A short time ago, Linden Lab announced that Second Life was available through Amazon, along with a number of content bundles. I have to confess that I find this development plain embarrassing for a couple of reasons.
The first, and most obvious issue, is that Second Life is listed as a game. Unfortunately, Second Life really isn’t one – or, if you like to think that it is, let’s at least agree that it has so little in common with the sorts of things that most people think of as a ‘game’, that it meets none of the conventional definitions.
That is, if you come to Second Life expecting to find it to be a game, you’ll be disappointed. That’s not to say that it cannot be fun and interesting and challenging in its own ways, but perhaps the most prevalent complaint I’ve heard from new users is that they came expecting a game, and didn’t find Second Life to be one. Sure, there are many games contained within Second Life, but that’s like calling the World Wide Web a game (and yes, there are people who do consider the Web to be a game. I think those folks are just a bit crazy, mind).
So, it is certainly embarrassing to be associated with the idea of Second-Life-as-a-game. Many folks do consider we dedicated Second Life users to be a bit crazy because we ‘play’ this ‘game’, when they know from having tried it that it is not one. The ‘game’ label seems to make most people unable to look beyond it, and see its essential potential (realised and unrealised, both) as a content platform.
The second embarrassment relates to the content bundles. Why? They’re all vehicles, of one sort or another, and vehicles are – without a doubt in my mind – the single, weakest, most unreliable aspect of Second Life. I figure most Second Life users would tell you the same.
That’s not to say that Second Life vehicles can’t work or don’t work. They do. They just don’t work well. Often, they work shamefully poorly.
No matter how well-made an individual Second Life vehicle is, using it as a showcase item for new users is like promoting the sausage-making machinery, rather than the sausages. Not a tasty experience.
So, yes, I find the whole move quite embarrassing. In essence, it showcases Second Life in perhaps its worst possible light, and by extension makes those of us who use Second Life regularly to appear outlandish to those who wind up struck by the dichotomy.
What category should it be under if not game? I think this has potential and linking your Amazon account to your Second Life certainly has potential.
I can’t disagree with you about vehicles though, region crossings remain a nightmare.
It’s certainly true that Second Life tends to transcend classifications (maybe it needs a singular class of its own?), but from an expectations-management point-of-view, I’d say “game” is perhaps the worst face to present.
Well the new user experience remains horrid, I was rather impressed with Cloud Party’s, I agree that all the components aren’t in place to make this smooth for new people who arrive and their expectations, not sure what can be done about that with LL currently so unrepronsive to community issues, which has been pretty much the case since we lost Lexie, Amanda and Blondin and they all had too much on their plates already.
I have to agree with you completely. I don’t think Rodvik Humble “gets” Second Life at all. That’s often the case for people who don’t spend any time inworld and he doesn’t. Sadly they keep ignoring the totally immersive social media aspects of Second Life while focusing on the all the silly shiny and tech stuff. But yeah, before pushing vehicles in SL, they need to fix sim crossings. Even worse, sim crossings with mesh. AND PUT BACK HELP ISLAND. The newbie experience is horrible — as I illustrate here:
http://snickitty.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-newbie-experience-in-second-life.html
I’m more concerned with the Lindens around him.
Rodvik isn’t the one who decided to release rigged mesh incomplete.Long before he was hired, the Lindens in charge of that project freely admitted they did not understand what content creators would even do with mesh. To this day Oz considers the patch that would fix rigged mesh too much of a hassle and not worth the effort, even tho most of the work was done for him.
Many of SL’s design and content creation tool issues get shut down on the Jira on a regular basis. They appear to have no art department, no art director who’s job it is to understand the content creation tools and provide internal feedback to management in how best to develop them. Instead, these issues to go programmers and support staff with no training or understanding in anything relating to those aspects of SL.
Similarly, if memory serves, it was Philip who decided to remove the orientation experience!
I don’t necessarily expect the CEO to be an avid SL user. His job is to guide the company, not babysit individual projects. He’s actually pretty smart in expanding LL’s portfolio, but to properly guide the company he really needs some new people in charge of the SL product itself if he wants it to remain a viable revenue source for Linden Lab.
SL needs an art director to oversee development of the tools as well as the presentation of SL itself (windlight settings, new user avatars, Linden owned sims such as welcome and orientation area art assets), they also need someone in charge of the experience, someone skilled at level design and interactions who can also have input on the content creation tools, as well as overseeing creation of SL’s orientation and tutorials (and SL should have a lot of official tutorials, no Torley’s videos, while a good move themselves, do not quite cut it), SL needs someone in charge of the social/interface experience as well! Why are SL’s profiles so limited? How come our communication options in SL look outdated next to a vintage copy of AIM from 1998? Why is it so difficult to spread the word about content in SL?
