Lindens online?

I am sincerely wondering,

Who has been able to locate a Linden online when they needed one?

Which Lindens are most often online?

What days and times are they usually online?

I'm wondering because I have questions for Lindens and with the "new and improved" customer service that Robin announced supposedly Linden Villiage is supposed to be a means of getting in-world support via in-world Lindens. I know Torley said they are not enforcing office hours, I'm just wondering if anyone is posting and keeping theirs, and if help via online Lindens is actually happening, when, where, who, and how often?

The in-world Linden Village "office-hours" are not for support issues, but rather a chance for residents to meet, get-to-know, and have "ongoing conversations" with participating Lindens.

If you need "support" you still have to go through the official channels (email, phone, live help, etc.) And needless to say they are overwhelmed at the moment.

Good luck,

-peekay

There are always 2-3 Lindens online at any given moment, but they don't appear as online in Search.

sometimes they go buy stuff, also...

They don't buy my stuff *pout*

Torley once bought an animation from me! I have those lindens framed and hanging in my office.

LOL obviously a good judge of quality ... never tire of your sun-bathing anim

What is the point of this? If they are online how can one find them?

As for the "they are not online for support" Then why did Robin write this...

hmmm....I know her origional post mentioned the Linden Villiage as a means of getting in-world help. A way for Lindens to see the problems as we see them... must have edited it out after Torley said it wasn't for support. Pretty sad that they can remove any trace of things they have said once it is pointed out that something was inaccurate.

It's rather common sense, no?

There are 3+ million residents, with over 1 million having logged in within 60 days. How would one propose a workable "Linden Village" which can research and respond to support issues for that many residents?

The Linden Village sims would be completely jammed pack; full of angry avs, griefers, etc.

Just the number of Lindens which would have to be in-world and present at Linden Village simultaneously would probably exceed the default 40 agents/sim limit.

And I'd hate to be within chat distance of that mess.

Hence (in theory) the need for offline methods (such as the support email), where requests can be queued, triaged based on problem severity, etc., as the Lindens hire new support personnel.

-peekay

Go through Help Request. The duty Lindens answer Help Requests, and also the other Help Request volunteers know their names and can refer people to them.

Sounds like the making of a priesthood. Lindens may only be petitioned through the Acolytes and only the Acolytes may know the name of the Lindens.

Why was Linden Village put forth as a reasonable avenue for support? My guess is really good dope.

That or they explictly said it wasn't a support channel..

Sure, it's a place for everyone to have a fun time together. That is, if they were there, which they aren't, and if they could keep the petitioners away, which they can't.

Splendid idea, really splendid. One typically has to go to a bar at 0200 to see that sort of thinking promulgated.

You said that they put Linden Village forth as a support avenue which is totally wrong - they said, very clearly, that it wasn't one.

Or are you just looking to to bash LL? If that's the case, maybe you could be a little more clear on that so people won't bother to correct you when you start making stuff up.

<<Linden's on line>>

I think that is an urban myth.

<<Getting support from Linden Labs>>

LMAO that is definitly an urban myth.

You are more likely to get help by wandering around aimlessly asking any older citizen that you encounter.

Not exactly true. I got help from two Lindens just this past weekend. Both help requests were about my house I was building and I recieved very good help and got both problems resolved in about 5 mins time each. Lizzie Linden was one and I forgot the other's first name. The only discouraging thing was I waited over an hour for a response each time.

It's not a myth though. All it takes is "patience"..............oh my, how many times have we all heard that? LOL

The point of that statement about Lindens seeing the problems as we see them - I think you may have misunderstood this - I read it as simply "Lindens need to spend more time on the grid, so they can experience the problems first hand, as opposed to sitting behind their desk in their RL offices reading emails from Torley or Pathfinder pointing to nasty forum posts, bitter emails to [email=support@lindenlab.com]support@lindenlab.com[/email], etc."

Okay, I took a little bit of license in my interpretation.. but that's the gist. The other side of it was for them to start networking with residents, talk about issues that affect them in a broader sense. The initiative was in no way intended to be a vehicle for one on one customer support in-world. I'd have to go digging through the blogs to find her post.. might be worth another read.

