Linden Launches New SL Game Area to Boost Subscribers

Linden Lab just launched Wilderness, a new game/exploration area -- here's a look:

It's exclusive content for Premium account holders, so it looks like a bid to boost total subscription revenue -- an important move we're likely to see more of, as land-based revenue wanes due to a continued loss of private estates and the general instability of the virtual land revenue model. Wilderness uses a lot of the new pathfinding tools we talked about here, so here's a chance to check them out first hand. (If you're Premium, that is.)

Comments

[shockwave yareach]

We've only been waiting for it, like, for 5 years now?

Sorry; already let my premium lapse, and this does nothing to make we want to restart it. If LL wants me to reopen my wallet, they have to operate as a company deserving of my business again first. Doing something the customers asked for half a decade ago barely registers as customer service with me.

[foneco zuzu]

http://www.lindakellie.com/Exploring/
Why still just focus on Second Life to find about virtual Worlds?

[Adeon Writer]

If it follows LindenRealm's pattern, it is only premium exclusive for a time before going public.

Either way, nice to see LL trying their hand at content creation again. Maybe the welcome areas could get a makeover soon? :)

[Indigo Mertel]

Hmmm... it looks good, but... does it add any value to my Premium membership? Nope. Exactly like all the other perks so far.

[Pussycat Catnap]

Probably just for us premiums for the first few months or weeks, like Linden realms was.

Got 5 premium accounts, so I'll have to go check it out. ;)

[Ezra]

More importantly is the note at the end:

"Note to creators: Our teams used many of the new pathfinding tools to create activities and bring life to the Wilderness area. We will start rolling out these new pathfinding tools at the end of March."

So wow, those new tools are coming only a week or two from now?

Will the pathfinding tools come in a separate update ahead of the Linden Realm tools (auto-attach, teleport, whatever else), or will they all be bundled together?

[Ehrman Digfoot]

I just spent a good amount of time in the Linden Wilderness. I really like the idea of a wide open space capable of being explored. I think the immensity of these spaces is probably the most striking quality of these new sims.

The animal life, which is supposed to be demonstrating the new pathfinding tools, is perhaps the least impressive aspect. The animal models are rather primitive, and even the mesh models, since they are not actual avatar rigs, but solid objects (scripted to cycle through different mesh models to simulate leg and mouth articulation) look terrible. Without actual rigging, the new pathfinding movement does little to enhance their realism or behaviour.

[Metacam Oh]

You mean people didn't sign up for premium in droves to get access to the premium sandbox, or the monthly gift they decided to give out once every 6 months?

[Ezra]

@Ehrman

That's why its so great Linden Lab is eating their own dog food with these tools. It'd be hard for Rod and the rest to not observe the exact same thing as you, the pathfinding isn't really that useful a feature without objects being capable of motions as impressive as avatars.

[elizabeth (16)]

cool (:

[Ehrman Digfoot]

I've been exploring the Wilderness even more since I first posted. It truly is amazing work. I can't remember feeling this sense of immersion in SL for a long time. But, I stand by my previous criticism of the animals. What makes this sim spectacular and something I don't see many point out is: 1) its immense size 2) the use of perfectly crafted region windlight settings and 3) the density of detail provided by the mesh assets they use.

[Roger Hem]

The problem with "exploring" is that one "explores" for 1 day and then the question arises "What can I do here?".
So what can one do in this Wilderness apart from "exploring" and "chatting" which i can do already since SL started?

[Arcadia Codesmith]

I'm with Ezra on this one. The benefit to Premium users is a side-note. The primary virtue of projects like this is to get people in the Lab to see the limitations and frustrations of crafting and maintaining a full-scale build, and to come up with ways to address them.

We might see even more change if the team that worked on the project had to pay tier out of their own pockets. But I wouldn't wish that on anybody who has to work for a living.

[Allwa Frognik]

"premium"... just another free t shirt from the "kickstarters" at Linden.

thanks for all the fish.

[Douglas Story]

In RL I work as a marketing professional, specifically as a writer/producer/editor of short-form videos that promote network television shows. My reaction to that 30 second clip was, "Huh?"
From some of the comments here, I get the sense that there really IS something new and different here (a vast place to explore) but the video just looks like More Of The Same. A promotional clip like this should tell you what's new, what's different, and what's better about this new product, all in order to motivate the viewer to pony up the money to experience it. This video doesn't do any of those things.
Jeez....this is Marketing 101, folks.