June 2024 will mark the 21st anniversary of Second Life opening to public access – and to mark it, Linden Lab has announced the 2024 Birthday celebrations as being marked across an entire month – from Friday, June 21st through until Sunday July 21st, 2024.
Theme
This theme for Second Life’s 21st birthday (SL21B) has been given as Elements, which the Lab describes thus:
This theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, “Elements” is a celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second Life.
For the last several years, the birthday celebrations have included a series of sessions called Meet the Lindens: opportunities for people to hear from and put questions to Linden Lab personnel, generally with questions submitted beforehand. In 2023, these Meet The Linden sessions morphed into Lab Gab sessions, and this year they are being referred to as Town Hall meetings, all to be held live at the SL21B event, and which will include the second of the Community Round Table events, at which questions can be specifically put to members of the Linden Lab leadership team.
It is not clear as to who will be representing the Lab at each of these sessions, or when the sessions will be held. In the announcement that they would be taking place, the Lab only promise details to come and indicate:
The founder of Second Life Philip Linden and Executive Chairman Oberwolf Linden will be among the participants, which also include many leading executives and team leads from Second Life’s Product, Engineering, and Product Operations departments.
However, the blog post does include a link to a form those wishing to ask questions of the Lab can complete and submit, which includes the opportunity to indicate to whom the question should be addressed, if required (although a little difficult outside of the usual suspects for these events given that, as noted, exactly who will be attending them has yet to be announced).
BUT – if you do wish to submit a question, then hop over to the form and do so, and note that it will remain available until Thursday, June 20th, 2024.
On Monday, May 20th, 2024, Linden Lab held its first Community Round Table – described as opportunities for Second Life users to meet, hear from and address senior staff from the Lab on various subjects, etc.
Intended to be the first such event, this session featured Brad Oberwager – Oberwolf Linden – co-owner and Executive Chairman of Linden Research (Linden Lab), and Grumpity Linden, Senior VP of Product & Engineering with Brett Linden, the Lab’s Director of Marketing, chairing the event as moderator.
The session lasted 90 minutes, and – as might be expected given recent policy changes in the wake of allegations / concerns and the announcement about the sale of Tilia Inc., as well as interest in technology development such as Second Life Mobile – there was a certain focus to discussions and questions. It was recorded by multiple parties, and is available on You Tube, including by my informal partner-in-crime for attending and recording such sessions and meetings, Pantera Północy, and that video is embedded at the end of this article – my thanks, as always, for her doing so.
What follows is not a full transcript of the meeting, but rather my best attempt to summarise core topics plus questions and answers. Included are extracts from my own audio recording of the session where I have deemed them to be relevant / helpful. When listening to them please note that:
They have been edited to remove pauses, incomplete or self-corrected comments/ sentences, and/or repetition. This has been done to (hopefully) improve the flow of the audio and remove distractions.
All such editing has been carried out without any intentional attempts to alter any of the context of what is being said by the speaker.
Timestamps for the video recording are given within the topic heading below, so that if there is any doubt, audio extracts can be compared to a complete, unedited version.
This is a summary by subject matter – as such, timestamp references to the video may not be in chronological order.
Introduction and Setting Expectations – Brett Linden
Noted the session was designed to be the first in a series of Round Table events with members of the Lab’s leadership.
Reminded people that it is a new initiative for everyone – including those at the Lab, and as such lessons will be taken from the session as to what works / does not work and use this to adjust the format for future Round Table Events.
Stated that local chat would be tracked for questions from the audience, and attempts would be made to address them, but:
Due to time constraints / the volume of questions submitted by the pre-meeting form, those would be the focus of topics discussed and the feedback offered.
Some questions might be deferred, simply because those representing LL might not be the best-placed to give an answer (e.g. technical questions or similar), with a note that many of these might be best addressed at the various user group meetings (refer also to the Second Life public calendar for meeting times and date).
Indicated that as a Round Table, the flow was intended to be two-way, not just outwards from LL, and as such responses / feedback in chat would be taken away for review.
Set the general parameters of the session (e.g. individual issues, such as with account matters, support, etc., would not be addressed in the session; use of the Feedback Portal for putting forward bug reports, requests and ideas, noting this is viewed from the top-down at Linden Lab.
Making SL Better as the Lab’s Owner – Oberwolf Linden
Offered context on his perspective, noting he sees Linden Lab and Second Life as two different entities, so has different perspectives on each.
In 3.5 years of ownership, has learned that there is a huge amount of passion for the platform across the board – residents, creators, Lab staff, and even from many outside of the platform (noting the latter can be both positive and negative).
Re-iterated his belief that he sees running Second Life as a moral imperative, as it benefits so many.
Sees the platform’s complexity not just in technical terms, but in making it the platform the best experience for those engaged in it as residents / creators – because we all have different wants and needs. Specifically highlighted:
Operating the Linden Dollar whilst ensuring the majority of fiat money passing through the LindeX goes to creators.
The fact that SL is a virtual world for adults, supporting content and activities other platforms do not allow, and the need to make the platform safe for all those using it, not matter what their interests.
The need for policies and process to enable the above.
As such, believes that running the platform is about relying on values, rather than trying to solve for everything, as the latter means a state of utopia wherein everything is a bland uniformity.
Therefore improving the platform needs to be seen as how, collectively – Lab, residents and creators – can work to make the platform the best it can be.
