Category: Opinion

I’ve come across a lot of dark mutterings in-world with people getting uptight about the “promised” raising of the Group limit from 25 to 40. LL had indicated they’d “hoped” to get it out by the end of the year, but also stated that performance issues, etc., may actually lead to it being rolled back, and that extensive testing was required.

Well, from my point of view, I’ve lived within the 25-group limit for so long (and can remember days when it was less than that!), I’d prefer to wait for the code to be sorted rather than seeing it rushed through, rolled out and then withdrawn against because it does end up further impacting the server-side of things.

However, in hearing these complaints about the “failure” of LL to raise the limit, a little thought occurred to me. Most of the people making the complaint, I’ve noticed, are using Phoenix / Imprudence / Ascent (development of which appears stalled). But…my understanding is that the raising of the Group limit requires code changes on both sides of the equation – server and Viewer.

This being the case, will those using 1.23.5-based Viewers actually get to see the benefit? How extensive will the code-change be? Will the server-side change preclude back-porting to the Snowglobe code base? Then there is the fact that Phoenix is already into it’s final release, and switches over to maintenance-only releases in the new year (which implies bug fixes rather than new code updates) to make way for Firestorm. Imprudence may well be in the same condition by the time the Group limit is raised, given the shift in emphasis there to Kokua once Impru 1.4 hits the download pages. So would the inclusion of the necessary Viewer-side code be classified as a “maintenance update”? How extensive is it likely to be? Given that most 1.23.5 functionality is gradually being pushed aside by LL (hence the decisions by both the Phoenix and Imprudence teams to focus on viewers using the V 2.x code base), will it even be worthwhile for said dev teams to seek to incorporate the new code if it is more than just a few nips and tucks?

Of course, there will remain other Viewer options that may well support the new functionality as they doggedly continue to work within the Snowglobe code environment; but again, this goes back to my first observation as to whether the server-side will support / recognise Snowglobe-based code? Time will tell, but it might be an interesting little conundrum all ways round…

I’m posting this as a kind-of addendum to my last on the announcements from LL relating to Classifieds and paid ads, but also as a separate entry as it harkens back to the other current Big Thing  – the arrival of teens.

In the e-mail from “The Linden Advertising Team” (is this Nelson again?) is a little passage that may yet be a time bomb (and which explains why this announcement went out in a “no reply” e-mail, rather than in a comment-enabled blog post):

Maturity Changes: Previously, advertisers declared the maturity level of their ads. However, to prepare for teens coming to the main grid, we will be using the maturity system used for Search that is based on two factors:

• Parcel maturity level
• Content of the ads themselves

Advertisers’ declared maturity will still be visible in Viewer 2, but will be informational only and not affect the actual maturity rating for each listing. We are targeting these changes for the week of Dec 13th

So, in other words, those operating on Adult lands will not be able to advertise in Classifieds even if their ads conform to PG/G OR M guidelines – or if they do, they cannot SET LOCATION to provide a direct Teleport to their store / location (which teens cannot get to even if they do read the ad).

Now, given there have already been “improvements” to search covering the arrival of teens and it has been indicated that teens will only be able to search at the PG /G level – and while appreciating these safeguards do not cover every eventuality, this move is going to be seen by many in the Adult community as punitive against them. Rather than a better search engine and better policing on their part, LL have opted for a solution that may well inconvenience them the least – but could further marginalise a section of their mainstream user community.

Again, I have nothing major against teens entering the Main Grid; yes, some of the actions LL have taken have caused eyebrows to rise – but I still haven’t felt it’s going to be the God-awful disaster some have been predicting. That said, this decision does come across as unreasonable.

My real issue with the whole teen thing is more to do with the fact that it appears that some in Linden Land believe that teens are the new saviours of Second Life; that there are vast hordes of teenagers out there, champing at the bit to get into this virtual playground, and thus revive its fortunes if just a few “minor” things are nipped and tweaked.

Those of us who have been here long enough will remember something similar back in 2007 /08, when LL seemed to believe that if they just did *this* and *that* – and to hell with what the users felt – then Big Business (which sniffed around the edges of SL in 2006/07) would flood into the grid and take them to The Next Level.

And we all know how that one worked out, don’t we?

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.

I’m a couple of days late, largely through inattention but also because of things being rather busy in-world, but I finally caught up with this announcement from Terrance Linden regarding the advent of teens on the Main Grid from the start of 2011.

And my, what a lot of controversy it has caused!

I’m already on record as not being overly impressed with the arrival of 16 and 17 year-olds into MY playground (emphasis deliberate).  The Main Grid has always been promoted as an ADULT playground, suited for ADULT interests and pursuits. Now LL are reneging on that promotion – despite their repeated claims it was “not” going to happen, and we’re all up in arms. And in some ways, rightly so. Once again LL are presenting their user base with a dramatic shift in focus for Second Life without anything approaching any kind of cultivation of the idea within the community or engaging in real dialogue over the change. So in that respect, despite the various management changes over the years, (from Rosedale to Kingdon to Rosedale to Komin) nothing has really changed in their overall attitude towards us. Pity.

Terrance recently went some way to allaying fears concerning the arrival of 13-15 year-olds, and the measures overall, it should be said, are good. And, if I’m brutally honest, I don’t think the arrival of 16-17 year-olds onto the main grid is actually going to be the disaster people feared, or result in a massive upheaval some are predicting.

