We're excited to introduce Linden Realms, where Residents can dive directly into exploring the towers, caves and valleys of the Lab's first-ever game prototype. Dodge rock monsters and fierce fireballs as you cross deadly, toxic rivers to complete quests and cash in your crystals for Linden Dollars. And that's just the beginning...

Quests take you through the basics of game-play in Second Life while you earn Linden Dollars. You?ll start at Basecamp on Tyrah?s Island, where you?ll have your pick of exciting destinations to choose from!

• Sunspire ? Investigate a tower of experiments in teleportation and astronomy.
• Shattered Cavern ? Go deep into an intricate system of caves that snake down under a small mountain.
• Devil's Canyon ? Brave a  dangerous valley of fire and rock monsters, where the courageous are rewarded.
• Whisper Hollow ? Hike through a forest full of secrets and obstacles.
• Banshee Peak ? Soar above it all at the northernmost point of the island and admire the view of Whisper Hollow.
• Tyrah's Peak ? Scale the snowy peak overlooking the center of the island and the Basecamp.
• Dark Moon Bay ? Explore this southernmost point of the island, where Tyrah wrecked her ship and hopes to eventually escape.

Our teams dove deep into the inworld creation process during development, and are eager to share some improved tools that came out of this effort. Residents will soon be able to use those tools to create even richer original experiences in Second Life.

Dive in, explore ? and experience the wonder of Linden Realms!

New Viewer Gives Second Life Users a Customizable User Interface
for a More Flexible Workspace

With the launch of the new Second Life Viewer on Nov. 8, Second Life Residents can now customize their user interface for a more flexible workspace.  

New customizable functionality includes:

• Drag-and-drop buttons on the toolbar so Residents can change ordering, move buttons from one toolbar to another and choose which buttons appear
• An option to choose one, two or three toolbars
• The option to select either icons or labels

The new Viewer also makes it easy for new Residents to find the essential basic functions, as well as access more advanced functionality as they grow in Second Life.

   
New-user functionality includes:

• How-to window provides easy, step-by-step instructions for common tasks
• Destinations button offers interesting destinations
• Avatars button allows Residents to choose and immediately change their avatar
• Inventory button lets Residents see the things they own
• Shop button takes Residents to the Second Life Marketplace
  
  

By merging the Basic and Advanced modes, users no longer need to switch between modes, which improves usability ? and ultimately enhances the Second Life inworld experience.

For further details on how to get the most out of the new Second Life Viewer, please check out the following video tutorials:

Getting Started with the New Second Life Viewer

Customizing the New Second Life Viewer

Additional Features in the New Second Life Viewer

Inbox Messaging Gives Second Life Residents
a More Efficient Way to Communicate

Did you know that you are now able to send a message from your inbox to anyone in Second Life who accepts messages from you?

Whether you are a merchant and want to ask your customers about their experiences with your products, or you simply want to keep in touch with friends, the addition of the profile inbox will help you better communicate.

Because you can view and track your messages, inbox messaging also allows you to better manage conversations. And because the inbox is available on the web, you don't have to be logged in to Second Life to read and send messages.

If you would like to contact someone who is not in your friends list, you can send them a message directly from their profile by choosing ?Message? from the drop-down envelope icon.

Although direct messages to other users don't appear in your profile feed (even if that's set to public), if you are still concerned about your privacy, your profile settings allow you to control who sends you messages and how you get notified.

The Second Life economy remained stable in Q3 2011. We closed the quarter with some positive momentum, with a continued increase in registrations and a stable Linden Dollar exchange rate with slight appreciation, as well as a higher amount of Linden Dollars held by customers. Most other key metrics were consistent with recent levels.  ??

For a definition of the metrics in this post, please see this wiki page. Click on each image below to see a larger version.

DAILY COMPLETED REGISTRATIONS

Following the launch of our new-user registration flow, improvements to the Premium offering and the launch of mesh, we?ve seen a continued uptick in registrations throughout Q3. In fact, August was the biggest growth month for Second Life in nearly four years, with Q3 averaging 45 percent more completed registrations per day than Q1 before the new reg flow was implemented.

AVERAGE MONTHLY UNIQUE LOGGED-IN USERS

Average monthly logged-in users increased slightly from Q2 2011.  

USER HOURS

User hours declined slightly, remaining within 2 percent of the most recent quarter.