These are all critical to SL! Much of it is “long hanging fruit” as well, easy and inexpensive for LL to address, yet it’s been left to rot on the vine.
Oh and Tateru, you have some kind of script error going on.
It says: Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb::prepare(), called in /home/tathost/dwellonit.taterunino.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/lib/class.core.php on line 470 and defined in /home/tathost/dwellonit.taterunino.net/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 990
It’s the darn comment-editor plugin again. *sigh* I’ll disable that for now.
Hmm when I was still working at the Lab the motto was ‘It is not a game but an experience’
And I typed this after midnight
Wait! What! You left? Good grief!
They listed it as a game because “Money-sucking Corporate Tool” isn’t currently a category on Amazon. ; )
Imo, LL isn’t interested in what SL is or how people use it. What they’re interested in is attracting new blood off of whom they can make a bundle of cash off the poor suckers before the newbs figure out what’s going on. They have to do that because the old users are getting tired, bored and leaving– because user figures are dropping . Calling it a “game” is likely to attract new people (although frankly, Viewer 3.bleh and new user experience isn’t likely to retain them, no matter what LL chooses to call it).
Another problem is that SL isn’t new any more. It has a reputation, and that reputation isn’t good. I cracked up one day when I mentioned Second Life to a salesman at a store and he replied, “I’ve heard of that. Isn’t that a virtual porn site?” Ouch.
It may not be a game… but LL surely games it. ; )
I’m not happy that UK SL users can’t get this free promotion. It’s really annoying that this is for US only and it seems to be very timed limited. That’s embarrassing mostly and that you can get a hoverboard for free/pay for else where on the grid/marketplace.
I agree SL has got potential on Amazon and Steam (coming soon). SL needs to be more known around the world which may bring in alot more new residents.
I just like to say welcome back Tateru and I have missed your SL blog posts alot recently.
Happy New Year 2013.
It costs US$4.05 right now to buy L$1000, at US$9.99 this package is not remotely a bargain. They should be giving you L$2500 at least.
On closer inspection, I see it’s US$0 at Amazon now (“you save $9.95!”). Does it go to $9.95 after this weekend, or does it simply get withdrawn?
If SL is still luring in 10,000 new users but is slowly losing concurrency and private sim ownership, then trying to add more raw meat into the grinder isn’t going to improve the quality of the burgers one bit.
It’s time to clean out the grinder, sharpen the blades, and scrub the grill.
-ls/cm
Two out of the three free vehicles are former premium gifts – the Dune buggered … um, sorry, buggy and the sailboat.
I’m not in a position to comment on the sailboat, as I’ve actually been enjoying mine rather a lot over on Blake Sea.
I’ve no problem with the Lab trying to reach out through new channels, although I agree this approach looks somewhat hackneyed. But then, this is the Lab we’re talking about …
I will mention this: if anyone has ever wanted to state their mind about Second Life on a system that is totally third-party and unbiased… Amazon would be the place to do so. It also might prevent the fanatics from stacking the board and making SL look like a shining star. I think we can certainly expect them to thumbs-down and attack any negative review placed there. Personally, I’d hate to see that system rip off a new generation of unsuspecting customers who have no idea how LL conducts business. At the least they should be warned to research Linden Lab and Second Life before getting involved.
Tateru is back, \o/ YAY \o/
Apart from the badly chosen placement of SL as a game I really don’t get this offer. Does it include a month’s worth of premium account goodness for free? Or what? That’d be so lame. As if any n00b would know the difference or have the need to be on premium in their first month.
Anyhoo, after all the hooplah around Rod Humble as the saviour of SL it should be clear now even for the most dull fanboy resident what a bad choice he was as the new CEO. People with more insight into the industry said it from the beginning that Humble is a very shady character and SL wouldn’t be the first workplace he ever fubarred.
Hm, I feel less and less the need to log on every day and waste countless hours in this pixelated world of ours. And LL is 90% to blame for it. Anyway, I had 6 mostly wonderful years in SL; no thanks to LL but thanks to all my friends and the community at large. Grrr, maybe I need an extended break :/
SL is listed as a game on Amazon because Amazon doesn’t allow listings for porn.
While there is a lot of sex in SL, you can easily avoid any of it. There is also a lot of things you can do that have nothing to do with sex. Saying SL is porn just tells me that if you ever were in SL that is all you looked for.
True. I’m well known for my ignorance of Second Life.
Also for my dark sarcastic sense of humor.
LMAO! Carl, you’re such a N00B.
That probably should have been a tweet rather than a comment. Darn you New Media!
Second Life is not a game. You could call it a drama filled soap opera preyed upon by beggar flatter bots, griefers and a huge Basking Shark called Linden Lab. However, I personally prefer to call it an amazing adult playground for imaginative people that have the ability to live in their minds.
For me it is an escape from real life.
