An open letter to Philip and Robin

Ok well is sounds like we are in agreement. I would just like the battle cry to sound less like "Go back to the old registration process!" and more like "Great start, now lets work on features to prevent the new registration process from promoting abuse!"

Actually, this is precisely one of the points that Philip addressed in his reply to my e-mail. I think it's a very valid point.



So it sounds like for this sort of quick access, a new type of account status should be created -- "Unverified," kind of like the way PayPal accounts are restricted until they are verified.

We'd have the option to mark our land as "Unverified accountholders permitted to access? Y/N," and if we select No, then they would get a message similar to what present-day avatars get when they are banned.

Once they "upgrade" to a Basic account by verifying their identity with credit card or other means of verification, their access to those places would be opened up.

I like it!

P2

What is so frustrating is that they should have added the controls first, then unleashed this, not the other way around. Restricted accounts and better tools are a good idea - so why not revert the registration process back until those safeguards are in place, instead of subjecting everyone to this in the meantime? We are still lacking the most basic of griefing controls after 3+ years.

Yes. Philip and I discussed this in bed last night.




KIDDING!!!

Precisely.

P2

*STAMP*
Absolutely. What has my panties in a bunch isn't that people can get in easier- that's good, and for obvious reasons.
It's also bad for obvious reasons, and when it comes to dealing with the negative aspects, with our current toolset we are very very open and exposed to abuse.

I'm all for new people in the world, but not at the expense of the people that are already there.
Better tools to deal with the influx? Great. At least it's something.

A visit to the Guggenhiem is fine- as long as you dont have to fight your way through a gauntlet of flashers, griefers, minors, and scammers to get to it.

omg i was wondering what that breeze was

seriously though i think they put the cart before the horse here we do indeed lack the tools necessary to help us deal with the influx.

It sounds like you're suggesting that SL become more or less the "3-D web browser of the future". If so, I think there are a LOT more serious hurdles to overcome first before we even BEGIN to worry about the verification process. Let's take your furniture store example for a spin. A prospective customer goes to the RL furniture store's website and is presented with a SLURL link to their "virtual showroom". They click the link, and their browser of choice dutifilly notifies them that it has no way to handle the "secondlife:// " method. "Oh, by the way, you have to have a special client loaded first! Download and install this 26MB (as of now) program, then you can go to our virtual showroom!". That then becomes FAR more discouraging to your average browsing shopper than any 5-minute signup process.

Next, for argument's sake, they already have gone through the pain of downloading and installing SL from a previous website. The next time they happen to browse by another website that says "Hey! Check out our virtual theme park here at this SLURL!". The user clicks the link, waits and waits for the program to load, gets to the login screen, logs in, waits some more for the world to load and load and load. Eventually, they get in and see the virtual showroom. Trouble is, there are 75+ other people milling around, the frame rate makes a slide projector with the "forward" button stuck look like an IMAX feature flick, and the 2 asshats who (having just created their 23rd alts) just arrived at the landing pad blasting people into orbit top off the whole experience.

Now, I can't speak for anyone else out there, but if I was presented with the option to experience something like that whilst just browsing, I would just browse on by. The "instant gratification" you are shooting for just isn't there, and the signup/verification process is the absolute least part of it. Let alone the very intent of getting rid of it as an excuse to enable this kind of "platform" would end up being one of the most compelling reasons to NOT use it.

There is another old adage that comes to mind about now: "Jack of All Trades, Master of None". SL makes a compelling platform for a virtual community, where people can come to "get away from RL" and play around in a virutal world with other people of like mind. It is a unique and interesting form of entertainment. Given the above, it makes a TERRIBLE platform for ad hoc (ie, "cold" business presentations. Trying to make it into both means it will do neither very well. Perhaps that will be where future competition for SL really shines, being focused on one or the other.

Now, that said, there are probably ways to bring the technology of SL to business in a way that makes sense. As it stands, putting a sim up on the main grid for your virtual showroom/themepark/etc, just to drive your browsing shoppers to just doesn't make much sense. However, perhaps maybe a VRML-esque, slimmed-down version without a lot of the "game" aspects, limited simulation resources, and a more "anonymous" access method would be more appropriate. Something that could be a browser plug-in, much like a better VRML.

