6/10/03 8pm Town Hall Chat Log
Hunter Linden : welcome to Second Life townhall
Hunter Linden : these are places where we can talk about SL and you can ask questions
Hunter Linden : i'll say a few words
Hunter Linden : then philip will say a few
Hunter Linden : then we'll open the floor
Hunter Linden : Well, first thanks for coming down
Hunter Linden: It's really exciting to get to this point with all of you
Hunter Linden: alpha and beta have been amazing
Hunter Linden: and now it's time to grow the community
Hunter Linden : Over the next few weeks we'll be adding land
Hunter Linden : and we've got a few more surprises cooked up for all of you lifers
Hunter Linden : now a few words from philip
Philip Linden : HI Everyone!!!
Philip Linden: I'll be here every night...
Philip Linden: it's good to be back at the palace
Philip Linden: OK so let's get started...
Philip Linden : As Hunter said, we'll be adding land...
Philip Linden : And getting ready for launch
Philip Linden : We're continuing to work on the load issues...
Philip Linden : To get more people into the sims...
Philip Linden : Lots of good work going on there.
Philip Linden: For those who don't know me... I'm Philip the CEO and Founder.
Philip Linden : So you can pretty much ask me anything
Philip Linden : OK let's get started...
Bob Brightwillow : Do you have that much chest hair in first life?
Philip Linden : In real life I certainly do not
CosmicV Escher: Is there an estimate on initial populations? how many will sign up?
Philip Linden : Well this is of course always a big mystery for product launches!
Philip Linden : We have built the world to grow with the number of users
Philip Linden : So the rate of growth will depend on that.
Philip Linden : Expect to see new land as new users come in.
Philip Linden : Overall density should actually stay about the same
Philip Linden : So hopefully not too much crowding
Hiro Yamamoto: What inspired you to make this place, i expect books in the cyber punk genre were a big influence?
Philip Linden : Umm... well actually I've been thinking about this stuff even longer than the big books!
Philip Linden : I always felt that a certain kind of networked space would be very compelling
Philip Linden : One where people could really create and shape the future...
Philip Linden : One that evolved FAST with its residents
Philip Linden : So hence 2nd life
Carrera LeFay: as more events are held and more people attend will the capacity to house these events grow?
Philip Linden : Yes!
Philip Linden : We are working on two things to support that:
Philip Linden : First, we will improve the physics and interactive capacity of the system
Philip Linden : You will see us doing that first
Philip Linden : Second, we will be working on special support for large audiences
Philip Linden : Allowing us to support MANY more people at stuff like this
Bonecrusher Slate : Are you planning on continuing the Linden sponsored ($500 up front, $500 after event) hosting events post-launch, or are there plans to phase them out?
Philip Linden : We will continue to sponsor and support events, absolutely!
Philip Linden : No changes there
Bob Brightwillow: Thanks.. I have a tough one for you now
Bob Brightwillow: Currently, in my opinion, the biggest showstopper is unreliable transactions -- when a sim crashes, money you spent in the last bit goes away but so do the benefits of spending that money. Is this bug squashed for good? If not, what's your plan?
Philip Linden : Bob...
Philip Linden : There are lots of reasons why sims crash...
Philip Linden : We will work on mechanisms for better recovering money in that case, yes.
Philip Linden : But hopefully reduce the crashes as well!
Philip Linden : The large number of sim crashes of 1-2 weeks ago was a physics bug we have gotten
Philip Linden : So that should improve things
Bob Brightwillow: Personally, I don't mind crashes. It's when I come back after the crash, having spent the money to build a large structure and then see no structure there -- that's the bad bit.
Philip Linden : Yep
Philip Linden : I agree - high priority.
Bob Brightwillow: (Actually, sim roll-backs are bad on their own, but the money loss is worse)
Bob Brightwillow: Thanks
Nolan Nash: silly object question, when you release an object to public ownership, are you reimbursed?
Philip Linden : If you release I believe you get partial credit - $4...
Philip Linden : For full credit, delete the object immediately
Eddy Jade: why is this game going to be released in a few weeks and it still has many massive bugs
Philip Linden : Well that's a good question.
Philip Linden : First, for a system of this scope, many bugs are already gone.
Philip Linden : There are a few big ones, but we think that the work done already
Philip Linden : In building and the fun people are having merits the next level
Philip Linden : So we are trying to learn as fast as we can...
