Mayor of Victoriana: $30,000 Wasted, Lindens Killed The Dream
by Pixeleen Mistral on 24/03/10 at 3:25 am
LittleBlackDuck Lindsay – mayor of Victoriana and Tinytoriana – announced his departure from Second Life in a scathing pair of notecards distributed to residents of Victoriana’s 13 sims over the last two days. While this is a sad day for Linden Lab partisans, fans of LittleBlackDuck’s communities remain hopeful that Victoriana and Tinytoriana will be recontrsutced in OpenSim. The text of the mayor’s notecards are reproduced below.
Hi everyone,
This is to announce that The Nation of Victoriana is closing.
I’ve been a SecondLife citizen since July 2006 and have seen many wonderful things come (and go) on this grid. Over the past twelve months I can’t help but notice the "cons" of living and working on a Linden grid far outweigh the benefits. DAILY grid issues with logins, transactions, inventory and lag, continually spoil everyone’s experience. I personally have lost a considerable amount of inventory over the past twelve months alone, something nobody enjoys. Reports from friends and residents of Victoriana tell me I’m not alone here either.
As most of you are aware Linden recently "screwed the pooch" with my permissions in Victoriana during a recent "maintenance update"; effectively disabling my ability to manage, repair and improve the estate by setting almost everything to ‘no modify’ (yes stuff I built and owned, which makes up the majority of everything in the estate). After numerous attempts via Concierge Chat and support ticket application, Linden failed to correct the issue after fourteen days… they didn’t even have the decency to contact me about the problem, or even move the ticket beyond "New" status (ie they didn’t bother to look at it). As you also know I sent out notices keeping everyone up-to-date about the status and eventually explained I would have to rebuild much of the estate from scratch and ‘fix the problem myself’. This lacklustre response from Linden has brought to light a great deal of uncertainty in our little community about the future of Victoriana and the Linden grid itself. I’ve seen a number of people in the past few weeks re-evaluate their own personal investment in SecondLife, and sadly a number of them have chosen to leave the grid for fear of losing everything they’ve invested money in. It’s a very very sad thing to see good people go (especially long-termers who’ve been around for a while) for fear of "what will happen to them" come the next maintenance rollout/asset server failure/grid issue.
Since then it’s been more daily issues with logins, lag, asset server/inventory problems, you get the picture. It’s not enough that IMs are capped (making it really tough for an estate owner to communicate with people) but it seems now Notecards are not working correctly either. I’ve sent a number of notecards to residents the past two weeks and am told most never received them, and have not received a number of communications that people have sent me. How anyone is expected to run a business, community or even take this grid seriously is beyond me.
Linden is working hard to improve the experience for new users on the grid, something I feel very passionately about, however in the process of changing their mind on how to achieve this every five minutes, they are effectively hurting everyone involved and destabilising the economy. Recently we saw Linden introduce "free homes to Premium members" which, while basic and really aimed at the newbies joining the grid, has effectively devalued any land or sims people have spent their hard earned money on. Why buy a plot of land for a home when you can get it for free? If you’re a landholder, congrats, your plot is now worth much less than it was in January. If you’re a homebuilder, congrats, why would someone buy your houses when they can get one for free? For someone that owns a sim or an estate of sims, right down to someone who runs a business selling houses, your hard work and effort is now worth a lot less. Anyone trying to run a rental business is pretty screwed now, too.
Linden also ‘dumped’ the mentor programme and mentors (a team of residents, like you, who offered their time for FREE to assist people with questions and generally help as needed). Linden is now in the process of dumping the gateway program completely too (so people in the know tell me), effectively saying "screw you" to residents and estate owners who invested their own time and money to set up. I fortunately don’t own a gateway, however I do know three people who do, and know how much of their own personal time and money they invested setting it up so that newcomers to the grid could have a fantastic ‘first five minute experience" (effectively doing Linden’s work for them). This expensive effort is all now null and void; a waste of time and investment because Linden have changed their mind again.
I’m pretty disgusted about the current state of affairs regarding DMCA on the grid too. I don’t blame Linden for copybots being created/used (by a very small number of bad eggs on a very large populous of accounts), Linden should be applauded for opening up the viewer code to public licence allowing others to tinker and improve the viewer with new features and speed. The fact a very small handful of people chose to tinker with the code to exploit permissions and allow a small handful of people to copybot the hard work of others is hardly Linden’s fault. I am terribly concerned about the lack of support content creators seem to receive when they report to Linden that their work is stolen. Anyone fancy a grey-market turtle? How about a whole sim of builds? I read day after day about content creators complaining X or Y is being copied by someone and they are not getting any support from Linden. Who will be next? I’ve personally had some of my builds copied and ended up chasing the offender myself to resolve the issue, now things are getting even easier to copy and even harder to get effective action taken, I see creating content on this grid a total game of cat-and-mouse if you expect your items to remain your items. "Word on the street" tells me Linden will be locking out all viewers other than their own some time mid-year in an effort to stamp out copybots. This means no more fantastic features in Emerald, no more model bots in your fashion store and no more innovation or improvement to the viewer beyond what Linden chose to give us. Why stifle the creativity of many when you only need to chase after a handful of offenders? Why is it taking so long for something to be done about this issue when all that needs to be done is investigation/deletion/accounts locked? DMCA and copying goes far beyond a simple copybot/hacked client, too. I’ve seen cases where ‘people’ have copied by hand, builds by "Four Winds" (for example) that are prim-by-prim identical down to the nearest 0.01m and have simply thrown on a slightly different texture and called it an original. The shape, size, layout and overall design has been stolen (and badly textured) for resale. Again where’s the DMCA love for the person who spent so much time creating the original?
