openspace-simulators
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Long-delayed Second Life script-limitations back in the public eye
It's now just over one year since Linden Lab announced that they would be implementing a some manner of script limitations over and above those which are presently a part of Second Life as it stands today. It is just over eleven months since those limitations were rescheduled to go ahead in Q3 2009 – which time has definitely long passed. Nevertheless, the script limitations system is alive and well and coming up, apparently in 2010. This constitutes good news, very good news and not so good news (in roughly that order).
Second Life private simulator data, December 2006 to May 2009
It's been widely grumbled about that Linden Lab has stopped publishing some key Second Life economic and service statistics, such as the number of non-mainland simulators (that is, those that are privately owned). Well actually,as it happens, that isn't entirely true, thanks to the wonders of automation. The data was culled from the Second Life Web-site, where these things go, quite some months ago but automation is a funny thing. Linden Lab's systems kept publishing the data, and my own automated systems kept collecting it. So, despite a months-long blackout of the data it all continues to pile up in my databases, with the reliability and patience that only machines possess.
Openspaces: Linden Lab short on answers
The fifth of January has come and gone, and the Second Life Openspaces 2.0 product has passed into history, to be replaced with the lower-value Openspaces 4.0 and Homesteads 1.0 products. In the couple of months since the initial announcement, we've been inundated with reader-requests asking us to get some sort of explanation of the reasoning from Linden Lab, and render it into comprehensible form. Unfortunately, despite repeated promises over the last ten weeks or so to provide us with that information, Linden Lab has been unable to actually provide us with any explanation or reasoning behind the changes in pricing and specification. What we do know is that the price rise for void simulators was announced at the end of a month in which Linden Lab reported raking in record levels of monthly revenue.
Linden Lab says figures "misleading"
Starting late last month, the published statistic that showed an unprecedented ongoing reduction in Second Life land area was disabled (perhaps permanently, the Lab hints). The raw data is still available, however, and the decline continues. We've had no luck in obtaining response or comment from Linden Lab about any of this, but Wagner James Au at New World Notes has fared rather better. However the statements from the lab are fairly tangled and unclear. The Lab claims that the figures misreport, which is technically true. All of the statistical systems give incorrect information at least several times each month, but according to Jack Linden, the numbers are actually sort of correct, and indeed even skewed slightly in the Lab's favor (the reported losses have been far smaller than expected) -- but just misunderstood.
Linden Lab delays script-limitations to Q3
Linden Lab has announced that script-limitations for the new Homesteads/Openspaces products will not be going ahead in Q1 2009 as originally expected, and will be delayed until Q3 2009. Script limitations were announced to be an integral part of the revised product specification for void simulators, and the details of those limitations were expected to be announced before they went on sale at Noon on Monday, 5 January. Instead, Q1 will see the rollout of internal data-collection systems to monitor scripting loads in all simulators on the Second Life grid followed by determination of what limits should be put into place. Q2 will see the deployment of tools in the viewer for users to better assess script workloads. Q3 is scheduled for of those script limits, but Linden Lab is leaving a little wiggle-room, and Q3 may yet slip. Judging based on past Linden Lab project timelines, we'd expect Q3 to slip to Q1 2010. Reduction in the usage of void simulators as a result of the new pricing and specifications led to a net reduction in simulator usage of 1997 simulators in November 2008 and an additional 2007 simulators in December 2008. An additional 83 have been decommissioned so far this month. 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.
Second Life land loss escalates
The unprecedented decline of Second Life land area appears to be accelerating according to data from virtual world operator, Linden Lab. The net loss of simulators which totalled nearly 9,000 acres as of midnight on 10 November, has escalated to a net loss of 12,874 acres (52.1 million square metres, or 795 simulators) by midnight of 16 November. At present this represents an accelerating decline, with no sign of it bottoming out. While a number of users have requested a consolidation of four Openspaces simulators into a single ordinary simulator (which would represent an overall net loss of three simulators per consolidation) there is no data available to suggest that any of the requested consolidations have yet been processed. Linden Lab was not able to confirm for us that any such consolidations have yet taken place, so it is unlikely that they are a factor in this data. The net loss currently represents more than 6% of the total Openspaces simulators as at the time of the new pricing/product announcements.
Chilly policy reception causes exceptional Second Life shrinkage
Since the announcement of Openspaces 3.0 product pricing for Second Life (and the subsequent update to a reduced specification Openspaces 4.0 product), Linden Lab has seen its virtual world shrink for the first time on record with a net loss of 24.05 million square metres (a little less than 6,000 acres). That's a net loss, so however many new simulators have been brought online since the beginning of the month, those gains have been canceled out by customers dumping land, and an additional 24 million square metres have been lost. During its Q2 2008 report, Linden Lab identified the (now deprecated) Openspaces 2.0 product as a primary growth driver. It isn't presently clear how long this downward trend will last. So far, those net losses amount to just 2.8% of the total Openspaces 2.0 product that are actually out there on the Second Life grid. Many owners, however, have said that they intend to hang on to their void simulators for as long as possible, and dump them just before the jump to Openspaces 4.0 (or Homesteads 1.0) becomes mandatory. It remains to be seen if the Lab can shake off the chill and push those figures up in the latter half of the month. 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.
Linden Lab introduces new land product, changes for void simulators
Linden Lab's new CEO, Mark Kingdon, has announced a new land product for Second Life, based on all the feedback, and vociferous protestation that all but exploded following the original announcement. Reactions to the new announcement are still a bit mixed, with many thinking that this is the announcement that should have taken place originally. After all, Linden Lab already had all of the information prior to the flood of feedback that they received. Nevertheless, the end result is that void simulators will be available in two flavors: the Openspaces product (now adjusted substantially) and the new Homesteads product. There's a knowledge-base article enumerating the changes, but we'll break it down for you.
