Servers will hum, staff will turn up to work, money will exchange hands, software engineers will continue the day-to-day patching of bugs, and Herald readers will continue to cheer, cry, scoff, whine, moan, bitch, harangue, laugh, and bluster.

As they say, “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme.”

I think it’s cute the way you think you know what you’re doing.

And did any of those MMO’s have anything in common with SL except for the fact that they were online where users could interact? Did any of them have a currency with an exchange rate with real world currency? Did they have their own scripting language? Could users buy or rent land? How much freedom did they have to create content? How much freedom did they even have to explore? Not much by comparison, not much at all. Give credit where credit is due. Thats not logic you’re peddling there, it smells more like butthurt.

‘I am aware that these numbers don’t consider tranasctions made outside of Second Life but to consider a product with a economically involved userbase of slightly more than 100,000 as ‘very successful’ is a considerable stretch of imagination’

You mean 100,000 in the month of february right? Which is not by any means the total amount of users economically involved in Second Life. FYI there was still over 25 million USD circulating just between users in february. Of course that doesnt count profits LL makes in tier, for texture uploads, monthly fees for premium accounts, money they take when you cash out and a whole hell of alot of other stuff.

It’s obvious that LL is now making a genuine effort to fix problems that have been plagueing the platform, just calm down and be patient. It’ll come.
It all started with the establishment of the GTeam, then physics system upgrades, new search system and from there we are going to see alot more bigfixes and improvements. The lindens know about our greviances and they’re taking action to make changes to improve usability and to appease us. It just takes time, LL did have a time where they were complacent but that time is not now.

Lets not forget that LL is a business and they operate for profit. If the users are unhappy then their pockets tend to get lighter. They want your money and anyone with enough technical ability to engineer this whole thing is going to be intelligent enough to know what it means if he can’t keep his customers happy.Change is on the way. Look out, here it comes.

I think d3adlyc0d3c , as CEO , should initiate an investigation into what Torley is on….then share it with the rest of us as I wish I could be as happy as he seems to be. …….”Ha-Ha!” “Friendly Greetings!!”

Personally, I’m of the opinion that it’d be that way if the PN was running things. I mean look at yourselves, your so butthurt that codec ditched you that you follow him around to cry in all his articles.

I can’t believe you still have the balls to even use the term ‘BAAWWW’, but then again, you guys always were hypocrites and closet furries.

Also, Witness X, stop using the closet defense if you don’t want to be laughed at, it’s an old and typical response used by any fetishist as a reaction to internet bullying, furries, infantilists, pedophiles, ect, they’ve all used that line.

Though Mr. Rosedale may have led Second Life through it’s infancy and following growth period the ideas behind a persistent, user created, 3D world certainly are not unique nor exclusive to his vision. He was fortunate enough to “be at the right place at the right time” but to consider him a visionary would be doing a great disservice to the true pioneers that blazed the trail long before him. A long history of MOOs, MUDs, modded multiplayer 3D games, and previous 3D worlds existed well before Second Life’s development. Additionally, the basic concept of a ‘virtual world’ has been explored in science fiction literature nearly as long as the genre has existed.

Second Life reached it’s current level of success because of the widespread deployment of PCs with accelerated graphics, high adoption levels of broadband access, and a society with an abundance of free time to spend exploring amusement. Even if Second Life had never been imagined another virtual world would have risen to the same level of prominence. The stage was set and an abundant supply of actors were vying for the roles.

What level of success has Second Life truely achieved?

Of the nearly 13 million accounts created a _much_ smaller number has actually become regular users of the service. Linden Labs own economic statistics show that just slightly more than 200,000 spent more than 500 lindens (less then $2 USD) during the month of February. One can draw their own line as to what constitutes a ‘hardcore’ user but if the cost level for the most popular online game (World of Warcraft) is considered (~$15 monthly) the number shrinks even further. The economic statistics don’t supply a breakout at that exact point but at 5,000 L monthly (approx $18 USD) only 108,000 participated at this level or higher. I am aware that these numbers don’t consider tranasctions made outside of Second Life but to consider a product with a economically involved userbase of slightly more than 100,000 as ‘very successful’ is a considerable stretch of imagination.

Mr Rosedales announcement was made solely to appease current or future investors of Linden Labs. The wiggle room allowed by the “Tao of Linden” could easily have allowed him to adjust his responsibilities in any manner and then just state ‘that’s what our CEO does.’

Plans for an IPO, partnership, or sellout are certainly in the works.

Best of luck to you with the new position. :^)