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We stand poised for some major changes in our perception of Second Life. While threads have largely centered around the persistent login problems and "oh no, events listings are being restricted," let's look at the big picture here. I'm going to throw out a few changes I expect to see sooner than a lot of people think.
A lot of this is based on talks I've had with other residents and a few times at Pathfinder's "unofficial" resident talks.
- Events listings will eventually be found on Google
Picture this for a moment. Instead of pressing "Events," you load the web on a prim. Looking for scripting events that day, you punch "LSL class May 13" (using today's date) into Google.
Up comes a Google listing of LSL classes in several resident blogs. Selecting one, you find one you like starting in 15 minutes. So you click on the secondlife\ link provided, and you're immediately teleported there.
It's a start.
- Land sales will eventually be done by renting a commercial server.
Stop thinking this and start thinking this. As I recall, it's been stated that the Lindens wish to release the server code in a year or so. I'd be interested if that's still on the table.
On a lesser note, Anshe and others will face a new market once land sales go public in this manner. Perhaps providing a service of hooking servers up to the Metaverse?
- Login, authentication, content, et al will need to be decentralized.
Philip has discussed this a considerable bit, especially about how content will need to be moved to an "untrusted" protocol. Moreover, we're seeing just what the strain on a consolidated system causes - as we flounder to log in. Really, I give the Lindens credit for keeping it going under the current load.
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So where do we stand? In my opinion, we still exist in the infant stages of what I still think will be an amazing achievment. Getting there happens to be difficult. Instead of consistently complaining about logging in and other, frivilous problems in the short term - How about we give the Lindens some credit for working so hard for us?
Okay. Not so short and simple.
