Active users not growing - what to do?

Very good point. If anyone is worried, note that this is just a lull while gearing up for "the next big thing."

OT: I avoid the beta grid (I already feel like a beta tester on the main grid, thank you very much) so I haven't tried it yet, but I am so looking forward to voice. I ran out and bought a headset as soon as it was announced!

I think we should just appreciate the fact they arent going up

wow we complain when so many are on we cant do anything.

So when that number slows down, we complain its not going up.

LOL

Maybe this is what Linden Labs needs to catch its breath to figure out how they are going to handle 100k concurrent logons.

I have to say that, despite the periodic problems with log-ins, teleports, griefers, and IM spam, I am still a huge fan of SL. It is a fascinating experiment, a seductive environment, an enjoyable meeting-room, and a creative bonanza.

Even though I don't have a large monetary investment in-world, I do have many dear friends and would be very sorry to see SL disappear. Having said that, I don't believe that it will -- unless, of course, something were to happen to Linden Labs. It's a bit terrifying to think that this whole edifice is balanced upon the health and well-being of LL ....

I doubt that First Land alts are much of a factor. To buy First Land, you had to be a premium member, and the numbers of those have continued to grow (much more slowly than the total number of residents, but still growing).

I think that a big factor in the slowing of growth is that we have reached the limits of what the current SL infrastructure can handle. Lag and related problems get more severe as the number in-world increases; by the time we reach 40,000 concurrent users, Second Life is almost impossible to use. The number of active users will be self-limiting until the underpinnings of SL are able to handle more concurrent users; the 1.15 upgrade was one move in that direction. (Yes, I know the problems with IM still aren't completely sorted out, but the changes will provide a considerable increase in IM capacity once everything is fixed.) Major database changes are also in the works, and I expect some growing pains when those are implemented as well (probably late summer or early fall).

If the hardware does not manage to keep pace with growth then Linden is bound to say to all the non premium users - "OK, we have enough subscribers now, so the rest of you - out of the pool party's over". Then the numbers scale back, they have a constant income stream and the hardware (servers) run smoothly with only premium members.
Do you believe that this is their strategy?
I believe that they are heading that way weather they want to or not.

Nope. LL wants to have millions of people on at the same time. This platform is supposed to be the next big thing. It is the beginning of the next dot com era. I think the only real thing that LL wants is to go down in history as the people the brought the world a fully 3-d web. Once the servers go open-source, I bet it won't be long until the only support that LL gives is to people that pay them directly.

So someday LL will actually give some kind of support to those of us who support them financially? Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I can hardly wait!!!!!!

OH me TOO! I pay! I want my CSR!

I had the impression from the recent Rolling Stone interview that Rosedale realizes that someday, for his vision to really take off, he does need to get out of the way. This must be a difficult paradox for him, and I sympathize. It's hard to know when your baby is ready to face the world by himself... too soon is bad, too late and you're losing ground to imitators.

I've had the experience of creating something and then looking for that sweet spot when I can finally let it go, without having someone with a lot of enthusiasm, but a very different vision, mutate it into something much smaller than what I originally had in mind. LL must eventually let SL become a matter of open source and standards... but hitting the sweet spot of WHEN, you'd almost have to be Nostradamus to know that. I'm glad LL has smart friends with deep pockets.

Tonight my local news will be doing a story on SL. Expect a bump in online users and population tomorrow.

The concurrency figures could also be affected by active users (on average) spending a bit less time in SL. Many of those who joined up during the recent 'surge' and then stuck with SL will have been through the intial learning curve and might have settled to a lower level of activity.

yep.

its april, here comes summer. Online usage generally declines a bit as the weather gets nicer. The nasty weather that kept folks inside and on the computer has declined, end of school is nigh (exams), etc etc.

wait till midsummer, usually picks up again then, when its too hot to do much of anything outside anymore. Except for those of us with no air conditioning, I generally leave the computer till nightfall then

Maybe a slower growth rate and stagnant active number of AVs will be a good thing. Then maybe the lindens will have time to take case of the problems that already exist instead of worrying about massive scalability problems. They need to slow their rate of growth while they expand their team

As for CSRs, I think people just need to try a little harder to get through. Also, lindens are hiring CSRs at this time so their team should grow and after they are trained maybe everyone will have a little better time getting through for help.

I'd like to see a Zero growth rate for a time, coupled with a weeding out of inactive accounts, coupled with fixing the issues already present.

Thats a lot of coupling.

You must be feeling better.

Well if its repeats like last year it will be a slower growth rate the next 4 to 6 months and then Fall will hit and it will spike up again and all over the issues start up.

Much of the influx waves of people to Second Life, are based on what perspective they were given about the 'Game' by the various media outlets that report without actually knowing the full aspects of the programme. In my experiences as a SLGreeter on Help Islands and other newcomers I have met and helped on the main grid, they tend to come in several guises.

1) The Sex Aspect
'Hi, where do I get sex?.... do you want to f**k?'
2) The 'Game' Aspect
'Hi... who can I shoot? Where can I big BIG weapons to shoot other people with? Can I shoot you?.... Do you like my gun?... I am going to kill you.. do I win anything?'
3) The Commerce Aspect
'Hi, where can I get a job and start making millions of USD?'
4) The Social Aspect
'Hi.... is this all there is?... where are all the people I read about, the parties, orgies, shops... do you want to be my friend? (or so often, 2 seconds in the game and they offer friendship without asking)... so where are the best places to visit?.. Where do I go from here?'
5) The Sex Aspect, version 2
'Hi, I used my parents CC to get ingame, it says I can go to 'mature' places and see grownups having sex, and have a go myself, even though I am underage.. can they find out I am underage?... would you like to f**k me?.. can I be your friend?'
6) Misc Aspect
'Oi... you are supposed to help me... have you got any money I can have, give me some money, what about you giving me your clothes, they are awesome I want them. I'm a noob, I don't know what I am doing here.. I just downloaded the game and want you to show me around.. How does this work.. and that.. how do I do this.. how do I do that... I am talking to you, so answer, nevermind all those other people asking you questions, ignore them. NO I HAVEN'T READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, they are boring and you have to help me now!!!
7) Misguided Aspect
So where are all the girls/boys <insert here gender preference>... why should I wear clothes?.. doesn't this 6 foot penis look great? Where can I go now??? tell me!! I want to meet people, how do I do that? Why won't people speak to me, I am here, so they should!
The Confused Aspect
What is this game for? No I don't want to leave Help Island, all my friends are here and I will loose them as I have been told, once I leave I cannot get back.

There are many more... but the sun is shinning and my therapy session starts soon.. have a great day