I have now come to realise that running an estate or investing any kind of time or money on a Linden-run grid in it’s current form is for chumps, so I’m leaving whilst I still can.
Let me be totally clear on what I am saying and sum up why Victoriana is closing:
* I currently have a LOT of REAL WORLD dollars invested on this grid
* I have no problem covering the tier for all 13 sims if need be, as this is (was) a labour of love project for me (I like to build). I have never had an agenda for a "full estate" and would rather have a half full sim of friendly, fun, community-minded residents than "just any avatar" here to fill in the gaps.
* A recent maintenance update broke my permissions in Victoriana, and Linden Labs did nothing to fix it after repeated requests, indicating this is not only an unfixable problem (or one they don’t care about) but one that if it happens again I’m S.O.L
* Since the permissions "issue" a number of Victoriana residents have contacted me; unsure about the stability or continuity of the estate/the Linden grid, given Linden’s lacklustre efforts to resolve things
* Over my time in SecondLife I’ve also lost a large quantity of inventory during grid-related issues or maintenance updates, effectively like ‘throwing money into the furnace" as I’ve never been able to get any of it back.
* According to reports from others, I’m not alone with the inventory loss issue, and apparently not alone in the perms scenario either
* It is becoming impossible to conduct any form of business, or assist anyone here; ongoing communication problems, lag, L$ issues, grid issues
* Linden Labs is trying it’s best to improve the grid experience for people, however in the process is devaluing any money or time anyone has put into the place already; making it a poor investment opportunity and an unstable future business prospect
* Ongoing grid issues, and an uncertain future about what rules of the game Linden are going to change ‘next’, make this grid an unstable environment for anyone to conduct a large-scale project such as Victoriana, expecting it to survive intact more than a few weeks
* Linden’s apparent lack of interest in DMCA issues via copybot use means I can’t trust that if I log in tomorrow my hard work won’t be sold by someone else, and if it is, anything will be done to rectify the situation by Linden
* I have not made this decision lightly
* Nobody else (Other than Davey McDowwll) was aware I was making this decision until receiving this notice. Many people are aware I am unhappy with Linden Labs’ lack of support and care for residents on the grid but this decision was mine and mine alone to make.
* This is not a ‘poor me’ issue. This is a "I have a concern that every time I log in I won’t have inventory/an estate/a business/the ability to do anything as promised" issue
* This is also a "I have fears that my residents and storekeeps will be greatly affected by the above issues which are all out of my control and how the hell do I help them if so" issue
What does this mean for you?
* Everyone’s rentbox has been locked
* Anyone with overdue rent will have their items returned asap and will be banned from the estate, this includes landholders. Just because you’re overdue in rent doesn’t mean Linden won’t charge me tier for the sim, grow up and take responsibility for your decision to rent/live/work here (or anywhere on the grid)
* Everyone is asked to "collect their stuff" asap or else it will be returned to your lost+found folder
* SHOPKEEPS: As you empty your store, any remaining rent will be refunded
* RESIDENTIAL RENTERS: As you empty your home, any remaining rent will be refunded
* LAND OWNERS: Anyone who owns land "not" for sale, your rent will be refunded and your land "bought back" for half it’s original value, this seems to be the current going rate these days in this shitty economy++
* There are over 400 individual rentboxes across the estate, I will endeavour to tend to everyone as soon as I can re:the above
++If the above sounds unfair, that’s life. In the past when people have been ejected due to antisocial activities they were always refunded any remaining rent owing and paid full amount for their land value (contrary to what they told everyone) before being banned from the estate. Due to Linden’s devaluing land through "Free Homes" and overall poor economy performance, the value of a plot of land is worth much less today, so "half it’s original value" is more than fair. Welcome to the Linden grid.
Given Linden have closed all but the most basic of forum topics now (hiding something are we LL?) there’s no decent place to list "sims for sale" any more. Victoriana was always planned as a COMMUNITY estate; when full sims in Victoriana _break even_ (ie I kept the prices low so more people could enjoy the place and I don’t make a profit, like other estates) as this project was a labour of love for me. The tier I have collected over two years has helped ease the cost of this project but was never planned to fully cover it (let alone make a profit from it). Linden killed that dream. I’ve spent over US$30,000 on this project over the past two years. That’s my own money; any tier I collected from people (when they did pay their rent) went towards the additional costs on top of that, so if you feel you’re wasting your money put things in perspective. Buying out everyone and refunding any rent is going to cost even more, as I suspect the chance of any resale value of the 13 sims that make up Victoriana will be non-existent now Linden don’t provide estate owners anywhere to advertise sims for sale.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the (sadly) small number of genuine people I’ve met over my time running Victoriana, that have contributed towards the estate in a positive way. Some residents have held events, submitted freebies or Victoriana-branded items for others to enjoy, acted as greeters tirelessly helping newcomers to the estate, or even just attended events and made them a fun and fond memory. A big thanks to all the residents who often sent me a quick IM or Notecard out of the blue saying "Hiya" for no reason other than to be friendly, it always made my day that someone would say hello and not expect something in return other than a cheery greeting. Thank you for your time, efforts and for generally helping to make Victoriana a fun place for me and everyone to visit.
