Confusion, Shock, Anger, then Plans by Educators in Second Life

Location: SLED e-list

At the SLED list I saw a pattern to the responses: shock, outrage, sadness, then planning. My own sense of betrayal and rage at Linden Lab was not atypical, but it reveals something about academics: we don't know or share the values of the corporate world.

Mom-And-Pop Values

Instead, we resemble the trust-and-handshake relationships of smaller businesses. My dad, a successful produce wholesaler, taught me, mixing coarse and wholesome adages as he often did, to "never screw your customer" and "always keep your word." While institutions of higher education compete for business, we do so with that sort of older-style (and I'd claim superior) ethos and a strong sense of community that does not consider profit to be the sole or final arbiter of value. I leave it up to better informed folks such as Dusan Writer and Tateru Nino to consider what Linden Lab may do in the months ahead about selling their company or at least seeking new investors.

Whatever the company's goals, Linden Lab's abrupt decision--by the standards of higher education--catches us in the middle of a fiscal year and in many cases, in the middle of grant-funded research. That is at least within the boundaries of what we know how to do. We can go back to those providing funds and ask for reallocation. And for those with existing projects that need to continue beyond the end of current contracts, combining efforts with other institutions can keep things going.

Helping Those Caught in the Headlights

More vexing to me are those who have made no Plan B, who really are not very skilled with the technologies of virtual worlds despite being talented teachers and researchers. Judging from the remarks on SLED and with colleagues in person, too many of us have done NO research on alternatives to SL, or we don't even know the current interface well enough to see what OpenSim grids might do differently if we make that move.

Now we find ourselves in a sea of new terms, alternative clients for visiting virtual worlds, and a universe of new grids. I've spent time in the past two days explaining to admins and colleagues, both on my campus and trickling in from e-mails, what third-party viewers ARE, what OpenSim is (typical line: "it's not a place, but a protocol for making places like SL"), how Hypergrid (which I'll soon try) works, and how inventory in SL works. Basic stuff, yes, but looking at the SLED list, I'm stunned by how common lack of basic knowledge can be.

I can understand why some folks will simply leave virtual worlds completely.

The tasks ahead are daunting. We pioneers don't get a lot of credit for this work, even though many of us believe this technology is going to change mainstream education. What to do?

Organizing and Sharing

First, join this wiki, from Lindy McKeown of The University of Southern Queensland, Australia and note how the changes are influencing your plans:

http://pricehike.wikispaces.com/

I doubt any lobbying will sway the Lab, though showing them how much money they will lose is a nice "up yours!" moment for us.

Second, if you know anything you can share about OpenSim worlds, start answering the many questions on lists such as SLED or EDUCAUSE Virtual Worlds. If you are sticking it out in SL, and need help with collaborations and consolidations, get on these e-lists and share.

In time we'll develop the sorts of networks that we had in SL and leverage existing connections, as we move onto other grids, as I plan to do, or we'll retrench and run leaner operations in SL.

Here Jokay Wollongong's example can guide us. She did both.

More on Jokay next week, when I cover her talk to educators at The Virtual World Education Roundtable.

Remaining Chipper, Determined, and Cunning

This is funny advice for grumpy me to give. But we will outlast one company who did not live by our mom-and-pop values.

At Montclair's soon-to-close Amphitheater, getting ready for the visit by Jokay Wollengong, I helped a faculty member new to SL figure out how to give notecards to students. Here is a teacher, on a doomed campus sim, carrying on bravely while discovering the wonder of teaching in a 3D immersive setting.

I kept a brave face but it was one of the few times I actually wanted to cry when using SL.

Let's stay brave, network, and to cop the title of the blog by John Lester (née Pathfinder Linden), "be cunning and full of tricks."

Richmond Island and House of Usher to Vanish

Location: Burying Madeline

Ah, well, all things must pass. My campus pays SL tier from discretionary funds, and they cannot cover a $150 per month increase in tier. I'll have a final chat with our team after EDUCAUSE, but I want to thank Kevin, Fred, Jon, and Sonya for their hard work to help me and Lee and Fran bring Poe's "The Fall of The House of Usher" to life in Second Life.

