EOTB: No More Browser Viewer: Linden Lab Announces End to Project Zero

 

Linden Lab announced it was pulling the plug on an alternative viewer, one accessible through one's webbrowser. 

 

In January 2025, Linden Lab announced "Project Zero,"a viewer accessible through one's computer webbrowser. Browsing sessions through it were limited in time, though a few signing up would randomly be chosen to experience Second Life through it. Later, "priority access" would be an option, but it would cost $2.99 for five hours of time. In March 2025, there was a Firestorm version available, though people had to pay to use it as there was no free option available.

 

Since then, there hasn't been anything about Project Zero that caught the Newser's attention. That is until now. Yesterday, April 21, Linden Lab announced it was "Ending Support" for it.  

 

Last year, we introduced Project Zero as an experiment to explore a new way of accessing Second Life through a web browser. 

Many of you took part in testing Project Zero and shared thoughtful feedback along the way. Your involvement (and the feedback you shared) has been incredibly valuable in helping us better understand how lowering the barrier to entry – by removing the need for downloads or high-end hardware – could help improve new user onboarding and engagement. Thank you for being part of that process.

Based on what we’ve learned, we’ve made the decision to end support for the Project Zero Viewer ... 

 

They would go on to say support would end on Friday April 24 at 5PM SL time.  Those who have unused time were asked to file a support ticket to get up to 30 days worth of time back. The mobile and desktop viewers are not affected. 

 

"The insights gained from Project Zero will directly inform improvements to these core experiences, helping us focus our efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Our work to make Second Life more accessible, welcoming, and engaging is ongoing. We look forward to sharing more with you soon."

 

For the blog post in full, Click Here. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

No Second Life Veterans Tribute This Year

 

For fourteen years, the Second Life Veterans Tribute was a yearly event that honored American and other veterans, both living and deceased. But unfortunately, there will not be one this year. 

 

Eesy Spyker  (Meesoh Honi) would post the following in the Tribute's Discord group:

 

It is with a sad heart to report that this year's SLVT will not be able to be presented this year.  Due to a number of contributors, that make it happen each year, that are going through RL health issues, some with dire family issues/responsibilities and other factors out of our control, we have been unable to work on the tribute and present it this year.  We hope and pray for all involved and will strive to be able to once again provide a place honoring and remembering each and every one of our veterans.

We hope that you all find a place and a manner, in your own way, that you will still honor and remember our veterans.  Each of us contributors from SLVT hope that we will see you out and around SL, in various ways, honoring our veterans.

From all of us here at SL Veterans Tribute we wish all of our veterans, near and far, past and present, a happy and wonderful Veteran's Day, and thank them for the dedication and the price they have paid for us.  

 

Hopefully another event can be organized. But the Veterans Wall, with names contributed by many residents over the years, will be unavailable to see this year.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Five Past Online Comics

 

A number of  us love a good cartoon strip, and for some of us that includes online comics. But no serial comic strip lasts forever. Real life may force the artist to stop due to growing family and job requirements or other reasons. The artist may decide to end the strip while it's still good, or perhaps they've concluded their tale. And of course the artist (or the writer) may pass away. In this story for today, yours truly describes five comics that are no longer updating for various reasons.
 
Read the story in Extra.
 

Breaking News: Linden Lab Cancels Basic Account Group Limit Cut

On Wednesday, Linden Lab announced that in addition to their Premium account price hikes and increasing the fees to cash out Linden dollars, they were cutting back the number of groups residents with basic accounts could have. The residents reacted quite negatively, more than a few calling the Lindens saying that more groups per resident was taxing the system either highly exaggerated, or outright false. Finally, the Lab partially relented. Less than two hours ago on the official blogs, the Lab announced that due to the "strong and convincing feedback from many in our community," they were cancelling the cuts for basic account group limits.

... many Residents have shared how they rely heavily on Groups to stay informed about new product releases as Merchants use this feature to regularly communicate news and updates to their customers, and how much Groups are used for keeping communities active.

We hear your concerns and, as a result, Group Membership limits for Basic Residents will NOT be reduced as part of our Premium Membership changes rolling out on June 24.

The other parts of the May 29 announcement, notably the Premium account price increases and the cashing out fees doubling, remain the same.

Announcement: No Giant Snail Race Today

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Fable Jupiter, "No race this Saturday Nov. 26 2016, join us the following Saturday on Dec 3rd." RacerX Gullwing's Giant Snail Races take place just about every Saturday. But not this time. Here's his announcement courtesy of a friend.

