Did you ever go over a long period of darkness and gloom to see the end of the tunnel? I believe that Second Life just did this.
Over the months, developments around the grid and Linden Lab finally bring hope that Second Life has a brighter future.
After much waffling, LL has finally understood the importance of not rolling out new land gratuitously, without considering the interests of established users who already own it on the various continents. Supporting the prices is a welcome idea, especially after the destructive introduction of new continents, European sales tax and the wiping of many SL real estate dealers. A serious land strategy is the only way to make sure that those of us who build around here will stay around for the long haul. It is a key for growth and strategic positioning of this 3D world.
My favorite change is a measure that should have been introduced from the start: zoning. LL intends to introduce and actively enforce residential and commercial zones in the future, which only makes sense. It is incredible to think that you can set up a house and see a strip club appearing on neighbouring land on the next day. Having zones will make Mainland ownership more attractive for current estate owners.
Seriousness to manage the business and enhance customer service are also starting to pay off. The efforts of M and Katt Linden are encouraging. Choosing a real CEO to replace Philip Rosedale was an important move on the part of Linden Lab since great founders and engineers are not always the most skilled managers. Having a communications manager like Katt Linden, who takes the time to listen to the community, also is reassuring.
Disastrous management and communications have done much harm to SL in the last 18 months. It is not too late to reverse the trend but LL cannot afford to waste much time since competitors are surely know that 3D worlds will be important in the future. SL has to keep its stranglehold on the market leader position if it is to survive.
Anyone who has been around the grid of late has noticed that it is becoming much more stable. The unplanned outages have been spectacularly reduced and the planned ones have been very reasonable. This is another key factor to the survival of SL.
A few questions remain, however. How will LL handle finance in the future? Can you have a virtual world without better policy on finance and banking? Is the land supply control only temporary?There is enough land set for sale on the grid to think that holding back on new land should be considered for a long time to come.
More importantly, however: how will Second Life become friendlier to newcomers? We have yet to see decisive moves to make SL more accessible for newbies. In the last months, the growth in time spent online has been attributed mainly to "veteran" users. If SL self-destructs one day, we may look at this issue as the straw that broke the camel's back.
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