Now convinced that SL is ttill in Beta

Let's see. I am certainly not an oldbie... My perspectinve on SL is limited to the period frm May 2004 to the present.

I came here after seeing a CNN story touting this as something different from There which I had tried for a couple hours on a couple days and left, never looking back with any sense of fondness.

I read the website promotional description crap and took if to be the "normal" business rhetoric designed to motivae people to buy a specific product/service. The trial account was worth the initial investment - just time.

I read the TOS, unlike some people, I don't just click through. I noted that LL retained the right to make changes without notice. Still, this seemed only marginally different from other TOS's I have read. LL, at first glance, seemed to be no less hypocritical in its rhetoric than any other company.

Within two days I upgraded to a premium account...bypassing Basic as I wanted to own land (at least I think it was two days... it's been a while). I did buy land...and then some. Within the first month, there was a notable night where I remember about 100 of us online and NO ONE able to move - or even see each other though we were within meters of each other... seemed like a virtual chat room with a failed promise of visual worlds that night... but I was still new and willling to give the benefit of the doubt that this was an uncommon event. Sure enough, a few hours later, they fixed it.... supposedly. At least we could move around again and this then-noob continued to putz around smartly fairly ignorant of just how little LL actually has control of their own grid.

Over the summer, I watched upgrade after upgrade get churned out - quite a few with what was apparently inadequate pretesting. I began to overhear this rhetorical-philiosophical crap about a metaverse and started to sense the "true believer" element and the power of their influence on the SL world....through in-wrold conversations, forums posts ad occasionally, events/builds/social structures. I also kept noticing the opposition of the "it's a game/not a game"/"it's a metaverse/wtf IS a metaverse/fuck the metaverse" "factions" within SL. I returned to the web site time and again and nowhere found any evidence there or in the TOS that I had to buy into any "metaverse" concept.

I also noted that I never agreed to play a Beta version - though numerous people harped on this as a "work in progress". For some reason, it seemed to be an expectation from corporate and from certain residents that I SHOULD report bugs, that I had a responsibility to ADD to the world somehow, that I should accept a "liberal" outlook on SL/SL-social-structures. Finally, I heard in a few Town Halls that this really WAS something that was designed into the game ---- hmmm, feelings of having been "fed a bill of goods" began to crop up.

Through the Fall I watched as more bad updates were churned out, as the grid was defended by corporate and residents were insulted by corporate (nicely or not, being told "you don't know wtf you're talking about" IS an insult), and essentially being lied to deliberately about certain things concerning SL. Despite this, I tried to stay out of that fray.. contenting myself in-world with my little corner of the SL world and dicking around on the forums.

Come Xmas, I looked back.... the "promise" offered to me and bought by me as the "product" that is SL has not lived up to its claim of not being Beta. Beta software is expected to be imperfect. Beta TOS may change. Corporate entities tell customers to expect there to be hills and valleys in performance - and admit that the product is "not ready for primetime". LL has not met these standards in terms of offering a non-Beta product. They continue to change the TOS. They continue to promote a perspective on their product that is clearly divergent from the reality of the product. They continue to offer buggy software I personally put on a par with IE/MS Outlook - occasionally functional software that is full of holes. Finally, the bug lists seems to be growing rather than contracting - a sign of a failing product IMO.

I am now going to shift my focus from looking at this as a Gold product to one that IS Beta and begin to ask myself if I want to continue to pay to be a Beta tester. I am certain that it is not worth $200/mth to do so. I am not sure that it is not worth dropping to a Basic account to do so. Then again, if we all do that, LL won't survive... But is that really my responsibility? I am not a financial investor/stockholder.... I am a customer.

At this point, it seems to me that SL is a Beta product and LL seems to be a Beta corporation. And that's TFB.

Still feel that way?

Dunno whether Korg does, but I do.

So, Sherrianne, what's with bumping a load of old threads started by Korg and left for dead months ago?

I'm assuming thats not mere coincidence?

i checked my calendar. HAPPY "bump old korg threads" DAY!!!

I call it Delta testing but I think the official industry term is "Open Beta" when you charge people to test your software in a production mode while it's still being experimentally developed.

