In other words, Open Space Sim Debacle Part Three Hundred and Ninety … oh, you work it out.
So, ahead of the price increase, we finally have the post from Linden Lab to tell us about the all-important script limits that were a key cause, we were told, of the whole shift in policy. Because, after all, the prim numbers were always controlled, weren’t they? So the cause of the problem was avatar numbers and scripts that were running. So, clearly, these were the things that needed to be urgently addressed. And they will be, they will be.
In July 2009.
Yes, that’s right. The latest Linden Lab post doesn’t contain the news that everyone was, somewhat nervously waiting for. Instead it explains that they will be surveying the script usage in Quarter 1 of next year, analysing it in Quarter 2 and possibly enforcing it in Quarter 3.
Possibly?
This is the key section:
In Q1 we hope to release some new code in the simulator to capture very detailed data about script load from all of the regions on the Grid. This additional logging will not affect performance.
Once we have this data, we will begin sharing that information with the community and talking about where the limits should be. The aim here is to prevent the overuse that can negatively impact the performance of other regions on the same CPU, and most islands will probably fall below any limits we put in place. However those limits are more likely to impact the minority of islands that are very heavy script users.
Even after we have decided on what those limits should be, we still have to then build into the viewer the tools you will need to monitor and measure your own script usage. Once those tools have gone through QA, First Look and Release Candidate stages, they will finally make it into the default viewer. Then we will need to provide you all with a reasonable length of time to adjust to those limits.
This is a process that will take some time. To give you a rough idea of our current timeline, we plan on finalizing what the script limits will be in Q1, then releasing the Viewer tools in Q2 for possible enforcement in Q3. Once we have more definite dates, we will let you know.
Are the Lab expecting there to be so few Homesteads left that script limits become an irrelevancy? Is it a belated attempt at sensitivity in their handling of the issue?
Because, of course, this is the way the whole issue should have been handled. Gradually, with investigation, consultation and explanation. Not the arbitrary announcement and shrill accusations that it was All Our Fault anyway. Not the random early imposition of avatar limits that saw people’s careful plans tossed aside for no apparent reason.
And if they can do it now, why couldn’t they do it then?
I’d like to give two cheers for the Lab getting it right, however belatedly. But I think I’m going to pare it back to just one because the mess that went before has been so profound, and has destroyed so much for so many people.
Prim Perfect 