Linden Lab Communication

Before I begin, I realize that this forum thread is not the proper place to put this post. That being said, the reason I'm putting it here, is I don't see another place that it would fit.

Second Life started showing up on my radar screen about 9 months ago. I saw little snippets here and there thought it sounded interesting. I have never been into the online games, just not my interest. But this sounded different, so a few months ago I took the plunge and signed up.

I loved it. I was amazed. I was excited.

It was frustrating at first. The controls and how this virtual world "functions" was pretty counter-intuitive to me. It took a while to get going. The learning curve here is pretty endless. I log on just about every day, talk to people in-world and read a bunch of people's blogs. I learn something every day.

In slogging though the SL Forums, the new "official" blog and people's personal blogs I've come across an issue that Linden Labs really needs to pay attention to.

Communication

Linden Labs is failing to effectively communicate with its customers. Seriously. You need to run out and hire someone to help you figure this out. From what I see, your "home-grown" efforts in this endeavor are failing miserably. The forums are full of snarky pissing contests. The blog has NO really useful information. The frustration level with your customers is at the highest level I've seen in the few months I've been here. Gwyneth Llewelyn has this great blog entry titles "We are not listening to you!" http://gwynethllewelyn.net/article66visual1layout1.html In it, she compares LL's denial with the newbie's experience of wearing a box on his/her head. It's really funny, but sadly true.

Communication is lots of things. It is telling your customers about new stuff you have planned to keep them excited about your product. It is telling your customers about unanticipated problems/issues as soon as you are made aware of them AND what you are doing about it AND your anticipated schedule to correct. It is listening to your customers when they experience problems with your product. It is listening to your customers when they ask for/request/demand enhancements AND responding to them with (a) we cannot do that because of . . . (b) great idea, we will strive to implement this by . . . (c) wow, what a cool idea, we don't know if that is feasible, but we'll take a hard look at it and get back to you (and then really get back to them).

Second Life is complex. Your customers come from diverse backgrounds. They have different experiences in RL that has shaped their knowledge base/view of the world/communication style. Your customers have different wants/needs. I'm sure your computer/programming issues would give me a headache.

It is your lack of communication that is making all these complex issues spiral out of control. One thing I see a lot is people furious about griefers/police blotter. I've been lucky and have not had too many problems with griefers. But should I have a problem, I have no doubt in my mind that LL will do NOTHING about it. The reason I have this belief, is because I repeatedly see LL refusing to discuss issues posted to the police blotter. By refusing to discuss, you leave an impression that you are not addressing these issues. A person's perception of reality, IS their reality. I perceive (based on the information availabe to me) that LL does NOTHING about griefers. So that is my reality. If you want to change/adjust my reality, then provide adequate information that will allow me to perceive things differently.

When LL does communicate, it does so poorly. I constantly see multiple questions on the forums that are similiar in nature. Sometimes Lindens respond in a clear and well thought out manner. Sometimes Lindesn respond curtly, almost snarky. Sometimes Lindens never respond. Sometimes I go back and the question has been removed with no explaination from LL. Sometimes, two different Lindens respond to two different (though similiar) questions and their answers cancel each other out.

I know from personal experience that every time I've IM'ed a Linden in SL, they have been on the edge of being rude and have NEVER come to my location to discuss. I was in SL when the whole security thing blew up. A group I belong to sent a message about the security issue and a link to this forum. I looked at the forum link and came back to SL. About 10 minutes later, the blue message came from LL that there was a security issue and a link to your blog. So I checked out the blog, and NOTHING was there about the security. I contacted a Linden in SL and told them the blog said NOTHING about the security issue. They responded back with the same link that I was telling that person didn't work. I had to take a screen shot of my monitor, import it into SL and drop the inventory in that Linden's profile before they would listen to me. A member of the group I belonged to, was more effective (and faster) at communicating the security issue than LL was.

Let's contrast this with purchasing merchandise in SL. Any question/problem/issue/suggestion I've ever had for any creater of merchandise I have purchased has been very interested in listening to what I have to say. Several of them have TPed to my spot to provide assistance (without my asking). In RL, they're making US $2 from my purchase, yet they are very customer oriented. LL makes a lot more than that from my tier costs, yet they seem unconcerned.

Communication is key to any successful business. If you cannot communicate with your customers and your customers feel they are not being listened to, they will leave. You can get as excited as you want with the informal projections that SL will have 1,000,000 users by late November. I read this article the other day that 30 online games were rolled out at E3. I stumbled across There.com the other day. Other companies are after you. As I write these words, I'm confident there are several teams of programmers high on doughnuts and red bull furiously working on (what they believe will be) your replacement.

Final note. Please read ALL of Gwyneth's post http://gwynethllewelyn.net/article66visual1layout1.html her thoughts on Company Culture/Gamer Culture and We Are NOT Intellectually Challenged and The New Second Life are really well done. I wish I was as capable at communicating my thoughts as Gwyneth.

Perrin, without a doubt I smile you took the time to write this--and eh, it *is* the proper place to put this post! Of course, it's feedback to us on a broad and relevant issue of vast interest to the community. I say that because I get many questions related and similar to yours.

Also really like Gwyn's posts--I aggregate her blog and if you have one too, do let me know.

Some of your points are ones I've really been thinking about lately, e.g.:



It's definitely difficult because whenever we add an option, some Resis go "that made it too hard!" and "power users" go "more options!" and more. Headache, no doubt, but a challenge we must endure.

I also hope we can improve the blog to provide useful info, as your comment there I replied to--

Now, one thing I need a *lot* of help with is this, and perhaps you can help me so I can do my job better: 'kay, so the background is, I have Repetitive Stress Injury (as detailed on here) and makes it very hard to keep up with all the 100s of questions I get. When I can't respond, I want to manage expectations and not falsely lead someone to think they'll get a reply, which is why I've included the appropriate text in my profile.

So, as you know, that's all led up to a necessity--not just a desire--to streamline communication. I take work breaks, I got a new keyboard, and specifically here, for questions that get asked many times over, we definitely need better FAQs and ways to commit that to documentation.

In *addition*, as you mention re: inworld issues, it's a PITA when nothing is presented, and it's hit-and-miss sometimes (I know because I see the many assorted reactions, some say "Thanks for being so quick this time, you totally sucked the last!".

Do you have a suggestion for the processes of our communication? Or more ways to provide these channels to our community?

And I think it's also confusing that the Police Blotter doesn't tell the whole story, which is why Daniel wrote:

http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/09/19/a-seven-day-suspension-for-account-hacking-no-of-course-not/

Now, knowing you want the best for us--and hopefully avoiding a Cassandra Syndrome in the process--you've certainly got my ear.

Let me know, [email=torley@lindenlab.com]torley@lindenlab.com[/email], how we can communicate better, especially what lightweight, agile cracks we could EASILY fill which are going overlooked (e.g. spend two minutes posting an info-message somewhere visible) to make things better. I promise to reply.

THANK YOU PERRIN.