Open Forum: What Questions Should I Ask Linden Lab's New CEO, Rod Humble?

Next week I'll be interviewing Rod Humble, Linden Lab's new CEO, a former EA exec and indie game developer, and I'd like to incorporate as many community-driven questions as I can. What burning queries do you have for the man now in charge of Second Life's fate? One recommendation: As he's still a very new CEO, probably best to ask broader, big picture questions, as opposed to highly granular ones like, "When is JIRA-2384 ticket going to be addressed?" Post yours in Comments below!

Comments

[Ciaran Laval]

Providing roleplaying sims is cost prohiitive, can Linden Lab work towards a solution whereby the costs of a sim are shared via their billing processes?

Can Linden Lab offer us database hosting so we can have PHP databases hosted on Linden Lab servers?

[Chestnut Rau]

I would welcome clarification about the Lab's plans with respect to any of the 10 issues I raised in a post on my blog a few days back.

http://slofdreams.blogspot.com/2011/01/66-of-365-oklinden-lab-lets-talk.html

[Ananda]

Reiterates Cieran in a more general sense:

Are there any plans to make simbuilding and land-ownership more attractive? For instance with reduced costs, better tools, etc.

[Roslin Petion]

Second Life is an excellent low-cost form of entertainment. Residents can enjoy art, live music, and rp- all for free. SL also provides users with an opportunity to indulge in ways they may not be able to afford in RL: luxurious homes, shopping binges, etc. Given the current state of the economy in RL, one would think we should be seeing strong growth in new users, but we aren't. Why do you think this is and how do you plan on remedying the situation?

[Ann Otoole InSL]

yea.well..is he willing to do what is needed to replace the entire client dev group with real engineers? Is he willing to polygraph his entire staff and management for corruption/malfeasance?

If not then nothing will change.

[Toxic Menges]

I'd like to know from the CEO what plans are in place to remedy the severe lack of community managers at LL. Skilled community engagement people are sorely needed.

[Jovin]

Residents don't know everything but right now the first thing we need is actually a faster horse. (http://quotesondesign.com/henry-ford/)

Beyond that, have you got the balls to make decisions for what you believe is the betterment of the platform, despite what its users might tell you?

[soror nishi]

Are you gonna do it properly?

[Tateru Nino]

There's a bunch of us getting email interviews, soror. It'll be going through PR in each direction. I wouldn't expect miracles.

[Mary Ellen Gordon]

Almost every type of user within the broader SL community has felt let down (if not downright outraged) by Linden Lab in one way or another in recent years. What is he going to do to convince us that it's worth sticking with SL and that there is going to be more engagement with the user community and less alienation of it in the future?

[rikomatic]

I would like to have him address how he views the Second Life platform being used for real world concerns and applications, such as Egyptian diaspora and supporters gathering to share news, patients receiving support and therapy, the 3D AIDS Quilt, and other nonprofit, charitable and humane uses of this flawed but still powerful medium.

[Loki]

Coming from a gaming background does he share any opinions with residents on what LL are doing wrong?

[Loki]

Do you think Engaging, immersive experiences created by any SL resident is important, and if so, is any work going to be done to allow SL residents to create those experiences? eg. lower private land tier, New Viewer, better social communication.

[Loki]

Has the LL team told you why they removed "Your world, Your imagination" from the LL website?

[Loki]

In a years time, what reason should people want to sign up to second life?

[Saxon]

@rikomatic: I want to give you such a hug!

I work on a serious non-profit project in SL. At some point I need to have a conversation with the organization to review their choice of SL as a platform and as an investment.

As Rik said, there are so many meaningful and worthwhile projects (even willing to pay tier). What a brilliant marketing resource for LL!! But we are a bit gun shy that our investment will not be fully realized because of vendor inattention or worse, another seemingly capricious or damaging decision.

Here's the deal. I'll keep working on my project. LL, you work on cleaning up the mess. No miracles. Just robust communication and solid, sane work. We'll meet at SLCC '11, look each other in the eye and see if we've kept the bargain.

I guess the question for Ham to ask is if LL is willing to make some hard promises and be accountable for them in some fairly formal review forum. Other than my stare-down at SLCC. *wink*

[Loki]

What have you seen in SL that inspires you most and why?