For the lab, this means being guided by the Tao of Linden:
Walk in Our Residents’ Shoes: To consider everything – up to and including the kind of projects the Lab can take on with the resources available – in terms of what benefits Second Life users the most.
Be Brave. Fail Fast. Fail Forward: broadly means trying things but without breaking other things, and learning from what does and does not work, and learn from it.
Assume Good Intent and Practice Good Intent: notes this as the hardest – but the Lab really tries to assume good intent in all things – including negative feedback from users – and to take that aspect and work both internally and with users (as much as possible) to bring about positive change.
via Linden Lab
Believes that by relying on values and using the Tao helps the Lab to not just be in service to Second Life but an active part of it.
A further part of bringing about change for the better in Second Life is about users accepting the reverse of the Tao: that the Lab is trying to make changes with good intent, to improve the platform and keep it relevant, even if the change is seen by some as impacting them negatively.
As a part of the above, one of the changes LL is trying to make is to be more transparent about what they are doing and why they are doing it – which is not always easy as changes tend to cause people to react in one of three ways, depending on how it affects them: enthusiasm for it; indifference to it; anxiety / anger against it.
His particular focus on making SL better is that of resources: where should the available time money, resources and her personal energy go.
Commented that the above forms the content of what he will go on to say during the session, and that is was fully aware that his comments may well be parsed, and accepts that as a part of trying to be more transparent.
The updates to the Child Avatar Policy were put together with considerable consultant with Lab employees / contractors who use child avatars as Alt accounts, and with some members of the various child avatar groups in Second Life.
Pointed to the recent Governance meeting on the matter at which many of the questions raised in advance of this Round Table had already been addressed (and referenced this blog – thank you, Grumpity, that’s much appreciated!). Links for reference:
Indicated that the Lab will continue to give clarification on the policy in response to feedback, with the Child Policy FAQ being the best place to read the most recent updates.
Re-iterated that Linden Lab does value the breadth and depth of Second Life user community, and welcomes those who role-play as child avatars for positive reasons.
Requested that people understand that the changes made to the Child Avatar Policy have been done with good intent, and to both protect those role-playing with child avatars and the Lab itself from all moral, ethical and legal accusations about the sexualisation of child avatars in SL or their use in sexual role-play.
Policy and Changes – Broader Context – Oberwolf Linden
These changes are not only driven by the internal needs of Second Life / Linden Lab but also by external needs. For example:
If PayPal were to encounter reports of apparent inappropriate behaviour involving minors in Second Life and without proper context, they might react by withdrawing support for payments to / from the platform through their service, with a potentially massive negative impact on the platform.
Both Apple and Google also have terms and conditions governing apps being placed on their services and these also have to be not only taken into consideration but adhered to if SL users are to be able to obtain the Mobile app when available.
Ergo, when policies, terms of use, etc., are being drawn up and / or updated, there may well be external aspects / legal ramifications impacting them, requirements demanded by other companies and / or society as a whole, none of which may actually understand Second Life – but may well negatively react to unfavourable reports, etc., about the platform without ever seeking to understand the realities of the platform / situation.
All of this applies to almost everything the Lab does with Second Life, and why he says that making the platform “better” is so complicated: there are many aspects to changes – technical, policy, etc., – that extend well beyond the platform’s active users – especially with regards to his own moral imperative to keep the platform going so it can continue to be a place of safety, fun and importance for so many.
The modesty Layer for child avatars will come into effect from Sunday, June 30th, 2024.
The Child Policy FAQ is the place to find out the latest information on the modesty layer requirements, and is updated regularly.
It was stated there would be a further Governance User Group meeting to discuss the policy and requirements on Thursday, June 13th, 2024 [Note: at the time of writing this summary, the June dates for the Governance meetings are given as June 6th and June 20th, so best to check the Second Life public calendar to see if an additional meeting is added, or if one of these two dates is actually used].
The modesty layer on child avatars must not be removable. Ergo, it cannot be an alpha layer or any form of wearable layers, as these can be removed and replaced.
All skins for child avatars (those presenting as under 18) must have a baked-on modesty layer.
The Governance team is (or is due) to have discussions with affected content creators on implementing modesty layers, etc.
[Video: 54:06-57:49] Under the updated Child Avatar Policy, will consulting adults using adult presenting avatars still be able to use pet names such as “mummy”, “baby”, “baby girl”, etc., which might subjective be judged as being child-like behaviour?
In the context of the question, yes they will. This is not about limiting people’s second lives per se, it is about being compliant with society’s expectations vis. the sexualisation of minors and the use of under-age characters in a sexual context, and emerging laws (such as those in the EU) emerging to safeguard against this.
[Video: 57:47-59:08] Are youthful anime avatars subject to the updated Child Avatar Policy?
The rule of thumb is that if someone is presenting an avatar under the age of 18 and is role-playing a character under the age of 18, then they must comply with the policy.
In dealing with issues, LL look at a range of factors: how the avatar presents, the contents of the avatar profile, and multiple other factors; the fact that an anime avatar has large eyes and a child-like face would not be taken as the sole indication it is presenting and being used as someone under 18.
Many of the questions on the Child Avatar Policy are requesting rigid, black-and-white responses, when really, there needs to be some wriggle-room, which the Lab is trying to give through some of their answers.
Hard-and-fast rules would be too restrictive on people, so there has to be some greyness.
People must use their own common sense; they will know when they see sexualised.
