Socially|Mundane

You may have gotten an email from Linden Lab which starts out like:

"On January 20, Linden Lab, creators of the Second Life virtual world, announced that we acquired both OnRez and Xstreet SL and revealed plans to merge the services together to create an official web-based marketplace for Second Life goods and services.

The F*CKED-UP Part of all this is:

"A byproduct of this decision is that the OnRez marketplace will cease operations on February 11, 2009 and all current users will need to move their assets, balances and account information over to Xstreet SL by that time."

Why is that Effed-up? Because SL Exchange, a.k.a. XStreetSL: Sucks.

It is a horrible web interface, the commissions taken are steep and as a merchant, product management is a nightmare with far too many clicks. Personally, as far as usability is concerned for both shoppers and merchants, OnRez is a far superior set-up.

Oh well, if the commissions remain, then my prices will continue to be higher there (as compared to purchasing in-world or at OnRez.) Merchant "stores" will go away (i.e. shop.onrez.com/Ari_Blackthorne.)

Finding what you really want on SL Exchange is slow, cumbersome and your personal preference settings are never saved ('show adult content?' YES! - end the session and return... it doesn't remember your preferences.)

This is Linden Lab taking control of anything "Second Life" that is outside of "Second Life". Linden Lab exercises control over that which plugs-into or otherwise has such a strong hold on in-world transactions.

So...

What do you think about the differences between OnRez and SL Exchange?
Even better, how do you feel about Linden Lab taking over both of these, shutting down the better of the two and pushing the lesser (usability-wise)?

And how do you feel overall about Linden Lab taking over such successful enterprises that are so integrated into Second Life - but owned and run by third-parties?