how best to enable key aspects of the glTF specification the Lab hopes to adopt (e.g. supporting current mesh data formats over the outdated Collada .DAE, prototyping scene upload capabilities, etc.), and in driving much of the work in getting the viewer’s performance back up to acceptable standards following the issues coming out of – but not necessarily entirely the result of – the implementation of PBR materials and rendering.
Runitai did not elaborate on the specific area of public service he is moving into (or which is perhaps now claiming his full-time attention). However, everyone in Second Life who has come to know him well or distantly (as in my case) over the years cannot fail to understand the incredible amount of work his has put into the platform, or the sheer wealth of technical knowledge he has acquired and put to use throughout his time at the Lab. This along with his openness, honesty and jovial nature, will be very much missed.
For my part, I’d like to thank Runitai for all of his work with Second Life and wish him well in his new career path. Also, for those who do know Runitai and who have not already obtained a copy, his Linden Bear is available at the Hipptropolis Campsite, home of the CCUG meetings – it is floating (at the time of writing) serenely next to the table and camp fire.
On Friday 6th, December, 2024, Linden Lab hosted the second of its Zoom-base “Blogger Town Hall” calls with invited bloggers to discuss Second Life in a session. The topics discussed were wide-ranging, covering Mobile, marketing, the desktop viewer, support and other issues.
Participating directly in the meeting from Linden Lab were: Executive Chairman, Brad Oberwager, CTO Philip Rosedale; VP of Product and Engineering Grumpity Linden, Pluto Linden (Mobile UX), with Brett Linden hosting the event.
As reiterated in this meeting, the Lab is experimenting with routes of engagement with the broad user base of Second Life – many of whom may not read the official blog posts on secondlife.com, but who may follow one or more bloggers. Further, these bloggers know how to communicate with their audience / have come to enjoy an audience because of they was they blog – written or video, etc., and so they offer a far-reaching channel of communications. Most particularly, the zoom meetings:
They allow for face-to-face interactions between users and those at the Lab, allowing the latter to be seen as they are.
The format allows LL to easily bring together different groups of bloggers relatively easily according to the core subjects the Lab would like to discuss and take feedback on.
Given this, these meetings are not replacing other forms of meeting / channels of communication – the Lab is experimenting with multiple ideas for improving their overall communications with users – and leveraging existing communicators / bloggers within the broader SL community is just one aspect of this work.
On The SL Mobile Roadmap
SL Mobile Credit: Linden Lab
Pluto Linden provided a presentation to highlight some of the upcoming features and capabilities that will be coming to SL Mobile in the coming months (approximately December 2024 through to Quarter 2, 2025), although as with everything, time frames for precise delivery on the following is subject to confirmation / change.
In doing so, Pluto emphasised the fact that all that has happened with the SL mobile product is foundational; “and now, a lot of the really exciting stuff is to come, and on the horizon for 2025”.
The presentation itself highlighted the following upcoming new features and capabilities:
2024 Plans
Ability to create accounts via Mobile, including creating an initial avatar and logging in using the existing new joiner workflow – also see below for more on this.
Extending the work on push notifications to include Group notices, including the ability to specify which of your Group from which you wish to receive notifications .
Persistent chat / IM conversations between log-ins.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
SL Mobile plans for late 2024
Quarter 1, 2025
Implement an Address Bar, making it possible to:
Search landmarks /create landmarks.
Share SLurls with people on other apps (Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp, etc.) via the native share cards found in Android and iOS.
Allow maps.secondlife.com work on the Mobile App.
Shipping the first version of a new feature called Lobby, intended to:
Reduce the time between launching the App and in-world interactions.
Provide information and a focus on communication within the App, allowing the user to see and respond to incoming messages; see who among their friends is on-line, even as the App is loading the world, .
Provide an ability for those on lower / mid-tier mobile devices to make use of the App as a communications tool.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
SL Mobile plans for Q1 2025
Quarter 2, 2025
Better and faster access to chat, avoiding multiple taps on the screen.
Better selection of, and interaction with, in-world objects.
Laying the groundwork for item-level avatar editing, which is seen as a springboard to offering other / further ways of interacting with Inventory, including the potential of eventually making Marketplace purchases through the App and being able to unpack and use them.
SL Mobile updates planned for Q2 2025
Mobile App – Audience and On-Boarding
As noted in Second Life Mobile: free to all users & Lab execs discuss the product and goals, SL Mobile is being broadly developed at the moment with two primary audiences in mind: existing users, as a means for them to enhance their SL experience through being able to engage with the platform whilst away from their desktop viewer access; and “Lapsed” users who have left SL, and who have stated a reason for them doing so is because SL doesn’t address their preference for using mobile to access the things they want to do.
