SL updating questions

I just yesterday started an account, and today was told that I needed to update to the new client. I'm not a total stranger to MMOGs, so I said "fine, it can't be that big a deal," and started up the updater.

About 8MB I stopped the update, and went to the downloads section for the latest client, though, as the updater was taking forever to load. SL.com itself isn't exactly ZOMG FAST or anything (even on my somewhat skimpy 256k ADSL line), but it's still faster than the updater.

The experience left me with two questions, neither of which I saw mentioned elsewhere on these forums (if I just missed them, my apologies; I wasn't intentionally ignoring documentation, so feel free to skip the "RTFM n00b!" garbage, mmkay? ).

#1: Is there a particular reason why the updater window doesn't show how big the total download is?

#2: Given how the full client is ~20MB, when I gave up on the auto-updater around 8MB I was starting to wonder if it was downloading an entirely new client, instead of just patching up the existing one. If I wasn't mistaken regarding how the updater works, why not just update what's changed, instead of gulping down the whole shebang again? I mean, it seems to me that it would be friendlier both to those who're looking to update their client and to SL.com's bandwidth, letting users get their clients up to date with smaller data transfers than downloading the entire client again each time something changes.

And on an unrelated note, who do I talk to about getting back the 20 minutes of my life I wasted on that "OMG Furries flooding with freebie accounts" (or whatever) thread?

Secondlife doesnt exactly update, it just automaticly downloads the newest client , and atuto runs it ... yea it seems silly to me, but Linden Labs has its reasons (probally invloving a wicked elf)

It occurs to me that they don't have time to make the new code into a seperate patch, or perhaps they consider it to be a potentially bug-infested option.

But hey. It's their bandwidth.

20Mb is tiny compared to other clients/platforms i've encountered.

That's why I've never complained... 20 megs is about a good update for most MMORPG's anymore.

As someone who downloaded Origin's experiment with Wing Commander Secret Ops (109MB starter package, IIRC) on a 33.6k modem back in 1998, I'm well aware of how tiny SL is in comparison, particularly given broadband connections.

As for the rest of the replies, if true that's a retarded way to handle things, to put it bluntly.

Having said that, though, it is somewhat annoying that every time I want to try SL again there's a new installer to download through SL.com's "two tin cans and a string" connection. By the time I get done with that I've again lost the inclination to actually play.

The reason that's generally given out is that in order to use SL you need a "good" broadband connection and downloading the client only takes "a couple of minutes" on such a connection. The effort involved in implimenting a patch updater far outways any time saving that may be achieved as the download time is so small to start with.


From personal experience it takes me less than 2 mins to download the client on my 2Mb connection and in a few months my service provider is upgrading all of its customers to 10Mb for no extra charge...

If that's the reason given, it sounds to me like a silly one.

MMOGs who do partial updates instead of full new clients for each new version are a dime a dozen, and not all of them are Sony, LucasArts, or Blizzard (like, say, NetDevil, creators of Jumpgate, whose active development staff has never numbered more than 5 at most [and some of those purely graphics types, not code monkeys], and even that was an anomaly partly due to the extended beta period).

(ObDisclaimer: In regards to JG, I may be a tad biased... )

As for the "few minutes" part, how long would that be if everyone signing in after a new version didn't have to download a new client entirely each time an x.x.x.x.x.x.x.1 change was made? (Okay, just a touch of hyperbole, there... )

Also, I have no idea about SL's arrangements for connectivity nor their fiscal condition, but ultimately someone has to pay for bandwidth (TANSTAAFL), and not having 20MB*[# of subscribers] of transfer used with each update, no matter how minor or major, seems to me like it would be a pretty significant savings.

But, like Dennis Miller, I could be wrong.

Pffffft. I went to download the DEMO for "Battle For Middle Earth II" last night and the fricking thing was 1.4 GB! The DEMO!!!

SL's 20 MB is NOTHING. Kwitcherbellyakin.

P2

Thank you for that ever so helpful and inciteful commentary on a legitimate concern, Phoenix.