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The Virtual Whirl: Linden Lab goes back to basics
Yesterday, Linden Lab's interim CEO Philip Rosedale and CFO/COO Bob Komin did a talk and Q&A session in Second Life focused on where things were at, and where things were going. This week, on The Virtual Whirl, we're going to take a look at that session and see if some sense can't be made of it all.
The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life, 2008-2010 and beyond
This week, we cover the final installment of our summarized history of Second Life and Linden Lab (check out the first installment or the second, if you missed them). It's only possible to cover a tiny fraction of the events that took place in the space we have here, but the highlights paint an interesting picture. We'll be working our way from 2008 to June 2010, and looking at what future directions we expect from there.
The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life
Second Life has just seen its seventh anniversary (called its seventh birthday, only it technically isn't -- the original birthday is in March, but the anniversary is in June. There's history there). It's also traditionally a time when Linden Lab and Second Life users most often treat each other as enemies and obstacles; and it is a time for retrospectives and for considering the future. With the departure of Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon (the press release release says "stepping down," but the day prior to the release many Linden staffers were saying that Kingdon was fired) Linden Lab has hit a turning point -- or the end of another era. Accordingly, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to look at the history of Second Life, starting back in 1999 and continuing to the present day. Or at least as much as we can cover the ten-year history of something so rich and diverse in the available space. Second Life is quite legitimately a phenomenon (and even won an Emmy award). It was also something of an accident, since it wasn't what Linden Lab started out to make.
Linden Lab CEO steps down
TechCrunch has announced more changes in the works for Linden Lab's troubled Second Life virtual world. On the heels of a move that laid off 30 percent of its workforce, the company has announced that CEO Mark Kingdon will be stepping down and giving way to Linden founder Philip Rosedale in an interim capacity. Additionally, CFO Bob Komin has taken on the role of COO. Linden has yet to announce a definitive reason for the upper-management restructuring, but many are speculating that the company will be looking to add a CEO with experience in the burgeoning social networking scene. Rosedale, posting on the Linden blog, had the following to say regarding the moves: "Our thinking as a team is that my returning to the CEO job now can bring a product and technology focus that will help rapidly improve Second Life. We need to simplify and focus our product priorities - concentrating all our capabilities on making Second Life easier to use and better for the core experiences that it is delivering today. I think that I can be a great help and a strong leader in that process." Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
The Virtual Whirl: Immersion, virtual environments, Facebook, and the conceptual hump
Second Life is an immersive virtual environment. That is, it fosters attention and a quality of focus. You might subscribe to alternative definitions of the word "immersion", but focus and attention are the sense being used when developer/operators talk about an "immersive environment". They might intend one of the other meanings at other times – the word is a pretty slippery one. The problem is that for most general-purpose virtual environments (eg: Second Life), that immersivity – that quality of attention and focus – kicks in pretty late. Only after you understand the basics of the context in which your actions, activities and experiences are taking place, do you have the satisfying sort of immersion that comes so easily to flat spaces like the Web and Facebook.
The Virtual Whirl: News of the Whirl
This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're having our monthly roundup of news items. Things that got missed, things that didn't make the cut, things that got buried under the Star Trek Online launch, and things that really should have gotten your attention anyway.
The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds
Welcome to The Virtual Whirl, a new weekly Massively column covering virtual environments generally. The term 'virtual world' is slowly seeing less use, being supplanted by the more general 'virtual environment', but the world term still has a fair bit of life left in it. Virtual environments covers a whole lot of ground. From William Crowther's original efforts in 1976 that based a game in a virtual version of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, virtual environments have been a part of gaming, artificial intelligence and behavioral research, modeling, telemetry and process control and more. Nowadays we're seeing Second Life, Blue Mars, There.com, IMVU and others trying to find places in non-game contexts, like content-development and prototyping, publishing and performance, entertainment and social, education and business; efforts that are met with varying amounts of success.
