Feted Inner Core Issue: Your opinion?

'Second Life' Opened to Real-World Business Venture
Filed in Business, Culture, Other Space, Design, Second Life
by Tony Walsh on July 12, 2005 @ 11:44 am

According to Linden Lab's Vice President of Product Development Cory Ondrejka, an area of the Second Life has been hired out for use by an yet-unnamed bank to teach kids about managing money (this area is most likely to be private, since it involves minors). A group of users known for outstanding Second Life creations was recommended as potential hires by Linden Lab. The bank paid some or all of this group around $17,000USD to create content for the services project--a "steal" for the bank, as Ondrejka put it, in terms of expenditures. Note to freelance Second Life builders: Charge more next time.

Ondrejka revealed few details on the bank deal during a presentation at the recent Games+Learning+Society Conference, but he suggested an official announcement was pending. The move by Linden Lab into the services space shows that the company is willing to monetize its hallmark virtual world in ways other than membership and land fees. Should more companies be interested in Second Life as a "turnkey" solution to their online gaming project needs, it looks like Linden Lab will be happy to send the business to a select group of Second Life builders. Which is great news if you're part of that group.

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Following the publication of the above, I am posting this poll to see what others think of the way this was handled. Forgive me if I don't pose the questions quite right - but hopefully it will do. Please feel free to comment below, or in the other thread started about this topic (but without a poll).

Uh... I don't think its so much LL's fault... as it was probably the banks decision to do it that way.

Honestly I think its poor business ideals to take an employee of which you know nothing about, have never seen work of, but is recommended. Recommondation never means quality work. But thats really in general.

What will become of this "clickable" news?

The following steps will commense:

- We will never see it. Ever. And forget about it.

- Teens will more than likely not take interest.

- It will go away and never be heard of again.

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Not that this is a bad idea, I think its a good thing to teach kids about responsible financing, more kids should know that, more ADULTS should know it as well. Hell if it was on the main grid, I'd be interested.

I really doubt that the bank wanted to open this project up to several thousand potential people. I imagine they asked that Linden Lab, very discretely, refer them to a group of successful content moguls who could help them out with this quietly. Since the bank is still unnamed, it seems as though they don't want enormous talk about the project right now.


Sigh.

But let's not let rational matters of business cloud our judgment. Of course! It was favoritism! It is Linden's DUTY to SERVE everyone EQUALLY. If the bank doesn't like that, well, they can take a hike!

[misquote=Eanron Temple]
[/misquote]

Exactly! I agree entirely!

I think it would have been great if LL had let people bid for this, or at least present their credentials.

But save the FIC crap. It's old, it's tired, and it's downright stupid.

What is the most disturbing thing is people (read: Cocoanut) flying off half cocked and starting polls without knowing the full details of this situation. That kind of ignorance, honestly, is quite sad.

Woah....
I didn't see the creator of this post swing one way or the other with their oppinion.
Looks to me like they were just interested in what other people were thinking about this.
Granted, the natural assumption is they're against it, but that has yet to be said.

I belive labeling it a "Feted Inner Core" issue does, indeed, suggest significant slant.

I just wish people were as offended by Radical Islamic Terrorists as they are discussions about FIC

No, the original poster has already declared her opinion in the first thread about this issue. I'll quote it here.



I'll spare you the Prokofy history lesson. Anyway, the poll is here to make a point, not to ask a question.

Unlike the FIC, they just need a hug.

This isn't feted core. this is a business trying to survive.

The fact is, if they recommended someone and they didn't work out, it would have been a blow against the business of SecondLife.

Feted Inner Core is when people can come onto these forums and engage in ad hominem simply because they've contributed a lot to SL. We all know who they were, and what they were doing, but LL finally clued in and started to let them know that they were not immune.

Just because you've been quoted in the press doesn't mean you're allowed to walk around like some big swinging dick insulting everyone in your sight - that's what FIC was, and is FIC no longer. Thank you LindenLabs.

Congratulations, this deal means a lot to all of us and Jack Champies advice is sublime.

The article itself is quite biased - on top of that, Cocoanut attributes this once again to the "FIC", instantly showing a bias in the title - that some privileged group got this through some special deal. Without knowing the full details of the project, or how it came to be, speculation that is ignorant of the facts of the situation (not just what was in a blog entry) is just that: speculation.