Let’s look at it pragmatically:

• They will be restricted to PG / G rated sims. These are in the minority; while this may be a concern to those with PG / G private sims, there is a potential solution: change the sim rating to Mature.
• Adults visiting PG / G rated sims should already demonstrate restraint in their mode of dress and communications. We do so in real life (where, ironically, those in their mid-teens are generally a darn sight ruder and lewder in their use of language than most of “us” adults), so where’s the problem with exercising self-restraint in-world?
• How many of those touting fears about adults and minors interacting actually spend enough time in PG /G sims for this to become a worry? Not that many, I’ll wager. Sure, there is the issue of shopping and “accidental” interaction – but again the rules relating to PG / G sims kick-in. And if someone is worried about accidentally communicating with a minor – moderate your language and be circumspect in your approach and act responsibly at first contact. Just because we’re in a virtual world doesn’t mean common sense should be checked at the login screen, for crying out loud!

Of course, there are issues – for adults and minors alike.

In the case of the latter, and as many point out in comments after Terrance’s post, Mainland is a hotchpotch of PG / G sims scattered among a multitude of Mature sims – sims legally registered minors will not be able to access. This means that the supposed “continuous” experience of travelling across Mainland by road or rail or flying (sim boundary issues accepted) will simply not be available to them. The only means they’ll have for inter-sim travelling is teleport. Worse, for them, is the fact that they won’t even know the rating for the sims surrounding the one they are in…until they collide with the boundary. Hardly friendly.

Beyond this is a deeper concern for adults – as raised in the forums. Just because minors are confined to PG / G sims doesn’t mean they cannot cam to neighbouring Mature sims, or that they cannot make purchases from neighbouring Mature sims. Thus, they can “legally” see / buy things and items that  – frankly – might open a can of worms.

Let’s be honest here; while he had other things of late to occupy himself (such as getting re-elected), Senator Mark Kirk (US, Illinois, R) is now back in office, and he has long campaigned against SL and its “influence” in “corrupting” minors  – indeed, while LL deny it, their rapid push-through of the Adult Policy and Zindra did come hard on the heels of a Senate investigation into the question of adult activities and minors on the Internet that was in part kick-off by the likes of Mark Kirk. And that was back in the days when the Main Grid (and its users) were reasonably safeguarded by the overall access policy of “over 18s only”.

Now LL are removing that security wrapper – and there is something of a risk that all it could take is one or two incidents of X seeing  / buying Y, and someone noticing (parents of a less-than-liberal / tolerant nature, for example) and then clanging on the alarm bells – and we might see the likes of Kirk and his over-zealous friends swinging into action again.

Internet legislation is also changing to point the finger at the likes of you and me, as well as service providers when it comes to safeguarding minors. Again, some have argued that the Internet is rife with porn (well, duh!) but minors can access it anyway, even if it means “borrowing” a parent’s credit card – so where is the problem with LL opening the door to minors?

Well, the comparison with porn sites is true – but irrelevant. The point is, that whether the credit card is borrowed to sign-up to a porn site or SL, both have been flagged as adult environments – so the wrongful use of a card (or entering false data in the sign-up) has acted as a “security wrapper” inasmuch as you and I could not be held responsible for the actions of a “naughty” minor. Unlike porn site, LL is now removing that wrapper  – and shifting a good portion of the onus therein onto the shoulders of their residents.

Argent Stonecutter has suggested a perfectly reasonable solution to the particular concern of Mature sim visibility for PG /G sims: simply tweak the server settings so that this is no longer the case. While this may ruin the contiguous look of the mainland to minors, it’s really not impacting on their experience at all beyond this – after all, they can’t actually travel to the neighbouring lands if they are Mature.

“Hiding” Mature sims might even benefit minors inasmuch as the boundaries to their current movement are obviously visible in the form of the surrounding “water”; this to me is a far better means of telling them “Sorry, you can go no further,” in advance of them simply hitting a sim boundary and getting violent bounced to who-knows-where, particularly if driving a car or flying at speed…

That said, and having had time to reflect on matters, I don’t hold with all the cries of concern over IMs that some adults are raising. Suella Ember actually raises a very valid point – one that is far to casually dismissed in generic references to “the Internet” – and this is that anyone using any Instant messaging service may well find themselves talking to a minor – and thus circumspection is the key. Profiles are available to peruse, and we have a certain little ability called intuition. Is it so hard for us not to employ both it and common sense when approaching others / being approached by others? How many of those screaming about this don’t actually do so already?

I still have concerns over teens entering the main grid, but these come down, again, to other matters, including worries, real or otherwise, around Copybotting – or the perceived threat thereof, frankly.

The Teen grid is renowned for the amount of ripped items there – the excuse being that this is because commerce has been so limited within its confines. This may be true; but nevertheless Copybotting has been an accepted way of life there, so there is an understandable worry that it will be ported into the main grid along with everything else. And there is certainly a lot more temptation for it to continue on the main grid. And even if this doesn’t prove to be the case – lord knows we’ve had enough hysteria among adults over the entire subject of content ripping to led to major controversy such as CDS Gemini and other edge-case tools. The last thing we need, again, is to have people going off half-cocked.

Overall, I’m personally less-than-sanguine over the arrival of teens here in SL; my interests here – as anyone reading my Peysworld blog will know – revolve around “adult” activities as well as more general pursuits. However, it is now a fact of life that they are coming, and with one or two caveats, I really don’t think it is anything the majority of people in SL are going to be impacted by – so long as common sense is applied to both sides of the equation. And therein lies the rub: as it has to be said, we, as residents are as capable of demonstrating an abject lack of common sense as much as anyone at Linden Lab.