Introducing myself - I hope to contribute to the group here!

[Billy Cain]

Hello! My name is Billy Cain. I met Beth at the Game Education Summit this week. There was a link on her bio to this group (the link has an issue that I've already reported) and I thought I'd get here and tell you what I'm doing.

I have been making games and helping with gaming education since '92. I love games! I've been a mercenary, essentially, for the last 7 years, solving other people's problems, improving their games, and you name it.

Recently I was approached by a group to help build the next great 3D virtual world. They had a plan, my partner in this venture, David Godwin, and I tweaked it, and we started learning about virtual worlds. Obviously Second Life has played a BIG part in showing us what is possible.

I want to participate here to learn what you all like and would like to see improved in SL. Yes, I'm going to listen and hopefully implement your suggestions. I will judge my success on your comments as we go live.

My email is [e-mail]. I'm on twitter as @billycain (I'm gonna swap to @billyjoecain really soon) and I'm on Facebook at facebook.com/billyjoecain. Please feel free to connect with me in any way that makes sense to you. When it's all said and done, I am building this product for all the people that want to get into the virtual world but can't. I have to listen to their needs and desires so I can build what they / you need.

So, I'm going to be around here - probably lurking for a while - and then once I feel comfortable, I'll start posting. I'll ask a lot of open ended questions because I'm still learning and because I've learned that there aren't a lot of absolutes when it comes to creating commercial art (i.e. gaming) and creating a series of tools that allow users to build and modify anything.

I hope I can also offer value back to the group. Do not hesitate to ask me anything.

Sincerely,
bjc

[Kae]

Hi Billy! Welcome. Asking us what we'd like improved in SL - everything! We're very greedy!

2 things - you may already know this but one of the themes of the SLCC conference education thread is what improvements you'd like to see in SL.

Funtional Requirement: Tell us what you need. What would make your Second Life better over the next 12-18 months. The focus is on uncovering limitations and how, with the community’s involvement, the programs SL Educators offer could be taken up to the next level. Maybe it is the antithesis of best practices or maybe a research study that needs to be done. Anything is fair game that showcases where you envision education in Second Life going over the next 12-18 months http://www.slconvention.org/category/convention-tracks-and-topics/

and based on building the game - we've gone from saying NPIRL ( not possible in real life) to NPISL ( not possible in SL). I'll think we'll have a list for you pretty soon.

[Billy Cain]

Thank you for the comments! I have a small group here engaged in helping my new project in its planning stages. Anyone here that would be interested in making their thoughts heard by a team in its planning stages would be welcomed there. If you're interested, please email me at [e-mail]. It's a "private" group, because I am trying to keep our plans "under wraps" and within our family for now.

The more details I can get on what people want and need from a User-Generated Content world, the better. This project is huge, but it boils down to game creation fundamentals that can be given to the public. I'm up to the task!

Things to think about: what should be easy but isn't? What tools do you use the most that could benefit from small usability improvements? Does Linden Labs listen to your feedback? How has Second Life improved your life, your work, or any other aspect of your existence?

We would really benefit together for any thoughts on the above.