Users need to trust that the Lab are not doing things like the Child Avatar Policy changes in a vacuum; they are trying to find a way to safeguard Second Life without unduly restricting people’s ability to have an enjoyable Second Life.
[Video 62:25-63:58] Could the policy be abused – 20 people make false claims against a specific user and have then banned?
Sort answer: no. Abuse Reports are fully investigated, and only where there is substantive evidence to support the report’s claims, is action taken.
The number of reports received about an individual / situation does not factor into any investigation – so it doesn’t matter if one report or 20 reports are filed.
The Governance User Group is the place to learn about the Abuse Report process.
[Video: 63:59-67:43] A statement was made about finding it upsetting that those invested in their child avatar might now be unable to attend things like concerts because they are being hosted on Adult regions.
Oberwolf concurred that situations like this are upsetting. However, as noted above, pointed out that there considerations external to SL which need to be taken into account, as these sadly do place limitations on where those presenting as children can go to help protect the platform as a whole.
As such, he begs people to be flexible and while it might be discomforting to them, if there is an event they really want to attend that is off-limits to child avatars, to change to an avatar presenting as over 18 and help safeguard SL for the future.
The Lab is investigating third-party age verification tools.
Any option that may be selected has to be the least intrusive possible; the aim is not to put road blocks that prevent people from enjoying their SL.
Any third party partner LL might select for the verification process must be compliant with all current data privacy laws. Companies that do not store data beyond the point of verification “all look very reasonable”
However, no decision has been made “one way or the other” on the use of such tools; they are currently only under consideration for possible adoption.
It was announced on April 23rd, 2024 that Linden Research was selling io, their all-in-one payments platform to Singapore-based business-2-business (B2B) payments infrastructure firm Thunes (see: Linden Lab to sell payments platform Tilia to Thunes).
This announcement was followed by a Lab Gab special on the news (see below), which I summarised here.
Many of the questions raised for the Round Table were answered in that – so please refer to my summary / the video below.
In brief:
Thunes is acquiring Tilia – not the Linden Dollar of the LindeX – the latter remain fully under the Lab’s control.
Thunes is not gaining access to Second Life user data beyond the financial information they require to manage transactions (e.g. L$ purchases, processing payments from SL to fiat money accounts).
Tilia will be rebranded to Thunes, but will continue to operate out of San Francisco as its primary base of operations.
In terms of benefits to Second Life users, they will be able to take advantage of many more options to pay for L$ and by which the money they cash out from Second Life can reach them – these include a broader range of supported currencies, the use of digital wallets, etc.
There are no plans at the Lab – who set them – to change the current fees charged in relations to L$ transactions or cashing out, as a result of the sale of Tilia. However:
A caveat to this was the acknowledgement that is Thunes decide to significantly increase the fees they charge LL for using their services, then that might be “problematic” for LL.
The above does not mean LL will never change fees: the LindeX and SL cost money to run. As such, future changes to fees (up or down) to cover the likes of increased costs or to address improvements or shifting requirements, may occur.
A guiding principle used in the decision to sell Tilia to Thunes was the benefit it could bring to Second Life users – not simply who is offer the most money.
In response to a question asked, PayPal will continue to be supported, and the relationship will not change as a result of the Tilia deal.
SL Mobile is currently blocked from accessing Adult rated regions in SL. This is due to policies set by the App Store providers on the types of content they will accept for apps being sold through their services.
LL are trying to refine this to a more granular level to allow access to Adult regions – such as having the App not display Adult content, although this is a complex solution to implement.
Ultimately LL would like to bring all of Second Life to Mobile, and so is continuing to examine ways and means to do so.
There are no major new announcements for Mobile at present. However:
The app is getting “closer” to being listed on the app stores – but no indication as to when this might actually happen.
Gaining a listing will allow LL to open the SL Mobile programme to Premium subscribers.
Oberwolf Linden made an impassioned plea for users to give the Lab time to develop and enhance the Mobile App, requesting:
People not try to hack around the Adult rating block, as this will likely result in the app getting thrown off of the app stores.
Not to get too upset or negative about functionality they think is “missing” – such as buying L$ or viewing the Marketplace, etc. These are capabilities that LL will try to address, but they will require more time.
To review the App on their preferred app store – but to do so honestly and whilst keeping in mind that there will be much more to do and add to the app to improve it.
To give the team working on the app time and space to add functionality and options as they continue to work on it once it is on the app stores, and not just see it as a finished product.
Skill Gaming: a question was asked on how possible abuses of Sill Gaming system (e.g. unfair pay-outs, etc) are investigated and how the Lab monitors Skill Gaming systems.
The short answer was that abuses are investigated in a similar manner as other abuses in SL, and specifics on investigation techniques, etc., cannot be provided.
Those believing they have been subject to abuse as a result of participating in a skill games should file an abuse report and provide as much information as possible.
Adult Content: what is the future of Adult content in SL and initiatives such as the Zindra Adult continent? Addressed by Brett Linden.
LL have no intention of changing the dynamic of Adult content in Second Life in a way that is either discriminatory or which reduces it.
LL recognises it is one of the fabric of Second Life and has a robust creator community and is a vibrant and meaningful part of people’s lives.
While specifics could not be given, there are initiatives LL is developing which will hopefully demonstrate the above.
Oberwolf Linden added that while there are no plans to curtail adult content and activities in Second Life – and recognising that Adult activities are as much a part of the virtual world as the physical world – in order to comply with app store requirements, etc., there is the aforementioned need to “hide” it from SL Mobile.