Update on Linden Lab and the Third-Party Linden Exchangers

By Bixyl Shuftan

It's been two weeks since Linden Lab announced that it was ending it's deal with Linden Exchange services, essentially telling them they could no longer buy Lindens after June 30 (today) and had until August 1 to sell their inventory of Linden dollars and then shut down. When they told the Linden exchangers to shut down two years ago, as word got around in just a few days, the result was an uproar, especially among residents outside the US whom had problems with using Lindex, the official Linden exchange service from Linden Lab. Eventually, the Lab partially relented, allowing the exchangers to join an "authorized reseller" program to stay in business. But they could no longer buy back Lindens for real world currencies.

This time the response has been a little less vocal, possibly because of the timing of the announcement with the Second Life Birthday. Linden Lab's decision wasn't mentioned in New World Notes this time. Though it was in some blogs such as Inara Pey's Modem World, Daniel Voyager's Blog, and Across the Grid with Lindal Kidd. Lindal was particularly critical of the Lab's decision, "In my opinion, the move us ... yet another attempt on the part of LL to appropriate a Second Life revenue stream developed by the residents for themselves. ... when clever residents come up with ways to make money in SL, it smacks of bullying for LL to usurp those income streams by fiat." She felt the Lab had "shafted the residents and merchants that support Second Life and shot themselves in the foot into the bargain."

Hypergrid Business' Maria Korolov has written some about the issue, on June 15 and 27. It reported that one exchanger, Crossworlds, announced it would be folding on June 30 (today). "There is nothing else to do," Crossworlds owner Tony Bastianelli was reported as saying, "Linden Lab has left all exchanges with no options." RUExchange was stated as saying (in Russian), "Unfortunately, the official payment methods, Paypal and Skrill, do not satisfy the majority of our users. ... At the moment, we are negotiating with Linden Lab about the future of the Russian community, and unfortunately our technical support can not give you a comment on the situation."

Korolov stated that the Podex Exchange was planning on staying up, quoting it's CEO Jacek Shuftan as saying, "Linden Lab is not stable in it's decisions, as history taught us before, so I do hope that their decision would be changed in the future, as it happened before with 3rd party resellers closure. ... The motives of present shutting down are completely unclear," he added, "Last time we could suspect FinCen influence. But as far as I know, there were no big changes regarding virtual currencies last days in American law, so I do not understand why Linden Lab made such (a) decision."

Jacek felt "the Lab is only shooting itself in the foot," stated Korolov, quoting him, "Payment methods wich they offer are not accessible in many countries, so they will not only lose profit but also their best clients who invest real money in (the) grid, and now will not be able to do it."

Jacek predicted that Linden Lab's move would encourage people to head to Opensim worlds. Since the first time the Lab threatened to drive away his business, Podex has diversified by expanding to InWorldz, Avination, and other grids besides Second Life. On June 29, it announced it had set up an exchange service on it's 16th virtual world. "Linden Lab('s) decision will affect the Podex Exchange, as well as all other currency resellers, but Second Life is only one of the 16 grids which we serve, so we only lose part of our profit."

There is a petition for Linden Lab to keep it's Authorized Reseller Program , started by a Norman Zimmerman. As of the writing of this article, it had over 660 signatures.

As the deadline for the exchange services is a month away, what happens next is uncertain. But as Jacek stated, the Lab has changed it's mind before.

Podex is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Source: Hypergrid Business

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Labs Ceases Development of "Patterns"

On a press release yesterday, Linden Lab announced that it was stopping all work on it's sandbox game "Patterns." There will be no further development and the game will no longer be for sale. Linden Lab will no longer be keeping multiplayer functions operating, though those who bought the game will still be able to play it in single player mode okay.

Recently, Linden Lab announced that we are working on an ambitious project to create the next-generation virtual world, while we continue to improve Second Life and grow Blocksworld. As we focus on these priorities, we have ceased development for Patterns, and we will be no longer offering the game for sale.

We at Linden Lab are extremely grateful for the adventurous early players who explored the Patterns genesis release. Those who purchased the Patterns genesis release will still be able to play their copies of the game, but features relying on server connections, such as world-sharing, will not be functional.

Patterns had early promise, and while Linden Lab focuses our efforts on our other offerings, we are still evaluating the future of the Patterns technology. Interested parties are welcome to contact us with proposals.

Patterns was announced by Linden Lab in September 2012. People quickly noticed it's strong similarity to "Minecraft," though gravity played a role in the game. Linden Lab was appealing to gamers with this product in their strategy at the time to diversify it's product line. But it failed to generate much of a following or an income for Second Life.

The cancellation of Patterns by Linden Lab leaves just three operational products in it's line,"Blocksworld," "Desura," and of course Second Life.

Source: Linden Lab 

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: Blizzard Cancels Titan, Will Linden Lab Follow With SL 2.0?

