Coming Viewer Improvement - Experience Keys

Linden Lab, the makers of SecondLife, are working on new exciting improvements as seen in this video about "Experience Keys", where Torley Linden explains what it's all about.

According to Torley, Experience Keys is in its final development phase and Linden Lab is now looking for high-quality experiences to beta test the toolset. The lab needs our help to stress-test these features and demonstrate how easily experiences can be converted.

(Tipped by loyal BiSL-reader Tomais Ashdene)

Update
And as luck would have it, I waited to long after the tip so it has now been scooped by the following

• New World Notes; Improved Permission System May (Finally) Make Second Life a Decent Game Platform
• Jo Yardley's Second Life;  "The Cornfield returns" and
• Daniel Voyager's Blog; "The Return of The Cornfield in Second Life".

A Brave New Virtual World Is Underway

"Moment" Photography by Tomais Ashdene
(Totally unrelated to the subject of the post, but I couldn't find any suitable illustration)

The most sensational news yesterday - for those of us with a presence in virtual worlds - was undoubtedly Ebbe Altberg (a.k.a. Ebbe Linden in-world),  CEO of Linden Lab, confirmation that the lab is investing heavily in creating a new SecondLife.

The project is expected to take several years to accomplish. The new virtual world will not be constrained by the limitations that the existing SecondLife and "backward compatibility. Although there are some hopes for some levels of migration, given the new platform may well be revolutionary, rather than evolutionary, whether this will be possible , and at what level cannot at this time be determined." (Quote from "Living in a Modemworld")

There are already  many excellent summaries on this development on other blogs, so I will refer you to them.

New World Notes:
BREAKING: Linden Lab Confirms It's Building New Virtual World "Far Beyond What is Possible with Second Life" (Updated with Official Statement)

Living in a Modemworld: 
a) Ebbe confirms: “we’re working on a ‘next generation’ platform” (with audio) with an interview with Ebbe Linden
b) Lab: “We’re not giving up on Second Life”

Jo Yardley's Second Life: 
a) Linden Lab working on new virtual world
b) Linden Lab officially responds to the new virtual world story

Eddi & Ryce's Second Life:
Hear Ebbe Linden Make the Announcement of Linden Lab's New Virtual World Over at Inara Pey's Blog

Mona Eberhardt │ Living Virtualy:
Linden Lab working on Second Life’s successor?

Welcome Ebbe Linden!

Hamlet Au and Daniel Voyager just revealed that our wait is over and that Linden Lab has a new CEO.

The new CEO is Ebbe Altberg, presumably to be called Ebbe Linden.

Read more about this exciting news at Daniel Voyager's Blog: Ebbe Altberg new CEO of Linden Lab or New World Notes:  Linden Lab Hires Yahoo! Exec Ebbe Altberg as CEO - Announcement Emphasizes Blocksworld as Much as SL.

Bock in SecondLife would like to welcome Ebbe to our world!

Goodbye Rodvik!

Yesterday the part of the metaverse which focuses on SecondLife exploded with the news that Rod Humble, formerly known also known as Rodvik Linden, is no longer CEO of Linden Lab (The Makers of SecondLife).

This change first became known through a private message Rod sent to blogger Jo Yardley (Jo Yardley's Second Life (url)) on Facebook yesterday, where he informed her that he had "left Linden Lab last week". A short while later he posted the following message on his timeline on Facebook.

My first reaction to this rather surprising news was to check Linden Lab's (url) webpage, and sure enough, Rod Humble was no longer listed as one of the company's management.

It seemed rather amateurish to me that no official announcement about the change had been made - and still hasn't, but then I remembered that no announcement has ever been made by the company concerning my Philip - to some of you better known as Philip Rosedale - stepping down as Chairman of the Board. Linden Lab seems to really need someone with skills in communication.

However, I would like to thank Rod for all the improvements that have been made during his three years as CEO and  like my darling Sergeant of Arms sirhc DeSantis in a comment concerning the news on New World Notes (url) I say "Best of luck to (you Rod). Now...who wants to step up to be vilified next (because we are so supportive are we not =^^= )"

What Did You Mean, Philip?

SecondLife founder Philip Rosedale, a.k.a. Philip Linden, according to an article in New York Times talking about SecondLife recently made two statements that have caused a great deal of speculation and concern among residents and bloggers.