Community Exhibition: a question as to how the Community Exhibition is being managed, how communities are chose and how they can participate.
What is going to be done to the in-world content creation tools, as opposed to the emphasis on using external tools?
Answered in terms of the drive to open SL to more industry standards [e.g. the glTF 2.0 specification, which is governing he graphics and content creation improvements already in progress] and make it easier for content creators from outside SL to engage with the platform and bring content and experiences to the platform, thus helping to grow it and the economy and benefit everyone.
There is a desire to streamline the content creation process, make it more predictable and enable more of the collaborative spirit of content creation and the use of the in-world tools [e.g. glTF scene import / export with some manipulation of nodes using the in-world tools – see my CCUG summaries for more].
Final word from Oberwolf:
Continue to support the platform.
Be mindful of the fact that LL are trying to do the best they can for the platform and the users.
Again asked for understanding that as SL Mobile reaches a wider audience, they will find many things “broken” [or missing], and rather than complaining about the broken aspect, help improve it by filing bug reposts and offering feedback on improvements, etc.
Requested all residents help grow SL by encouraging people to try it and get involved – not for financial reasons on LL’s part, but to help grow the use base and thus further strengthen the platform.
Following recent announcements about efforts to improve communications and engage with the users, and to provide the opportunity to ask questions of members of the Lab’s senior leadership (see: Linden Lab: updates to policies and new initiatives on community relations (May 2nd, 2024) and Summary of Tilia acquisition Lab Gab + SL Round Table News (April 24, 2024)), on Thursday, May 16th, 2024, Linden Lab announced both the venue details for the the first Community Round Table and those from the Lab’s leadership team who will be attending.
Those attending from Linden Lab will be Oberwolf Linden (Linden Lab Executive chair and co-owner, Brad Oberwager) and Senior VP of Product & Engineering Grumpity Linden.
The time and date of the event (as have previously been given) are: 09:30-11:00 SLT, Monday, May 20th, 2024.
The event will be held at the Linden Estate Service regions, and the following SLurls have been provided for accessing the regions:
Those wishing to submit a question in advance can still do so via this anonymous form.
In addition the the above, the post provides details on how users can engage with the Lab through the Feedback Portal and Support Portal, and by attending the regularly scheduled User Group meetings held in-world on a range of specific subject areas. For details on the latter, please refer to the SL wiki Official User Groups page, and for dates and times, please see the SL Public calendar†.
The official post concludes:
We understand that agreement on every idea or suggestion may not always be possible. However, we can assure you that your ideas and suggestions matter deeply to us, and those perspectives help shape our decisions. Your voice is valued in our ongoing journey together.
We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with each and every one of you in shaping a world that is not only enjoyable and prosperous but also vibrant and flourishing. Your presence here means the world to us, and your contributions are invaluable in making Second Life an exceptional place to belong. Thank you sincerely for sharing your time with us and for being an integral part of our journey towards creating something truly special together.
Again, please read the official blog post for all information on the meeting.
†While they are not officially representative of the Lab or these meetings, please note that I attempt to provide summaries of a number of user group session within these pages, and Patera Północy provides video recordings of the meetings she is able to attend via her You Tube channel).
On Friday, April 19th, Linden Lab issued a pre-recorded segment of Lab Gab, intended to provide updates on various technical projects currently in progress – notably the SL Mobile app – and to provide a modest degree of update on policy matters in the wake of allegations levelled publicly and pseudonymously against the company and some of its employees and contractors, during the month of February 2024.
The video itself – which is embedded at the end of this article – is extensively indexed within its You Tube page. The following is a brief summary of the major (in my eyes) points raised in the segment, and offered as a quick reference summary for those interested.
Currently remains in Premium Plus closed alpha testing (Premium Plus members can sign-up for access to this alpha testing phase).
Work is in progress to expand access to Premium subscribers. However, this requires moving the app from the iOS (Test Flight) and Google Android testing infrastructure (where users have to be manually added to the test environments) to an environment where granting access can be handled on a more automated / streamlined basis, and this will take time to complete.
An update highlighting some of the more recent Mobile app features was issued on April 5th, 2024, and the week commence April 15th, 2024, saw an updated version of the app made available to those in the alpha test programme, which includes further bug fixes and updates – including the addition of deformer support, so quadruped / non-biped avatars render correctly in the app.
SL Mobile development is being looked at in terms of what residents may want to do and the features required to achieve that.
Currently the focus is on users staying connected through notifications, being able to converse, etc., and the receipt (and response to) off-line IMs (which is said to have implications for Second Life in general, not just with regards to Mobile, with future updates on what is being done being promised.
Related to this is work on actually being able to do things – visit places, change outfits / looks / accessories, etc., and interact with objects.
In addition to providing features and capabilities for active users, Mobile is being thought of in terms of how to get “lapsed” users to re-engage with the platform. This work particularly requires the building-out of a set of capabilities to help such users re-engage with the platform and friends as smoothly as possible.
(taken from questions submitted in advance, following the announcement of a Mobile update segment of Lab Gab originally scheduled for March 2024, but subsequently postponed.)
Will SL Mobile support HUDS – yes.
Create and build on Mobile? – longer-term it might be possible to provide a feature that allows some form of content creation on Mobile, but it will be limited. For “serious” content creation capabilities, the desktop viewer will still be required.