Off to OpenSim I go…
Best wishes (Unless you work for Linden Labs),
LittleBlackDuck Lindsay
Mayor of Victoriana and Tinytoriana
&
Davey McDowwll
Advisor to the Mayor
P.S As an estate owner I’ve had to deal with a number of challenges over Victoriana’s 2+ years on the grid. Constant poaching from other estates (you know who you are, don’t play innocent, everyone knows who you are too) has been a particular thorn in my side, especially given I’ve never attempted such low tactics as this, in any form. This includes estates and estate managers who send alts to buy small parcels of land in Victoriana and then befriend/poach all their neighbours around them. Try being more discreet when you pull this stunt on other estates next time. People talk you know.
Hi Everyone,
This is a follow-up note to my announcement yesterday that Victoriana is closing.
* Yes, Victoriana is closing
* No, it’s not staying
* No it’s not being sold
* No, there is no point convincing me to reconsider, because I think I made myself very clear about why in my lengthy and verbose notecard yesterday, but thanks for asking 
Means a lot to me that people liked what I did here and do not wish to see it disappear
* I am not donating anything to anyone. Please don’t ask, it’s in rather poor taste given the circumstances
* I have not given out anybody’s name to other estate owners as potential leads
* Everyone is getting a refund/bought out as previously described, they are lying if they say they are not
* Whilst still in ‘alpha’ development and very buggy, OpenSim is a viable alternative for my needs
* Yes I’m rather devastated Victoriana is going too. Over two years of my life and a lot of very hard work and passion was put into this estate.
I’m very concerned a number of Residents and Shopkeeps are telling me they have been ‘cold called’ by other estate managers/owners (especially from Victorian-themed estates) asking them to move to their estate. I want to make it perfectly clear – I have not given out any names of any residents who live or work in Victoriana to anyone. If you have been cold-called or approached by someone from another estate offering to "do you a deal" or "move to my estate", that is their own doing; most likely by wandering Victoriana like a vulture and picking off the carcases left. This isn’t too different to my comment yesterday about poaching that continually plagued me throughout the 2 years Victoriana existed, although now they are telling you they are "doing you a favour". I repeat… I have not given a list of names of residents or members of Victoriana to anyone and do not plan on doing so.
I also want to make clear I am not selling the estate to anyone. It is being packed up and each empty sim sold off. I don’t know where or why people got the idea I am selling the estate to Panacea Luminos, so please disregard any rumours I am. I made it very clear to Panacea the first time she offered to buy the estate last year I am not interested, and also made it perfectly clear the second time she convinced two of my closest SL friends to try and ‘trick’ me into selling it to an "unknown buyer" which I am later told is her. Please disregard any rumours you hear things are being transferred over to her as they are false. I am no longer speaking to the three people involved, so they are false if they say they are "in communication with me" too. Please also note – my policy of "buying out and refunding" landowners applied to them back when they were asked to leave Victoriana, so the rumours they were ejected and never got a cent back are untrue no matter what they say.
I’d also like to point out that everyone (yes everyone) is being "bought out" and all rents are being refunded, so to those people who are spreading rumours that I’m a shonky operator and they got nothing back, thanks. You’ve made it easy on me to leave this grid. I am refunding all residents and storekeeps as they move out, so if you have not received a payment yet you either haven’t collected your things or I’ve not gotten to your plot. Please be patient, there’s a lot of people to assist, a lot of IMs to answer, and a few credit cards to max out. Once again I’d like to confirm that everyone is getting a refund on any remaining rent as they move out, and anyone with an investment in land is getting bought out as per my previous notecard.
Many thanks to the people who have sent me well-wishes. It’s really appreciated in this time of despair and really means a lot to me. I’m terribly sorry for all those people who have shared similar experiences with me too, I do hope this kinda thing doesn’t happen to anyone else however the magic 8-ball disagrees. To those who have been rude and, well, "how dare you" or "it’s all about me"… thanks for making my decision to close all the easier.
Thank you to the people who have suggested other Opensim grids to explore, I’m certainly going to look at my options. As of now I run a small OpenSim grid in my own home for my own private use and a version of Victoriana will exist there. Whilst it is buggy and just as unreliable as this particular grid, it’s also a darned sight cheaper, and the non-existent support is the same on both grids.
Best wishes,
LittleBlackDuck Lindsay
<former> Mayor of Victoriana and Tinytoriana
Desmond Shang
Mar 24th, 2010
This whole situation is extremely sad ~ I’ve always liked and respected what he’s done with Victoriana, and he’s treated me well over the years I have known him.
I had hoped he would reconsider, but it seems that is not to be. There’s little I can do, for good or ill, in any case. Whatever the citizens of Victoriana choose to do, there’s no empty land available in Caledon for them to go to. My estate is solid full and I am not expanding beyond the regions I already have, at least not for several months.
His issues are quite real; I would hope that many take heed of how difficult things can be, with regard to running a business on the grid. This is a stark reminder that resident retention isn’t just all about new residents. And it resonates with what Ordinal was saying not too long ago. Mind, these aren’t people known for drama. Losing Duck is a terrible blow to the grid overall.
Duck’s presence will be a huge benefit to the opensim community if he goes there, especially if many go with him. I have no doubt that wherever he goes, he will be successful, and I wish him all possible success.
