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30 January 2010

 
Oh, fare thee well, Ordinal.

Update: the initial "hate" statement has been changed a few times, Molly informs me, indicating Ordinal is struggling to make sense of things and express her thoughts clearly.

So many good and interesting people have turned away, and I can understand why although I'm not going anywhere. A climate of playfulness drew the brightest to Second Life, and the combination of the wide degree of freedom offered by Second Life and the quality of the inhabitants themselves helped to create an initial burst of enthusiasm that lasted a number of years. Following that, the relationship with the company itself has soured a bit, and the normal end of that unsustainable enthusiasm has led many people to walk out of SL entirely.

I don't think they are wrong, exactly - I know if I'd not lost my health I'd have had no time for it. However, I'm glad I'm in SL, I'm very lucky it has been here to enrich my life, prod me into a number of hitherto unknown regions (making animations! coding ineptly!), and serve as a social portal that places within my closest circle individuals whom I would not otherwise have met. A couple of years ago I tried analysing why SL made me feel breathless all the time, and some of my half-baked thoughts were:

  • There are no boundaries in SL so everything feels like it's happening in the same place at the same time and with equal importance (in RL I'm not sad to miss goings-on in, say, Cameroon, because it's far from me, but things close to me gain in importance).
  • The playfulness and fun that I enjoyed are still what I enjoy - but I have to concentrate on it a little more. I'm not sure why that is, except that it's all a state of mind and the "no boundaries" and "equal importance" operate to make me feel like I'm running a race - which doesn't let me feel light and relaxed and playful. I feel like I'm burdened, working, running a race - but I'm aware of that and I fight it.
  • I looked at how I felt about seeing my things copybotted and more or less stopped making things to sell to avoid future pain. That was just a personal thing; almost everything I do is free at the moment, although I might change that.
  • It's really hard to get a crowd going then keep them involved. It takes a ton of work. Far more than it's really worth.
  • I've never, in my entire life, seen such overinflated egos. That goes hand-in-hand with wishing to create a serious, "I'm working," "this is the first time that _____ has happened ever in the world," "making history," self-important, "I'm a bigshot"-type place.
  • Linden Lab has lost a lot of good will, but I don't know if they understand that. One place where the wires get crossed is when people have monthly budgets that are blown out of the water. People are angered when business plans depend upon things that aren't dependable, creative dreams are razed, or because they just feel the company demands a cut every step of the way. One particular last straw was "SL Certified Vending Machines" offering "guaranteed delivery." If one buys from XSTSL shouldn't every delivery be guaranteed? What's the incentive to fix the delivery mechanism if an additional commission is being made upon that guarantee?
  • There's a ton we never get to hear about, good, bad, and compelling reasons for decisions. It really is an us and them situation. We really have no clue, but one thing that's very, very clear is that SL and LL don't include us.
  • The game aspects of SL have been phased out in favour of work aspects. It's hard to feel as enthusiastic about another workplace.

I want the company to succeed but in a way that is meaningful to me. I struck that through as it's a stupid thought. They'll do as they wish and as they need to.

posted by - 9:34 PM

Comments:
oh noooo...i'm so glad i got in on part of the creative part. even since 2006 i have seen the changes happening. most of the innovators and fun characters will move out so the masses can move in. some will stay to poke the masses into a bit of fun and creativity. just last week a new woolly mammoth avatar came out that squirts mud and water and stomps around and trumpets...all is not lost...and the ducks on bikes...:-D
 
I think maybe the business side of things is taking over, but while the platform is still out there , why jump ship. Unless what you really want to do is impeded some how by LL's strategy. Just because the gods have retreated to the heavens and don't want to converse with the mortals anymore, dosn't mean the world has ended. When you can no longer create and SL has become just another facebook That's when to go . There are still lots of bright people coming into SL with quality things to offer. I can understand if Some who have been here a long time have become board, then maybe it is time to leave , but if not I can't see why you would. Surely not on political grounds . If the feelings are that strong then stay and protest. Or maybe offer up some prayers :) Yes I know what you're saying Osprey but I guess I just feel sorry for the people who have just discovered this place and are still enthralled by it and then be told it just isn't the same as it used to be, it's time to go. The Gods may have retreated I hope all the angels don't go aswell.
 
sorry to keep blabbing on, but some of the change has to do with the size...so many more people and sims now, where before one was part of a looseknit tribe, now it is a multi-tribed universe. probably most never even heard of ordinal. and there are soooo many events, the good ones aren't even listed on events any more. and altho you are anonymous in SL, your avatar was known by reputation to other avatars but not anymore, too many peeps and alts. then there's that spillover of backstories into blogs and machinima and you have the entire virtual universe to try to belong to!
 
I think I must be a little *Bored today :)
Lucy. You are right about the size thing. It is more difficult to sort the good from the bad with an ever increasing choice. It is also much harder to get noticed in a crowd. Though it does not bother me to blend into the background as I've never been looking for success , it must affect the people who have been in SL from the beginning and gained notoriety for whatever reason. I guess that for them with the growth of SL that loss of acclamation would make them feel less special and as most people like to feel special, I do understand that it must be hard to lose this and just be one of the crowd. that is why maybe they are leaving.
I still think that SL has lots to offer even with its increasing size. The innovators and fun characters are still plenty and will increase with SL's growth as will the diversity of their creativity. They are just not going to be upheld in the same way and unfortunately more peoples efforts will go unnoticed to the whole.
 
I'm not jumping ship. nish - I do mainly as I have done. I wasn't very clear, so one of my points left out the fact that as the grid expanded the amount of things all feeling like they go on simultaneously increased.

I don't want to diss new people at all. The general climate now is mixed - great enthusiasm and jaded cynicism, whereas a few years ago the cynicism part wasn't as obvious. That's more important to me.

I should revisit this post as I was tired and interrupted by the police while I was writing it. I'm not a clear communicator anyway, although I try.
 
thot about this some more today! you are both saying very interesting stuff! seems to me that lots of people went as far as they could in SL, then became bored or moved on, but that the ultimate has not been reached in SL. the greatest SL innovators who used both tech and art to bring about something that never before existed, as opposed to re-creating what exists in RL, and is also meaningful? beautiful? whatever it is that art is...are not done with it. meanwhile i just keeps having fun as a muse, and you artists keeps pushing the envelope.
 
Makes me feel like crying to read this.
 
Well, I'm not going anywhere, and I hope things continue as I see value in them, but inevitably the "passing" of a notable person gives us reason to think about things.

Ordinal's original message was far more strongly worded than what is up now. Perhaps we'll all blow some of the negativity away like a steam engine's pressure release, then go on with clearer heads.

The forums are being archived in a week, I'm trying to adapt to the AU site - and hoping we get a decent, working forum rather than some clunky and unuseable software. Change is afoot.
 

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