Will Mobile be free or pay-to-access – currently, there are no plans to charge for Mobile use, but ideas for making current subscription plans ore meaningful for those only accessing SL via the app are being considered.
A glTF “featurette” capability, providing real-time mirrors in Second Life (including avatar reflections).
Currently available for testing on Aditi (the Beta grid), but simulator support due to start limited deployment on Agni (the Main grid) during week#17 (commencing Monday, April 22nd), with viewer support (at the time of writing) available via the glTF Featurettes RC viewer.
In keeping with the new glTF features, leverage both reflection probes and the upcoming 2K texture support.
Signal Linden demonstrates the glTF mirror capability, which is about to become fully available in Second Life
2K Textures – including Fees
Full support for 2048×2048 textures.
To ensure there is no undue impact on performance given 2K textures have 4 time the area of current 1K textures, work has been put into streaming optimisation to ensure only the require MIP map is used with a textures (e.g. if the texture is 2K, but the surface it is being displayed on only requires 512K – then the 512K MIP map will be used, NOT the 2K MIP.
Fees for 2K texture uploads:
Basic / Plus account: L$50 per texture.
Premium account: L$40 per texture.
Premium Plus: L$10 per texture.
Viewer support will be provided separately to the Mirrors / PBR Terrain work, “soon”.
PBR Terrain
Provides support for PBR materials on SL terrain (including specular and normal map support).
Includes the use of 2K textures.
Materials applied to Second Life terrains. Credit: Linden Lab
Not only improves the texel density (resolution) for terrain, but also provides better blending between textures as terrain elevation changes.
General
Those wishing to see glTF mirrors and terrain support can do so by requesting access to Aditi (the beta grid) and visiting one of the following regions: Rumpus Room 2048; Rumpus Room 2049; Rumpus Room 2050 and Rumpus Room 2051.
However, (initially limited) deployment of back-end support for Mirrors and PBR Terrain on Agni (the Main grid) commenced on Wednesday, April 17th, using the Featurettes RC viewer available via the Alternate Viewers page. The supported regions have the same Rumpus Room names as given above, and I will be updating on this as a part of my SUG meeting summaries.
Note: this section is in keeping with the statement by Linden Lab owner and Executive Chair, Brad Oberwager in light of allegations made with a pseudonymous article which appeared on a social journalise website in February 2024 (further commentary on this can be found here).
A reminder of the age requirements for Second Life:
Second Life is generally for adults (18 years or older).
16-17 years are allowed, but only within General rated regions.
Second Life is not intended for anyone under the age of 16, except for students in the 13-15 year age range, who are restricted to regions operated by recognised / sponsoring educational organisations, and provided with access through a special registration process.
LL is keenly aware of the need not to expose minors to inappropriate content. As such, the age verification process for users entering second Life is to be strengthened, and further details on this will be made available soon.
Use of child avatars:
Linden Lab recognises that adults do role-play and present as child avatars in ways that are entirely without any form of sexualisation or in any way ageplay related, and the company has no intention to limit or prevent this kind of engagement.
However:
Child avatars should not be used to access or be near regions which have (or also have) adult-rated content / activities.
Consenting adults engaging in adult-oriented role-play with / using avatars presenting as children (aka “ageplay”) is not allowed – and will never be allowed – in Second Life, and the policy on this is strictly enforced.
In light of the recent allegations, the Lab is in the process of strengthening the child avatar policy, and the updated version will be rolled out soon. The intent of these changes is to ensure an even greater separation between the use of child avatars and adult-rated content in Second Life.
As well as the above, LL is looking to improve policies relating to conduct both within the broader Second Life community of users and within the company as well (e.g. how staff interact with the wider community, and policies relating to potential conflicts of interest / the perception of favouritism, in the case of the latter).
A cross-department project is also underway to help with content moderation, both in-world and on the Marketplace.
A new channel of communication to launch in May 2024.
Being seen as a more “general purpose” user group meeting type of forum where users can put forward their ideas on how to improve Second Life to executive members of Linden Lab’s leadership.
Update: March 16th, 2024: Regarding SL Voice and capabilities, as mentioned in the latter part of this summary, please also refer to: 2024 week #11: SL TPVD summary: new approach to voice in SL for information on the new WebRTC for Voice in SL.
On Thursday, March 14th, 2024 Grumpity Linden, the Lab’s Senior Vice President of Operations, along with Kali and Signal Linden joined Phelan Corrimal for the annual Above the Book session at the Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education (VWBPE) conference, entitled What’s Up At the Lab.
The function of the session is to explore what’s “new” at Linden Lab / with Second Life and their impact on educators and non-profit organisations using the platform.
The following is a summary of the session covering the core topics raised. The notes provided have been taken directly from the official video of the session, which is embedded at the end of this article. Time stamps to the video are also provided to the relevant points in the video for those who wish to listen to specific comments.
Notes:
This is a summary, not a full transcript, and items have been grouped by topic, so may not be presented chronologically when compared to the video.
Timestamps are included to allow a direct jump to a subject / comment.
A Little Background
Grumpity Linden: is responsible for the Second Life Product and Engineering teams. She originally started at LL whilst working for The Product Engine, and was involved in the development of Viewer 2 (as designed by 80/20 Studio), prior to joining LL full-time in 2014. Her role covers all aspects of product development and platform engineering, and as well as having a strong technical background, she also brings a strong element of interpersonal skills and psychological expertise to the Lab’s management team via her studies at the Johns Hopkins University.