By Bixyl Shuftan

For about a decade, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft has dominated the Multiplayer Online Game market. Although no longer getting twelve million players, it's still the top of it's class. But back in the prime of it's prize product in 2007, it was revealed that Blizzard was working on another MMO unofficially known as Titan. So when will this game be released? Apparently the answer is "never," as last week Blizzard stated the project was shelved.

There are a few reasons for Titan's cancellation. One was that those in Blizzard assigned to the game's development "didn't find the passion" for it. The success of it's recent smaller game "Hearthstone" was another factor, evidence that not everything by Blizzard has to be "colossal summer blockbuster-type products." Then there's the obvious: if the Titan MMO was a success, would it not be taking players from it's current hit World of Warcraft?

So Blizzard has made the decision to stick with what works, at least for now.

But does this mean that Linden Lab will soon be following up by scrapping its development of it's next generation virtual world, known as SL2.0?

Ciaran Laval wrote an article suggesting that Blizzard's move was a "warning bell" the Lab shouldn't ignore. Ciaran quoted Blizzard's cofounder, "We had created World of Warcraft, and we felt really confidnent that we knew how to make MMOs. So we set out to make the most ambitious thing that you could possibly imagine. And it didn't come together." A VP was quoted of their decision, "We were losing perspective and getting lost in the weeds a little. We had to allow ourselves to take that step back and reassess why the hell we were doing that thing in the first place."Ciaran suggested that Linden Lab needed "to ensure they don't find themselves in this position with their future virtual world, that they don't find themselves making something that isn't fun, that isn't really progressing how they would like it to, and that it might not be worth their time at the end of the day."

In a sense, the Lab has more to loose as Blizzard's big product's revenue model is millions of users paying $15 a month, while it relies on several thousand users paying $300 a month per sim and content creators whose wares get the masses of users to buy virtual currency to purchase them. One reader responding to Hamlet Au's article commented, "a content creator needs several years to get respect, establish their brand and gather a customer base. ... This takes a lot of time and effort. Once that gets destroyed, the creator will get burned. That creator did work at a very low hourly rate for years to get to the point where they were now. Telling that creator the place where he does business will get shut (down), but he can come and rebuild it all over again on new tech, you can be sure about 70 to 80% will say thanks but no thanks."

Ciaran concluded, "Linden Lab, with a combination of luck and judgement, struck gold with Second Life. The new virtual world has for more ambitious aims, but Linden Lab need(s) to ensure that don't tie themselves in knots trying to make it happen. Second Life is still there, and many people will be happy to engage with (it) for many a year yet."

Hopefully the Lab will take heed of Blizzard's decision, and concentrate on making it's customers happier with it's current product instead of developing a product that given the transition from it's classic viewer to Viewer 2.0 is likely to be neither fun for them or it's customers.

Sources:  PC Gamer, Polygon, New World Notes, Ciaran Laval

Bixyl Shuftan

No Convention This Year: SLCC 2012 Won't Take Place

Second Life fans whom enjoyed going to their yearly convention got some disappointing news. AvaCon, the group that organized last year's Second Life Community Convention (before, it was done by The Future United) announced it would not be doing another. There would be no SLCC 2012. The only reason given was "changes in the terms of the contract offered by Linden Lab this year," which they did not mention. The event would have been the 8th SLCC convention, and likely would have taken place on August 11th or 18th.

With few facts available at first, most of what there was to report on immediately afterward was opinion and speculation. Most people expressed disappointment, a few charging Linden Labs had held off on announcing the SLCC's cancelation in order to make sure there wasn't enough time to residents to organize one of their own.

Fleep Tuque (Chris Collins in real life), whom had been a director at previous SLCCs, including last one. In her blog, she described some reasons as to why there would be no convention this year. The short answer was Linden Lab: they would not be sponsoring one.


I can’t say I was completely surprised considering the meeting we had with Linden Lab at their offices after SLCC last year. Instead of being treated like valuable customers who had just volunteered months of our lives working for no pay to organize a fan event for their product, we basically got chewed out for not producing the equivalent of BlizzCon. Seriously, that’s what they said. (Note to Linden Lab, if you want BlizzCon, you have to pay for it – BlizzCon had a budget in the millions.)


"Second Life isn't the draw it once was," she explained, and a dwindling number of people made it more expensive per person, "even last year it was almost on the edge of being unsustainable, given the resources we had." If Linden Lab had been more willing to help market the event, making it a top priority, Fleep felt the convention would have gone on. But instead, "As with the Second Life Birthdays … they basically said AvaCon could use the name, but we were on our own. … there would be no financial support, no sims (for SLCC inworld), no marketing, and no participation from them." Another SLCC just didn't seem feasible to her.

