For Second Life, 2009 was a year of interim. With the departure of Robin Harper and the resignation of Philip Rosedale, all the founding executive members of Linden Lab have left the company. (Indeed, I believe the only Linden from the pre-launch days still regularly involved in Second Life on a public basis is, well, me.) In their wake, a new Linden team slowly but steadily instituted new regulations, policies, and strategies meant to make Second Life more inviting to real world organizations and consumers beyond the Burning Man era. In 2009, we just saw glimpses and beginnings of those changes, which strongly suggests they'll come to fruition this year. First up (perhaps): the new, greatly-revamped Second Life viewer, which was promised to arrive "by 2010", but that deadline passed, hopefully hitting very soon. For now, the end result is a company that remains profitable, but a world that has hit another growth plateau, as if the market is waiting to see what comes next.
That said, here's a look at the business side of Second Life from the year that was:
FEBRUARY '09
MARCH '09
- Amsterdammed: Linden Lab to Segregate "Adult" Content in Second Life to Red Light Continent (Real Life ID Required)
- Sexed Down: Second Life's Latest Release Candidate Hides "Adult" Content From Unverified Users
APRIL '09
- Newsfeed: Taser's Lawsuit Against Linden Lab Sign Of Things To Come
- New World Newsfeed: Second Life's Growth Plateau Ends
- Enforcers of Dune: Frank Herbert Estate Targets Dune Roleplayers In Second Life
MAY '09
JUNE '09
JULY '09
- Linden Lab Worth $658-700 Million, 2009 Revenues Forecast at $100 Million - Analyst
- Unconsumed: Just 465K of Second Life's Active Residents Spend L$ In-World, Under 200K Spend USD$10+/Mo in L$
AUGUST '09
- Lindens Announce Upcoming "Content Seller Program" -- The End of (Most) In-World Content Theft to Follow?
- Unbranded: Lindens To Ban Unauthorized Virtual Copies of Real World Brands on Ecommerce Site
SEPTEMBER '09
OCTOBER '09
- Avatar Fashion/Accessories Represent 40% of Second Life's Marketplace, But Only 20% of Its Economy
- Lindens Send Trademark Infringement Notice To SL Educators... 18 Months After Announcing Trademark Policy
NOVEMBER '09
- Second Life Stat of the Day: Only 6% of SL Land Is "Adult" Rated For Pornographic Content
- Philip Rosedale Unveils New Company: "LoveMachine Inc" Offers AI, Destruction of the Ego, Lots of Money-Making
Did I miss any news here that will be relevant this year?
Well, you missed the part where Linden Research *customers* are extremely unhappy at some of the destructive announcements/changes made since Philip stepped down (as CEO).
Along with Kingdon censoring my comment on the Linden Blogs and firing off an "Congratulations! Your post has been digested and shredded by Linden Research!" e-mail at the same time.
@Kingdon:
Recapping a man's history doesn't fit the "Personal Attacks" category.
Posted by: Net Antwerp | Monday, January 04, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Yeah not a fan of M. Who is that with Philip?
Posted by: Balthasar Bookmite | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 01:18 AM
Love how people have such a 'golden era' view of Philip.
This type of statement is loco:
"Well, you missed the part where Linden Research *customers* are extremely unhappy at some of the destructive announcements/changes made since Philip stepped down (as CEO)".
Philip is still behind SL, he's now hiding behind M and the new management team. LL have never individually cared for you. It's a business. Get over yourselves.
Looking at this blog, it would seem it's heading in the right direction. It may not please the old users, who I know for a fact probably don't even have a premium account. They constantly gripe about how good it was way back when, how it should be all free love and burning man!
The truth: LL should have made these changes between 2003-2008. They would be in better position now if they did, it's catch up time.
P
Posted by: Maxim Alley | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 03:55 AM
Hi Hamlet - the link to the April 09 Dune Enforcers article is broken - seems to have gotten a bit mangled - here's the correct link: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/04/enforcers-of-dune.html
Posted by: Vooper Werribee | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Ack, fixed. Thanks for noticing, Vooper!
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 01:01 PM
Hey Hamlet. I am curious as to why you would say that Philip has resigned when he is still Chairman, still coming in-world and still blogging about SL? I thought he was just no longer involved in the day-to-day operations. Also, I thought you stopped being a Linden back in 2006. If you still are, can I have a Bear for my collection? Thanks.
Posted by: Tinsel Silvera | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 11:33 PM
Hi Tinsel, I think I still have a copy of my Linden bear, IM me. But you're right, I stopped being a Linden in 2006; what I meant was I'm the last person from the early SL era still involved on a regular basis. Philip is still Chairman, but he's just doing occasional blog posts and appearances from time to time.
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 11:41 PM
@Maxim:
Please take a look at all of the awesome! comments Linden Research *customers* are making towards the Kingdon management (last 18 months):
https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/62625#62625
Philip wasn't perfect, either. But Philip didn't make all those destructive, community-crushing and unwanted changes that Kingdon's team made. Philip's modest approach to Second Life brought substantial growth to the platform - something that Kingdon is beginning to erode with his "My way, *MY* way only" approach.
Posted by: Net Antwerp | Wednesday, January 06, 2010 at 04:14 AM