Ok, back to reality...LL Competitive Practices

Wake Up everyone, I know you have fainted from my last posting, and quite frankly, I'm still pretty darn happy with the new Viewer and SHARED MEDIA; actually if someone out there has the talent to do Web-Development but can't think of ideas on how to use this SHARED MEDIA, contact me in-world, I got a LOAD of ideas for people.

Now, with that being said, I need to bring us all back to Reality, because while one good thing happened from Linden Lab, it doesn't excuse them for the other areas of their Business, and today I think it's time we talk about the Competitive Business Practices from Linden Lab.

Many of you probably don't remember this, but way way way back when our friend Philip was still sitting at the Helm of Linden Lab, he made it a point to let everyone know that Linden Lab WOULD NEVER directly compete against the Customer Base. Of course, we all know that this "policy" was shot down a while ago with Linden Lab acquisitions such as Web-Sites that dealt in the buying and selling of Lindens, Web-Sites that dealt with the buying and selling of Items and Services, and the most recently, Linden Lab has intruded on the Land Lease/Rental market.

My review of these "Premium Homes" that are there for the taking by all Premium Members is really not very nice. The houses look like nothing more then cardboard cut-outs from the 1950's. Not only do they look incredibly dull, but they are packed in so tight you would think Linden Lab couldn't afford a new Server here and there. Overall, the Premium Home experience will be a detriment to keeping New Residents in Second Life. They already have issues with the basic understanding of our World, and now they are going to be given the absolute worse experience in Virtual Home Ownership. I guess we can mark this idea down as, "a bad idea all the way around".

Not withstanding the creepiness of the Premium Homes, Linden Lab has set themselves to be in Direct Competition with one of the Strongest Customer Bases they have; Island Owners. I can't help but to agree with so many of the voices that are crying "FOUL" for this endeavor. Linden Lab not only is in Direct Compeition, but they also chose to CHEAT in order to be in Direct Competition. If you got and inspect these Premium Home areas you will notice that the Homes themselves are constructed of 117 PRIMS. Now normally a 512sq m area only serves up 117 PRIMS, except here in Linden Land, where the 117 PRIMS used for the houses, don't count against the Parcel Prim Count. Instead, the Premium Homes allow for another 117 PRIMS for Decor. So, in order for Linden Lab to compete with their own Customers, they have decided to "stack the deck" in their favor. This is probably a good idea considering how mediocre these homes are. Why it took Jack Linden and the Public Works Department 117 PRIMS for these homes is anyone's guess. I know almost all the really good builders in Second Life, and they could have created immensly more creative homes with 117 PRIMS, then what Linden Lab came up with. Not only that, but why does Linden Lab feel that they need to CHEAT and give themselves DOUBLE PRIMS on their Servers; which btw, they continue to say that this will only cause more lag and is the reason they don't do it for everyone, so what they are saying now is, that they are providing shabbily built cut-outs that will be dreadfully laggy.

What upsets me here, is not that Linden Lab chose to compete with their own Customer Base, but they decided to CHEAT to give themselves an "advantage". I think all Island Owners, no matter if you are in a Homestead or a Full Island, should immediately request that Linden Lab re-configure their Islands with DOUBLE the amount of PRIMS, since we know it can be done, and apparently the lag isn't really that big of a deal.

So, Jack, Blue, M, tell us will you, when we all of us Island Owners be upgraded to the same PRIM Count utilized on your own Islands? You keep saying that your "Regime" is better then the "Old Regime"; least the "Old Regime" didn't try to CHEAT when they competed against their Customers. So, is this the "New Regime" way of doing things, CHEAT if you can't compete?

Of course, I know you all will continue to remain silent, what a surprise, but your silence only goes to affirm my position; otherwise you wouldn't HIDE behind your desks all day, doing nothing.

Hell Freezes Over....Film at 11

Well, I know everyone thought this day would NEVER come, but I've always said, if Linden Lab ever did anything right, I would applaud them for it.

