Server Deployments Week 31

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest news and updates.

Main (SLS) Channel

On Tuesday July 29th, the Main channel was updated with remaining recent feature changes and bug fixes previously deployed to the RC channels. Namely:

Fix for “Temp Attachments are sometimes not removed on the viewer when detached from a region change event.”

L$ transactions from llTransferLindenDollars or llGiveMoney now include a “Description” field with the object’s name in the L$ transaction history section of the website.

See the release notes for further information.

Release Candidate Channels

There will be no Release Candidate channel deployments in week 31. This means there is unlikely to be any main channel deployment in week 32 (week commencing Monday August 4th), although RC channel deployments are anticipated for that week.

Experience Keys

There is a little more news on the Experience Keys beta, which Oz Linden, attending the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday July 29th, indicated was going well. A possible extension to the beta had been sort-of hinted at in previous meetings, but Oz indicated that whether this will or won’t be the case has yet to be decided.

It was also indicated at the meeting that the idea fees which may be associated with the use of Experience Keys by creators may also have had further discussion within the Lab.

The idea of charging creators a nominal fee for the use of Experience Keys was first discussed at the Experience Keys preview during a TPV Developer meeting. A nominal fee or some restriction on accessing the tools (e.g. such as having to be a Premium member) was seen as a means of perhaps discouraging those who might otherwise use the capabilities with intent to grief harass others. While at the time it was admittedly an exploit of the original Advanced Content creation permissions system, the June 2012 incident did demonstrate how someone with access to the tools might use them to cause upset.

Commenting on the likely charges (if any) which may be levied and whether they have been agreed internally, Oz Linden said at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday July 29th, “We don’t discuss pricing here… not our area. I believe they have, but I don’t know details.” Simon Linden then added, “We can’t talk about any details like that until they’re officially announced.”

llSetLinkAlpha Updates Issue

BUG-1786 has been around for over a year, and takes the form of multiple prims in a linkset randomly failing to update correct when using llSetLinkAlpha. For example, you have a cube made up of a number of smaller cubes so that when clicked, the entire linkset should switch from solid to transparent or back again, but only some of the prims in the linkset appear to change on being clicked. with some remaining solid when they should be transparent. The problem has been reported as being more noticeable on linksets of 34 or more prims, but has also been reported on smaller linksets.

The problem seemed to first occur with the 26th February 2013 server deployment 13.02.15.270481, and the issue has been thought to be server-side. However, the problem seems to be more prevalent with lower bandwidth settings (e.g. 500 or lower – 500 being the SL viewer default), and can vanish with higher bandwidth settings (e.g. around 1200-1500), suggesting the issue might be related to packet loss, particularly if there are a lot of simultaneous updates going on, or a possible race condition within the viewer. A sample object has been passed to the Lab to let them poke at things further.

Group Chat

The group chat test which suffered cancellation at the July 24th Server Beta meeting may get to be run at the upcoming meeting on Thursday, July 31st.

The Next Simulator UG Meetings

Simon Linden is on vacation next week, and may not be able to attend the week 33 Simulator UG meeting either, due to other commitments. He’s hoping to get someone at the Lab to cover for him at both meetings.