This was reiterated by Brad Oberwager when discussing the fact that SL Mobile will have the ability to create new SL accounts in the very near future.
We built the Mobile App for current residents with the hope it brings lapsed residents back. But because we’re not putting any marketing dollars behind getting people into [Second Life] through the Mobile App, the join flow is really going to be getting an alt put together [so] while you can do all sorts of things through the join flow, this is really designed for current users.
We wanted to put the full experience on the Mobile App, because that would cool if VentureBeat was going to write something, and they want to come through, it would be cool to have that happen; but that’s not what we’re marketing towards.
-Brad Oberwager, December 6th, 2024
Measuring SL Mobile’s Success
In terms of measuring the overall success of SL mobile, the Lab is not focused on technical elements (features, crash rates, bug fixes etc.). The key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the App’s success are focused on usage, for example:
How many times a month is the App being used overall / how many times a month is an individual using the App.
How many times a day is the App being used overall / how many times a day does an individual log-in to SL using the App.
How long does an individual spend in-world when logged-in via the App.
How many people are downloading the App is considered a separate measure, as it both leads to the above three as meaningful measures, and is more a “ego statistic”.
On Marketing Second Life and Top-Level Goals for the Platform
What our goal is as a company … as we start to gear-up marketing dollars and things like that, is to do two things. One is to bring folks back who have recently been engaged as residents [and] who have now stopped that engagement for whatever reason, to bring those folks back in to enrich the community; and to do outreach to bring in new residents. New residents that get excited about living in Second Life [and] they spend a lot of money because they’ve got to dress their avatars and get their houses and things like that.
So everything that we’re doing now is designed for those two things. So that means making Second Life easier – high priority; giving a better experience for current residents – high priority, because if you can satisfy that, then you can have those current residents bring-in lapsed residents. So everything that we’re thinking of goes in that lens … We’re spending our money towards the desktop, getting ne folks in through that channel so that they can spend more money on our creators, so our creators are reinvigorated and the community continues to be invigorated.
– Brad Oberwager, December 6th, 2024
He went on to confirm that with all the work that has thus far gone into Second Life and the Lab over the last few years, including the recent restructuring is to pave the way towards growing the platform and in Marketing it more and more clearly.
Everything we’re making [in SL}, we’re putting it back in. What I am going to do, is I’m gong to start to change where I’m putting that money. And I’m going to start putting that money into marketing dollars because I want to bring folks into the world. … I think that our product is relevant; I don’t think it is relevant for everybody … but I think there’s an imperative that [Second Life] continues and it’s extremely valuable for folks out there to learn about and come in. That costs money.
– Brad Oberwager, December 6th, 2024
This work as actually starting now, with money “dribbling out” with a focus on SL on the desktop and in bring people back to the platform, on getting existing users to log-in more, and on bringing-in the people who would likely find Second Life a great place in which to spend time. Some of this will be experimental, with the Lab continuing to analyse what works and what doesn’t over the next few months, and the marketing work will, interestingly, be synced with new product releases.
On SL Desktop’s Accessibility and Future
The focus with desktop viewer development over the last several months has been on making the platform more accessible to lower-specification computers (as reported in the likes of my CCUG meeting summaries). This work has most notably included significant performance improvement work on the viewer, and the purchasing of a lot of older hardware / graphics cards on which Second Life ca be tested and better determinations made as to how best to handle performance shortfalls / bottlenecks / enable SL to perform reasonably well on such hardware (affectionately referred toas the Potato Farm at LL).
We did identify various pain points for people on lower-end machines, and there’s been a lot of work our team has been doing to address them. They’re working quickly and they’re working together with Firestorm so that those changes [many in the ExtraFPS viewer, which at the time of writing was in Release Candidate status and close to being promoted to release status] are rolled out to everyone as quickly as possible once they’re ready.
There’s going to be changes to viewer settings that will improve performance and some controls people are able to have over choices that they make in terms of how good things look and how fast they run. And we’re also looking to put together some recommendations for [hardware] configurations where we know Second Life will run really well at different price-points.
– VP of Engineering and Product, Grumpity Linden
The overall goal of this work is “to meet you where you are, on the hardware you are [on], and we want you to have the best possible experience in Second Life.
In addition, Philip Rosedale noted that LL have a lot of “different tools in the hanger” which can help further improve the viewer when running on older hardware, including the Unity-based rendering engine developed for Mobile.
