Tag: Meet the Lindens

SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product and Engineering – summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations: (l to right): Brett Linden, Kali Linden and Grumpity Linden
On Tuesday, June 24th, 2025, Linden Lab held the second of the SL22B Meet the Lindens events, featuring personnel from the  Product Operations teams. The session was pre-recorded, but included a text-based Q&A session afterwards. The session featured:

  • Grumpity Linden – Senior VP of Product & Engineering.
  • Kali Linden – Director of Engineering, Web & Platform Kali Linden.
 Table of Contents

This is a summary of the majority of topics discussed at the session, and the official video of the session is embedded at the end of this article.

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

A Little Background

[Video: 0:53-6:33]

Grumpity Linden

Grumpity Linden: joined SL as a contractor with The Product Engine and helping with the development of (the then) Viewer 2.0 in 2009, and formally joined LL in 2014. As the Senior VP of Product and Engineering she is responsible for coordinating both teams and overseeing their various projects, often in a hands-on capacity (as with SL Mobile).

Personal highlight for the last 12 months at the Lab: working more closely with the creator community and going to the 2025 Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Kali Linden

Kali Linden: has been with Linden Lab for ten years, working on Second Life directly for the last five. She heads-up the teams responsible for the Lab’s web properties, the account management and log-in services, etc. Her current focus is on improving LL’s technology stack, improving the user experience and supporting the overall SL infrastructure.

Her teams directly oversee: the SL Marketplace; Web Search; the Linden Homes web portal; the Destination Guide pages; region purchasing pages; transactional security and accuracy; liaising with AWS for maintenance and cost efficiency; support tooling, asset delivery and storage – managing the databases handling all the inventory of all of SL user’s.

Personal highlight for the last 12 months at the Lab: Agrees with Grumpity on the GDC, and finds the energy and enthusiasm for the platform shown by users to be “really infectious”.

Working Together

  • While Grumpity and Kali have different core focuses, they work together on matters of account security.
  • Working on developing the Premium Plus and Plus subscriptions and working to try to make all subscription tiers a value proposition for users.
  • They noted that not all the work that is carried out is necessarily user-visible (e.g. implementing new back-end tools in support of services, etc.), but often forms the backbone of keeping Second Life operations going.

Web and Tools

[Video 6:55-11:41]

Marketplace

[Video: 6:55 -9:29]

  • Mobile support:
    • Work is going into making the Marketplace more mobile-friendly and to display well on different screen sizes and from within the in-viewer browser without blotting out the entire scene view.
    • The hope is to have a fluid experience so, for example, a user can see an item on an external website (Primfeed was the example used) can tap on the Marketplace link and view the item on the Marketplace with ease for any device and, if they want to, purchase it.
  • CasperVend:
    • LL still plan to integrate CasperVend into the Marketplace.
    • Kali’s goal is to have the integration such that merchants can manage their CasperVend inventory and their Marketplace presence from the same place.
    • Would like to incorporate CasperVend capabilities such as coupon sales and gift cards into the Marketplace as well, and expand on them.
    • Further plans include making it easier for merchants to manage their Marketplace presence – easier inventory management, simpler listing import, and better reporting data.
    • Continuing to improve MP Search in response to feedback from shoppers and merchants.

Web Capabilities

[Video: 9:31-11:41]

  • Kali views the web as an extension to users’ in-world experience, and as such is constantly thinking about:
    • An ability to view and possibly manage inventory from the web.
    • A calendar system for events which also works in-world, and which can include maturity filters.
    • Options for managing Groups and Friends from the web.
  • Would like to see the web become a means for people to more easily be able to manage their Second Life without necessarily being logged-in to the desktop viewer.
  • Is aware of request for people being able to gift subscriptions to friends; for tools for creators and venue owners to promote their spaces; proving shareable Marketplace gift cards – all of these might be seen as making Second Life a more connected environment in which it is easier to share with people you care about.

Second Life Mobile

[Video: 11:45-17:51]

  • Avatars and Performance:
    • At the start of the project, there would doubts about being able to get avatars rendering correctly on mobile devices – and it has proven to be hard.
    • However, the team has made great strides in this area [Please refer to my April and June and / or watch the video below].
    • Currently, work is focused on further performance improvements to further benefit avatar rendering and the app.

  • Currently have a platform that allows existing users to do a lot of the things they can do on the desktop, stay in touch with friends / customers, etc.
  • At the same time, what is available at present is not really enough for those new to SL to come in to it through the Mobile app and really get what Second Life is about.
  • Work is therefore about meeting both sides of the coin: making Mobile a meaningful and useful companion for those already engaged in SL, and on making it a meaningful route for on-boarding those new to Second Life and giving them a clearer understanding of the broader “SL universe”.
  • What the Mobile team is not doing is to try to force all of the desktop experience into the app – the aim is to translate what Second Life is into a more compact experience that meets the needs of new and experienced users.
  • On the short-to-medium term roadmap are plans to work with the server team to provide this like:
    • Persistent chat between Mobile and desktop, without loss of chat history when moving between one and the other
    • The ability to use Mobile whilst logged-in to the desktop, so allowing people to leave their desktop (e.g. to get a drink or something) and still continue to chat, see group notifications, etc.
  • Direction for development is often the result of taking feedback from users. Such feedback is gathered via the Feedback Portal, including the Mobile Alpha Features section, through the monthly Mobile User Group meetings [Note: summaries of Mobile User Group meetings can be found here].
  • Feedback can also be gathered by a physical presence at new user starting locations.
  • Data has shown a lot of Mobile users are in fact new to SL, heightening the desire to make it a great experience for them.

Server and Viewer

[Video: 17:52-20:29]

  • The last 6+ months has seen a concerted effort to improve the performance of the viewer.
    • This work has seen a number of performance gains, although it is in part to compensate in a loss of performance seen in late 2024.
    • These performance improvements have been made across different platforms and for different chipset.
  • Work is continuing on performance, looking at crash rates, FPS, as well as having a focus on quality of life improvements in the hope of making the viewer more a tool to allow people to “get to” their second life, rather than being a product in and of itself.
  • ;The viewer team has also been working closely with Firestorm to help them get their most recently release out the door, which contains all of the features and improvements LL have released over the last 6+ months, as well as including WebRTC (new Voice service) support.

glTF Importer

[Video: 20:30-21:38]

  • The aim with the glTF importer is to make things like importing meshes and materials as simple and straightforward as possible.
  • The initial alpha release of a viewer with the importer can be found on the Alternate Viewers page.
  • Mesh content creators and encouraged to try it out and offer feedback and to attend the Content Creation User Group to discuss the importer.
  • [Note: summaries of Content Creation User group meetings can be found here]. The more feedback given, the 9potentially) faster the importer can be stabilised and make its way through to a release viewer.

WebRTC

[Video: 21:41-24:33]

  • WebRTC (Real Time Communications) is the new Voice protocol for Second Life, replacing Vivox and the need for a Voice API plug-in in the viewer.
  • The WebRTC had been stalled as a result of the focus on performance coupled with a large (but now in substantial decline) number of users using a pre-PBR version of Firestorm (and thus without the necessary WebRTC support).
  • The current target is to have the entire grid running WebRTC by the end of summer 2025.
  • WebRTC voice quality should be superior to Vivox.
  • WebRTC also offers “practically endless” possibilities for feature development.
  • One of the first features to be included with WebRTC is that of moderation tools: these will allow land owners to set the rules for using Voice on their land and carry out Voice moderation – when people opt to be stupid in Voice.
  • Other options being considered for use with WebRTC included AI tools to allow things like instant translation, voice-to-text, text-to-voice, all aimed at expanding accessibility.

