2008 Second Life Predictions, Revealed!

Here they are-- thanks to all who voted.  Attracting 44% of survey takers is the prediction "Web pages-on-prim technology introduced", and I have to say, I think that's more a reflection of hope the Lindens will do so.  (And as anyone who waited years for the upgrade of the Havok 1 physics engine will tell you, hope is not a plan.) Ignatius Onomatopoeia's prediction that a major competitor to Second Life would emerge was also popular; while HiPiHi is in Beta and Multiverse is in commercial release, I interpret "major" to mean a large active user base, i.e., several hundred thousand or more.  Trailing in third is Adz Childs' prediction that there'll be "Significant changes to Community Standards"-- though arguably, the Lindens' closing of unlicensed virtual banks this week is already a drastic change to its "Buyer Beware" clause in those Standards, which state, "Linden Lab does not exercise editorial control over the content of Second Life."

What likely predictions did we miss?  And if you took the survey, which votes would you change now?

Comments

[Troy McLuhan]

Reuters interviewed Philip at the World Economic Forum earlier today, and one of the things they got Philip to say was that Web pages-on-prim technology would be introduced by May 1 (probably beta, and insert various other caveats and disclaimers here...)

[Adz Childs]

woo hoo!

[Graham Mills]

I voted for web textures but vaguely recall suggestions they would be with us in a limited way before the end of 2007. On the other hand, I'd never have expected even the possibility of Mono on the beta grid by February.

[Fandango]

Dear Hamlet,

Just a quick note to ask if you would be inclined to disclose the number of people who voted? Or does that info appear somewhere and have I missed it?

Take care, and keep up the great work!

- Fandango

[Adz Childs]

In its original form I predicted
3. There will be a significant change to the “Community Standards” document. Specifically, section 5 will be significantly changed or removed.

There is a major inconsistency in this section. On the one hand, it says "broadly offensive must be contained within private land in areas rated Mature (M)." Those of us familiar with the basics of logic quickly spot the implication, that broadly offensive content is allowed. On the other hand, several posts on the Linden Blog have made statements that contradict this. First to mind is "Keeping us safe together" (http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/05/31/keeping-second-life-safe-together/) by the ex-Linden Daniel which states, "...[long list of stuff], and other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life." He does not specify a region designation restriction. Robin Lindens lovingly nicknamed, "dob your neighbor" post also seems to contradict this part of the CS.
LL will move to make one consistent with the other. Its just too glaring of an inconsistency to ignore. How are we the faithful users of Second Life supposed to live by the rules if we don't know what they are!

[Daniel kercher]

can you tell me what my love life will be