Hey Linden!!!!!!! Time To Use The Blog!

You know guys, you have a blog...USE THAT!

Instead of writing how wonderful everything is with SL every day maybe its time to explain what the hell is going on with the database, or is this "normal"...



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This is starting to look like april 2008 again. Every day its going down now and as usual you dont say anything, so why not try something new, why not explain to us, your customers, what is going on BEFORE we get a stroke from this.

The Lindens have many blogs. You clearly were copy and pasting from the Grid Status blog.

The grid status blog don't tell you what is going on. When something is down every day for weeks, then its not a "little" problem.

The database obvious have big problems right now, and that isn't explained by telling people that "logins are disabled" without any more info.

I dunno, when logins get disabled the failure message is rather informative if you actually read it.

I agree, the amount of blogging be done by the Lindens has drastically dropped since the summertime. Also the grid status page does not always give informative information at all. There used to be a time when these problems were fixed that we got some very good technical explanations. I am a technical person and like to here to somewhat the deepest level what actually happened.

For a while, LL had been doing a great job of explaining what was wrong when stuff broke. They seemed to be making a very conscious effort in that regard, which I think was well appreciated by all. But that effort, unfortunately, was short-lived.

Nowadays, we get little more than "it's up/it's down" kinds of messages, which can be frustrating to read. It would be nice to be kept better informed, I agree.

I can also understand, though, that it's not necessarily in anyone's best interest for technicians to take time out to explain everything they're doing. I know when I'm in "repair mode" on any of my own equipment, it can really slow me down when people around me ask me to explain what I'm doing. As much as I do love to talk technobabble, sometimes it's a lot more important just to get the job done, without distraction. The "do it" part of my brain doesn't always want to cooperate with the "tell it" part, if that makes sense.

Still, there's really no reason one can't take a second after the fact to say "Here's what happened, and here's what I did to fix it."




One thing that does occur to me is perhaps we should all look inward for the possible cause of the current lack of explanation. It's really easy for us all to complain when the given information seems inadequate, but how many of us actively took the time to say thank you back when they were making the effort to give us more? I know I certainly didn't.

It's entirely possible that the folks at LL simply were never told how much we all did appreciate it at the time, so they concluded no one really cared, and they subsequently decided to focus their efforts elsewhere. If that's what happened, I'll take my share of the blame for the state we're in now. I should have made it clear that I WAS thankful what they were trying to do. I'm sure many others here could say the same.

Communication works both ways. We can't very well blame others for not communicating with US, if we're also not communicating with THEM.

I'd be willing to bet that if we as a community were to make a positive effort to engage LL (i.e. not a complaint-fest, but a rational purpose-driven discussion) on this topic, they'd probably be happy to give us more information on a regular basis. Let's not forget Lindens are human here, after all, just like us. They respond to communication, or lack thereof, the same way we do.

Jesus christ!

Linden is a company, not the kid that takes out the garbage for free and who sometimes need some support.

They earn money, on us! As a customer I feel i have the right to demand some service, and its not my job to hug the linden staff. Don´t they have a paycheck?
They don't care about me, i don't have to care about them. But my money should fix a service and a product that works, that I feel that I can demand of the staff.

I honest think that Linden just don't give a damn. They don't care about these things because they are the biggest. Lets just hope then that they know to keep their friends close to them on the way up, they will need them on the fall down

Slow down a second, Walentine. I didn't say you had to fly out to SF, and personally give every Linden a hug. That's not what it's about.

I'm just saying that if there's something you want from ANYONE, be it a company, a government, an individual, or any other entity, the way to get it is to ask for it firmly, politely, and with a modicum of professionalism. Simply bitching about it on forums that aren't even read by the party in question doesn't ever accomplish anything.

Further, when someone takes it upon their own initiative to volunteer a level of service above and beyond what they’d provided before, as LL did for a short while with the detailed status blogging, the sensible thing to do is to let them know you actually do like the new behavior better than the old. Otherwise, they've got no reason to continue.

Think about it. By your own words, you're been inclined to interpret any lack of communication from LL as "they don't care". Well, doesn't it then stand to reason that they would likewise interpret a lack of communication from us exactly the same way? They've got no way of knowing what you do or don't care about unless you tell them.