A brief history of void simulators/openspaces
The context in which the Second Life issue of the void/openspaces price-rise exists is a rather complex one, going all the way back to 2006. So, in order to get the whole issue in perspective, we've rounded up the history of void simulators, costs and conditions, all the way back to the beginning. And it is a far more interesting progression of events than you might think. On with the show.
The revolution in the news
Unlike Second Life's 2003 Tax Revolt, which (at the time) went unnoticed by the mainstream media, the current revolt over void/openspace simulator server pricing is drawing attention in places where a lot of potential customers are being exposed to it -- and it's early yet. More words are doubtless being drafted over the weekend to run on mainstream Web-sites and newspapers. By mainstream (a word that has an awfully slippery definition), we mean widespread. There are at least three other effective and correct definitions of the word at least one of which conflicts with that, but let's just go with what we have and leave those other definitions for another time. You know what we mean.
Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases
Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's shiny new CEO, made a statement to Wagner James Au at GigaOm about the announced openspace/void simulator price rises that have so many Second Life users up in arms, 'this price adjustment affects only a portion of land in Second Life; it does not apply to private islands or regular mainland property. We made this change to ensure an optimal Second Life experience for all Residents.' We're not sure if this gets points for being intentionally misleading, or unintentionally misleading. Either way, it scores a lot of points. Lets break it down a piece at a time.
Linden Lab responds to void simulator furor
Jack Linden, head of Linden Lab's Land Team, has proferred an update on the policy changes to void simulators that sparked a revolt in Second Life earlier this week. According to Jack, all of the feedback has been read. That must have been an absolutely Herculean task right there, considering that the responses number in the thousands, and Jack is apparently out of town. Jack implies that the type of usage is a more important factor in the pricing changes than the actual cost of usage, though to be fair, it's an ambiguous pair of sentences, 'We are saying that the use has changed, and continues to do so as people find more creative ways to use them. So the revised pricing is about recognising that change of use and the additional costs and value associated with it.' Linden Lab themselves, appear to have a slew of apparently overloaded void simulators on the new Nautilus continent.
The spirit of 1776: Second Life's second revolution?
Second Life users are already calling it Second Life's second revolution. Outside of Linden Lab's in-world Land Team offices, capacity crowds of users have been gathered through much of the day, though there's been nary a Linden Lab staffer in sight. People are cursing, newcomers are asking for protest signs, and there's angry chatter in over a dozen languages. There are a lot of Europeans here, which is not unexpected. They have to pay VAT on top of any additional costs. There is talk about switching the signs and banners for flaming torches and pitchforks, because, if nothing else Second Life users find value in tradition. There are even discussions about picketing Linden Lab's Battery Street office in San Francisco. All of this started yesterday at 6PM SLT (US Pacific time) when Jack Linden, head of Linden Lab's land team, announced a price-rise to void simulators (known to Linden Lab as Openspace sims). The reaction since then has been ... robust.
Linden Lab changes pricing/policy on void simulators
Concerned users gather in Caledon to discuss implications of the pricing/policy changes Linden Lab have announced an immediate set of policy changes for what they call openspace simulators (more commonly called void sims by Second Life users), and a deferred set of pricing changes that will take effect for all void sims come 1 January 2009. From 1 January 2009, upfront fees for void sims will be increased by 50% and monthly fees will rise by 66%. Presently the fees are US$250 upfront and US$75/mo. The new fees from 1 January will be US$375 upfront and US$125/mo. Owners with groups of four void simulators will have those groups migrated to class 5 servers at that time. The pricing change will certainly hit many quite hard. Void sims have been a popular alternative to regular simulators ever since the Lab encouraged more comprehensive use of the simulators, by increasing their capacities and making their pricing more accessible.
Old land store, new prices
With server version 1.21 still going through its shaky rollout, Linden Lab have decided to put the old land-store back online. It still has all the issues it had before (delays, not working in MSIE, an inability to order void/openspace simulators and so forth), but you will be able to order new sims at new prices. Hopefully when server version 1.21 and the new land-store are finally online, any outstanding orders can be fast-tracked through the new system. In the meantime, it looks like Linden Lab is taking the hit on extra-handling of simulator purchases by running at the new, lower prices.
Linden Lab lowers prices, estate owners rebel
Linden Lab is giving the air of being somewhat baffled this week. Earlier in the week, it lowered prices for new Second Life simulators -- because well, lower prices are good, aren't they? Unfortunately instead of lavish praise for the price cut, response to the move seems to be more along the lines of "Argh! You sons of bitches!" (loosely paraphrased). There seems to be more depreciation than appreciation involved.
Linden Lab changes costs, conditions, capacities of void sims
Void sims as they are known to Second Life users (or Openspace sims as Linden Lab calls them) are simulators which are more tightly packed onto hardware than is usual. While regular Second Life simulators get a whole CPU to themselves for processing, void simulators are packed in at four to the CPU, generally achieving approximately one fifth of a regular simulator's performance and one eighth of the capacity for objects. Void simulators are, as the marketing name suggests, good for open spaces, for driving or sailing or scenery, or simply for use as a budget version of a regular simulator, as four void simulators bought in a bundle have been priced the same as a single regular simulator. Linden Lab today announced some changes to the capacity and availability of these budget simulators.