It is, as you know, not exactly the same by any stretch as other engines that are out there, but we have it as a tool. How we use it to, say, improve the desktop experience, we’re not sure yet. But we’re definitely happy that we’ve got a pretty good Second Life renderer running on Unity, we’re just not sure how we’re going to use it. But we are going to make Second Life more accessible on all machines.
– Philip Rosedale, December 6th, 2024
In this, it was also emphasised that the presumption at the Lab is that the primary mode for accessing and using Second Life will remain the desktop viewer (in some form), and that SL Mobile will be very much an adjunct / companion to that use.
We do not believe the the experience of Second Life at this point in time can be transitioned entirely to a a “black mirror” experience, as I like to say, because it is more the small size of the window that is the challenge here … Even if we could do anything technically we wanted to, we remain cautious – in fact sceptical – about the ability to do all the things one wants to do with Second Life on a mobile device.
– Philip Rosedale, December 6th, 2024
On Matters of Support
It was noted that in the recently company restructuring (which saw a number of layoffs and was geared toward a focus on customer success and trust and safety, the ball was dropped on matters of general user support for a time. This is not improving, and Brad Oberwager, whilst taking full responsibility for the slip, believes that by the years end, support responses will by “100% better and faster”.
Outside my Linden Home on the SL Mobile App, November 14th, 2024 (unedited / retouched)
A little over a week since quietly making it available to all Second Life accounts types, on Thursday November 21st Linden Lab officially blogged that all Second Life users can now download and make use of the SL Mobile App (available on both Android and iOS) – see Second Life Mobile is here!
The original November 14th move to make SL Mobile available to all was followed by a special Zoom telecon with a number of Second Life bloggers, during which – and among other things – the Lab specifically discussed Mobile and its development and their hopes for it.
Engaged in that call were Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager, CTO Philip Rosedale, VP of Engineering and Product, Grumpity Linden, and chief Mobile developer Adam Frisby – who some may know for his former involvement in Second Life and his role in creating the Sine Space virtual world (or as it was once known, sinewave.space), whilst being hosted by Brett Linden.
Currently, the product is still officially regarded a “Beta” – it is still being improved based on feedback, and new features are being developed for future integration.
Capabilities are being added in terms of user “journeys” – that is, if someone wants to do X in SL, what capabilities / functionality / abilities do they require? The first such “journey” focused on going something in-world – such as a club or venue, etc., – and doing something, and what that would entail (being able to see the scene, move, chat, IM, view profiles, tip performers etc).
The App is not – and most likely will not – ever be seen as a “replacement” for access Second Life via a desktop / laptop; not is it ever likely to be as feature-capable as the desktop viewer.
Broadly speaking, SL Mobile has been developed with two primary audience in mind:
Existing users – as a means for them to enhance their SL experience by continuing engage with the platform and their friends during those times of the say when it might not be practical to utilise the desktop viewer in order to do so.
“Lapsed” users who have left SL, many of whom have responded to the Lab reaching out to them by saying Second Life doesn’t address their preference for using mobile to access the things they want to do, rather than being reliant on a desktop environment.
Linden Lab is seeking feedback on the App, particularly if issues are encountered / persistent. However, when reviewing the App on Google Play or the Apple Store, LL do ask that users keep in mind that SL Mobile is not feature complete, and is being built iteratively, and so not all desired functionality may be there when using it.
Alongside the announcement, the Lab promoted a short video first seen with the “soft” opening of the App’s availability on November 14th, and which is presented below.
Personal Notes
I’ve been using the SL Mobile App since it was first made available for Premium account holders, and as such have watching its development since then. While my own experience with the App has been problematic – and potentially the result of a range of factors outside of SL and the Lab’s control (quality of wi-fi, for example), I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen in terms of development and progress. However, given I personally have little use for the App (I work from home and so my PC is always within easy reach when I have time for SL), and given its (until recently) limited availability, I’ve not covered it to a great degree going forward.
That said, I will continue to cover the App in my Viewer Release page and weekly viewer release summaries, and as as result of the App now being available to all, I will attempt to report on significant updates going forward, for those interested.
On Wednesday, November 13th, Linden Lab quietly made the SL Mobile App available to all users.
The release was somewhat low-key to help minimise the impact of users piling on to the Google and Apple stores and becoming frustrated if they found themselves unable to access the app and download it due to the volume of demand.
As a part of the opening of availability of the App, Linden Lab hosted a mini round-table via Zoom at which SL Mobile was discussed, and a little look behind the curtain for the App and its history was given. The following is a summary of some of what was stated / revealed.
