Coverage of news, issues and events occurring in virtual worlds or those who create those worlds
Second Life has continued to experience regular difficulties which haven’t been helped by record numbers of Second Life users logged in concurrently.
2008 has been touted as the year of increasing stability for Second Life. We’re only two weeks in, but things are getting worse, not better. Here’s to improving performance in coming weeks.
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If you’re an avid creator of content in Second Life you may find this latest announcement of great use. Torley Linden describes how you can stream the video tutorials in-world, which actually makes the tutorials that much more useful.
Plus, Second Life newer residents need all the help they can get in-world and this is a welcome addition.
Popularity: 2% [?]
If you’re planning a major Second Life event this coming Thursday 3rd January around 5am AEDT, then be aware that Linden Lab have announced a grid-wide rolling restart to fix some crashing issues and to further implement their age verification requirements.
At least it’s occurring at an Australia-friendly time.
Popularity: 6% [?]
I can’t imagine anyone’s happy with the pointless limit on the number of groups an avatar can join. New World Notes reports on a campaign underway to change that. Spend 2 minutes and check out how.
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Just when you thought things couldn’t get glitchier,Linden Lab have announced a further flaw in the SL viewer. QuickTime is integral to video streaming in-world and that’s the source of the flaw. Read the blog post for more details.
Update (22nd December 2007): Linden Lab have released an optional viewer update that will ascertain if you remain susceptible to the flaw.
Popularity: 5% [?]
The fun continues on the grid, this time to bring the server code up to version 1.18.6 for the next browser roll-out.
After last week’s login issues, its remained a fairly bumpy ride. How are the frustration levels going for you at present?
Popularity: 7% [?]
The Official Linden Blog is carrying a lengthy post from CEO Philip Rosedale. Its premise is a revamp of Linden Lab’s mission statement but it’s also an exposition on the future of Second Life in Rosedale’s eyes.
First, he admits to how frustrating the problems of the last week have been for residents. He then stated that the new physics engine (currently in beta) will address a lot of those issues. He’s cited the first half of 2008 as being focused on stability. Many would argue that the second half of 2007 should perhaps have been about stability as well.
Second, Rosedale admitted that “we need to create new and different ways to communicate more often and more clearly with the community”. I doubt anyone would argue with that and the few people who are left that frequent the Second Life forums wold argue there were already some useful mechanisms in place thaty were gutted months back. The commitment by Rosedale to a monthly blog post is encouraging but far from a comprehensive communication strategy. Effective communication needs to come from all facets of the organisation, not just the CEO. Some steps have been made in that regard but it’s well and truly a work in process.
What wasn’t said in the post? Well for one, no mention of further internationalisation of servers, which makes me wonder how close, if at all, the Australian servers are
One statement of Rosedale’s with which I’d agree wholeheartedly: “The rocket is lit. Virtual worlds are finally real”. There’s no doubt about that at all. The trouble is, the rocket doesn’t launch some of the time, crashes after launch other times and even when it gets into orbit it can undergo decompression for no obvious reason. Here’s hoping in six months that the launch pad is still there and is having a much better launch record.
Popularity: 15% [?]
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