Desmond Shang, Guvnah
Independent State of Caledon
LOL
Mar 24th, 2010
I can sympathize with LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, the problems described in the letters to residents is sometihng we all have had to deal with. I for one do not blame ya for leaving, infact I think your taking the correct approach to LL incompitence, Stop Giving them your hard earned real life money.
However, no offence intended to LittleBlackDuck Lindsay but, i got to say, anyone who spends over thirty thousand dollars on Second Life, needs to have thier head checked.
All Seeing Eye
Mar 24th, 2010
Recommend you send another note out recommending people contact the FTC and register complaints.
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Only an ass kicking by the government will dislodge the “constipation” at LL. And if it is not intentional then LL needs to commence polygraphing their entire staff and exec slate to see who is engaged in malfeasance and racketeering.
Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia
Mar 24th, 2010
That’s sad. I can tell that LittleBlackDuck was a good landlord because he’s not only refunding his tenants their money, he’s buying their land back before closing out. I went through three apartments in two weeks last summer because sims kept closing down and I never got any kind of refund (all of them owed me most of a months rent). That experience soured me on renting land. LittleBlackDuck is doing the right thing.
@Desmond: I thought Caldelon closed up during the +SOS+ protests?
@LittleBlackDuck: Keep us posted about what you’re up to in OpenSim. If you get something going I’ll go check it out.
Antonius Misfit
Mar 24th, 2010
Very sad. I can only say “best wishes and good luck” to him. And like Bubblesort, I too now am interested in Tinytoriana, because I’ve gotten very interested in OpenSim grids and I’m big on tinies
Alyx Stoklitsky
Mar 24th, 2010
>LL needs to commence polygraphing their entire staff
>polygraph
Boy, those are effective!
bob wellman
Mar 24th, 2010
Good to here yet another developer is moving to Opensim. As another Opensim grid owner I would like to offer you a heart felt welcome. GIve it 3 months and you will never move back to SL.
Building a 13 sim estate in SL is a big deal giving the costs involved. In Opensim its a breeze. For Instance we host a 16 sim build of a Medevil harbour city free for a friend (amongst other sims) and it costs us next to nothing to do that. I am sure you will have an even better and bigger Virtorian estate up and running in no time. Sculpties that collide as they look and the ability to create prims of any size you like are just 2 of the new found freedoms you, as a builder, will love I am sure.
I am hoping you will hypergrid enable your grid and post it on Gridhop.net so that we can visit each others grids. Our PMgrid is already hypergrid enabled and on Gridhop.net so feel free to drop by anytime.
You can contact me in SL via IM if you want any help in getting to grips with Opensim or just for a chat about it. However, I may be slow to respond, as I am hardly ever in SL now. I am too busy having fun in an Opensim grid rather than slavishly working to pay Linden Labs money. Free at last .. Free at last…. Thank g…….etc….lol
funnyman
Mar 24th, 2010
ahah the Opensim vultures are already here…
Other place, same s—t…!
No Toxx
Mar 24th, 2010
Psst…. Linden Labs does not care.
Also, they’re planning on ruining your virtual investments even further by removing the need for in world currency. This is all due to copybotting mostly. It’s something they know they won’t be able to defeat.
Well they could defeat it by making the client close sourced. But I think they kind of fear the wrath of a thousand developer nerds in wheelchairs, who will come to their front door step with pitchforks and memes, shouting at the top of their tar-laced lungs.
All joking aside, I do have a bit of sympathy for those who invested so much into this thing. I stopped putting money into second life once I woke up and realized “Oh shit! You mean none of this crap that I’ve paid real money for, belongs to me?”. Yeah it doesn’t. If you say get banned because oh I don’t know… someone hates you for whatever reason and decides to false AR your ass so hard that nothing will help you. All that virtual shit you’ve purchased, is gone.
And I don’t care if you think you’re the nicest person on Second Life and everyone loves you. It’s not hard to get someone banned, trust me.
Anyways, you’ll see more high profile people leaving soon. Trust me. The awakening has begun
All Seeing Eye
Mar 24th, 2010
@No Tox – Nothing LL can do can stop anyone from exporting the geometry and texture. In fact there are tools for exporting OpenGL geometry directly to 3D modeling formats. Textures are cached and available for harvesting. This includes all sculpt maps in view.
The only way to make “copybotting” pointless in SL is to end user generated content. Like Blue Mars does not have user generated content. I see no great exodus to Blue Mars.
LL will not kill UGC but they will make it such only people that are subservient to LL are allowed to do well in SL. And thus when the FTC begins looking at them the racketeering will be obvious and bad things will happen.
Thus Smart Lindens are Former Lindens. And that group seems to be growing quickly.
Something stinks in this deal. Why would only one person, that runs a Victorian themed estate, be so directly targeted in the asset system. This smells like intentional suppression of competition by Linden Lab to promote one of their subservients.
Assuming the entire story has been told that is.
Whatever. Sad to see LL doing this to drive off estates now. I guess all non linden subservient estates will be destroyed.
Darien Caldwell
Mar 24th, 2010
I’ve been through that gamut of issues, and came to *nearly* the same conclusions. I had at one time, a 15 sim estate, and a very popular store in Second Life. I ended up closing both for most of the very same reasons listed, only this was a year or two ago. It’s interesting to note how little progress in supporting resident endeavors LL has made in that time.
LL seems so focused on the New User. But what about your existing users? I think they need to have *their* experience tweaked a little too.
