Linden Labs - Nascera - My Take

Today I took a tour of the new continent created by Linden Labs. The continent is names Nascera which consists of many regions that are themed, and completely setup for users. Each parcel is 512 meters in size. The purpose is to provide Premium residents a place to use their 512 free tier sq meters. One of the parcels (with home) is provided free of charge to these residents.

CRITIQUE:

• It is about time, Linden Labs, that you did something like this for residents.  Unlike Bay City which was a disaster, this has potential (only if done correctly).
• The communities are very well-laid out, and if it works, a sense of community can be established in theory).
• It seems as if a lot of thought and work has gone into this.  The technology Linden Labs has created is essential if OpenSim is to proliferate.

Yet, here is where it falls apart:

• Each parcel only allows the resident 117 prims which is standard for a 512 meter parcel.  This does not include the provided house.  117 prims is really not much of anything.  New users will have no clue about this restriction whatsoever.  My recommendation would be to make it 175 prims.
• The houses are on top of one another with no privacy.  Probably not what most residents want in the long run.
• Already, in beta, residents have created entrance restrictions.  If each parcel owner does the same, it would become a horrible experience to navigate through the communities.  This is probably most likely to happen. update 1/2/10: happening all over.  will have entire adverse effect than what Linden wants. 
• It was a litte laggy at times which was not the result of the personal network and computer used.
• There is absolutely nothing to do!  Like any community such as this, there should be a public common area with pool, clubhouse, club, etc.  Create a community get together spot.
• It is certain that Linden will be faced with an inordinate amount of abuse reports over time.  Folks will complain about anything.  They do in real life.  It will be more prevalent here. Extensive!!!!
• The management of the continent will become a nightmare for Linden Labs.  Like in Second Life in general, people will come and go.  It is not certain if this concept will keep people in Second Life longer (why would it?).
• The continent was basically dead.  It is understood that there were only 500 allowed to participate during the beta, but still...dead..at prime time?  Well, even with 60k to 70k simultaneous users, SL itself can be considered basically dead.
• Folks can go to private developers, skip the tier, and get a lot more for their money (privacy, prims, beach, etc.).

I say....this will not work! Would have been better to create a continent, and dramatically lower the tier on the continent.

It is great that Linden is attempting to make a step in the better direction.  It is not certain how it will work.  Only time will tell.  One thing, for sure, Linden, as a pioneer, needs to continue to proliferate the technology.  More specifically, revenue growth can be better realized if Linden Labs becomes the integrator of the disparate OpenSim grids of the world.  There cannot be a single provider of the technology.  OpenSim is potentially the future.  It is time for linden Labs to begin supporting the OpenSim worlds and get a jump on the rest who are considering the same thing.

Some photos taken of our OpenSim grid.  You can just do a lot more with OpenSim. Click photo to enlarge.