Look, a while back they volunteered to give us more information than normal, which was great. That went on for a few months. But very few, if any, of us bothered to tell them we were pleased with that effort. Then they stopped doing it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together here.

The only plausible explanations are:

1. They didn't know we appreciated it, so there was no reason for them to believe it was worthwhile to continue. (fairly likely)

-OR-

2. The task simply became unmanageable as the grid scaled ever larger, and there's now no longer time to explain every last thing. (plausible, but not very likely)

-OR-

3. There's a compelling reason none of us are aware of, which actually makes such actions a bad idea. (often happens, but not at all likely in this particular case)

That's really it. None of that has anything to do with "they don't care". It's not like anyone over there would ever actively decide, "You know what? Everyone loves this service we've been providing. The E-mails have been pouring in over it. Let's stop doing it for no reason whatsoever." That's just not how it works.

But if you'd rather not apply reason to the situation, that's your prerogative, of course.

The primary question here is what's your goal? If it's just to complain, well, you've accomplished that. Time to move on. If you actually want to solve the problem, though, then I just told you how.

I'll repeat it one more time, for good measure, just to be sure you've got it. If you liked the way LL was reporting grid status before, tell them so, directly, in a positive way. That's the only way ANYTHING is ever accomplished in business. What never ever works is simply spouting, "I'm a customer, dammit! If I'm upset, the company should bend over backwards to calm me down. And if I'm not getting what I want, the only explanation I'll accept is that they don't care, even though I never ever took any steps to tell them what I want."

You say they're not children over there. Fine. Don't act like one yourself. Ask for what you want in a professional manner. That’s the only way to get it, ever.

The fact that we're the ones paying them money doesn't make us somehow more deserving to receive communication than they are. We're only paying that money because they're providing a service which we enjoy. As in all relationships, both parties are equally responsible to talk to the other.

Say what you want about whether you think that's how the universe SHOULD function. But to deny that that's how it DOES function is not productive. If you want to have a positive professional relationship with any company with whom you do business, it starts with YOU. Ask for what you want, or spend the rest of your life complaining. It's that simple.

I’m sorry if you can’t see it that way.



One thing you should be aware of, in case you didn’t already know, is that the Lindens don't actively read these forums. That’s really not what the forums are for. If and when an industrious resident contacts a particular Linden and says "Hey, I think you might want to take a look at ________ thread," they usually will, but other than that, the forums are mostly just for us, not for them.



Also, for what it's worth, if you're at all interested, I've been to Linden Lab, I've met with them, and I think I've got a pretty good handle on who they are, and what they're about. What has always struck me most about them has been how much every single member of the company really DOES care about SL and its community. It’s plain as day on the faces, in the body language, and in the behavior of every Linden I’ve ever met, from the receptionist at the front desk, to the developers, to the CEO. (Well, the previous CEO, anyway. I haven’t actually met M yet, but I doubt they would have chosen him if he wouldn't fit in.)

That level of personal and professional commitment, permeated throughout an entire organization, is quite rare. I’ve only ever encountered it a few times in my career. It’s the kind of thing you don’t easily forget.

I've met with a great many companies where that clearly was not the case, as well as more than a few that were (disappointingly) exactly the opposite (almost bordering on evil), so don't think I was just somehow dazzled or brainwashed by the awesome presence of Linden Lab's tiny little corporate headquarters or something. I've been around the block a few more times than that. With a little first hand experience, it's pretty easy to tell when the people in an organization a full of crap and when they're not.

Now, does that mean I'll agree with every decision LL will ever make? Of course not. I disagree with them quite frequently, in fact. But I'll never make the mistake of assuming they're not all 100% committed to making their service the best it can possibly be for all concerned. They’re better people than that.

They've just got their own way of getting there, which the rest of us won't always understand, and as I said earlier, that can be frustrating for us. I wholeheartedly agree with you that communication should be better. I just don't see it as a one-way street the way you apparently do.

This is starting to get more then stupid now.

Turn off the whole grid and FIX the problem before you turn it on again. That would be better then this joke, with the same problem every day

They already did that. People still complained. Thats the way it works.

If every last problem is fixed, people will still complain. Thats the way it works.

Is this post constructive? No.

Is your answer constructive? No.

So when you cant get in, or when your are inside and nothing works, that is OK then?

How much do Linden pay you people so you will continue kiss their asses?