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…for taking XStreetSl.com, a site and a system that works perfectly well, functions marvellously as a marketplace and as a community… and for taking it, squishing it up in your power hungry hands and screwing it up royally.

I would never blame the owners of XStreetSL for selling out, particularly if the offer was an appealing one. However, the first little inconveniences have already begun! First of all, XStreet support, which I have never had an issue with, is now run by Linden Lab. Cue tickets being closed without answer, ridiculously ireelevant responses and support being down more than the Titanic!

Next up, a relatively small but annoying issue. You now have to login to XStreet every single time you start a new browser session, whereas previously your login was good for a month! This was justified on the announcements page as being a security measure because XStreet deals with your money. However, so does www.secondlife.com and my login is good there every single time I visit the page, which means the XStreet announcement comes with the unmistakeable aroma of bullshit. Are they sure Linden Lab didn’t just break it and couldn’t be arsed to fix it properly? Anyway….

And then the forums. The XStreetSL forums are fantastic. There is a real community feel there and the layout is incredible. Compare this to the official Second Life™ forums, whose layout is clumpy, whose interface is completely un-user friendly and where the policing of posts is somewhat insane! You say anything non-Linden friendly and in come the Gestapo to censor it all! And, though nothing official has come out yet, the general concensus and all evidence, points to the fact that the XStreet forums will be closing in order that everyone can forum post together on the hideous SL forums. Oh yay.

So thank you Linden Lab for breaking a perfectly functioning site. Bravo!

So in true Linden style… when something gets profitable Linden Lab either, A) Destroy it or B) Buy it. I’m not going to make this a post about the recent Onrez and XStreet buyout as there are enough people writing and ranting about that. However, what I do want to consider is the effect this will have on the XStreet forums.

I have been posting on the XStreet forums for quite some time and what Apotheus and the XStreet team achieved there was a great sense of community. While it sometimes seemed a little over censored with swear words edited out, it was very much an area where anyone could voice any opinion on…well, anything! In complete contrast, the official Second Life™ forums are overly modded. Anything that is deemed “disrespectful” can be completely removed. Combine this with a mod team reminiscent of an over-empowered school prefect team running a Gestapo like operation, and anything close to freedom of speech is a million miles away. As XSteet is now a part of Linden Lab, the sad fact is that, even if they do leave the forums on XStreet open (something they have declined to give a solid answer either way on) they are now moderated by Linden Lab. This effectively renders them dead to those who valued them as an environment independent of LL in which any opinion can be voiced.

As such, I registered yesterday at a new forum, Meta Answers set up by Ewan Mureaux, who is a very active member of the boards on XStreet. His new forums are user friendly and clear in layout. Most importantly though is that anyone can voice their opinion on anything at all without fear of it being deleted simply because it doesn’t praise the ‘Almighty Lab’. Like any new forum, it will take time for it to gain momentum and build up a community. I personally hope to see a lot of the posters from XStreet over there as well as new members. In fact YOU, yes YOU, should sign up right now! I will even give you the URL.

http://metaanswers.org/

Enjoy!