Likely there is no more apt category for Second Life within the Amazon department hierarchy, much like the SL Marketplace’s category system is inadequate. This could be fixed by better and longer product descriptions on the Amazon site, perhaps with pictures. I’ve seen better pages for simple batteries. This problem is strictly in Linden Lab’s lab as they can construct what Amazon customers see.
Additionally, the value is mis-placed. While the Mole-made items are very good, there are items from non-Lab creators that are at least as good for less money or better for the same money. The inclusion of the Premium gift items in a retail package doesn’t enhance their value to those that have already received them in-world.
I am excited, though, that The Lab is even trying this. All the Lindenites I regularly deal with are dedicated and hard working (I don’t count the poorly trained Support chat people who are 99% ineffective). This effort could make Second Life more well known for little cost. Hopefully a follow up marketing campaign will happen soon, perhaps emphasizing all the free Linden/Mole-created fun and games available to all.
PS: Good to see you back Tateru!
I am feeling the same as Tateru… LL will face deception again from not understanding what they rule over. We could have expected more from R. Humble, changing his paradigm after his experience at EA. you don’t try to make something look like something you are familiar with, you adapt your science. The good thing is, if someone once in the management of LL, understand SL for once, culturally, psychologically, as a plain avatar do, it will look so bright, it will lights the whole Silicon Valley with new consciousness.
It is a shame that the thingieverse, hollywood sci-fi, facebook, 3D printing is making the world looking like Second Life and noone at LL stands and say :
“our community (yes, hopefully LL management feels like part of it), our community have experiment a simulated world which prefigure the world as it comes, fab labs everywhere, ubiquity, connected world, new marketing model, new cultural models, freewill gaming, online co-creation, extrem sharing, scripting a reality. The future itself was there under a drop of press coverage garbage and now look at you, you are us. There is no web beings more valuable then a free avatar and free avatars are legions in Second Life since 10 years. So don’t you think those legions are more than shaped to understand the world where we run into ?
Aren’t there any experience to pull from Second Life to light up the path of the real world as it seems to occure ? does, for exemple, the entire rl economy will have to be eaten by a new kind of copybot (hello 3D printing) before we understand how valuable was our online experience of the future ?” Stand proudly for us and for you, nothing to be ashamed of, it makes you communicate so poorly
Come on LL, intellectualize the thing a little, and when you pull contents from us, make it shine, this is call photoshop in magazine, cinematics in video game, editing in movie. It is to make understand a feeling you can only experiment online. A bunch of creepy avatars running with no context and no mind embedded is clueless to anyone. hire a damn art director…
Once LL wanted rl companies to come in SL, why explaining it was aiming RL people ? We, avatars are the customers, challenge those companies to compete with the best of our brands… dress us up if you dare… new kind of competition, a whole company against a single guy behind its computer, new paradigm, everyone equal (I know this idea afraid those who makes a living out of Second Life, but admit it, if you, avatars, stay in the top sellers, it would deserve a new cover from a economy magazine). And this will happening in the real world, “makers”, you know what I mean, so pay attention from the makers which are there since 10 years. We play boats and shop, ok, but we are not kids and if we are, we are the smart kinds.
I wonder if this means more for the Steam plans. Like, it’s not going to be on Steam at all.
At first I figured Second Life would be released on Steam via the new Software section as a free download. But if Linden Lab was planning those kind of packages and price tags for Steam, I could see Valve having problems with that.
War Z was taken off Steam recently and refunds issued due to customers feeling misled on how the game was advertised differently than gameplay panned out, and War Z is an actual game despite those problems. With Second Life being, well, Second Life, there’s no way Linden Lab could get away with selling on Steam the things they are on Amazon..
Steam has categories now for things that aren’t games, and that’s where I expect to find Second Life. This move with Amazon suggests to me that we can expect Second Life on Steam sometime this quarter.
Amazon has categories for downloadable software too. Odd that they’d choose Amazon to list as a game and Steam to list as software wouldn’t it be?
Then again maybe they chose to list as a game on Amazon because of these “Game Connect” features http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000816301 More appealing to be apart of that program than lumped in with TurboTax, I guess.
… and the pack goes unavailable.
Linden Lab has successfully spread its failures to a whole new audience!
*golf clap*
-ls/cm
Yes, SL has much to offer but vehicles are not in my top 100 – except sailboats. LL should build a package focusing purely on sailing, with boats, sailing lessons, garb, custom photo/video mementos, an exploatory tour guided or not, and a in-your-own-time quest you need to sail around to complete.
Unavailable but the blog announcement is still there. Of course.
[...] Linden Lab’s announcement that they are selling Second Life bundled with packages of content. Read it for yourself – I don’t think it’s possible for me to agree more with Tateru’s view on [...]
