Humble Pie Anyone

Although my belief that a complete U-Turn on LL Open Space price hike decision is the optimal decision for both residents and the health of Second Life going forward I doubt whether LL have quite the appetite for that much humble pie. Which in truth is sad, because at the end of the day Every company IS it’s customers so to compromise them is totally counter productive in a commercial sense.

Their timing is a little strange as well, not because they let this “problem” run and run until the sale of open space sims had reached the top of the curve but also when everywhere is facing massive economic downturn. It is extremely hard not to be a tad cynical.

It is not for me to tell any company that I am not a shareholder in how they should run their affairs, however, I feel along with so many more creative and entrepreneurial individuals and groups that we are in fact stakeholders in Second Life and as such should be heard. One thing is for sure it is up to me whether or not I remain loyal and supportive to the cause. Normally I like to row with a company that is rowing roughly in the same direction…I avoid those that row as hard as they can against me.

As the joint owner of a Virtual Real Estate community which includes Opens Space Sims (3 tenants maximum per OSS ) a hike of 67% in costs is by any measure a dramatic rise that would rock even the most steady of ships. This hike has seriously caused us to look at our positioning as a Linden Labs customer and our exposure to the huge swings in pricing and development.

Now, most companies, upon hearing the cacophony of outrage from their customer base including many of their major customers in financial terms would, reassess and perhaps seek alternative action. At the very least they would keep everyone informed and keep a dialogue open. However most SL residents involved with the OSS debacle are finding that they need to be making decisions Now and not wait to see if LL come to their senses. Look around…decisions are being made..

The appearance of a worthy challenger to the SL platform is a case of when and not if one appears and when one appears many will. With LL eroding it’s customers faith in a) the product and b) trust in the management, then eyes tend to look outward for a possible escape. Yes, many will plug away at SL with the lack of anywhere to go, but the truth is it will be with less gusto. With this decline in enthusiasm it is a fair bet that when a viable alternative appears such will be the relief of SL residents that the only result will be the massive haemorrhaging of LL’s customer base. Open Sims are now fast becoming interesting, although more development is certainly needed but if anyone needed incentive to work harder than before to provide an alternative then LL have certainly given that with their latest announcement. Already Open Grid has seen the folly of LL’s decision improve their own customer bases and the flow will most likely continue and accelerate as improvements are made there

Bad news travels fast and this latest bombshell from LL has sent shockwaves through not only the internal community of SL but outward and this can not be good for LL. Aare already appearing in more mainstream online publications which once hailed Second Life as the future of the web.

But having said all that I have, I remain a huge fan of Second Life its overall vision and the remarkable people whose tireless input and creations never fail to amaze me both at LL and inworld. The concierge team are a total delight and have never been less than helpful. There is no doubt in my mind that LL have had a “wood for the trees” moment and very quickly the Big Picture will once more loom into sharp relief.
If that happens I don’t think I would be the only person to hope that what follows is a very hearty appetite for pie.

)

Nicely said, however, i dont even care if they are hungry for humble pie anymore.
I just want a communication NOW, so i know if i need to pack up and leave, or continue to enjoy being a part of the creative community.
Weekend or no, they needed to be working on this issue and should have communicated their humble pie approach or their stfu and deal with it approach already.

The fact that they are taking their time to pull together ANY answer what so ever, tells me they dont care and are in fact, holding out as long as they can to see what the result will be.

Sad! I hope, whatever decision they do eventually make, they dont end up eating crow with that humble pie too! Your residents are fleeing, LL. You need to take action. You need to communicate with us! At the very least, couldnt you post that you will have an answer by.... such and such... so we know and can try to plan?!?!?

Well said. Thanks.

Well, don't expect anything, that way you can't be disappointed.

We worked hard for 8 months to get LL to get rid of adfarms (after over 2 years of effort from various groups), and there was very little communication of substance forthcoming from LL throughout the effort. A few blog posts, and a handful of responses to about the same number of posts in the land discussion threads.

Communication is FAR from LL's long suit.

An about turn is too late for most though, Driftwood.... many of the tenants have fled leaving sim owners with a sudden loss of income and they are having to abandon sims that many only bought a few weeks ago! Lots of people have left SL for good and others are so disgusted that they are considering it, including myself. In a way, SL have done me a good favour. I've been financing the Spacexcape Project single handedly for six months now - the cost in excess of $5,000. I have never made a profit and only ever aimed to breakeven. I could have gone on developing and growing - taking on more sims and involving more people and adding more costs. But this was a great wake up call. From 1st Jan I will not inject one more cent into Linden Lab deep pockets.

Good luck to those who stay. Remember there is life outside of Second Life!

PS the reason Linden are saying nothing is because they have a whole stack of lawyers on their case!

Well, if they wait until just after the 7th to reply, then they will be able to at least get the tier money before people bail on them...sad thought...but this has made most people a bit cynical...

I hear you and sorry to hear. I agree that for some it is too late and thats sad. I just hope that for some it isn't too late. Although as you suggest , I think that events are overtaking most of us on this one!!

Dear Employees of Linden Lab,

Who's watching Mr. Klingdon today?

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2008/11/mark-kingdon-on.html

Okay, I've held back during all of this, other than to make a few comments about LL exercising faulty engineering and business analysis, and faulty business-decision and communications skills.

But this interview is just too much. Mark Kingdon voices so many demonstrable errors in fact that it's not just scary, it's terrifying--and it's actually even more terrfying that LL would hire someone of such shallow knowledge and perception to run the company.

I don't usually talk about myself in SL, but just to couch my terms in something credible, I have to say that I have graduate degrees in computer science and education. I help run a very profitable small company, and I am a senior systems engineer within it. I've worked in IT and engineering in severeal countries for several companies, ranging from Asia to Europe, and from multi-nationals to my own firm. Oh, I also have a degree in business.

I got into SL to learn the technology and try to gauge its effect on the future of society and technology. I've spent some time and skull sweat. I've done this on my own, because it is interesting.

If this interview reflects the true beliefs and ideas of Mr. Kingdon, and I have no reason to believe it does not, as Mr. Au is a very reliable correspondent, then yes, I'll admit it: LL and SL are in deep trouble. Mr. Kingdon's ignorance of the platform he is supposedly managing is obvious and immeasurable. I am shocked not only that he occupies his current position, but also that anyone at LL who has a shred of business sense allows him to speak in public.

I've always been a firm supporter of SL and LL, for many reasons. This inteview has shattered that faith, and prompted me to begin planning my withdrawl from the platform.

No one has had to pay a thing,,, yet.

If they think it's bad now, just wait till January when the land owners start charging the increases to cover Linden's 67% price hike in OS.

Plenty of tenants are still not interested and getting on with their virtual lives right now and once it hits their pockets the outcry will be loud and angry. And a lot more land will be dumped.

Actually, I pitty the land owners who have to pass the charge on and try to explain it. And take the losses as tenants leave them.

A lot of tenants will be firing abuse left, right and center and the Land owners will need to take a leaf out of LL's book and HIDE!

QFT

That was one scary interview and strengthens me into believing LL really doesn't care as a whole for its customers We to are watching as to what happens next and very closely indeed.

perhaps 3rd party content?