Author: Otenth

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Steampunk Exploration, take 2

My Steampunk Exploration playlist last week for Radio Riel was over 24 hours long, so no one heard it all. And we still haven’t answered the question, “What exactly is Steampunk music?”

Performer self-identification? Minor key and moody vocals? Retro-futurism? Appropriation of historic styles? Subject matter? Fan appreciation? DJ whim? Unusual instrumentation? Eccentricity? Goth musicians looking for a niche? Do-it-yourselfism? All of the above? Other?

Perhaps it isn’t possible to say what exactly Steampunk music is. Today’s playlist has been changed slightly from last week, notably by the addition of Corvus Corax.

Have a listen today and create your own definition—and feel free to leave comments below or at the Radio Riel post with your opinions.

From the Library is produced by Radio Riel in conjunction with the Caledon Library in Second Life.

For more information on the Caledon Library, current exhibits and the work of Second Life reference libraries in general, please visit the Caledon Library Web site, or one of their locations in-world.

You can listen now at http://music.radioriel.org – the ideal URL for you to use in your home parcel media address in-world – or simply visit any Caledon Library branch in-world and press Play on your embedded music player.

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International SL

Today I was jumping around with the Registrator-Tron and came across OfficialGreece, with quite a nice Acropolis.

[photos lost, post left for the record of old sims]

To give you a sense of the scale:

In the same block of sims: GreeceOfficial2 and GreeceCommercialPark. And adjoining corners: Syros Greece and Digital Scotland. And then just to the east: polimnia, talia, urania, euterpe, terpsichore, clio, erato, PIAXXA ITALIA, and BEST OF ITALIAN. Quite the international neighborhood!

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I’m sorry, this is bullshit

Sure, it’s nice to see that Jack Linden did actually read the comments in the forums, and it’s kind of cool that he replied to my short comment, but read his response:

SL Forums – View Single Post – Openspace Announcement Discussion with Jack Linden.

And now tell me it’s not a load of crap. A steaming pile of excrement.

This price increase has nothing to do with technical specifications or lag or user experience. This is about Linden Research wanting more money: “the pricing just wasn’t in line with how they are now being used.” Are you telling me that if I have a regular private sim or a parcel on the mainland but don’t put prims, scripts, or avatars on it, you’ll give me a price break? You mean I can rent server space/time, but if I actually use it, then I deserve to pay more?

“We believe these changes are necessary to better account for the increased load, so that we can continue to scale this product *without* making performance worse for everyone.” I’m sorry, but if this is about being able to scale the product, shouldn’t you at least be able to mention some technical improvement the 67% increase in monthly cost will provide? If this was really about poor performance “for everyone,” don’t you think there would be a few more comments in the forum from people who are looking forward to better performance in their open space sims? The vast majority of positive comments in the forum are from people who own regular private sims (by their own admission they do not own open space sims).

“It could be that with the right technical restrictions in place that a truly light use product at lower cost is viable. . . . Clearly for many people large areas of land are more attractive than prim count for example.” No shit? Really? Wow, who would have ever thought of that? Wow, like, isn’t it really amazing that Linden Research, Inc. chose to provide just such a product at the same price point as regular private sims? What a coincidence all those months ago!

“@Otenth Paderborn: Yes, we will provide guidance on what load level is reasonable for Openspaces as soon as we can.” The fact that you can’t provide it now is even more damning than your original post. If you can’t provide a benchmark for what is inappropriate, how can we take anything you say seriously? I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it didn’t cut it when Justice Stewart said it, and it certainly isn’t an appropriate position for Linden Research, Inc.

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Thank you, Miss Malaprop

The brilliant Miss Malaprop, on the recent open space sim brouhaha: Shouting into the Void

I do not, myself, believe in conspiracy theories that this was all some sort of cunning plan by the Laboratory, a “bait and switch” as the phrase has it, to encourage the purchase of OpenSpace areas and then suddenly charge more for them. The main reason that I do not believe these theories is that it would imply a level of long-term planning, and successful long-term planning as well, that I consider utterly unrealistic for the Laboratory.

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Linden Research, Inc. sleight of hand

Bad business practices strike again! Even if the only (only!) bad business practice is poor communication, the Lindens are continuing on their well-established path of alienating customers. What this will mean for me as a landowner and for my tenants, only time will tell. If Linden Research doesn’t back off of their announced rate increases, I suppose we’ll convert open space sims into full sims and just eat the reduced elbow room.

If the “abuse” of open space sims that Jack Linden refers to is the real problem, then Linden Research should:

  1. provide realistic, explicit guidelines for what appropriate use is (number of avatars? script resources?)
  2. provide metrics tools for use by landowners (at a minimum) and other residents
  3. throttle performance on open space sims (hard limits to number of avatars and script time)

Instead, they seem to be hiding a need or desire to manipulate the land market behind these technical issues, for which they propose no changes. The only actions (besides increasing their rates) that Linden Research is taking is eliminating owner/payor transfers (something I didn’t even know was possible—I suppose you needed to be an insider to get it) and providing “education” to sim owners.

If you want to comment on the change, do so in the forums. Be aware that less than 24 hours after the announcement, there are 16 pages of comments, many of them apparently from owners of full sims who dislike the competition of open space sims used for residences or businesses.