News and Commentary: Looking Back At Ebbe Altberg

 

When Ebbe Altberg was made CEO of Linden Lab in February 2014, the reception overall seemed to be cautious optimism. Under the direction of Rod Humble, the Lab had gotten itself out of financial difficulties. But not all was well. The events in which Lindens and Residents met up were gone and there was talk of a "no fratenization" policy. With the Terms of Service controversy, some content creators were worried the vauge language in one part of the ToS gave the Lab the right to claim their content to claim and sell as their own. A few were leaving to the Opensim grids, notably InWorldz. While Linden Lab had made or bought a number or spinoff products, only one was making much money. Ebbe Linden, as he was soon known, would later say, "when I came here, the users were a little bit angry (and) there was a disconnect between the Lab and ... the residents," and that some of the Lab's policies "didn't make much sense."

But in April, he got attention and praise for speaking plainly about the Terms of Service issue, and in months the controversial wording was changed to the satisfaction of most residents. Communication between the Residents and the Lindens improved greatly under him, with "Meet the Lindens" events at the Second Life Birthday, and also the Best Practices in Education event, as well as occasional Town Hall meetings. He was a believer in making an effort for transparency and openness.

Under Ebbe Altberg, Second Life's long slow decline in terms of both sims and active users would halt, and eventually began to grow again. While practically everyone appreciated that, some weren't so sure about another move of the Lab's under Ebbe Linden's watch: the way residents in Second Life paid money to them. Sim tiers were reduced, as well as set-up fees, making land cheaper to get and more importantly cheaper to keep. But Linden Lab had to make up the money somewhere, and did so by increasing the fees to buy Linden dollars. This was the equivalent of reducing real-estate taxes but raising sales taxes. Some residents complained. Others had mixed feelings as even if they didn't own a sim, their favorite places were more likely to last. Under his watch, the Tila company was created. Eventually, it would not only handle Second Life's money transactions, but also Sansar's and a third virtual world: Upland.

Under Ebbe Linden, the Lindens were able to accomplish what under his prececessor they couldn't: bring back last names for accounts; or rather, make last names an option by allowing residents to change them. Some resident's had mixed opinions due to the high fee, and to a lesser extent the choices available (which in my opinion were reasonble ones, given the Lab's options). But overall the residents were happy.

When he was interviewed by Hamlet Au in 2019, at times Ebbe Altberg seemed to have an understanding of Second Life that previous CEOs Mark Kingdom and Rod Humble lacked, at one point commenting it was his opinion "Adult" marked sims didn't always mean X-rated activities, but that the users valued their privacy. He also expressed an enthusiam for it at times, supposedly saying "We are still the s**t when it comes to virtual worlds."

Not everything went well under Ebbe Altberg. It was under his watch that a customer service mishap caused the end of the SS Galaxy as an active area. While preserved by the Lab, it would never be the active resident-run place it was. A similar mishap caused the first Steelhead community to fold. Another customer service mishap almost caused the end of the noted Grendles mall, but the actions of residents saved it. One controversial move was the banning of Linden resellers, making resident-run Linden exchange services no longer permitted. While the idea for Sansar came about under the previous CEO, it was under Ebbe Altberg in which it came about. But Second Life residents were unimpressed and only a handful of people were spending much time there. While a few felt it was an idea worth trying, most residents saw Sansar as a mistake, and the reaction to it's sale was along the lines of "It's about time." Linden Lab would also see a couple rounds of layoffs, related to Sansar's lack of success.

Two moves later in Ebbe Altberg's term also got some controversy from the residents. One was the move of Second Life's data to Amazon Cloud servers. Altberg's Lab stated that it would eventually improve performance and allow for a reduction in fees. But as the move was being done, there were a number of bugs and glitches that the residents openly complained about, and the Lab had to acknowledge and ask for patience. Today, while some residents say there's been some improvement, notably with sim crossings, others say they've only noticed continued glitches such as inventory issues.

And then there was the sale of Linden Lab to a team of investors. Under the terms, Linden Lab would retain a good deal of autonomy and continue to make just about all of it's decisions on it's own. And no doubt this meant more money for the Lab to continue to improve and develop Second Life. But naturally many residents were very worried, some fearing the new owners were only out for a quick buck and jack up tier and fees while cutting development and customer service, or worse. But a year later, the virtual world continues to run smoothly.