It’s the morning of January 5th, and at amazon.com the Starter Vehcle Pack is listed as “Currently unavailable”.
I must agree with you, Tateru. Vehicles are great for showing SL’s deficiencies–setting people up for disappointment isn’t the way to gain and keep users.
Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway could deliver the appropriate assessment of this deal.
P.S. It’s a joy to see you back.
Frustrating though it is, Amazon (like any other bookstore) usually picks how to categorize products. The assignment to video game probably didn’t have anything to do with Linden, though it isn’t clear to me where it would better fit.
What I find embarrassing is that nobody at Linden put enough thought into the free promotion: L$4000 for US$0 that can be turned back into US$4? I can just see the followup blog posting: “I don’t think anybody could have predicted that these people would use this promotion to make money.” Sigh.
“The assignment to video game probably didn’t have anything to do with Linden”
It was Linden Lab’s choice. The packages are labelled “Game Connect” and that seems to be a program in developer beta that Amazon debuted last summer.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/13/amazon-announces-game-connect-new-free-to-play-game-service/
It looks to be all about connecting Amazon accounts to game accounts and allowing the purchasing of virtual items through Amazon to receive them in games.
So this might be the beginning of these packages on Amazon. Maybe other old premium gifts and other things will crop up over time.
Perhaps, though that is not generally the case, and Amazon doesn’t have a “non-game connect” system for non-game online content. If anything, I’d guess the choice of wording was driven by Amazon. Obviously Amazon is trying to get a bite of Steam’s pie with this service and it will be interesting to see if they start selling other online service credits, etc.
FWIW, neither I (as author) nor my publisher had anything to do with how Amazon categorized my book… it goes wherever the Amazon marketing person of the hour of listing thinks it is most likely to generate sales.
[...] Laval was perhaps the first (certainly that I know of) to blog on the matter, and Tateru gave a very pithy commentary on the nature of the packages and on promoting SL as a “game”, which drew considerable [...]
LL probably figured out that the only folks buying their special zero-dollar sale was folks who’re already SL users who just wanted the free vehicles and L$1000. Really, what did they expect?
The Amazon promotion just reaks of grasping for straws, or grasping for newb money. Getting residents from an Amazon promotion is destined for failure. There’s no one to help new residents during the important first hours, but isn’t it funny the Lab does this? Offer no help for new residents in a mass market offer? This way there’s no seasoned residents with 3rd Party Viewers or telling newbs about things on SL the Lab doesn’t want told. The new residents will be here long enough for some quota or financial mark on the books for the investors. Then the downward slide will continue.
Carry on Linden Lab.
Yeah, well, if you’re easily embarrassed perhaps you made a mistake coming to Second Life in the first place.
[...] Tateru Nino is also critical of the way this was marketed, with Second Life being listed as a game. Now the question then arises, what category should Second Life be in if not game and as someone else on Tateru’s blog post points out, Linden Lab are using Amazon game connect, that’s where the linking of your Second Life account to your Amazon account comes into play. Amazon game conncect is aimed at free to play games who want to sell digital goods, so it’s the right fit. However whereas Tateru’s criticisms may initially be different to Inara’s, further reading shows they are not, Tateru is basically criticising the lack of information about what Second Life is too and points out that in terms of expectations, listing Second Life as a game is going to lead to people having different expectations as to what they will find when they enter Second Life. [...]
[...] Laval was perhaps the first (certainly that I know of) to blog on the matter, and Tateru gave a very pithy commentary on the nature of the packages and on promoting SL as a “game”, which drew considerable [...]
SL may have all its problems, but there still are some not so small communities that live and are well.
Lots of people love to shop for fashion and skins and hair, jewelry, houses, trees and you-name-it.
There are many hunts for free stuff, even with more than 200 creators participating.
Many many designers and chstomers even collected US$ 25000 inworld to support a designer in a legal dispute.
So SL isn’t read, someone at LL just needs to find out what people really like, not advertize what they think they like.
I have done photos for over 500 fashion shows since 2007, and I have not seen that stuff got worse or people stop buying stuff. And I am willing to take many more in the future.
Tillie
’tis Friday again.
What next from SL? What wondrous offers? Or do I just watch the Blu-Ray version of Lord of the Rings that arrived in the post?
[...] Tateru’s thoughts on the Amazon offering [...]
“…Hang on to your virtual hats ladies and gentlemen, I think 2013 could shape up to be an interesting year. My advice. Buy Amazon (AMZN) stock and look forward to a Virtual e-Commerce SL Marketplace experience powered by Amazon in the near future!”
Read my complete blog post predicting SL’s Amazonian here:
https://theslrevolution.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/amazon-sl-marketplace-buy/
Well, Amazon and Linden Lab have traditionally had very close ties – and Amazon already provides key functionality that is integral to the functioning of the Second Life grid.