SL Mobile Credit: Linden Lab
On Developing the App and Initially Limiting Access
There were many ways SL Mobile could have been developed; in 2019, for example, it was indicated that LL was working on an iOS client focused on communications (see: Second Life: LL confirm iOS client in the making). However, this work was suspended at some point, most likely so a better solution could be sought.
As was noted in the Zoom discussion, there were multiple paths to take, and how best to present the a Mobile app to an audience of Second Life users. One question in particular that had to be addressed was how to present the app to users; its development involved many challenge such that simply opening it up to all users from the first instance was not considered as really feasible, because the feedback could be overwhelming. The release needed to be limited in some way whilst still allowing for the necessary feedback.
So what is the best way to limit it? It is to limit it to people who have really committed financially, as well as in various other ways [to Second Life], and subscribers were they way that we could do this. It’s not like we really wanted to paywall it forever; we just wanted to open it up to smaller audiences, get feedback, get a lot of iteration, and that’s what we’ve been getting from the community, and it’s been fantastic.
Senior Vice President of Product and Engineering, Grumpity Linden
Features and Intent
In terms of which features the Lab decided to focus on in particular for Mobile, the approach taken was to think in terms of “user journeys”: identifying a specific activity users enjoy doing in Second Life – such as socialising, be it at a club or similar venue, or getting out and about with others – and what are the key capabilities involved in that experience: moving, teleporting, communicate, see what’s going on, hear what’s going on (music), look-up profiles, etc. Then building-out those capabilities iteratively, before moving to another journey – such as enhancing avatar customisation options, and start an iterative process that could result in a more rounded means to management inventory on Mobile.
This next journey – subject to official confirmation – might be enhancing avatar customisation through the App. Again, this will not mean a complete set of customisation and inventory management tools being made available at once, but will again be an iterative process, with options and capabilities added over time to improve the experience.
However, it is important to remember that the aim with Mobile is to augment people’s Second Life, offering an adjunct to the viewer. It is not intended to emulate / reproduce all of the functionality available within the desktop viewer.
The idea is not to create a simpler experience, say akin to Fortnite, on Mobile, where one can “play” Second Life and have the whole experience on the Mobile App. We don’t actually know, and are inclined to disbelieve, that would ever be possible. What we’re trying to do instead right now somewhat better by using Mobile; maybe it’s getting messages; maybe it’s finding new places … maybe it’s doing something you like to do every day, but do it in Mobile because you’re on a bus or something; but we’re not trying to design the Mobile client to replace Second Life on the desktop.
– Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab CTO
SL Mobile (Credit: Linden Lab)
Audience
Broadly speaking, SL Mobile has been developed with two primary audience in mind:
Existing users – as a means for them to enhance their SL experience by continuing engage with the platform and their friends during those times of the say when it might not be practical to utilise the desktop viewer in order to do so.
“Lapsed” users who have left SL, many of whom have responded to the Lab reaching out to them by saying Second Life doesn’t address their preference for using mobile to access the things they want to do, rather than being reliant on a desktop environment.
One thing the Mobile app is not intended for – at least for the foreseeable future – is the on-boarding of users entirely new to SL; the learning curves involved in becoming comfortable with SL and engaging with it are seen as being too complex / steep at this point in time. Which is not so say the Lab will not be seeking to resume marketing SL to potential new users; far from it, as Brad Oberwager, the Lab’s co-owner and Executive Chairman, noted:
What we are going to do is to start driving people to the desktop and see what happens. That is in play, and that’s good for everybody here. The more people we can all bring in, the better Second Life will be for everybody.
Reception
One of the downsides to the iterative approach taken thus far with SL Mobile has been that it has received extremely poor feedback on both Google Play and the Apple Store. Much of this appears to revolve around perceived incompleteness, possibly as a result of users jumping in and expecting a fully-rounded product and becoming frustrated when they discover functionality is missing.
In this respect, it is again important to remember that SL Mobile is still very much in a beta stage of development, and the iterative process will continue; as such people do need to offer some patience in terms of “missing” features, etc. While the negative feedback has been a source of frustration and disappointment for the Lab, measures are being considered to correct it- be it by resetting the app on the Apple Store and by continuing to offer a better and better product. At the same time, as Lead Developer Adam Frisby noted, the number of poor reviews is hardly insurmountable in the scheme of things .
Trying SL Mobile
As noted, SL Mobile is now available to everyone on both the Apple Store and Google Play, and the links for more information are below. If you are keen to try out out, again, please remember, this is not a final release – as noted above, SL Mobile is still in beta, so please keep this in mind when reviewing the app. That said, if you do encounter issues or bugs, do please file a report with the Lab .