Today, that has happened. While I may not have had the time to delve deeply into this new Beta Viewer, I have been able to look thru it, explore it's different tabs, and items, and I must say, "Fucking Well Done!"

While I don't think this Viewer will help the New Resident as much as those as Linden Lab think it will, I do think it's a HUGE improvement for those of us who are quite familiar with the old Viewer.

I LOVE the fact that I can now make the Text GROW LARGE (Nice of LL to realize some of us are getting older and are eyesight isn't as good as it use to be). Having the right side menu tabs takes a bit to get used to, but, again, I like it better then what it used to be.

So, here's to the UI Team, you aren't Lazy or Incompetent, and for that, I applaud you and your work. Just one thing, please don't be surprised when this Viewer does more to confuse the New Residents then to help them. Remember, I've said this for years, it's not the UI, it's the whole New User experience. When Linden Lab removed Orientation Island, New Residents had more issues, because they were forced to learn the basics. Yes, sometimes you need to make your Customers go through something in order to make their experience better.

I was going to take this last bit to ride the other departments there at Linden Lab, but you know what, this new Viewer has impressed me enough, that I won't take shots at other departments, once again, Good Fucking Job UI Staff!

Linden Lab doesn't play favorites!

Hey everyone, well here's a twist. Linden Lab isn't playing favorites when it comes to their new Customer Base, Avatar's United, as seen here:

Avatars United Log In Issues

[Posted Feb 23, 2010; 7:30pm] Some users may experience some errors when attempting to log in to their account on Avatars United. We are aware of the issues and are working to resolve the issue. If you are unable to log in, we recommend you wait a short period and try again. We will update this post when we have more information.

Glad to know that Linden Lab is planning on pissing off their new Customer Base as much as they've pissed off their Old One.

I guess I was wrong when I said Linden Lab played favorites all those times. Way to go guys, keep up the wonderfully incompetent work!

Linden Lab goes along a way to prove my POINT!

Over the past few entries I've been talking about how Linden Lab has either hired Lazy or Incompetent Employees. This past week, Linden Lab has gone out of its way to actually prove my point. Just follow the LINK and have a read, come back when you are done though, we should talk about this!

This all started with the rollout of Server 1.36 code. The initial release was causing VENDORS (you know those things that are really really rare and hard to test with) to behave in a very bad way. Vendors? Really? I would love to see the numbers of just how many VENDORS there are in Second Life, most likely it's an astronomical result. So, and I'm just asking a simple question here, why did this happen? Did ANYONE do any kind of testing with this new Server Code? Seriously, how can you miss something like this in testing? You would think that during a Test, someone at Linden Lab would have the top 10 Vendor Systems running just to be sure they were operating correctly after a Server Upgrade; well, at least that makes sense for those of us who have lived and worked in IT most of our Adult Lives.

Anyway, after "The Lab" rescinded the Upgrade process, they "correct" the mistake and try to install the NEW Server Code. Here's something I get upset over, especially when I was managing Coders, but when you find a MAJOR bug in the code you first released, you should spend a LOT of time to be sure that the FIX you are applying WORKS and then go back to the start of your Testing and test it all over again. This way, you SHOULD be able to find ANY OTHER BUGS that might have been caused by your fix or perhaps you missed one or two in the original testing. I would tell my Staff that if there are any more BUGS in the code, especially after you were to have FIXED it, then there jobs were on the line. Unfortunately though, "The Lab" has different ideas about just how well their Employee's perform their Jobs, because after they re-released the new Server Code, there was ANOTHER MAJOR BUG found! This one has apparently something to do with Content Creation Protection, again, NOT something that would be too difficult to test for.

All too often I have pointed out the obvious here and now "The Lab" has done is best to PROVE the point I was making. I guess at "The Lab" as long as your butt is in the seat, then you will have a job. Too bad, because once again, this just serves to show us all, that the New Boss is the same as the Old Boss.