New Subscription Level

[Video: 25:06-26:47]

  • Pending a formal announcement, LL are thinking about how to make Premium Plus benefits accessible to a broader swath of users.
  • This includes the idea of offering a version of Premium Plus for creators [only?] without the weekly stipend payout, which would reduce the overall cost of having a Premium Plus account, whilst retaining all the other benefits.
  • This subscription might also be payable in Linden Dollars, although this may not be an option when it is initially launched.
  • Details will be made available on this once things are finalised / ready to be announced.

 

SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations – summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations: (l to right): Squeaky Mole, Missy Mole, Patch Linden, Keira Linden and Izzy Linden
On Monday, June 23rd, 2025, Linden Lab held the first of the SL22B Meet the Lindens events, featuring personnel from the  Product Operations teams. The session was a live event  and featured:

  • Patch Linden – Senior VP of Product Operations, Customer Support & Trust & Safety.
  • Keira Linden – Manager, Customer Success & Trust & Safety.
  • Izzy Linden – Creative Producer.
  • Missy Linden – Linden Department of Public Works.

This is a summary of the majority of topics discussed at the session, and the official video of the session is embedded at the end of this article.

 Table of Contents

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

Linden Homes

Plans

[Video: 4:21-7:19 and as noted below]

  • LL recently released the Premium Aspen Ridge Homes and new styles for the Premium Log Homes.
  • As well as updating theme with new styles, the work also involves updating the back-end technology and improving the overall look of the Linden Homes.
  • The size of Bellisseria makes updating all Linden homes to things like PBR “a challenge”, but will be “chipped away at” as things progress. Updates will continue through the year.
    • [Video 16:19-17:52] Updates will be made on an ongoing basis, notably with PBR improvements, but it might not be possible to implement the seasonally changing landscaping across all of the Linden Home regions.
    • [Video 1:14:15-1:14:30] There have been requests from content creators to be able to hook-into the Linden Homes season changing capability, and this is being worked on.
  • By the end of 2025 the Linden Homes offerings should be: 10 Premium themes (with Trailers also supporting Plus); 5 Premium Plus themes and 1 theme of mixed Premium / Premium Plus.
    • This last mixed theme is scheduled for later in the year and will include “some exciting features”.
  • [Video: 1:16:57-1:19:39] Why does the Lab move on to a new theme of home before an existing theme is “finished”.
    • No theme is every really considered “complete”; while there is an initial map, the Lab is more driven by a mix of demand and diversity.
    • Demand: rather than deploy a “complete” build involving (say) 50 regions, only a handful might be initially released, and those then added to over time based on the popularity of the theme.
    • Diversity: additional themes are released whilst others are still available / not fully occupied to give users an broader choice of themes / styles.

Next Theme – Ridgewood Enclave

[Video: 5:37-6:40]

  • The next theme will be Premium Plus Homes and is “right around the corner” and will be offered under the name Ridgewood Enclave.
  • It will “be separate and kind-of its own thing” and be LL’s first foray into offering allowing commercial activities (which has long been requested).
  • Those obtaining a parcel within Ridgewood Enclave will have the option of devoting their parcel to a home, or splitting it between home and commercial.
  • The roll-out will likely be the homes first, followed by the ability to split parcels between home and commercial.

“Game of Homes”

[Video: 21:03-27:52]

  • Will the selection process for Linden Homes within a theme be improved to that the system does not re-select a parcel a user has already rejected in their current batch of searches (limited to 5 per 24 hours)?
    • Not really. The system is a) old; b) as random as it can possibly be.
    • However, it is recognised it will keep serving up specific parcels, even if far more are available, and may only move on when the parcels it keeps offering are all taken.
    • If a user finds they are constantly being re-offered the same parcel within one of their 5-picks periods, they can contact support, who can reset the user’s number of picks once for any given 24-hour selection period.
  • Premium Plus users have the ability to place a ticket with support to obtain an available Linden home parcel they would particularly like to claim (outside of the initial 24-hour after the release of a new theme).

Land

[Video: 7:43-14:30]

Discounted Homesteads for Premium Plus

  • There are no plans to offer discounted Homestead regions to Premium Plus account holders.
  • As a reminder, it is possible for Premium Plus users who also hold a region (or regions) to pay their tier to LL in Linden Dollars.

Land Capacity

  • The Lab is constantly experimenting with Land Capacity, and has tested Full regions with 40K-80K Land Capacity.
  • However, increases have to be considered alongside a host of other issues (load balancing across instances, impact of simulator performance, etc.).
  • As technology does improve, there may be opportunities in the future to increase Land Capacity as the Lab gains confidence in doing to.
    • IF this does come to pass, it will be announced through the usual channels.

Region Management and Region Server Options

[Video: 12:07-16:19]

  • Are there plans to offer region holders more autonomy over managing their regions?
    • LL has already added the option to restart regions to the holder’s secondlife.com dashboard.
    • Allowing regions holders to take other actions – renaming a region was given as an example – is under consideration, but no time frame as to when such options might be delivered.
  • Are more server options going to be made available for hosting regions?
    • LL already off a bonus Land Capacity option for Full regions and offer both the Event and Elite Event region products, all of which are also available as upgrades.
    • All three cost extra in tier, the Event and Elite Event regions are underpinned by more performant AWS hardware, allowing them to support more agents (avatars) per region, etc.

Themed Mainland Areas

[Video: 17:56-20:48]

  • Mainland has always had a “free to build” outlook, without the imposition of zones, covenants, etc., by Linden Lab.
  • A frequent request to the Lab is to offer such zoning / covenants within Mainland to allow people to build themed communities there.
  • This idea is seen as potentially having merit and benefits, and is something the Lab has considered, and tends to revisit as an idea. However, it does have complexities:
    • Should it be a full covenanted Mainland area (like Bellisseria, but without the Linden Homes)? Is it something on a smaller scale? Is it something primarily aimed at stopping specific activities – e.g. preventing ban lines?
    • How would the model work / impact private estate regions offering their own models and covenants, etc.
  • As such, the idea is not rejected, but it is not on the current roadmap, and if it to reach the point of being actively considered, then it would be a topic to bring back to the community for a more focused discussion and to gain feedback.

Support and Customer Success

Governance and Abuse Reports

[Video: 28:54-32:08]

  • Adult-rated content an images can be seen within moderate rated Mainland regions, often simply by using the road system. What is being done to remediate this?
    • It is acknowledged that this does happen, but given the size of Mainland, LL often rely on users reporting instances where it can be found / seen via the Abuse Report mechanism.
    • The above also applies to avatars behaving in appropriately as well.
  • The name of the avatar account filing any Abuse Report is never revealed to the subject of any subsequent investigation.

