SHOCK!!! Robin Linden Forced Out Of Lab!!!!!
by Alphaville Herald on 02/02/09 at 10:24 pm
Was Robin Linden – a resident since 2002 – forced to disclose her super-secret alt as part of M Linden’s public humiliation of the old regime?
by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk
Robin Linden (file photo)
Immediately after attending today’s Metanomics event, Robin Linden announced that her game god days are over as of February 15th and revealed the identity of her secret alt account – Taliesin Protagonist.
While some sources speculated this might be a expedient escape from Second Life brought on by excessive exposure to the colorful residents of the metaverse, a more credible explanation is that Robin was another victim the of the rise of Mark Kingdon's Kingdom.
As news spread, oldbie residents of the metaverse regaled each other with stories of Robin’s uncanny ability to announce bad news in the most damaging way possible at the close of business on fridays – a role now taken by "Price" Jack Linden.
The Herald reminds our readers that although her posts to the Linden blog might have resulted in a certain amount of drama, Robin was also a faithful Herald reader brave enough to occasionally comment on stories and engage the community in what was ultimately an honest and constructive way – unlike M Linden.
Robin’s finest hour came during the Copybot crisis when she appeared in-world and told everyone the DRM-busting bot game was over. While we had our differences, Robin embodied many of the best parts of the Tao of Linden – something that is now being erased as quickly as possible – for better or worse.
So Robin? You've had a good run - stop by the Herald offices when you have a chance – we can go out for drinks or something.
Wiseguy Capra
Feb 2nd, 2009
And where does it say that she was “forced out”?? rofl
Little Lost Linden
Feb 2nd, 2009
Holy Moly!
Marine Sniper
Feb 3rd, 2009
Bump Bump Bump another Linden bites the dust!!!!!!
Hell I know other Lindens with alts.
Eva Ryan
Feb 3rd, 2009
Regime change
Where are the bombs?
Sigmund Leominster
Feb 3rd, 2009
Oh my god! A person from a company that has over 300 people world-wide is leaving? Wow! Since when do people ever leave a job? Oh wait, maybe that’s ALL THE TIME!!
Now, I’d love to know WHY she is leaving, other than the “opportunity to spend more time with the family” or “to explore new ventures”; the traditional answers. However, it may be a little while before we hear – well, not until she’s got the new job somewhere
marilyn murphy
Feb 3rd, 2009
the thing about robin is that she has been with sl so long, and is sort of a part of the landscape to those of us that remember when lindens hung out and talked with us.
i hope u do well in the future robin.
LOL
Feb 3rd, 2009
OMG, Taliesin Protagonist, She was at Hard alley all the time getting gang banged in the rape room! I never knew
Not Shock
Feb 3rd, 2009
Whoop dee-do. Who cares. I’m more interested in the Herald reporting why Tizzers and Woodbury have become a loving furs.
Jessica Holyoke
Feb 3rd, 2009
Logic time:
The US economy is in at least a recession, if not a depression. Jobs are being bled out left and right. Companies that were the mainstay of job growth, instead of reorganizing through bankruptcy, are just calling it quits, like Circuit City. Its tough to find a job right now.
A rational person would not voluntarily leave their position to think about what their next job could be in this economy, unless there was some hidden factor that we don’t know about, ie. financially supportive family or family member or financial windfall.
So based on what we know, either Robin is irrational, which I doubt, or her choice was not voluntary, which is more believable.
Witness X
Feb 3rd, 2009
LOL, so you actually believe there’s no possibility that she left because she simply got a better offer? You’re assuming she’s been hunkering down hoping not to get fired or something, when the reality is she’s got cred enough to go wherever she wants to.
Urizenus Sklar
Feb 3rd, 2009
@ Jessica: recession, depression or whatever, Robin can get a job at virtually any video game company in the world. This is the woman that essentially built the Sims brand when she was at EA (not the game, but the brand). Her experience at EA is just icing on the cake. I say she can write her own ticket even in this economy. I don’t know whether she left Linden because they asked her to go, or because she had another job lined up, or she just needed a break. All I’m saying is that if it is the last option there would be nothing irrational about her actions.
