Socially|Mundane

Remember all the commercial "failures" of Second Life? I've written about them time and again here on this and the other blog. And time and again I have said and said it's about the 'culture' of Second Life as to whether a commercial effort will be successful or not.

Those that just jump-in to jump-on the bandwagon without paying attention to how that wagon is moving and where it's head to will end-up where they don't want to be, without fail.

Fail.

So, of course, when a commercial entity of any kind decides the are going to pull out of any efforts, or even just scale-back any efforts in Second Life, that mean Second Life itself is a complete failure, right? Second Life itself will be dead and gone within months, days, hours or minutes.


No shit.

These idiotic journalists who simply don't have a clue as to what they report are hilarious at best and complete disgraceful liars at worst. It's almost totally comical. They are about as in touch with the real world as a politician. That goes for just about anything they write about, too.

Now, to be fair, I do know it is the boneheaded clueless editor who writes the headlines and not the author of the story. but for crying out loud, can you at least try just a little harder to not be so sensationalist with your bullshit?

Please?

Game almost over for Second Life | Australian IT: "Last month, Tourism Victoria pulled the pin on an investment in the ABC's Second Life Island, where it had built a replica of the popular Lanes precinct on the island to promote it as a tourist destination. Tourism Victoria said the investment, albeit small, was no longer worthwhile."

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When Microsoft unleashed Windows Vista, they were doing the typical Microsoft bullshit: unleashing a pile of crap onto the population at large. However, after a butt-load of patches and updates and service pack, Microsoft Windows Vista is:

Still a piece of shit.

I say "a year" because that's how long (almost) I have tortured myself using it. It was last December when I decided to make the plunge in buying a new Intel PC. I knew I wanted a machine that was fully capable... nay, optimized to properly run Windows Vista. I had never used or really seen it before, but I also know how Microsoft bullshits the public about the 'minimum requirements' routine. Yeah, right.

After some shopping around, I finally found the perfect 'screamin-demon' from Velocity Micro. It came with Windows Vista "Home Premium", (as opposed to what? For Christ's sakes, Microsoft, what's with the fukin' thousand and one choices for a damned operating system?)

The first thing I noticed was how Microsoft changed the interface. Again.

Okay, note to Microsoft: stop changing the goddammed interface. Stop trying to appease so-called 'new users'. The fact of the matter is Windows is the prevalent OS, (even though OX-X is a lot more pleasurable to use and considerably faster and more stable - is statistically gaining market share while Windows loses it to OS-X and Linux,) so that means as screwed-up as the interface might be, everyone already knows how to use it. As for the new computer buyers, well, they (gasp) grew-up using and learning that screwed-up interface.

So, Microsoft, when you go around changing it, you screw-up everyone.

But alas, a different interface is shiny and new. So it compels people to overspend their hard-earned buck to upgrade, not knowing what a pile of crap they're jumping into. I understand boxed upgrades to Vista are abysmal. That the main adoption of Windows Vista is through attrition: new computer sales - and even then the wise buyers are still asking for XP.

The next thing I noticed about Windows Vista was that the funky 'new' graphics engine is compatible with about 10% of my software. Even Photoshop was acting screwy in certain aspects. So I spend a good 30-minutes figuring how to turn that crap off (and I am, and have been an I.T. professional since 1992.) When I did that, suddenly things worked as they should. All those shareware applications that say they don't work all the great on Vista and need to be upgraded? - Pffft. Turn off that eye-candy, serves-no-purpose graphics engine and they'll suddenly work.

So along I chug. Learning the interface (which is absolutely horrid in my opinion.) Screaming along on a kick-ass Vista machine. One does not need much power to word-process or do what most people do on computers. Unless you are into the graphic-intensive gaming. This is why I purchased a "gaming" machine.

I still do all my video and photo-editing and real work on my MacBook Pro. It's simply far better suited to any kind of pleasurable experience than any version of Windows ever will be. So the PC is basically a 'gaming' machine. The primary entertainment: Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Second Life. They totally F*cked-up Flight Simulator, too. Century of Flight (the previous version) is definitely way better.

But, I digress.

FSX operated pretty well. Averaging about 20 frames per second in some instances which is fine. Second Life hums along sweetly. The graphics are stunning and I average between 20 to 30 FPS pretty much everywhere. The only issue is the memory leaks I seem to get is I sit in once place too long. But overall, the Velocity Micro machine I have works as advertised.

So here it is almost a year later. For some reason, my sound driver broke. I started to goof with it, downloading the latest drivers and all that nonsense.

