Updates to this story
UPDATE: Linden Lab refuses to confirm or deny such reports. According to here. Other sources tell TechEye Microsoft did make a bid.
Linden Lab, the creator of virtual playground for the single and lonely that isn't WoW, Second Life, might have been bought up by Microsoft this week.
Linden Lab is today closing its UK office. The source of the rumour is a Tweet from the Second Life community - simply saying "A little birdie told me that Microsoft may have silently offered to buy Linden Lab this week." Tizzy apparently has a connection with Woodbury.edu, a college in LA, and they know a fair few movers and shakers in the biz and software game. Worth a punt.
Second Life is where you go if you want to have a wife made of pixels or fly around as a flatulent Sonic the Hedgehog upsetting fanboys.
It has been a massive cash cow for some years now, with performers such as Kanye West finding value in hosting virtual shows where a 3D version of themselves bop around to their music. People pay for this sort of thing.
Second Life is big business. It's an unexpected move by Microsoft, if true, but perhaps not a bad idea.
Update- "Just a little bit of detail on the tweet. According to a very reputable individual still employed by Linden Lab, they have been entertaining offers and Microsoft has stepped up with a bid. "
While Linden Lab has a lot of problems with Second Life, selling out to Microsoft and their control freak-we know best attitude could be a disaster.
The actions of LL with regard to layoffs and consolidating products (Avatars United, SLE, Teen Grid) are in keeping with a company thinning down prior to a sale, and this was mentioned by a number of people at the time of the big cull, and their actions since have only added to credence of that theory.
But very sad that you chose that picture and to describe sl as you did. It's a wonderful oasis for the creative class and something that has allowed me to bring peace and joy to many and allowed me to build in a medium I love to work in. If you've never been there I can't blame you for the way you describe it but I really was put off by the picture you chose.
Best wishes
2: Cite your sources
3: Attempt journalism school, or maybe a correspondence course in it.
If their knowledge of other topics is as encylopaedic, current and accurate as their knowledge of Second Life, I think I can safely avoid reading anything they publish in future.
What next? "WoW Causes Cancer"? "Aliens Abducted Me Says Apple CEO"?
I read from a friend of a friends tweet that this is happening?
You dont know anyone in Linden Lans taht is reliable, because Microsoft wouldnt bid on anything, they would buy it or make a bigger, better version of it that had more control in their hands and more money involved.
This article = false.
We have cited our source. Also it is an editorial decision whether or not to cite sources. Which journalism school did you go to? We welcome any comments from the internet authority on journalism, which is, apparently, you.
Thanks for pointing out the Lab/Labs discrepancy though. We will amend.
Thanks for reading!
And here I've been wasting my time checking sources and clearing quotes before writing my articles in two magazines. Oh, right, they are SL magazines, so therefore worthless. Expect to our 16,000 subscribers.
This is officially a waste of an URL. Do better next time, please.
Ceejay Writer (my SL avatar name)
Proud resident, content creator, builder, and community collaborator in Second Life
1. Rumor based on a tweet is the basis for an article? No attempt to confirm it with a second source, or god forbid - call up Linden Lab directly?
2. You get the name of the company wrong. There's no "s" at the end of Linden Lab.
3. Clear lack of knowledge - Woodbury is on LL's blacklist; they're supposed to be the source of knowledge?
4. Your description of Second Life shows a cursory knowledge based on third party haters.
5. "a massive cash cow for some years now"? Did you seriously write that? On what do you base this?
6. You put up a picture that's SIX years old of a griefing event? Seriously? Seriously?
No wonder you didn't attribute this article to a name. This is shameful work.
Source: http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Woodbury-U-Banned-From-Second/23352/
Second of all. I love how you painted Second Life to be such a horrible place. Too bad it isn't true. Again just a rumor.
Do you do all your "journalism" by rumor?
And before i go, i want to chime in with the others on your poor poor choice of images and references to SL in your story. Get the facts, Jack!
if MS wants this tech , develop your own , compete against linden labs , see how far you go
So sad you haven't yet had time to explore it, it's only been going 6 years. Do you aim to blog about current events, or are you happy being 6 years out of date?
ALSO, a 'cash cow' NORMALLY is considered to be a GOOD investment... and anyone that is 'in the know' already knows that SL has been on the downswing since LL started putting in so many conservative style restrictions upon the public. FIRST they killed the economy, THEN they killed the freedoms.
On March 13th, 2002, the first Resident (Steller Sunshine) joined Second Life and the public beta started seven month later in October, but now in Septembre 2010 we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Secondlife and will be taking down the grid on September 29, 2010. Over the next week, we encourage you to save any pieces of content (such as pictures, friend’s names, etc.) that you want to keep. We will also soon update you on your Linden refund, if you have an account balance.
