Opinion
Brooke took time to apologize for not communicating their VMM release schedule well. Promising to do better in the future. There have apparently been discussions within the Lab about that issue.
Merchants have been complaining about the Commerce Team for years now. User and Linden communications with the viewer and server teams has been good for years. They have had their ups and downs. But, in general those of us that deal with those teams are happy with them and appreciate their time and effort to communicate with us. Also, the improvements and freedom for staff to talk since Ebbe and Oz have joined Second Life are substantial.
The group users have the most dissatisfaction with is the Commerce Team. That long ago reached the point of frustration few of us even bother to talk about it now. Our talking doesn’t/hasn’t helped.
The Web Team is still an invisible group… we just bitch about the messes we find in the web sites. There is no one to complain to, as far as most users are aware. File a JIRA and move on.
Oz Linden has pulled Brooke and others from the Commerce Team into the TPD’s meeting from time to time. My impression is it is about the last place Brooke wants to be. That is my impression so I could definitely be wrong. I try to be fair… but… I have a challenge being objective in this area and with this team.
Even being in a meeting where participants were repeatedly stressing the importance of getting the timing of VMM right and coordinating with TPD’s, Brooke or someone in charge of Commerce blew it. It seems like she either wasn’t listening, and she responded in meeting to what people said to her, or didn’t feel it important enough to speak up when things changed. Or if she did it was where I wasn’t listening. But, TPD’s were caught off guard too, so I doubt it was me. After all the talking, stressing, and promises… how could she not consider it important? That is beyond me so I speculate it is something else.
It is hard to accurately convey to you how much TPD’s emphasized the importance of good timing and the need to be kept informed. I can say it was very clear to me that timing and communication was an important issue for the benefit of TPD’s and the Lab. I was surprised that the time lines given in TPD’s meetings by Brooke had no similarity to what happened and the plenty notice promised, in the event of a change in timing, never happened.
That Brooke was apologizing in this meeting suggests to me that things were said to her internally. Don’t expect any comment from Lindens as to what actually happened internally. But, Brooke was apologizing. She should. This was to many of us just a continuation of the behavior we expect from the Commerce Team.
I know from what I read in groups and the forum I am not alone in being unhappy with the Commerce Team in general. I do realize that it is a subjective matter. People have to form their own sense of how well the team is doing or not doing and that is colored by our biases and individual experiences with the team. We aren’t always fair or understanding. But, the Commerce Team, in my opinion, has never communicated in a way conducive to enabling our understanding. It seems the behavior in this VMM roll out shows those habits are slow changing.
While I think they are doing a little better, the VMM roll out communications debacle suggests to me in the important behaviors not much has changed.
Very well expressed Inara. I am not a merchant but listen to all the TPV meetings and was always struck by Brooke’s breathy promises to test this , monitor that about VMM during her many visits.
It seemed snail paced to me but I thought VMM = money, revenue etc. so good approach.
Then when pedal hit the metal or fingertip hit \start\ they launched without an official viewer, FS team AGAIN having to field the complaints and communication breakdowns.
Either someone lower placed isn’t producing on time or upper management just wanted it out the door for a deadline regardless of state of finish. Or well, they8 did a crappy job and thought it was done ‘good enough.’
70–seventy percent of grid is on FS. To shove this out the door before the bulk -vast bulk – of CUSTOMERS can access it with their chosen viewer is unprofessional and reckless. Some people are looking for reasons to bail before the new grid.
One of the many reasons I use FS is because they don’t ship incomplete flawed goods.
Ironic , FS acts like a for profit customer based entity . Linden, like a government sometimes, not a good thing.
Ebbe should give the Commerce team a piece of paper and ask them how they intend to increase commerce by assisting creators to sell more , sellbetter etc. Those skills will be critical in the new grid.