Standardization – In SL many needs were met by custom solutions. The result is SL has Prims – meaning everything is built from Primitives Objects (shapes; cube, sphere, etc) controlled by parameters (cube: Height x Width x Length values). Only recently has it allowed objects built in Blender, 3D Max, and Maya to be placed into the world.
Animation in SL is restrictive. The avatar is the only thing that has an armature we can animate. Actions in SL are controlled by a custom somewhat JavaScript like Linden Scripting Language (LSL), which exosts only in SL.
Sansar will use industry standard tools, animation, and programming language.
Easy to Use – While Stephanie used this term in a title I didn’t see it written about. So, if you are asking yourself how learning and using all the ‘industry standard’ tools and the Sansar platform is easier than learning all those and UNREAL or Unity, it isn’t. But, two things, if you already know the tools you are pretty much there. Second, the gotcha’s we have in SL aren’t in Sansar. The idea is there won’t be so much specialized knowledge required for Sansar.
There is also a plan for in-world building tools. They won’t be there the day Sansar opens but, will be there sometime after the opening. Late 2017? No one is saying. It is up in the air and little is known about the planned in-world building tools.
The idea is to make in-world building as easy as WordPress makes building and running a blog.
Cost – In SL land is expensive. This creates a complex set of problems. If you build an amusement park in SL and plan to pay for the hosting (tier) from ticket sales… you have to maintain something like L$77,000 of sales per month. Not easy to do.
The result is wonderful, gorgeous builds disappear when the owner runs out of funds or tires of paying for the region (hosting).
Plus, those with limited funds have to evaluate risk of failure vs success for projects they plan.
In the Sansar design the entry cost is being changed, lowered. The Lab sees cost as the acceptance obstacle it has been. That they demonstrate learning by their effort to do things differently says something.
Summary
I think it is true the Lindens have learned what works and what is a problem in virtual worlds. The question remains as to whether they have figured out good solutions to the problems.
If people are complaining about “a lack of content”, then they’re mistaking SL for a MMORPG.
It’s not a game, people, it’s a Virtual Reality. Let’s just get that fact out of the way first.
In this virtual reality, you can learn more than you could learn at any RL university or college (for free, no less, at in-world classes like the Builder’s Brewery ) and put that knowledge into creating RL wealth via SL’s marketplace and the LindeX currency exchange, so let’s stop talking about ‘content’.
SecondLife is what YOU create within it and what YOU make it – for YOU.
But, to get to the point at hand, in my opinion, LL has learned absolutely nothing; this is evidenced by the fact that they’re flushing away $20m on Project Sansar, rather than fixing what they’ve already created (SL).
It’s also further evidenced by the fact that only a ‘chosen few’ creators are allowed in – for now.
Worse still, when anyone else is eventually allowed in and they create a new avi for Sansar, they will be forced to use their RL names via FB – a move that will further kill Project Sansar before it even properly sees the light of day. It’s a disgustingly and blatantly dictatorial move by LL.
Furthermore, the fact that LL management is a mess and they can’t hold on to good devs, should create alarm bells for everyone.
The fact that they’re calling for free labor disguised as something to feel honored about (aka asking in-world creators to come be code monkeys and do their work for them), should be further cause for concern that they haven’t a clue what they’re doing and they’ve been losing staff like crazy. Something’s terribly wrong with LL management.
Personally, I and several other SL residents will be avoiding Sansar like the plague it is.
You have an odd viewpoint…
Whether LL has wasted their Sansar investment or not has yet to be decided. If Sansar succeeds, it was a good investment. But, if it fails, it still had to be tried.
SL is simply not up-gradable. Technically, yes it could be. Socially an upgrade that destroys most existing content is unacceptable. Users would have abandoned SL in rage for having their inventories made obsolete and never returned. Look at the SL hated in OpenSim often from imagined slights.
That legacy problem could not be solved any user acceptable way. Poorly optimized content in SL and user demands for legacy compatibility are the reasons Sansar is being built. There simply is no way to support VR with existing SL content. Plus a load of other technical problems.
Chosen few… yep, it is a basic design tenant. All the sandbox apps start with a few chosen developers. Those with knowledge of what they are doing. The novices and ignorant are kept out so the developers can hear and work with the voices of the most knowledgeable people. Allowing the ignorant in creates chaos and time is wasted trying to educate them. LL is choosing the most knowledgeable people based on what they have done in SL and other development platforms… not who they are… but what they have done… accomplished. They are helping the achievers.
No one is going to be forced to use their real life names. Ebbe has been over this several times. To stop the griefing we have in SL, Sansar will limit what you can do with a free anonymous account. To do more one has to share more personal information with LL. Even when completely identified that identification is only for LL’s use. Ebbe has said we will have control over how much personal information we share with other users.
Sansar is not a democracy nor is SL. Both are privately owned simulations/businesses. We are guests in their place of business.
LL has done a good job of providing SL users a high degree of creative freedom. I see no evidence that they have changed their thinking regarding creative freedom.
Code moneys… AFAIK, LL is paying all their programmers. At this point people building content for Sansar are there because they want to be and see a possibility for future profit. Whether that happens is in the future. At this stage they are shaping Sansar so it will meet their needs. Just as the Bento participants have changed Linden thinking about how the Bento avatar should work. I suspect the same is happening with the Sansar development team.
As to LL management being messed up… they have helped SL users, several hundred thousand, collectively make US$60 million in 2015. How many did you help make money in 2015 and how much?
I suggest you study up on transference.