The upshot is that, being a separate technology platform, it makes sense for such to not have the registration process, but it also makes sense for it to not have any of the other elements that make SL what it is, like avatars, attachments, clothes, skins, clubs, events, etc. However, being that it would be separate, it makes NO sense whatsoever to make the "regular" SL game have the same lack of requirements.

In summary, 1) verfication is an important part of a properly functioning SL game the way it is now; and 2) any realistic business use of SL as an ad hoc presentation platform should be a separate, slimmed-down design without a verification process or a need for one.

Just sent my own letter expressing these same concerns:

***************************
Dear Philip and Robin,
I've been a resident of Second Life for almost two years now,
and this is the first time I've felt compelled to write this type of
letter. I've never expected Linden Lab employees to be perfect,
and I've never expected positive change to come instantly, or without
some compromise. The one thing I have always expected is that
my opinions, and those of my fellow residents, would be valued.

I've been following the discussions and arguments posted in the forums
in regards to the recent registration changes, as I'm sure you have, and
I feel that I can't just sit quietly any longer-- I must speak up and voice my
concerns.

In the short time since the credit card verification requirement was
eliminated, reports of griefing and scams have begun to clog the forum.
It's now possible for a banned griefer to return over and over again, as
long as he can keep coming up with email addresses; this makes abuse
reports almost useless. Most major stores are having to clutter their
attractive builds with signs warning against scammers. Morale is dropping,
and long-term residents are feeling ignored.

I must ask you, is this the kind of world you want to create? Is growth
more important than the happiness and goodwill of your residents? Lack
of verification is leading, slowly but surely, to chaos and discontentment;
in addition, it's no longer possible to keep minors from registering for the
adult grid. Is this the image you want new residents to have of this world?

Please, please, reconsider this decision and reinstate the requirement for
credit card verification! There must be some way of verifying age, of keeping
residents from creating unlimited alts, and of preventing banned griefers
from returning. Without these safeguards, it's only a matter of time before
content creators and landowners start getting disgusted and leaving.

I have to believe that the world of Second Life is still just as important to
you as it is to the rest of us, and that you wouldn't knowingly sacrifice
it in favor of bigger numbers. I'm reminded of a quote I once read, by the
author Edward Abbey: Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of
the cancer cell.

Please, don't let this happen to Second Life. Thanks for listening.
-Ilianexsi Sojourner
****************************

A little long, maybe, but I couldn't have said it as well in fewer words. I've never felt any need to write letters before now, I've always felt a little awkward doing that sort of thing, but I had to add my voice to the others.

The problem is that you cannot realistically remedy abuse without some form of effective prevention, or at least have the basic tools to do so. Verification is a very important AND effective tool which goes a long way to prevent a great deal of abuse. No, it does not prevent all of it, no practical solution is 100% effective in all cases, but it is and should be one of the more useful weapons in the anti-griefer arsenal.

Without a registration/verification process, we are pretty much left with gutting the game out, removing things like PushObject, ParticleSystem, ApplyImpulse, Damage, Vehicles, Sounds, scripts, avatars, attachments, et cetera ad nauseum, until we basically are left with a sterile enviroment of anonymous blobs, completely phantom to each other (don't want to allow one anonymous blob to push / block another anonymous blob), that have very limited interactions. However, it then will be a fun place for anonymous web surfers who want to come see that antique Versucci armoire.

No thanks. Bring back the verification process. Bring back the ounce of prevention. It works. It is better. Make a different platform for the business uses of SL. Focus efforts on making one thing and making it well, then move on to the next thing. Trying to be everything to everyone is demonstrably futile.

That just just... wow. Impressive writeup.

I think, more bluntly, that Second Life has always suffered from a problem of scope. As you put it, it seeks to mash everything into one big pot and... doesn't do amazingly at any one thing.


Second Life should be separable and simple to use. Granular. Modular. We've needed it for a while, yet things seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

I agree completely with what Talarus said, here. How can an MMO be just another web app? It's impossible, has he said, it's a 26mb download just to view it. People don't want to update their broswers and get annoyed if they have to get a new version of Flash, are you kidding me?