Okay, Macintosh users: skip over this part because these events and tasks are totally alien to you because the need to accomplish these tasks is totally unheard-of in your world.

I figure out the manufacturer name of the audio device and which chip-set it uses. I hunt down the appropriate web-site -- (that was a good 30-minutes all by itself) -- and proceed to do all the things Windows PC users are simply required to do to make things work.

Fail.

So I decide 'meh... it's time to rebuild the machine anyway'. It's overdue as I usually rebuild every three-months anyway, (Windows really does need that, you know.) As I'm holding the Windows Vista CD that came with the system, I happen to glance over at the Windows XP disc I have sitting there in my back-up CD stack.

It was an epiphany.

I decide to bail on Vista and throw XP onto the system. A system optimized for Windows Vista. An absolutely kick-ass gaming machine.

XP installed flawlessly. Except, it didn't see the network. Or have any sound. And the video defaulted to that stupid VGS mode. Typical stupid Intel PC.

So I dig-up the network card and sound drivers: install.

Network is hot - at twice the bandwidth!?! Was Vista throttling my bandwidth? I really don't know and choose not to linger on that subject.

I go to the nVidia site to grab the latest video drivers.
Installed sweetly.

Then... oh wait, what happened to my sound?
I reinstall the networking/sound drivers

The network stops working and the sound still isn't there.

Hit system restore point: Network back-up. Hit Windows Update. Spend literally 3-hours downloading and installing Windows XP updates, patches and service packs. All set. Reinstall only the latest sound driver.

We have sound.

Download and install the current Second Life viewer.
Double-click to run the viewer.
Hold breath.

Fuck-me where the sun-don'tshine, Batman!

Windows XP blazes faster than I have ever seen anything from Microsoft blaze before. And in my year of using Winblows Vista, I've lost perspective on several things about the difference between XP and Vista - other than the fucked-up interface Microshit put onto it.

Yes, I am now chastising and intentionally dissing Microsoft. They force bullshit crap down our throats and unleash genuine pieces of shit on the population of the world at large. Vista is the buggiest piece of shit to come from Microsoft since Windows Millennium Edition, but don't get me started on that turd. It took another look at XP immediately after using Vista for so long to see it.

Hell, it slapped me in the face and it stung hard.

One of the most annoying bugs in Vista for me is the 'file-selection-shift' bug. At least, that's what I call it.

The average size of files I work with is about 2 to 6 gigabytes. Because of this, I receive a lot of files in 'segmented' or 'split' format. After joining the split files to recreate the one large file (which usually appears in the file list directly above the first split file, shifting them down by one) - I simply shift-click the last of the split files to select them all. Hit the delete key to dump them as I now have the reassembled full file.

Dumbass bug still exists in Vista after all these patches and even service packs: the first file that was selected is no longer selected, the same position of the selection remains - which is now the reassembled final file.

What does this mean?

I shift-click the last segmented file and all the files between the first and last clicks are selected. This incorrectly includes the new reassembled file. Hit delete and go back and...

Where the fuck is my new reassembled file? Dumbass stupid-shit fuckwad Microsoft idiots.

Oh, and why the fuck does it take 3-minutes to delete 5-GB of files in Vista? That ugly progress bar (a.k.a. 'thermometer') just sits there bouncing around like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica while these files are 'moved' to the trash. Then when you go to empty the trash - the same goddamned thing all over again.

But in Windows XP... that dangerous file-selection bug doesn't exist. (it never did) and when I select 10-gigabytes of files and hit the delete key... instantaneously gone. Faster than the blink of an eye.

I've always known that Windows Vista is a resource pig. But after dropping back to Windows XP... holy shit! It's like going from a bicycle to the a 1500cc crotch-rocket street bike. XP feels like a lean, mean fighting machine in comparison.

So, I fire up Second Life and...and...

Wow.

I am averaging 45 frames per second. It's like watching a movie. Perfectly smooth camera movement and animation and the best part is: I have graphic preferences maximized: every single slider is full to the right. View distance is 512. Avatar impostors are off. Water effects to full. Screen size set to full HD: 1920 x 1440 - cinematic widescreen splendor.

Stunning.

Second Life screams on my machine like some old retro PC game you dig off the shelf after ten years that was written to run respectably on hardware ten years ago.

Thus, want your Second Life experience to utterly wow you? Dump the piece of shit called Windows Vista off your machine and replace it with Windows XP. How, you say? Check eBay and other places for people selling their old copies. They can be found.