Philip Liden (Rosedale) at the Community Round Table, November 1st, 2024
On Friday, November 1st, 2024, Linden Lab held a Community Round Table event featuring Philip Rosedale, the co-founder of Second Life, and new-appointed Chief Technology Officer and returning member of the board of Linden Lab.
The session comprises two parts:
A main session addressing questions submitted in advance and questions from the audience.
An additional session with Philip Rosedale, but which was not part of the official recording.
The main session lasted just over an hour, the official video for which is embedded below. However, this is not intended to be a full transcript, but a summary of comments / responses. In addition:
Notes are not necessarily in chronological order; where it has appeared logical to do so, I have attempted to group comments under common headings.
So that the context of questions and answers might be fully understood, links are provided to the specific point in the video where they are made and the question can be heard.
Audio extracts have been edited to remove pauses, incomplete or self-corrected comments/ sentences, and/or repetition, and that care has been taken to ensure said edits do not alter the overall context and meaning expressed.
Further, as the session continued after the official video had ceased recording. I have also included Pantera Północy’s video, which is set to start at the point at which the official video ends. However, given the informal nature of the discussion, I have not includes any form of transcript for this section.
Who Is Philip Rosedale?
Just for those who may not be fully familiar with Philip Rosedale’s name / past.
Came to prominence in 1995 as the creator of FreeVue, an Internet video conferencing product, and acquired by RealNetworks, with Rosedale becoming RealNetwork’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 1996.
Departing RealNetworks in 1999, he founded Linden Research Inc. (operating as Linden Lab), a company initially focused on the potential of virtual reality.
As a part of this work, Linden Lab created LindenWorld, and the company pivoted to a focus on the idea of creating an open-ended, Internet-connected virtual world – Second Life.
Departing Linden Lab in 2010, Rosedale worked on a number of projects, including Love Machine, Coffee and Power and, from 2013 onwards, High Fidelity, a VR-centric, distributed virtual environment.
In 2022, High Fidelity became an investor in Linden Lab in a move which saw a transfer of personnel and patents to Linden Lab, with Rosedale taking on a (not full-time) role of Technical Advisor.
In 2023, Rosedale founder In Reality Lab (IRL415), ” a lab and community in San Francisco working on hard tech to improve the human condition by increasing trust and coordination between individuals and groups.”
On October 30th, 2024, it was announced that Rosedale had been appointed to the role of CTO at Linden Lab and would be resuming a seat on the board. He has effectively been in the CTO full-time since the start of October 2024.
He holds a B.S. in physics from University of California, San Diego.
Notes that he is back at the Lab full-time as CTO and on the board, and has been so since the start of October.
Acknowledges the work of Brad Oberwager and the other investors in acquiring Linden Lab and in working to revitalise and update Second Life.
Comments that the company is “again” successful as a business and has “extra money” to hire people, and the ability to pursue projects.
Confirms that IRL415 has been quite successful in its own right, and is now operating as something of a “sub-project” based in the same building in San Francisco as Linden Lab [Battery Street, presumably].
Indicates he is happy to be back, and acknowledges all the warm messages he received following the announcement.
Hopes that in addition to the Community Round Table event, he hopes that this event marks the start of a broader conversation between Linden Lab and its users in Second Life.
References he has been active WRT Second Life on various social media channels, and has formed an in-world group – Friends of Philip – which he encourages people to join as a means of communicating with him.
Notes that many SL users have been engaged in Second life for more than 10 years.
Many people using SL depend on it in a manner unlike MMOs or on-line games, and to them it is more like a necessity like a cell phone than a “game”.
As such, believes that only support the most recent generations of home computer hardware is far more ethically fraught for Second Life than for MMOs and games, as it comes with far greater risk in impacting people’s lives and ability to connect with other to a far greater degree.
In this, notes that this is why LL has been so focused on recovering viewer performance across the board following the recent impact of issues associated with [but not necessarily all the result of] the deployment of PBR Materials support in SL.
Thus, as much as it is important to keep improving things like the graphics fidelity of SL, Linden Lab has to recognise who is actually using the platform across the board, and not “cut off” large swaths of the user community as has been the case recently, to whom LL apologies.
Believes one of the most mind-blowing things about VR Chat is being able to see your own avatar from a first-person perspective; “wearing” your avatar.
The challenge here is that VR headset [usage?] is growing far too slowly. Would love to find a way to Second Life in VR, but LL does not have the resources to write a VR viewer from scratch.
LL are thinking about VR in terms of the more distant future, but not thinking about it right now.
