UPDATE: Sorry for the mix up everyone, we knocked the time back on this one hour. It's now 12pm SLT/PST, 8pm GMT -- THanks!
Metaversed Live will air today for the first time at 1pm SLT, PDT, 9pm GMT on Talkshoe and in Second Life. This is a new weekly discussion between virtual worlds experts, technologists and friends of Metaversed's on the 3D issues of the day.
The panel will also be streamed in Second Life, (location will be posted later today) to a live audience, who may call in to the Talkshoe broadcast, or text their comments and questions to the panel directly inworld.
This Weeks Panel
In no particular order...
- Tish Shute - UgoTrade
- Jeff Barr - Amazon
- Jacob Sullivan - i3D
- Giff Constable - Electric Sheep Company
- John Lopez - Time Warp Technologies
- Brian Foley - Sun Microsystems
And of course, me.
Listen Live!
You can participate outside of Second Life by signing up for Talkshoe and tuning in via the show's home page on Talksshoe or by joining the metaversed group inworld and joining us live in Second Life where it will be streamed.
See you there!
I believe it was Tish that dismissed my "LL needs to focus on existing problems instead of create new ones when existing third-party tools do a better job" with the claim that there weren't any concrete examples of LL problems due to a lack of focus on solving existing problems before tackling new projects and extensions.
When I was buying my island, the Land Store screwed up on the credit card transaction multiple times. I got double-charged on my credit card in the three attempts to buy, with each attempt failing.
Eventually, the transaction had to be handled manually after much negotiation and discussion. And Dee was an absolute trooper and godsend getting that resolved.
But after asking around, this also happened with the owner of a neighbor sim (Pitt Island) and several others.
At the time, I was told that the Land Store was being revamped, but looking at the Land Store now, not much appears to have changed, has it? I hear a story now and then that the Land Store still causes 4-digit transaction burps.
Maybe for an IBM or for a Dell, buying a continent at once on phone calls, that doesn't happen because it's a contract deal, but for the little folks, it's a big deal. And broken resources for the little folks have a "broken window" effect where people will see what's broken and either avoid that place... or start tossing rocks through the remaining unbroken windowpanes.
So, why is this relevant to the "fix things before adding new bells and whistles?" rant? At the time, SL was gung-ho for the fancy Windlight and working towards Voice. And they were working on a new ticketing system. And ripping out ratings. And...
Look, when you're so busy working on a rainbow of features and projects that you force people wanting TO PAY YOU MONEY TO BUY THINGS to have to jump through hoops to give you that money, there's a problem.
Take a moment to hit the LL/SL forums. His the developer board. You'll find more chronic problems like that.
Sure, it shouldn't prevent development of new features completely. But new features introduce new complexities and instabilities.
If you want to, liken it to Microsoft and their quest to introduce increasingly flawed x.0 versions of Windows that nobody in their right mind will install. The wise businesses stay on the stable previous version, let the daredevils test the crazy new features and instabilities, test in their test labs, and move on only when the first few patches and service packs are released.
LL needs to keep things brewing in the Beta grid a bit longer, and ponder using that Beta grid more as a test bed to resolve the chronic TP, inventory, permisions, asset server, etc. issues out there.
Yes, I can appreciate the... amazingness? of what they have built. I step back now and then and just breathe in the beauty of what they've done, and making it as smooth as they've managed to make it, well, I can't attach enough Xcite Thumbs to give a thumbs up attaboy for the accomplishment.
But even as amazing as it is, they are rushing to add to it at breakneck speed to compete with fast-growing rivals that end up hobbling the amazing thing they've built.
I agree that is seems reckless to continue adding features when the system is as flaky as it is. My wife and I have had far smaller issues, but there is clearly a fundamental flaw remaining in the payment system. It seems to rear up most often when buying land. As you say, deterring people from paying you is a poor business plan.
Then there is the difficulty of actually using the things you bought (after defeating the payment bugs, of course). I personally have lost a few no-copy items to the flaky asset server. Not big losses, but annoyances nonetheless. Finally, attempting to build in a healthy 45 FPS/1.00 time dilation region periodically hits upon the "you don't own this prim anymore... in fact, nobody does, so I won't let you delete it either" glitch. The asset servers seem to need to be taken out to the pasture, as far as I can tell.
As obvious as it is that the eye is off the ball on these issues, I do understand why they continue to add features. A quick tour down memory lane of superior products that failed in the market against more complex and buggy competitors should be enough to convince anyone that standing still on features is suicide; for what is primarily an entertainment system, fickle attention spans just compound the problem.
From a marketing perspective, Linden Lab *needs* to be able to trumpet the new lighting system and voice to make press releases that stir up attention from new clients. It needs these features to keep the users who otherwise might drift off to the next thing.
The conflict between doing the right thing technologically and the marketing demand to create a headline more jazzy than "Second Life now 20% more stable" is clearly being won by marketing. I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect it to be any other way, when much of the model is driven by the need to attract new blood to replace the churn (at a minimum).