Since 2021, the Second Life community has known Brad Oberwager as the Executive Chair of Linden Lab, a role he took on with the acquisition of Second Life by an investment group co-led by Oberwager. Or perhaps they better know him by his occasional in-world appearance as his avatar, Oberwolf Linden.
But Oberwager (pronounced "oh-ber-wah-ger") tells me his connection to Second Life goes back farther than that, built during road trips to the Black Rock desert, to the place which also helped birth the virtual world.
"I have known about Second Life for years and years because I am such close friends with Philip Rosedale, the founder," as tells me now. "He and I would drive up to Burning Man together and he would tell me the most wonderful stories." (The annual Nevada arts festival, as Making of Second Life readers know, helped inspire Rosedale to create Second Life as much as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, if not more so.)
With recent reports that Linden Lab has made significant job cuts to staff, however, the Second Life community has been roiled by rumors about the fate of their world. Their consternation was so keen, in fact, Oberwager reached out to me for an impromptu Zoom call last Friday to address those concerns - and to allay fears that they suggest anything dire about the fate of Second Life.
I would have liked to read this story, but I'm not about to join Patreon to do so.
If your blog turns into a set of links to another place where you actually do the writing, then you will likley lose me as a reader.
Just saying.
Posted by: Bavid Dailey | Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 06:46 AM
And me. I agree with Bavid Dailey.
Posted by: Stop monetizing information | Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 07:36 AM
Thanks for providing the article at a free tier, Hamlet! It makes me and I'm sure others more inclined to pay for good content and its totally understandable your time and effort is worth money to keep this blog going.
Posted by: seph | Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 11:42 AM
Thank you Seph! Yes, I'd love to keep writing New World Notes and need to subsidize it to do so!
Posted by: Wagner James Au | Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 12:21 PM
Like many others, I didn't know there was a free tier.
Posted by: Wobbler | Friday, October 25, 2024 at 04:02 AM
Oberwager is a chicken.
"Let me address Second Life community's fears and my plans for the future, but make sure my interviewer hides it behind a paywall, or exclusive access through one member only"
This crap used to happen alot with Draxter.
Linden Lab is Linden Research and not really the same company it was 5 years ago. Changed hands between the same group of San Fran cronies all holding hands across various companies - mostly failed and even Rosedale is off playing with AI. SL just isn't the same place and people will find out real soon.
Who are the next owners I wonder? An investor from meetings in Dubai... keep making stuff creators LOL - get that market price up
Posted by: GalileoSucksAsEmployee | Friday, October 25, 2024 at 03:51 PM