Linden Communication Skills

Here's where I currently stand on the entire tax debate (for what it's worth).

My complaint was not that we are taxed...it's just that throughout the entire Taber/Welsh episode, not a single Linden had spoken up.

As far as I was concerned, there was a communication problem that needed to be addressed.

So...yesterday at the protest, two Lindens were present.

Last night, Philip was a guest on Darwin Appleby's late night show--wearing one of Shadow's dragon jackets.

These are two visible efforts.

You just GOTTA keep communicating, guys. It doesn't matter if you explained it ONCE in some forum thread (with a long and tedious title that was enough to keep ME from reading it!). You need to do it again. And again. And again.

"We hear ya."
"We're working on it."
"We care."

Those words go a L-O-N-G way.

Maggie

What might be good is something like the Police Blotter. Have a daily, or bi weekly, post that summarizes everything that concerns the Lindens that day/week and what they are thinking about.

You know, they really don't. They could run SL like every other MMOOOORRRRRRRRRPPPPGGG and just arbitrarily change random things at random and never tell the users much less consult with them.

I'm just sayin', is all.

There's a fine line between giving constructive feedback and just redundant ranting and hysteria. We've definitely crossed it with the tax issue. I don't see much new being added to the debate. I just see the same people saying the same things over and over and over again.

It makes me wonder if I'm even logging into the same game as some of the people here. SL has had the smoothest and most bug free launch of any mmog I've ever played (or heard of for that matter). I played AC1 for a year, and AC2 and AO for about six months each. None of those games had been fully and properly balanced by the time I left them. There's never been a game like SL before... so there's never been a game economy just like SL's before. That SL already runs as smoothly as it does is something LL should be applauded for, not continually raked over the coals. If people can't stand riding out some rough spots and being patient as the game evolves and improves then mmog's are probably not the genre for them.

This is also the most community minded, responsive, and accessible dev team I've EVER seen in an mmog. Hands down.

I know some people are unhappy and not having fun right now (which is every bit as much or more their own fault as it is LL's). Really. I get it. We all get it. Is it really necessary to keep rehashing it over and over and over again? To what end? The longer it goes on and the louder it gets the less sympathy I manage to find.

LL is hard at work on 1.1 which is full of changes based specifically on our feedback. At some point they have to feature lock it so they can actually finish and release it. They KNOW about the tax concerns already. Now it's time to wait and see how 1.1 effects the game. Until then these redundant rants serve no purpose except to turn off new players. If LL was to snap to attention and make constant changes just to placate the most vocal and negative minority then SL would dissolve into chaos. The constant negativity isn't going to help anything, and could even make things worse.

If people have constructive things to add to the economic discusstion, great! Thought up a suggestion? Great! Just want to rant that you can't afford to keep your stuff? Heard it already! No need to keep reminding everyone unless there's genuinely something new and constructive to add. WE GET IT!

*ehem* sorry... just needed to get that off my chest.

Seriously.

LL is WAY more communicative and available to its players than any other developer I can think of. Maybe those complaining need to take a breath, take a break and go play another game a bit to appreciate this one more.

The thing that bothers me most is MANY people are getting along just fine, staying in budget and still building. I hope that these people, myself included, arent screwed over by a change made to appease people who cant or wont live in a budget that is PART of the game play. If they complain and get, what'll stop them from complaining to get even more??

Lindens Labs has already stated that they were going to adress the Group Build tax situation in version 1.1. They are doing their best to fix everything up with the taxes, and it's hard. No game before this has had an economy like this one, and i think they did a really good job with the economy. There may be a few bugs, but overall, the number of complaints about taxes, in perspective, is relativly small. A lot of us are making our way, with our builds, and we're fine. Budgeting is one thing a lot of us need to think about in this game, and it's what makes this game great. Without these taxes, SL would become a big cluttered mess with builds that people don't care about, and no land for anyone new to build in.

With Taxes, things in SL are controlled, as far as litter and clutter are concerned. Linden Labs, as i said before, are working on the problem, they are just not being too vocal about it. So my suggestion is to pick up the builds you have if taxes are becoming that bad, and wait until version 1.1. Building new versions of games and patches take time, and complaining isn't going to help speed it up anymore. And even if it does speed it up, in general, it causes the patch to be buggy, which will cause more complaints. It's happened with a lot of games which are rushed to release, and it shouldn't happen here.

Have your fun by trying out new builds for now, after picking up the old ones. When the fixes come out, place them out again. Overall, it will make the SL expericence that much better. You can still place out the build to show people at different times, then pick them up again.

As a P.S., i've seen a lot of the builds that have been taken down because of taxes, and i know the people who built them truly love their builds. Same thing with Americana. As much as it hurts or may hurt to take down their builds, they might need to for the time being. Keep the land, but rather than protesting and complaining, try building new things or make your current builds better, but pick them up before tax day. It may be cheating the system, but i'm sure the lindens wouldn't mind.

Not to mention the fact that they really are trying to do this right.

They could slap a patch on today that tweaks economy numbers around or gives a better situation for group builds. But in all likelihood, they'd just have to do the same in another few weeks to get rid of a new unforseen problem.

In all software engineering at some point you have to say "This is going in the next FULL version" where it can be adequately debugged, tested and verified before release. Incremental patches most of the time just mean more work down the line as you have to undo your quick hacks later when you are forced to do things right.

Most people would definitely appreciate a quick status report on 1.1, I'm sure. I know I'm looking forward to the new scripting features as well as the various rating and economy fixes. So how's it going, Lindens? Is it taking longer than expected? On schedule? Is it annoying you or are you excited about 1.1?

I am right with you guys in that I, so far, am not having trouble doing what I want to do in SL because of taxes. I can't build everything that pops into my head, but I never expected to be able to because I'm a SL bum--I don't make any extra money here.