The two statements are, "The problem with creating an immersive 3-D experience is that it is just too involved, and so it’s hard to get people to engage,” and “Smart people in rural areas, the handicapped, people looking for companionship, they love it. But you have to be highly motivated to get on and learn to use it.”

Among most bloggers the statements have been interpreted as derogatory and as an almost treacherous attack by the previously well liked former CEO, now Chairman of the Board, of Linden Lab. (See for example The Metaverse Journal Philip Rosedal spruiks new venture, talks down Second Life?, Eddi Haskell Shame on Philip Rosedale. He´s Joined the Second Life Haters!, Ener Hax Philip even thinks SL is dead, Botgirls Second Life Diary Rosedales Milkshake or Sven Idyll (in Swedish) Second Life 2012 to mention a few.)

On New World Notes today blogger Herman Au makes a completely different - and more beneficial - interpretation on Philips statements in this post, No, Second Life Founder Philip Rosedale Probably Doesn't Think Second Life is "Dead". Herman Au writes,

"So I read what Philip's saying as good news: It's clear that he understands the challenges SL faces, and it explains why he's passed the reigns of its day-to-day operations to Rod Humble, who has managed to make a 3D virtual experience with user-generated content -- i.e. Sims 3 -- into a mass market phenomenon. For many years, Philip and other Lindens insisted the high learning curve and the 3D graphics and the heavy client and all that wouldn't hurt SL's growth. (I said as much myself.) But Second Life can only grow if its developers recognize who is using SL now, and what it will take, for people outside these smaller segments to embrace it."

Instead of everyone speculating about what Philip Rosedale may or may not have meant by his statements I wish he himself would come out and clarify what he actually does mean.

I hope that some of the major blogs with well developed lines of communications with Linden Lab - or those that are known to be read by Linden Lab officials or employees - will pick up on this as I do not expect this humble blog is on any of their reading lists.

SecondLife in Top Ten PC Games

I saw it first on New World Notes but had to repost it here. SecondLife is in 9th place on Nielsen´s Top Ten rating for PC Games for May 2011, I wonder how InWorldz placed?

What Kind of A SecondLife Patriot Are You?

My friend Eddi Haskell pointed me to a poll on "New World Notes" about what you think of the future of SecondLife.

Take the poll and see the results!

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/07/survey-second-life-patriotism.html

Recommended Reading

There is an excellent post entitled "Confirmed: Latest Second Life Drama Largely Driven by Misunderstanding, Scant Evidence (As It Usually Is)" by Wagner James Au on the blog New World Notes that everyone involved with SecondLife should take the time to read.

The post centers around the drama (non-Swedish this time) caused by Miso Susanowa and her allegations concerning a logo chosen by Linden Lab to celebrate Second Life's 8th anniversary.

Miso Susanowa claims that the logo was based on a design she originally did and was used without attribution or credit, which led to a community-wide controversy, with many calling for boycott, lawsuits, and filing DMCA notifications against the company.

I posted a comment to this post which I want to share with you here.

Excellent post, thank you!

Admittedly the Lindens make mistakes, they are only human after all, and admittedly they are not always able to respond to a problem as fast as the erratic residents of our world would wish.

Like you I believe that the overreactions among us residents more often than not lead to time and energy wasted on matters of little importance than being used to the betterment of SecondLife.

I can also wholly understand that some creative and talented people at the Lab would leave the company because of such turbulence.

We could all do better if we stopped bitching and complaining wildly all the time and instead channeled our efforts to work with and support the Lindens in improving the world we all love.

Är Philip på väg tillbaks som VD för Linden Lab?

Jag läste precis ett intressant inlägg på "Eddi Haskell´s Second Life".

Ryktena har börjat florera att Philip Rosedale, inworld känd som Philip Linden eller "King Philip", kommer att återkomma till VD-posten för Linden Lab sedan han hoppade in som talare vid det pågående SL7B istället för den nuvarande VD:n Mark Kingdon, även känd inworld som "M Linden".

Det skulle vara en välkommen förändring anser jag! Vad vi behöver i Second Lifes nuvarande stadium är fortfarande visionärerna och drömmarna. Produktutvecklarna och förvaltarna får ge sig till tåls ännu ett tag!

Mer intressant i denna fråga finns att läsa på Wagner James Aus blogg "New World Notes"

P.S. ...och nu ser jag att PetGirl Bergman redan är ute med nyheten på sin blogg "Tinas Universum".

P.P.S. ...och PetGirl får kalla mig "gam" så ofta och så mycket hon vill, så det så...