AVERAGE MONTHLY ECONOMIC PARTICIPANTS

Active economic participants grew by 2.8 percent over Q2 2011.

AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE

The exchange rate remains very stable, strengthening slightly with a 0.5 percent appreciation in the L$ over Q2 and a 6.4 percent appreciation in the L$ over the same quarter last year.  

*Note that the exchange rate is expressed in L$/USD, meaning larger numbers represent a lower L$ value and smaller numbers represent a higher L$ value. The average rate is calculated by dividing the total L$ exchanged through the LindeX by the total US$ exchanged through the LindeX in the quarter.

L$ SUPPLY

Money supply grew by 3.7 percent in Q3 from the prior quarter and 8.5 percent year over year, bringing the equivalent U.S. dollar value of all customer-held L$ to U.S. $29.3 million.

*Note: From time to time we will change our reporting in order to provide the most relevant and accurate summary information for the use of merchants, landowners, content creators, and other participants in the Second Life economy. Q2 2011 is an estimate calculated based on different methodology versus previous quarters.  


LINDEX VOLUME

LindeX volume for Q3 amounted to U.S. $30 million, a 2 percent decline in line with seasonality, but 6.4 percent growth of the same quarter last year.  

WEB MERCHANDISE SALES VOLUME

Q3 2011 web merchandise sales volume grew 2.8 percent compared with Q2 2011, and grew 30.9 percent as compared with Q3 2010.

WORLD SIZE

World size remained consistent, with last quarter at just over 2,000 square kilometers.  

Previously:

Q1?

Q2

Hello Everyone,

It?s been a little while since I last updated folks on Second Life.

Earlier this year, I noted several areas we would be focusing on. Let me update you on each area and share with you our plans for the remainder of the year.

But first, we?d like to give a warm welcome to our newbies! August was the biggest growth month for Second Life in nearly four years! I hope you all take the time to try out the many different activities in Second Life ? there?s everything from clubbing to boating. You might even to want to try your hand at making something new. As a side note, one of the easiest ways to find new things is to check out the Destination Guide in the log-in screen of the viewer.

Now, back to our areas of focus at Linden Lab:

Usability 

With the Basic mode, which we rapidly deployed, new users can now more easily find things, move around the world and manipulate the camera. This has really helped people walk and talk, as well as getting newbies up and running. But it has its limits ? particularly when it comes to participating in the economy and creating things. Soon you will see us merge the Basic and Advanced modes, which will eliminate the need to switch. All functionality will be in one mode with easier-to-use controls. After these modes are merged and deployed, you can expect us to release an improved UI into the viewer. This should be a lot more flexible for user flow for all users.

Deploy Mesh

Thankfully, this massive feature got deployed on time. Many new creators joined Second Life so they can use their Mesh skills, and some of the creations I?ve seen are truly spectacular.

Improved Service

Although our response times have improved, we realize that we still have a ways to go. You can expect continued investment and focus in this area to include expanded support staffing, as well new features (similar to the estate tools we rolled out earlier this year) and revised policies to make the Second Life experience much better for customers.

Better Customer Value

Last month, we added exclusive Premium areas such as sandboxes (places where you can go and create), as well as free items. You can expect more exclusive areas, items and features in the months ahead. We have been really pleased by the positive response to Premium by our residents. In fact, last week we reached the highest number of Linden Homes ever. We hope these new Linden Home owners will enjoy their newfound land ownership and check out other ways that Land is available on the Second Life Land Store and through private estate purchases and rentals found through Second Life Search.

You can sign up for Premium right here!

Shiny New Things

Because worlds feel most vibrant when they are full of life, our next project for Second Life is the ability to make ?life? within it. Second Life has more than a million real people in it every month, as well as many artificial creatures and people ? however, our creation tools have not made it particularly easy for the content creators to build high-quality entities.

Over the next few months (with testing most likely starting in December), we will be rolling out a series of more advanced features. These will make the creation of artificial life and artificial people much smoother. For starters, we'll unveil a new, robust pathfinding system that will allow objects to intelligently navigate around the world avoiding obstacles. Imagine being able to create advanced pets, creatures or even a living town where non-player characters are walking about. Combined with the experience tools I mentioned above, it should soon be possible to create more advanced MMORPG?s or interactive experiences which use AI right within Second Life.

I will touch base again in a few months when we have delivered a few more things. Thank you again for being a customer! I hope you enjoy your time in Second Life, whether that has been for years or you have only just joined.

Rodvik