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Second Life's Linden Lab confirms new virtual world in development
Linden Lab has confirmed that it is currently working on a new virtual world in the spirit of Second Life. According to an official statement at New World Notes, this new project will be "an open world where users have incredible power to create anything they can imagine and content creators are king." If that sounds exactly like the description for Second Life already, the studio points out that, "The next generation virtual world will go far beyond what is possible with Second Life, and we don't want to constrain our development by setting backward compatibility with Second Life as an absolute requirement from the start." But Linden Lab assures current Second Life users that this doesn't spell the end for their favorite virtual world. "Second Life has many years ahead of it," the statement continues. "And in addition to improvements and new developments specifically for Second Life, we think that much of the work we do for the next generation project will also be beneficial for Second Life." A video of the developers meeting that discusses this project is expected to be released soon. [Thanks for the tip, Zenaphex!]
Free for All: Old Second Life documentary still highlights truths
So I was working on this week's Free for All last night when a buddy of mine asked me if I had seen a certain older Second Life documentary. I didn't think I had before, but it turns out that my usual record of consuming everything MMO still stands, and it was fun to re-watch the older documentary again for several reasons. One of the most important things I noticed about the film was just how universal to MMO gaming the documentary was. The issues it brought up are still issues, the problems with virtual worlds are still problems, and the fact that any technology older than six months looks laughable on film is still true. It was also encouraging to see how well Second Life has aged since 2007, but it's slightly depressing to see just how horrible MMO documentaries can be at showing the entire picture.
Linden Lab names new CEO
For some time now there's been a question as to who would eventually be stepping into the shoes of CEO over at Linden Lab. In June, Mark Kingdon (aka M Linden) stepped down with very little warning after a series of layoffs, and Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) stepped in as interim CEO while the company was reevaluating its direction and future technology potential. Now, news comes today that Rod Humble will be stepping into the CEO spot at Linden Lab in January. Humble has been in the games industry since 1990, during which time he's racked up involvement in over 200 different games. Prior to making the jump to CEO at Linden Labs, Humble was the President of Product Development on EverQuest, and worked on other SOE titles such as EverQuest Online Adventures and Star Wars Galaxies. Most recently, Humble worked as label lead on The Sims at EA, later attaining Executive Vice President for that division. His expertise in large online games and connection to a crazy hot title like The Sims may prove to be the combination needed to lead Second Life into an even more promising future. [Via Tateru Nino]
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: 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.
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 says Second Life huge, shows numbers
Generally, operators of MMOGs and virtual environments don't show their numbers unless they feel they've got something to crow about, and Linden Lab's crowing today, releasing a selection of figures that give you an idea of the scale of Second Life. Approximately 1,250 text-based messages are sent every second in Second Life. That's 108 million messages per day and more than 600 million words are typed on an average day. That's a whole of messages for any architecture, quite honestly.
Watch "Another Perfect World" live in Metaplace at 3 PM ET here on Massively
"Another Perfect World", a documentary featuring some of our favorite MMO developers, is going to be shown today in Metaplace at 3 PM ET, 12 PM PT. Jump in with other virtual users and watch the video live via streaming connection, all from the comfort of your home computer.The documentary focuses on the creation of virtual utopias and how man strives to create the perfect world, even if it's only a virtual one. Speakers in the documentary include Raph Koster from Metaplace, Philip Rosedale from Second Life, Jae-Kyung Song from Lineage, and Hilmar Veigar Petursson from EVE Online, making this an interesting tale for many MMO users.The best part about all of this is that you don't even have to leave Massively to jump into Metaplace! We've embedded The Stage here after the break, so you can watch the movie and chat with fellow virtual world enthusiasts (and Massively readers) right from the comfort of this very post! It can't better than that! So make the leap and continue reading to log into Metaplace and watch "Another Perfect World" today at 3 PM!
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.
