Heading Into 2008: Making Or Breaking Second Life

I've been quiet of late - quite a few different reasons, many related to real world events. It is high time that I posted something that I have been meaning to, but the additional time did help me deal with some of my thoughts related to Second Life, and virtual worlds in general. To write this, I needed the time away from Second Life... and one of the few good things that happened over the course of the last few weeks is that I was afforded that opportunity.

So, we're heading into 2008.

First, and foremost, Second Life has to change.

Many of us have said this in our own ways, many of us have tried and will continue to try to get things working better within Second Life. The trouble is - that is the trouble. Many of us haven't been met half way or even acknowledged by Linden Lab. After seeing more than one person fail at this, it is hard to say anything but: Linden Lab doesn't really care too much about the problems that myself and others have been discussing for years. In some respects, I am late to all of this - but I never had the hubris to think I could change what others could not. Instead, I tried to make it visible for others to see.

The thought that Linden Lab doesn't really care about what, at the least, a vocal minority have to say is fine and even understandable. It really is - there is no sarcasm in that statement. The question becomes: Who is Linden Lab trying to make or keep happy? That question is the key to the whole issue of Second Life needing to change.

Some people will get on their soapboxes and say that Linden Lab is working toward making Second Life better for corporations: that is a very hard sell for me. There are no solid metrics for real world businesses to work with to measure efficacy of much within Second Life. The statistics, quoted almost as often as they are misrepresented, do not demonstrate anything concrete. Certainly, there has been growth. Cancer grows, too. What's the point? The point is that with cancer, you can measure the rate of growth pretty well. With Second Life, the statistics are mixed together with some eye of newt and toad-toes, shaken vigorously, and then scattered. This is not too surprising, and I do know that Linden Lab is trying to fix this... but wait a moment. Think on this: Why are they trying to fix something like that? Because they probably never expected those numbers to be so important.

Those numbers are pretty important for businesses to take a solid step into any sort of marketing. Any marketer who would leap at convoluted numbers has a destitute budget, despite the relatively low cost of having a presence in Second Life that no one visits... including the marketers who bled their budget and Christmas bonuses to make it happen. Linden Lab is making an effort along these lines as far as their own statistics, but one cannot fault Linden Lab when the first marketers to buy in did so on faith over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

So it is obvious that Second Life will change - it has to change - but who will it change for? I'm sorry, I don't see the large corporations as the financial machines that will keep the matrix up and running. I see the community of creative people as being important, and perhaps because of that at the bottom of some bean counter's spreadsheet I do not matter. That, too, is understandable.

Search being implemented in new and... interesting... ways does lean toward more of a business interest. Voice being implemented, and used by people who don't care too much about people who cannot or choose not to use that feature, is somewhat droll. Sculptie prims have not had as much of an impact as some initially thought (including me, as I recall). The loss of First Land has been swept under the carpet of time, and landbots and 16m ads are today's special at any time on the Linden Lab managed mainland.

I could even get into the business aspects of it - the real world to Second Life areas that Linden Lab maintains, from software licensing to creating Second Life presences and being listed as consultants or otherwise by Linden Lab - invariably endorsed by Linden Lab. Consider this: They will be editing the list of consultants and so forth within the next few months such that if you haven't had a recent project, you are removed from the list - thus assuring that the select few remain the select few. Software licensing on a case by case basis, as I have been told, is neither trustworthy nor reliable. The whole thing reeks of imbalance and favoritism.

And that, you see, is OK too. It boils down to the reality of Second Life, and the pot is simmering. Marketers have been quick on thinking that Second Life was the next 'killer app' (most of them don't even know the origin of the term, and probably don't know Visicalc at all). It boils down to choices. It boils down to taking a hard look at Second Life, a critical and fair look, and deciding how much time and effort one should put into it.

This I have done. I have decided that I will maintain a presence in Second Life, but that presence will become less prominent: There are more fair areas for me to work; there are less abusive relationships I can have.

When someone tells me that they lost money to a landbot, I cannot even find the emotion in that anymore. It is dead to me; I have written about it for quite a long time and seen Linden Lab do... nothing. When it comes to ad extortion, the same applies. And the financial sector of Second Life, something I wish would be able to grow (because there is so much that could be done)... I see Linden Lab not even blinking at things that could be fairly easily remedied. It is a shame, too, because I know that some people at Linden Lab may not agree with the inaction in some circumstances, but overall the net action is pretty apparent.

Some think that lawsuits are the way to go. I tend to agree - and yet, do I want to participate in a virtual world that has to be shaped by lawsuits? You can go on and on about Law, but the bottom line is that Law is created where common sense and respect for others has been lost. Indeed, Law will probably interceded again in Second Life and shape it - but the notion that it will happen that way leads me to believe that there is something very wrong. That Linden Lab implicitly rewards negative behavior and continues to do so does not bode well on any front.

But I am not leaving. There are lessons that I can learn within Second Life. There are good people who are doing good things - and being implicitly penalized by Linden Lab for the same. And that, too, is OK. It is their world (despite the 'your world' pitch).

I have quite simply decided that I am as interested in Second Life as Linden Lab is. When they demonstrate some more interest, perhaps I will spend more time and energy on it. Until then, I will find other things to do... and as they deal with virtual worlds, I shall post them here. Your2ndPlace.com has grown into a great resource with some great posts and I will not abandon it.

So, will Second Life change in 2008? It has to. Will the change be worthwhile, and if so who will it be worthwhile for? 2007 saw plenty of change that didn't really help the community. the same with 2006. Knowing this, why would I expect 2008 to be different?