If they want SL to have that sort of function, then they need to completely change the way they are going about it. Even the most open registration isn't going to sign on the entire browsing internet, not when they have to download a huge "client" to even view what some business has to show them, a 3d version of their merchandise or a museum. That's what flash and the like are used for and that is only now being accepted because enough people have the broadband to even view it. And not in the state that SL is now, either, with the minimum system requirements just to log on, and forget it if you are browsing with your mac or average laptop? WTF?

This is like wishing something were so, and then going forth as if it already exists, even though nothing is in place to support the idea.

I just read over this thread and this is actually my first post to the forums, so here goes...
I read where there is more concern over adults in the teen grid than teens in the adult grid, which I understand, but at the same time find very troubling. I'd venture to say there are more teens coming onto the adult grid than adults going onto the teen grid. Yes, I'm sure that kids are able to obtain a parent's credit card to register, a parent willingly gives their kids a credit card number to register, which really isn't the issue now with the new registration process.....
I think that there needs to be some verification to the best of LL's ability to verify someone's age. Yes, I am aware that someone can get around the age verification, but with having to use a credit card to verify an account it does make it more difficult for someone under 18 to be able to register an account on the adult grid. I just don't really think that 14 and 15 year olds for the most part are equipped to deal with what goes on in the adult grid, not to mention that some of the 14 and 15 year olds I have come across are out to cause problems for whoever they can.
I'm not sure of a proper solution that will meet everyone's expectations, but I do think it is a serious problem that needs to be addressed as best it can. I agree that there needs to be some kind of measure taken to protect land owners and SL residents in general from griefers, etc...

I'm very much in favor of having lax entry requirements. The more people that can come in, kick the tires, see if SecondLife is for them with as little impediment as possible... the better!

*BUT*

For gods sake, we need a "Welcome Grid" seperate from the teen and adult grid.

Require the age/credit-card verification before allowing new visitors to move from the welcome grid to the main grid! (or teen grid as appropriate.)

Set the Welcome Grid to 100% PG sims.

Allow normal citizens access to the Welcome Grid to buy land.

Let citizens distribute sampler freebies and strut their stuff in front of potential new citizens to entice them into signing up for the 'full experience'.

We do need a secure fence...

And I want to see it placed where it will do the most good.

There is an inworld discussion going on about this atm at The Forum !

I'm actually OK with the idea of the registration system being laxed. Its probably an inevitable step for Secondlife to grow as planned.

What I'm not okay with, is that instead of preparing for this onslaught ahead of time by giving us tools to proactively deal with this, Linden appears to have thrown caution to the wind, and intends to simply be reactive to whatever occurs.

There are ways via technology that the new problems introduced by this influx could have been neutralized. That effort seems to be prioritized well behind new resident growth, and its a shame.

This sounds like a good idea... it'd be a good place for potential residents to get in fast and see what can be done here, and at the same time it'd protect the main grid from chaos.

That's been done in other games, Jopsy. While it looks good on paper, past incarnations of it have proved quite less than stellar as examples.

Invariably, the "Welcome" area (aka "newbie shard/server" in other games) becomes a wasteland of rampant PvP abuse (if the game allows PvP), trolling, spamming, obscenities, and generally poor behavior. If such is to become the new players' first introduction to SL, I would expect a LOT fewer folks interested in SL as a result.

Of course, that is assuming that they don't make the "Welcome grid" into a chopped-down and watered-down version in order to limit the effect of abuse. However, there are some kinds of abuse that just can't be limited via technology. It also would make the Welcome area MUCH less like the full game, and then you have the issue of new users not seeing all the neat things that make SL what it is, limiting the usefulness of the "test drive" as a means to evaluate the game.

Besides, if there are 6+ million people out there willing to share their credit-card info just to play WoW, I wouldn't really accept the excuse of "I am worried about giving out my credit card details for verification". I would tend to think that the number of folks who have that as their sole reason to avoid trying out SL are very few as an overall percentage. Most of whom are probably kids whose parents refuse to let them get on SL.

I can definitely understand the argument in favor of easier entry but I personally think it might be a little short sighted. Having to go through a more time consuming signup process might slow down SL's adoption for things like the museum example but I don't think it's a deal breaker. SL offers a unique way to experience content, be it people coming in just to browse at American Apparel or people wanting to explore beyond whatever initially brought them in, and the more things like that that exist in the world the more incentive there is for people to do a one time verification. From that point on they're all set to experience any other similar link to the SL world from RL entities... in the same way that you can't enjoy radio programming until you buy a radio (which takes more than a couple of minutes).