But The Virtual House of Usher will live on! It will take time and effort, but we'll rebuilt the simulation in an OpenSim grid. Over the winter holiday I'll be taking pictures and exporting what I can, before the sim we own goes "poof" in January.

Perhaps we'll organize a Halloween-night event at Usher! Your host, Roderick, cannot wait to show you the family crypt...

A bittersweet PS: given the death of the SLer called Adric Antfarm, who'd agreed to run the "Mad Max Challenge," as well as the death of my interest in promoting SL, the next roadtrip is canceled. Never fear, readers. I'll soon take some road-trips through the many regions of abandoned land, to show off what is happening to Linden Lab's dream world that they'd rather not have publicized.

More Help for the SLexodus of Educators

Roll up your sleeves, folks. As the anger at Linden Lab gives way to planning for our futures beyond Second Life, we need plans.

I've shared a few resources earlier on client choices for those trying to find out what is available in OpenSim grids.

Now I've culled more good news and advice from posts and comments by:

• Ener Hax: a step-by-step guide to preparing to pack up a build (and parts of your inventory) before immigrating. Consider this a "big picture" strategy with some specific tips.
• Ener (again): Some OpenSim hosting options for those leaving SL with an excellent history of how (and why) she and subQuark moved from SL to Reactiongrid to Simhost.
• Maria Korolov, Editor, Hypergrid Business: Advice to Educators
• Maria (again): How to Choose an OpenSim Hosting Company
• Soror Nishi's posts tagged Inworldz, where she has set up an island. InWorldz boasts a rapidly growing population and a social scene, so if your projects ask students to explore an online community, you may do well to follow Soror's adventures
• Marketplace for OAR files that can be used for OpenSim grids: http://myopensim.com/index.php
  

Got more useful links to those who have never dipped a virtual toe in the ocean of OpenSim grids? Let me know!

Why Linden Lab Screwed Us: Three Possibilities

Location: Linden Lab Blogs

Over at the Lab, the torrent of reactions continue. I replied at length to one poster, and I'll share it here:

Marielle asked,

Phil Linden repeatedly stated he's "interim" CEO. Now i was looking at LL's job offerings. . . .Is Phil planning to stay devoted to us :-) ? ...and if not, did LL miss to post the CEO position or has it already been decided behind the scenes ?

No. He's a businessman. His devotion is to the bottom line and perhaps the company he made. That's not evil; it's just the way the system works.

Rosedale buttered educators up at SLCC and let this increase move forward. I have lost faith in a man whose vision I respected. As "Interim" CEO, he's come back to either save the company or, it seems more and more likely, to arrange to sell it to someone else.

In the end, I've reached the conclusion that either:

1) Linden Lab does not want the good will and marketing power of having so many educational institutions and nonprofits associated with its product. This seems far-fetched, but that would make eliminating the discount actually a reasonable decision.

OR

2) Linden Lab is so desperate for an income stream that they'll boost prices in hopes that educators have long-term investments in SL and will need to stay for a bit longer.

OR

3) As others have said in this stream and elsewhere, Linden Lab has decided it needs to jettison colleges and universities as soon as their contracts end. That way, they'll avoid breach-of-contract cases by a host of well-funded and talented legal teams in US higher ed. My own school's amiable lawyers are a scary bunch when they go into action.

If it's #2 or #3, look out other users. Don't think for a second that LL won't sell you out the second they can get a buyer. And most of you won't be able to muster a legal challenge to what they do.

I don't know why another company would want the database or our user base, given the stigma of the adult content--a fact, not a value judgment by me because I don't care what you do with your avatars.

Will another company need us, except to exploit our information for marketing purposes? They might want some of the core technologies and staff from Linden Lab.

As for the fate of your virtual goods and invented "lives" in SL? Just read the TOS: it is not exactly "all your IP belong to us" but you've no recourse if they dump the database after a buy-out offer.

And there will be real suicides among those who call SL "home" and have complicated social relationships here. That saddens me.

Update 10/6: Tateru Nino shares Jack Linden's justification for the increase. it's contemptible, but then Jack can take it. He has been known for a while as "the most hated Linden." Tateru also shares her own thoughts about why LL may be selling the company.

I've also replied to Lalo's suggestion about the image I used (from the time when I was a LL mentor, before they gutted that gesture of goodwill, too).