Communication Breakdown, Addressed: Robin Linden responds

Last week I published the results of a survey suggesting that the quality of Linden-to-Resident communication had recently reached a remarkable low, with 83% of respondents describing it as "Poor" or "Mixed".  I put these figures to Robin Linden, company VP of Marketing & Community Development (pictured here from a 2006 interview) to get her feedback.  Here's her reply in full-- comments on it welcome.

"As you can imagine, the last year has been a whirlwind of activity for all of us at Linden Lab. Second Life has seen hundreds of thousands of active Residents each month and a doubling in concurrency, and we have been hard at work establishing both a concrete technological platform and improved operational procedures to better serve our Residents. Understandably, this is quite an undertaking.

"The start-up known as Linden Lab has grown into a 200+ person enterprise, requiring our employees to wear many hats and pulling them in many directions. Throughout all of this, we’ve tried our best to maintain as much transparency as possible — from publishing in granular detail a number of community and economic statistics, to regular communication on the official Linden blog, to the in-world office hours held by 40 Lindens every week. We’re the first to admit, this has unfortunately not always been as effective as we would have liked.   

"That said, we’re continually redoubling our efforts, working hard towards meaningfully opening the lines of communication: you will see a new format to the company blog in the coming months; we’re adding to our non-English-speaking staff and continuing our efforts to translate documentation and websites to be sure our international Residents can get the help they need; we will also be implementing a new communications strategy that will leverage a variety of channels, including, among other things, blog posts, Q&As, podcasts and in-world press briefings, to make sure the Residents, in-world media and bloggers covering Second Life get the information they need. It is a resolution of ours to more clearly communicate each development we incorporate into Second Life, because we know who it most greatly affects — you. On that note, I’d like to thank everyone for their support in 2007.  Here’s to clearer communication in 2008."

Comments

[Eggy Lippmann]

I'm sick of Linden Lab's useless blog where all we ever hear about is how so and so broke this and that, but it's already been fixed.
Where's the vision? Shouldn't all Linden communications be focused on growing the user base and motivating them to stay?
Let's have some more stuff from Philip, Robin and Torley and less geeky operational details up on that blog. Pretty please?
We used to have lots of Linden blogs with very interesting articles to read. I realize they are busier now than ever but... for starters, how come nobody ever commented on the fact that we lost 20% of active users, according to Tateru's charts? :P
Where the heck did Windlight go, and why can we not use that beta client anymore? It used to work fine for me. Why does everything take entire years to do around here? :P

[Morris Vig]

OK, Robin, we feel sorry for you guys. Life is hard. Growth is hard to deal with.

At the same time, WE'RE PAYING YOU. Can you guys cut the excuses and just get better? Communication, grid performance, WindLight...it goes on and on.

Sorry, if I wasn't responsible for giving Linden Lab my hard-earned money for the privilege of seeing inventory transfers fail, teleports fail and screaming griefer cubes (among other assorted issues), I'd be more empathetic.

[Harle Armistice]

Not to dismiss the problems that have availed Second Life, which do exist and desperately need attention...

But it really seems like there's an air of negativity surrounding Linden Labs when it comes to the community. It has become expected that people distrust or dislike Linden Labs, because of various failures(real or perceived). It's become fairly common to cite LL's ineptitude or what-have-you every time a person virtually stubs their toe. So any time someone asks the question 'Does LL do a good job at X?' you're going to get skewed results.

To be honest I'm not sure the poll really gave results that were technically accurate. I've been around for a long while now. Not as long as some, but long enough to know that the amount of data and information we get from LL is a heck of a lot more than when I started, over two years ago.

The posts are sometimes impersonal, but not always. If there's anything I could suggest, it'd be to separate(in some manner) the technical blog from the news blog. Maybe have different sections.

I think the technical blog posts are important, and the transparency of that aspect shows a good deal of commitment to the userbase; they've shown us time and time again that they aren't afraid to admit when they've made a mistake, and the posts show that the problems do get resolved in a timely manner.

In any case, I think this poll shows more the mood of the community than the actual quality of communications between LL and the userbase. Which is a problem in and of itself. It's hard to win back a community that's gotten a sour taste in its mouth.