But here is where our stories diverge. I didn’t move to OpenSim, and will never move to OpenSim. Instead I stayed in SL, and simply changed my expectations of LL and their platform. It’s a difficult adjustment. But I expect it will lead me to a place where I can once again do things and have fun, which was the original goal all along.
The devil you know is always better than the devil you don’t.
NebulaCS
Mar 24th, 2010
I say we let woodbury and the JLU run things together. WU could make the grid pretty and set policy and JLU can wield the ban hammer. Tizzy could rule the grid and shoot pew pew lazors at everyone! GAME OVER MAN GAME OVER!
Edna
Mar 24th, 2010
Ah the good old Flounce post. Known to webmasters as the last desperate plea for attention. Open Sim and others are out there. If you choose to leave SL move on and spare all of there the drama.
LL provides this guy with a hobby for five years and never required him to spend any money on it, yet they are the bad guys. Interesting. $30,000? Whose choice was that to spend as they saw fit? I’m sure there would be little sympathy from the people lining in cardboard boxes in Haiti or the family starving in Detroit if they knew you lost 30 grand in building imaginary houses.
DMCA? Not Linden’s responsibility. It is the person who owns the copyright’s responsibility to enforce the copyright. If someone uses one of your photos you posted on your website, do you sue the “Internets” or quit going on line? Come on.
What’s next? I’m wondering if the big secret revealed on Lost at the end of May will be that the The Man in Black is actually a LL employee?
BamBam
Mar 24th, 2010
I think it was about year & 1/2 ago I backed up my SL builds and headed over to OSGRID (OPENSIM). I have been selling off my SL SIMs ever since. Back in the day you could buy a SIM, cut it, lease off the spots and go buy another sim with the profits. LL killed that.
Remember when you could gamble in SL? I still think buying anything in SL is a gamble with the inventory issues they have. There is no way to protect your purchase if you don’t have full perms to it. So ya… buying anything in SL is like drinking a cocktail… You enjoy it for about an hour then you piss it out in the end! You just got a little buzz off of it and that was it.
Bottom line… SL is a social environment that offers more. Tech nerds are not social. It is stupid to think that a computer coding web nerd has enough social skills and business savvy to keep a social trend as SL going. Yes its a trend. People liked the buzz and SL is buzzing out. It has been played out and now it is just status quo.
This is the real SL.
Gaara Sandalwood
Mar 24th, 2010
Things like this make me wish I was around for all the old fun in SL.
brinda allen
Mar 24th, 2010
Darien has likely the best comment here as far as expectations.
I was told nearly 50 years ago about the first three rules of life….
{and I’m going to violate rule#4 now}
Life is not fair.
There is no justice.
And nothing is sacred.
To those that find it incomprehensible that someone would spend an inordinate amount of real life money here…
Some people dream larger than others…and have the financial ability to dream those dreams…some don’t dream. (see rule #1)
That LBD lindsay is doing the financialy responsible thing says a lot about character…. I applaud that, even if it does violate all the “rules”…. except the *rule* about doing the right thing.
Cindy
Mar 24th, 2010
doesnt the beginning of the article say the message was sent as a notecard to the residents of that estate??? if i lived there id rather be told how and why the place was closing rather than just have it vanish overnight like so many other estates do. i dont see why that simowner is responsible for haiti, did edna sell their car and donate the proceeds to relief???
Ted
Mar 24th, 2010
If indeed Linden does stop third party viewers from connecting, they will quickly learn the that their bread and butter is the geeks that use the clients. Thousands use Emerald, Hippo, Meerkat, and Imprudence viewers. And why wouldn’t they? The open source community provided what “all caring linden” has not…. a backup and restore.
I moved to opensim two years ago. Most everything I do now with building is in os. I keep a small shop in SL, but I pay a couple K lindens a month for it, not what I had been paying in real bucks.
I’ve lost a whole lot of Inventory from 2005 to 2008. And Linden has done little to do anything about the issues. Nothing was ever found and returned. Thus, TPV’s and opensim is the way to go. I’ve yet to lose any inventory managing my own asset server. I’ve never once rezzed an item into nothingness as I have on Linden’s grid.
Incompetent isn’t the word.
Linden doesn’t deserve what they have for customers.
'Ruslan Laryukov
Mar 24th, 2010
Duck has done a wonderful job with Victoriana, and this will be a huge loss to SL. I wish that this could be the kick in the butt that Linden Lab needs to wake up … but that, unfortunately, seems unlikely.
Here an excerpt of my own blog post from October:
“Whether it’s solving chat lag, slow rezzing, the friggin’ 25-group limit, or finding a way to provide SL residents with privacy in their own homes, it is increasingly obvious to me that Linden Lab isn’t interested in technological advances, or in their residents. The company is now being run by a bunch of financial guys who are just waiting to sell it to some major corporatation or investor.
“It amazes me that Linden Lab thinks they can afford to kick so many people out, given the stagnant or even declining usage stats. Concurrent logs are flat, premium memberships are way down, mainland prices are in the gutter (remember when the minimum price for a 512 parcel was about L$5,000?), and private sims are now selling at about a 50% loss. Anyone want to buy a smelly fish?”
p.s. For the full post, see: http://ruslanlaryukov.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/end-of-an-era/
Shakespears Sister
Mar 24th, 2010
Can you close the door on the way out please?
Edna
Mar 24th, 2010
“did edna sell their car and donate the proceeds to relief???”