Looks like we got fooled again..

Lazy, Incompetent...and now Liars?

Hey everyone, if you haven't heard the lastest Marketing PLOY by Linden Lab, then you just have to hear this. For every NEW Premium Member that signs up in Second Life, Linden Lab will give them 1000L AND a FREE HOME that the new Premium Member can decorate to his/her wishes; isn't it wonderful that Linden Lab proves themselves to be LIARS?

Liars? What, you ask, am I speaking about? Well, a few years ago, the Customers of Linden Lab were promised that Linden Lab would NEVER directly Compete with the Customers of Linden Lab. Just in case you can't see the point to my rant today, let me explain. When Linden Lab decided to give away LAND and HOME to new Premium Member, they are in direct competition with Land Rental/Sales People AND to those people that product Pre-Fab Homes. Not only that, but they are also UNFAIRLY competing with the Land Rental/Sales people by providing a HOME of 117 PRIMS but the Home Owner still gets 117 PRIMS to use on his 512sq meters of land.

I guess I should ask Blue Linden just when my Island will get DOUBLE PRIMS since Linden Lab is giving itself DOUBLE PRIMS on these SIMs. I guess it goes without saying that Linden Lab are also proving themselves to be LIARS by having DOUBLE PRIMS on these SIMs, when they said years ago that a SIM could NEVER support more then 15,000 Prims; Interesting indeed.

So, me being foolish and expecting that maybe someday someone at Linden Lab will SHUT ME UP, I ask now Blue, tell me please, when does my SIM get 30,000 Prims?

Fleetwood Mac said it best, "Tell me Lies"

OK everyone, M Linden has finally said something, but as usual, it's the normal Propaganda BullShit that Linden Lab is noted for.

Instead of me commenting on what M Linden says, I would rather you read it for yourself, and just keep playing Fleetwood Mac in the Background, "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies"....

Sing it for me M

Let's put some points to a final rest

OK friends, it seems my last Blog has found an audience, and while I'm forever a skeptic, I will allow Peter to say he has no attachment to the "Lab" what so ever. But, I think I should address some interesting points that Peter does raise in his comments, and perhaps even try to see why us "old folk" seem hell bent on getting what we pay for.

First, Peter wants to lay some ground work to his Comment, so let's see what that is:

"I am not particular to what size/complexity the software/hardware system is that runs SL. But I am pretty sure it is HUGE and COMPLEX. Whether it needs to be so complex and whether the complexity is more of a burden these days is open to discussion by people more qualified than I am. But we can safely assume it is huge and it is complex"

While I agree that the System's that run Second Life might be "massive", I won't give any sort of ground because a company's product is "massive" or "complex". Linden Lab chose this to be their Product, and in doing so, have an ETHICAL commitment to provide that Product without issue. This is one of the arguments that many people bring up when first coming to the "defense" of "The Lab". Let's find us a suitable Product where we can draw some distictions from. How about your Cable Router, that seems to be quite a "massive" and "complex" network, and yet, people don't want to hear how an engineer failed to correctly input and test new router code this morning, which caused just 1 hour of minimal service. How about your Television Networks, would you be glad to hear that one of the Television Engineers accidentally put in his copy of "Debbie Does Dallas" and broadcast it just for 38 seconds when your kids were supposedly watching the new episode of 90210? Everyone who deals in "massive" and "complex" systems understands that they need to be careful of what they do, else it will not only cost them their job, but it could also cost their employer's a LOT of money. So, while "The Lab" runs a "massive" and "complex" system, doesn't excuse them for the mistakes we see, no matter how small they might be, on a weekly, and sometimes a daily, basis. Furthermore, "The Lab" while admitting mistakes are made, apparently aren't doing a good job of making certain that all employee's need to test, re-test, re-test and re-test some more, because every little item that goes wrong, adds up after a while; which is by the way, the WHOLE POINT to the last few threads.