It's gonna take some major successes, a lot of love, and of course, time. But I do hope the mood of the community improves.

[none]

What is she running for president or something? Gawd that was just a bunch of hot air lol and a wait of time to read and prolly write for her.
Us resident need a grid wide party when she leaves the company ;-)

[Lem Skall]

Robin's comments are all about LL passing on information to the SL residents. She is conspicuously NOT saying anything about LL listening to and gathering information from the SL residents. Is this omission intentional and does LL mean to tell us that they have no interest in that or is it just another manifestation of poor communication?

[Torley]

I have some things of my own to say here — I'm amidst critical issues at work at the moment, so I'll be back tonight to leave a more explanatory comment of my personal experiences @ Linden Lab & Second Life at the moment.

[Kristian]

More of the same hot air we've come to expect from Robin.

[Morris Vig]

Lest anyone think I'm entirely negative on Linden Lab, kudos to Torley for at least acknowledging this post and what appears to be an interesting lead-in to a necessary dialogue. Torley has consistently been the best communicator that Linden Lab has - be it through his Linden blog entries or his personal blog (where he really doesn't take the Linden hat entirely off).

That all being said, the technical fundamentals remain very troublesome. The lack of WindLight is just a minor issue in comparison to the ongoing gridwide griefer problems. If Linden Lab doesn't get that under wraps ASAP, they could be on the receiving end of a class action suit.

[Torley]

I've come back. Thanx for your patience. When I share, each piece is always part of larger context. One of my favoritest unfavorite things about communication is providing too much becomes "information overload", and too little is not healthy either. But simple messages and sticking to the point is often best — and being memorable is among the most important of all (for if you don't remember what someone said, how can it matter?) so here's another piece from me:

I've had the honor and privilege to work on what is now a long string of diverse projects at Linden Lab. Part of that work, of course, involves the very mortal chagrin of putting forth many ideas that haven't seen the light of day for various reasons. But the ones that have made it out the door, or will very soon, have largely to do — at least from my perspective — from discussions with Residents. Meaning, an evolving tapestry of design that is iterative, vibrant, at times conflicted, and ultimately human.

Amidst this humanity (sometimes manifested in fursuits, mecha, and other wonderful avatars), I enjoy filling in gaps. Catalyzing change. It's a lot of what I do (for those of you who don't know, I primarily work in Product Management), and absolutely, definitely, without a doubt involves a deep and passionate resonance in not just gathering information from our Residents, but making sense of it, passing the bits back and forth.

An excellent example of that, which I've been closely involved with, is WindLight, our forthcoming atmospheric rendering. Before I go further, WindLight will be out soon and I promise, PROMISE I will shout it from the rooftops. If "soon" is too vague and you're wondering why I can't give an exact date, I've been doing regular Project Updates on a page I encourage everyone to see, because perhaps you had no idea they existed before:

» http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Torley_Linden/Project_updates

And now you do.

Let's continue.

WindLight is an emotional technology. To those who say, "That's fluffy BS!" I ask you to question the feelings a pretty sunset nested atop a sparkling lake evokes. They stir up real, meaningful feelings that enrich our experiences.

Proof: when the initial WindLight First Look came out, some of you were aghast with the aesthetic changes, among many technical bugs. (Evidence of this, of course, is all the WindLight issues @ http://jira.secondlife.com — look 'em up if you haven't seen 'em.) Clearly, constructive criticism bombarded us because lots of people cared. So, I held dozens of discussions, big and small, about what to do, how to improve things, how to make a better-looking Second Life that should perform better too.

Perform better?

Ah yes... that is one aspect of WindLight I need to drive home, that there are numerous performance optimizations, that WL is NOT merely about "eye candy" but speed boosts like improved occlusion culling, single-pass shiny, and in case you're not into the tech lingo, we're going to give you a new option called Avatar Impostors which boosts viewer framerate up to ~20 in crowded scenes. Something which we've heard a LOT about over the years (since SL is meant to be social), and WindLight, with its simplified Graphics Preferences (yes, that too!) has been a natural fit.

Before I tangentize, a lot of this wouldn't have happened without Resident impact. Sometimes people don't know they've made a difference because they're not informed of it, but I like to notice, observe, and shine a light.

