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Open letter to Philip and the residents of Second Life

Jekyll McHenry
GOM Lackey
Join date: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 24
08-30-2005 20:59
I'm sad.

Not sad that Linden Lab has chosen to build the market that will replace GOM. Not sad that relations between Linden Lab and GOM have become strained. Not even sad about the wave of criticism we've received recently in the forums.

Nope, I'm sad because I've lost my passion for Second Life.

When Philip first contacted us back in November 2003, we were stoked. Here we were launching a service that would eventually violate EULAs in ten different games, and we were actually asked to list the L$. How cool is that?

Over the next 20 months or so, we built the foundation for the Second Life economy. Before us, no one bought or sold L$. And after us came IGE, Hank Ramos, Anshe, heck even Schwanson is selling on eBay (for a hell of a profit I might add - way to go kid. Yer momma will be proud... in 25 to life... :P ). We were the first to help circulate L$ from the wealthy content providers back to the content consumers. We were the first to build "ATMs" - now you see them all over the place for all sorts of services. We were one of the first (if not the first) to have full web-server XML-RPC/email integration. I had a hell of a lot of fun building that stuff. It was frustrating from time to time when things didn't work, but for the most part, simply being at the forefront of SL resident development was a blast.

At the same time, we hooked up with Sarah at VERTU. You might have known her as Bhodi Silverman. If you didn't know her, you missed out. Sarah was one of those truly inspiring individuals. Sarah, I miss you piles and wish I knew where you were. Sarah got me hooked on in-world fundraising, and to date we've assisted in raising well over $25,000 for a variety of charities including most recently the American Cancer Society. (IGE tried to copy but last I checked they had raised a whopping $263.00 over about a year. Goes to show the difference in generosity between you folks and your average Everquest player.)

I am very proud of what our passion has helped us accomplish in Second Life. And with that in mind, I'd like to speak briefly about what has happened here.

There are two ways that you can look at what Philip and Linden Lab have chosen to do. The first is that they really should be spending their efforts building and solidifying (and bug-fixing) the platform, and not duplicating mature resident-developed services. This is the way we looked at it from the start of the discussions. Of course we're biased, but at the same time, we strongly feel that Second Life should be a platform on which the residents are allowed to innovate freely - without the threat of losing what they have built.

The other way to look at it is that the platform really includes a unique form of commerce, and that all users should have easy access to it. Sacrificing one set of resident innovations so that 40,000 others can prosper shouldn't be a tough decision. This is the choice that Philip has made and I can certainly understand why.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to convince him to change his mind and this leaves us wondering about the future of GOM. Sure, we could change our business model and become another re-seller like IGE, but that was never the plan. We built a market because we wanted to trade. We didn't want to be a store. And sure we could write the code to automate the use of an HTML interface meant for a user, but as an experienced software engineer, I have no intention of doing so. We could wait for a real API, but for how long? Who knows?

And so I am moving on.

Tom will continue to run GOM until he decides it's no longer in his or the company's best interest. I am very confident in his abilities - plus he has a teensy bit more tact than I do.

To all of Second Life: innovate. Passion is the fuel, and if you have it, you must innovate. If there are bugs, build workarounds. If the tools come up short, bridge the gaps on your own. Until they change their policy, Linden Lab can take from you what you've built, but you must still build it. It is very important that you still build it. Without your builds, and without your passion, Second Life is nothing.

To Philip, while riding these emotional roller coasters for the past 6 or 8 months has been both exhausting and exhilarating, it has taken its toll on me personally. And on my passion for Second Life. I had so many more things to do here but now it just doesn't feel right. And as I said, I'm sad.

I've been pretty blunt with you - maybe even impolite - and to be fair, you've taken us for granted, and from time to time treated us quite poorly. I've put it all aside and I hope you can too.

I truly wish you all the best of luck.

"Farewell to all my darlings and fellow criminals. See you when the comet hits."


Sincerely,

Jamie Hale
aka ex-President - Gaming Open Market Corp.
aka Jekyll McHenry
aka Zeppi Schlegel
Lecktor Hannibal
YOUR MOM
Join date: 1 Jul 2004
Posts: 6,734
08-30-2005 21:10
:(
_____________________
YOUR MOM says, 'Come visit us at SC MKII http://secondcitizen.net '

From: Khamon Fate
Oh, Lecktor, you're terrible.

Bikers have more fun than people !
Cid Jacobs
Theoretical Meteorologist
Join date: 18 Jul 2004
Posts: 4,304
08-30-2005 21:23
From: Lecktor Hannibal
:(

:( :(
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Shaun Altman
Fund Manager
Join date: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 1,011
08-30-2005 21:28
:(
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Regards,
Shaun Altman
Fund Manager
Metaverse Investment Fund
Snowcrash Hoffman
Digital mind virus
Join date: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 282
08-30-2005 21:56
From: Cid Jacobs
:( :(


:( :( :(
Lash Xevious
Gooberly
Join date: 8 May 2004
Posts: 1,348
08-30-2005 22:26
From: Snowcrash Hoffman
:( :( :(


:( :(
blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
08-30-2005 22:29
Should have taken the stock options.