Support Ticket Responses / Support Availability

[Video 33:49-38:50]

  • There has been a delay in responding to support tickets. This has in part been due to a reorganisation of the support teams at the end of 2024, which resulted in a backlog of tickets.
    • The estimate was that in January, the backlog stood at 7,000-7,500 tickets, and this has since been halved, with the remaining number being rapidly reduced.
    • Older tickets in the backlog are being addressed in order to clear them as quickly as possible.
  • This, and the nature of more recent ticket that have been coming into the system, has meant that certain cases have taken much, much longer to resolve.
  • LL have been recruiting-in new support personnel, and has almost completed this, to make the customer Success and Trust and Safety teams larger than they were previously, by around 10 people.
  • Currently, most areas of support – tickets, live chat, phone – are back to within their 72-hour SLA requirements.
  • To further help with support matters, weekend support is being re-introduced as from Saturday, June 28th, 2025 (phone and live chat).
  • [Video: 1:21:51-1:23:25] Could live chat support be extended into the evening (SLT)?
    • There are currently no plans to change support hours.
    • However, as more of the new staff come on-stream, it is possible that times can be reviewed and adjusted to better meet the needs of users.

Support and Thunes (Tilia)

[Video: 39:17-42:38]

  • With the sale of Tilia to Thunes now complete (see: LL completes Tilia sale to Thunes: What you need to know) work is underway to streamline handling of support issues over things like cashing-out from SL between the two companies.
  • Those experiencing delays or issues should always submit a support ticket to Linden Lab first, to see if the issue can be addressed directly, and to allow LL to deal directly with Thunes.
  • Going directly to Thunes first can lead to greater confusion and delays.

Account Holds/ Banning Copybotters

[Video: 43:18-44:42]

  • Should someone who has had their account placed on hold receive notification that this is the case?
    • When an account is placed on hold, an e-mail is sent to the address specified in the account. This should include the hold notification and the reason for it, and a timeline as to when to expect access to be re-enabled (if available).
    • These notifications can end-up being steered towards spam or junk or promotions-type folders, so be sure to check these in case filtering has misdirected the e-mail.
    • Those who are sure they have not received any such notification, but have found their account on hold should contact Support.
  • [Video: 44:49-47:54] Can more permanent action be taken against copybotters – e.g. IP bans?
    • Instances of copying content should be reported by the creator of the original content, who can supply LL with all the relevant data (e.g. item location, UUID, etc.), and information on the original.
    • To assist in the process, and if required, LL might additionally request the creator to file a DMCA Notice, if they have not already done so.
    • In terms of preventing repeat offenders returning, LL is always evaluating how to better prevent this / slow repeat offenders from being able to quickly re-access SL.
      • This work also involves evaluating various tools that might assist with investigations into these types of issues.

Account Security

[Video: 49:55-52:50]

  • Malicious messaging, scam links, phishing e-mails are very much an issue.
  • This has been the subject of recent official blogs posts, and posts from bloggers like myself (see: Linden Lab: keeping your Second Life account safe).
  • In short:
    • Never share your account password with anyone.
    • Never supply your log-in credentials in reply to any e-mail, no matter how official-looking; LL will never ask you for them.
    • Be wary of any e-mails or links promising cheap or free Linden Dollars, they are most likely phishing traps.
    • Don’t click on links in group chats, IMs, etc., unless you are absolutely sure of their origin.
    • Strengthen your account with a strong password + the use of the Lab’s Multi-factor Authentication option.
  • LL is actively looking at tools to identify and prevent malicious activity within the platform, and making some basic changes to alert people to the risks in clicking on links, etc.
  • In addition, the Trust and Safety are looking to implement a new Trust and Safety User Group meeting to replace the old Governance User Group, so that matters around account security, etc. Can be discussed.

Payment and Billing

[Video: 1:04:34-1:07:00]

  • More payment options (e.g. Google Pay):
    • Payment and billing is now handled through Thunes, per the links concerning Tilia, above.
    • Thunes is looking to make additional payment options available to SL users, but which options in particular might be put forward is not yet clear, but will be checked.
    • Any new payment options agreed to between the Lab and Thunes will be announced on the Second Life official blog.
  • Can an option be provided to allow those paying tier directly to LL to do so early, if required (e.g. to cover for when they might be on vacation, or in hospital, etc)?
    • It would require extensive programmatic changes to achieve.
    • However, would appear to be a good idea, and a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.

Lifetime Premium and Premium Plus Membership Offers and SL22B

[Video: 1:10:30-1:13:49]

  • There will be no Premium or Premium Plus Lifetime membership offered at SL22B.
  • Such offers are now being reserved for special events (e.g. with partners such as the American Cancer Society), where it is specifically possible to have the funds generated through such offers donated directly to charitable organisations.

General Questions

  • [Video: 32:31-33:26] Does Support hire people to operate remotely?
    • Depends on the position: Customer Success & Trust and Safety operate out the Atlanta offices, and so people working on those teams are based there; Product Operations and its related teams does have the potential for remote working.
  • [Video: 53:02-54:43] Removal of Voice capabilities from InfoHubs
    • This was a difficult decision, given InfoHubs are intended to be newcomer-friendly social gathering spaces.
    • However, too many people were using Voice within these places to harass and cause disruption, so in the interests of the larger community using the InfoHubs the decision was made to disable Voice.
    • The Lab will continue to monitor InfoHubs and may revisit this decision in the future.
  • [Video: 54:54-56:49] Do the Shop and Hop events complete too heavily with user-created shopping events held at the same time (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc.).
    • LL are always “cognizant” of the potential for such impact, but thus far has not directly received any complaints from the organisers of other shopping events or the creators attending them.
    • Shop and Hop is perhaps a broader tent than other shopping events, many of which are geared towards specific genres (sci-fi; fantasy; adult; etc.).
    • Shop and Hop is intended to be seasonally limited (with the special SLB Shop and Hop being an exception), and not driven with the intent to “blot out” other shopping events.
    • If people do feel it is harming other events, then feedback is welcome on that.
    • Creators selected for the Shop and Hop events are selected more-or-less on the basis of a lottery, not based on how quickly they apply.
    • Not everyone who applies can automatically be granted store space at a Shop and Hop, as they are limited by scale and manageability. For SL22B, for example, there were over 840 applicants – doubling the overall logistical requirements for hosting, running and managing the event.
  • [Video: 1:07:15-1:09:49] Is it possible to use the Name Change capability and not have the new name linked to previous names?
    • Currently no, for assorted reasons (e.g. to prevent someone doing something nefarious and then using the Name Change capability to hide their guilt).
    • The above was also something the community was worried about at the time Name Changes were introduced.
    • If attitudes have since changed, then the suggestion is to raise a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.
  • [Video: 1:19:50-1:21:24] Will Cape Ekim (read: Saying farewell to the original Linden Homes – and a Second Life mystery?) be preserved when the old Linden Home mini-continents are retired?
    • Cape Ekim has been considered “very, very seriously” in terms of preserving the history of Second Life Linden Homes.
    • Once all the old Linden Homes have been retired, the plan is to make a special area paying tribute to them, and as such, Cape Ekim, “isn’t going anywhere”.
  • There was a final question on AI tool for translation services, and a full answer on the subject was deferred to the Operations and Engineering session.