So what am I trying to say here? Sometimes communication isn't so much about telling you "This is totally new!" as "This already existed for awhile, but you might not know about it yet, so here it is!" Anyone who's watched my video tutorials knows I love sharing stuff that provokes reactions of, "Gosh, that's been a feature for 2 years? I wish I knew that earlier!"

» http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials

Why did I do video tutorials in the first place? I've received 100s of personal messages asking me to teach what I know, to make the inworld experience easier, to alleviate pains of new and old Resis alike. That is why I started doing them, due to popular demand that I communicate more, and impart knowledge.

Some don't care about the vidtuts. That's OK; with each communication channel, you'll always have peeps who say, "I already know this!" or "I don't find it useful". And yet, there are so many who *do* need this kind of outreach. Would I have made video tutorials if there were no Resident requests? No. Your communications to me have resulted in me prioritizing work a certain way, responding in kind, and building on that foundation.

I've heard developers get overjoyed when they get IMs and emails — sometimes forwarded from me — appreciating a recent bug fix, or feature. It helps *communicate* that their work is worthwhile, being used, and that they're headed in the right direction. Sometimes they don't hear enough of that, so I let them know.

I have many more stories I can tell, but gosh, this comment is getting longer than I hoped, so a few quick points:

* PERFORMANCE & STABILITY - Much more than I can sum up in a paragraph. I regularly am consulted by other Lindens on various matters concerning this. Often, I'm asked "Have you heard of X bug making things suck?" and I point to the public Issue Tracker, where many Residents have said "Yes! This is a problem!" so we can get to it quicker. Things I don't know, I forward to those who do ASAP. I also promise to make a video tutorial explaining how to use WindLight's simplified Graphics Preferences to improve viewer-side framerate, and an explanation of the new Lag Meter in the Help menu (now available in the main viewer, 1.18.4(3) ) is also likely.

* ISSUE TRACKER - This thing tracks bugs, the bugs we hate so much. Lindens aren't immune to them, and I know (e.g., I've suffered inventory loss too!). I comment whenever I get a chance and personally update issues with new statuses. I also advocate and escalate issues for other appropriate Lindens in response to Resident concerns. I can give many specific examples (I prefer empiricism to abstraction in this case), like this:

» https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-930

* OFFICE HOURS - Like Robin said, and let me add that on the serious topic of griefing & abuse, our Governance Team has started holding regular office hours. If you're interested and able to attend, be there. If you're interested but unable to attend, let our "G-Team" know what a better time would be for you:

» http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/05/governance-team-office-hours/

I'm not on the G-Team, but am eager to show you to them.

* IMPROVED SEARCH - Being able to find what you're looking for is an essential part of communication; not being able to results in frustration. (There's a reason why good communication is referred to as "being connected".) Jeska's recent blog posts like:

» http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/10/23/updates-and-further-information-on-the-new-search-project/

are part of the ongoing evolution of explaining new features better so you're more prepared and better-equipped to BENEFIT from them. Our Knowledge Base gurus, Jon & Jeremy, are doing their weekly KB Article of the Week posts, and providing fresh knowhow. (When you put into perspective how weak our docs have been historically, that's quite a positive change!) Stay tuned for a big announcement on the Official Linden Blog on new Search, and a video tutorial from me.

* DAZZLE - Updating the viewer's look 'n' feel, led by the Resident Experience Team, and a great example of casually doing discussions with Residents BEFORE launching something officially. If you want to try it now, go here:

» http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Dazzle

I'm helping get the word out in a manageable fashion. We're responded to wonderful feedback we've already gotten, and Revision 2 was just put up today. We not just anticipate but definitely count on including further suggestions in future revisions, leading up to the formal First Look preview.

