I Love the Second Life UI and other things

Something funny has happened on the Second Life forums, which goes like this: When the general and other discussion forums were closed most knowledgeable residents left the forums or at least stopped posting or only posted infrequently in answer to new residents' questions. What I see now is new residents gamely answering other new residents' questions, often with a bizarre mishmash of half-true information. New unverified users can't access the forums at all.

People are doing the best they can, but the thread of knowledge appears to have been thinned down. There's a LOT to learn here, and it changes at times, too. If you began years ago you had a less complex world to begin in (for instance land - when I began you could buy land and I quickly got up to speed on tier levels. Now you can buy or rent, the amount and variety of land is huge, and new people get lost in the nuances between renting on a private island and buying on the mainland, whether or not they need premium membership, who gets their tier, etc.).

The Lindens seem to have specialised tasks and no general knowledge: recently I brought 2 things up (at 2 different times) and the Lindens I was talking to had no idea what I was referencing. These 2 things were things I use every week: copy selection and de-bug permissions. It made me a bit glum that our UI, that wonderful, rich territory that I adore, is not being explored because we need to be handing on knowledge in some way and it seems not to be happening as it did in the past.

However - I love Second Life, and I spend as much energy as I can setting new people on a good path. I think this is an artist's paradise. Way back in 2004 I sent an IM to Philip* saying, "Thank you for letting me be a part of your dream." I don't remember the circumstances, but I still feel that way.

* Who replied, "You're welcome." hah hah