[Loki]

If you was to describe the Second Life Platform as it is now to someone what would it be?

And if you were to then imagine your second Life platform 3 years from now, how would you describe it?

[Fuzzball Ortega]

Loki beat me to the "Your World, Your Imagination" topic, I think many residents prefer to see that slogan.

Would you be willing to hear the residents on their issues with LL, and things that have been done the past couple of years? Some changes really didn't sit well with everyone, I think everyone would like a chance to have their say, and not feel that they're getting the typical "Prepared Corporate Response".

[Will Stork]

Is he aware of the OpenSimulator project? (and if so, what are his thoughts about how OpenGrids fit into Second Life's "big picture")

[Linda Paine]

Why you changed from a proper job at EA on an ejection seat at Linden Lab?

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

When can I make my fake car cross a sim boundary without stupid results?

If that is too "granular," how about "Can SL ever have something approaching gamelike physics?"

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

@Roslin Petion

Good questions, Ros. Though I suspect that some aren't shopping because of the massive "quality freebie/hunt" mentality. It's "hunts" and freebies that are killing SL retailers.

My personal questions would be about the annoyance that is the Vewer 2.xx series UI. Yes, the 2.xx viewers are more stable and yes the new features are nice, but the UI! It makes dealing with communication (avatars/groups/profiles) harder.

[EnCore Mayne]

what is the main focus of your tenure? are you willing to alienate early adopters/users for an impetus to bring in new users who don't know what the hell roleplaying is? what directions from the board/investors are you being told to implement? are we going to see SL turn into a "social platform"? would that be gradual or revolutionary? will you finally and completely remove any ability to build from the next viewer? is your mandate a temporary one similar to the fall guy M? what happens when You fail/bring us to our knees?

[Casius Masala]

Considering
- New user registration numbers have been flat for many months
- Litigation pressures are building
- People are shying away from devices that run Second Life
- Viewer 2.0 has yet to attract core users
- The Lab has let go almost every Linden who understood the product

When is the acquisition?

[Rawst Berry]

At a store I hang out at, that sells horse avatars, a ton of 0 day old newbs have been rezzing. I asked some of them how they got there and all of them had clicked on ads (a lot from facebook) that advertised SL as a pet raising game. So instead of welcome areas or tutorials, they are being dumped into shops so their first impression of SL is a money sink with false advertising. I would like to know if Rod thinks this is an appropriate way to handle new users and if he intends to do anything about newbie orientation.

[Mainit Hellman]

as a content creator why is it that we can use huds or off world programs to create scuplts, poses, or animations, etc..
why cant we have that included to the inworld BUILD option
im asking this more for friends who are content creators as well who cant scuplt yet and are learning.
would be nice seeing inworld BUILD more intergraded, more options then what it is now.

[Trudy Takacs]

Will he work to improve and/or expand customer service? (faster response time to tickets, improved communications standards for LL support staff and ticket process, alternate channels available to resolving lengthy service issues, i.e., service supervisor and/or department.)

[Judi Newall]

The Destination Guide is a disaster, as is the noob training area which is almost non-existent. The guide simply funnels new people into areas in which they have no interest and where there are rarely people to assist them. At Virtual Medical Doctor (a Madpea game) we created an area to help those who wanted to play our game learn what they needed to complete it. Instead we were inundated with total noobs, speaking a variety of languages, and who had no interest in the game but required a lot of assistance.

BTW as regards the comment above that “Residents can enjoy art, live music, and rp- all for free” I wish LL would educate residents that someone is paying full price for all these sims that they enjoy. There are outcries when a favoured sim closes, but even with donations boxes stating the cost of running these sims, people arrive with expensively fitted avatars and leave L$1 if anything at all.

We get to pay full price for a sim, provide free entertainment and be teachers for your customers as well. Where's the incentive to stay?

[Laetizia Coronet]

I still meet newbs who think it is all 'too hard' and whose first real help has come from me or another chance passer-by in some infohub crowded with unpleasant characters.
New users hanging on is of the utmost importance considering the lack of growth. Therefore:

Did you do the new user experience just like anyone else? Any thoughts on improving it?