There have been numerous comments on the SL forums. Among them: Prokofy Neva, "I remember my main impression was that he was normal. Normal! That may seem funny, but we have had some rather eccentric leaders, who could get pretty wild, and while that is good in the early start-up stages, at some point the grown-up has to come along." ArgontheDevil Ormega, "He understood that SL was unlike any other business in that the relationship between the Lab and the Residents was not purely business.  That is why we mourn his passing.  He was not just the CEO of the company.  He was, in a very real sense, one of us." Trinity Yazimoto, " Ebbe arrived with a positive and friendly attitude (at the opposite of his predecessor). He was humble and open mind. Ebbe gave back SL its stability. Ebbe made SL a better place and i will remember him for this."

While the cause of Ebbe's passing has not been officially released, it has been made known he was sick for two years. But instead of stepping down, he continued to run the company. Inara Pey would write, "It is clear that illness did not in any way blunt his determination." Hamlet Au would comment, "One insider told me that his illness didn't undo him, but rather, gave him a serene confidence in his mission and his life course." Eventually, he would make fewer appearances inworld, his last one being at Oz Linden's retirement party in February 2021. And his last comment on his Twitter was in November last year. He would not speak at the Education conference in March, Patch Linden taking the lead instead.

Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale was quoted by Hamlet Au as saying, "I can't say enough about Ebbe. He was such a warm, smart, optimistic person who was loved by everyone he came into contact with. I will miss him a lot, and we were so lucky to have him."

So in conclusion, Ebbe Altberg made a good CEO of Linden Lab. Not everything under him went perfectly, but under his leadership Second Life bounced back from it's slow decline and went on the upswing. The virtual world is doing better and it's future is looking better than in over a decade. Second Life still faces some challenges, such as the question of will those who returned during the Pandemic stay and the increasing popularity of VRChat among younger users of virtual worlds. But Ebbe Altberg's time at the helm of the Lab can only be considered a success.

"Sleep well Ebbe, thank you for everything."

Other tributes: Daniel Voyager, Moden World, New World Notes

SL Forums: RIP Mr. Altberg

Bixyl Shuftan
 

CDS Announcement: Emilia Dagostino Will Not Seek Reelection

Regrets and encouragement to all Citizens - CDS needs you!

Dear  Fellow Citizens of CDS,

It has been a pleasure and an honor to be your Chancellor in this 32nd Term. I have learned much, and have benefited from the generous help and support of all of you. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to our Estate and its Constitution and commitment to Representative democracy. Due to demands of my real life, I will not be seeking the Office of Chancellor for the next term. I wanted to let you know, so you can announce soon and begin your campaign.

Thanks.!

Emilia

Commentary: Rod Humble / Rodvik Linden as CEO of Linden Lab

When it was announced in late December 2010 that Rod Humble would be Linden Lab's new CEO, the reaction from Second Life residents was overall positive, from some even enthusiastic. The year before had seen a number of setbacks for Linden Lab and the Grid. A third of the company's staff had been laid off in it's "restructuring." Popular personnel such as Blue, Teegan, Pathfinder, Qarl Linden and others were shown the door. Overseas offices were closed down, rerouting all calls for technical help to America, which gave some residents from outside the US the Lab was turning its back on them. The fifty percent discount for nonprofit and educational areas was suddenly ended, despite Philip Linden and Linden Lab long touting Second Life as a place for learning. It was announced the Teen Grid would be closing down, and people worried that this would soon mean censorship or residents getting arrested in real life due to angry parents. These and other moves caused the morale of residents to sink. Rumors floated around Linden Labs was looking for a buyer. Some thought Second Life was headed for collapse, one publication saying the virtual world was on it's "death throes."

Rod Humble's resume was an impressive one, having worked for over twenty years in the computer gaming industry. Among his roles were his work on the Everquest multiplayer online game, and working on "The Sims." In 2009, Edge Magazine listed him as #2 of its “Hot 100 Game Developers.” Philip Rosedale / Philip Linden, whom had been acting as interim CEO after the unpopular M Linden stepped down, stated, “Rod is a great new leader for Linden Lab. ... With Rod's fresh insights and deep experience in creating and leading the development of fun, intuitive, immersive entertainment experiences that have attracted massive audiences of loyal users, he's the right leader to understand what makes us special and bring the next level of growth to Second Life."

Rod Humble looked forward to the job, "Joining Linden Lab is a very exciting opportunity, ... . Second Life is unique: it sits at the intersection of virtual worlds, avatars, and human contact. The Residents and developers of Second Life have built something very special, I am honored to join the talented team at Linden Lab to help expand this new frontier." A few residents questioned if someone from the gaming industry was truly the right choice, Second Life being a "sandbox" which was open ended and most games having fixed parameters on what one could do. But most were happy with the Linden's choice for new CEO, feeling he could deliver Second Life a shot in the arm and not only halt it's decline, but set it on course to growth again.