SL21B Town Hall Summary: Product Operations (audio + video)

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL21B Product Operations Town Hall (l to r): Missy Mole (host); Patch Linden; Keira Linden, Derrick Linden and Izzy Linden
On Wednesday, June 26th, 2024, Linden Lab held special Town Hall Meeting of the Product and Engineering team, featuring the following personnel:

  • Patch Linden – Senior VP of Product Operations & Marketing.
  • Keira Linden – Support Operations Manager.
  • Derrick Linden – Product Operations Manager.
  • Izzy Linden – Creative Producer.

This is a summary of the topics discussed at the session. Audio extracts are included were appropriate, and a video of the session is embedded at the end of this article – my thanks to Pantera for providing it.

 Table of Contents

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

A Little Background

[Video: 2:02-8:27]

A brief introduction to each of the people participating:

  • Patch Linden: joined the company in 2007 as a support agent. He later became Support Operations  Manager time and then he established the Land Operations Team (then within the Product Team), which became the nucleus of Product Operations. As a senior VP alongside Grumpity, he is responsible for the development and operation of Second Life.
  • Keira Linden: joined the Lab in 2008 working in the Concierge Team. Currently manages all the various support teams for Second Life and also the Governance Team.
  • Derrick Linden: as the Product Operations Manager: joined LL in 2011 and wears many hats – including overseeing the Land Operations Team, the Skill Gaming Team and co-running the Linden Department of Public Works (the Moles) alongside of Patch Linden.
  • Izzy Linden: joined LL in 2007. As the Creative Director works on a range of projects, including with the Moles.

Linden Homes, Land and Mainland

Linden Homes – Patch Linden

[Video: 9:40-17:45]

  • Currently planning for Linden Homes includes:
    • An update to the Premium Log Cabin theme floorplans.
    • A new mixed parcel-size (512 sq m and 1024 sq m) Premium theme with multiple floor plans.
    • A new Premium Plus theme with multiple floor plans.
    • This work is all in the planning / scoping phase; there is also some polling for possible themes to go with it, and maybe an idea from this might be implemented.
    • These ideas are likely to be in development for the next 6-12 months.
  • Transitioning off the Old Linden Homes [the original 512 sq m mini-continents] remains under consideration / evaluation.
    • The longer time goes by, the more likely it is to happen, but there is no firm timeline or date as to when this might start.
    • However, were it to seem possible that the old homes could be retired as the above new selections of homes are rolled-out, then this “might be a likely scenario”.
  • On Premium Plus being allowed two Premium Homes on a single account:
    • Has been thought about. However, doing so would impact available inventory of homes: there are only so many Linden Homes available as any given time, and people taking two diminishes the availability for others.
    • The current mechanism for managing Linden Homes and ownership isn’t geared for single accounts owning multiple homes.
    • It’s acknowledged that the above mechanism needs to by updated for other reasons, so it is possible when this work is carried out, that the idea of multi-Linen Home ownership (and “mix-and-match” ownership of different parcel sizes of Linden Homes) might being looked at. However, updating the system is a significant technical project, and not something currently in the works.
  • On mixing different plot sizes / themes [e.g. a 2048 tree house amidst 1024 Victorian homes]:
    • It’s always been implied that house selection is based on subscription level, theme and floorplan, with the location then based on that rather than being based on location, parcel size, etc.
    • The above approach keeps the system clean and easy to manage, given regions can be defined in terms of intended use  allowing the land to be planned accordingly. Trying to mix all parcel sizes and themes could make things confusing and hard to implement, so LL is wary of introducing too many options into a single selection process.
  • [Video: 58:15-59:12] On providing 512 sq m Linden Homes on Premium Plus 2048 parcels:
    • Has been considered, but it is unlikely to be considered for the foreseeable future.
    • Might be something that gets revisited after the old linden Homes have been retired.

10K Land Capacity Region Product – Patch Linden

[Video:  18:01-20:40]

  • It has often been requested than LL should offer an additional region land product with a 10K Land Capacity, to sit between Homesteads and Full private regions.
  • The idea has been discussed numerous times within the Land Team – but this does not mean anything is necessarily going to be offered, nor should it be inferred that it will be.
  • Any new region product can have the potential to be highly disruptive to Second Life and the platform’s economy, and needs careful consideration.
    • [Side note: evidence of this can be seen in the 2008/2009 OpenSpace region update & transition to the Homestead product. This caused major disruption in terms of pricing and impact on users, and led to a false sense of SL growth. In a period of some 6-8 months, the number of regions on the grid almost doubled (18K to around 32K, and as the expense of Full regions) with no actual increase in the number of active users. This in turn lead to the false sense that Second Life was “failing” in the years following, as the region count declined year-on-year, even though active user numbers remained relatively stable by comparison.]
  • As such, the risk / rewards to everyone involved in SL – the Lab as a business that needs to turn a profit, through the wishes of those who would like to hold a more capable region, to the potential impact on the existing land rental businesses operating across Second Life and there revenue models – need to be carefully assists (and often reassessed).

Mainland and PBR – Derrick Linden

[Video: 20:52-23:24]

  • Addressing Mainland appearing darker under PBR rendering:
    • Yes, a resolution in being developed.
    • The time frame for implementing it is liable to be in the short-term rather than people have to wait for an extended period for it to be deployed.
  • 2K Textures / PBR Materials on Mainland terrain:
    • This is a significant undertaking, but is under active discussion – just no time frame as yet.
    • There are technical / implementation issues that need to be addressed:
      • An automated system of mass update would be the simplest, but might not produce the most satisfactory result.
      • A semi-automated update process would offer greater flexibility of application, but would be far more time and resource intensive.
    • The aim is to try to determine an approach which balances the above and which also has the least direct impact on Mainland residents and users.

Zindra (the Adult Continent) and Adult Initiatives

Zindra – Derrick Linden

[Video: 24:06-25:27]

  • On connecting Zindra to the rest of the Mainland through relocation & a water channel:
    • Has not been considered – but this does not mean it could not be considered.
  • On expanding the Zindra continent:
    • No plans to expand Zindra at present.

Adult Initiatives – Patch Linden

[Video: 25:33-28:45]

  • As hinted at in the December 2023 annual review, the Lab has been considering more Adult-oriented initiatives [which was not, as was subsequently reported / claimed, anything to do with the theme for SL21B].
  • One specific new project in development is a streamlined on-boarding process for new users specifically interested in the more adult / spicier side of SL. It will include:
    • A new Adult-oriented Welcome hub / experience.
    • Provide information on more mature content.
    • Provide the means for them to acclimate to the platform.
    • And more.
This image was part of the December 2023 annual review blog post by Linden Lab, which might show an aspect of the new Adult-centre user onboarding hub / experience
  • This is part of a broader initiative that includes elements such as fostering community, offering living spaces, commercial environments, continental-sized land masses.
  • It is regarded as a “whole new way and approach” to having Adult communities in Second Life, and will be worked on over the next 6-8 months as a background project. More details will be made available in the future.
  • It will hopefully be an environment wherein established and new users within Adult-oriented interests can enjoy and appreciate SL’s Adult content in a setting that will be “very fitting for it”.