Linden Lab releases Snowglobe 1.0 for Second Life
A while back, Linden Lab's Philip Rosedale announced a new Second Life viewer development project. That project ultimately grew along lines similar to that of third-party viewer project, Imprudence, breaking down many barriers to user contributions, and adopting a more agile methodology. After only a couple of release-candidates, the result is already available. One of the biggest developments you might see in the Snowglobe viewer is that the map is now an order of magnitude faster to load, rather than taking several fractions of forever, as is traditional. This is the start of a new texture-transfer pipeline, which we can reasonably expect to become standard in future viewers, and to encompass more kinds of textures, however there's a new caching architecture which should benefit all textures.
Second Life celebrates sixth anniversary
It's the sixth anniversary of Second Life opening to the public (not the sixth birthday, which is actually in either March or April depending on how you figure these things), and as usual, Linden Lab is organizing a soiree for the occasion – though once again this year, it's a week later than usual, starting on the anniversary date of 23 June, rather than ending on that date. Generally, just after 23 June, community (and the Lab's) attention is inevitably drawn away to Linden Lab's SL Community Convention and SL Relay For Life, both taking place later this year, and requiring considerable amounts of organizational attention. Nevertheless, there's a packed schedule of eclectic events and discussions, starting with Philip Rosedale's opening speech in just 30 minutes time (10AM Pacific time), and 20 regions packed with user-contributed art installations and displays, so there's plenty to see and explore. 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.
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.
Corporate Development VP, Gene "Ginsu" Yoon to leave Linden Lab
Yesterday, Gene Yoon (AKA Ginsu), Linden Lab's vice-president of Corporate Development surprised us somewhat by announcing his impending departure from the Lab. Yoon is considered one of the last of the "old guard" among Linden Lab executives. Admittedly, this is something that we should have seen coming, perhaps. Over the last few months Corporate and Business Development and Marketing has changed direction and been almost completely refit with new personnel. It makes perfect sense that Yoon would look into moving on to other opportunities at this juncture.
April Fools' Day 09: Second Life users pull the other one
April Fools' Day is quite the hodge-podge in Second Life. Linden Lab doesn't generally pull pranks on the user-population (some may disagree with us on that) but there are hordes of different groups and communities, and even a relatively low percentage of hoaxers lead to literally hundreds of hoaxes, almost all of which are spread by word-of-mouth. We'll quickly round up some of the most common gags that are going around this year (a few of which are perennials). Linden Lab is going back to charging for teleportation (the sum of L$1 per teleport). This one's formatted as a press-release, though the grammar is quirky enough to be a tip-off. Besides, this one came around the last two years as well. Linden Lab has been purchased outright by [Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard/Electric Sheep/7-11/NCsoft/AOL/Worlds.com/IBM].
Linden Lab ramps up open source viewer program
Linden Lab founder and chairman, Philip Rosedale, yesterday announced changes to the open-source Second Life viewer program that would enable the fast-tracking of user-contributions to the code-base. The viewer source-code was originally released just a little over two years ago on 8 January 2007, and spurred an immediate surge of development, spurring developments of a variety of software including third-party server opensim. The procedure for actually submitting patches to the codebase however was clunky, and some contributors abandoned their development efforts after contributed code (some which corrected egregious problems) was left to languish for many months without approval. The new scheme seems set to fast-track user-contributions and eliminate that particular problem.
Rosedale sparks speculations
Newly minted Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon has recently been talking about somehow incorporating Teen Second Life into the broader Second Life environment, though no details or plans have yet emerged on how that would happen. At a Metanomics session on Monday, Lab chairman and founder Philip Rosedale sparked considerably more speculation, though his comments on the matter didn't actually provide any new information. The last time we asked Linden Lab about plans to bring adult and teen users together (more than a year ago now), the Lab said that it had no plans or intentions of doing so in the foreseeable future. That appears to be changing, though it isn't clear if the Lab has any ideas of how to bring it about.