@Sigmund: what are you smoking? This isn’t just a random (one of 300) employee that is leaving.
janeforyou Barbara
Feb 3rd, 2009
Fired? never! You just dont fire a person that are like a institution,maybe she had it with the new “top staff” ? After 7 yares you learn to do tings your own way, you got your own system, your own rules, you crate a culture and you know what works best for the members! When ” new brooms” comes in and start changing all a lot can clash,Robin allways been ” up front” for the members and she can communicate and give answers, the reason she did that wery well was cuz of her experience, her feelings and her brain! We can all learn to do tings new ways, but my guess are she know better
And she prolly want to do other stuff, 7 y in SL are a looooong time.lol.
Sitearm Madonna
Feb 3rd, 2009
Robin is a Pioneer and my Hero!
Pioneers like to forge new ground, fight the Indians (no offense), claim new territory, start new farms and ranches, start new towns.
Settlers like to move into newly pioneere areas, expand the towns to cities, consolidate farms to Giant Combine Conglomerates, build City Halls, Make Laws, Organize Things for the Long Haul.
We need both but gawd help us they don’t mix well. “Sims” used to be new territory but now it’s an institution. Omg is SL becoming an institution too?
I suppose we all want it to happen (more fun than SL Just Going Away). But I’m with those who say, “Whither Goest Robin Next, There Look I!”
Darling Brody
Feb 4th, 2009
Why is every article published here recently anti-LL? Even a goodbye article to one of our beloved lindens is used as an excuse to bash M, Jack, and drag up old nasties. Can’t we just say goodbye to a linden and thank?
I’m sure the editors will nerf this post, because I forgot to bash a linden!
Darling Brody
Anonymous
Feb 4th, 2009
If I worked for Linden labs for 7 years I’d want to kill myself.
Anonymous
Feb 4th, 2009
@ not shock
yhl, yhbt, hand.
Critical A-hole
Feb 4th, 2009
Oh, god. This article just plain blows.
1. You haven’t told us anything we didn’t know from reading Robin’s short blog post.
2. God forbid you actually ASK someone to respond to the possible explanations and get someone’s voice and opinion other than your own!
3. Anyone who actually knew Robin knew she *wasn’t* all “Tao of Linden” – she was the adult who kept Philip’s space cadet idealism in check. She and her team *dealt with* in-world issues, rather than theorizing and assuming residents would somehow all play nice.
4. The Tao of Linden is basically, “ZOMG, all employees can do whatever they want! We’re a happy family!” It’s both condescending, disingenuous, and unsustainable in a business. Thank god it’s dying.
5. Go learn to investigate rather than just reprint, ok? PLEASE?
Ole Ole Oxen Dine
Feb 4th, 2009
heres the thing, Robin was a class act in an otherwise classless arena. BUT her hands were tied. 7 years is a long time and if LL were offering some serious growth potential and excitement going forward, she would have stayed. As it were, the truths already out there and she’s “planning ahead”.
but we can’t help but mention that there is one idiot that will miss her, and this Rand McNally stooge is probably more butthurt then most being that he loves the AR button and had a short stint with Robin’s alt account
Butt seriously, “for the record” and hereby officially submitted to the “deposition”, this road map chump’s future has been “Jerry” rigged and as Off Williams will atest, the shakey voice plea for mercy goes a long way in feeding our LOL’s. Put that in your Lenny Kravitz AO and smoke it…
“C” Inside(r)
Jessica Holyoke
Feb 4th, 2009
@ Uri,
Like I said, there are many unknowns. Maybe she did need to take a break. Even though, in my firmly capitalistic mind, she would be foolish to leave a paying position to an uncertain potential position, which taking a break like you suggested would entail. And in looking at this economy, maybe Robin would be in demand, but that doesn’t mean that people would be able to pay her salary. (I have so many maybe’s because I don’t know every company’s available money to make an accurate judgment on that. But if everyone is belt tightening, then its reasonable to believe that video game companies are doing the same.)
I can’t prove a forcing out based on what is written publicly, but I can point to a woman who helped make Second Life feel like a community is leaving just as Second Life is being promoted as a product. I love being a part of Second Life because of the community feel. But now its being turned from a where into a what. The Lab has been slowly moving to a product oriented system, just look at the Xstreet acquisition if not the DPW and Nautilus.
I wish Robin the best, I really do. I mean nothing against her. But looking at the average person’s experience, needing a break is not a reason to leave a position.
