Increased number of groups

We are now allowed 15 groups, an increase of the 10 from a year ago. But Second Life is growing to the point that user needs are exceeding 15... or even double that.

We have merchant groups to facilitate garbage cleanup on lands. Elf Clan has need for multiple sub-groups (as I'm sure do other larger groups). Some folks use a small group to handle their land apart from island sim land. With SL growing like it is, it is time to get away from "static" groups (ie, limiting to a specific number) and setting up dynamic groups (flexible according to individual need). If this "cannot" be done for some reason, then my best guess is that 100 groups would be a realistic minimal need. If you set it for less than that, in a year you'll have to do the same process all over again.

This need has been voiced for months. We know such a change may entail some work, but it is a fact that Second Life rotates around groups. Groups are the central "family" unit that gets things done on Second Life.

Please, not a year from now, but soon... the users of Second Life seriously need a significant increase in the number of allowed groups.

In addition, the arbitrary 3-person requirement for groups failed to meet the need of partnerships at its inception; 2-person groups are equally needed. Second Life clients have these needs; we ask that it be met at earliest opportunity, as a priority.

I definitely need a 2-person group as I can only have 2 alts with my one single credit card and I can't rely on another person to sustain the group with a third character.

However I think if we have more than a small maximum limit of groups, it makes these groups more trivial. I can't imagine ever belonging to as many as 15 groups now, but certainly if there's a new set limit I'd probably consider 25 at most in an attempt at pleasing those who really need more groups.

In other online games I play/used to play, one group/clan would be the entire allowance. This would be a huge hindrance, especially if the group/clan had a maximum membership. Right now my former group in Ragnarok Online has split into two different groups and it is very hard to keep track of the membership.

So, I do appreciate the need for multiple groupism. But I don't wish to go overboard.

Second Life needs a total overhaul and replacement of its group system.

Pending that, at least a two hundred groups, minimum, with the ability to turn the group chat off and to keep the chat from appearing in the normal scrolling chat without have to use the chat history window.

I say two hundred minimum and feel like that is excessive, but what was that Bill Gates memory limit statement often quoted - "No one will need more that 64 megs" - something like that.

Hehe its in my sig. At that time that was a good amount of RAM. but with today's computers it wouldnt be enough to even start it up. I find myself having a difficult time with my group count right now. People invite me to groups and i have to decline cuz i taken all 15 of them up. can not easily just leave one. Either im a officer of them, or im part of administration, or im in it to recieve updates for products i purchased, or its the meeting point of my community. If i leave any of those groups it will be quite a problem for me. I would say boost our group count to atleast 25.

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Why limit it to 25? If all you personally need is 25 groups, it's not a problem that others have 50 or 100. We need to recognize that there are many folks who need far, far more than that. If the group count is going to be raised, I say raise it high enough that it won't need to be done again for awhile.

Or, to mention again, I'd get away from static group count altogether and go with a dynamic system. However many ya need, that's how many you can have.

We have enough sub-groups in Elf Clan to use up the current 15. We need many more. So do merchants (especially merchants) who often have to join a group to be able to set up vending space. It's been needed for a long time.

Lord I misquoted 640 thousand as 64 million.

In that vein, perhaps the number of groups allowed should be at least 2000 not 200.

There are actually several things that are needed to help groups thrive. Linden Lab has often wondered why groups don't flourish more and why more "content" and user-activity doesn't happen. Limiting groups would be why. Groups are the center of SL activity, yet we are missing vital group functions, such as (and including the above):

* Enough groups to do some good. A 15 group limit is hardly sufficient for a system of this size.

* Minimal group limit of 2 people, not three (thus allowing partnerships, especially for land ownership).

* GROUP COMMUNICATIONS. Right now, aside from kluging a sad vote system, there is no way for officers to communicate with all group members at once. We need a GROUP ANNOUNCEMENT function (basically a notecard that goes to all group members, both online and offline. If they're offline, they receive a notice that they have a group announcement waiting for them). This feature would be available to OFFICERS ONLY in order to prevent excessive spam.

* GROUP OFFICER IM. This feature would allow OFFICERS ONLY to communicate in IM mode. Otherwise, it is very difficult for large-group officers to conduct private business meetings.

* GROUP-WIDE IM. In addition to the already existing group IM, group-wide IM would allow OFFICERS ONLY to send a brief IM to all members--both online and offline. Similar to Group Announcement, but sends an IM rather than a notecard. This IM mode would also allow longer messages than standard IM... at least 1024 in length.

* GROUP GOVERNMENT OPTIONS. Is the group a founder-operated, partnership/monarchy, corporation or otherwise operated group? If founder-operated, the founder has the right to boot any memember, including officers. In partnership/monarchy, all officers have equal say (this is the current system). In a corporation there is no "founder"; a board of officers is headed by a president, which can change upon vote of the board. I'm sure there may be other concepts out there.

Current group limitations is greatly preventing users from making SL what it's supposed to be: a valid socio-community experiment. Can't conduct a valid experiment with only one very-limited form of group government and NO communications ability. Current group situation is pretty sad.

As important as groups are to Second Life, that is where LL should be focusing its attention. The big three: bug fixing, group tools, landowner tools. Let the other stuff go until these things are addressed and implemented. At the very least, of the above we need the Group Announcement and increase # of groups features. Those are essential. And the others would be of real value to Second Life group operation.

I know i have said it several times. and even made a vote for it. But Group IM's are a pain in the butt. We either need it changed to IRC chats you can join/leave, or the ability to disable Group IM's for chosen groups. Also id like to hide all IM's from mixing with my local chat without having to use the history window to do it... My screen gets flooded by IMs all the time by my groups, which is a real obvius issue!

I fully agree Yiffy. In Elf Clan, we HAD to do something, because our group is 470+ members. So we made Elf Clan IM "business only" and opened up a second "chat" group called Elf Clan Gathering.

In addition, we contacted Linden Lab and made request for a "mute group" function that can mute group IM just like it mutes user IM. I think that with any group over 100 members, this starts becoming essential.

If anyone agrees, contact LL and ask them to institute a "group mute" function. The more that personally make this request, the more LL is likely to listen.

i would love to mute every group except those im a officer of. the ones im a member of im either only there to recive updates on products i bought, or they are vendor groups, or land access. I dont need to hear every newbie question, when the person keeps opening sessions every 10 minutes lol. Since our voting system sucks big time, i dont know what else to do except complain to them. XD

Way is so correct its not funny. I nned a group for every group my clientsare in an want to have me be a part of biz wise. How is a servie economy going to thrive in SL with these restrictions LL please 100 groups and hold the delay please