One Year Malaise

I know I'm not alone in this.

I was going to write something pretty long about this, but I find my points hard to quantify and crystalize. I think my purpose is best served by asking a simple question or two:

Why do some residents, such as myself, enter Second Life brimming with optimism for its future and potential, then find themselves exhausted and annoyed with the product and its management after about a year's time?

What happens in SL that makes people so jaded with the concept, where once they held only shining hope for the opportunity?

Maybe this is more personal than I realize. I guess I'm just at a point where:

- I've made my money
- Now what?

I find my product development efforts stymied by a lack of promised, critical features and I just don't feel like going to the trouble of writing workarounds that may be made obsolete out of the blue anyway.

But that's not all of it.

Where once I saw Linden Lab as cool and different, I now view the company with a certain suspicion, as tales of their lack of customer focus and chronic inconsistency pervade more and more of my consciousness.

I still view many, many, many individuals at Linden Lab in the highest esteem. I guess a lack of consistent company message and mission could be a culprit for the lip curling with which I am afflicted when I watch some of the actions taken by "the company."

I guess this is worthy of flaming. Like I said, I have nothing crystaline here I can really pull out and blame. But I feel an unidentifiable malaise that won't leave me. Why?

Seems pretty clear to me Enabran.

And again we find ourselves rooting for the home team one more time - but it's wearying-wearily thin.

I have been experiencing the same thing for the past few months, though mine would be the 2.5 year malaise I suppose. I was actually just talking about this last night with Oz Spade. I think for me, the most disappointing part has been the complete stagnation of the platform. Honestly, nothing really compelling has been added since version 1.4. Even in a world that changes as constantly as SL, it seems the pace of innovation and improvement has slowed to a crawl. While the content continues to get better and better all the time in SL, there are some limitations that hold us back from taking things to the next level.

I know there is a lot forthcoming in the future, however, the fact that the HTML features and Havoc 2 slipped from 1.7 just added to my feeling of malaise and frustration. Yes, 1.7 has some interesting stuff, but it just feels like everything is in slow motion, and the once cutting edge SL is seemiing kind of dated in some ways. I am hopeful that the changes in their development approach will allow LL to move more rapidly to bring new features out and also maintain the stability and scalability of SL. In the meantime, I am looking for ways to reengage myself with SL. It hasn't happened yet, but I have been spending more time in world slowly.

In the meantime, I continue to participate in the forums, and continue to improve Snapzilla in an effort to stay connected to SL. I am sure this will pass - I went through it around the 1 year mark as well. The fact that I still here is a testament to my love of SL. When most other environments have stopped being interesting or fun for me, I have just moved on and not looked back - but SL is different, and I am not going anywhere.

I suppose I feel that too, but it's really that it's been a year since I could build without lagging to a complete halt. And more than a year since there was any improvement in the amount of space or prims for your dollar.

I think it happens to everyone, Enebran. I'm certainly not immune. I still have great faith in and respect for SL as a platform and LL as a company. I still love SL and what's possible here. I still plan to continue coming up with some latest and greatest. All of that said, I'm still subject to big fluctuations in my motivation and enthusiasm. Then again, I'm that way with everything in all aspects of life.

One thing that does get to me and can at times wear down my "pioneer spirit" is the negativity of others... always assuming the worst, always claiming this change or this new policy will spell the end of SL, always speculating as cynics instead of optimists. That gets bloody annoying. Excitment is contagious... but so is the chicken little routine.

Enabram, you've produced some great stuff in the past year. Seems to me though that you have treated SL more like a business than anything else... burn out!

I sort of went through the same thing. I just want to relax more than anything now, which makes working on things much more enjoyable, because I don't feel compelled to.

That's a great point... sometimes success can be a curse. When my SL time is limited, 90% of the time I can be in SL is work... filling tatt orders, answering questions, and customer service in general. If I have a busy week and only get a couple of hours in SL I won't even get done answering the IM's that piled up since the last time I was on.

Right now I'm completely slammed with RL work and when I have some time to relax I want to actually relax, so this month I'm choosing to spend most of my free time doing other things that actually are relaxing But in a month or two when I'm back to being a RL slacker my motivation for SL will return and I'll get back to moving forward with the many plans I have waiting to be actualized.

Well, I've been in SL since last December, so I don't qualify for a full year... but I'm still enthralled by the perspective of new features coming to SL in 1.7, I'm still overworked with new exciting projects of products and services to offer in SL, and I'll happily continue helping people with their scripting questions

The current platform is more than solid enough to billions of different and very interesting things.

Crack open the lsl wiki. Use your imagination. The possibilities are truly infinite.

Ingrid, you raise a good point, but it's only part of the problem...

I viewed my business building as an exciting project. I had *fun* during product development, marketing planning, that sort of thing.

I think what Cristiano mentioned was a very good point: The platform is stagnant.

There was a brief glimmer of wild excitement I had for SL and my future products, as well as improvement for past products, when I discovered the new HUD. I still see a lot of potential in that, but come on: No object-to-object communication? This is such an incredibly crucial piece of the equation to making stuff like HUDs and other exciting goodies work and we have been begging for it for god knows how long. After getting less than optimal results with a new chat channel negotiator I was writing, I kind of lost my steam and I haven't returned to it since.

There's other stuff too. I can't even lay out my documentation the way I want to because our goofy "notecard" assets are using a text layout architecture that looks like it was transplanted from AOL 1.0.

My business isn't fun for me anymore because I'm having a hard time making the things I really want to make. I want it to be fun again and fill the grid with even more cool stuff.

But without some amazing tools to really engage me, I can't see myself getting the will back to undertakre any major development. Or to finish what I have sitting in the pipeline.

