An excellent post at Gigagamez explores the facts and figures commonly touted by SL propoenents and critics alike about SL’s reach. Take the time and give this a read.

The frustration with ongoing stability issues with SL seems to be growing. The huge growth in membership would test any company’s resources and although nothing much is given away by Linden Labs about their infrastructure expansion plans, it’d be safe to assume they’re madly trying to adjust to the growth.

 All that said, even the most die-hard user is going to get a little fed up with regular downtime for something they’ve paid for. Yes, there’ll be lots of threats made – “I spend $xxx a month and I’ll leave if you don’t fix it!!” but the reality is only a small percentage will actually leave. The issue is,  5% of 16000 users may be considered ok, but what happens when there’s 100 thousand users?

Fellow SL site Second Seeker is reporting that the Support for Healing island is in financial trouble – the island provides support for people with depression of other mental health issues. Help if you can!

The number is noteworthy in at least a symbolic fashion. The reality is that a busy ‘day’ in SL at present is 16000 people, but the huge number of registrations in the past month alone has to bode well for the future. Assuming the infrastructure catches p to the growth of course…

A fascinating discussion on SL as one of many multiplayer experiences can be found at raphkoster.com – if you’re interested in sociology (and who wouldn’t be!) then have a read through. The premise of the article is that SL residents could perhaps learn a lot of useful lessons from other MMOs.

Ethnocentrism is an issue i both SL and RL – I actually believe the ethnocentrism that occurs within SL is pronounced. I mean, this site essentially exists to spport one group within SL. Is that a bad thing?

Does economic forecasting get you aroused? Nah, me either. That said, Linden’s release of some in-world economic data actually makes interesting reading.

The main point being taken from the information by residents seems to be proof that non-premium users are contributing to the financial success (or otherwise) of SL. What it also shows is the business discipline being applied behind the scenes at Linden, which makes any longer-term grid glitches even less forgivable if they’ve had even an inkling of the growth thats been occurring…

Three more concierges in-world should help in a big way. It’s good to see the recruitment continuing although it’d be reasonable to hope there’s a whole swarm of other people in the recruitment queue as well.

Linden have announced a rotating roster of Linden staff available to communicate changes in grid status and the like, as the issues occur. Although it’s no substitute for a more reliable SL experience, at least knowing what the issues are in a more timely manner can only be a positive thing….