SL Certification

Hiya, Modelers!
A bunch of us Lindens have decided to create a Second Life Certification. Obviously, this involves every last one of you since you are the most knowledgeable Residents in SL. We would love it if you would help us shape this project. To facilitate Resident participation, we have created a SL Certification wiki, which can be found at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SL_Certification. Please visit, edit, and discuss. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Count me in. Most immediately I would like to participate as a builder, but later in this I'd like to see some sort of similar effort for texture artists.

As I have posted in the scripting tips, I think most certification systems are petty and pedantic and do not relate to the real job at hand.

I would really love it if "A bunch of us Lindens" instead spent time cleaning up more code, even tried out Havok and Mono!

I do appreciate you efforts to help us, but I do remember a member of a USAF inspection team telling me he was there to "help me"!

Why?

Is this for the benefit of residents looking to hire a builder/scripter? If so, I'm not interested as I'm not for hire. I certainly won't object to work-for-hire people getting certified, though.

Is it a way to discourage residents from buying ready-made items from un-certified sellers? If so, and particularly if it costs money, it's yet another way for those with connections to extract money and privilege from those who don't.

Who is the beneficiary of this plan?
What consequences are there for non-certification?
Will it cost money?

If its another technical certification that, once complete, a resident can proudly display and use as a self-promotional tool or as a line-item on a resume, then great.

But if the Lindens make any kind of official (or perceived as official) "preferred certified builder/scripter/animator" list on any official Linden site, then that will definitely lead to trouble.

I would really like to see a guild system where people are accredited. People already skilled can take the test and be accredited that way. For people learning they can get certified at novice, apprentice, intern and journeyperson level. Just makes it easier to organize teaching and learning and to sort out the blowhards from the accomplished.

I wouldn't mind being part of this. I'm in a guild in real life (IATSE...film techs) so I have a sense of how the levels work. I'm still learning to build and script in SL but would love a structured process.

Why should they have to? To who's benefit is it if they do? If the primary benefit is to the accrediting entity (in money and influence) then that entity is unfairly appropriating time and money. It will seem particularly rotten if it's an established Second Life entity with a stake in accreditation.

It'd be forgivable, though groan-worthy, if this was just a new LL revenue stream, but I fear it will reward someone's buddies. I fear this will involve some three-legged sheep or some similar wink/nod arrangement. I eagerly await being proved wrong.

The first and foremost thing, as others have already pointed out, is to clearly define if the program is about a "quality certification" (i.e. a trusted party declares that the certified party has all the knoweldge required to build/script at the "highest level of quality", whatever it may mean) or about the ability to perform those activity in-world (as for professions like lawyers and doctors).

I can't even imagine the latter will be the case as this would be an U-turn from everything LL always said about freedom in SL.

Can we have an official word from a Linden on the implication of this certification for non-certified people?



PS. Just popped to my mind that "certified" people could have access to more advanced features. For example a certified builder can use "megaprims" as it is known he will use them responsibly, while a non-certifified one couldn't. A certified programmer could use functions like "llDetachClothes()" while a non certified one couldn't .....

... but at a second thought the above seems a very *bad* idea! Really hope that was not they had in mind!

I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly this is about but I'm up for it. I think pretty much anything that increases the interaction between LL and residents is probably a good thing.

I build better than I test and work by eye quite often. It's hard enough to keep up with the building while your responsible for setting up shops, photographing & boxing items and advertising and so forth. Sounds like red tape to me. Will not being certified hold uncertified builders back?

Certifcation better be free, that's all I'm saying.

One reason I want ot participate is to be able to give feedback on how this could/should work.

In the real world, there are lots of "certifications" out there that one can obtain. Some of them are about as valuable as a cocktail napkin, and less useful. Others get far too much emphasis placed on them by employers.

In the long run though, if a certification program has a track record, and if the sort of things one must do to get that certification are known, certificates are a handy way to speed up an interview process. If I am selecting Windows system administrators, I know what a certificate from Microsoft for certain areas of training has tested the person for. So if someone has that cert, I know someone else already tested him and found him at least adequate in that area. If another candidate does not have that certificate, but has similar experience, I can take the time to interview him further, look at his work, and the like. Provided that I have the time...

