Gaeta 1 Stays: Linden Lab Reverses Decision To Close The Continent

 

In April, Linden Lab announced they would eventually be closing the smallest of the continents in Second Life, Gaeta 1, as part of "A New Chapter For Mainland."  The reason given was that Zindra, the unfinished continent they planned to complete, was growing in population while Gaeta had a small population that wasn't getting bigger. It was a decision that had many people asking "why," locals on the land mass as well as people who made their home elsewhere. Never before had Linden Lab shut down a permanent landmass. Why do so now?

 

Now it seems the residents who live on the small continent can relax. On Monday August 3, Linden Lab would announce it had canceled plans to close Gaeta 1.

 

After further review of resident feedback, relocation activity, and our long-term plans for Mainland, Linden Lab has decided that Gaeta 1 will remain open.

This is a significant change from the transition plan announced in April. We are sorry for the disruption and uncertainty this reversal has caused, especially for residents who made decisions or completed relocations based on the information and direction we previously provided. We recognize that those residents acted promptly and in good faith, and we are committed to providing affected residents with meaningful choices moving forward.

 

So those who have land on Gaeta can stay. For those who already moved out under assistance from Linden Lab, the announcement stated they would soon be hearing from the Lindens, who would ask if they wanted help in returning, or not, if they haven't heard already.  

 

The Lab would call this change of plans for Gaeta, "the first step in our renewed focus for Mainland." They would go on to say further plans included, 

 

Addition of several open water homesteads in an effort to improve the sailing experience around some of the mainland continents. We encourage anyone interested in sailing in SL to give it a try. 

Repairs of many legacy Mainland regions with badly baked edges, to fix longstanding region crossing issues between these specific regions, and make them more attractive overall.

Restoration of several legacy Mainland builds, including the Balloon Tour in Linden Village, the Snowlands chairlifts, and the Pomponio Crater area. 

So what did the Gaetans think of the move? When I looked at the map, the largest group was at "All Smolls Music Hall" in Vibus Ten. Going there, the tinies there told me others in the community had been talking about it earlier in the day. One remarked, "they go for the least productive ones first, never mind that those ones they are destroying are the ones that are more loyal to the rules and regulations than the others." Another quipped, "Wish they'd do something about all the bloodlines bots and Tiny World Bots." Still, they were happy they wouldn't have to move. 

 

And so, what looked like the upcoming closing of a continent has been averted. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Cartoon of the Day

ShadowRene's been "hanging around" again.

By Bixyl Shuftan

EOTB: Linden Lab Makes JIRA Reports Readable to All Again

It was about eighteen months ago that Linden Lab made an unpopular move with its JIRA reports page, "Although some categories had been closed to public viewing, such as security issues, most were accessible to the public for residents to read to see if a reported bug was the same as the problem they were having." As of Sept 6 2012, this came to an end, " In the summary of changes, it was stated 'Second Life users will only see their own reported issues.' No longer can residents read and compare."

On Friday February 28, Linden Lab announced on their blog that there would be some changes. The Lab admitted the JIRA wasn't as good as it could be.

Recently, this system was working in a way that wasn’t very transparent, and it frankly wasn’t a good experience for the users who care enough about Second Life to try to help improve it, nor was it the best set-up for the Lindens tasked with addressing these issues. So you can see why we’re happy to be changing it!

 The changes the Lab is offering are:

"All users will be able to see all BUG issues, all the time."

"You'll also be able to comment."

"Lastly, 'New Feature Request' is back!"

A thread started in the forums about the JIRA changes. The results were mostly positive, "Thanks Ebbe." "OK - I'm officially impressed!" Some however were less than enthusiastic, "It's great to have it back, though it'd be better if it didn't get hidden again after triage.  Additional comments with updated incidents with further info could help narrow down the issue, or reveal other potential causes." Still, everyone agreed this was a step in the right direction.

Bixyl Shuftan