Notes that LL has been carrying out a number of “alpha tests” of AI bots [such as the one at the Welcome Hub] acting as greeters and trying to provide help to new users.
States that “one of our companies here in the office” [IRL415?] has worked on some interesting back-end deployments of AI technology for SL, such as assisting with the Canny reports triage process.
Overall notes that the application of AI within Second Life is something LL has to be careful about, particularly with the use of AI with in-world characters – NPCs, bots, companions, etc. It’s important that AI is used – as SL is used – to bring people together, rather than a means to provide substitutes for each other.
Hopes that LL’s focus will continue to be in bringing people together.
Notes that he is a huge fan of artificial life, and thinks “AI will get really unusual when you get actual living things moving around in an environment.”
Describes some of the work at IRL415 [?] in attempting to use AI create conscious, living things,” rather than text prediction machines, etc. It’s not clear if he feels these might have future application in SL.
On Upgrading SL’s Underpinning Engine and The Viewer
SL has a complex user experience, and people need to be able to help one another in using it, and so requires a common, if complex, user interface (UI).
Because of the complexities involved, LL has to plan on utilising that user experience for a long time / indefinitely, and most likely on the same engine.
Also because of this complexity, simply swapping out the underpinning engine is not something that can feasibly be undertaking.
However, that said, based on experience gain in developing Mobile, LL are evaluating the potential of building a new viewer to make SL more accessible to people who either don’t have higher-specification home computer hardware or have difficulties in understanding the UI.
Work is in progress to enhance SL’s scripting through the use of Luau, as used by Roblox.
Part of this is aimed at enhancing SL’s existing scripting capability and make it easier for content creators to script in SL.
This is not ready for release, but is being worked on.
[Note: the Luau work is two distinct projects: a client-side implementation of Luau (e.g. viewer-side only); and the above work mentioned by Philip, which will allow Luau interpretation of LSL / Luau support for server-side scripting. I attempt to provide updates on both of these projects through the likes of my Content Creation, Simulator, and TPV Developer User Group Meeting summaries, as updates on the work are offered by LL.]
Does not believe the Mobile app will become the sole means of accessing SL; the deepest and most immersive uses of SL probably cannot be translated completely for use on mobile devices. Rather, the hope is that at some point, a new user will be able to access SL entirely via the Mobile App, but “we’re not there yet”.
The current focus is on getting the App to a place where it is “a little helpful for everyone”, and then maybe a “fun way to get started, even.”
Ultimately, Desktop will always be available, as some aspects don’t work on small screens.
As such believes that the Mobile App, working in concert with the Desktop viewer will help SL grow.
[Video: 51:42-52:25] When will SL Mobile be made available to all users?
LL think it is time to allow everyone to be able to try the Mobile App.
Expects it to be made available to all some time in the next month.
Reiterates that SL Mobile is not ready for people to switch over to using it in preference to the viewer.
Did follow and contribute to the Puppetry Project, but felt it might have been too biased towards content creation use cases at the expense of communications use cases.
Feels [as statement throughout the session] that LL needs to be more broadly focused on advances on communications capabilities such as accessibility, discovery, search, in concert with the more technical advances within the platform.
Sees the above approach specifically relevant to puppetry, in moving the avatar’s body more capably, rather than continuing to rely purely on animations, and cites the way his avatar moves during the session as being something of a move in that direction.
Certainly sees better ability to control avatar movement as a “hard” requirement for VR utilisation in SL, and puppeteering is a “big part” of that.
Reiterates that currently, LL is not working on puppetry at present, as to develop an implement puppetry capabilities requires a better redevelopment / use of available resources.
Goes on to note he’s aware this applies to a lot of SL capabilities that are “80%”, and he would like to get those to “100%”, and in this as CTO he is being more “hardcore” about better reflecting the majority of users LL is serving, not talking about features / capabilities until they are more rounded and ready.
In general, LL does not have, nor does it want, kids using Second Life.
Youngsters from 16 and up are allowed to use the platform, but with restricted maturity settings [13-16 years can access the platform, but only for educational purposes (e.g. associated with a school) and whilst restricted to the region hosting their educational institution(s)].
The worry is risk of harm for kids “on multiple levels”, such as financial exploitation, and if adults in a region do not want kids there, then there is a potential for harm to the kids.
Hence why LL has not made attempts to make SL appealing to younger people – but are interested in hearing viewpoints on the matter from users.
Notes that we all have a role to play – as some already do through mentoring, etc.
Further notes that if all those engaged in Second Life were to bring-in one new person to SL every 6 months and gives them the essential one-on-one help required to get them engaged in the platform, that would bring about a sustained growth for SL.
