Letter to the Lindens: At Least Say "Oh"

If I ever meet a Linden, I'd like to ask them three questions.

First is "Do you think Linden Lab listens to Second Life residents?"

I assume they'll say yes.

My second question: "What makes you believe that? What do you see that backs up that belief?"

And third: "Is there anything that could lead me, a random user, to have that same belief? Can you point to anything that will give me the same feeling that you have?"

I'm pretty sure they'll draw a blank.

However, it's not all bad news. I think I know what the problem is. You Lindens think of "listening" the same way that my mother does.

Often when I tell her something, she doesn't react at all. I wait for... something: a grunt, a nod, *anything*.

After I bit I say, "Hallooo! Is anybody home? Did you hear me?"

She always replies with an irritated, "Of course I heard you. I'm not deaf."

To which I say, "Could you at least say OH or something?"

I mean, if she said, "roger" or "transmission received" I'd feel a little better. It would be better than (literally) nothing.

Because until she responds in some way, I have no idea what's going on. Maybe she just plain didn't hear me. Maybe she didn't think I was talking to *her*. Maybe she's ignoring me. I don't know.

But she is "listening" - in her terms, anyway.

Unfortunately for me, I can't tell her "listening" from her tuning me out.

She also imagines that she tells me things. Not only that, she is convinced that I agreed with her. Even though we never had the conversation.

Lindens, I'm sorry, but I'm getting the same thing from you, now.

Like when you say that we're happy with the new Q&A/SL Answers. Are we? I don't know a single person who likes it at all. Not one.

But don't take my word for it. Look at some numbers. How many people are still using these forums? Has forum use gone down? As far as I can tell, it's gone UP. It's pretty clear we got an influx of users from the XStreetSL Forum.

If SL Answers is so great, why are those people here? In fact, why are so many people still using these forums?

If SL Answers is so wonderful, why aren't we all there?

It's called voting with your feet.

You have plenty of ways to communicate with us. You have your blogs, you have these forums, you've even started sending us email. So why don't you talk to us?

When you don't, we can't help but try to figure out WHY.

I want to tell you my theory. You know that you have a mature base of users, and that we're pretty capable of taking care of ourselves. But what you really want is corporate users, and that kind of user needs a lot of coddling - you always have to be ready to hold their hand.

That's who SL Answers is for. The people who want a flat answer to a simple question, by God. And that is great. I hope it works. I think they will like it. It may be good for newbies too, at least the ones who aren't as interested in meeting people as they are in changing their clothes.

And you know what? Once I figured that out - once I realized that *I* was not your target consumer - I felt a lot better. I went and found a new home in one of the alternative forums. I'm going to stay here until you put the freeze on these forums, and then I'll do my thing elsewhere. So I'm good now. I think everything is great.

Except that I get pissed off every now and then, because I know you won't miss me.

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Well said Seven.. All we can hope is that One Linden gives a Rats behind to read and respond to you..

However, You saw that response I got as a merchant when I asked "Do you care" in the now closed XStreet forums.

There is One Linden that people know listens. They know this to such a degree he begs people to stop dumping hundreds of notecards on him, hundreds of IMs, PM's, etc. and instead asks that they send him an email to the address in his profile.

I guess once you get a reputation as having open ears then the hungry masses go for it.

This is true I feel bad for him. He is the only one that cares and it has always shown that he does. But you know how the saying goes.. One bad apple can spoil the bunch.. So just him having the Linden name hurts at times.

Hi, Taylor. I've never been to the XStreetSL Forums. Could you post a link?

And Ann, I suppose you mean Blue. He did post in these forums thanking me for something, and I was over the moon for a day or two.

btw - the "Think Blue" in the line under my name isn't about him... it's the title of an old Cordwainer Smith story.

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https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=129364&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=150

It's a post by a Linden toward the bottom, She quotes my question in her response.

Wow. So she made that 10% remark to *you*!

This link goes directly to her reply:

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=636018&sid=#636018

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Lookie here! https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/13976#13976
We found another Linden that listens!

LOL Yea!! Am I famous now?

Shoot first, and ask questions later..