No I did not.
I also did not put 30 grand into a a virtual “slot machine” and then come here and cry to strangers about it.
-Edna
Hylee
Mar 24th, 2010
Will the last person to leave Second Life, please turn out the lights.
Cindy
Mar 24th, 2010
enda – i dont see him crying to strangers if you read the beginning he sent the message as a notice to the residents of his sim he didn’t put it on a blog or post it here how is that crying to strangers he was telling the people who rent from him????? just because everyone else has decided to blog about it isnt his fault they obviously feel what he said was relevant
Shakespears Sister
Mar 24th, 2010
ummmm – “Not Crying to Strangers” but happy to have it posted in full here….
Sounds and reads like a 1st class whine with a touch of drama thrown in for good measure.
Sylauxe
Mar 24th, 2010
Hello I am a very upset little furry. I am not bitter. GRRR SHITTY SL ECONOMY FUCK YOU GUYS YOU CAN HAVE HALF YOUR MONEY BACK BECAUSE THIS ECONOMY IS SHIT I AM BEING VERY FAIR GROW UP YOU GUYS AND TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY *absconds with your money and runs away to buys a new fursuit*
LOL
Mar 24th, 2010
The writing is on the wall……..
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
/Me wonders at the abundance of asshat trolls who have nothing better to do with their time than spout drivel on the Herald. Seriously, don’t you clowns have anything better to do with your time than waste it harassing other people on this rag? Every time you guys open your mouths you prove your lack of understanding as to what SL really represents… and ignorance of the things that are accomplished there by users every day. You accomplish nothing yourselves, but badmouth those who work at making the world enjoyable. Go play a computer game and leave SL to those who understand the community and actually contribute to the grid. LOL what a bunch of clueless adolescents..
Reagarding Victoriana and Duck… everything he mentioned in his notecards are right on the money. Sorry to see Victoriana leaving. I foresee far more following Duck’s decision as the months pass.
In 2009 Linden Lab managed to destroy 20% of the sims on Second LIfe (yeah folks… 20%)… and still doesn’t seem to have learned the lesson. THERE is gone; there is nothing to indicate Second Life won’t follow the same path to obscurity. In truth, based on historical evidence, current management decisions, and foreseeable market trend, at this point it seems more likely that Second Life will fail than succeed. Their policy method is abusive to customers and strangles company growth.
SL is working worse with each passing month. New major bugs are joining years-old major bugs and Linden Lab seems to be focused more on eye-candy toys like Viewer 2.0 than fixing foundation issues. “Hopeless” is not too strong a term for current management and “support” staff. Victoriana is just a hint of what is to come.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
@ Shakespears Sister: “ummmm – “Not Crying to Strangers” but happy to have it posted in full here….”
SS, maybe if you weren’t so full of yourself and busy writing oh-so-not-clever troll posts, you’d take time to realize that Duck didn’t post this blog. He sent notecards to members of his group, and posted such on the blog site specific to his members. You also might have realized that some goofball back there already made the same not-so-bright observation, and had already been blasted for it. Doi…
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
@Sylauxe: You know dude, I bet were this the 1940, you’d have been one of the guys beating black people to death on the streets. Your attitude toward another user just because of the avatar form he decides to wear is blatant bigotry to say the least. Your lack of sympathy for someone who tried to make a viable community on SL, only to have his work trashed by Linden Lab incompetence and apathy, shows far more immature and irresponsible than you can possibly accuse anyone else of being. Suggestion: go blow up stuff in a PvP game and leave Second Life to grown ups.
It takes no brains nor skills to troll. Just takes kiddy-mentality and attitude… and pretty much negates any valid points you may wished to point out.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
BTW, for folks who haven’t applied the math yet… Duck is shutting down some 13 sims. Now I know that’s probably a drop in the bucket to Linden Lab and they really don’t care. But that same attitude is what shut down 5,500 sims last year. This is a company with some serious management problems.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
Scuse the multiple-post. Thinking on the run. You know Duck… considering the situation, you may have very legitimate grounds for filing a lawsuit against LL. Having invested $30k… seems to me that would be far more effective. Believe it: their TOS won’t last five minutes in a court of law. Hit them on grounds of intentional negligence and breach of promise. Any competent lawyer will be able to find suitable grounds. Don’t go out like a lamb; go out with both barrels blasting. ;D
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
@Edna: “Flounce” is an act of leaving a forum thread or other discussion with drama and a “parting shot”. It comes form the original term which means, “To move with exaggerated or affected motions”. Your post begins therefore, with misapplication of a concept. Victoriana’s situation is that of a person who invested 30K in Second Life, has decided he’s had enough, made the decision to cut his losses and is informing his renters and group members. That has nothing to do with “flounce”. Duck is making a business decision and informing relevant members why.
The fact that Linden Lab didn’t “require” him to invest in Second Life is irrelevant to the fact that he DID invest $30k in that platform. Now while I will be the first to admit that investing large sums in Second Life may not be the wisest course… Linden Lab does at least have the responsibility to make sure that those who do spend such amounts receive the product and service they pay for. No statement in Linden Lab’s TOS will legally protect the company on charges of intentional and even criminal negligence. Your defense of Linden Lab, while your right to voice, I believe here has little ground in reality. Linden Lab’s business policies are both incompetent and abusive in nature…. and have grown increasingly so over the five years you cited. I know; I’ve been here that long and have seen the company grow from friendly, personal and caring to an unsympathetic, abusive monster with the sole purpose (it seems) of puling in as much cash as it can as quickly as it can, regardless of impact on customers. In short, I see in Linden Lab a collection of golden parachutes just waiting to be opened. It is by no means a “free” environment. Someone pays for that grid you frequent, even if you don’t.