Governance and Support

General – Keira Linden

  • [Video: 29:46-32:03] Increasing Governance Awareness of hate speech:
    • The Governance team does all it can to remain abreast of global trends in hate speech, symbols used, etc., which could potential violate SL’s Terms of Service & Community Standards. This is through a mix of research, collaboration with subject matter experts through seminars, etc.
    • Obviously, Governance is also reliant on Abuse Reports filed by users when they encounter hate speech / imagery / symbols, etc., and this can also be used to expand awareness in the team as well as being responded to.
    • It is acknowledged that saying on top of things can be difficult, and factor such as cultural differences at times can come into play, hence why investigations take into consideration context.
  • [Video: 32:24-33:06] On providing insight into the tools and techniques Governance uses:
    • The team and the Lab does not publicly comment on the tools and techniques used during investigations.
    • One simple reason for this is that if those determined to make mischief know of the techniques and tools used by Governance, they would seek to find ways around them and try to avoid discovery, etc.
  • [Video: 33:14-34:18] On automated moderation tools:
    • [see also: 2024 SL Governance meeting week #19: Child Avatar Policy]
    • LL is looking at companies and products in the content moderation space.
    • The aim is to try to make the moderation of egregious content which clearly violates the SL Terms of Service and which could potentially violate laws outside of Second Life, as automated as possible.
    • Evaluation of these tools for suitability is still in progress, but the aim is that should they prove to be on use, to add them to the Governance toolkit and make the removal of offensive content on the platform faster.
  • [Video: 34:38-37:35] On Private Island tenant / land holder disputes:
    • This is not something the Lab can easily involve itself: sub-leasing land from another resident comes down to an agreement between to SL residents to which LL is not a party.
    • As such, and unless there is a clear violation of the SL Terms of Service involved in the situation, there is very little Governance can do.
    • That said, it can be good for Governance to received ARs on situations like this, as it can help to determine if there is a pattern of behaviour or similar, and whether it might be necessary to reach out to someone to discuss matters further.
  •  [Video: 37:44-39:34] On the value of Abuse Reports:
    • Abuse Reports are often the start of any investigation, and so submitting one with as much information as possible is always of value.
    • Without any Abuse Report, Governance has no visibility of any issue or potential issue, whether or not they can act upon it.
  • [Video: 46:53-48:42] On providing 24/7 support to a global user base:
    • Tickets can be submitted 24/7, even if not responded to on a 24/7 basis.
    • The is the support chatbot, which is available 24/7 and can deal with basic support requests.
    • Live chat support works to hours that have been determined to be the most effective for dealing with most types of enquiry, and as the platform has been improved, LL have seen a global reduction in the need to provide global 24/7 support.
    • Support observes US holidays, as that is where it is now based, and staff deserve the opportunity to spend time with their families, as such, all all of support is staffed during such holidays – but this does not necessarily mean there are no support staff.

Account Sharing and Business Use

[Background see: Allow Business Accounts to Share Access Responsibly (Feedback Portal) and DRD Facing Unfair TOS Enforcement (Forums).]

[Video: 39:39-42:30] – Patch Linden
  • On a simplified level, the Terms of Service and related policy specifies that account details should not be shared with another individual, and while often complicated, LL has tried to adhere to that.
  • LL look upon users’ accounts akin to a financial instrument – accounts have financial information on them and provide access to billing and payment methods and includes the ability to spend money.
  • Account access gives opportunities for irreparable damage to be done, such as deleting and purging a person’s entire inventory.
  • It is also true that relationships can and do go wrong, and can be seen to go wrong . Therefore, LL is protective as protective as possible about people’s accounts.
  • That said, LL has “heard the call”, and recognise that perhaps times have changed, and so might be amenable to change.

[Video: 42:30-44:32] – Keira Linden
  • Changes to process and policy can take time, particularly when it touches on multiples teams / departments (as this does).
  • However, this request / issue is actively being worked on in order to come up with an approach / solution that meets everyone’s interests.
  • Biggest concern is fraud / the need to protect people’s financial interest, simply because relationship can break down / things go wrong between people.
  • As such, it will take time to work out and produce something, but the issue is being worked on.

Content Theft & Sale: Setting a Policy Outside of DMCA – Keira Linden

[Video: 44:36-46:46]

  • It is “tricky” determining who is the rightful owner when two people claim to be the originators of content in SL.
  • As Intellectual Property (IP) is protected by international laws, via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), LL must adhere to DMCA provision in order to be covered by it.
  • Therefore, in all matters of potential content theft, creators must submit a duly-completed DMCA form, and the team responsible will help guide people through the process.
    • Filing the DMCA form starts a creator on the legal process of protecting their named content not only in Second Life, but in the digital ecosphere as a whole.
    • While there may be very occasional situations where the IP violation is so obvious, LL might be able to take direct action, these instances are seen as very rare, and creators should not rely on fitting into this category.

Dealing with Charitable Organisation & Events & Disbursement of Funds Raised – Derrick Linden

[Video: 49:00-52:24]

  • Linden Lab has two levels of relationship with those raising funds through Second Life.
    • The highest is with established fund-raising partners in Second Life (e.g. the American Cancer Society; Team Fox / The Michael J. Fox Foundation, etc.). This level includes agreements in place for how they operate and how the Lab supports them.
    • The lower level and individuals and organisations raising money through SL, but where there is no formal partnership with LL. Here’ the Lab is more limited in what it can do in support of such events.
  • Working with those in the latter option tends to be limited to assisting them with listing their event(s) in the Destination Guide, verifying any past fund-raisers the individual / group has done, and, if the individual / group is working directly with a charitable organisation, getting verification that they are authorised to to so.
  • Ergo, if an event is listed in the Destination Guide, it has gone through verification as a legitimate fund-raiser, and the money raised will make its way to the intended recipient party/ies, with verification this as happened after the event.
  • This does not mean charity events which are not listed in the Destination Guide are someone “false” or not really raising funds as stated – it simply means that the event has not gone through any process + verification in order to be listed.

In Brief

Second Life Community Exhibition – Izzy Linden

[Video: 55:20-56:44]

  • Located at the Welcome Hub.
  • Is a three-phase development:
    • Phase One – initial opening with selected communities – completed.
    • Phase Two: initial expansion with submissions from communities – completed.
    • Phase Thee: final build-out of available exhibitor areas, with submissions from communities.
  • Once the available space has been built-out, LL plans to start rotating community displays in and out of the exhibition space so that all participating communities have exposure.
Second Life Community Exhibition (SLCE), at its opening in January 2024
  • Also included in Phase Three will be a gift spire, where all participating communities can place gifts if they so wish.
  • Communities wishing to join the Exhibition can do so via the SLCE application form,

Second Lifetime Premium and Premium Plus Subscriptions – Patch Linden

[Video: 57:24-57:51]

Will SL Support Multi-Partnering? – Patch Linden

[Video: 1:02:17-1:03:25]

  • Has been discussed, and a project to allow for multiple partners (including listed in profiles) is in development.
  • No time frame as to when it will be released – the design work has been done, and it is hoped that Engineering and Product will be able to work on in Soon™.

General Questions

Please refer to the video from 1:03:28 onwards.

SL21B Town Hall Summary: Product and Engineering (audio +video)

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL21B Product and Engineering Town Hall (l to r): Kali Linden, Signal Linden, Missy Mole (host), Grumpity Linden, Sntax Linden, Kyle Linden

 

On Tuesday, June 25th, 2024, Linden Lab held special Town Hall Meeting of the Product and Engineering team, featuring the following personnel:

  • Grumpity Linden – Senior VP of Product & Engineering.
  • Signal Linden – Director of Engineering Second Life Server & Viewer.
  • Kali Linden – Director of Engineering Web & Platform.
  • Sntax Linden – Senior Product Manager.
  • Kyle Linden –  Product Manager.