Kali Linden: is now a Director of Engineering at the Lab, reporting into Grumpity, specifically focused on the Lab’s web properties (e.g. lindenlab.com, secondlife.com, the Marketplace, etc.) and associated UI and API design. She has a keen focus on matters pertaining to content creation and also in working in the non-profit sphere, describing herself as a “Nonprofit-preneur” as well as a “Nerd-Gamer”.
Signal Linden: is the Director of the Second Life Server and Viewer engineering and development teams. He has been involved with Second Life since 2008, and joined Linden Lab in 2015 by way of the likes of Amazon. He is a strong believer in the potential of virtual worlds, and a keen proponent of open-source software and collaborative development. He has perhaps most recently been visible as the communicator of, and driving force behind, the Lab’s moves to the use of Github to manage viewer development and issue tracking for their engineering and development environments.
When SL introduced mesh import (2011), the COLLADA (Collaborative Design Activity) interchange file format interactive 3D applications was selected for use within SL for importing mesh models to the platform. This decision was based on its widespread (at the time) use and recognition as an international standard (ISO/PAS 17506).
Since then, content creation and the industry have moved on, and the glTF (graphics library Transmission Format) has been developed over the last decade by the Khronos Group (also responsible for COLLADA), as a standard file format for three-dimensional scenes and models. Recognised and adhered to through the industry, it is the specification of choice for Second Life to move to using.
Linden Lab views glTF adoption as a combination of:
Making the platform more accessible to a wider pool of content creators (as in theory, content made for X or Y in adherence to the core glTF specification (currently version 2.0 (no extensions) for SL) could be dropped directly into SL “as is” subject to licensing)
Making the actual import and use of glTF objects and scenes adhering to the specification pretty much a drag-and-drop capability.
While the techniques involved in glTF content production may be more complex, it is hoped that by adhering to the specification, content creators and users in SL will have great access to more accurate documentation to support the learning process, and have access to a broader set of libraries / tools presenting the means for that drag-and-drop capability with items and objects arriving in SL and looking vastly different to how they appear in authoring tools.
Physically based rendering (PBR) for materials was the first step in glTF adoption, and required a large-scale overhaul of the SL rendering engine. With its deployment and update, LL are now looking to to build out glTF support and capabilities.
Notably, the work now allows LL the opportunity to investigate – and potentially implement – the support of importing of entire glTF scenes (object, scripts, animations, etc., as noted above) into SL and have them stored as a recognisable asset.
This requires another significant overhaul of SL to support glTF hierarches, and so is liable to be a long-term project.
However, work on scene import and its associated requirements is due to start around mid-2024.
Note: this conversation included the export of glTF scenes from SL to elsewhere. As Linden Lab are still investigating requirements for permissions, etc., plus determining what will be required to allow scene import, no definitive answer on this could be given at this point, and so I’ll do no more than mention it here. Please refer to the video below if interested in the conversation.
SL Mobile remains in closed Alpha testing (Premium Plus users only) and the current testing is generating a lot of feedback.
The initial focus was on rendering – with work still on-going – to ensure scenes and avatars could be rendered with a fidelity similar to that of the viewer and robustly.
This saw limited functionality in other areas to start with, but the functionality is being built out, and will continue to be built out and enhanced. Recent updates include:
Start a new chat from any chat screen
On the Nearby Chat screen, see how many people are nearby.
Streaming audio support.
As the functionality is built out, LL plan to start looking more broadly at Mobile use-cases (e.g. bringing-in new users, which requires considering a set of capabilities – signing-up, getting in-world, making connections, etc.) which are different to many of those sought by existing users (e.g inventory sorting).
Some capabilities found in the viewer will not be available in Mobile “for a while” (e.g. building), and core capabilities required for content creation (e.g. mesh importing) may well remain bound to the desktop.
That said, basic object interactions – sitting on objects, driving vehicles, etc., – will be supported.
In terms of broadening the existing SL Mobile user base, the hope is to do so “in the first half” of 2024.
More widespread usage does require more thought around interactions with third party environments (app stores, Tilia for L$ management, etc.) before such expansion can take place.
With the introduction of the Senra avatars in 2023, LL added a web-based avatar customisation flow as a part of the on-boarding process. This process continues to be refined, wit the idea remaining that new users will start with Senra and its available clothing and accessories (LL supplied or via user creators), but eventually move to other systems.
However, it is recognised that in-world avatar customisation is “hard”, so to further assist in new users gaining familiarity with in-world avatar customisation, LL are – as has been suggested by existing users – looking to implement a similar, easy-to-understand flow to customising avatars in-world.
This does require a series of back-end changes to systems to be made, so will still be a while in come.
It will, by necessity, given the huge range of options available in avatar customisation, be somewhat constrained it terms of trying to build a more complex look, but it should allow use users to make changes to their avatar and produce a good result.
As a part of the on-boarding process, LL is looking to improve the registration API that is provided to Community Gateways for on-boarding users directly. No firm decisions on what might be updated and why, but the Lab is interested in hearing from Gateway Communities, those using the Reg API on the changes they would like to see. suggestions via the Second Life Feedback Portal.
It is acknowledged that SL’s voice capabilities (powered by Vivox) have been largely unchanged since their introduction in 2007 (and Vivox has long since ceased active support on Linux).
LL are looking to improve Voice capabilities in SL with technologies which will enable the addition of new functionalities – such as new capabilities in-world such as adding scripted control of voice capabilities.