Seriously, many residents I know that are fed up with LL not listening are so fed up in fact, that it would be hard for them to even *have* a discussion with a Linden about important things and not let the anger and snark show through their words. LL doesn't like to hear the bad stuff or get put on the spot, so they block or close all those avenues of free communication, which in turn makes the rift between problem and solution even wider. It's a bad circle getting worse. I have a hard time understanding how LL doesn't see that, or even more so, why they don't seem to care. They operate on the logic that it's a smart choice to sift through and toss the gold pieces looking for that one corporate diamond that may, or probably *ISN'T* in the pile. I'm also guessing that's what P'ing on your own shoes feels like, though I'd wager any conscious person would notice before too much damage is done.

And I bet the Lab gets rid of him for it... They seem to fire the ones that listen just look at the past of the ones that did...

This is the best part of that responce its kinda a WTF moment lol

"I wouldn't call the number of merchants who post in this forum the majority by any stretch of the imagination. For example, not a single one of the top 10 merchants who account for a significant percentage of XStreet Revenue are here, ever. With all due respect, we manage the marketplace and the forums for the majority...that is the fairest way. We do try to respect the minority, but it's rarely possible to accomplish this for 100% of a dynamic, active, passionately engaged customer base."

How can the top 10 be the magiorty... inles ofcourse theres like 3 people that ever posted on slx lol
But it does show what the new SL is gona be like... ready for that ride?

Oh?

Pep (Oh!)

If you take in her reply just before your post it does add some clarity to the situation.

They are listening.
They are listening to the 10 people who do not say anything.
Seems clear as a bell to me and makes perfect sense to the choices they make.

In all fairness, in a corporate situation with the staggering number of customers that LL has now, it is somewhat difficult to listen to everyone or even give the impression that they are listening... but that doesn't mean they shouldn't bend over backwards trying.

Hey, Smith.

That's true - but if you look at something like this:

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2009/05/28/check-out-second-life-answers-now-in-beta

which was their first announcement of SL Answers, there were about 50 comments. Those comments contain the same issues that bother people now (at least, people who I know).

They've never commented on those issues as far as I know.

I think you could characterize those comments as ranging from concerned to distressed, but none (if I recall correctly, and I honestly don't want to read it again) were positive.



Oh... I was kind of hoping that someone with the last name Oh would have something to say along those lines.

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Heya Seven I just took a look at that, and two Lindens were responding right there within the first few comments. Blue even stated a few comments down that everyone shouldn't panic and that the new forums are being designed "with your input" (in italics) Like I say, I think it really is hard for them to give the impression that they are listening, especially when some decisions are out of their individual hands. And even if they could listen to every single user, there is no way for them to please everyone. I give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

In our case, LL has to spend a great deal of time talking/listening separately to a LOT of individuals, who while passionate and engaged and knowledgeable, could never claim to be TYPICAL. So, unless we too can settle on a single organization that can speak with one voice to LL on a set of issues that we care about, we will be effectively ignored, by necessity.

I am sure LL is listening to the major revenue generators in SL and SLX, and that those people have occasional direct contact with product managers and so do not need to spend time on forums etc..

I am also sure that LL listens to any single organization that has a good project manager for their SL endeavors - that's one person representing the interests of MANY users, so is an easy way for LL to get a lot of feedback. THat sort of relationship is prolly where the impetus for a more "predictable" experience came from.

Look how well the United Sailing Sims did with getting LL to do things for them (Blake Sea adjacent to their areas). One organization representing over 200 sims has clout.

Isn't there also a user group for the (much smaller) Bay City crowd? How do they do at getting LL's ear? It'll be interesting to see how things turn out with the Zindra alliance.

If we want LL to listen, we have to speak (on certain issues), with a more unified voice.
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Just like they listened to Meta's "Millions of unheard voices" that were in favor of the adult content policy change.

LOLz...yeah. Those pesky unheard voices in your head!!

Weren't those millions also voices that had yet to sign up for an SL account, because of their inability to tolerate adult content?

I'm not sure which is worse, being an actual unheard voice, or being a hypothetical one.

Aww, c'mon - it's PR & Politics 101:
1, Yes
2, Look at al the communications we've issued and the comments we've received
3. We have introduced the adult policies the residents asked for, we have ... etc.

What you say doesn't have to be TRUE and you don't have to believe it, you just have to keep repeating the party line. No. 2 is especially easy because you can nearly always get away with blatantly substituting 'saying' for 'listening'. No. 3, of course, is classic because "a random user" can't prove that you aren't telling the absolute true