As such, LL needs to design – with the help of users – the best means to enable this to happen.
Deeply believes that there are people in the world right now who would greatly benefit from Second Life, and that world-wide they represent far more than the current user base.
On People Using SL at the Expense of their First Life Interactions (“SL Addiction”)
Whether taking about social media, apps or gaming, there is tremendous danger of addiction. However, most of the time in talking about addiction, it is in terms of exploitative dopamine loops that keep you drawn into game or behaviour mechanism.
SL is perhaps different in that the addictive element is having friends in-world, and those friendships are / can be as real and as meaningful as physical world friendships. Having friends in Second Life is not like having followers on Twitter/X.com; they are much closer and can be better.
So in many cases, SL is providing a genuine reduction in loneliness and access to friends, and there is little else on-line which enables such friendship in the same way.
LL therefore needs to be careful [to maintain this], and also need to be careful that they don’t cause harm.
Reads a statement from a user as to how effective Second Life can be such a beneficial medium for helping people – notably those with disabilities, long-term illness, the elderly and similar – gain new opportunities for expression, enjoyment, finding friends, etc.
Sees this statement as demonstration of the need for LL to “better and better and better” who the people using SL are, and whom LL are serving, and make changes based on that (e.g. in terms of accessibility – captions, sound, text size changes, etc.).
On Avatars Appearing Naked When Rezzing / in the MP (the “Boob Problem”)
Acknowledges that he made a fundamental mistake in allowing the issue of avatars appearing naked when rezzing to pass unchecked in the early days of SL, rather than making it a “P(riority) 1” issue to fix.
Feels it is still too easy for anyone to encounter Second Life content they may find offensive, and agrees that fixing this is something that needs to be properly considered; people should be able to come into Second Life from variety of use-cases, cultural backgrounds, etc., without being easily exposed to content that deeply offends them.
However, this needs to be balanced again giving people the freedom to do what they want in acceptable environments (e.g. the privacy of their own homes).
This balance is difficult to achieve, but also thinks it is “doable”, and users will hopefully see LL move forward over time in that regard, including further discussions on the subject.
Believes that with the expansion of payment system / choices (including crypto, Zelle, etc.), LL should grow to accommodate more ways in which people can pay them for services.
However, there are legal and regulatory complexities involved in doing this, particularly the purchase of Linden Dollars which need to be considered.
States that crypto should be one of the options to be considered, if not by going “all in” (where there are considerable negatives), but rather as a further option for making payments to LL “makes a tonne of sense”.
On the Announced Suspension of Skrill as a Payment Option
Believes that education is an excellent use case for VR. If people can be educated in a virtual world using VR capably, it potentially reduces the on-going cost of education as a whole, whilst greatly expanding its accessibly to all.
Caveats this with the need to understand VR devices, communication modality of use, non-verbal communication, in presenting education virtually.
Believes there are areas in which Second Life is, and always has been, effective, and hopes that this will continue, including in making SL more generally accessible with the proper safeguards against viewing potentially inappropriate content.
In terms of general marketing, LL is going to start efforts to market the platform for growth “soon” (and re-iterates the point of users brining friends into SL).
States the company is very well equipped to handle marketing , and to do so in “lots of ways”.
However, marketing into channels like You Tube, where the audience is fairly random, is not seen as effective for a platform like Second Life, because 95% of them have no interest in becoming avatars and enter virtual worlds.
Has a personal belief that most people are uncomfortable with avatars due to their lack of facial expressions / ability to use non-verbal communication cues like body language, and that until this can be overcome, SL cannot be easily offered to “anyone”.
As such, marketing needs to be focused, and welcomes idea from users on how such marketing might be focused onto the kinds of people who would be interested in using Second Life today.
Believes that SL is unique in the way it allows people to come together and develop communities in bot the Mainland and with private islands / estates.
As such believes that matters like improving region crossings and governance should be prioritised.
In terms of governance and community building, invites people to join Friends of Philip, where he’ll be discussing possible ideas.
States that given the nature of SL as an on-line community, banning should be a tool of last resort and should only happen under the most “desperate” of conditions, and believes that LL have done the “very best job” that they can in this regard.
Given the benefits gained to many through the use of SL and the implications of banning, wonders if there are “judicial processes” that can make things work better / provide alternatives to banning.
Has no answers to this [but has perhaps been asking questions relating to it], other than noting SL is a “precious thing” and the focus must be on those who hold it as precious, building their homes and communities, given to the matter of governance, where appropriate: “When someone has to leave Second Life, they should have to leave in broad agreement with their community.”