Philip Linden : Getting into a real world where the ones who want to stay are paying is a part of that.
Hiro Yamamoto: is there going to be a trial period before someone has to pay to play?
Philip Linden : Yes, hiro
Philip Linden : There will be a 5 day trial for new users to try SL
Carrera LeFay: regarding termination of accounts
Carrera LeFay: i strongly disagree with paying a lifetime membership and then having the account terminated for whatever reason
Philip Linden : Having a lifetime membership doesn't absolve you of community standards
Philip Linden : And they are clear, and we are fair.
Philip Linden : as SL grows, communities will have their own rules...
Philip Linden : So you could certainly get banned from a local group as well
doncallme Fats: how are 5 day trials "regulated"
Philip Linden : They are not anonymous...
Philip Linden : You still must register.
Dionysus Starseeker: If someone used a name during a 5 day trial, and then didn't join, is that name forever gone?
Philip Linden : Hmm... good Q.
Philip Linden : Probably if you trial a name you can't use it again... at least not for quite a while.
Philip Linden : It's a good issue.
Joseph John Thomson: Suppose I want to change names, will that be possible... keeping my stuff?
Philip Linden : We don't plan on allowing name changes for a while...
Philip Linden : There is nothing in place for that yet.
Philip Linden : Thoughts welcome in forum
Philip Linden : You could give stuff to a friend, etc.
Pituca Chang: what about the last names we all have will they be choices for the new members too?
Philip Linden : Some of them will
Philip Linden : We retire a name after 150 uses.
Philip Linden : So they stay unique and somewhat dated.
Philip Linden : So you will always have `150 'family'
Bino Arbuckle: It was sorta a follow-up to the names, if a bunch of trial people use up a last name, does it get retired even if they don't stay?
Philip Linden : Well if enough do.
Philip Linden : But we will probably count only the ones that stay...
Philip Linden : In checking for the 150, we'll probably consider only converted users .
Bino Arbuckle: Second, when is the planned release for OS X and any idea of the requirements? :-)
Philip Linden : OK... so Apple!
Philip Linden : We are really excited about supporting it.
Philip Linden : Our app is OpenGL and our own UI/Sound, so pretty easy to port
Philip Linden : We actually did our first versions on Linux.
Philip Linden : It will be OS-X only, and I don't have many more details
Bino Arbuckle: Any idea if/when people will be able to lease their own sims?
Philip Linden : We are looking very closely at that.
Philip Linden : It will definitely be coming.
Philip Linden : Initially goal is to keep community tight.
Philip Linden : So there will always be a surplus of 'public' sims, etc.
doncallme Fats: this is kind of a selfish question - what about hiring "international" lindens so there's a linden on at all times?
Philip Linden : Yes, we will do that as we expand...
Philip Linden : Our liaisons will mirror the community at large.
Philip Linden: how many languages do you know
doncallme Fats: I know Australian
Carrera LeFay: i know that you only accept payment by cc right now. when will you accept other forms?
Philip Linden : Honestly I don't know for sure, but we are working on it...
Philip Linden : We are looking at some of the simpler online services that help with that.
Philip Linden : We'll probably look at game time cards as well... want everyone to be able to get involved.
Pituca Chang: how about a meeting place where only to AV can go and not all the physics
Philip Linden : Yes, that's the sort of thing we are working on.
Philip Linden : What sort of things would you want to do there?
Pituca Chang: a meeting like this
Dionysus Starseeker: What last name will you have if you reach over 150 Lindens? And, can we walk up to the LL building ask for Phillip and put $159.99 in your hand? (ok, semi-pointless questions, but inquiring minds want to know)
Philip Linden : Gosh I don't know.... I couldn't be anything other than Philip Linden.
Philip Linden : Maybe we could be the ramones.
Philip Linden : As for coming by to drop off money, we're all for that.
Philip Linden : Just let us know ahead of time.
Nolan Nash: what is the Lindens position on object banking ?
Philip Linden : Not cool to exclude others or building.
Philip Linden : That's the general community rule.
Philip Linden : So that is a case.
Nolan Nash: ok good Thanks
Torrid Midnight: Will there ever be interactions between avs in the game? I know it's been said that it is very complicated because of the huge differences in the avatars but just curious if it will ever happen
Philip Linden : Oh we are very excited about that!
Philip Linden : Definitely something we will do, challenges notwithstanding.
