Lindens..
While I've been less than complimentory in the past, I want to take this moment to offer y'all the kudos you rightfully deserve.
Thank you, for the creation of such a wonderful game environment - The tools, the interface, the avs, and the world - are a magnificent. Y'all have worked, and worked hard, and here on the eve of opening to the public, I can only say that I wish you the best of luck, that any success is rightfully yours - you all should be proud.
lol - now things to ponder. While I know that most of this cant (and wont) be fixed, this is merely a thread to think about where things went right/wrong/or just could have been.
So kicking it off...
Management - You Lindens have claimed over and over again that you want to create a world where the citizens themselves create the laws, the enforcement of said laws, and the society that is governed by the above. Noble. Very noble - however it's like a 8th grade science project. Great on paper, Wonderful in concept, bound to backfire and die on implimentation.
Imagine a room full of 4th graders. Now tell the teacher to leave, and let the kids do whatever they want to do... can you say chaos? Cliques will rise, anarchy will reign, and desks will get upturned. At some point finger paint *will* get smeared all over the chalkboard, and *someone* is going home with a skinned knee.....
Persons are intelligent, people are stupid. As a group we agree only to disagree - unless *someone* steps up and gives us the guidelines needed to function (If this was not the case, the concept of government would never have come about).
So - is this really what SL is about? I hope not. I would like to make it something more - but for everyone -person that wants to create, there are always 5 who want to disrupt. THAT is why we need controls, that is why the Lindens should be more than just spectators in their own creation.
TOOLS - lol ok everyone knows I have a problem with the land tools (from previous posts). So I wont go into that old hash again. Rather look at it this way. Y'all built a wonderful, magnificient toolset.. at what point do you say... Um hey this is *too* good... Maybe we whould limit it abunch. Come on folks, I know that "Lindens" isnt just code talk for "Postal Service" - You did a great job! why be ashamed of it? why lessen it.
WORLD - Hey walking from sim to sim is a cool thing. but lets look at management again...
if you really wanted to have a world where you didnt have to take control - where it *was* totally up to the residents. Why not set it up like AW did? Each world encapsulated in a server (or portion thereof) - with the ability for residents to actually *buy* servers (or rent them) and have private worlds - even private to the exclusion of others. where is the community in that? well to those who are friends and fellow builders - they *have* a community. and a themed one at that. If you didnt like what someone (or some group) was doing - go find another mini-world - and chances are you would *never* have to deal with those folks again. Hey, it's a novel concept - but from the point of hands off management - it's the most intelligent of solutions. SL as one big world = a nightmare of hands off management, SL as hundreds of mini-worlds = the perfect setting for hands off management.
it's math, and it's easy to follow.
As a note to someone else online, a suggestion they had - which is a good compromise.....
Why not make the sims more user controlled. i.e. be able to set options for a sim like " Height Max for obj, Damage, Fly, Land slope, etc.." rather than limit *all* sims, why not make it adjustable. It's good middleman solution.
Last but not least - these are things I've thought of time and time again - some I've brought up some are new. Most are just want the title says - ponderings of a madman.
I know there is no chance of fixing all of this now.. even if y'all wanted to. what this is, is a chance to think and reflect on other ideas - perhaps SL 2.0....... who knows.
I wish you all the sucess you deserve.
and please, any who see this and have a comment, write awaw
either to blast or add your own ideas. that's what it's all about anyway.