Over the eight years since launching Second Life, we have welcomed avatars from many virtual worlds and MMOs to connect on our platform as the only social network catering to the needs of virtual identities. We are proud to have served those needs and honored to have shared this journey with you all.
Going forward, pieces of the Second Life technology will be integrated into the Facebook platform to support a richer, and more dynamic, community experience. Read more about these efforts on the Second Life blog.
Thank you for being a member of the Second Life community, and part of the Second Life family.
Sincerely,
The Second Life Team
That letter only refers to the 'teen' grid only not to the main grid. If you received it you are under 18 and on the teen grid. Please don't start rumors by not stating all the facts.
Re-read the initial tweet -- "silently offered" -- maybe so silently that it didn't happen at all? :)
"we have welcomed avatars from many virtual worlds and MMOs"
Does that sound like it's talking about SL? No it's talking about AU.
SaveMe Oh ends up coming here with it's made-up psycho-babble seeking attention because it believes this is where people are congregating. We must stop giving platforms to people who like to author make-believe letters about people who don't exist.
Close second life down, and watch what happens! That's when people like SaveMe Oh end up in mental institutions. Overcrowding will become an issue. People I guess need the shelter of Second Life.
Also, having been in Second Life since 2004, I have never once seen an email from Linden Lab that started out "Dear Avatar and Second Life Member,".
Nice try. Thank you for playing.
If you're going to do a piece on SL, I'd suggest doing some more research than asking around or taking uneducated guesses about what really goes on inworld. It's obvious to me, from reading this site, that journalism went out the door. If Microsoft were entertaining the idea of buying Linden Lab, I can guarantee you it would be because of the many educational and artistic residents that do more than spend time on sex and griefing.
Perhaps you should go inworld yourself and explore Second LIfe so you understand that there are artists building and creating everything you see around you. SL is not a red-light district but a community of intelligent individuals that keep SL profitable and in business.
@Dancien I agree 100%
@Ron all great points
That's true. If that's what you go looking for.
Any adults at this publication?
But take solace, after you got conned, several other websites picked up on your story, citing you as the source for these rumors. So you're sorta like that guy who forwards chain mail, or the one who convinces all his friends to sign up for a Ponzi scheme.
But yeah, keep monitoring the critical Twitter beat, I'm sure the NYT will be sending you job offers any day now for your courageous reporting. And you can trust that, because I went to New York City once, so I must be a good source.
#2: What would MicroSoft do with SL?
As far as Second Life being a "cash cow"... it has been moderately profitable. However, $100 million in annual land sales doesn't even come close to the $170 million *monthly* income of WoW... nor the income of other large companies. 100 mil is nothing to sneeze at... but SL has been stagnant for the last two years and just had over 500 sims shut down. This is a company that is on a decline. The company has alienated their customer base and made more enemies than any company should have. Not exactly what I'd call a "cash cow". It could have been. It still could be... if someone in corporate had a clue. They don't.
So all in all... this rumor true or untrue... I don't really see the reality being all that encouraging. Kind of a "hanged if ya do, hanged if ya don't" situation. Linden Lab or Micro$oft. Linden Lab or Micro$oft. Out of the frying pan into the fire if you ask me.
I can't believe something Tizzer's said has spread so far... OMFG LOL
You have modified the Avatars United message to fit for Second Life :D
I really do not know what to believe I am a new player as of April this year. I am also a business owner in game. I see this as a great additive but I also see a down side. As Bob stated I too done much research before my small real life company began to invest into using Second Life as a platform to market, advertise, & test future venues of the company. So to the author of this I hope this is accurate info and not bogus to be wasting business owners, players, etc time. I do not like comment made about players because I know I am not lonely. I might be single but I date an incredible man. There are many married players as well. Even if people are single or lonely why degrade the site with that statement. My time in SL I met people wheel chair bond, with cancer, or other disabilities smiling and doing things they can never do in real life. You say you will amend we me being Christian, a nurse, lover of people & second life ask you to amend this statement, "Linden Lab, the creator of virtual playground for the single and lonely that isn't WoW, Second Life". This what automatically discredit your work, making players, investors, etc be defensive of the info your trying to bestow on us. I can't say if your info is right or wrong but I have pointed out one of the red flags
Thank You for your time
Suchalady Blackheart
Avatar name as well as Pseudonym
It makes no sense to me, but really does not bode well for SL if it happens. SL is built on Debian with a heavy dose of Mono.
Microsoft's record for running UNIX-like platforms isn't the best... anyone else remember what happened when they took over FreeBSD-based hotmail, and the subsequent service outages when they tried to convert it all to Windows platform?
The viewer is GL based, not even DirectX, so embracing, extending, and extinguishing SL would be even more work.
As far as this article goes, I wish the author would have editorialized less and kept it about facts and any items that support or refute the headline. The caustic "asides" that had nothing to do with the rumor really dropped the credibility of the article, especially to someone who has been in SL as long as I have.