I can go on and on about the work I do and how a lot of it simply wouldn't happen without essential Resident involvement, and I will, but not in this comment. If you want to talk with me personally, live, let's do it in Second Life. I have Office Hours too, and I invite you. See this page for scheduled times, and more info about me — I have a FAQ as well, and let me know what more info I can provide to help give you a better understanding of my job responsibilities:

» http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Torley_Linden

The above is complementary to Robin's response, and provides an additional piece of the context. My story. I know many of my coworkers have valuable tales to tell, so from one Linden who is joyful to be with you in Second Life and communicate about what I do to make your experience a happier one and be VERY receptive to how I can serve you better, here I am. :)

[Lem Skall]

Torley, with all due respect, you gave a perfect example of poor communication in terms of listening. We have been saying that there is a problem. The polls (scientific or not) say that there is a problem. Maybe it is only our perception, maybe we are wrong. But there is a problem for sure even if it is just for the fact that we perceive it that way. What is the right to way to address that from your side? Telling us your perspective on it (which disagrees with ours)? No, when it comes to the communication that we are complaining about (particularly LL listening to us), the right thing would be either to show that you understand our concern or if you don't understand it then ask questions and at least attempt to understand us.

More to the point on what you say, how do you make sure that the residents you talk to represent the entire spectrum of opinions in SL? If they are only people you are familiar with then that is a very small sample and it is very likely that they are also people who think the same way you do. Sorry, but just saying that there has been resident involvement in the projects that you have worked on does not address the issue of a wide _dialogue_ between LL and SL residents. I talk to residents too and I read plenty of blogs and the picture I get is very different from the one you are presenting. We must be listening to different groups of residents. And that is normal.

Whatever either side says and who is right about that, there is clearly a lack of forums that ensure a _wide dialogue_ between LL and SL residents exists. Yes, we have JIRA and we have office hours. But we have said it over and over again that they are are not enough. Not by far. Office hours are extremely inefficient and they are limited to a small number of people. JIRA is for bugs and features, not for setting high level directions and priorities.

Take the issue of megaprims. That almost got addressed the right way, by opening a forum on it. Even so, from what I heard that was close to not happening and Michael Linden was going to make a decision without consulting the SL residents. Fortunately there were others in LL who pointed out that SL residents should be consulted. And so we were. The reaction was mostly negative, both in the forum itself and in the blogosphere. And yet there still has not been a conclusion back from LL. For once, a step was made in the right direction and yet even that went eventually wrong and we still are disappointed and more cynical about it.

[Eggy Lippmann]

Dear Torley, thank you for the kind response.
You touch on an interesting point, which is "information overload". As stated before, I think there is too much useless information on the blog about minuscule malfunctions in parts of Second Life which often go unnoticed. This seems to be information which would be better spread inworld with global announcements or on the MOTD.
Similarly, I cannot be expected to read every Wiki or Jira or Forum thread or whatever, attend every Office Hour, etc.
We need a single, unified approach to communication. A good start would be for whoever is holding an Office Hour, or leading a project, to post a transcript or summary on the Blog.
I cannot RSS the Wiki, or inworld meetings, and I get 99% of my info through RSS, as I am sure so many people do.

[Asp Grelling]

Linden Labs are a making a product, they deal with the relationship and connections between facts. Decisions are made logically through analysis and looking at cause-and-effect. The are driven by dreams and big ideas and making them become true. Lindens are justifiably proud of Second Life and that comes through very strongly in their posts. Torleys post is an example of the Lindens good communicators when talking about the product, measurements of problems, what the cause is, how it will be fixed and new ideas.

Second lifes users socialise and that implies a group that is concerned about social values, behaviour, friends and other residents. Decisions would be based on values, ethics and the impact on other people.

Now look at the difference between the concerns of the users (identified above) and Linden Labs. LL use logic for decisions while users use values and ethics. LL decide solutions based on the effect while users evaulate the impact on themselves and others.

Robin Linden answers with effects and technology. I combed Robins answers and they are about procedures and product; nothing about values, ethics and the impact on users:-
"establishing both a concrete technological platform" and "improved operational procedures"
"publishing in granular detail a number of community and economic statistics"
"prioritizing work a certain way"
Allowing users to "get the information they need"
"to more clearly communicate each development we incorporate into Second Life"

LL are excellent on technology and communicating what they are doing; Robin and Torley are excellent on that front. LL are bad at communicating social problems, ethical problems and the impact on users, because they don't think or work that way. LL are not alone, technology companies are generally bad at social problems and social companies are often bad at technology.

