I’m actually quite the optimist about Second Life and its future. You might find that a bit odd.

Hanging onto that optimism hasn’t been easy, it’s true. Over the last few years, Linden Lab has at times been rude – even insulting and disparaging – of its community, eschewed the notion of treating Second Life users (as a group) as partners in a joint creation, made slip-ups, and been patronising. For our part, we’ve collectively played the battered spouse, hanging on in the hope that things will get better.

All this has happened, and there’s been fallout, technical matters as well as the human dimension (the latter actually being more what Second Life is about).

We’ve had several CEOs at the Lab now. Philip, M, Philip again, then Rod.

I don’t think M stood much of a chance, really. I don’t believe he got to make any real decisions about the products, direction or strategy – all of those decisions coming from higher-up, leaving him to work on the running of the business, and the organisation of staff and the like. That’s what I understand to have been the case.

Rod, though… I’m intrigued, yet not fully sold. I’m definitely warming up to him, and I’m feeling more like he’s actually got the leeway to make his own choices.

Whether they’re the right ones or the wrong ones, I’d rather castigate someone for their own mistakes than the mistakes of others.

But I’m not optimistic because of Rod, either.

Despite the tainted (and rather daft) name and the muddy reputation, and all of the mistakes that have gone before, I’m optimistic because we – the users – keep on trying, and because Linden Lab keeps on trying. We both want essentially the same thing, of course, for Second Life to be an even greater success. We’ve got that in common.

Now, I don’t know if all of this striving is going to achieve that goal – there’s no guarantees – but one thing that I know for sure is that if either the Second Life community or Linden Lab stops trying, then failure is as certain as death and taxes.

We’re all trying hard, and that gives us opportunities to get things right – though things will go wrong here and there. If we give up, then there’s no hope of success at all. I believe in this. I always have, and for all the problems, my optimism is not yet shaken.

Oportet perseveremus

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Tags: Linden Lab / Linden Research Inc, Opinion, Rod Humble, Second Life, Virtual Environments and Virtual Worlds