As with PBR and glTF, the work currently under consideration for Voice in SL would be foundational as / when decisions are made and projects start rolling, allowing capabilities and options to be built up over time.
In line with the work on SL Mobile, the Marketplace / web team are working on trying to make the Marketplace responsive on Mobile, enabling shopping via ‘phone or tablet and also improving the MP’s appearance on the viewer’s in-built browser.
Marketplace Search is also going to see further improvements (e.g. additional filtering).
Feedback move from Jira to Github / Canny [Video: 44:14-48:30]:
The decision to move away from Jira was primarily due to Atlassian (who produce the Jira software) changing their licensing model, making an open-ended system available to all SL users prohibitively expensive for the Lab.
Github Issues was selected as the core replacement tool due to it both it being a good collaborative tool or developers and users, and it is a key tool used within the likes of viewer (open-source and simulator code development.
Canny was settled on for the general user-facing front-end the Feedback Portal) as it has “good” integration with Github, and has a range of tools which allow information to be grouped and displayed (e.g. Marketplace bug / issues; viewer bug reports, projects such as Combat 2.0, etc.).
It also allows for a wider range of feedback to be given, and for prioritising work in terms of popularity of ideas, identifying issues that can be widely beneficial and rapidly implemented, etc.
The Feedback Portal provides general user access to tickets; those with Github accounts (e.g. open source or third-party viewer developers) can access the Github issues side of the system (with some security / sensitive data exceptions) via their Github accounts.
The switch-over was completed in mid-February 2024.
Thursday, June 29th, 2023 saw the fourth in a series of Lab Gab special events take place for the SL20 Birthday celebrations, featuring Brett Linden, the Lab’s Vice President of Marketing, and the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, StyFy Linden.
The following is a summary of the session covering the core topics raised. The full video is located at the end of this article.
Please note:
The session was built around questions submitted in advance of the session.
This is a summary, not a full transcript, and the focus is on those questions which offer insight into the world of the Marketing Team.
Timestamps are included against the topics discussed, so that those who wish can listen to the responses in full.
A Little Background
Brett Linden
As VP of marketing, Brett Linden manages the team responsible for developing media campaigns and strategic content partnerships for Second Life.
Has more then 2 decades of marketing and journalism experience, and has been at the Lab for 16 years.
In the past decade, he has produced numerous virtual and “mixed reality” events and panels on various academic topics with an emphasis on legitimising and better surfacing the many cultures and communities within virtual environments.
From Rolling Stone to Billboard, Brett has also written for major publications and managed multimedia initiatives for Amazon.com and RealNetworks. As a co-founding editor at Billboard.com, he interviewed Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Shania Twain, and Bjork.
Was drawn to Second Life after trying the platform during its first burst of media exposure in 2006 – specifically trying to find the CNN and Reuters bureaux that were active in SL at that time.
At the same time, he received a grant from the McCormick Foundation to run the Virtual Journalism Summit, some of which took place in-world, allowing him to meet Philip Rosedale.
He moved from being a resident to being a Linden in 2007.
He is as fascinated and intrigued – and sometimes frustrated – but always illuminated by the platform, the residents, the diversity of use and creativity, etc., today, as he was when he started.
StyFy Linden
Has been with Linden Lab for 18 months.
Has a broad background in marketing, including client marketing, retail marketing and running marketing agencies, and has also working within some major technology companies.
States that throughout his career, he’s never had as much fun as he is having at Linden Lab.
It has benefitted SL. In 2022,there were some major corporations sucking up a lot of the media’s interest in the “metaverse”.
However, the fact that SL has hit 20 years of open public access at a time when others have really been “flash in the pan” announcements around the “metaverse”, allowing SL to be positioned at the “gold standard” of virtual worlds.
Believes this is being reflected in the kind of press coverage the platform has recently received, and the fact that LL is no longer one “of six” calls reporters might make when writing about virtual worlds – they are the “only” call being made.
Work is understand to update / refresh the SL web properties; thew Destination Guide has received a major refresh, with more work to come [see below].
Notes that the community within Second Life does a lot to help keep SL fresh through content creation, building destinations and experiences, etc., and with their on photography.
The Marketing Team as a whole is expanding with new talent.
All of this is feeding back into the overall media / press interest in Second Life.
Believes that SL Mobile, once available, will offer further interest in SL.
StyFy Linden:
Time has been put into formalising they way in which feedback can be obtained from existing and new Second life users and communities within SL, and even potential SL users.
This is being used to help drive some of the ideas the Marketing Team and others within LL have in moving the platform forward, developing new initiatives, etc.
Marketing is being looked at more broadly; not just as a pipeline to draw new users into Second life, but also how it can be used to assist users during their journey through Second Life: how can Marketing help new users get acclimated to SL; how can Marketing help users to connect with one another; etc.
So the thinking is not longer siloed towards a single goal, but more broadly spread to benefit both the platform and users as a whole.
Brett Linden:
People thinking of Marketing in terms of acquisition only, but the involvement can be broader, as demonstrated with the new Welcome Hub, in which Marketing have played a significant role in helping define how they can help users beyond the pure acquisition stage of their experience with SL.
Very much sees helping to get users to “stick” with Second Life, from having a very good, comfortable initial exposure to the platform onwards, is something in which Marketing can offer considerable expertise.
Can understand why there are misconceptions, as users are not sitting side-by-side with the Marketing team.