Linden Lab appoints new CFO
Linden Lab's last CFO (Chief Financial Officer), John Zdanowski oversaw one of the largest growth periods in the history of Second Life. That growth came to a bit of a shuddering halt around the time of his departure last March, though we think that's just coincidental [We'll be looking closer at the 2009 Second Life metrics later this week]. Throughout the comparatively flat second, third and fourth quarters of 2009, the CFO's chair has remained unwarmed, but Linden Lab announced today that the position has now finally been filled by Bob Komin.
Second Life, the New Year, and real names
Most Second Life users have probably read the New Year address by Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon by now. Judging by the reactions we've seen, well... let's just say that we're not keen to be in his shoes right now. Kingdon wished us all a Happy New Year, and threw some stuff out there about things that might become possible, and things that might be coming up on the schedule this year, and ... well, it was like carrying a big stack of pizzas into an anime convention. I'd hate to be the driver delivering, you know? Anyway, the laser-like gaze of many (including ourselves) turned right away to one particular bullet point, "The ability to choose either real names or fantasy names in Second Life."
Massively's interview with Linden Lab's Catherine Smith, in Amsterdam
You might recall that, back in September, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon and the Lab's director of Marketing and Communications Catherine Smith took a trip to Amsterdam, where it was revealed that they were seeking space for a new marketing headquarters for Linden Lab. Well, the new office isn't open yet – that's coming in January – but Ms Smith has already relocated to Amsterdam, which actually made her a bit easier to catch up with for a talk about the new digs and new initiatives.
Linden Lab to disband moribund mentor group
Yesterday at the morning Second Life mentors' meeting, Linden Lab staff announced that Linden Lab's sponsored mentor group, which had been functionally closed (in all but name) for approximately a year now, would finally be disbanded in practice. The move doesn't really come as much of a surprise to observers of the Lab's sponsored volunteer programs over the last eighteen months. Almost immediately more ex-mentor Second Life social groups than we could comfortably count sprang up, as people prepared to maintain their network of contacts without the overarching group umbrella. While there was surprisingly little actual yelling, some members of the organization feel the blame lies squarely at the feet of Linden Lab's CEO Mark Kingdon, though there's not a lot of apparent evidence to justify that.
Linden Lab partners with Dragonfish for non-US payments processing
Virtual environment operator Linden Lab has partnered up with 888 Holdings plc's Gisland/Dragonfish division to provide payment processing for non-US Second Life customers. A spokesperson for Linden Lab told us, "We're working together with Gisland on a cashier interface and other tools that will give Residents more payment options and make it easier for Residents to pay in a wider range of native currencies than they can now. Gisland will also help Linden Lab implement appropriate anti-fraud measures as we expand these payment options. In addition, Gisland will assist Residents directly with payment-related issues, including failed transactions." That last part is fascinating, as that would be something of a first insofar as Second Life payments processing goes, as is the tantalizing hint of expanded payment options – something that is of considerable interest to users outside North America.
Exclusive interview with Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon
Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's CEO, has been a bit of a mystery figure since his appointment about a year and a half ago. While he has not been uncommunicative, it's been hard to get a very good sense of the man at the helm of Linden Lab, his passions, interests and direction. We were very pleased, therefore, when he took the time to sit down with us and answer a whole grab-bag of questions, about himself, about Linden Lab, and – of course – about Second Life. Bear with us, because we've got a lot of ground to cover.
Linden Lab to step up Second Life marketing with Amsterdam office
Over the last few days, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon, and Lab director of Marketing and Communications, Catherine Smith have been in Europe, where Kingdon is reportedly seeking office-space for Linden Lab in Amsterdam. The office is intended to start as a small marketing headquarters for Linden Lab. At NIMK, Catherine Smith told De Hoeksteen Live! that Linden Lab was planning to launch the new office in January next year. Linden Lab's marketing efforts for Second Life hitherto have largely focused on placement of speakers at conferences and events, and – prior to 2008 – on minor registration incentive programs. More recently, efforts have focused on the revamped Web-site and assorted press-materials and white-papers.