If your machine runs Vista respectably, dropping XP in it's place will have you believing your computer is a cutting-edge, top-of-the-line gaming machine built for blazing speed. You'll have to pick your jaw up off the floor.

No shit.

If you simply can't get Microsoft Windows XP anywhere, no matter how hard you look, you can always step-up to a decent Macintosh (no, not the new sub-$800 notebook or the Mac Mini.) But I figure many of you won't. Which is why I suggest the next best thing: Windows XP in place of Windows Vista.

Go ahead, give your Windows XP a second Life and your Second Life will wow you.

Yes, yes, of course this is all my own opinion.
But I'm not the only one who has seen the light and realized just what a piece of shit Microsoft Windows Vista really is.

Nika Dreamscape of "Through My Eyes" posted on her blog a wonderful subject. It has a lot to do with attitudes and personas (real or perceived) within Second Life, particularly merchants and creators. It has to do with 'customer service' - or rather, the perception of customer service.

I've run into this myself and it seems to be turning into a regular culture. Many creators come-off as rude and obnoxious elitists, requiring you to jump through hoops and basically take your problems elsewhere, even if the problem is with their own creations and there is nowhere else to go. That's what their profile instructions seem to indicate anyway.

I agree that it's getting pretty bad, though I know it's far, very very far from the majority of creators and other people who have such curt statements in their profiles. However, it appears to be more prevalent because this is what you will likely come across in the profiles of more popular or well-known creators in Second Life, thus, more people are seeing these statements on the fewer locations where the statements are located.

Nika says...

Store Owners: How to Provide Better Customer Service « Through my eyes..: "Lately, I’ve been noticing a growing trend with really bad customer service. Out there in the real world, you don’t see as much of that as I have in Second Life. Maybe its that more people consider Second Life a game than we realize, or they don’t take their business or their customers as serious. But think about this.. how many times have you looked at the profile of a store owner, and see some of the following examples written there.

**DO NOT send me an IM, read my picks before contacting me.

**DO NOT send me random friends request. I will not accept.

**DO NOT IM me to say hello, are you there, or can you help me. State the nature of your message in the IM or it will go ignored. Kthnxbai.

**If you don’t like it, find somewhere else to shop."

I see this a lot, too. Above, I say the perception of customer service because I use statements like these, too. But I do it in order to better my customer service. yes, really. I really want to help you out if you desire it.

Here is my reply to this wonderful article (and I mean it - awesome article, Nika):

"The problem I have is that there isn’t enough room in profile to state what needs to be stated. A shame really.

I try to put it simply: ALWAYS send an IM - but please don’t send an IM saying “are you there?” - it’s a waste. Simply type out your entire message and I will respond, because I do get IMs through email - which works even if IMs are capped.

The problem is when you IM me to simply say “are you there?” or “Hi” - that’s anew IM conversation - which helps cap the IM queue. The more ‘conversations’ the faster the cap.

I invite people to friend me. But please send an IM FIRST. Otherwise - I decline it. Not trying to be rude, it’s just that there are too many bots that do this. Especially with landmarks and notecards.

Please DO drop a notecard. However, if IMs get capped, so do object drops! So DO IM me FIRST. So that even if IMs (and object drops) get capped, I will have an email record of it - and if I don’t see it in inventory or the IM that goes with it - I can IM bvack to YOU. (Because I really DO want to give good customer service.)

So - how do you explain all of what I just said within 256 characters, including spaces and punctuation? Sure, I could put it into picks and tell people to look there, but many rarely even read the profile before just dropping a notecard or friend request to begin with.

And for goodness sakes - please NAME your notecards (so I don;t end-up with 50 “New Note” items in my inventory and ALWAYS put your full SL name INSIDE the notecard LOL.

The problem is people do follow these ‘rules’ then IM me totally pissed-off later on proclaiming piss-pour customer service because I am ignoring them because I never replied to them.

That’s when I drop the hammer and the full curt reply comes: “Have the damned courtesy to at least read my profile since you are staring at it anyway before you can do any of these things”

For me one rule applies: The world is a mirror. You will take from it what you give. Politelness with me will be returned ten-fold.
meh"

Anyway, since this is MY blog (and you've read it this far... and you haven't run away - yet... oh, and you do know you are my only reader, right?) - I get to elaborate even further...

Here is what the front page of my profile looks like:

Resident: Ari Blackthorne
Born on: 2006-10-28

STOP! READ FIRST

Do NOT IM me with "Are you there?" or "Hello" - Just type your DETAILED message BEFORE you hit 'enter' the first time - OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE MUTED. IM BEFORE DROPPING INVENTORY OR FRIENDING ME. Name notecards with NAME: SUBJECT or it will be declined. (I get too many 'New Note' garbage.)