You made the statement: “DMCA? Not Linden’s responsibility. It is the person who owns the copyright’s responsibility to enforce the copyright.” That is simply non-factual… and again, a misapplication of the term itself. DMCA is part of United States Federal Copyright Law… by which Linden Lab is most certainly bound. They are bound both to reply to direct filings of DMCA… and to take sufficient steps to prevent blatant and regular copyright infringement on their system. If you have any questions in this regard, examine this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA. You’ll find numerous eye-openers in regard to Linden Lab’s responsibility in the area of DMCA. They aren’t limited to waiting until someone files an official charge.
I respect your opinions and even agree with the concept that investing in Linden Lab is a very shaky investment. I’m don’t respect your lack of respect for Duck and Victoriana and the things they achieved on Second Life… until shabby Linden Lab policies and support failure forced Duck to make a choice. Right or wrong, good or bad, I applaud him having the guts to make that choice. That’s more than most of the sheeple on SL are willing to do.
Judge Joker
Mar 25th, 2010
@Wayfinder
If this was a forum it would have auto combined your “posts” but it’s not so please try to think out who you want to reply too all in one post.
Six is excessive and shows as if your bawling over things people have said, stop letting people mind fuck you and relax and post in one go.
Remember you don’t need to rush each comment out and this is the alphaville herald this is what we expect
Trolls, drama and rock ‘n’ roll.
As you have noticed with GLE it’s hard to have a serious business debate. But we try
@pixeleen mistral
Because this is now on wordpress please find a comment combiner, it makes him look silly spamming the recent comments post box and makes things harder to follow.
Sylauxe
Mar 25th, 2010
“@Sylauxe: You know dude, I bet were this the 1940, you’d have been one of the guys beating black people to death on the streets. Your attitude toward another user just because of the avatar form he decides to wear is blatant bigotry to say the least.”
Yeah bro, I totally see how making fun of a squirrel-fucker is the same as beatin’ up blacks. I sure do love to keep the black man down, yesiree. :/
Sylauxe
Mar 25th, 2010
To be fair, I also hate Latinos, Indians and basically any race besides the most glorious race of the Nipponese. Death to the round-eyes.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
There is no end to trolls, that’s apparent. When you have a valid point to make, I might start paying attention again. Until then, you’re just another mouth.
Belladona
Mar 25th, 2010
I’ve lived in Victoriana for the past 15 months. Duck was the best landlord I ever saw or heard about. Not to mention the beauty of his creations. I’m devastated that he’s leaving, and SL will be a poorer place for his absense. I’ll miss both him and Victoriana.
What made SL unique and different was the User Created Content. As that disappears because of LL’s unwillingness to deal with Intellectual Property Issues, SL will lose that uniqueness. What well happen then, I think we can all guess. I’m sad for the new comers to SL, who with miss the glory that it once was.
Shakespears Sister
Mar 25th, 2010
Dear Wayfinder
Regardless of how this mythical notecard arrived here, its still a bleaty whine for an obvious ego maniac.
He or She is probably loving the attention but you would already know that as your obviously a real fanboi grovelling for some attention.
Danziel Lane
Mar 25th, 2010
Hmmmm … tell me, what is wrong, if it’s really a little whining?
There are human beings behind the avatars, some of which might have enjoyed the sims. Others might have had a good L$ income with their shops there. And some might have enjoyed the buildings and might have taken some nice creative ideas from them.
So, what is wrong to tell all the renters, visitors, fans that he feels sad about closing the sims?
Everyone who complains about whining, would you prefer a notecard like: “Sims will be closed on March, 31st, remove your stuff.”
And yes, why not even show off how much the communication phobia of Linden Labs who obviously do little to keep a crowd of customers happy that enjoyed their second life on those sims?
In RL I experienced that many of those who laugh loudest about others whining change into a heap of screams and tears, when it hits them.
Shakespears Sister
Mar 25th, 2010
Your 100% correct, a good “nasty man took my ball away” rant can be cathartic to a bruised ego.
BjO
Mar 25th, 2010
Over the next few years, one of two things is going to happen. (1) LL goes belly up. (2) SL gets new server-side programmability, mesh and other 3D models, import/export, connectivity with OpenSim, and tons of other features. Whichever it is, your current purchases, land, builds, models, scripts, and other creations are going to be worthless; just deal with it.
There is no third choice. SL can’t remain a viable platform if it “protects” your current “investments”.
Ted
Mar 25th, 2010
@BJO
I couldn’t agree more. People and their continued effort and probing Linden to protect their work is uneducated. Any of it could have been stolen a long time ago with GLintercept. Your machine caches the images already as well. Most people don’t understand.
I agree that Linden needs to get with the show and offer import/export, connectivity with opensim grids, and move on with progress. Most of what we have see in SL for the past 4 or 5 years is just plain history.
Gaara Sandalwood
Mar 25th, 2010
“most glorious race of the Nipponese”
Hells yes.
“Until then, you’re just another mouth.”
And yet so are you.
And that seems like an interesting idea, what BjO said. I mean, LL will need some alternative if they wish to keep the game going.