Peter goes on to say:

"I am following the grid status blog as well, and the service interruptions are usually minor. Dividends delayed for a day, group payouts delayed for some. A few regions offline. I recall one emergency patch deployed. But now showstoppers."

I agree that no "show-stoppers" have recently come to light, but my point is again, that if you add up every little bit that goes by each week and day, you begin to see a pattern of Failure. It's like what happens when you drop a toad into boiling water, he jumps out. But, put a Toad in room temperature water and slowly raise the water temperature, the Toad stands there as if nothing is going wrong. We, the customers of Second Life, are like the Toad who've been standing in the water so long, that we EXPECT Linden Lab to mess something up and no longer do we hold them to their task. Linden Lab hasn't been getting better over time, it's been getting worse. While there may not be any "show-stoppers" going on, there are still failures that are being repeated weekly, and yet, because we are used to Linden Lab failures, we just sit idly by and accept that they will fail us, happily, like the Toad. Yet, one of the MAIN REASONS we loose New Residents is because of the FAILURES of Linden Lab. The New Residents aren't used to be treated so shamefully, so they take exception to what "The Lab" is doing and leave. One thing we can say for sure, when people try out Second Life, then leave, and they put in some Forum that we, the current Residents of Second Life are foolish for staying in a system that fails as much as Second Life, they are right, even though it might hurt me to say, they are still right.

Now Peter goes on to say that "The Lab" is great about communicating failures, and he's sure other complex systems fail as well, but they just don't say anything about it, actually I should let Peter say it in his own words:

"The point you completely miss here is that the Lab actually COMMUNICATES these issues! If group payouts are delayed for some residents, they could just as well "hush it up". But no, they actively and timely communicate it on the grid status. I am pretty sure systems of similar (or even smaller complexity) have a similar number of small glitches - only you never hear about them."

The problem with this argument is Peter assumes there are daily failures at other complex and massive systems, but we never hear about them. Well, I can't speak to that which I never hear about, but I can say that my Phone works, My Cable Router works, My Cable TV works. When there are interruptions, while they are apologetic, at least my Cable company will give me rebates on the cost when I can't use their service. One thing I can speak to though, other Company's that run massive and complex systems don't keep people employed who routinely fail at their job; is that true at "The Lab"?

Finally though, Peter explains the issue he has with my recent post:

"If we would have a showstopper every week, I could understand your position. But focusing on those minor and noncritical things seems a bit over the top to me"

As I have pointed out before, my issue is that we have these MINOR (and in your words) non-critical things going wrong week after week after week after week after week after week. When do you consider all these little things that go wrong weekly to add up to a Biggie? Apparently Linden Lab cannot keep Second Life going for a simple 7 days without any issues, minor or major. Not only that, but they haven't been able to keep a clean slate for quite some time now. What other conclusion can I come to except that the employee's at Linden Lab are either to lazy or incompetent to do their job for which they were hired? IF these are MINOR and NON-CRITICAL issues, why can't they seem to fix them? Please don't give me the tired argument of it being "massive" and "complex", as I've done a fairly substantial job of removing that as an argument. So, what is it about Linden Lab that they can't keep their own PRODUCT going without one single issue, major or minor, for a simple 7 days? While we are on this subject, why hasn't the Asset Sever issue been fixed yet, it's been three years and still the problem exists?

Peter, I don't know if you are a friend of mine in Second Life or not, but, if you know me in Second Life you would know I have already raised these crucial points with you there. I am no longer going to keep calling Linden Lab out for their poor service, as they seem to have given up on it themselves, otherwise, why after a year, does Linden Lab STILL have an F Grade from the BBB? Since I can see that Linden Lab is unwavering in it's own incompetence, what's the point of me continually asking someone from Linden Lab to comment on it? What's most amazing is how Linden Lab just continues to walk by like nothing is wrong, yet, we, the Customers, can see that the Emperor has lost its clothing.