Right now, anyone with SL installed on their computer can claim to be knowledgable about anything. And to decide if they are or are not qualified, we have to examine their work. A certification program would allow in-world employers to be able to take a certain amount of a person's claims as already haven been proven. Just like a sysadmin who states he has a MSCE Certificate.

But the bottom line is, either they can do the work, or they can't. And the cert won't necessarily tell you that.

I would expect the SL certifications will have a fee attached. Someone has to spend time devising, administering, and grading tests. Someone has to decide who passed and who failed, and has to maintain a database of who does and does not have that certification. It's a service that requires time and effort to provide, and could be worth paying for.

In the real world, aside from my college degree I have very few "certificates". I prefer to spend my money, time and effort on honing my actual skills, rather than collecting pieces of paper that expire rapidly. Content creators in SL should still be able to follow that route - allowing ther work to speak for itself.

Same reply as to the scripting post - simply not interested. Stand by my own work thankyou.

I responded to this post in the "Volunteers and Education" forum thread.
Since no one appears to be readin it there I will add a link to my thoughts on this subject.

/203/f3/179178/1.html

Not all Linden Lab employees are employed to write code. I would suspect less than 25% of them actually do.

Perhaps that 75% could spend some time giving us online help and generally giving feedback to the programmers.

While this is something I would do, I don't think there will be too much demand for it. I like the idea of displaying a certification at my shop for all to see but like other people said I would let my work speak for itself. I think in the end it may promote better builds in SL, if alot of people sign on to the idea. The unknown is how many people will go for it?

A thought just occurred to me, a business in SL would certainly be interested in one major aspect of it if included in the certification...speed of building. You can show a potential employer all of the fantastic works you've made but if it takes you forever to build they will want to take that into account. I don't know if employers have people build something simple for them to check out speed( which isn't everything as I was told by one prominent company owner, quality was the major factor) but this certification may help speed up their hiring process. In the end time is money.

Man, if you're not suspecting an LL plot to show favoritism then you're just plain talking smack!

I think it would be a cool thing to do. It would basically be a merit badge like in boy scouts...meaning pointless but fun!

I'd be into helping if I was a more serious builder.

It all depends on how it is managed. If it's a system where you can BUY your way in because you have a name and a corporate sponsor with deep pockets then it will mean nothing. If you have to actually SHOW you can do the work and have the skills then that is another animal altogether.

In the RL manufacturing world, certifications like ISO 9000 mean something because you can't grease someone's palm or get your Uncle Joe to call in some favors at the county seat and get you in. If you could, those standards would mean nothing. If this certification system can garner a respectable reputation I'd jump through whatever hoops I had to and wear it as a badge of honor.

I've worked for places that thought about becoming ISO certified because they thought it would be "cool" like a merit badge. I laughed out loud because I knew they didn't have a clue. ISO is no cake walk and I hope this program isn't either.

But in oder to be meaningful I think it needs to have the following features...

Inexpensive: Make it cost alot and it becomes a meaningless title bestowed only on those anointed and appointed by sponsors with deep pockets.

Genuine: If it's as easy as filling out a form and paying the L$25 filing fee then it's about as prestigious as a medical degree from a small Caribbean island no one ever hear of.

Peer Reviewed: No one can spot a fake or a hack faster than one who knows what they are talking about.

Independent: Governance should not be influenced by anyone from the Lab at all for any reason whatsoever.

Non-Elitist: No special access to members only goodies. This is a gauge of your abilities. It is a standard to strive to achieve. It's not a fraternity.

Hiya, folks. Thanks for the killer feedback!
In response to some of your questions, we have posted a Frequently Asked Questions section to the wiki at: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SL_Certification. Please check it out and keep the feedback comin'!

Itazura,

I'm not concerned about the entry criteria, as anyone in a position to get in on the basis of social favor is likely qualified to get in legitimately. If the conspiracy theories are right, it's the content creators that have social favor with LL.

I'm more concerned that the entity chosen to do the certifying will be presumed to be the best qualified and therefore the source of the highest quality work, and will have a competitive advantage. So, I'd like to not see an established or connected-to-an-established SL business be tasked with the certifications. I'd like it to be a disinterested 3rd party. Or LL itself, but they've already ruled that out.

Edit: In fact, I'd like the certifying entity barred from selling content or content services within SL.