Evachangin
Mar 25th, 2010
1 – NOTES that the Notecards were posted by by Pixeleen Mistral on 24/03/10 at 3:25 am
2- LittleBlackDuck Lindsay HAS NOT POSTED ANYTHING in this thread
3 – Having read the whole thread, I find myself concurring with Wayfinder about people who post to make mischief & who don’t even bother to check out whether the basis of their post is accurate ….
mm … trolls , living under bridges & mugging passers by … seems a fair assessment
4 – As a 3 time visitor to Victoriana I was very impressed with the builds, the attitudes & the sense of community & believe that LittleBlackDuck Lindsay will do good works wherever he goes … I wish him a speedy recovery from the angst of loss that he is feeling & hope to see the results of his ballsy preparedness to invest himself, his time , skills & money …. elsewhere in virtuality
5 – I believe (Note, a personal belief) from what I read that LittleBlackDuck Lindsay would be one of the most ethical people you could come across ….. how many landlords refund rent & even think about a buy-back …… my experience is almost none !!!
6 – LL …. mm
in my 14 odd months it has got worse & worse
& here am I starting to buy mainland atm
thinks I might need to make a booking with a shrink ……
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
@Gaara: “And yet so are you.”
Ohhhhhh now there’s a witty comeback I haven’t seen since… well, I was 5 years old. LOL
@ SS: Not exactly “nasty man took my ball away” (unless of course, your ball cost some $30 grand… duh) but then, how would you know what it means to deal with $30,000? (Yeah, if you ask your friends, I bet you can hit them up for the cost of a pack of smokes).
Seriously, you clowns are lame. It’s pretty obvious to me you’re a bunch of Linden Lab huggers. At least, it seems like you’re taking Linden Lab’s side of the issue, since your troll posts pretty accurately mimics their general attitude. LOL, now it all makes sense. Bunch of Linden Lab moles set out to attack and defuse situations of potential serious liability. Take the guise of trolls, make fun of the damaged party and anyone who sympathizes, make light of Linden Lab’s total lack of concern and negligence, downplay Linden Lab’s responsibility.
Seriously guys, the only ones I see “whining” here is you. “Oh, the big bad sim owner is beating all over our Linden Lab sob sob.” LOL what a bunch o sycophants. LOL. Labbers, definitely.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
@BjO: I totally agree with your assessment. It’s apparent Linden Lab is in for some major changes (whether they want them or not) and some rude awakenings. I’m fairly disappointed with the OpenSim project (too much infighting, too little accomplishment). So we’ll have to just wait and see which direction LL’s major competition comes from. But considering the potential $$$ involved… it’s fairly predictable the lucrative VR market isn’t going to be long ignored by the big dogs. Linden Lab seems to be a sickly puppy that’s peeing all over itself. Some people say “Awwww…” and coddle it, but after 6 years and the platform still being a dice-throw of instability, there’s not much reason to expect it to survive to mature company status.
Darien Caldwell
Mar 25th, 2010
“Over the next few years, one of two things is going to happen. (1) LL goes belly up. (2) SL gets new server-side programmability, mesh and other 3D models, import/export, connectivity with OpenSim, and tons of other features. Whichever it is, your current purchases, land, builds, models, scripts, and other creations are going to be worthless; just deal with it.
There is no third choice. SL can’t remain a viable platform if it “protects” your current “investments”.”
That has to be one of the most deluded viewpoints I’ve ever seen.
Only by protecting content does LL have any chance of keeping SL viable. And luckily for us, they are moving in that direction. Opensim is an example of what would happen if creator rights had no protection, a virtual ghost town with simulated wind whistling through the simulated tumbleweeds.
Of course the assertions that “the lucrative VR market isn’t going to be long ignored by the big dogs” are just as deluded. The market is small, and frankly nobody else wants it, given the stigmas.
The most likely scenario is that LL will keep SL limping along for many years to come. And that’s about it.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
LOL Darien. I have to say, your post was humorous at least. You are seriously claiming, in public sight, that the VR market is small and nobody wants it?
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL…..
And you call others “deluded”? LOL LOL LOL…
Seriously guy, thanks. Needed a good laugh.
Wayfinder
Mar 25th, 2010
(Just to put a little FACT behind the claims… something sorely missing with these clowns…)
Currently Linden Lab hosts approximately 12,000 full sims and an equal number of “Homestead” sims. Base revenue, just from land tier alone, is approximately $5 million a month. That doesn’t include their revenue from competing with their own customers (XstreetSL and LindeX), both of which generate some significant coin.
Total take from Linden Lab is at least $60 million a year. Naturally there is overhead involved, but they keep some 300+ people employed and provide their stockholders with a nice hefty income.
The point of primary interest: Linden Lab isn’t even appealing to the general customers. They’re catering to the wealthy, who can afford to pay the price of leasing a new car on a piece of computerized grass. They’re appealing only to those with significant disposable wealth, which is what, about .001% of the population to begin with?
LOL, and the VR market is “small”. Darien dude, what, you just post whatever pops to your mind, totally ignoring reality?
(Of course, I wouldn’t be taking this stance if you hadn’t felt it proper to tell two other users we’re “deluded”. I don’t know what you’re smoking, drinking or popping… but I recommend either stopping… or increasing the dose. ;D
Dixie
Mar 25th, 2010
Hang around Duck long enough. You’ll learn.