Having thought about things long and hard for the last several years, it’s finally occurred to me what it is that Second Life users like least of all.
The one single thing that causes more widespread discontent than any other. No, it isn’t that Second Life is referred to as a game by the shortsighted or ignorant, though that’s right up there.
The specific thing, dear readers, is surprise.
Linden Lab seemingly loves to surprise us all with announcements. Policy changes, new features, changes of direction, and all of that.
What we, as users, want them least to do is to surprise us with that stuff.
Even if it is a seemingly pleasant surprise.
One man’s meat is another man’s poison, they say.
If Linden Lab announced a new feature tomorrow, the odds are it would annul weeks or months of work of people who are working to build a business model to fill the gap. Sure, that sort of thing is inevitable, but the sooner it is announced, the less time, effort and money is potentially wasted by Linden Lab’s customers.
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? You can’t reliably plan big projects like that, because a new feature or a policy change might destroy your business model after you’ve spent big money on it, but before you are in a position to receive any revenue.
A policy change could destroy your existing business model. Sure, that’s part of the risks of doing business, but I guarantee you that when one of those comes along, the words you least want to see accompanying it are “Effective immediately.”
Every day’s worth of notice is a day longer that users and businesses have to adapt, to change models, and to not waste time and effort fruitlessly.
Linden Lab plans these things many months in advance.
Why can’t we?
Actually, what I like less than LL surprises is existing features of SL that don’t frakkin’ work and don’t get fixed. But “LL surprises” are right up there.
Well, it’s something of a generalization, that’s true. Subsystems that don’t bloody work are a major nuisance, of course.
One thing every person planning on doing business in SL should always remember is that SL is not a NATION, it is SERVICE offered by a company.
In any Nation worth the name, legislation is discussed well in advance, it’s pro and cons weighed, usually interest groups (lobbyists) heard as well (whether that is a good thing is debatable) and then, after a long opinion making process, legislation gets passed and – ideally – is a compromise. People whose business relies on that legislation have enough time to add to the discussion and adapt to the legislation.
While it would be nice if the service provider Linden Lab gives advance notice of any changes to the service model, by the very nature of the corporate model they do not have the legislation process. They have all right to change the rules overnight. Of course they COULD apply some more openness, and better schedules, but they are not bound to it by their constituion. Even if it sucks, that’s how it is.
Well, what I hate is stuff that doesn’t work. Teleports that don’t succeed. New downloads that fail to install. Group chats the explode. Purchases that timeout.
Peter has a good point: Second Life is a company that runs its world in an autocratic fashion. That may seem inevitable. I’ve always argued the contrary. Linden Lab as a company COULD provide its users with a world that functions with some sort of democracy. Robin Linden even suggested the idea at one point – and the residents overwhelmingly rejected it, because it sounded like a restrictive “government” which would hamper the anarchist ideal of “I’ll do WTF I WANT on my land” (as Prokofy aptly puts it). If the residents really pushed for it, I think Linden Lab would have to give them some sort of Magna Carta. Remember: “No taxation without representation”.
I’m not sure if ‘government’ would be the right word for that. I think it would be more like a condo body-corporate or neighborhood association — since it would have to operate within all applicable laws at all times.
All I think it could really do is add additional restrictions on top of whatever legal limits are already placed on us.
It’s not about democracy or government. SL is touted as a “platform” for user interaction and communication, and creating user “applications”, and in it’s essence it is, or rather, should be. It, however, does not actually behave like one, because any platform, like any system actually designed to be used, should follow the principle of least surprise. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment)
Well, it doesn’t, in everything, from user interface design to LSL language design to policy — every system behaviour is ambiguous and the users are left to puzzle it out on their own, every policy is open up to too much interpretation, and in general, even a corporate-run platform should not be allowed to be run like this, like the phone network is not.