I am very disappointed in Second Life.

I am incredibly disappointed in Second Life.

When I signed up for the free trial of Second Life I was blocked by your servers and had to wait for multiple messages from support before someone unlocked my account so I could get online. At that point I missed all of the free trial except the last day. Still, the place looked interesting so I signed up for three months to give it a try.

Then, a week or so later I get a message to install an upgrade. I do so and can no longer access the game. Again I'm wasting days and days (that this time I've already paid for) trying to get someone from support to help me get online. This time I'm told to upgrade my system. So I checked online and the system hardware requirements haven't changed. My computer and settings haven't changed. The only thing that changed is that I downloaded an "upgrade" and now nothing works.

I understand that this whole game thing is new and there are going to be bugs that have to be worked out but I don't want to pay for a game that I can't access. I want a refund because I haven't received what I paid for.

Lisa

What is your system and what message did the software give you upon connecting?

Hi Kit,

And thanks for your post. Our records show that we have moved your trial date a number of times to fix the initial "trial date" issue.

As to the technical issue, you have a well known one that is documented in the Knowledge Base.

In short, your via chipset will not allow 4X AGP transfers (which is tech speak for "won't draw 3d pictures as fast" due to a bug in the original AGP spec. This is why your video card says that it is running in "AGP (PCI mode)" as opposed to "AGP".

It's a common problem, and one that can only be fixed by updating your agp drivers. We have sent you an email asking for a good time to contact you so we can walk you through the procedure. The nice thing about this update is that it will let other games work correctly.

Best Wishes,

-Peter

I'd be happy to forward you the previous emails I received about the problems I've had with this game that show that I was told that the free trial had been extended by 1 day. If someone extended it other times or more than that, I was never told about it. Actually it would have been really nice if I had been told because I could have found out that I wasn't going to be able to play the game _before_ I wasted over thirty bucks on something that I can't use.

Another suggestion - if you're going to have an "update" to your software that is going to require me to make additional changes to my computer then you should either give some warning or choice about the matter. As it stands I have not received a phone number to call to get this fixed and I haven't been able to find any numbers on your web site to call. I guess that now that you have my money it's none of your concern, right?

At this point I've given my account to a friend who has been able to connect so I'll at least let them have a chance to get some use out of the system since I won't. Don't expect me to have anything good to say about this game or how the requests for help have been handled to date. You might have an interesting game but your customer service really sucks until I post something on the public board. Trying to get answers through the submit a question function was less than completely useless.


Lisa

With respect, if the error you got is that its not using AGP mode, that shouldn't be forcing you to upgrade. I had this 'error' for a few months and was able to play, it just made the game slower until I decided to get off my behind and update drivers.

Well that's what I thought. I was able to get onto the game for a very short time right after I got signed up. The drawing was a little slow but certainly nothing that I minded all that much. Then one night I logged on and the system forced me to download an "upgrade" to the software and after that it wouldn't let me connect. I hadn't changed anything at all on my computer so I can only guess that it's something in the software of the game. Since then I've completed uninstalled and reinstalled the Second Life game and it still gets stuck while it's trying to log me in and then pops up a message that I've been disconnected from the Second Life server.

Lisa

I think the newer version of SL requires you to have the upgrade, while the old version let you log on without it.


From Peter's post, it sounds like it just a driver issue, i think the majority of players in SL have had to change their drivers once or twice to get SL to work. It's a free download and a simple install, I don't see the problem.


JV

What the Linden Labs folks seem to be saying is that it is your graphics card drivers that are at fault right now. When you first started playing, you were walking a tightrope and not even knowing it, because you hadn't fallen off yet. The upgrade was a little gust of wind that sent you plummeting.

You should always make sure you have the latest graphics card drivers when trying to play a new game. New games are more likely to use the newer features of graphics cards, which more likely to have bugs. Those bugs are continuously fixed by the graphics chip manufacturers, but if you don't install the new drivers, you'll still have the bugs.

The driver update is trivial... It's the time spent beforehand not knowing that's what you need that's the headache. Linden Labs has many references to the ATI drivers bugs that cause Second Life greif on the web site, but perhaps they should make it more obvious to first timers that don't know where to look for help. Because LL DOES want to help...

A driver upgrade does not cost money, just time.

There is no additional hardware. You just need to visit a website, download a small program and run it.

Having the latest drivers will make all your games run smoother. And there are a lot of games that will require you to upgrade drivers to play.

It is not an evil practice. I have been through other MMOGs that require driver upgrades along the way. Game updates are part of the general type of game - you aren't buying into a static game for a static cost, you are buying into a game that is constantly being improved and expanded. And it is common of them to take advantage of driver upgrades - which are free to the user.

Blaming the car manufacturer when your car wont move because you havent changed the oil is kind of daft..

I got locked out a couple weeks ago because I forgot to update my credit card. Linden Lab had to manually fix this, since I am on the beta discount. They had to call me in order to do this, and they called the day after I reported it.

They were also willing to work with me to resolve a theft issue involving another player. It took some research on their part but they came through with the goods.

All in all I think Linden Lab is pretty responsive. There are a lot of people who came here from other massively multiplayer online games, and they seem unanimous in the opinion that LL is much more responsive than other MMO(RP)G-style companies. It sucks that you have a driver issue - I personally had to update my Sound Blaster drivers to fix a transient sound issue. That's the deal, though... you gotta be willing to install driver updates if you want to run newer multimedia programs like SL. You're lucky there is a driver fix for this, usually buggy chipsets leave you high and dry until you fork over $100s to replace them. I can't exactly say I've had good luck with VIA motherboards... I always buy ASUS/Intel-chipped boards for the computers I build. Good stuff.

Anyway, I hope your friend has fun using your account. It's too bad you can't join us.