This is a summary of the topics discussed at the session. Audio extracts are included were appropriate, and a video of the session is embedded at the end of this article – my thanks to Pantera for providing it.

 Table of Contents

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so.

A Little Background

[Video: 2:37-8:48]

A brief introduction to each of the people participating:

  • Kali Linden: has been with Linden Lab for nine years and heads-up the teams responsible for the Lab’s web properties (Marketplace, Secondlife.com, etc., the account management and log-in services, etc.
  • Signal Linden: a software engineer with a long history with virtual environments (MU* platforms, etc.), and started using SL as as high school student. He joined LL in 2015, initially working on Sansar. His background is software engineering, and he now leads both the viewer and server engineering teams.
  • Grumpity Linden: joined SL as a contractor with The Product Engine and helping with the development of (the then) Viewer 2.0, and formally joined LL in 2014. As the Senior VP of Product and Engineering she is responsible for coordinating both teams and overseeing their various projects, often in a hands-on capacity (as with SL Mobile).
  • Sntax Linden: manages the Lab’s web properties under Kali Linden (as he leads the monthly Web User Group meetings), and currently has a specific focus on the Marketplace and improving Second Life’s commerce environment.
  • Kyle Linden: as a product manager, is focused on creator tools within the platform. He is a 17-year veteran of Second Life and has worked in most areas of the Linden Lab / the platform in that time.

Major Announcements

SL Mobile

[Video: 1:09:25-1:16:34]

The SL Mobile log-in screen (splash image changes with each log-in), the connecting screen giving destination, and the in-world view with drop-down menu active
  • The App is not currently visible on  Google Play, as new apps take up to 7 days to become searchable there.
  • It is hoped the Beta can open out more widely Soon™.
  • As a Beta product, there is still much more work to do – but a lot has been achieved with the assistance of the closed alpha users / testers.
    • However, SL Mobile will never provide all of the features found in the viewer, as it is impractical to do so (e.g. in-depth content creation is unlikely to be a part of the app).
  • In keeping with the above, feedback from those trying the Beta is welcomed – refer to the link to the official blog post above for details.
  • Feedback is requested through the SL channels, not through either the Apple Store or Google Play, as the latter could unbalance the app’s ratings unfairly, given it is only a Beta product, not a released product.
  • LL are still in consultation with Apple over the issue of the iOS version of the app not being allowed to access Adult rated regions.
  • LL have been in discussions with Unity (as the app is built on that engine) over Unity’s sudden licensing changes earlier in 2024, and the belief is that this will not be an issue for SL mobile in the future.

Scripting and Lua(u)

[Video: 26:31-31:17] – Signal Linden

[Background: In February 2024 it was confirmed LL is looking to natively adopt Luau, a Lua VM implementation viewer-side as a means of providing better support for, and control of, scripted agents (including automated testing capabilities using such agents; providing a means of supporting custom UI extensions / plug-ins without having to resort to C++ and adding custom displays to present exiting information in the viewer. See here and here for more on the initial announcement. The following is in addition to that work.]

  • Signal indicated at as well as running Lua natively on the client-side, LL is now looking to replace the Mono VM runtime engine with Luau’s runtime engine on the back-end.
  • This means that scripts should be more efficient in their memory use and execute faster.
  • The work is still in the benchmarking / development phase, and more information will be provided as work progresses.
  • As this is now a viewer / server project, it is liable that information will be made available through both the Simulator User Group meetings and the TPV Developer meetings, as it become prescient.

  • Rider Linden added further context to the above in local chat:
The project will end up swapping the underlying Mono VM out for a Lua VM under the hood … Our plan is to support both [LSL and lua]. We will end up compiling the LSL down to the Lua bytecode. [So essentially] 2 VMs. LSO (the old stuff) and ultimately the Lua VM. The Mono -> Lua bytecode change should be invisible.

Content Creation

Educating Creators (Best Practices, Content Optimisation, etc) – Kyle Linden

[Video: 10:00-11:42]

  • The existing community of Second life creators as their greatest educational asset, and so are thinking about ways to spotlight creators who provide videos, guides, tutorials, and / or by teaching in-world, etc., on a “best practice” basis.
  • That said, LL acknowledge their own documentation is often poor – much is out-of-date, features are often released without full documentation [which also might never follow as a result], and focus needs to be placed on this.
  • Believes that LL are going to try to build a better repository / resource creators and users can use to find the kinds of tutorials / class / video guides mentioned above.

Improvements to Mesh Rigging and the Avatar Skeleton – Signal Linden

[Video: 12:07-15:31]

  • LL is aware the current approach to rigging mesh and attachments to the avatar is a non-trivial task is is looking to ways to improve the workflow for creators so that content built outside of SL can be more directly imported and “work”.
  • This involved moving to modern content creation standards [i.e. the glTF 2.0 specification, as frequently referenced in this blog].
  • First phase of this work currently in development with glTF scene import, which will prototype a “drag and drop” approach to taking content from Blender and dropping it into Second Life [details on the glTF import / export work can be found in my CCUG summaries].
  • One outcome of this work will be the ability to have more “local mesh preview” capabilities, where content can be temporarily displayed in the viewer exactly as it appears in the tool used to create it (e.g. Substance Painter, Blender), without having to go through any form of upload conversion (somewhat like the Local Textures capability).
  • Further into the future, this work will mean SL can support custom armatures (rigs / skeletons).

Animation Improvements – Priorities and Editing – Signal Linden

[Video 15:38-17:08]

  • This is seen as an important capability by many, both for helping to improve the smoothness of things like Animation Override systems and in avoiding potential conflicts between animations.
  • It has often been requested and is something the Lab would like to tackle. There are requests on the Feedback Portal, and people are asked to vote on them to indicate how important they think this is, and new ideas should be submitted there.
  • Sees the issue potentially being tackled in a number of ways (e.g. better scripted support, supporting different animation formats, etc.).

2K PBR Terrain on Mainland / Support for PBR and 2K textures on Avatars -Signal Linden

[Video: 19:12-21:16]

  • 2K PBR terrain on Mainland more a Product Operations question than an engineering question.
  • 2K textures + PBR support for Avatar Appearance [Bakes on Mesh/Bake Service; wearables assets (inventory), appearance editing, etc.]: No 1 most voted request on the Feedback Portal and is currently being planned. Deployment should eventually be a combination of both at the same time, once ready.
PBR terrain. Credit: Linden Lab

PBR and Improvements – Signal Linden

[Video: 32:53-40:39]

  • The graphics team is continuing to work on optimising PBR performance, including fixing redraw bugs, memory use, etc.
  • This work is in part focused on optimisations for mid-range hardware (e.g. around US $800 brand-new).
  • With regards to MacOS, there is a focus on the current memory issues
  • LL recognise that the introduction is a world-changer in terms of SLs visuals – but it is also a world-changer in allowing content creators to more readily use their tools to produce good content for Second Life without having to resort to arcane measures.
  • Appreciate the change can be painful for some, and are trying to respond where possible with updates and improvements.
  • Pointed out (again) that the arrival of PBR is just one step in the overall plan for enhancing Second Life’s capabilities and full leverage modern content creation tools and techniques.