Be careful though. I've lost a couple of "friends" over this point. If you ask LL or most of the population, they'll tell you the project is in full Gold production.

i've been mentioning this myself for awhile, except as a positive point.

no, we're not officially in Beta and it was much different back then, i'm sure. heck, we've had drastic changes in the time i've been here.. and less!

on the other hand, SL doesn't perform as a Gold product should either. i agree on that whole-heartedly. of course, will it ever be Gold? i don't really think so.. something like SL doesn't, and shouldn't, ever reach that point.

if Sl ever really reaches Gold status, it will be it's death toll. SL relies upon it's un-ending evolution to become more than it is and to reach ever-higher goals.

now, something like WoW, CoH, EQ, etc.. whatever, just games in general.. they all need to be fairly Golden to have the slightest chance on the market. but that's due to the fact that all the content is created by the devs; whereas, in SL, it's continuously changing because WE create all of that.

there will always be better ways to do things.. and yes, i feel (have even stated) that we're still, basically, in Beta. i like the idea of Delta though.

my main point is that being in a form of Beta is a good thing. it means we're here on the ground floor.. we're helping to shape the foundations of SL for when, someday, it becomes a widely known household "name".. and i relish the opportunity to help forge the path SL takes into our unknown future.

That's exactly the point Cybin. Longteeth are not here for to perpectually play virtual house, wear blingy clothes or sit through laggy "events." Have you seen the events calendar lately omg what a joke but that's off topic here.

We are paying to help support this long term test and development cycle because we believe in what this software can become. It's fun now of course, and far beyond any proposed competition. But it's not really useful yet as a platform or a tool. People will keep arguing that the only goal of LL is to produce and maintain this little world; but we're talking about people who've made big waves and bucks in the industry. They surely envision far beyond a grid of virtual housekeepers.

One day, gold versions of the software will be branched and marketed to meet specific needs; and we will have helped LL reach that point. We're not major investors by any means; but we contribute everything we can. That's why we feel comfortable stating out opinions out loud and often. It's amazing that LL listen and respond to our input. That's unique as far as I can tell.

I'm just a little surprised no one replied to Korg's post the first time it came out.

Hellooo, old neighbor!

I'm with you on that one. SL is still a live beta. I've been here since late October,
I've been playing SL almost like an addict because, at this point in time, it IS the biggest show in town. It's the only thing that currently offers this much 'freedom' and some semblence of a working product.

No, I'm not putting real money in yet. I'm considering puttin gin for a little tier so I can get a couple parcels, but that's it so far.

[ Well I missed the original post because I was prepping for my move cross-continent... ]

No, SL isn't a cooked, completed product. I thought LL was open about this, and never felt like I was being promised more than I got. Like any software product, SL is/was limited by early design decisions, and I think that's the root of a lot of grid problems. At the same time, those decisions allowed SL to survive and grow through it's early stages...

To an extent LL is asking us to fund a work in progress. The question before us as consumers is whether or not we're getting enough value in return for that funding to satisfy us. Any answer is valid, and pointing out why you feel it is/isn't satisfying that tradeoff is helpful to the other community members and to LL.

I happen to feel that I'm getting plenty of value in terms of enjoyment from what I can do in-world. None of the alternatives out there seem to offer me the ability to build and create the way SL does. And because of that, I was able to be a consumer of experiences like Neverland and Spitoonie Island.

So I'm irritated by the shortcomings, but feel like there's enough there to warrant continuing to pay my tier every month. But then, maybe I just have more money than sense -- my answer to that question isn't necessarily right for anybody else.

Or maybe this whole post is just an indication that I'm bored at work and shouldn't have access to a web browser...

At the moment, for me, SL is something I can come home to, log in, kill a fews doing something semi-productive, and, on a larger extent, play with an early pre-alpha of the metaverse. Sort of like running the ENIAC before we get around to having Optical Cel-Based Processors embedded directly into our ass cheeks.

No, it's not finished. Yes, it's a mess, but it still works in a fashion and it still totally kick ass, and yes, we are all slaves to it.

OTOH, if someone cared to compete with them, and could churn out a solid, working product, all hell would break loose. I saw a demo of something called Surreal (codename, stealth-moded company, possibly NDA'd) that, if they can actually make this thing in two years or less, will turn SL in it's current state into a small sticky splatter mark under it's bootheel.

That may very well be true about "Surreal." The real question is where will SL be in two years? Think back two year ago (for those that can) and tell me, would you ever imagine that SL would be like it is? Also look at what is about to be. HAVOK 2 is in the works, and plus LL is still hiring, always a good sign. I agree that SL is not a "finished" product. SL will NEVER be a finished product. I think what you will see in the future is SL taking on different forms for different applications. SL is what we make it, nothing more, nothing less.

PS We are investors in the company. Your money that is paid to LL speaks way louder then anything else. If you don't think that Second Life is worth it any more, then they just lost an investor.

wtf, if (Replies > 10) {post annoyingly blatent off-topic ad}

Anywho, may as well say something about the topic as long as I'm in here blowing steam over idjit posts.

SL's come a LONG way since day one. It'll never be perfect -- but it makes me happy (usually). That's all that matters.