On Digital History and Preserving Builds / Locations in Second Life
While it would be nice to preserve elements of Second Life as points in time and be able to re-visit them in that state (a kind of Wayback Machine for SL, allowing users to visit a location as it was on a given date / time), there is obviously expense involved in storing all the data regions to Second Life and regions within it.
Does feel it would be good to come up with a “collective means” of “celebrating old builds” – and links this back to the idea of “governance” in terms of using the community through voting or other mechanisms as to what should be preserved in cases where the creators can not longer pay for them to be in-world.
Uses this opportunity to tangentially discuss AI further, as noted in the section on AI above.
Mont Saint Michel – a region preserved via the Second Life Region Preservation Society, currently run by LL
LL has tried on numerous occasions to get Second Life unbanned from Twitch (which has a high sensitivity to adult-themed content), and will continue to make the argument that SL should be allowed.
Indicated that doing so may also require changes being made to the accessibility of Adult content in Second Life in a way that works for the majority of SL users and works for Twitch.
In terms of Twitch s a “marketing tool” re-iterates the points that:
Second Life is not necessarily for “everybody”, so broadcasting it on Twitch might not be beneficial in that sense.
Does not think it would be good for SL to be directly appealing to younger audiences.
On Bringing Back the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC)
[Background: the SLCC was run from 2005 through 2011 by AvaCon on behalf of Linden Lab and alternating between the west and east coasts of the USA. The events allowed Lindens and SL users come together and discuss the platform, make presentations, etc.]
Would be interested in knowing how many SL users would be interested in participating in some form of physical world convention, and what form it should take, and suggesting his Friends of Philip group might be an initial place in which ideas might be put forward / discussed.
Part of his focus is figuring out how to better communicate with everyone.
Specifically as CTO is looking at what, how and why technologies changes should be made, and more broadly focused on strategy and product.
Notes that of late, the comments from outside of SL have not been so much phrased in the past tense and in terms of acknowledging it is still going and available, and that this could be beneficial as LL starts marketing SL more.
Expresses confidence that SL will start growing again, and reiterates that user can help in this.
Does feel that in a time when technology and the Internet have done much to endanger democratic expression and the polarising of views, Second Life demonstrates there is a much more positive way for people to connect using technology, and how it can have a depolarising effect, allowing people who might not otherwise, become friends.
In this, sees the opportunity to promote virtual worlds as beneficial environments for people to use, and which can be respected as such, and can help us face some of the broader challenges we face as a human society.
Videos of the Session
Linden Lab Official Video
Pantera’s Recording
Note this is set to start from the point at which the official video ends.
On Tuesday, October 29th, 2024, Linden Lab announced that the company’s founder, Philip Rosedale has been appointed to the full-time role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), in a move that will undoubtedly cause excitement in some quarters.
As well as founding the company, Rosedale served as its CEO through until 2010, when he departed the company to work on various new ventures, including Coffee and Power and, most notable, the VR-centric virtual world / social spaces company, High Fidelity.
The latter actually became an investor in Linden Lab / Second Life in January 2022 in a deal which included the transfer of some staff from High Fidelity to Linden Lab, together distributed computing patents held by High Fidelity, which has transitioned by that time toy working on solutions focused on spatial audio that would allow people to work collaboratively whilst geographically separate. Also as a part of that deal, Rosedale took up the role as a special advisor to the Second Life management team and the Board at Linden Lab.
In this role he has spent the last 2+ years providing advice and support to the Lab’s Board under Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager and the executive team, and has been visible at a number of Lab-led town hall meetings and similar events as well as participating in various Lab Gab events.
In his new role as CTO, Rosedale “will guide technology and product strategy daily” alongside the executive management team, and he will also resume a seat on the company’s Board.
Over the last four years since the acquisition, Linden Lab has re-focused itself on improving and serving Second Life. We’ve divested ourselves of unnecessary projects, streamlined our operations, increased the quality of customer support, and grown our overall revenues and profitability. We’re now in a unique position to define the future of virtual worlds, and Philip is returning to help myself and the exec team achieve that goal.
– Brad Oberwager, Linden Lab Executive Chair, via the announcement
Philip Rosedale Round Table Event
The announcement also indicated the Lab will be holding a Community Round Table event on Friday, November 1st, 2024, at 10:00 SLT featuring Philip Rosedale. At the time of writing, the venue for the event was TBA – this post will be updated with details when available. However, questions are being sought from Second Life users, so if you have a question for Philip Rosedale, you can submit it via this form.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 