Trust me. I have a lot of friends who made the same mistake.
_____________________
Taken from The last paragraph on pg. 16 of Cory Ondrejka's paper "Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication, and Innovation in Digital Worlds :

"User-created content takes the idea of leveraging player opinions a step further by allowing them to effectively prototype new ideas and features. Developers can then measure which new concepts most improve the products and incorporate them into the game in future patches."
Kate Hanks
AFK Queen
Join date: 17 Oct 2003
Posts: 337
08-30-2005 22:41
I also have to say :(

This is the end of an era. Best of luck to you as well, Jamie.
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Brace Coral
Basic Account Crew
Join date: 11 May 2004
Posts: 666
08-30-2005 22:42
From: Lecktor Hannibal
:(



:( :( :( :( :( :mad:
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LL Brokted my Sig

From: Pol Tabla
I love Brace Coral.

Just sayin', like.
Essence Lumin
.
Join date: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 806
08-30-2005 22:59
I posted something on your forum about not having heard from you since Philip had posted publically. I guess I found it :( :( :( :(
Beau Perkins
Second Life Resident.
Join date: 25 Dec 2003
Posts: 1,061
08-30-2005 23:09
Taking business matter to public forums is a tasteless tactic and a sign of pure bitterness.
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blaze Spinnaker
1/2 Serious
Join date: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 5,898
08-30-2005 23:52
Yeah, he should file a patent and take them to COURT. That'd be much better.
_____________________
Taken from The last paragraph on pg. 16 of Cory Ondrejka's paper "Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication, and Innovation in Digital Worlds :

"User-created content takes the idea of leveraging player opinions a step further by allowing them to effectively prototype new ideas and features. Developers can then measure which new concepts most improve the products and incorporate them into the game in future patches."
Anshe Chung
Business Girl
Join date: 22 Mar 2004
Posts: 1,615
08-31-2005 00:03
It's getting cold in here. Gonna miss you :( :(
_____________________
ANSHECHUNG.COM: Buy land - Sell land - Rent land - Sell sim - Rent store - Earn L$ - Buy L$ - Sell L$

SLEXCHANGE.COM: Come join us on Second Life's most popular website for shopping addicts. Click, buy and smile :-)
Cybin Monde
Resident Moderator (?)
Join date: 27 Jan 2004
Posts: 2,468
whirlwind, the rollercoaster
08-31-2005 00:17
first, Torley returns.. now Zeppi, you're leaving us.

the social impacts are becoming insane around here.

i'm sorry to see this happen to you, or should i say.. to see your sadness manifested. i would much prefer you had become invigorated, except for that absent support of LL, i iamgine you would have.

perhaps someday we'll see you return due to some unforeseen fortunate happenstance as yet to unfold.


until then, be well and may your life be enriched in whatever you do.


/bow
_____________________
"We, as developers, are doing the easy part – building the scaffolding for a new world. You, as the engines of creation, must breathe life into it."
- Philip Linden

"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be."
- Willy Wonka (circa 1971)

SecondSpace (http://groups.myspace.com/secondspace) : MySpace group for SLers.
Selador Cellardoor
Registered User
Join date: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 3,082
08-31-2005 02:14
Jamie,

This is terrible news, and I do hope that in time you will return. :(

Incidentally, Sarah is ok. She has been very ill, but is now fully recovered, and I did catch her briefly in sl recently. Her rl has been very hectic lately, but I hope she will be inworld more in the future.

I think you might find that if GOM continues, it will be the service of choice for many sl residents who feel that it has a moral, if not legal, right to be considered as the only ethical choice.

It seems that the relationship between the Lindens and the residents of Second Life has undergone a sea-change lately. We have been made very aware that Linden Lab is a business venture, and that making money is a priority that might well overrride other considerations. I feel this is a great shame - I have always felt since I have been here that the trust between the people who own SL and those who use it has been one of the most attractive aspects of this world.

Many residents pay large sums of money every month to LL because they enjoy that atmosphere and that relationship. I do feel it is something that should be recaptured for the benefit of all.
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Doc Nielsen
Fallen...
Join date: 13 Apr 2005
Posts: 1,059
08-31-2005 02:38
Jamie, always leave the door open... See ya...
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All very well for people to have a sig that exhorts you to 'be the change' - I wonder if it's ever occurred to them that they might be something that needs changing...?
Kathmandu Gilman
Fearful Symmetry Baby!
Join date: 21 May 2004
Posts: 1,418
08-31-2005 02:53
Did LL even attempt to offer to buy GOM? That would have been the right thing to do.

