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 Science Circle Events Saturday

 

 Checking the Science Circle calendar, there's no discussion scheduled tomorrow, or any other Saturday for a while. There are some "Moon Base" events Mondays at 10 SL time, though.

 

So that's it for "This Week At The Science Circle" for a little while.

 

Governance User Group Meetings Have Ended

 
For some time, Linden Lab held monthly Governance User Group meetings, with Tommy and Kristin Linden as their representatives. There, residents could discuss "issues involving Governance such as in-world abuse, Abuse Reports, Forum Reports, Marketplace Reports, etc." But they are no longer happening. In a forum thread, it was asked if they were removed from Public User Group Meetings, and Tommy Linden confirmed it.

At this time there is no scheduled user groups for Governance, the majority of questions asked at the user group meetings are questions that we are just not going to be able to answer. Such as information regarding action taken, DMCA, or other Resident specific information that we will not discuss due to privacy policy, or it being outside the scope of the Governance team.

However myself, and others will always remain available to answer questions in how to file Abuse Reports, and you don't have to wait for a meeting to do that, you can message me your question and the next time I log in, I will always respond. If you wish to bring a specific incident of abuse to our attention however, as always the answer will be to file an Abuse Report.

He would later say, "Yes, at this time the user group has ended. I am exploring other options to better share useful information with all of you."

A few residents expressed their displeasure, "I'm sorry to see this.  These groups were an ideal forum for people to bring up ideas, and to get an idea of how many people were experiencing the same issues." "I went to Governance every few months, for the same reason I'd go to a city council meeting once a year or so. It's good to keep an eye on the people who think they're in charge. ... Governance was boring. That meant things were working." Someone summed it up, "... it sounds like the Users seen it as possibly usefull, but LL doesn't. And just again a step backwards in direct LL - User contacts."

Blogger Daniel Voyager would be among those who felt the meetings should have continued, "It’s a shame they are no longer happening."

To read the forum thread, Click Here.

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager

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.
 

SLGo To Be Gone May 1, Free Until April 30

By Bixyl Shuftan

Some sad news for users of SL Go, the program that allowed users of tablets to use Second Life, in addition to improving the performance on older computers. The service was not truly a product by Linden Lab, but done by OnLive in cooperation with the Lab. Unfortunetly, this product's days are numbered. Yesterday on April 2, OnLive announced they had been bought by Sony, and SL Go and other services of theirs would soon be coming to an end.

After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service will be coming to an end. Sony is acquiring important parts of OnLive, and their plans don’t include a continuation of the game service in its current form. Your service should continue uninterrupted until April 30, 2015. No further subscription fees will be charged, and you can continue to play all of your games until that date.

As the first-ever game streaming service of its kind, everyone who has ever played a game using OnLive has contributed to the technology and its evolution in some way. We’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved and extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for being a part of the OnLive Game Service.

Onlive had their own message for users of SLGo, saying they would continue the service until April 30, and they would no longer charge for their services, "no further subscription fees will be charged."

In our year of SL Go service, we have become quite close to the Second Life® community. Thanks to your patronage and constructive feedback, SL Go became one of OnLive’s most successful services. We know how important SL Go is for many of you, and it saddens us to bring the service to a close. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for being a part of “SL Go by OnLive” and wish you all the best.


So why did OnLive fail as a company? Kyle Orland, the senior gaming editor of Ars Technica, wrote, "Looking back, it seems OnLive was just a little bit too far ahead of the curve, both in terms of market readiness and the Internet infrastructure necessary for streaming games. As low-latency bandwidth continues to become cheaper and more accessible around the world, it seems likely someone will nail the correct combination of business model, game selection, and easy-to-use interface to become the industry's answer to Netflix. That company will owe a debt to OnLive for getting the ball rolling and proving that streaming gaming was something that was worth trying in the first place."

Of SL Go closing down, Inara Pey wrote, "This is and unfortunate end, not just for SL Go, but also for everyone at OnLive, a company which had come through a lot to provide a unique on-line gaming service and which has tried to enter a very unique environment with SL Go, and has done so by providing a very successful approach to providing Second Life to people while on the move through their delivery to Android and iPad devices, and to those using older, lower-specification hardware.


"I’ve been fortunate enough to be somewhat closely involved in SL Go, initially being offered the opportunity to help beta the product, and then in helping to report on and promote the service, and (hopefully) provide OnLive, through Dennis and his team with useful feedback, support and advice.
As such, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer Dennis, Jeff, Shae, Jersey, Robby and everyone else at OnLive involved in SL Go – including Jane Anderson in the US and Mark Bevan here in the UK,  my thanks and my heartfelt best wishes for the future. I do, however hope that we’ll continue to able to see one another in-world, at the very least."

Hamlet Au commented, " I once consulted for OnLive, and SL Go was a media partner, but now that the company is ceasing operations, I can say without even having to make a full disclosure that SL Go was just about the best thing to happen to Second Life in a long time, and I'm sorry to see it go." He did suggest there was a possibility that Sony might enable Playstation owners to stream Second Life from their consoles.

So after a year, the platform that brought Second Life to tablets is being put to pasture. But there may be a last chance for it. Fans of SL Go started a petition on change.org , calling on Sony to continue it. For those interested: Click here to sign the petition.


Sources: Onlive, Modem World, New World Notes, arstechnica,


Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Stops Development and Support of Three Non-Second Life Products

Linden Lab is trimming it's product line. In a statement made yesterday, they announced that they would no longer be developing or supporting three less successful goods, Versu, Dio, and Creatorverse.

After careful consideration, Linden Lab has decided to cease development and support for dio, Versu, and Creatorverse. We’re grateful for those who took the time to experiment with these products in their early days, but ultimately we have determined that due to a number of factors, we and our customers will be best served by focusing our efforts on continuing to provide exceptional service and compelling new experiences for the users of our other products.

Creatorverse was an iPad application launched in Sept 18, 2012 that drew comparisons to another app, "Crayon Physics Deluxe," which was made several years ago. Dio was announced in January 27, 2013 as a "creative and social experience" in which people could "create places by adding text, photos, videos, and interactive objects into interconnected 'rooms' " that people compared to a MUD or MUSH with pictures. Versu, released on February 14, 2013, was an interactive fiction (aka choose-your-own-adventure) product that gave the reader options on how the story would proceed. While some thought it was a good application, it was noted there were already a number of interactive readers with established markets that Linden Lab would have to spend effort and money to break into.

The end of these applications leaves Linden Lab with just three products other than Second Life. These are "Patterns," which has gotten comparisons to Minecraft, "Blocksworld," a child-friendly application where players can build things with blocks, and "Desura," a digital distribution service much like Steam, but with an emphasis on smaller, independent games. Of these, only Patterns was developed by Linden Lab. The other two were acquired.

(edited later) When Hamlet Au interviewed Ebbe Altberg, he stated “We’ll do some clean-up, there’s some things that are not as aligned." So this seems to be Ebbe's first major decision as Linden Lab's new boss.

Bixyl Shuftan