I'm all for having more potential customers for my own business but what good is that if it ends up residing in the lawless bad part of town (aka the main grid)? I'm not trying to be alarmist or anything and I don't think this justifies any "end is nigh" signage, but if we hit a million accounts and a large percentage of them are people with little or no desire to become a part of the community who have no incentive to understand or care about standards of behavior and have no restrictions on what they can do, what will be the impact over the long haul? I don't know, really, but it concerns me.

If a RL museum wanted to create a virtual attraction to send people to that's already most likely going to be on a private island. If that's the kind of thing having a simple registration process is designed to spur then why not have non-verified accounts only be able to visit that singular attraction and ones like it. The rest of the grid could be invisible to them unless they create a verified account so they can explore the rest of the world.

This leads back to LL's motto of "why do it right when we can do it by Friday?"

You've spiked my curiosity... would you be comfortable mentioning a few that had a bad go of an 'inner wall' model? I've used it myself on smaller worlds with quite a bit of success. (We didn't have the staff to vet new citizens and opted for a 'by invitation from the main area' model instead.)



It's not so much that they're worried... it's that WoW is more of "known quantity".

SecondLife is not so clearly defined a 'product'... and like many things on the internet even the slightest obstacle will have folks clicking off to their next destination with nary a backwards glance.

I was one of those myself for months the first several times I browsed by. It took a close friend's very persistant persuasion to get me to try it at all, and now I've been hear 2.5 years.

The one I have the most firsthand experience with as part of the staff and development team was DarkSpace. We had a Newbie server, and it was almost always griefed by kiddies when there was no verification. It wasn't the sole reason the game never grew much, but it did have a negative impact on the subscriber numbers. The discussion about bringing a walled-off newbie area was pretty well-hashed in the last MMO I was in as well (Horizons). Thankfully, they opted to not go that route.

I'm not sure I can agree with the assessment that SecondLife is not so "clearly defined a product". I think its exposure to the mainstream press, the number of people playing it concurrently, and its size and scope make it very clearly defined as a product. It is known as a MMO, and the standard of MMOs (not to mention other online services) requiring credit cards or some other kind of payment verification is not alien to most people who know what they are.

I would think that the majority of folks who opt not to try out SL would use the registration requirement as the least of their reasons. Most of the folks I have tried to entice into playing it have cited more concrete reasons for not wanting to, never once did the issue of registration requirement even make it on their list, assuming they were otherwise interested. I would have to hazard a guess that anyone who viewed the molehill of registation as enough of an obstacle for them to click on by would also be put off by the relatively mountainous obstacles of downloading some unknown program, installing it, getting it to work with their machine (latest drivers??? whazzat?), and then beginning the long learning curve of making SL their home.

MMOs aren't easy. They most likely will never be, just from a practical standpoint. Wishing them so, and chasing that wish by gutting out the things that make them work is probably not in the best interests of the players or the developers.

Just curious, but what were the reasons you "browsed on by" the first few times?

Ah, I've no experience with either Horizons or Darkspace. (But thanks for the counterpoint... if an inner wall method isn't viable for SecondLife better to have it hashed out *before* it's implemented! )

As to 'cleary defined'... commercial content USUALLY hangs together with a better unified theme and expected game play. SecondLife is all over the proverbial map and tries to be so many things that the couple of things that a potential new citizen might be overwhelmingly interested may go unrepresented.

Let me guess, the folks you tried to entice into SL that had other reasons were people that were actively involved in other MMO's at the time? Most folks I know go through MMO's serially, they'll stick it out with a game to be with friends until they burn out and move on.

And... the real reason, I guess, why I browsed by several times were many. (1) I really don't like giving my credit card info online and do it as rarely as possible. (2) I'd tried several VRML prototypes and was quite jaded about the idea of a user created 3d world. (3) and a distant 3 at that... I was focusing on RL art at the time, didn't have time for a new online 'addiction'

Anyway... back on topic... !

There was recently some clamoring about better privacy features, it's a shame those weren't brought about before the horde was unleashed...

I'm pretty sure an inner wall idea wouldn't fly with the Lindens anyway, with their pro-free-passage stance.