The thing that troubled me was not the taxes, but the fact that I couldn't figure out -- without a whole lot of investigation and reading of policies and old threads and fine print-- what the Linden's were doing about my neighbors' distress. Maybe it had been hashed and re-hashed, but I didn't know that.

This game is large and many of us don't know the history or what's gone on before. That was my point. A comment here and there reminding people that you're busy addressing something and are paying attention is not, in my mind, an unreasonable request.

Maybe "everybody" knows what's being addressed in 1.1, but until yesterday, I had never *heard* of 1.1!

I don't think I was attacking the Linden's in my original message--in fact, I listed two things they did right yesterday. It was just a gentle reminder that I noticed and that I'd like them to continue.

I don't see this tax issue as black or white....it's all complicated shades of gray and I'm glad I'm not the one that has to try to solve it. I understand that everyone cannot have what they want and that you can never make everyone happy.

I understand how hard it is to stop in the middle of a busy and hectic work schedule to explain something you view as rudimentary and to reassure the frustrated and uninformed. I do it every single day in my RL job. It's a time drain and it seems repetitive. But the payoff is HUGE. It can make all the difference.

Maggie

I'm with ya Maggie My post really wasn't aimed at you and the points you make are definitely valid. My issue is that 99% of the noise being made on the boards that seems to demand some sort of explanation from the lindens boils down to "I built too much and now I can't afford the taxes on it. I demand more money!" and it's just starting to grate on my nerves. It also makes it hard for new people to search through the forums and find the useful information among all the "me me me! more more more!" posts. The best place to look for info about what changes have been proposed and what's in the works is the Feature Feedback forum. That's where LL specifically solicites feedback on existing features and proposed changes.

Im a bit tired of arguing the point so I hope this is my last post.

When I built My Castle I could afford it. Now that my stipend has dropped from 5K to 3200 I cant afford it. When it started costing me 500-800 a week it just drained me. Sense it dropped to around 3500 I had to pull the build down.

People keep saying "you" built more than you could afford. NO I DIDNT. When it was built I could afford it. The only thing that changed was the stipend.

Crimson Sunchaser

Everyone's stipend fluctuates, and it's a lot easier for it to go down than up. Mine's a good 3-4k less than it was at its peak. My ratings haven't gone down, but their value relative to everyone else's has. I don't get rated very often anymore. It happens to everyone. Nothing special happened to you or anyone else so I'm not sure why people feel like they've been victimized or wronged when everyone plays under the same rules. You can't count on bonus money to cover taxes. It's too volitile. Everyone learns that lesson the hard way sooner or later. For me it was a couple of months ago.
Out of curiousity how much money did you end up with when you took your build down?

Maybe Linden Labs isn't talking to you about your problem because there's already a fix on the way...

I didn't said anything special happened to me. I have tried to ride this out for the past month. Sia is the person that kept me out of thwe red during that time. Having 200$ to run around SL isnt much fun.

I decided to post about it in the forums set up for such. I never got an answer. I figured I would talk to others and we could show just how many of us were having problem. That led to the signs, when that didnt work that led to the protest.

The protest worked as we ended up with the Lindens ear by the end of the day. I may not of like what I heard but at least other peole know what is going on.

As far as being victimized..The people of taber are not the only ones with problems..ask around. No one said you just did this to me.

Chip you have stores and make money, some of us are not so lucky. I have tried to sell different things and it hasen't worked out. At the least I should be able to live of the money I had coming in if I keep an eye on what I spent. The problem here is as the stipend went down I kept losing money untill it got to the point i would lose 600-1000$ a week. Thats just my bitch not anyone elses and I dont feel that the "big bad linden" is after me. Like I said it isnt just me.

I did learn one thing yesterday. I have been bitching that Im not having any fun. Well we did the protest thing and tried to remain civil, after reapeating the same things(and/or hearing them) 20 times you tend to get short tempered. I watched people turn on us, I watched my friends turn on each other.
What started as fun has turned into a cluster. Plain and simple Im still not having fun.

After seeing the reaction of many people and getting upset myself Ive decided to hang out in Taber like I used to. I will either start having fun again or when it gets to the point i'm sick of not having fun I will leave.

I ask that no one takes this post the wrong way. I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me. I don't feel sorry for me. As so many kids are fond of saying "Its only a Game" This is the one time I agree with them. This isnt the only game I play and won't be the last one I play.

Crimson Sunchaser..Last post on the subject..to much drama.

Its not like there wasnt a whole day of town hall meetings on this... with the transcripts here in the forums for all to read. They have said over and over they are working on it.

I'll tell you what, if they started handing out aid to the people complaining, even more people who were not complaining would be totally pissed.

The system isnt static. Its dynamic. You have to roll with the waves.

"Being There" movie/book perfectly explains our economy.

It's a garden, and there are good and bad seasons where things may or may not grow. In this season, we are currently not growing, but a new season is always around the corner, and when it comes, our garden will grow once again.

So calm down, a new season is upon us. As far as I'm concerned, this flutuation shows how perfect the SL economy is because it is so much like the real life world's economy.

EDIT: Sorry that this really isn't related to anything in this thread... lol.

Does this mean the huge signs will come down?

ok FOR CRYING OUT LOUD PEOPLE. I just had a brand new person talking to me freaking out about money. Brand new! A trial user even! If you want SL to thrive you need to not scare off potential subscribers!

Really guys, LL REALLY DOES want to help you guys! Do you think they WANT to make you miserable?! Just be a tad bit paitent, and if you say it's stunting your creativity then go paint an apple cuz we really don't want to hear it anymore, and neither does Linden Labs I'm sure.