[Flashing Merlin]

On the technical side, I'll add to Ignatius Onomatopoeia's comment: not only can't we drive across SIM boundaries on Linden roads, even walking across I frequently fall under the highway. If you can't do better to integrate transitions between servers, could you at least post "Warning SIM Crossing" signs? SL physics in general isn't bad, it's lag that makes taking a curve so difficult: by the time your vehicle turns, you've already gone off the road.

On the social side, when LL made the boneheaded decision to destroy Avatars United, we were promised there would be a similar social site integrated into SL. What happened to that promise? FaceBook doesn't cut it because they don't allow you to sign up using avatar names. What does work fabulously now is AvMatch.com. If LL buys that to destroy it, many of us will head for another grid. On the other hand, if you merely integrate a similar service into SL, that could make SL very competitive with social networks.

[lea]

When can i log into sl on my ipad?

[Arcadia Codesmith]

How does LL plan to maintain a user base and a revenue stream in the face of competitors who provide essentially the same product with better customer service and a much, MUCH more reasonable rate?

[Nalates Urriah]

I would like an answer to Loki’s question, (rephrased) ‘Coming from a gaming background does he have any opinions to share with residents on what LL is doing wrong?’ Or may be said another way, Why are sign up rates high and player retention rates low?

In relation to that, does he see SL as a game? If not, how does he see it? (Similar to one of Loki’s)

Does he think SL has a place in Social networking? If so what is it? Or are they experimenting to find out?

Is there a way to promote the existing games in SL? Games in Facebook are in everyone’s face.

Most of the sales in SL have some component driven by role play games. Combat and role play games drive the sales of weapons. It would seem the millions playing Backyard Monsters (I’m a player) enjoy strategy games. Farmville, My Vineyard, Frontierville, and numerous others are about building things and working together. Can some of that concept be added to SL? (I suppose this is more a matter of presentation to new users than a change to SL... so it is marketing.)

We have great games in SL, but getting those games publicized is difficult. That means getting those games funded is difficult. Are there some parts of the Facebook games financial models that can be adopted for SL games?

Facebook games and photo-sharing are big parts of life on Facebook. People seem to enjoy those features. Does the plan for making SL more social networking friendly include plans to add or ways to use those features in SL? (I suppose MOAP is a step in that direction. But using MOAP is not for the novice.)

Are there any concrete plans to make learning SL any easier? Other than the nebulous Fun… Easy… If so, what are they? And probably more importantly when will we see them? How is it that is working on making buying and wearing clothes easier?

Does he understand how important search is to residents and merchants? What priority will he make search in his plans?

[Aquarius Paravane]

1) What is your vision for SL? Are you going to take the opportunity to become the Metaverse or squander the years of head start that SL has over its competitors?

2) When are you going to protect IP properly? Anyone who puts any work into creating something wonderful stands to see it ripped off and sold by copybotters - essentially parasites who contribute nothing to the world.

3) What happened to governance? Abuse Reports that would have once merited immediate action are being ignored. Land cutting and extortion is on the rise again.

4) What happened to customer service? Trouble tickets for simple requests are going ignored for months. One landowner abandoned land after a trouble ticket was ignored for a year.

5) What about pricing? Many popular services are free (Facebook, Twitter), free for a few GB storage (Drobbox) or low cost for GB of storage and bandwidth (web hosting). SL has no free land ownership and the cost of a sim is insane compared to web hosting (see GoDaddy - "unlimited" storage and bandwidth, $14.99 a month or less depending on contract.)

6) Stagnation is death. Where are we going next?

[Aquarius Paravane]

Ah yes, thing 7:

7) Would you accept a challenge to a Lindens versus Resis sailing cup? No better way to eat your own dogfood, and test the platform to its limits.

[Aquarius Paravane]

Ah yes, thing 7:

7) Would you accept a challenge to a Lindens versus Resis sailing cup? No better way to eat your own dogfood, and test the platform to its limits.

[Ananda]

I could see why they get confused.

@Aquarius: The problem is goals 1) and 5) are contradictory to goals 2), 3), and 4).

[Magical Alchemi]

LL has been very accommodating to the LGBT community, allowing gender lines to be blurred, and permitting people to partner without regard to gender. Are you will to accommodate the polyamorous community and allow multiple partners?