Philip Rosedale: "Try to work with us. Let go a bit"
It seems these days that you can't have a Linden Lab employee give a speech to Second Life users without some included warning label of rough times ahead for them. It's almost relentlessly axiomatic nowadays. At this year's Second Life Community Convention, Rosedale gently urged users and Lindens to support some necessary changes to come: "Try to work with us. Let go a bit." Ironically, he has encapsulated the same core message that Second Life users have been trying to get Linden Lab to hear for the last several years.
Taser International vs Linden Lab: Crack Den crackdown
Taser International Inc have filed a lawsuit against Linden Lab (and others, including some present and some departed) staff. We got a hold of the April 17 complaint yesterday, and have been going through it since then. We've got a summary of the complaint and issues for you, but we won't be linking to the complaint due to the presence of what may be considered to be pornographic images in Exhibit 2. The "crack den" reference in the headline is a recurring phrase in the legal complaint. You'll see why. If you want the one-sentence summary, Taser seem to have failed to do their homework and basic research, but their case doesn't seem to be entirely without merit either.
Massively talks with upbeat Second Life founder, Philip Rosedale
Catching up with Linden Lab and Second Life founder and chairman, Philip Rosedale isn't an easy task. We've certainly been trying for years. Having crossed-off most of the plans that didn't involve some sort of indictable body-tackle outside of the Lab's offices in San Francisco, we were beginning to despair somewhat. However, despite a very full calendar and a busy work-schedule, we unexpectedly wound up with an opportunity to put a few questions to Rosedale, arguably one of the most notable figures in the virtual environments industry, this decade. Often referred to affectionately as the "Old Man" of Second Life, Rosedale is a hip and handsome fellow, calling to mind a younger Richard Garriott back in the day, and considerably younger than many of Second Life's most-active users.
Second Life in a box, now in preliminary beta
After Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon's announcement of a standalone virtual world product (essentially Second Life, but able to be run on private servers and with no connection to Linden Lab's virtual world) at the last Virtual Worlds London, the Lab's new director of enterprise marketing, Amanda Van Nuys has followed that up with an announcement that the product (codenamed Nebraska) is now in preliminary testing by a number of organizations. The beta test (Linden Lab calls it an alpha test, but there's no denying that it is a preliminary beta) is being conducted by such organizations as IBM, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), the New Media Consortium (NMC), Intel, and Northrop Grumman.
Robin Harper to leave Linden Lab
After almost seven years at Linden Lab Robin Harper, the Lab's Vice President of Marketing and Community Development, has given notice of her impending departure from the company. Harper, who arrived at Linden Lab from game company Maxis, was nominated as one of Edge's 100 Most Influential Women in Gaming in 2006, and in 2007 we considered her the one person Linden Lab and Second Life could least afford to lose. While we still believe that was a correct call at the time, times obviously change. The Lab has been undergoing significant shake-up at the executive level, particularly in the last six months, as new Lab CEO Mark Kingdon has been completely overhauling management of the company, and given the rate at which Kingdon has been restructuring the executive, this doesn't come as much of a surprise.
Linden Lab arrivals and departures
The lineup of staff at Second Life virtual environment developer/operator, Linden Lab changes on a month by month basis. There's been a bit of motion since the last high-profile hire. Judy Wade, formerly Entrepreneur-in-residence at Kapor Enterprises Inc, has been hired as the vice president of Strategy and Emerging Business. That's the same Kapor as Mitch Kapor who has a seat on the board of directors as the Lab. Eric Argel, formerly director of Information Architecture at Organic Inc San Francisco, is now director of Information Architecture at Linden Lab. That's the same Organic Inc where newly minted Linden Lab CEO, Mark Kingdon came from.