WebRTC

[Video: 45:48-50:00] – Signal Linden

[Background: WebRTC (RTC=”real-time communication”) is bing implemented to replace Vivox as the Voice component in Second Life. It is both a viewer and server project, with the viewer code supplied as a library with a wrapper, so there will no longer be a separate 3rd party Voice .EXE plug-in. It will offer a more extensible, “industry standard” approach to voice in SL, with better fidelity and sound quality. Initial deployment will see it work alongside Vivox (with some limitations).]

  • The release candidate viewer can be found on the Alternate Viewers web page.
  • The switch-over will be carried out in collaboration  / cooperation with TPVs.
  • Work has been put into securing the use of WebRTC Voice against attempts to eavesdrop, obtain people’s IP addresses, etc., by routing peer-to-peer communications via an internal server using a Lab proxy IP.

Commerce

  • [Video: 58:11-1:00:33] Mult-Factor Authentication (MFA) – Kali Linden
    • Will be added to the Marketplace.
    • It will be opt-in, as per the viewer / SL dashboard.
    • The overall goal is to have MFA applied to all points of entry to SL for those using it.
  • [Video: 1:00:59-1:03:01] Marketplace questions – Sntax Linden
    • Marketplace Search has been undergoing improvements and will continue to do so, all the the aim of improving the ability of content creators to promote their content and buyers get to the content they want to see.
    • Marketplace on mobile devices: There is a project underway to update the Marketplace design and UI which it is hoped will make it more accessible to smaller screens, and when using the in-viewer web browser.
    • Feedback on these welcome through the Feedback Portal and at the monthly Web User Group meetings.
  • [Video: 1:03:05-1:04:16] CasperVend / Marketplace integration – Kali Linden
    • A road map is being developed as to what makes the most sense to do first with CasperVend integration in general.
    • Again the onus is on making the general shopping and merchant experience better across the Marketplace and when using / interacting with CasperVend products.
    • It is likely one of the first areas for integration will be having CasperVend delivering go through the same mechanism as Marketplace deliveries, simplifying CasperVend redeliveries.
    • Longer-term going is to have things integrated so that Merchants can manage their activities through a single point, whether selling through CasperVend or / and via the MP.

In Brief

Upcoming Initiatives – Kyle Linden

[Video: 24:40-26:20]

  • Combat 2.0 [ first tranche of work updating the Second Life Combat system (SLCS – see my Combat User Group summaries).
  • Implementation of game controller support (e.g X-Box game pads).
  • Introduction of WebRTC Voice.

Additional Viewer Updates – Kyle Linden

[Video: 42:15-45:29]

  • As well as those mentioned (glTF scene import, WebRTC, etc):
    • More sample content to the Library (e.g. mirrors).
    • HDRI support for skies, etc.
    • Possible updates to the library EEP settings to HDR.
    • Possibly extending the use of emojis in Display Names (this is problematic as it requires Unicode data to be stored, and so is only being explored at this time and many not make it to feature release).
Emojis in the viewer (and most / all TPVs)

Accessibility Initiative – Kyle Linden

[Video: 51:45-54:50]

  • Some of work going into SL over the last few years has been focused on laying the foundations for improved accessibility options.
  • One of the first elements of this work to surface will be server-side translation for text.
  • In the future, the deployment of WebRTC could potentially allow for direct text-to-speech / speech to text.
  • AI tools might be considered for giving access assistance to SL.
  • Those with ideas for making SL more accessible to all should file feature requests via the Feedback Portal.
  • It was pointed out that creators could help with accessibility by giving their creations meaningful names where appropriate, rather than leaving them as the default “Object”.

The future of Mesh Upload Prices – Grumpity Linden

[1:05-06-1:05:58]

  • With the work on glTF mesh uploads and scene imports, LL will be re-evaluating the cost of mesh uploads across all membership levels.
  • In the interim, the change to make 2K texture uploads  free for Premium Plus subscribers is now live.

General Questions in Last 15 Minutes

Please refer to the video from 1:16:53 onwards.

 

SL21B: Linden Town Hall Meetings and the Live Music Events

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

During the Second Life birthday celebrations over the last few years, there have been sessions referred to as Meet the Lindens. Held daily, these provided opportunities for people to hear from and put questions to Linden Lab personnel, generally with questions submitted beforehand.

For 2024, these sessions will be replaced by series of special Town Hall sessions, and the second of their new Community Round Table events, featuring members of the Lab’ senior management team. On Tuesday, June 19th, the Lab provided details of these events, together with information on the SL21B live music events and performances, and I’m combining the information here for ease of reference.

Community Round Table and Town Halls Sessions

All events at the SL21B Aquatorium.

Date and Time Event
Tuesday June 25th 13:30 SLT Town Hall: Product and Engineering:

  • Senior VP of Product & Engineering Grumpity Linden.
  • Director of Engineering Second Life Server & Viewer Signal Linden.
  • Director of Engineering Web & Platform Kali Linden.
  • Senior Product Manager Sntax Linden.
  • Product Manager Kyle Linden.
Wednesday June 26th 13:30 SLT Town Hall: Product Operations:

  • Senior VP of Product Operations & Marketing Patch Linden.
  • Support Operations Manager Keira Linden.
  • Product Operations Manager Derrick Linden.
  • Creative Producer Izzy Linden.
Thursday June 27th 13:30 SLT Town Hall: Philip Rosedale interviewed by Brett Linden.
Friday June 28th 13:30 SLT Town Hall: Meet the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works.
Monday, July 1st 11:30 SLT Community Round Table with Linden Lab Executive Chairman Oberwolf Linden and Senior VP of Product Operations & Marketing Patch Linden.

Questions for any of the above events can still be submitted through until Friday, June 21st, 2024.

Live Music Events and Performances

Over 500 live performers are lined-up to perform across  four stages at SL21B between Friday, June 21st and July 1st. The complete schedule can be seen below.

SL21B Dates and Theme

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.

Dates

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.

– From the official SL21B announcement blog post

Links

SL20B Lab Gab Special: the Moles of Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab
On Friday, June 30th, 2023 saw the fourth in a series of Lab Gab special events take place for the SL20 Birthday celebrations, featuring featuring Patch Linden and the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW). Table of Contents

Unlike the other summaries in this series, this article focuses on the work of the Moles and the projects they are currently working on and which have recently been launched or will be launched in the near future. Broader questions on individual interests, hopes for the future of SL, subjects (such as the SL20B Sweepstakes) covered in more depth in other Sl20B Lab Gab sessions are not included below. As always, timestamps to the video are included within each topic / sub-topic, allowing comments made to be heard in full.

Meeting Some of the Team & About the LDPW

[Video: 0:00-7:50]

  • Short interviews with a number of the Moles covering what they do and how they became members of the LDPW team. These discussions fold-in to them some of the points below.

Who or What are the Moles?