Many misconceptions tend to be the result of people’s focus. For example, if they see SL paid ads, they assume the Marketing Team only does paid ads.
The overall strategy is far broader – wrapping into the Public Relations (including the use of an external company), the involvement in user acquisition and retention, etc.
Would also point out that Marketing is only one team within SL. They work extremely closely with Product and Product operations in particular, but this is sometimes misconstrued by users as to which team is doing what; sometimes Marketing will be operating in support of initiatives led by the other teams, sometimes they will actually be leading initiatives which may be perceived as being run by other teams.
StyFy Linden:
Would say the biggest misconception about Marketing is that “all” they do is form pipeline to acquire new users through mechanisms like paid ads, etc.
Marketing touches on many parts of Second life and LL in many different ways, from providing imput through to actively providing solutions for given requirements, and involved across the “entire resident journey”.
Strawberry Linden (as Social Media Manager at LL):
Main goal is to feature as much of the community as possible.
Spreading SL’s presence to multiple social media platforms, as has been the case with TikTok.
StyFy Linden:
Looking to add depth to SL’s current social media presence, particularly where new channels are opening up (as with TikTok, seen as particularly important due to the broadness of its user base).
Brett Linden:
Feels that the social media strategy is an excellent means to celebrate and promotion what the Second Life user community is doing.
Appreciates the ways in which users themselves are using social media to tell their own stories vis Second Life.
In terms of the future, feels video will play more of an important role for SL, giving the growth of platforms like TikTok and Kik.
User Created Content and Its Use in Marketing Campaigns
User created content is one of the biggest opportunities Market has thanks to its richness.
Sees the content available within SL as a cornerstone of those aspects of Marketing’s work geared towards user acquisition.
Would like to have specific feedback / ideas from the community on what Marketing can do to leverage the diversity of content within Second Life to help bring users into the platform / help communities within SL attract new users from beyond the platform.
Brett Linden:
There is a general e-mail address at the Lab which is monitored by Marketing and others to which users can submit general feedback and ideas [not feature request or bug reports – please use the Jira for those!] – feedback-at-lindenlab.com.
Would emphasise that the community is “at the core and heart of all that we do”.
The New Welcome / Community Hub: Goal and Continuing Development
The new hub is very much a “version 1” of the concept. As such it is an experiment, and the Lab is learning from it. As such it will be improved and iterated upon.
It particularly presents an opportunity to observe new users throughout their on-boarding to the platform and through their initial exposure to the world and other users, and take lessons from what is seen over time.
The work is critically important to the overall idea of bringing people into SL and to helping them engage with the platform and thus help ensure its continued longevity.
Notes that there are already community gateways which tackle the new user experience, and sees the Welcome Hub idea as augmenting the work they do.
In terms of strategy, the use of mentors and leaders within the Hub environment is as important as the environment itself, given they provide a friendly, helpful face to SL as new users come it.
StyFy Linden:
Would note that a lot of what is available within the Hub’s regions really flowed out from talking with incoming users about their experience, why / how they are encouraged to stay engaged with SL, who helped them and how, etc.
As with the press, SL was one of a number of “metaverse” platforms brands were looking to engage with in 2022. Now SL is part of a “much, much shorter list” of platforms brands are interested in.
This means SL is attracting a lot of interest; however, LL do not engage with entities simply for the same of creating a partnership; the focus is on partnerships that will add to Second Life and the in-world experience of users.
Because of this, it is likely there will be more partnerships similar to Motown – which itself will be expanded upon – in the future.
Elements of the refresh – such as the additional of search capabilities on the web version – are the direct result of feedback from users on the older Destination Guide look.
Future updates will include “population counts” (i.e. avatars actually within a location); the ability to bookmark / favourite locations, etc.
The architecture for the Destination Guide is actually complex: the version in the viewer isn’t simply the web version presented through the viewer, it is its own entity, driven by the same engine, and DG data touches on things like the official viewer message of the day, the map system, etc.
No timeline on when additional features will be surfaced, but the Destination Guide is “on our roadmap for the next 6 months, let’s say”.
Strategies for Attracting New Users and Content Creators / Artists
Content creation is such a core part of SL, that considering how to engage with the next generation of content creators and bring them in to SL is very much part of the Marketing focus.
Some of the ideas being discussed are “in-world apprenticeships” and partnerships with colleges and universities to help guide students into SL [through, presumably, art and content creation].
Hopefully more of these ideas will be fleshed out throughout the rest of 2023.
Great for 30+ age range. The challenge is 18-29-year-olds.
Feels that reaching this 18-29 demographic is not unique to SL; virtual worlds in general appear to have the same problem.
Time has been spent exploring the challenges involved in reaching this demographic and in looking at the channels through which they can be reached (e.g. TikTok).
There is also a working group “within SL” focus on the subject of growing the user base.
Hopes the platform continues to innovate and expand.
Would love the see SL continue to foster the development and evolution of on-line cultures whilst also scaling to greater numbers of concurrent users and also becoming more broadly available through Mobile.
Most of all hopes SL will continue to be known as a welcoming, creative space that is really honouring and respectful of freedom of expression and people’s individuality.
StyFy Linden:
The power of SL is its users and their creativity, and hopes that remains the cornerstone of what the platform is.
Hope people engage with the platform and how LL will engage with them will obviously change as technology changes, but does not believe what SL is known for is going to change.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 