I get the impression that LL are developing their core competencies (ideas, development, programming and implementation) while trying to shed social responsibility by putting Starter Islands to outside companies, making Island owners responsible for abuse reports, encouraging the establishment of user groups for clothing, land and help. Then LL are selling The Second Life Grid as a product.

I think that LL have recognised their problems and are moving back to their technological roots. At the same time avoiding the social issues that give them so much trouble. This would leave a gap in non-technical communication and may account for some of those 83% dissatisfied with communication.

[Torley]

@Lem: I'm in agreement with you about "if you don't understand it then ask questions and at least attempt to understand us", as I referred to multiple times in my comment, so I'm not sure why you misunderstood that. :)

@Eggy: You're welcome, and with "information overload", different people care about different things. I have heard myriad reasons for why a communication tool does or doesn't work. A strength and challenge of Second Life is the diverse community we have, so insofar as my direct duties, I'm always passionate about how I can get the word out to those who *do* care about a specific issue (who may not care about the next one I bring up), in addition to being a better advocate for how relevant some things are which traditionally get overlooked. (I'll stop here before I get into Tofflerian + Gladwellian philosophy, but that's the sentiment.)

/me wishes I could RSS the wiki too, but as much as I enjoy it, I recognize a lot of people don't know, don't care what that is, nor would they use a news aggregator regularly. I can't make up those people's minds, but I *can* show them why something has value to me, and maybe they'll recognize the value in it too.

@Asp: Some intriguing thoughts re: social vs. tech; some things are difficult to scale (like 1-to-many communication, or LL providing certain types of immersive experiences where a plethora of Resis could do it better), and "shed social responsibility" can also be looked at as "giving Residents more power & control". Some of my favorite involvements include BOTH tech + social aspects, the Open Source rise over the last year being one, because there are pragmatic, networked ways for Residents and Lindens to work together and go about fixing problem X or making situation Y better, as the SLDev mailing list shows. (Some of the hot issues touched on include reputation systems, ad farms, privacy concerns, etc.)

     » https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SLDev

I tend to be an AND person, so I don't think "logic" AND "values and ethics" are incompatible, but quite harmonious and complementary to each other. Sometimes when things aren't said, that doesn't mean they don't exist, but perhaps they will be addressed, expanded on in due time (which is why I'm so fond of regular followup). Maybe they just haven't been brought up yet.

Linden Lab's own mission statement includes both the social and technological: "To connect us all to an online world that advances the human condition."

And Second Life has always emphasized the good in Resident-driven creativity as a key that unlocks this door.

[Morris Vig]

OK, Torley, I've already revealed my bias that I like your perspective. I'm a little sad that you have to jump into the breach to protect your VP of Marketing & Community Development, but c'est la vie.

I'll even accept your promise that Windlight is coming REAL soon. ;-)

But I think the very valid question remains: Considering Linden Lab's mission statement, can you explain how permitting a culture of rampant, uncontrolled griefing connects us all to an online world that advances the human condition?

I'll submit that it doesn't. In fact, I'll take it a step further and second most of the thoughts put forth by Alanna Dion in the SL Grid Grind: http://www.gridgrind.com/?p=218. Turn off scripts for free accounts and stop 99% of the griefers dead in their tracks. Make scripts a privilege like land ownership. Couldn't be more simple.

Will Linden Lab step up to the challenge?

[Lem Skall]

/me raises a finger... and lowers it...

Oh, what's the point? Not being heard anyway.

[Extropia DaSilva]

Hands up all who have seen that Jim Carey film, Bruce Almighty? He plays a man who thinks God is doing a terrible job of running reality, making his life a pain in the ass. God finally gets so fed up with his whinging that he says 'you think you could do this job better than me?', and puts Jim in His place. Needless to say Jim is humbled by the task.

Sometimes I think one or two of SL's residents could do with the same treatment. Has it ever ocurred to people that the Lindens are uncommunicative because they have a gazillion issues to sort through each day, of which your beef is but one? Has it not ocurred to people that 'why can't you make a lag-free stable world in which thousands live in peace and harmony' might be slightly easier to demand than to achieve?

Finally, I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but that poll with its 83% of disgruntled residents received 183 votes. 183. Out of tens of thousands of users logged in at any given moment. So, surely the statistics ACTUALLY show most users are indifferent to the extent of not even bothering to take a few seconds to register their opinion?