  • Officially called the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW), originally formed in 2008, Moles are residents from all over the world hired by Linden Lab as independent resident-contractors to undertake Lab-led projects.
  • Their work was originally focused on the Mainland, adding the infrastructure – road, bridges, etc., and the landscaping, as noted in the official LDPW wiki page, although they actually do a lot more than this.
  • Notable major projects carried out by the Moles include:
    • Development of residential centres such as Nautilus City and Bay City and Bellisseria; development of the Lab’s various games accessible through the Portal Parks.
    • Involvement in special development projects for both Second Life (e.g. Bento, Animesh, EEP, PBR), and partnership developments (e.g. Zenescope and Motown Experience), that latter under the banner of Second Life Studios.
    • In keeping with their name, Moles were originally given a mole avatar, complete with hard hat. However, over the years, most have moved to having a more individual and personal look, although some say with their Mole look.
    • As well as being paid for the work they do, Moles also receive and allowance from the Lab, which is primarily intended to go towards the cost of uploads (texture, animations, mesh objects, etc)., but which can also be put towards developing their individual looks.

How to Become a Mole

  • Positions in the LDPW are open to application by residents who believe they are qualified to work in the team, and the team may also approach specific residents and ask if they would consider joining them.
  • Applications are made by dropping a résumé (note card or email) of qualifications / experience (including links SLurls, Flickr, You Tube, etc.) to Derrick Linden (derrick.linden-at-lindenlab.com) or to Patch Linden (patch.linden-at-lindenlab.com).
  • Applicants have to go through a former interview process.
  • Successful applicants get to pretty much choose their hours of work – providing agreed tasks are completed on time.
  • As they are from around the world, this can allow some projects to move forward on almost a round-the-clock basis.
  • Those who are more fully-rounded in skill sets  – content creation, scripting, etc., – are encouraged to apply, but LL will also take on specialists.
  • Motivated, outgoing, communicative people with a passion for SL and willing to self-teach themselves new skill sets are particularly considered.

About SL20B

[Video: 7:57-20:32]

  • Missy Mole:
    • Planning for SL20B started during SL19B, commencing with a review of what worked / didn’t work at SL19B, and initial discussions on the 20th anniversary theme.
    • The initial planning process for the theme (/build aesthetic) and size of the event took around 3-4 months.
    • The size of the event means there are 321 exhibits – many of them interactive -, compared to 150 just five years ago. The increase in event space has meant some exhibit parcels (around 100) could be offered at 4096 sq m.
    • The focus for the last few SLB events has been not only to encourage people to share in the theme, but to present exhibits that reflect their passions / interests: art, music, community activities, etc.
    • SL20B is also the first SLB event to include the Adult community (also at the Shop and Hop as well). To achieve this, there was a lot of direct canvassing / encouraging of Adult communities to come and participate, rather than just leaving it to people to apply. As well as the Adult region exhibits, there have also been events hosted on them.
    • Discussions within the LDPW team are already in progress to discuss how the Adult presence can be grown in future SLB events, including the possibility of having an “official” event stage within the Adult regions.
  • Patch Linden:
    • Given it is the 20th anniversary, the decision was decided to refresh some of the “core” SLB builds (such as the Tapestry of Time) and also the Shop and Hop regions to be more in keeping with the event theme and also to offer fresher designs for future events.
    • The New Shop and Hop region design will be retained and “themed up” for future events.
  • Dreaming Mole:
    • The concept of the Welcome Area was to present a setting which reflects both the theme of the event and suggests important factors for the future – sustainability, etc., whilst also acting as a natural information hub and viewing area.
    • The landing point was placed so that people would see the structure before them and be encouraged to walk towards it, along the Community Gallery Walkway.
    • The overall inspiration for the build was modern architecture and the work of architects such as Oscar Niemeyer.

Current LDPW Projects

[Video: 21:45-28:01]

  • Linden Homes – with additional content and themes.
  • User experience – the experience user have when the come into Second Life, as distinct from the Senra Starter avatars [see below].
  • Further entertainment partnerships “in the works” similar to the Motown Experience.
  • The TV show tie-in [mentioned in Patch’s SL20B Lab Gab session].
  • Further Linden Games are also in discussion.
  • LDPW also developed the Social Casino, including the games and the gaming HUD, and which will be expanded on with prizes, rewards, leader boards, etc [see Grumpity Linden’s comments in the Lab Gab session featuring her and Mojo Linden as well].

Senra Starter Avatars

[Video 22:56-24:23]

  • Senra is the brand name giving to the upcoming new Bento / Bakes on Mesh complaint starter / new avatar series specifically developed via the Moles as a Lab project, and which were initially previewed at SL19B in 2022.
  • Come with a complete set of accessories: hair, skins, clothing, attachments, shoes, etc. All of which will be presented as a full library of content within the viewer (as a part of the overall Library).
  • The first phase of the release will feature two human avatars + accessories, etc., referred to as Jamie (female) and Blake (male).
  • The second phase of work has already started and will include anthro, allowing Senra to cross over into “other areas.”
  • The launch is provisionally targeting middle-to-late-July.
  • Prior to the launch, effort will be made to get the developer’s kit (devkit – covering clothing, accessories, skins, etc.) and licensing agreement made available to SL content creators who wish to develop content and sell it into the Senra ecosystem.
Screen caps of the Senra Jamie and Blake avatars. Note: as these are screen caps (as I was unable to be in-world for the session), no assumption as to the overall quality / looks of the Senra avatars should be assumed on the basis of these images

The BelliHub and Welcome Hub

[See also: A look at the new Belli Rub – I mean BelliHub – in Second Life]

[Video: 28:10-37:17]

  • Abnor Mole:
    • Initially grew out of a need to have somewhere to demo the Liden Home themes and styles for those wishing to “try before they buy” a Premium / Premium Plus account.
    • The grew into an idea to also provide further information on Bellisseria and from there grew into a complete Welcome Hub for new users.
    • However, the primary focus is to provide information on Bellisseria for existing resident and give insight into Premium Subscriptions via an in-world means.
BelliHub: Linden Homes demo area at the BelliHub
    • As they were in development at the same time, some of the work put into the BelliHub Welcome Area was used to inform the design within the the Welcome Centre at the new Welcome Hub.
    • The Welcome Hub with its nine regions is designed to provide a more complete experience for incoming new users, which in part came off the back of the fact that many people coming into SL will go through the older Welcome and Social islands and think that that was all there is to SL, and leave.
    • So the Hub is intended to both introduce new users to both the viewer and using an avatar and to encourage them to understand there is much more to discover about Second Life and the events and activities which take place in SL, while at the same time not locking them into a specific path or hierarchy of things they have to go through in order to better understand SL.
      • The above is very much assisted through the presence of mentors and the video and general info boards they can opt to use or skip over, depending on their knowledge and abilities.
      • The only really “key lessons” within the Welcome Centre of the Hub are moving, talking, and interacting with objects. The rest is intentionally free-form.
    • [Video: 50:23-51:00] The overall design of the Welcome Hub is intended to be modular in that options, features, areas, can be swapped in / out with others, and the overdesign expanded, etc., as required.
A question was asked about refreshing Mainland terrain textures. There is an off-shot of the current PBR Materials project to allow such materials to be applied to SL, and  – with noted caution about ensuring consistency of appearance, etc., – this will include Mainland. Details of the PBT project and the terrain project can be found in my CCUG summaries; also see this official sneak peek. Image credit: Linden Lab

Who is Magellan Linden?

  • Magellan Linden is The Great Explorer of Second Life (who was once said to have vanished during his explorations, but does pop-up from time-to-time) is a construct, rather than an individual, but as revealed in the session, Abnor Mole loans his voice to Magellan!