After the OpenSpace bomb was thrown at SL customers, I pondered:
I've posted and commented a few times that Jack ought to quickly seek out the affected communities, run tests, and come up with a product and a price point that's reasonable to all. SL Time runs fast and hot, and 60 day leadtimes leave a lot of time for all sorts of hard feelings to fester.
It didn't seem that was going on, because the United Sailing Sims called for mutiny:
MarkTwain White, one of the preeminent leaders of the SL Sailing Federation, stunned the audience of the Paisley Beebe show last night. He read a statement for Jack Linden that summed up the position of the gigantic Second Life Sailing Federation community. In essence, The Second Life Sailing Federation has reviewed the options available under the new Second Life land options (e.g. the Homestead Act), and they have determined that it will be technically impossible to conduct operations as a sailing/racing community in the new infrastructure laid down by Linden LabFurthermore, Mr. White said, without an infrastructure to sail on in Second Life, there is no reason to continue the existence of the SLSF beyond a certain point. Mr. White stated that the SLSF has decided to purchase land in the Open Sim Grid in order to rebuild their community in an environment more supportive of sailing races on the Grid. He expects that it will be "at least a year before they can realistically expect" sailing to be viable in the new environment.
It appears that caught Jack's attention, although I'm wondering if this is a flag of surrender or just another slap of the snooze bar on the eventual and unstoppable reduction-in-service/raise-of-prices plan:
Shiver me timbers me hearties! If you’re a fan of all things nautical then we have exciting news! A new Mainland sailing area will soon appear off the coast of Nautilus in a joint community project between Linden Lab and the estate owners of the United Sailing Sims (USS) group.For those that don’t know, the USS is made up of 9 private estates with 130+ regions between them, themed around sailing, yacht racing and similar sports.
Blake Sea, named after the legendary sailor Sir Peter Blake, will be to the east of the Nautilus City landmass and will cover over 40 regions in size, and almost all of them will be Homesteads. Around the eastern edge of Blake Sea will be the estates of the USS.
It's interesting to see that the official SL blog is linking to the USS Events List. My cynical side sees this as an admission that the Events listing system is inadequate and requires improvement so it can serve the community/customer base effectively. My positive side says that this is their recognition of resources through widely-accepted third-party platforms adopted by the community and using them instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
Working up some notes:
- Was there any communication with LL before the announcement to pull out?
- What communication took place afterwards?
- What do you feel it took to catch their attention?
- How far did OpenSim plans progress before this project was announced, and will they still be ongoing?
- Who bears the cost?
- Has there been any testing of the limited sims by the sailing community to see if this will work, or how will events be changed to adapt to the new limitations?
- Who will handle security for the sims?
- Are pilots welcome to fly the areas, since there is no corresponding deal with an equivalent pilot's community announced?
- What do you say to others in the forums and blogs accusing you and your organization of "FIC" status?
- Paisley called the price change "The death of sailing in Second Life." It will still affect other sailing communities not associated with USS. What advice do you have for them in this matter?
- Any plans to grow the USS or expand into Nautilus/connected areas?
Instead of speculating, I'll just write the Press Contact of the USS (MarkTwain White) and see if I can't pen up a follow-up to that article I wrote for Prim Perfect.
I suppose I should work up some questions for Jack.
Prokofy weighs in.
*sigh* The forums are looking like a shooting gallery, and the spin makes me wonder which is the next major community to get the appearance of a sweetheart deal at the expense of all its lesser and less vocal rivals.
Comments (4)
These are great questions, and help to put yet another dimension to this complicated prism -- on the one hand, we hear that the USS is GOM'd with an "offer they can't refuse". On the other hand, MarkTwain played real hard ball grandstanding politics with the Lab, threatening a mass exodus to OpenSim (which is bullshit, and he wouldn't have made good on it).
My very piercing question is this: how come all of a sudden these sims are found not be technically acceptable when...these pirates bought *130 OF THEM* happily, in an ecstasy involving the prospects of both cheap open water space and cheap flipping of rentals? They worked fine when the tier was lower; um, how come they don't work fine when the tier is higher?
Oh, sure, we, um, get that the $75 sims meant for just such sailing stretches of water won't work for the imperious MTW. That's because it's not about casual sailing of a few boats; it's about competitive, prim-and-script intensive races and flotillas -- large numbers of prim hogs and resource hogging scripts. Well, um, for that, there's something we like to call "the full sim".
Why does everybody *else* have to pay for their hobby, but sailors get to whine and threaten boycotts and blackmail emotionally to get their way?!
It sounds to me, reading ZATZAI's account, that in fact they were in talks for weeks, that the Lindens had already poached one of their people, and was already making ANOTHER FIC sailing community in Nautilus, and MTW chose the tactic of grand-standing on Paisley Beebe's show to put pressure on the Lab to get a better deal, meaning the media was dragged into his agenda as a tool.
It's funny to read your friend GoSpeed's take on this, which is not to call for specials or FICing so much as it is to call for the Lindens to put in public rezzing sites at their own expense -- which of course creates the problems I explained on her post of attracting griefers and heavy newbie traffic to areas where people paid a lot on the mainland to own Linden-protected waterfront and be able to sail from their own land if they wanted. I maintain at least 3 public launch sites in Alston, Carlisle, and Ravenglass, and there are many other people providing such launches, so the idea that it is somehow missing is wrong -- it isn't. I see plenty of sailing in these areas, but the problem is that the Linden waterways get narrow for the kind of big-ass boats that MTW and co. favour, and in some areas, ban lines will bounce them even if they start on Linden waterways.
Posted by Prokofy | December 20, 2008 11:30 PM
Posted on December 20, 2008 23:30
I'm failing to see what's so special about the sailing community...you do things in SL, you pay for them. Period. Price goes up, you pay or go elsewhere. Period.
I wonder if I can get a reduced rate from Linden Labs for tiny carolling.
Posted by Jane2 | December 21, 2008 9:26 AM
Posted on December 21, 2008 09:26
All this silly squabling!
Everyone needs to go OpenSim, that is the future. OpenSim gives you the right price (Free) and the correct rights (complete ownership and control).
see you on the open grids!
Posted by Sissy McMillan | December 21, 2008 12:15 PM
Posted on December 21, 2008 12:15
The Open Sims don't work even a tenth as well as the Lindens' already five-year-old tested product. That's the reality, and will be for some time to come. Plus, I don't want to be on the Open Sim grid with the copyleftists, liblifes and griefers.
Jane2, the thought of a robust tiny carolling enterprise on 130 sims -- it really sounds like a prim and script challenge, but I think you should go into talks with the Lindens. Jack says the door is open.
Posted by Prokofy | December 22, 2008 11:41 AM
Posted on December 22, 2008 11:41