Robin origionally said it was a way to let lindens see our in world problems in world, that has since been erased from the origional blog entry about customer service.

TORLEY said it wasn't....that is probably when Robin erased it from the customer service update blog post...

Torley also said "hopefully it will catch on..." doesn't inspire much confidence.

Two and a half Years, and i have Not failed Yet to find a Lindn On Line when Needed.

Angel.

Those of you lucky ones who got help on your issues, perhaps you can give me a tip. I lost inventory a few hours after the Dec. 1st patch and despite all my repeated efforts in multiple channels to get help recovering that inventory, there isn't any help, only form letters instructing me to try things I've already informed them I have tried. So what is the great secret? I really want to know! I swear my first month of requests for help were exceptionally polite, respectful, and hopeful. It was only later that I became increasingly desperate, angry, and bemused.

As for Linden Village not being a feasable means of support, well I think that is exactly the point of Musicteacher and the many of us who criticized the closing of LA and Robin's initial claim that Linden Village would be where to get help. Yes, it isn't possible to get face-to-face help with so many people out there......precisely why a written contact, broken from the demands of real-time, such as, say, a FORUM, is so far superior, and why their decision to close the forum is so deliciously boggling.

Um, it's not a "priesthood", it's a tiered support system like most companies have. Problems that resident volunteers can deal with are dealt with by them, so that problems that absolutely require a Linden take less time to get one. This does mean that occasionally the resident volunteers wind up having to do customer service, which can be a bit uncomfortable, but that helps too.

Also, the duty Lindens can't deal with everything. They've got access to the god powers on the Server menu, and the emergency pager number, but that's pretty much it. And every time they use those god powers, I'm told it gets logged and they have to account for it to their boss, so they have to go carefully (that's why abuse reports are so important - the Lindens can refer their supervisors to them). Lost inventory, for example, requires a server technician and the duty Lindens aren't in that category. (That's why they tell you to file a Bug Report for lost inventory.)

I don't know why everyone thinks there is a Secret. I've asked, they've answered. I've used Live help, ARs, The Phone Lines, Most of what LL Has to Offer, and I've always Found a Linden On Line when a problem has reached a point where i Need to speak Directly to one.
I don't say anything Special, i don't Do anything special, I don't KNOW anyone special, and you can't really call it Lucky Either because, quite Simply, the Help has been Too Consistent in being provided.

Angel.

The problem with a forum, such as LA, is pretty much self evident. It evolved into a flame fest.. which serves no common good. LA was never a place to post personal grievances or rants, and that's what it became. They had no choice but to shut it down. It takes time.. a good deal of time.. to create a support infrastructure that's effective.. and for now I will take Robin's word that it's being worked on. I've experienced a few of the problems.. very few.. that others have griped about. Yes, they're annoying. I also think it's no coincidence that they released the viewer to open source when they did. Having thousands of eyes on the source code will eventually mean rapid fixes for many of these issues. That and the things that Cory talked about during his Town Hall, if anybody bothered to listen. It will get to where it needs to be. The people driving this ship aren't stupid. In the meantime, fasten your seatbelts, or deboard the ship. Your choice.

Actually, it's fairly easy to do.

A phone system that handles calls in order and DOES NOT route the callers to a vocie mail after 10 minutes.

I'd happily wait on teh phone (while playing SL) for a few hours if it meant that eventually I'd get to actually talk to a live Linden. Getting voice mail (which rarely, if ever, gets answered), or sending e-mail (which gets answered even more rarely) only frustrates Residents and breeds more angst agsint LL.

I was part of the meeting invovled with LL over Customer Support. Some very good ideas were discussed at that meeting. Too bad none of them have happened and thigns that were warned not to do have come to pass.

Maybe someday LL can grow up to run a customer oriented buisness.

*hopes*
~Jessy

I've been to the Linden village lately and one day I saw 3 Lindens there at the same time. The best times for finding one, for me, were on Wednesdays.