There must be a Fashionable Media Playbook somewhere with a note in it to the effect that bashing SL is always fun and never out of style. Maybe the author should get out of Orientation Island some.
As far as the future of SL? It's called OpenSim. SL is the Netscape Enterprise Server of its time, and OpenSim is the Apache analogue in that comparison. And in 5 more years, where will both end up?
I hope this rumour is false because I can imagine it having some negative implications for the OpenSim project.
But the thing that interests me most is not the creation of an entire blog based on a Twitter comment by a known griefer body (LOL guy... seriously?)... but rather that "Linden Lab will neither confirm nor deny this statement". That says loads right there.
But all in all, this blog is useful for one thing: fun conjecture. Because in the long run, it doesn't really matter whether SL is bought out by Micro$oft or not. Both LL and Micro$oft are price gougers. Both write flakey, bloated code. Micro$oft's significant involvement in OpenSim hasn't benefited that code one bit, so they're surely no salvation to SL (unless they are surprisingly in-tune with what SL needs, which is doubtful).
Bottom line: it doesn't matter. The blog was a fun read though. :D
at Art Museums, because quite obviously thats the mentality evident here.
The Fact is that...if they'd bothered to do any research and actually VISIT Second Life, they'd find a completly user created virtual world, with its own economy, culture, and yes
(of course) the people who build it, and work there doing so.
The issue here is not would a Company like Microsoft ruin 7 years of non restricted vibrant creativity, by an international community of Artists...of course they would...but weather mud slinging idiot critics like this one will help hasten its demise with pooting hedgehog jokes. Lame..totally lame.
The 3 areas are:
1. Linden Labs wanting to sell.
2. Microsoft being interested in buying Linden labs.
3. The users of Second Life.
As a player and user of SL for almost 2 years, I have seen many changes that have directly effected me. namely their Viewer technology, their decressing levels of service when 'faults' occur and the moving of 'adult' themed business' to restricted areas.
I applaud the moving of 'adult' themes to age verified locations away from the general users. For me, this is Policy and is not an enhancement of sl.
Then there is the service levels provided by Lindens. I can only describe them as totally inadequate as are the illthought constant variations of viewer systems they allow.
Lindens may have the technology to generate a game, but lack the administration skills to keep it going to a high standard.
Microsoft, for all their faults have an excellent administration which would compliment the creativity of Lindens. A match made in Heaven? Only time will tell. Perhaps EA games would be a better match.
The users of Sl are as varied as the people of this planet. Sl is just that...a second life! It not only provides entertainment, but serves many useful purposes to the real world. For instance:
Virtual reality buildings are created and modelled in Second Life and then put into real life...Hurrricane katrina victims can be a testament to this.
Disabled persons can 'participate' in activities their rl does not allow them.
Talented musicians and artists can perform in the Vr world, gaining confidence and enhancing their talents.
In SL, I am a builder of houses. The same skills that I use in my RL work as a surgeon who uses advanced robotic surgery for the benefit of mankind. Tell me,...where else can I get 3 or 4 hours a day of practice?
Yes, there are the total morons (griefers) who fly about in Sl....but these are a tiny % of the users. There is a system of reporting these idiots, but lindens dont seem to have the administration to settle basic complaints...be it against 'griefers' or even purchase disputes.
I believe that if Microsoft does buy LLabs, it is foreseable that the administration will be dramatically improved and the creativity of Lindens be permitted to just do that...be creative.
To summarise. A good administration, creativity, a consistency in Viewer technology and a benefit to everyone who uses Second Life.
"Not Happening"
Linden Labs will not sell out Second Life. Those that know what Second Life is know this perfectly clear. Those who don't know what Second Life is, get a computer that can run Second Life and download it because it's quote, "NOT" coming to the Xbox anytime. To make it perfectly clear, "It's coming to Xbox half past never".
Don't you just adore rumors? Move on, nothing to see here.
======================
<a href="http://www.motorhomeinsurance.org/motorhome-facts">Strange Motorhome Facts</a>
As with any creative website, there will always be the "creeps and demented" who have to use it to get their own "jollies", but for you to assume that it is all that goes on there was totally wrong and misguided.
Second Life is a creative haven for the people who build, study, attend college classes, develope new technologies and those who create usable products for other Second Life residents.
I have been a resident of Second Life for the last 18 months, ( a relative youngster in-world to some), and I am constantly amazed at the creativity, knowledge and sheer genius behind the items and lifestyles available.
For you to write a story like this based soley on rumor is completely wrong. Second Life has a visitor program in place. Go to their website at http://secondlife.com ... check it out for yourself before you start referring to it as...
"Second Life is where you go if you want to have a wife made of pixels or fly around as a flatulent Sonic the Hedgehog upsetting fanboys."
This statement just goes to show that you know nothing about what Second Life really is about.