Maybe that's my issue right now, I don't know, I just feel kind of sad. I'm not sure what direction LL is taking really. I have some things I want to do but I just don't know if I want to invest the time or effort into them, I have sort of lost the umph.

Not to derail this thread but what the heck happened to Burning Life anyway? Did I miss something or was it very disjointed and unsupported this year and somehow lost or buried in the multitude of tringo events?

I dunno - things in SL are changing and I'll just have to see if I fit in after they have changed I guess.

meh...

Probably for the same reason I have: that Philip has been playing a game of three card monte with all his customers since at least 2004.

I didn't come here to make money, nor have I. But even the least intelligent "mark" gets annoyed after his 10th failed attempt to find the black queen.

Wow, that metaphor was more fitting than I intended.

Nicely worded, Chip. I couldn't agree more. The natural ebb and flow of one's emotions and enthusiasm coupled with a barrage of insipid negativity can leave you needing a recharge and a clearing of the mind.

I can't help Enabran. Because I don't feel that way.

After two years, I have more exciting things going on for me in SL than I have yet. So my optimism is growing, not going away.

I think burn out could explain a lot of it for some though. All work and no play makes SL a dull world. That sorta thing.

Interesting. I find myself, after a year, to be in a state of creative fervor.
My current project of "Isenland" in the Takalo SIM is proving to be very exciting for me.

I guess we all run on different clocks, but I do see these things as rather cyclic. One thing that keeps me floating though is I make sure that whatever I'm doing isn't just for money, but is something that I enjoy doing (this holds true in RL for me as well).

Yeah, doing stuff "just for me" has always been critical, and I'm always indulging myself when I can (check out the Templar building in Bonifacio sometime. ).

Still, though, my greatest bliss has been making new stuff. I have lost the will to make new stuff. And to finish old stuff.

Have you gone exploring lately? I usually find when I am running on empty that it's a great time to enjoy other people's work.

i would say i never feel jaded with LL or SL. i often feel a malaise when i get tired of whatever i'm doing. usually it involves me backing away from SL somewhat and then coming back with renewed enthusiasm or a ne project entirely.

we all have some vision of what SL can become, but i don't feel there is reason to be jaded if LL does not share the same vision. i think the metaphor of country and community might make us all feel like LL owes us something, but really all they owe us is a space to play, and they provide it and improve it regularly. there are somethings i argue LL should or shouldn't do, but in the end, i just appreciate that they simply consider it is what we suggest.

as for features, i would rather LL be late on delivering features that are integrated seamlessly and flawlessy, then feel pressured by promised dates and deliver a hack job. the alternative to "letting us down" on delivery dates would be that they remain secretive about the development process. personally, i like they keep us in the loop and give us something to be excited about.

Enabran, is my recollection that you have recently graduated and begun a new career correct? If so, I think that your current malaise may be related at least in part to this transition period in your life. A year ago your path was pretty clearly defined. I'm thinking that SL being a very cool way to help you get through college helped you see past its downside. Things have changed in Sl but then again, so have you.

You seemingly have had your SL eggs all in one basket. Maybe its time to expand your experience and see what else is going on. Follow Chip's and Ingrid's advice. Or just follow Torley.

When I feel like I'm in a rut, creating an alt with a radically different appearance than my main avatar, and then going on a Second Life "walkabout" seems to help.

Like First Life, Second Life is made up of many facets. I could become exausted with one element of Second Life but remain enthusiastic about others. It doesn't feel like an all-or-nothing issue to me.

One example that springs to mind are the fluxuations in spirit and vibe that permeate the forums. Sometimes the general forum can really inspire, inform, and entertain. During those periods I'm very active (numerous posts per day). But sometimes we go through a period where showing disdain and contempt is the only mode of behavior. That's when I gingerly withdraw and focus my energy on other more productive aspect of SL.

If I were to sum up my feelings, adding the highs and lows, I would say my overall feelings about Second Life are extremely enthusiastic.

I am a newbie round these parts so perhaps I'm not best equipped to comment on what it might be like to experience a 1 year malaise. I view SL with the nauseating bright-eyed optimism of a toddler because every time I venture in-world I find something or meet someone who makes me go "WOWWWW!".

Seems to me that a lot of people are saying that SL has stagnated. Seems to me that SL has developed a great deal faster than RL - does this mean that all these stagnation-cryers feel that RL has stagnated too? How sad if that's the case.

It also seems to me that perhaps it is the lack of challenges that is causing ire among those who are viewing SL with a grwoing sense of ennui. Maybe it isn't SL that needs changing - just your perspective?

I don't want to seem holier than thou (but will probably fail miserably) but whenever I encounter a stagnant moment in my RL work (Graphic Design) of my RL hobby (Guitars) I try to completely change tack. Alter the angle of my approach. Look at the problem from a different angle. Use a different guitar sound. Something different! Maybe that's what those who are bored with SL or it's development speed need to do?

Go somewhere in-world you've never been before (No-one can have visited every sim, surely?). Talk to someone you might normally not talk to. If you're a property baron - give your wealth away in chunks of $L1000 to random strangers and start again! Take chances. If you build/script/animate go and talk to someone who just lets their Avie dance in a club while they talk about sex or vice versa. If you're a buld mentor, become a greeter even if unofficially - hang out at the WA and help others get enthused about SL - it may re-enthuse you. Learn new skills. Collect Lindens. Anything. As they say, the possibilities are bound only by your imagination.

This is Second Life guys! What're you going to do? Delete your account? That'd be the SL equivalent of running a hosepipe from the exhaust of your car and... well, you get the picture.

I really hope you guys find something that sparks the enthusiasm again.

Long days and pleasant nights.

novelty wears off.

Enabran, you should join Neualtenburg!