I just wish that we could come up with some better filtering mechanism to screen out underagers and griefers... and still keeping it simple for the casual surfer to stroll in and look around. (yes, yes, it's impossible. Let's raise the drawbridge and fill the moat. )

Of the ones I have mentioned it to, most are currently playing another MMO. Some of them are looking for something else, tired of the standard MMO fare, and one isn't currently playing a MMO. While you are probably correct about people tending to stick to one MMO (I am that way, myself), the reasons given ranged from concerns over what there is to do that is similar to what they are used to, to bad reactions based on some of the more "seedy" activities in the game.

On the subject of giving out credit cards online, it might surprise you to know that a majority of CC fraud occurs from offline transaction sources. That waiter to whom you just handed your card to pay for your meal may have skimmed it when processing your check. Myself, I have had 3 different credit card accounts compromised in the last 12 years, and none of them were from cards that I used online. Personally, I don't worry about online transactions, especially since I am very wary of who I give my information to, and also because I use a debit card tied to a bank account that doesn't hold more than a few hundred dollars at a time, to limit any losses. Still, it is understandable that some folks would worry about it, even though it is 2-3 times more likely that that department store clerk just double-swiped their card while they weren't looking.

The only practical way to ultimately deal with griefers and scammers is to remove their anonymity (to the owner of the service, anyway). How that is accomplished is the question, but the number of even marginally effective methods available in present time is quite low. CC verification just happens to be one of the better ones we have available to us. It is not infallible, but then no solution is 100%.

I have mulled the idea around in my head for a few years now about using personal cryptographic certs from a 3rd-party provider which accomplishes nearly the same thing; some kind of real "handle" on a person's online identity that allows for some of the benefits of anonymity, but also allows subscriber services to ban users based on revoking their certs for that service. A person can only ever get one cert, and it costs a bit of money (like $50 to $100) as a one-time fee to obtain. Problem is, that it is not very friendly, and paying money for something which doesn't have an immediate tangible benefit will put off a lot of people. Also, the system is not immune to identity theft, and probably would be difficult to implement outside the US. However, it would be a lot more effective than just about any other method available.

So, yeah, pull up the bridge and fill the moat. I would like to think that due diligence in an effort to keep out the riffraff would be more attractive and enticing to folks than throwing open the gates and allow the baby to drown in the bathwater. I know I, for one, am thankful for those kinds of efforts, because it says to me "we care more about you having a positive experience here than having every Tom/Dick/Harry off the street coming in and ruining things just to pump up our numbers". Stuff like that is highly important to me, and is often a determining factor on whether or not I stay with any particular service.

I have been following this thread, and ones like it with great interest. I too perceive a rise in griefing and rude behavior in SL since the "flood gates" have been opened.

Since the only "severe" pumishment LL can hand out is banning, and it now takes five minutes to get a new alt (no charge, no cost), what has happened is the creation of a "revolving door". IP validation is also ineffective - anybody on Broadband (all of us SL users) can change their IP in a minute or so.

Here is what I propose:

1. REINSTATE CREDIT CARD VALIDATION!!! Require a credit card be provided with EVERY app.

Phillip & Robin: I hope you are listening - 85% of your customers want this restored!!!

2. Allow ONE free "preview" account per credit card. This account allows you to access the PREVIEW GRID ONLY for a period of two months. At the end of that time, the account either expires or converts to a basic account.

3. BASIC ACCOUNTS & ALTS: $19.95 per year. Limit one Alt per customer/credit card, 5 accounts per household. Get banned? Lose that slot and your $19.95. In other words, if some one gets banned, the number of "slots" available to that card/household is REDUCED BY ONE. This, plus the loss of the money will provide a more effective punishments for those who abuse or grief.

4. Premium Accounts will retain pricing as is, but will be limited to one per credit card. Alts for premium customers will have to be Basic Accounts.

5. Provide follow up data on AR's as to what action (if any) was taken. If I am convicted of a crime in RL, my name will likely appear in the local paper. Those who commit crimes in SL have abrogated their right to privacy. Publish the names, and let those who filed AR's know what action was taken.
If this means changing the TOS to make this possible, do it.

What do you folks think? Robin, Phillip - are you listening?