16:00 – Making the needed fixes is going to take considerable time. Any change to llRequestAgentData() is on hold indefinitely (17:15). When they reach a point where they are again considering changing it, they will post in the Scripting Forum with information on the planned change. Oz expects most of the use cases depending on the function to need very little change. They anticipate making changes in stages.

18:10 – Q: Since the Phoenix Viewer will have the true Online Status feature people are concerned the FS/PH Team will have to with draw the viewer and/or the Lab will block it from the grid. Is this something the Lab is considering?

Oz: No. The answer is longer, but ‘no’ is the answer. Oz and the Lab are not concerned about the version of Phoenix with the true Online Status being around. They expect people will be upgrading to newer and better viewers. So, they see it as a self-resolving problem.

Blocking a viewer is something the Lab will only consider… I said consider and I think that is most accurate, when there is some overriding issue.

18:50 – Also, there are some really neat features coming, both shared experience features and viewer enhancements, that will require viewer updates to enjoy. So, old viewers will peacefully pass away without a need to block them.

19:00 – The features will be presented to the TPV Dev’s as early as possible for inclusion in their viewers.

19:30 – Jessica talk about getting a release of Phoenix out without the True Online Status feature ASAP. They have several bugs in Phoenix that they are working to fix. That is taking some time. But, soon now…

20:00 – Jessica says something about people needing to upgrade soon because of feature changes. Oz thinks it is more on mark to say they will WANT to upgrade. This is a nuance in phrasing. But, it has implications. I think it is in line with other statements and suggests the Lab is not going to push users. Their plan is the entice them. They said they would not block V1.23 and they haven’t.

20:50 – 2.i : You must not display any information regarding the computer system, software, or network connection of any other Second Life user.

2.j : You must not include any information regarding the computer system, software, or network connection of the user in any messages sent to other viewers, except when explicitly elected by the user of your viewer.

21:15 – Jessica points out these rules impact the viewer ID tagging system. At 22:00 the video is acting up and it is hard to understand Jessica. She talks about many in the community saying the Lab is embarrassed that more people are using TPV’s and thus wants to hide the tags.

22:15 – Jessica talks about the Linden statement that new users were being bullied to change to a TPV. Jessica did her own research with an Alt and found out that is in fact the case. She also points out that many in the community think those that do change to a TPV stay with the TPV. So, many think there is more to braking tags than just the bullying issue.

22:35 – Q: Does the Lab want to stop or slow migration from the LL viewer to TPV’s?

Audio problems through to 25:00. Then Oz starts the answer to the above question.

Oz says the primary motivation for breaking viewer ID tags was from talking with users, new signups, and finding they were having “negative social interactions.” The Lab and many other software development companies see downloading anything as a sigficant point of friction for users. That many new users were being told they had downloaded the ‘wrong’ viewer and needed to go download another viewer was a significant problem for the Lab. One can guess some significant number of people and it’s a fact some number simply left SL rather than download another viewer and thus the reaction from the Lab.

That these abuses were happening over a considerable time fed into the decision to break tags.

28:00 – Oz points out that if they had wanted to make it look like everyone was running the LL viewer, they could have done that. It would have been the same complexity of change as what they did to remove tags. The Lab actually expended additional effort to make the removal of tags as neutral in appearance as possible.

28:40 – Jessica brings up the point being speculated that the Lab was embarrassed by the number of people on TPV’s and wanted to hide the information.

Oz says no. There is no big secret how few people are using the LL viewer. The Lab’s take on which viewer a user uses is that it is NOT very important which viewer a user uses as long as; it does not break privacy, isn’t a griefer or copybot tool, works well, is reasonably up to date with new Lab features so its user gets a good impression of SL. Or otherwise, it becomes a drag on LL’s business.

I am always surprised when someone thinks there is some financial or business motivation for the Lab to want people in the ‘official’ viewer. The answer seems obvious.