[CyFishy Traveler]

I think Harle Armistice nailed it better than anybody--a big chunk of the problem isn't so much the communication as the perception of the communication.

I'm not saying Linden Lab couldn't improve--I voted "Mixed" myself--but it does get a little ridiculous when every open blog post is crammed to capacity with people bitching about how much LL sucks. I'm honestly not sure how much LL has to do to appease people who are so utterly negative about their entire experience that you kinda wonder why they're still in Second Life.

Maybe if certain people stopped viewing the Lindens as "the enemy", we'd have much more constructive dialogue going on. It could also help if people stopped acting like every crash and glitch was some kind of personal affront. Yes, the platform needs to be stabilized, but they also have to keep it running at the same time--can you imagine the screams if they shut things down for more than a day at a stretch to bang on things?

[Torley]

Oh, and because it's the #1-asked question in my stable for the last few months, WindLight is out right now, TODAY.

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/14/windlight-first-look-is-back/

Jeremy also made a great post about his documentation (which is arguably part of explaining Second Life, and hence, communication):

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/14/knowledge-base-article-of-the-week-windlight-fever/

I hate to be churlish about it, but I'm not, so here it is: we promised.

I joked to Team Leader Pastrami that it feels like a baby's being born... I have to say, there's some relief that comes with this. And now, onwards to bug triages and improving it so WindLight is fit for inclusion in the main viewer.

I've got Office Hours again in two days; for the times when asynchronous communication doesn't cut it and you'd like to discuss some of these things further in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, please... come on over. :)

[Torley]

Pardon, let me try that again with hyperlinks to make it easier for you:

Oh, and because it's the #1-asked question in my stable for the last few months, WindLight is out right now, TODAY.

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/14/windlight-first-look-is-back/

Jeremy also made a great post about his documentation (which is arguably part of explaining Second Life, and hence, communication):

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/14/knowledge-base-article-of-the-week-windlight-fever/

I hate to be churlish about it, but I'm not, so here it is: we promised.

I joked to Team Leader Pastrami that it feels like a baby's being born... I have to say, there's some relief that comes with this. And now, onwards to bug triages and improving it so WindLight is fit for inclusion in the main viewer.

I've got Office Hours again in two days; for the times when asynchronous communication doesn't cut it and you'd like to discuss some of these things further in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, please... come on over. :)

[Tenshi Vielle]

Three letters, Torley: V A T .

[Lem Skall]

"Has it ever ocurred to people that the Lindens are uncommunicative because they have a gazillion issues to sort through each day, of which your beef is but one?"

Extropia, yes, it occurs to me all the time. I know it's not an easy job. And yet there is no excuse either. Your comment is tantamount to saying that they cannot gather requirements or give reports to their investors because they're too busy "working".

All this conversation makes me think though that we have to decide first what should be the relationship between LL and the SL residents and then to determine what the right expectations should be from both sides. Expectations on communication should be included in there.

Some people seem to see LL and SL residents as a family. Veterans (like you, Extropia) who were in SL since it was very small and cozy may especially perceive the relationship that way. Somehow, this perception is also promoted by LL by having Lindens in-world, acting informally (even the office hours are semi-informal). I doubt this model can scale though. As SL becomes bigger and bigger it is hard for all of the SL residents to be a family anymore, let alone include also LL in that family. Once servers will be also open sourced and there will be many independent sim providers, more and more people will never even interact with any Lindens anymore.

Others see the relationship as the one between a plumber and his customers. In many ways LL is moving in that direction themselves, they may not use the plumber metaphor but I prefer it at least in the context of this comment. Some SL residents also see themselves as paying customers who are entitled because of it. You may receive a plumber in your home, you may even be friendly with him and do smalltalk, but you are no family and you just pick a plumber from the yellow pages.

