Linden Lab creates Blake Sea to satisfy sailors
by Tateru Nino 
Dec 21st 2008 at 5:00PM
Filed under: News items, Opinion, Second Life
Up until recently, because of the new pricing and terms on void simulator packages in Second Life, the USS (United Sailing Sims), a collection of sailing groups that hold a large amount of Second Life territory were planning to ... well ... "jump ship" as some of them put it, and move their operations out of Linden Lab's virtual world.
Linden Lab has now announced the creation of a set of ocean sims (called the Blake Sea), connected to the mainland, and cost-free relocation for the rather large number of USS simulators to connect to that. Several USS members (who declined to be named) made us aware of the impending announcement two weeks ago, telling us that Linden Lab were going to make these changes in order to prevent the combined groups from defecting to alternatives such as opensim.
Linden Lab has not responded to inquiries about the matter. A number of people consider it rank favoritism. Perhaps it is -- but is it important if it is or not?
Probably only if you are one of the hundreds of estate owners who are not getting something similar.
For years, Second Life users have called on Linden Lab to "start behaving like a real business", by which most of them meant that Linden Lab should be willing to bend policy and go the extra mile to please their customers. But real businesses are rarely concerned with being caring, thoughtful, and considerate -- they're concerned with doing things that benefit the business.
Putting the business first is the first rule of actually staying in business. Many of the business' decisions will also benefit the customers -- because you don't have a business without them -- but being in business is a mutually parasitic relationship. Both the customer and the business try to gain maximum advantage and value from the other, but typically it's an unbalanced arrangement. If the customers kill the business, they can move on to another business. If the business kills the customers, it's gone.
So, whether or not the Lab's decision constitutes favoritism or bias is really a bit of a non-starter. By virtue of actually remaining in business, the majority of decisions the Lab makes need to benefit the Lab in some direct or indirect way, either financially or in public relations (because PR can be turned into financial benefit). Partnerships (strategic and tactical), promotional deals, value-adds, and other special arrangements are the meat and drink of almost every successful corporation that you care to name.
In one stroke, the Lab gets to keep one of its most populous groups from jumping ship to an alternative, and adds value to their long-troubled mainland estate (a large priority with the Lab at the moment). That's got to look good as a decision-making factor. Numerous other groups might be eligible, but obviously don't meet the necessary value-criteria that make it worthwhile for the Lab to offer a similar deal.
What is nice is that what is being done is up-front and on the blog. Would you prefer under-the-table, secret deals? Or would you prefer that the Lab feels confident enough to stick by its guns and make open announcements -- even if you are not the lucky recipient of the Lab's largesse?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pavig Lok said on 2:22PM 12-21-2008
Yay, this is fantastic news for the sailing community. It will also get a lot of complaints about it being favoritism... but then again all good business is. As something that keeps alive a strong and fascinating gaming culture within SL it's worthwhile. Frankly I'd like to see more of it.
I think this could be considered as protecting SL cultural heritage, and I'd like to see more of it. I'd be a lot more concerned about other instances where businesses seem to get some kind of favoritism in SL and large sums of money change hands.
The actual monetary investment the lab is putting into this is probably smaller than the cost of organizing a single business meeting with the fellows from RRR, ESC, Big Spaceship or the other partners they have worked with. I know where i'd look if I was concerned about them messing with the balance in the SL business world.
I also feel that sailing is one of the things that it is worth introducing everyone to in SL, even if only once. It is a pleasant and relaxing activity with strong social aspects and enough depth (still easily understood by the layman) to show the potential of the platform. Not everyone will fall in love with SL sailing, but if they've just come from WoW, they'll certainly see the difference in potential. Come to think of it... is "sail" on the covered in words webpage they've been trialing? :P
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Doubledown Tandino said on 8:31PM 12-21-2008
How did LL become aware that the USS sailing community even existed in SL?
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Ciaran Laval said on 8:46PM 12-21-2008
This was an under the table secret deal, and they're still moving to opensim.
I'd prefer Linden Lab to be open and upfront from the start, not after the event. They should be opening up proposals like this for everyone to bid on and then selecting the best candidate for the job.
They couldn't exactly have kept this quiet, people would have noticed the USS sims being movedoff the coast of Nautilus.
It's a good deal for USS and fair play to them but Linden Lab need to stop the BS that it's not favouritism when it quite clearly is.
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Moe Greene said on 3:01PM 12-22-2008
Ciaran -- it is favortism, they are not moving to OpenSim and it is a good thing.
I own a yacht club on one of my sims and will probably lose some of my tenants as a result of this but I couldn't be happier that LL is making a move that addresses the desires of a special-interest group.
They lose nothing by doing this and can only gain greater positive exposure to a mainland that has a reputation as little more than a ghetto.
As to the comment you made re. OpenSim, I am a proponent and had nine regions on the grid but the overriding problem with OpenSim (as it related to sailors) is sim-to-sim movement. LL has this addressed for most locations to where it is mostly seamless. OpenSim -- not so much. Some USS elements may play around with OS but this move by LL, pretty much ends the discussion of what will be the most beneficial for both LL and USS, longterm.
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Gwyneth Llewelyn said on 9:30AM 12-24-2008
I loved the tone of your article, Tateru :) The right dose of criticism and being condescending when explaining how businesses think. Well done!
First, allegedly USS was not the only community contacted. However, remember, this is a deal — not a "service pack" that can be bought off a web page. Deals require negotiation. Sometimes, they never complete (because one of the parties negotiating cannot agree to compromise). USS was just the first case where both sides completed an agreement. As mentioned elsewhere, not everybody at USS is happy about all the details. But... when you're between the hammer and the anvil, there is not much margin to negotiate really.
Also, this is a case where at least we got an announcement. Who knows how many communities like there have special agreements that never saw the light of the day.
... why, for instance, is Lusk the only mainland region with Estate Tools? :)
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