Rod Humble (Rodvik Linden) talked about virtual goods, online communities and the current financial position at Linden Lab. Rod mentioned Second Life many times during the during 3 minutes and 57 seconds Bloomberg interview on 29th June 2011.
Key points during the interview…
- Second Life is really a shared creativity tool – online communities – creativity are the magic
- Rod talked about selling a virtual chair
- Rod mentioned “poetry and music communities”
- Virtual goods – “last quarter was our most successful quarter ever”
- “Second Life is 8 years old”
- “Joined the company in January” – “wonderful tool set”
- Focus – “Easier to get into the product”
- “We’re not looking for any further investment right now”
- “We’re profitable, we’ve got a very good cash balance”
- “16, 000 people signing up everyday”
- No IPO for Linden Lab
Rod mentioned a lot of good positive things about Second Life & Linden Lab during the interview which I thought was really encouraging and interesting. Rod mentioning that “We’re profitable, we’ve got a very good cash balance” are healthy signs indeed. Sounds good right?
I think the SL community are starting to believe and are liking Rod Humble for the direction he is talking Second Life in now. With mesh starting to rollout next month and a possible mobile tablet in the pipeline. These are very exciting times I think.
Let’s hope the trend will continue during the rest of 2011 and into 2012.
Daniel Voyager 
I’m pleased with the change of direction, yes. But until he reverses the lab’s change of heart on the subject of ownership (as if the lab could legally change ownership in the first place) people are going to have no interest in shelling out 4 figures for something the lab can take away from you for any or no reason. The lab needs to consider a landowner’s terms of service which is different from the rest of the TOS, stating that:
1- you own personal property in SL, and that in SL is the only place said property can exist. You can resell, subdivide, rent, etc your property as you see fit so long as it doesn’t violate the TOS.
2- should SL cease to exist, so too will the property. LL is only responsible for the property’s existence as long as SL remains in business.
3- the lab taking the property for any reason shall be required to issue a refund of the full purchase price. No tier shall be refunded however.
4- in the event the owner of property is banned, that owner may sell the property, keep paying for it without benefit of accessing it, transfer it to someone else, or abandon it.
5- other than banning, LL shall not deny the owner of land access to his land.
6- TOS changes for acceptable use shall not be sufficient reason for banning or confiscation. Should the lab change rules for acceptable land use, it shall trade parcels with the owner for a parcel the owner deems acceptable for his desired use which is no longer permitted in the original area.
Even as ticked off as I am at the lab, this very simple set of rules would make me far more likely to buy land again. But nobody with any sense is going to give the lab a few K$ without guarantee that the lab will provide services paid for. Today, the lab can take my money and take the island away from me seconds after they create it for any reason whatsoever. Only a fool will give away such sums of money sight unseen and not get something in exchange. Until I have some protections against the lab’s proven bait and switch abuses of the past, the many thousands of dollars I’ve taken away from the lab the past couple years will remain locked in my wallet.
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Thanks for the comment. 🙂
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