ALL NOTICES CAPPED OFTEN - Wait until I am online. If you are in Laura - use MESSAGE BOX. (at house) .

Sorry to be so curt. Too many RUDE or LAZY people in SL.
http://shop.onrez.com/Ari_Blackthorne

So I ask you: does this seem rude, crude and downright unfriendly? If you answer 'yes' - then I apologize. Th problem is that I spend the first 15 minutes on login just handling IMs and notecards. And large chunk of that is handling those that don't follow these rules. Such as five to ten notecards that are all titled "New Note".

Before I get into my rant, I'll explain what I feel is the cause of all this rudeness in profiles: entitlement.

Yes. That is the answer: entitlement.

There are too many 'basic' accounts (read; freebie) that have made a huge influx into SL. The vast majority of all SL residents are on basic accounts, and the primary reason is that Linden Lab doesn't provide any incentive to go premium. None whatsoever.

There also is some kind of weird culture coming from the international community. Since the SL account is free, everything else should be free. These are the ones that run around hunting the SL freebies. And if something isn't free, it should be. But, because it's not, they learn to beg and scam:

"can I have L$10 so I can buy a shirt that I want?"

The problem is these people all have a hugely selfish entitlement attitude. The world owes them everything whey want. It doesn't matter what effort you put into creating or otherwise providing it. This is the liberal utopian socialist attitude.

I have had people actually bitch me out because a freebie I (used to) offer didn't have the features as a similar product from another creator - which sold for L$450! Jeezuskryste!

Now, back to the unnamed notecards called "New Note": Are you so goddammed lazy you can't even at least name a new notecard that you send to people? If you are so lazy you can't immediately type the name of your notecard as soon as you create it, (the name of the notecard is already highlighted, ready for you to type in the new name the instant you create it,) then I am too damned lazy to read it. Especially when you don't include your name inside the damned thing. I don't have the time or inclination to locate the correct "New Note" notecard among the 20 I have in inventory to right-click it and select properties just to see who the lazy idiot is that created it.

No IM for YOU.

On top of that, IMs seem to cap a lot sooner than they have a year ago. It's as though the queue is shorter, less tolerant. I suspect that each conversation (individual IM from someone) shortens the queue exponentially. I don't know this, I just suspect it. Let's say each conversation that is started when you are off-line is allocated a specific amount of space - say 500 characters before it fills-up and is capped.

Now, suppose someone IMs you to say "Hello" - they discover you aren't on-line so that's where they leave it. Not only is it irritating, but suppose the full 500 allocated characters remain reserved for that conversation. You get ten such IMs. All IMs become capped.

Thusly this: besides the irritating factor, I do request you at least use IMs properly. Rather than doing this:

Hello? {enter key] (User offline, message saved)
I bought such-and-such and I have a problem {enter key] (User offline, message saved)
Okay, I'll IM you when you are online again {enter key] (User offline, message saved)

Okay, ummm... I get IMs in email when I'm offline. Even when I'm online, I am usually in three or four or sometimes as many as 15 or 20 IMs all at once. If you want faster service from me, simply type out the entire message and description before you press enter for the first time:

"I have a problem with the product I bought from you today. it seems when I click on it nothing happens. I am in script-allowed land and I think it needs to be reset or something. it's giving an error called 'stack-heap' something. I appreciate your help! {enter key] (User offline, message saved)

There. One message, message received. Even if my IMs are capped, when I get it in email, I will reply and advise you on what I can and will do. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I will even pop in-world to help if it's something quick and dirty.

Warning (for myself, anyway): when IMs get capped and stop coming through on the in-world queue, so do object drops. I mean to say that the objects do not appear in inventory.

They literally go into digital oblivion.

It is why I have since learnt (the hard way) to never, ever make offline purchases through On Rez or SL Exchange to myself when I am offline. I can't count how many times the item was 'delivered' - reported to me and the seller as delivered and simply was not there - anywhere - in inventory when I logged-in.

So, as for my profile being rude: I apologize. However, at least in my case (I can only speak for myself, no one else, I set these rules so I can communicate with you.

Of course, the problem is too many people are so goddammed lazy they don't even read what it says there before they start dumping "New Note" notecards on my profile with no IM warning and bitch and piss and moan how rude and uncaring I am that I never respond.

Go figure.

What does your profile say?

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