Philip Linden : Imagine possibilities... Eddie and I could have hugged.
Philip Linden : NO specifics on date for that though.
Alondria LeFay: Will there be protection bits for scripts, thus allowing the actual object to be modified, but the script itself locked from editing. As an extension to that, is there any way to make arrangements for actually legally protecting advanced extensive
Alondria LeFay: scripts that requires a magnitude of hours to develop?
Philip Linden : Yes we are going in that direction...
Philip Linden : Simpler interface and protecting rights important
doncallme Fats: when is the nvidia problem going to be fixed? I want shoulders
Philip Linden : Someone showed me a fix to that working today!
Philip Linden : So that will be in soon... not sure if 1.0 but near patch.
Philip Linden: For those who don't know... GeForce 2 cards don't support a feature...
Philip Linden : So it screwed up our bodies a bit.
Philip Linden : But we have a fix now.
Bob Brightwillow: Philip, did Real start making their player suck harshly before or after you left them?
Philip Linden : I love that question bob...
Philip Linden : It was IMMEDIATELY after,
Philip Linden : So there you have it.
Hiro Yamamoto: ok, are stipend and taxes pretty much set or are you taking a look at it? taxes seem a bit excessive to me
Philip Linden : Well the next developer journal is actually on the economy...
Philip Linden : So be sure to check out .
Philip Linden : So the reason taxes are high is to make the world evolve fast...
Philip Linden : think about that.
Philip Linden : If they were low... lots of OLD stuff would hang around. ..
Philip Linden : And new land wouldn't tend to free up
Philip Linden : It's a knob... we can lower it... but gotta be in the interest of everyone.
Devyn Grimm: Are there plans to address the problems with SL and the current ATI drivers? Or will you guys be waiting to see what ATI fixes on their end?
Philip Linden : Oh boy... ATI
Philip Linden : Well we are on the phone with them like every day
Philip Linden : So we will get it all fixed, but there are some things we have to depend on them for.
Philip Linden : I'd say next cpl driver versions should have fixes.
Philip Linden : hang in there.
Bonecrusher Slate: What is the purpose of not paying a stipend to a person if they have over $3500 in their account? It makes it hard to save up for larger projects.
Philip Linden : Oh another good question!
Philip Linden : Well the idea is that social value is bound to stuff in-world...
Philip Linden : So the bonus doesn't put money into your pocket, only for taxes.
Philip Linden : So the limit is there to not just put money into your pocket....
Philip Linden : but to reward you for stuff other people like.
Philip Linden : So that's the rough idea.
Philip Linden : Does that make sense?
Bonecrusher Slate: In a sense, but then it makes it almost impossible to save for large things (like 1/16th of a sim
Philip Linden: Yeah maybe... depends on what people like best.
Philip Linden: As SL grows, real industry will emerge...
Philip Linden: I suspect that will make bonuses less important...
Philip Linden: It will be fun to see commerce being the bigger driver.
Hiro Yamamoto: OK, if we cancel our account, how long will our stuff hang around, also, if a trialie doesn't convert, how long will his floating newbie cabin hang around?
Philip Linden: Trial users will go away when they cancel... immediately.
Philip Linden: So not so many floating cabins.
Philip Linden: beta purges will happen after launch.
Philip Linden: yeah... lots of scavenger money.
Bino Arbuckle: Okay, actually I morphed into 3 questions, here goes (again)
Bino Arbuckle: <1> Can you add a /shout command for the chat line
Philip Linden: hm.... good idea.
Philip Linden: I will check on that.
Philip Linden: That makes sense.
Bino Arbuckle: <2> A lot of people are interested in 'camera' objects that will perhaps take a screenshot of whatever they are facing, is this possible?
Philip Linden: Bino...
Philip Linden: That is a great idea... we are looking into it.
Philip Linden: We've done some prelim work... can't promise a date.
Bino Arbuckle: And <3>, the silly one... does ian need an assistant? I'm willing to stare at MySQL dumps for half the day and spend the other half in SL :-)
Philip Linden: Cory is a big fan of that!
Philip Linden: Funny!
Philip Linden: I bet Ian would love one.... but right now we're not looking
Philip Linden: OK thanks everyone...
Philip Linden: I'll hang a bit and wrestle eddie
Philip Linden: Thanks all!
Philip Linden: thanks for so many converting too!