RobinLinden
Feb 5th, 2009
Ahh, but Jessica, it is.
Urizenus Sklar
Feb 5th, 2009
That’s a confirmed Robin sighting, btw.
Hiro Pendragon
Feb 5th, 2009
There’s no reason to question Robin’s statement that she’s taking a break or whatnot. That’s a red herring, anyway. The real question is why she needs a break. I’m sure it was a combination of things – could be she felt Second Life has momentum and she’s done a fantastic job – could be that the slow changing of the guard has left her without her old buddies in the office on a daily basis – but something ultimately tipped the scales. Did LL’s leadership’s plan for SL differ from what Robin wanted or believed was necessary? Was there something else?
As a developer, I ask these questions because it’s important for developers to know where Linden Lab is taking the platform, and any change in upper management in a small / medium sized company like Linden Lab will have a big impact. Robin did a great job in her role in the eyes of us developers, and we’re looking for some reassurance and some explanation of direction.
-Ron / Hiro
pixeleen mistral
Feb 5th, 2009
Yes Uri, that *is* a confirmed Robin sighting – a second independent Herald fact checking team just confirmed it — but is anyone surprised that the Lab follows the Herald closely?
Still, I worry at the high attrition rate among the Lindens who actually engage the residents in discussion as both Robin and Sidewinder Linden did. I’m afraid the new regime will be re-learning some old lessons the hard way.
Neo Citizen
Feb 5th, 2009
That assumes Linden Lab actually learns from experience. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that they’re a little wanting in this area. Take the openspace sim debacle, for example. So far SL has lost over 18% of its land mass because of it, all spiraling downward the day they made the announcement, so no, it’s not just the economy in the toilet – it’s the economy in the toilet plus an incredibly stupid decision made by some new marketing droid who made a sweeping change before he even understood the product.
And of course, each day they don’t take corrective action is another demonstration of their inability to learn from experience, and another massive failure.
Jessica Holyoke
Feb 5th, 2009
And yes, I am inclined to believe that RobinLinden is in fact Robin Linden. It doesn’t change what I said, but rather brings up the whole concept of “two Americas.” An America where a person would leave their job to take a break and an America where 2 million more jobs might be lost this year.
http://www.conference-board.org/pdf_free/economics/ETI011209.pdf
My experience would still say “you’re crazy girlfriend.” And maybe I’m wrong, maybe companies in Silicon Valley do have the cash to hire someone as talented and engaging as Robin when other companies are shutting down, states are scaling back and the outlook is bleak.
And really, the responses to Robin’s statement go back to supporting my statement that as the world moves from a where to a what, good people like Robin would have less of a place. It might not be an actual forcing out but it could be a marginalizing, implied forcing out. Why engage a community if plans are set in motion to eliminate a community in favor of a product?
Marine Sniper
Feb 5th, 2009
I wish they would fire every Linden in world. I would say hire Cal and Atlas to replace them. That wouldnt work because they hide behind there sissy scripts and then when a man out wits them in a battle of words they file a AR on ya. Yeah lil girls we know what ya do. Your days is numbered! Go Bucs!!!!!! We have no democracy in SL. I say ship all the Lindens to China.
Gopher Broke
Feb 8th, 2009
Don’t quit your day job “Pixeleen”. You really are terrible at this. Not that you’re any better at your day job – which is why you’re so bitter towards LL, right sweety?
*places foot on the ball, and with a mighty swing of the mallet… THWACKS your ball off into the lilacs*
Idiot.
Archie
Feb 10th, 2009
The drama Queen disposed.
Who will wear the crown?
Ara Voom
Feb 12th, 2009
The reason it is so shocking when something like this happens, is because no matter how simmer identified an av is, everyone knows really that the avatar is not the simmer. The avatar may not even know it but the simmers in their heart of hearts all do. We are better looking, in most case and often smarter too. When simmers can’t keep up, are forced out or just give up, an av dies. This is a sad thing. The simmer may go on. But the av dies. There is one less bell to answer for all of us. As a people, naturally, often we like the Lindens that act up the best, and when they are gone they are missed. Rest in peace brave Linden.
Timothy Zapotocky
Feb 15th, 2009
I do worry about anyone who looks for a job in this economy. Though maybe she figured things are gonna get even worse so now was the time to get out. And at least she is a major player in something which is actually growing, a little.
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