Rod Humble, who became known as Rodvik Linden, gave the impression of wanting to connect with the residents. He spent some time inworld, building a little, and on some occasions interacted with residents, such as his appearance at the Second Life Eighth Birthday, and more recently his trips to Bay City and 1920s Berlin. He also strived to "put the Lab back into Linden Lab," and Second Life's grid would see a number of developments with the goal of improving user experiences, such as "Project Shinning." He also had Linden Lab both acquire and develop several products, such as the Minecraft-like "Patterns" and the kid-friendly "Blocksworld." Probably their most important acquisition was "Desura," a distribution platform with a focus on smaller games from independent companies, or "indie" games. For better or worse, Second Life would no longer be the only product in Linden Lab's line-up. While residents on the whole understood how a diverse platform would mean a more stable financial footing, some worried this was a sign of the Lab leaving them behind.

Residents were generally happy during Rodvik's first year, although some felt the Lab was slow to act on the Redzone controversy. But in 2012, some actions (and non-actions) began to raise a few eyebrows. Official Linden events such as the "Kiss a Linden" on Valentines Day and the "Winterfest" with its "Linden Snowball Fight" were gone. Even the Second Life Birthday was no longer being sponsored by Linden Lab, the statement from the company suggesting the various communities should hold their own celebrations. To residents, it seemed like the Lab was distancing itself from the residents, only occasionally emerging from it's "bunker" to make reports with no name attached. Third-party viewers found themselves under pressure from Linden Lab, ordering them not to include features not on the official viewer, even if it was being researched in beta, what some viewer developers saw as the Lab saying "screw you" and people worried some teams would leave Second Life. Indeed at one meeting when one viewer team member hinted about leaving, a Linden answered "don't let the door hit you on the way out." Project Shinning, while approved by those with newer computers, those with older machines often complained their inworld experiences were becoming slower and laggier, not better.

In 2013 came two changes to the terms of service that raised not just concern but alarm. In spring, Linden Lab ordered third party Linden exchange services to cease operations, saying only their Lindex could buy and sell its virtual currency. Residents expressed alarm, some saying the Lindex often took a long time to make its transactions, and some overseas would not or could not use it, and there was some talk among some people leaving. Linden Lab would partially reverse course, saying third party exchangers could sell Lindens, but only Lindex could buy them back. Then in the Fall, with no other announcement than residents being asked to sign the Terms of Service upon logging in, it was noticed that the ToS had changed in regards to content creators, some interpreting them as to say the Lab could sell residents' content at any time without any input from the makers or offer a cent in compensation. At least two texture websites stated their goods could no longer be used in Second Life. Some content creators stopped creating and stated they would make no more until the terms would change. A few would move to other virtual worlds, such as InWorldz, which between Project Shinning and the ToS controversy saw people from Second Life getting accounts, and raising it's membership to 90,000 on paper. Second Life now now had small but growing competition from other virtual worlds. Residents repeatedly asked Linden Lab to change this part of the ToS back, but although Linden Lab issued a statement saying they regretted the confusion, they would not alter the few lines that had caused so much trouble. At least one resident commented Rodvik was partially to blame, saying his experience in the gaming industry made him inflexible in dealing with a product in which his company did not own most of the content.

It seemed the man whose arrival was greeted with cheers was now being seen, at least by some, as part of the problem.

In the midst of this were stories going around of some henious griefing incidents, such as the sim-crasher attacks on the Junkyard Blues club, with Linden Lab doing next to nothing about them. Indeed there were rumors that the dismissal of one Linden was because a griefer had complained, and so others were afraid to act. Fortunatetly later in the year, the Lab appeared to be doing more about griefers.

In contrast to M. Linden's departure, Rodvik's announcement was greeted with surprise, and maybe a little sadness. That there was no announcement for a week until Rod Humble himself told others did raise a few eyebrows, but the big news was that the head of Linden Labs for three years was gone. On a thread in the official forums, residents time and time again wished him well with whatever endeavor he was headed to. Of his performance, some thought he did great, a few thought he did poorly, the plurality seemed to feel he did an overall good job with some setbacks.

I think he did a good enough job considering the circumstances and the state of SL when he took over. When he was hired I would not have believed he would take the company as far as 2014. For a while there he seemed to breathe a bit of life and drive back into LL even if it was partially focused on products other than SL. Unfortunately LL and SL in particular needed someone to do more than just a "good enough" job. SL needed a visionary that would revitalise, if not revolutionise the whole product in order to regain the mass appeal we experienced during the boom years. Rod completely failed to deliver there. I wish him the best of luck.

And so Linden Lab's third CEO heads off into the sunset, leaving behind a virtual world no longer on the brink, but whose long term problems remain.

Other Comments: Daniel Voyager, Inara Pey. 

Bixyl Shuftan