And then others, including myself, see the relationship more as a business partnership. It may be cordial, you work together towards the same goal, but there isn't any of the emotion that is involved in a family relationship. It's rather cold and pragmatic. I don't believe in 'AND' in this case. Business and family are usually best kept separate even if there are many exceptions. The expectations in a partnership are very different from the ones between a plumber and a customer. You just get out of the way of the plumber, let him do his job and pay him at the end. The plumber may just offer some options and let you choose, maybe negotiate the price. Not so in a partnership. We can get into even greater details and some may see the partnership as an equal one, others may see it as an employer/employee relationship where one side holds the controls and the other is just a lesser contributor.

I believe that right now the relationship should be a partnership. It's a transitional period and it may eventually evolve into one of plumber/customer as the services become commoditized. But we are still in a very creative stage. My expectations are the ones of a partnership and the communication should be accordingly. Even if it is a very uneven partnership. We, SL residents, have the option to quit but the consequence for us is practically quitting the "business", we can't find another partner and we can't go on our own. For LL OTOH, our quitting is only an inconvenience as big as the changing of the letterhead.

My feeling is that people in LL are divided themselves on what this relationship should be. The ambiguousness is making our relationship so much harder. Assuming it is an unequal relationship, I think that LL has to clarify it for themselves what this relationship is and then let us know. Once it is clear, we can also work on making the relationship better and we can set the right expectations.

[Miriel Enfield]

I agree with Harle Armistice and CyFishy Traveler. Not that LL has communicated perfectly -- the VAT thing shouldn't have been sprung on people like that, period -- but I think a big part of the problem is the attitude of the "community" itself. It seems like, to a lot of people, LL can't do anything right, and everything they get wrong is equal cause for outrage. (And anything they do happen to get correct is quickly forgotten. Remember how the grid used to be down very frequently? You never hear anything about how grid uptime has improved -- things are always just getting worse.)

I don't believe it when people say that the community is only this angry because of recent events. I've been here since late 2005, and there was a ridiculous amount of bitching then, too.

[Maklin Deckard]

"I don't believe it when people say that the community is only this angry because of recent events. I've been here since late 2005, and there was a ridiculous amount of bitching then, too. Posted by: Miriel Enfield"

You see, Miriel, lots of us have not been dumbed down to 'consumer' status. Some of us are still customers. The difference, a customer pays for service and complains when it is substandard. A consumer pays and takes what is shoveled at them without a peep (or worse, goes fanboi in hopes of better treatment). You, Harle and CyFisher are consumers...I am a customer.

For my own part, I am tired of what seem almost pathological Linden behaviors. Here's a short list...

1) Coddling griefers, since several Lindens have come out of that community or have ties to it, it gets tolerated. ID the accounts, pass it on to law enforcement. In the meantime, block building and scripting to unpaid accounts, you just killed EVERY griefing incident I was crashed by this week.

2) Too much reliance on tools and techie-crap when policy changes AND ENFORCEMENT would be time better spent. Ban the griefer groups, ban their members.

3) The 'Tao of the Lindens' where fun projects take precidence over unfun but necessary work. Get a project manager or three, assign tasks, assign deadlines, enforce deadlines. Be adult.

4) Talking at us, not with us. Torley's replies to Lem, paraphrased. Lem - You are not listening to our concerns. Torley - We listen, oh! Look at this list of techie things we're doing!

5) Outright lies. Remember how they promised in a blog entry to limit concurrent logins when the db or network when to hell? Seen that happen yet? Nope! Seen the DB or network choke since then? Many times.

Really, no amount of Torley blowing Windlight up our collective tails and talking techie (I am not into OS, IT is my job, not my life) is going to be considered 'communication' or customer service. Measurable changes in behavior, in grid stability, in grid policing...that is listening to customers and customer service.

[Tymmerie Thorne]

ummmmm...as a user, I care infinitely more that you can't have 10 avs in a sim without serious lag and crashing. I care infinitley more about that than Windlight. Who cares how things look if you can't move and then crash? Fundamentals, kids, fundamentals. Linden Labs needs to go back to basics - add servers, make everyone give billing info to get an account and address griefing. And for cripes sake - hire some communications people who are not techies or engineers.

[CyFishy Traveler]

I don't 'take what's shoveled at me without a peep', Maklin, I just choose to see it as a leisure activity and figure there are much more important things to be blowing a gasket about.

If you're not happy with the service, stop paying for it and find something else to do with your life. Problem solved.