Once the full details of a) what the project is, b) who is involved in developing it, and why they were chosen, then it makes sense to question the process. Here, you have no idea who this mystical group is, or what the project really is.

That's my take as well.

However, there was significant slant on the part of LL on this matter or did I miss something? In this regard I don't find anything wrong with FIC reference, simply meaning a favored group of people by LL, very likely because of their good trusted skills, being dependable veteran players etc.

By the way I feel LL did the right thing to recommend the people they did, I am sure the reason they "favored" these people was not because they are in love with them but I suspect because they trust their skills. But, this does not change the fact that some sort of FIC issue (I am referring to as people favored for their talents) was involved and a slant was committed. Therefore Coco's poll is very legit and not slanted.

Someone most likely DID get this through some special deal.

That's just smart business. Are you going to suggest some bunch of un professional hobbyists to randomly bid on an important project? No. You're going to select and recommend the best.

No, this is just good business folks.

What was happening before was bad business. New users who were SUPERIOR to a lot of the people who were so called "FIC" around here were getting their heads blown off with insults because they didn't happen to be as 'elite'.

That was bad business and why FIC was so clearly wrong.

I don't see much point to there being two threads about this -- they really ought be merged. In any case, this is cross-posted from the other thread as an FYI:


Well, all right. Before this discussion goes any further, I'd like to share a bit of information I've collected in the last half hour.

With a bit of detective work and some Googling (and a Skype VOIP call to a friend of mine who lives in the People's Republic of China) I have learned the identity of the bank which contracted with the mystery group and with Linden Lab to create this money education project.

The bank is a pretty big one in Asia and the Pacific Rim. I dug up a photo of their main office. I'll reveal it now.

Lately, these types articles showing up on SLH and Clickable Culture. It almost seems as though these websites are acting in conjunction, trying to put the screws to LL. In any event, the bias is clearly obvious. *shrug*

Again, most likely is your speculation. Do you know the exact details of how the group came to develop the project, what their credentials were, or how any of it came to pass?

I think its going to end up reflecting badly on LL with their overall customer base.

This is a sizeable amount of money we're talking about. The fact that there weren't, at the least, open calls for bids (much like LL is currently doing with the employment center) - instead, LL directs the bank to a specific group of players - doesn't sit well with me.

I wouldn't have a problem with LL contacting any player they wanted to and telling them to enter in a bid for a project like this, as long as it was technically open for anyone to submit work.

Now, many people never got the opportunity to at least try out for this project, and LL looks like they're playing favorites. Not to mention it brings up the question, has this been done before?

Linden Labs is a private company, its their servers, its their business, they can do what they like. I just think it might not have been the best move on their part, PR-wise.

And for god's sake, stop with the FIC crap. It's juvenile and devisive.

Eh..

I based my statement off two things.

1) I only saw the title in what I assume is the original thread.
2) This being a second made thread with a pole, I assumed the "Issue" would make it a link of sort to the other thread, just with more options. While still not giving a personal view per say.


Again though, I too agree with the general assumption of what this means.
Just not the nasty jumping on people. Specifically because until that point, this thread considering its topic, was not heated. But instead, intellegently supported, and.. in favor of LL.

You may as well thank Coffee for the wake up call. Because there never was a FIC.

If that were true Snowcrash, it would not have so many in an uproar. The name was *never* created, used, or meant to be in any form the way you describe. It was meant as a term that was derogatory towards those it was being used on.

Many took the term and tried to take the harsh meaning from it. Consider it in the way that homosexuals were able to embrace and finally take control of the meaning of the word queer.

Yet still when the words "gay" or "queer" are used as a way to argue *against* an idea / person / thing.. It is *never* used in a way that could be taken positively.

It wasn't really up to LL to hire the content builders, rather it was up to the bank. Likely, LL Pointed out that thier own userbase is a source for good, professional-level content creation by pointing out those who had created good, professional-level content.
If this sort of thing picks up, there will be more companies seeking more creators from the userbase - and thier own methods will become the standard means for choosing who to hire. LL will have as little to do with that as they currently do.
I think this is more evidence that LL is out to be a service provider only, and by doing that be a basis for new over-the-internet content. Just like they claim

I have no clue who this project involves or what kind of content they're having developed but I think this is great. Congrats to whoever got the gig. Why should the rest of us do anything other than congratulate those who got a lucky break? Are people so damn selfish that they can't appreciate the good fortune of others?