BTW, I'm not intending to use anyone else but GOM to exchange money anytime soon. I think a lot of customers will remain loyal simply because GOM works.
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It may be true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease but it is also true that the squeaky wheel gets replaced at the first critical maintenance opportunity.
Eggy Lippmann
Wiktator
Join date: 1 May 2003
Posts: 7,939
08-31-2005 03:06
Guys, seriously, enough with the melodrama. Just because a new player is entering the market doesn't mean you're going to die. Now is when things get INTERESTING!
You don't start a company with the expectation that no one else will ever be able to replicate what you do. You start a company because you enjoy COMPETING, innovating, one-upping everyone else. Let the features roll in.
Selador Cellardoor
Registered User
Join date: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 3,082
08-31-2005 04:06
Eggy,

Quite obviously the question is not one of competition but of unfair competition.
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Huns Valen
Don't PM me here.
Join date: 3 May 2003
Posts: 2,749
08-31-2005 04:18
From: Eggy Lippmann
Guys, seriously, enough with the melodrama. Just because a new player is entering the market doesn't mean you're going to die. Now is when things get INTERESTING!
You don't start a company with the expectation that no one else will ever be able to replicate what you do. You start a company because you enjoy COMPETING, innovating, one-upping everyone else. Let the features roll in.

GOM claims that LL wanted them to do transactions by grabbing HTML off their site and hoping that they were the first to answer a transaction. If someone else got it first, well... the term "undefined" comes to mind.

Which is fucking hilarious, if it's true. (Hilarious to me 'cause I'm not the poor sap being asked to write a financial system based on fly-shit luck rather than such concepts as "atomicity" and "integrity" and "proper B2B protocols such as XML-RPC.";) In fact I have to scratch my head and wonder what LL's side of the story is, because that just CAN'T be right.
Jennyfur Peregrine
Whatever
Join date: 24 Dec 2003
Posts: 1,151
08-31-2005 05:31
From: Jekyll McHenry
At the same time, we hooked up with Sarah at VERTU. You might have known her as Bhodi Silverman. If you didn't know her, you missed out. Sarah was one of those truly inspiring individuals. Sarah, I miss you piles and wish I knew where you were. Sarah got me hooked on in-world fundraising, and to date we've assisted in raising well over $25,000 for a variety of charities including most recently the American Cancer Society. (IGE tried to copy but last I checked they had raised a whopping $263.00 over about a year. Goes to show the difference in generosity between you folks and your average Everquest player.)


Bhodi is doing well actually. She popped in game this past weekend and IMed me. She will hopefully be back in SL more now :D
_____________________
~Jennyfur~

http://jennyfurperegrine.wordpress.com/

http://slcc2007.wordpress.com/

Deadly Nightshade Design Studio (Indigo 86,61)

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Surina Skallagrimson
Queen of Amazon Nations
Join date: 19 Jun 2003
Posts: 941
08-31-2005 05:50
*cries* :(
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Surina Skallagrimson
Queen of Amazon Nation
Rizal Sports Mentor

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Philip Linden: "we are not in the game business."
Adam Savage: "I reject your reality and substitue my own."
Khamon Fate
fategardens.net
Join date: 21 Nov 2003
Posts: 4,177
08-31-2005 05:54
Now now Eggward,

Here in the states we expect everyone to be granted a magically level playing field. One should respect the equality of one's neighbors and not take advantage of one's competition just because one has achieved a better position. It might hurt their feelings and we should foremost all just try to get along. Your body is your own, unless of course you're not born yet, and all must become the collective of the village where there is no pain and no hunger and no wait a minute I'm getting this confused. All this silly rhetoric runs together. Oh never mind.
_____________________
Visit the Fate Gardens Website @ fategardens.net
Milo Bukowski
Lag-induced oversteer
Join date: 23 Dec 2003
Posts: 305
08-31-2005 05:57
Jamie, I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out. I've always rooted for GOM, not just for the great service but because you're a stand-up guy. Thanks for all your help with VERTU.
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2006 Kalista: get one!
Mambo Automobiles of SL
OneEyedDrunk.com: my SL usability blog
Khamon Fate
fategardens.net
Join date: 21 Nov 2003
Posts: 4,177
08-31-2005 06:05
I sell profits once a month on GOM. I can deposit all the money, set sell orders at different prices, cancel and resubmit those orders if the price drops and my timeframe is growing short, or sell directly if I'm at the end of my cashing period ( couple of days before billing).

Plus they fill the orders partially when possible so I sell some of the Lindens at higher prices even if the buyer doesn't want them all.

I seriously doubt that LL are going to provide that kind of feature set for me to work with.

One thing I do want GOM to implement is the bulk transfer to Paypal so I don't have to keep paying that fee on top of the selling commissions.
_____________________
Visit the Fate Gardens Website @ fategardens.net
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