Linden Lab, however, was just the big reason Fleep felt, not the only reason. The residents of Second Life, or rather a troublesome fraction of them, were another. She described many as being unsympathetic to the volunteers, and some just plain nasty, "Some of the celebrities and thought leaders in Second Life seem to enjoy trashing the event. … I'd guess some folks are right this very moment pointing gleefully at how it has failed." Griefers and lawsuits were another factor, " Linden Lab wasn't on the hook if something went wrong or someone got hurt, WE were." She described last year as having to deal with personal vendettas, threats of harm against congoers, booths being vandalized, and threats of lawsuits, "At some point, you have to ask yourself, is it really worth this much grief ... especially if people's physical safety is at risk."

Fleep also cited the lack of volunteers as another reason, there just simply weren't enough this year "without requiring some people to basically have no life outside of SLCC for months on end, and that's not sustainable or fair for anyone. ... It takes willing partners on all sides of the equation to pull something like this off, and this year, it just wasn't there."

Others expressed their opinions on the matter. Hamlet Au commented this was another sign of a trend in Second Life, "Linden Lab has lost any real interest in being involved with the user community." Others have expressed similar opinions. Following the canceling of last year's Winterfest, the Valentines Day "Kiss a Linden," the Second Life Birthday, and now the SLCC, this points to a Linden Lab that just simply isn't interested in interacting and involvement with the residents.

Can SLCC 2012 be resurrected? Most expressed strong doubts that it could be done in time. Could one be held next year without the support of the Lab? A number have expressed pessimism on the matter. Still, given how residents came together to organize the SL9B on their own, it's possible a SLCC 2013 could be pulled off, either on it's own or part of a larger convention such as "DragonCon." But the obstacles, as stated by Fleep, will take some effort to overcome.

In any event, the canceling of SLCC 2012 points to another sign of how the relationship between Linden Lab and the residents of Second Life have changed. Gone are the days of the town meetings, of Blue Linden and others being seen at everyday Second Life events. Now, we have Linden Lab quietly fixing things from inside their "flameproof bunker" on occasion making an announcement to the residents, one made anonymously instead from an individual Linden.

Bixyl Shuftan

For a history of the SLCC, Click Here

Sources: AvaCon, Fleep's Deep Thoughts, New World Notes , Daniel Voyager

Other articles: Modem World, Natales' Things, SL forums

Bixyl Shuftan

Breaking News: Second Life Community Convention Canceled

Daniel Voyager's Blog reports that the SLCC, the Second Life Community Convention, has been canceled.

Due to changes in the terms of the contract offered by Linden Lab this year, AvaCon has declined to organize a Second Life Community Convention in 2012. We continue to pursue our overall mission and are focusing our attention on other activities and events that promote the metaverse.

Stay tuned for more on this sudden development.

Breaking News: Linden Lab Calls Off Official Second Life Birthday Event

Every year in Second Life, there has been an official anniversary event, known as the SLB, or "Second Life Birthday." This year however, there will be none, On their official blog, Linden Lab annouced they were going to "focus the spotlight on community events" instead.

SL9B is canceled.

Details are still coming in. Stay tuned for further news.

For the article on Daniel Voyager's blog, Click Here.

What Happened to the Valentines Day "Kiss a Linden" Event?

Every year on Valentine's Day, the Linden Lab team have held their "Kiss a Linden" event in Second Life. For this one day a year, the Isle of View and Isle of ViewTwo sims would be brought online just for this occasion. These were heart-shaped islands with huge candy hearts, heart lollipops, and kissing booths with Lindens and sometimes resident volunteers. The Teen Grid had it's own event, though it was "Hug a Linden."

The event was held every year, at least until now.

In 2011 last year, Gemma Cleanslate covered the event, which was as active as usual and everyone having a good time. Courtney Linden had made an announcement, and later on Torley Linden posted a few pictures on his Flicker.

The Second Life Destination Guide didn't make a mention of the event this year, but Second Life Newser went ahead and posted a small notice about it as the year before. There was no reason not to, as the event had always taken place.

Apparently this year it didn't. The islands weren't on the map in the wee hours of the morning, and this afternoon they still weren't there.

So why the change? Linden-bashing has been a favorite sport around the Grid, but that hadn't stopped various Lindens from volunteering or residents from showing up. A glance at the blog revealed no announcement of the event being called off or why.

Apparently, the end of a tradition that's gone on for several years.

Strangely enough, not far away from where the Isle of View would have been to the south was a sim I hadn't known of, Terraform Me.

Teleporting there, it didn't seem like much on ground level, just red ground with steep white mountain peaks before me. Only by looking at the map would one get the point. The island was one big cupid picture. Someone had gone through quite a bit of trouble to make it.

So besides the various club events, there was a Valentines Day special on the Grid after all.

Does anyone out there know anything about what happened to the "Kiss a Linden" event? Please notify one of the Second Life Newser staff know if you do.

Bixyl Shuftan